Week of November 19 - November 25, 2023

Spiritual

We had a good Sunday. Sacrament Meeting was wonderful as we heard from a very recently returned sister missionary who served in Washington Kennewick Mission. Primary went well and we have a new Primary presidency with a wonderful new primary president. Choir was lots of work. Cameo stopped by for a visit later. 

Dad was able to attend the temple this week on Friday. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. 

I have indexed 15,076 records and reviewed 22,598 records so far this year.

Family

The Wilkins Family

The Wilkins Family is busy and doing well. Allison has her big test coming up this week and she is busy studying and preparing for that. She also has a work evaluation to prepare for the next week. Mike has been picking up some extra work hours for Christmas. Adam's job is going well. Grace continues to be very busy. She enjoyed a fun Powder Puff Football game with other girls at her school. Joshua is working on a Potato Powered Science Project. He is in the research stages now. Sam is doing well. He showed me his beautiful bird house, or rather, bird mansion, that he created at activity days. He had a band mishap and needs a repair on his baritone. He showed me some of his basketball skills too. 

The Ethan Rice Family

We were so happy Cameo had some time to stop by for a visit before she flew back to Georgia on Monday. Her dad is still in intensive care but holding his own. 

Thanksgiving was very good. Kaylee made the cranberry marshmallow salad on her own for the first time. They had such a lovely meal and a good time. I found out on Saturday that Cameo's dad was released from ICU to a Critical Care Hospital on Monday. That is positive news. 

The Doran Rice Family

I forgot to include that last Sunday, Papa could go and watch Kooper in his Primary Program. He did a wonderful job and the program was excellent. We so enjoyed sharing Thanksgiving with Doran, Amber, Kelsie and Kooper. Doran made wonderful candied sweet potatoes!! Kooper and Kelsie got a plate together for Amber's sister who was ill and couldn't come. 

Morgan

No news from Morgan this week. 

Kayty

Kayty had only one day working on-site and two days working from home, which she enjoyed. She was a great help with Thanksgiving dinner prep. We have ricing 15 pounds of cooked potatoes down to an art. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Nathan shared his Thanksgiving good news: another deer! Congratulations Nathan!!

Thanksgiving was wonderful with a great hike, deer hunt, and Annie's Pecan and Ellie's pumpkin pies! They also were able to go fishing on Friday. Sadly, Ellie's glasses fell in the water and could not be found. 

I got a wonderful Facetime call from the girls right before bedtime. Their elf, Rosie,  had visited and brought them donuts that morning and they are so excited. Ornaments are being hung on their tree and decorations are being put up. They might even have snow in a couple of weeks. It is Christmas at the Rice's in Arkansas. 

Dad's Garden

Swiss Chard, collard greens, and lots of radishes are being harvested. Basil is still holding on, even in the colder weather. We got fewer key limes this year but Dad has been juicing the ones we pick up. Chickens are now laying eggs in the hen boxes. We now get four smaller eggs. 

 

Other highlights

Monday, I made the cheese ball, the peanut butter ball, the ranch dip, and pureed the cranberries and sugar, plus cut up Nano Carrot sticks and celery. The celery was rough to get enough for both some sticks and stuffing. On Tuesday, I baked Grandma's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cake. We purchased a pumpkin, pecan pie, and rolls from Sam's Club. Wednesday, I roasted the largest turkey and Dad smoked a smaller one. Thursday was Thanksgiving. Lots of work, peeling and preparing 15 pounds of potatoes, and a smaller but still hungry crowd. All in all, it was a wonderful time with a wonderful family. 

Friday was clean up, packing up all the Thanksgiving decor... a sad day when pumpkins and fall colors are put away, and spent Friday and Saturday working on decorating the rest of the house. We also took a little drive Saturday evening to look at Christmas lights.