Freedom of Worship

Today, Janet and I did a "girls day out" and went to the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. They are having a Norman Rockwell exhibit, which was awesome. Three of the paintings were from his "Freedom of..." series. One of them, Freedom of Worship, was very interesting. We noticed that across the top it said, "according to the dictates of his own conscience..." There was a nifty little blurb saying that this painting and this caption had disturbed Mr. Rockwell and his minions because he remembered reading it somewhere, but no one could find any document to attribute it to. Interesting, eh? (In case you don't remember where it comes from either, you should brush up on the Articles of Faith.)

This year, we waited until Janet got home to get our Christmas tree. We looked at a few lots in town, but the trees were $30-$35 for nothing special. In previous years, we went to one of two cut your own tree lots in Mosinee, where the trees were $20. But we heard that the trees there were pretty picked over this year. So we trekked out in the country to a place that really was pretty similar to going out into the woods to find your own. These people planted a bunch of trees many years ago, and then never followed up with any care. Now they just want the trees cut down. So we tromped around a found a tree that Rene really likes (Janet maybe not so much) for only $15.

Possibly a little early...

We really did have a mild fall. It's only been really cold for a couple of weeks, and it's only been super cold once or twice. I think people should know that it's way too early for this:

Yup...this story from the paper was called "Car Falls Into Lake Wausau."

These are a few of my favorite things...

Every Christmas I have the opportunity to take out and display some of my prized possesions. I have a collection of nativities and while I like them all, some of them have great sentimental value to me.This one is priceless...literally. I don't think you can even find one like it to buy anymore. We have had this our whole married life and it's showing signs of its age. I'll have to keep patching it up if necessary so that it lasts forever. I think someone could make a mint by reprinting them, because everyone of "a certain age" loves it and asks me if I know where they can get one.

Rene's sister Mary Ann made this for us quite a few years ago. We got the stable from a friend who was throwing it out. Everyone's favorite is this little lamb, who is standing with his tail toward the viewer, looking at the manger. The "JOY" candles I purchased from the Avon Lady when we lived in Casselton. They are getting faded, but they still smell like Christmas.

I have several nativities from foreign countries like....

Argentina,

Paraquay,

and Ecuador. They all have special meaning to me because they were thoughtfully brought to me by our kids.
Here's one that was kicking around our house for a couple of years and Joanna, that crafty girl, painted it for me before she moved to Minneapolis.

It's always a sweet experience to unpack these little treasures and remember not only the Savior's birth, but the love of friends and family by which we are surrounded.

Mele Kalisimasi!

Tonight was our ward Christmas party, "Christmas Around the World." We were in charge of a display about and food from Tonga. It was pretty awesome, if I say so myself. We used all of Rene's tapa cloths and mats and some fake palm trees leftover from "Christmas in Bethlehem" last year. We served oati, which is a drink made of pureed watermelon, coconut and coconut cream (obviously, I didn't have any say in that because I personally find coconut disgusting.) We wore some of the traditional Tongan clothes Rene brought home from his mission, even though it was 21 degrees outside. Oh, the palm trees were missing ALL of their leaves, so last night late, we whipped some up.

Giving Thanks

There's an old Perry Como song that sometimes gets played during the holidays called "Oh, There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays." It's pretty corny, but I realized this week that part of it is very, very true. One of the verses says "Take a bus, take a train, Go and hop an aeroplane, Put the wife and kiddies in the car. For the pleasure that you bring when you make that doorbell ring No trip could be too far." This week, we had the joy of having all of our family home for Thanksgiving and what pleasure it brought us! We appreciate the sacrifice each family made to be here; the love, kindness and toleration that helped us enjoy each other; and the peace that comes from knowing that despite challenges, each person is trying to do what the Lord would have them do. We're so thankful for Heavenly Father's blessings!

Our Amazing Ancestors

Okay, strictly speaking, Judah McClaskey Gillett is not our ancestor. She is the sister of my gggrandfather, Samuel McClaskey. I have been obsessed with Judah and her family for about 5 years.

She was born in southern Ohio along the Ohio river on land given to her father and brothers in payment for their services in the War of 1812. She grew up there, married there and had several children there. At some point, she and her family made the decision to move westward. On the 1850 census, Samuel and Judah and their family are living, amazingly enough, in Nauvoo. I suppose at some point they heard about the abandonment of Nauvoo by the Saints and chose to move there. From Nauvoo, Samuel and Judah and the younger children moved back to Knox County, Illinois, near Galesburg. However, five of their children headed west to California. Another daughter would move there later.

One of Judah's sons died at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 and Samuel died in Knox County in 1865. At some point, she decided to journey west and join her children who lived in California. She died there in 1896.

In October, I was able to travel to California with Rene when he went on business. When we decided to take an extra day and go north to the Redwoods, I suggested that we also go to visit the parts of Humboldt county where Judah's children settled and where she died. What a thrill that was! I described the trip to Petrolia here, but let me just say that it was wild and rugged countryside that we traveled through. After zigzagging up and down the mountains, we finally descended into the beautiful Mattole valley. This is where Judah and her children settled. I was touched to see the charming little farmsteads, many with small orchards and beautiful yards. In Petrolia, we went to the tiny cemetery, where we found the grave on Judah's son-in-law. We drove on up over more mountains to Ferndale, where some of Judah's grandchildren lived and died.

This little excursion really increased my admiration for this family. It took us, in a car, 4 hours to make the trip from the main highway to Ferndale. There is only one road that goes through Petrolia and it's not a good one. How in the world did they do it with a horse and wagon? How did they even know that this beautiful, isolated little valley was out there? I'm sure they were very self-reliant and worked hard to be successful. I wonder if they ever felt alone or isolated? I know they lost children and many of them died at a young age. Did Judah feel discouragement as she survived many of her own children?

When we went to Lauren's blessing in St. Paul earlier this month, Preston blessed Lauren to have the faith of her pioneer ancestors. To me, that was a thoughtful and tender blessing and one to be sought after by all of us, too!