The Family Reunion

On the 4th of July weekend when the rest of you were shooting off fireworks and having a barbeque, I was up in the woods with 60 other Thackerays from all over the west coast. We had the once-every-three-year family reunion. I do have to say that the event was successful for a number of reasons. First, and foremost, is that I never step foot in the kitchen and as a result the food was delicious. We also had the annual horseshoe contest and the winners really were the most atheletic in the bunch, so everybody was fine with it.

One of the major activities we did was a trivia book on the many missions served by those in the family. In the last three generations there have been over forty, which I thought was pretty impressive. If you want to see the activity book, I'll post it on my website, http://www.christinethackeray.com/. You may be able to adjust it for your reunion if you're planning one. The next night we played jeopardy, using alot of the information they learned from the activity book. It turned out to be a great night.

Marcus is Going To Albania!

Marcus came home a semester early from BYUi so that he could earn money for his mission. We require our children to earn half their money because first, we believe if they earn it, they will most likely take more responsibility for it- and with five boys.. well.

It is hard for a young man who is chomping at the bit to have his own life to bend to 11 pm curfews, lights out by 9pm, and no Wii on school nights. But Saturday brought those days to a close. The big envelope arrived and the family gathered around to find out where their big brother would be for the next two years.

He ripped open the thick manilla paper and began to read slowly aloud when his ten year old sister Sarah looked over his shoulder and called out "Albania."

"Where is Albania? What language do they speak? Do we know anyone that has been there?" I drew a total blank about this country and ran to the internet. Putting it in a Google search, I pulled up the CIA factsheet. Marcus was still trying to read his acceptance letter, and I began throwing out facts for all to hear.

In 1992 Albania ended their communist rule (later than Russia?)... high unemployment, widespread corruption, organized crime networks and political opponents... dilapitated physical infrastructure... inter-ethnic tension. I scrolled down and found out it is beautiful, right by Greece and on the Adriatic sea but then I read about tsunami's and devastating earthquakes, deforestation and water pollution.

At this point I think all excitement had gone out the window. I should have stopped but I wanted to hear something Albanian so I did another search and found some Albanian movies so we could hear how the language sounds. The only problem is unemployment is such a huge issue that every site I looked at had a lot of "questionable solicitations around them." Apparantly that is another issue. Finally, his younger brother, Camron said, "Mom, the prophet probably saw that he was a 5' 7" 300 lb. football player and went, 'We need him in Albania!'"

It is actually a relatively new mission. How exciting to be able to share the gospel message with someone that has never heard anything about it. I'm sure it will be a wonderful time but as his mother, I can tell you, his faith will not be the only one increasing. With a lot of prayers and a little nail biting, I'm sure it will be wonderful, but do you think it is against mission rules to send a kevlar vest? What if it is black or dark blue?

A New Year's Curse

I have a friend from Chile who has spent the last week feverishly cleaning her house. In her country there is a tradition that however your house looks on New Year's Day is the way it will look like most of that coming year. Well, we had a wild day yesterday. My husband was working and I was trying to update my website but it wasn't going well. Meanwhile, the kids were running to the park, playing with friends and watching TV. I totally lost track of the time and when my husband walked in the door, I suddenly looked up and realized we were already late for a party. We got the kids cleaned up and ran out the door, leaving a tornado behind us. So I guess I'm cursed to spend the next year up to my armpits in piles of old school papers, dirty socks and sneakers, and cast off jackets and scarves.

Luckily, I don't believe in curses. I'm actually looking forward to wonderful things happening in the next year. My second son who will be leaving on a mission (the first is still out.) Another son will hopefully finish his Eagle and go off to college. The other kids are doing well in school. I'm going to have my first book published and my second book has already been accepted (if I ever get the rough draft done.) Lastly, I am surrounded by wonderful people in a new area of the country and hope to continue to meet new people both professionally and socially.

It looks to be a great year. Now if I can just get a a corner of my desk cleared off... oh, well. Maybe I do believe in curses.