Darrel L. Hammon
Another Thanksgiving approaches us, a time to give thanks for all that
we have, especially those things that have happened to us this year.
First and foremost, I am thankful for Joanne! She is a stalwart and
very forgiving. We now have been married for over 36 years, and I am thank each
and every day for her. She is the most incredible woman I know who does
everything for me and for our family—and always has.
I am thankful for my two daughters, Anna Rose
and Hailey!
They are
incredible young women with incredible talents, which they received for the
most part—thankfully—from their mother. But Joanne and I both know they were
blessed from on High with these gifts and talents. We are proud of them. Thanks to Christiaan and Joseph for being good husbands to our daughters and good fathers to our grandchildren.
I am thankful for my grandchildren! Our four are the cutest and the
most intelligent of all grandchildren. We watched Emiline start first grade...
a
nd
William
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| William at Grandma/Grandpa Hammon's house |
and Clark in preschools this year.
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| Clark ready to go to his first day of preschool |
What they are all learning
transcends my own early education. I didn’t even go to kindergarten, and here
are William and Clark in preschool at age three, and this is William’s second
year.
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| Avonlea, Darrel, and Joanne in Concordia, Kansas |
We are thankful for technology! With Hailey and Joseph with Clark and
Avonlea living 14 hours away, we utilize one of God’s greatest gift to
grandparents—Skype—a lot. We can have incredible conversations with them. Plus,
with our i-Phones, we can send them videos and talk to all of them. We enjoy
sending video clips of ourselves singing happy birthday or just saying hello to
all of our children and grandchildren.
I am thankful for modern medicine! During this past year, I have broken
my ankle and had a couple of medical procedures done. I am so thankful I live
where we do and have competent medical people.
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| Abby, Frederico, Frederico's Mother, Darrel in the DR at the ADR |
We are thankful we can volunteer at the Volunteer Care Clinic in south
Provo! Where else can you work with medical personnel and students who spend
almost four hours each Thursday in helping those who are most in need?
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| Joanne taking blood from a patient at the Volunteer Care Clinic |
I am thankful for my job at Utah Valley University (UVU)! I am having a
good time being an educational entrepreneur once again. There is something to
be said for helping people, including business and industry, find what they
want educationally and then helping them to achieve their goals. More importantly,
I work with the best people.
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| William with grapes |
I am thankful I can read and write! Each time I sit down and read a
book or write an essay or even in my journal, I thank all those elementary teachers—Mrs.
Williams, Mrs. Poole, Miss Bowman, Mrs. Jeppsen, Mrs. Parks, Mrs. Eames, and
others who taught me the fundamentals of reading and writing.
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| My first children's book |
I am thankful I can speak Spanish! My experiences on the potato farm,
in Chile, in the Dominican Republic, and in every job I have ever had have
aided my Spanish. When I speak it, most people understand me. This is
definitely a gift from my Heavenly Father, and I need to use it every single
day.
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| Missionaries from the Chile Concepción and Osorno missions |
Another Thanksgiving approaches us, a time to give thanks for all that
we have, especially those things that have happened to us this year.
