Abraham Lincoln's Way of Saying, "Thanks"

I received a call from the president of the Holladay, Utah Rotary club. She asked me to come speak about my book on November 18th. Because it will be right before Thanksgiving, she asked me to tie my book into Thanksgiving. I told her I would try and after I hung up the phone I laid my head on my desk and thought - how am I going to tell people to be thankful for a penny? I started Googling Thanksgiving and to my great surprise I found a way to connect it all! (I love Google!)

Did you know that the person who inspired the first American penny - also declared that the last Thursday of November would be Thanksgiving, making it a national holiday? That's right - president Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the civil war and other trials, came out with the Thanksgiving proclamation on October 3, 1863. He said people had forgotten God, who had preserved them in peace, strengthened them and given them so many blessings. He invited American citizens to solemnly, reverently and gratefully to acknowledge God with one heart and one voice with him.

I love President Lincoln. The more I learn about him, the more I am grateful for him and the courage he had to stand up and make a difference.

I definitely will look at Thanksgiving differently this year! I'm sad I won't be spending it with my extended family, but I am excited that I can start new traditions with my own little family.

Take a penny, leave a penny

Today was an unusual penny day. My sixteen year old son came home and handed me a penny and asked me if I had that one yet. As I looked at the shiny new Abraham Lincoln penny, I was in total shock! I asked him where he got it and he said it was in the "take a penny, leave a penny," cup sitting on the counter at 7-11 where he stopped to buy a drink earlier today. I was amazed because it was the third penny in the new series and I live in a small town where these new pennies don't just show up! When it first came out, I went on Ebay and paid $2.00 to get two of these uncirculated babies, and now one just shows up! WOW!

Earlier when I was waiting for two of my sons to get their haircut, I found the second penny in the new series just sitting on a display shelf next to some shampoo. This was the first time I had seen one of these pennies in Vernal. Soooooo...... two new pennies in one day, my aunt Joan must be looking down on me to let me know she is watching over me from heaven!

Maybe I should go on Ebay and sell this new penny for a ridiculous price of $2.00. Or.... maybe I will just put it in my wooden treasure box with the rest of my special pennies I have collected over the years and remember this special day!

A New African Friend

Yesterday was an amazing day! I went to the Cottonwood Country Club to talk to the Murray Rotary Club. I told them about my book and then introduced two very special guests who talked about Koins for Kenya. I finally got to meet Bret VanLeeuwen, the founder of Koins for Kenya. We have corresponded through phone calls, and emails but never officially met. I also got to meet Mr. Anthony Yama, who is the Koins for Kenya co-ordinator in Africa. It was amazing to hear about how bad it really is in Africa. They have had a two year drought and so they haven't been able to grow any food. They have been surviving on corn donations from the U.S. He said the women walk about five miles to get water which is shared with their animals as well as what they use to bathe in, and to drink and cook with. It was sad to hear that the infant mortality rate is very high there. Bret told about going to visit a family there and he didn't see the youngest daughter named Hope. So he asked the mother where she was and was shown a rough grave where she had buried Hope a few months before after she died from dysentery. It is hard not to feel gratitude for our way of living after you hear a story like that. Many of the Rotarian members bought books from me and I'm excited to donate a portion of that proceeds to Koins for Kenya to help with their amazing cause.

Third Penny now Available

The third penny in the 2009 new penny reverse series is now available. I haven't personally been able to get one yet, but it is in circulation. It is called the "Lincoln Professional Life Penny," and depicts Pres. Lincoln's professional life in Illinois. The final penny in the series is supposed to be released on November 12, 2009. When I looked on line, I was amazed that for $2.50 I could get one of the newest pennies. I wonder what President Lincoln would have said about spending $2.49 just to get a coin with his likeness on it. Crazy, that's what he would say!!!

Speaking of crazy, I have another crazy weekend coming up! I will be at the Provo Borders bookstore which is located on 4801 N. University Avenue, in Provo, from 1-3 PM tomorrow. I hope to see some family and friends there!

Then on Monday I will be speaking at the Murray Rotarian Club with the founder of Koins for Kenya, Brett VanLeeuwen and the director of Koins for Kenya in Africa, who is visiting the United States for a few weeks and speaking to many groups about this great cause.

Never a dull moment at this house!

Hidden pennies in Southern Utah

In my book, "The Power Of A Penny," one of the characters finds a penny in a gutter. Her grandmother tells her that whenever she finds a penny, if it is heads side up, she smiles and puts it in her pocket. If it is tails side up, she filps it over and leaves it to make someone else smile. This inspired me to do something fun on our recent trip to southeastern Utah. I had a pocketful of pennies which I would leave heads side up at some of the places we visited, hoping someone would find it and smile and put it in their pocket. It is fun to imagine the journey these pennies will make because there were tourists from all over the world there. So if you happen to visit Spooky Canyon, Hells Backbone or Calf Creek, look for a special penny and know that I am thinking about you!

The Pumpkin Man

My kids were out of school because of UEA, so my husband and I met some friends and went on a little trip. We started out in Green River, Utah at Rays Tavern - (our favorite burger spot in that area,) where we met an amazing man named Scott Babansky and several of his friends who had their trucks full of pumpkins to deliver to school children. The next morning we ran into Scott again at breakfast and he invited us to visit his pumpkin farm so our kids could pick out some pumpkins. As we talked to him, I learned that this man has a heart of gold and is all about making the world a better place for other people.

It all started when he was younger and his father had a few extra pumpkins in his garden. He called a school for disabled children that was near his home and asked if they would like some of his pumpkins. He probably had ten, but they needed 150 - so Scott's father sent him out on a hunt across two counties to find enough pumpkins for all of the children the day before Halloween. He said it was no small feat, but after he saw the smiles on the faces of the handicapped children, he knew what he wanted to do every year. He now delivers 20,000 -30,000 free pumpkins to school children every year with the help of his friends and family.

Scott took our kids to a special patch where there were special white pumpkins. He told them whoever could find the white pumpkin would get a robot. The kids were ecstatic! Each one of them found a special white pumpkin and all of them got a funny little robot. This kind man made a wonderful day for complete strangers - but it sounds like that is where he finds the most joy in life.

I was grateful for the few hours of fun that he provided for my family and the wonderful memory my children will have of that day, so I gave him a copy of my book, "The Power Of A Penny," as a way to say thank-you.