I've been meaning to post Dan's Thanksgiving journal entry and I finally am! Enjoy!
11/26/10- "What a fantastic last mission Thanksgiving! Now onto next year when I'll be home! :) I'll write all about my day yesterday... we slept in until 7:30am which felt soooo good since it was a complete non proselyting day! The 1st thing I did was run to my boxes to open them!!!! Just WOW! I can't describe how grateful I am for all the love that my family sent!!! :) It was such an awesome package! They out did themselves! I'm gonna write about all I got!!! A "Spirit of Christmas" puzzle (gosh, what a surprise!! That was sooo cool to get! I can't wait to start it!! I never would have thought of that! :), a classic advent calendar (just how I remember them!! I can't believe they thought of this idea because I've though of having an advent calendar these days! I didn't even think of it last year. I love this one! I know I mentioned a Toy Story one but don't worry about that anymore because I have this classy one! So magical! It's hanging on my wall now next to my desk! :), a Christmas tree tie (!! I love it! Today is the day they're cutting down the tree!! :( I'm missing out. That's so classic! I'm wearing the tie today in honor of the tree farm :) I can't wait to be there next year! I haven't been there for 3 years! :( I'm even listening to John Denver and the Muppets right now because I always drove up with OE and this is what we always listen to!!! So many memories :/ :), new CDs (!! The new Josh Groban CD! I love it and I've already listened to it!! And the Thanksgiving instrumentals! I listened to that yesterday too and it's classic! Thank you!! :), a back scratcher (feels sooo good! Thank you! I love that! :), classy fall Snoopy hot chocolate mix!! Perfect! I'm gonna make some tonight in my Hump Day mug! Yummy!! :), pumpkin bread made by Jenny (!! so delicious! I put it out on the counter for everyone to share and they loved it and were thankful!! I love this house... they really appreciate nice things! Elder Estes even saved a plate and napkin for his memory box :) and so did I! I put all those classic plates, napkins and cups out with the bread for everyone to use and they're sooo cute and classic! They're so funny and Thanksgivingy too!! :) Thank you for making my Thanksgiving sooo festive!!), new gloves (Man! Perfect timing!! We've been out in the snow and I've been gloveless and so cold! Not anymore! My parents are so on the ball!! Thank you! They fit perfect and are so warm and cozy! Yay! :), Classic chocolate turkeys for everyone here (they actually all loved/ate them! They said "thank you brother and sister Taylor!" :) They were grateful and said I have the nicest parents ever... which is true!!! Thank you for everything and for being the BEST!!), such fun/cute Thanksgiving cards from everyone that all went together (!! That was so fun, opening each one and guessing which Thanksgiving icon could be next! I loved those! :) So classic!!), a Thanksgiving children's book ("I knew an old lady who swallowed a pie"... so funny/classic! I've never read that one! It will be timeless! Thank you for adding to the collection!! :), 2 amazing Hollister shirts (!! I love these!! What a cool idea to put a hood on a button up!!! Who was the one who found these!? They're so festive/fallish/winterish too!! They even fit perfect!! I wore the red one to the turkey bowl football game :) awesome!!! Thank you!!) and last but not least, my niece/nephew/mommy project!!!!! I loved it! It's on my wall now! So classic! I love how I'll have these all forever!! They're so special to me! It's genius! Thank you just soooooo much for all the work you put into all this!!!! Oh my gosh! I can't even thank you enough! Incredible! I then opened my amazing Brita package!!! :) Hmmmm!! I love her so much!! Thank you!!! I already went through each thing with her in the letter I wrote her but I'll write all the fun things she sent!! A Little People Thanksgiving set, stuffing and cranberry sauce, body wash, a Thanksgiving tie, a Christmas Cookie car air freshener, Josh Groban's Christmas CD, a Yankee Candle Be Thankful candle, a Thanksgiving soundtrack, Thanksgiving napkins, nice new socks, M&M's, gum and Vitamin C supplements!! Along with an adorable turkey card she made!! Hmmm! Thank you! Thank you! How did I ever get a girl like Brita!?! She takes such amazing care of me!!! Thank you all again SO much!!! After opening my packages we headed to the turkey bowl missionary football game in the freezing cold/snow. I'm glad I didn't play! Everyone else mostly was pumped about it though. Everyone was going crazy! We pulled up blasting "Eye of the Tiger" lol. Some other Elders and I (who didn't feel like playing) went to the mall (classic!!) and to a church building where I played the piano and the others played games. We all met back at the field after they played for ever 3 hours and then went home. I enjoyed my presents more and spent time organizing it all and then started my letter to Brita. We just chilled inside for the rest of the day and listened to my new tunes! We played Settlers of Catan (so fun!) and then I got ready for our 5pm dinner at the Moon's! I even wore my Brita Pilgrim hat tie!! :) It was such a funny/classic dinner. Tons of people and we were the only white people! I'll never forget it! What a night! Sooo much food! Everything was really pretty tasty but no mashed potatoes!!! :( They had rice instead. Oh well. We had turkey, ham, stuffing (which was actually really good!! I was impressed :), gravy, rolls, veggies, "greens" lol, cranberry sauce, different puddings and yummy candied yams/apples with marshmallows on top! Now that was good. It was overall traditional! Very tasty. I felt very blessed and grateful to be somewhere so generous to share their Thanksgiving with us :). It was so funny! It was a good time and I was stuffed. I had pumpkin pie to top it all off! Nice. I could not move. We shared a thought and took a picture with them :). We made some other visits to families that we know just to say hi and then came home around 7pm. We played Liar's Dice (with Pirate music in the background lol) and i was sooo stinkin fun! We played like 5 rounds. We had a blast. We played Settlers again, listened to more Christmas tunes/ Robby T (everyone loves Rob!) and got ready for bed :(. Thanksgiving was over. It was such a good one though and a classic memory now! It made me so happy but I miss my family sooo much! Pretty soon the tree will be up, Muppet Christmas carol will be on in the family room, the fire will be blazing and they'll be working on popcorn and cranberry strands while drinking hot chocolate ;). Next year! Love you all!!! Bye!!! XOXOXOX"
