Giving Thanks

*Names have been removed to protect the identities of the innocent. So, instead I have pictures!*

Meg

This Thanksgiving Break was the most amazing break I've had in long time. Don't get me wrong, I've loved the hospitality and love that has been shared with me by friends and family in the last couple years and I am grateful for people who have taken me in. However, this year I was blessed to spend Thanksgiving Break with The Olsen Family. My "boy's" family. Yes, I have a "boy". He will be discussed at length on a different day.  Wednesday night Boy and I drove from Provo to Manti. There was this overwhelming sense of freedom as we left the city and headed into the darkness of the country. I didn't feel trapped anymore by street lights, crazy drivers who think every street is the NASCAR track, lights, and an overwhelming amount of people. The stars were more visible and that alone made me heart sigh with relief. We drove for about an hour and a half and the view of the temple, as we drove into the town was enough to stop my heart. It was absolutely stunning. Once we got inside we dropped our bags and I met Boy's family. His immediate family, that is. He has two younger brothers, Twins, and they are hilarious. His Mom is one of the most amazing ladies I have ever met. She was baking pies for Thanksgiving when we got there and she was so kind and hospitable, she's just simply a wonderful woman. His Dad is soft spoken and also kind. He, too, is quite an amazing man. I have to admit something though, I think the cutest member of his family (aside from Boy) is his dog, Meg. She is the most adorable boarder collie puppy I have ever met. She kissed me and curled up in my lap and played with me. She seemed so proud to show off her "mad" raccoon hunting skills. She simply melted my heart. Anyway, it was nice to sit and chat for awhile and let's just say that I had no idea of what was in store for me in the days to come.

This is me and Boy. 

Thursday-Thanksgiving Day
The Olsen's have a tradition in their family. Pie for Breakfast. It is probably the most ingenious idea I have heard in a long time. They have pie for breakfast with the whole family because, as everyone knows, after dinner you're too stuffed to eat anything especially pie. This way you don't feel like you're a balloon about ready to pop! It's magnificent. What's more is that I believe all of the pies were homemade. It's a beautiful thing. Anyway, I met a whole lot of cousins and Aunts and Uncles and it was overwhelming but so much fun. They truly are an amazing family. All of them. After breakfast, and after family members began to trickle out, the rest of us gathered in the living room to watch the last bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day
 Parade. I've never really watched all of it because I really don't have the patience for it but it was cute. It helped that I was playing with Legos with Boy and his younger twin brothers.  It was quite amusing and after awhile I realize that my creative skills tend to fall around the 0% mark when it comes to Legos. So I sat back for awhile and watched for a bit. I noticed a couple things:

1. They all sit the same way. It's quite darling actually.

Sitting on one leg with the other leg bent.

2. Boy is an excellent "booby trap" engineer. 

Booby Trap

 Anyway, it was quite an eventful afternoon and we hadn't even eaten dinner yet! We went over to his Aunt and Uncle's house and it was simply a lot of fun. Fun+Good food=One Happy Caitlin. This was the "Kids" table.

Thanksgiving Dinner Table

Tied to my glass I found a beautiful little ornament that his aunt had made. It was a gift for me!

This currently resides on my Christmas tree

After dinner we sat around and chatted about everything. Music, movies, school, where I'm from, what I'm doing at school etc. We even talked about iPhones and I decided that talking to a phone who is intelligent enough to talk back is not my cup of tea. In fact, I feel like the new iPhone 4 S is somehow plotting the world's demise...but that's a topic for another time. After we were done chatting, we helped clean up and then we sat around and sang songs. The Olsen Family is quite the talented bunch. 

Musical kiddos. It was a fun evening. 

Later we watched Miracle on 34th Street. A movie I have never seen, or remember seeing that it. I thought it was a very cute movie. Finally, after a long day of food and fun we went back to Boy's family's house and headed to bed. It was such a good day and I had had a good hair day...see?

 

Now, on Friday we had quite the little adventure. When we woke up we got ready to go up into the mountains to go Christmas Tree "hunting". Now, I've never done this before but it was a lot of fun.  It was cold but so much fun! We climbed around the mountain searching for a good tree and found one that in my mind is quite perfect. (Of course, this is not my tree but I still loved it.) On the way back down the mountain, Boy's Mom saw a little lacy Cedar that I fell in love with. So, Boy cut it down for me and now I am the proud owner of the cutest Cedar Christmas tree that you have ever seen! It makes me so very happy.

This is Boy fixing the air in his Dad's truck tires. 

When we got back, Boy began to practice his song for that evening's Christmas Program for his grandparents. I helped the twins memorize "Twas The Night Before Christmas" and then I practiced my song, O Holy Night. 

That's Boy. He plays the piano EXTREMELY WELL.

This little artistic festival was followed by some extremely fun shooting... of shotguns that is. Then we did the most amazing thing and rode the horses. Sadly, I do not have visual documentation of either one of these events because, quite frankly, having my iPhone out at every second, taking pictures was obnoxious and rather boring. I was enjoying myself too much. Anyway, before I got on my horse, Boy and his Dad took the horses around the pasture and something happened that stopped my heart and yet taught me a lesson all at the same time. So you know that saying "Get back on the horse"? Yes, well, I know it well and if he didn't before (which is doubtful) Boy definitely learned that it is the best thing to do. Boy was bucked off the horse he was riding. Not that his horse was a bad horse, he just got a little rile d up but, man oh man was that the slowest five seconds of my life. Watching Boy fly off the horse like that was scary but then something super awesome happened. He popped up off the ground and got back on his horse. So, a simply thing, right? Um, not to me. That lesson of getting back on the horse was taught to me, quite literally, by Boy and he didn't even know he was doing it. (Aside from "life lessons" Boy is actually a very good teacher.)

After riding the horses around the pasture a few times, we decided to go in and thaw before dinner. Even though I had been looking forward to riding horses and shooting guns from the moment I found out they were part of the plans, I have to say that Friday night was my favorite night of the whole entire break. 

It's tradition in Boy's family to have a Christmas Program and Prime Rib Dinner the day after Thanksgiving. They come together to kick off the Christmas season and it was the most touching, spiritual, simple gifts that anyone could have given me, to let me stay and experience that with them. 

For this Christmas Program, Boy played the song The Holy City, his grandpa's favorite song. The the twins recited "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Then I had the privilege of taking part in this program by singing O Holy Night. It is one of my favorite Christmas songs and as I sang I prayed. I prayed that I would be allowed to take with me the spirit of Christmas that everyone else had brought to the program and I thanked the Lord for allowing me to share my talent with a family who had shared so much with me and hoped that it was enough. 

After the program, we ate dinner (and more pie!) And as another part of their tradition, we watched last year's Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. Last year they featured David Archuleta and Michael York. As we listened to the songs and the stories, I couldn't help but feel the everlasting peace that comes from knowing that Jesus Christ came into the world "not to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."-John 3:17 Christ came unto this world, not with the loud trumpeting of heavenly hosts or with fanfare and parades. He came, born of the Virgin Mary, humbly; born in a lowly manger stall surrounded  oxen and lambs. He who would suffer for me in Gethsemane, He who would be hung on a cross on Calvary, He who would rise again overcoming death; His life began humbly, quietly, peacefully in a manger. My heart filled with the overwhelming knowledge that Christ lives and loves me and that even for just a weekend, I was blessed to be able to spend a time of Thanksgiving with a wonderful family who shared their home, their talents and their love with me, a stranger. 

Christ lives and He loves you and me. That is what I am most grateful for.