13 Days of Thanksgiving

In a recent Google quest for Thanksgiving poems for a church program I am working on, I came across a website where a lady encourages people to blog the 30 days of Thanksgiving. I am sad that I came across this seventeen days later than I did, but I am excited to blog my, "13 days of Thanksgiving."

Day 1 of Thanksgiving:
We woke up to our first real snow this morning. My husband and two older boys were so excited because they love to snowmobile. I am so grateful they are looking forward to spending time together doing something they love. I am grateful that they like to spend time with each other and that they truely love one another.

My youngest and I weren't as excited about the snow. I am more of a fair weather person, but it is beautiful!

Tomorrow I have a book signing scheduled in Grand Junction, Colorado. So, my husband and I decided to go tonight and take our boys for a little vacation. We are hoping to go see a movie, do a little Christmas shopping and enjoy each others company!

I didn't know that!

This weekend was busy as usual! We went to Salt Lake and stayed at the cabin with our neighbors the Baums. We had a little Halloween party with our kids and the next morning we went to Salt Lake so we could go to my nephew, Scott's baptism. It was so fun to be with all of my family, even if it was just for a few hours. Then we rushed home just in time for our neighborhood trunk or treat party. The weather was just perfect! Just chilly enough for a sweater but no need for gloves and a hat like in the recent years.

One of my friends was telling me that she read my book and she had another use for pennies. She said when her husband bought some flowers for her not to long ago, the florist told him to drop a few pennies into the bottom of the vase before filling it with water and the flowers. She said amazingly, it worked! Thanks for the tip Michelle!

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!