Trip to Fair

We had the opportunity to go to the Texas State Fair and were blessed to be safe and see many exciting things there.  Here are some photos from that day:


Enoch and Ryan at the petting zoo.


Arden at the petting zoo.


Leo in front of the chickens.


Tina and Sawyer (and Samara in background) at petting zoo.


Samaranara


Anna (Leo and Sawyer in background) watching the rodeo stampede show.



Enoch on the butterfly bench.


Tina and Ryan (and Enoch facing backward).

We love you!

Recent activities in the Texas Harrell home 16 Oct 2016

16 Oct 2016: Irving Ward divided into 2 wards. 

We attended a very special meeting today in lieu of sacrament meeting in which the Stake President presided and conducted. He announced that several wards in our stake are being adjusted in their boundaries based on prayer and revelation.  A new ward was created in the process and we had the opportunity to hear testimonies from the newly called Bishop's wife, him, and his counselors, as well as two Bishops who are remaining in their callings.  Tina and I and our family will remain in our current ward and retain our callings.

This afternoon, I gave a ride home to a recent convert who is going to need a lot of love and support as he joined the church contrary to his parents' and relatives' wishes and who is struggling with this condition.

I also had the chance to attend a new member lesson with the Elders at the home of a young man named Andrew and his mother.  He is 12 years old and his family is doing well in the gospel.

14 Oct 2016: Chances to Sustain Mommy

Today, we had planned to attend the Texas State Fair. I even was given the day off and some money from my employer to help us to go there.  We were all excited to go.  Then Tina received a call from a sister in our ward with a plea for help.  They were to be without a home that day unless a new home could be found.  We had planned to go to the fair in the morning and had even selected the various shows we would attend.  Tina let me know they needed help to move their belongings to a new hotel.  Our bishop had already given Tina a check for the family to use at a specific extended stay hotel.  We told the children we should be home in about 1 hour and Samara kindly watched over the children while Tina and I went to gather the family and all their belongings into our van and transport them to the new place.  Unfortunately, the hotel we brought them to was full with no immediate vacancies.  Since the check was written with the address of the hotel, and could not be transferred to another hotel of the same name in a different location.  This was a difficult situation for Tina because she felt so sorry for the children because we could not leave this family without recourse, but it meant that the children's expectations and hopes for going to the fair would not be realized.  We brought the family to McDonald's so they could have lunch, and then dropped them off at the library and went home where Tina and I gathered the kids together to explain what was going on.  Samara had let them know that due to the extended time we were away, that we may not go to the fair after all.  I explained about the situation and how Mommy and I had decided to help the family and not leave them alone, but that it meant we would need to postpone our trip to the fair.  Some of the children were upset and even complained about Tina's new calling.  But they soon calmed down.  Tina left to go get them and meet with the Bishop to get a new check to a different place.  I remained home and played with the children.

It was a hard thing for us to go through, but through it all, we knew we were serving the Savior.  In the end, we were able to play volleyball and spend a nice time together until she was able to come home and join us again for a family movie night.

I personally drew closer to my Heavenly Father as I prayed for His help for this family and for ours, and He answered that prayer by helping us to bear the burdens placed on our shoulders.

Birthday Greetings 2 Nov 2015

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMA

We hope you enjoy these photos. Some are from your recent trip and some are from Halloween.  We love you.

Kids at Halloween

Kids at Halloween again (boy at center is Tyler, grandson of Gus and Melissa)

Pop Pop and Arden at the Park Near Leana's Home and Other More Recent Photos

Here are some photos of the children, including some of Dad with Ardenita:

Pop Pop, Arden, and I went on a walk during our visit to Leana and DeLynn's home, and we took this photo.

Arden like to wrap her hair up in a towel like this.

Leo looking cool, not sure where this is.

 

Sawyer playing Samara's video game system (DS).

Samara making dinner; she does that on Thursday evenings.  Hey it's Thursday today, I can't wait!!!  She is taking after her mother by making delicous meals.

Tina, Sawyer, Anna, and Samara hanging out in family home room.

At the kitchen table.

Cute little girl in cute little glasses.

Mediocre-looking man in cute little glasses.

Beautiful princesses

Creation by Anna in nursery

Arden can make 3 french fries look really long, and like a mustache.  This was taken on a Daddy-daughter date recently.

Leo on a family walk/bike ride.

Anna enjoys riding her tricycle! Samara in background, and Sawyer too, but he is harder to spot.

the end

Lego Temple

Leo, Sawyer, and I had fun trying to build a replica of the Rexburg Idaho Temple out of legos.  Here is the finished product.

"Courage" by Samara

This is a writing assignment by Samara she made on 29 Jan 2013

Courage

Courage, the ability to conquer fear or despair.  In the song, "Nephi's Courage," it sings:
"...Nephi was courageous, this was his reply: I will go, I will do..." 

I feel courage is a good thing in our lives.  I think courage is whenever there is something you're scared of.  Whether it's something yucky or giant man-eating spiders, you go ahead, take the risks and brave it.  I also think courage is anything that is hard for you to accomplish and you do it anyway; that means you have courage when you brave the frigid air outside, or walk by the fence with the scare dog behind it.

Someone who I think is courageous is Corrie Tenboom.  During the world war two, she harbored a Jewish baby.  By way of a false wall in her bedroom, she courageously harbored many desperate Jews. One day a man came to Corrie's home pleading for 600 gilders, because his wife was in prison.  Corrie decided to give him the money.  He turned out to be a German spy, and later that day Corrie's home was raided.  Corrie and her sister Betsie were arrested and sent to a concentration camp.  Even though they were forced to labor all day and were exhausted in the evenings, they held secret Bible meetings with their Bibles they had risked concealing.  Later, after Corrie had been released she was speaking at one of her meetings when she spotted a man she remembered from one of the concentration camps, who had been a guard.  After the meeting, he approached her asking forgiveness; she courageously forgave him.

Corrie did something that was hard for her to do.  She also kept believing in God even though there were risks and she was living in impossible conditions.

The dictionary's definition states that courage is conquering your fears or despair.  My definition of courage is that courage is anything that is hard or scary for you to do.  The definitions are the same because they both talk about doing hard things.  They differ because  I believe that courage can be all things that are hard or scary; the dictionary says that courage is doing things that conquer fear or despair.

"Robot" by Samara

This is a picture that Samara drew for me some time ago of a robot.  After seeing her picture, Sawyer was inspired to create similar pictures, and Tina and I smiled to see how a big sister can inspire her siblings.