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St. George Utah

Thanksgiving in New Parish – Part 3

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Between the turkey and pie, I hope everyone has to opportunity to take a moment and think about what they are thankful for today and every day. We live in such a wonderful time, where we are very blessed and have so much…

 

 

Excerpt from Return to New Parish:

Chapter 13 – Let’s Talk

“That morning as they made their grandmother’s cinnamon rolls Sarah hit on exactly what Hannah had been feeling, “This is it. Day after tomorrow they all go back to Georgia and we go back to normal life,” she sighed.

“Yeah, the time goes by so fast it’s like we just get together, then it’s time to go,” Hannah nodded. “It’s the same every year.”

“I’m going to invite Bren and Beth out for Christmas,” Sarah informed. “Mom and Dad will be on their cruise, Dave and Paul always go to their in-laws, so really they won’t have anyone to hang out with over Christmas. Beth usually goes to Bren’s and they have a big deal with Bren’s in-laws, but she doesn’t have in-laws this year. So, maybe they’ll come out here. Do you think Uncle Alex will help out again?”    

“It’s a great idea,” Hannah pondered aloud. “I don’t know, probably. I’ll ask him.”

“Cool,” Sarah smiled. “Thanks.”

Later that day, after the feast had been feasted upon, Hannah found Alex hid away in his man cave. He was resting in his chair. His head was positioned on the back of the chair, his hat covering his face, with his feet stretched out in front, one cowboy boot crossed over the other. Hannah knew this posture well by now, he was resting, but not unapproachable.

“Hi,” she spoke quietly as she entered the room.

Alex moved his hand slowly to push his hat out of his way, “Hi,” he smiled easily at her.

“You tired?” she asked. Moving toward him and taking her usual seat on the arm of his chair.

“No ma’am,” he winked. “I’m stuffed.”

Hannah chuckled, then said, “Hey, can I ask a big favor?”

Alex sat up in an attempt to be more attentive and answered, “Yes.”

Hannah took a deep, steadying breath and began, “So, Sarah is going to invite Bren and her kids, and Beth out for Christmas. They’d be staying over at her place.”

Alex nodded at this information and looked as though he were waiting for the favor to be gotten around to.

“The thing is, Bren might not have much money right now, after her ex-husband harpooned her finances. So, I was wondering if we can get them to come out. Can you help with getting them out here? And, by help, I mean, can you pay for it?”

Alex chuckled softly and nodded, “Yes, ma’am, if they want to come out for Christmas, I’ll pay for it.”

“Thank you!” Hannah said excitedly and leaned in to give him a hug.

He reciprocated and said, “You know, I don’t know if you noticed or not, but it’s getting more and more difficult to think of you in a sisterly way.”

Hannah gave into a total giggle fit and wished he hadn’t. That could have been a moment to move their relationship forward, she lamented later.

The next morning Hannah was busy helping everyone get packed and ready to leave early the next morning. It was a linear procession of, “I can’t find my…” to, “Are you sure everything’s going to fit in there?” But eventually everyone was sitting on ready and sort of spreading out to explore options.

By the afternoon her parents were gone over to visit with Brother Michael, Dave and his family were over at Max’s ranch taking riding lessons, Paul was sequestered in his rooms with his wife who refused to leave them and wanted him to tend their little boy, and all the sisters Sarah, Brenda, and Beth were at Hannah’s apartment to visit and eat leftovers. Brenda’s kids and Liam and Cassie were watching Disney movies, which gave the sisters time to really talk and catch up on what was going on in each other’s lives.

“Liam and Sebastian are becoming really good buddies,” Hannah observed.

“They really are,” Brenda agreed. “Sebastian needs that, he’s never really had friends, mostly he just gets bullied at school.”

“Bummer,” Sarah looked concerned. “What are you doing about it?”

“I’m really thinking about home school,” Brenda sighed. “I don’t know really, I’ve talked to his teacher, but she’s got so many kids in her classroom till it’s hard for her to keep eyes on him all the time. Being out here has been really good for him, and that little Liam is scrumptiously adorable.”

“I agree,” Hannah smiled with a bit of pride in her boy.

“Okay, so,” Sarah began, “I want to invite you and Beth out for Christmas. Hannah’s already talked to Uncle Alex and he’ll pay for you guys to come out. You’ll be staying over at my place. Sebastian and Liam will have loads of time to play, and we’d love to have you guys here for Christmas.”

“Wow, really?” Beth replied, looking shocked.

“Yeah, so what do you say?” Sarah encouraged.

Brenda smiled, now looking very happy, “I’m in!”

“Cool!” Sarah and Hannah chimed.

All the attention turned to Beth, who was doing the Mom thing and trying to ignore the offer.

“Come on Beth, what about it?” Sarah tried to encourage her. “Sisters together for Christmas, it’s been a really long time since that’s happened.”

“Okay,” Beth said softly. “But I’m not going to be the one to tell Mom.””

 

Find Return to New Parish, New Parish, and Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Worthington/e/B00E6622QO?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1569181539&sr=1-3

   

Thanksgiving in New Parish – Part 2

Thanksgiving is always steeped in tradition. Each family has their own traditions, such as what food is cooked and how it is cooked, activities that are a must for the day, and of course as much family and friends included as possible. It’s really all about love, relationships – and sharing the work!

In this next part of Hannah’s family’s Thanksgiving in New Parish you’ll learn some more about some of their traditions.

 

Excerpt from Return to New Parish:

Chapter 13 – Let’s Talk

“The next morning’s early start was the usual, Hannah and Sarah making their Grandmother’s cinnamon rolls, as per tradition. This time was a bit different, though. The big house kitchen made it easy to navigate, and of course Sarah had Parley with her.

Parley seemed very interested in what they were doing, Hannah dipped her finger in the icing just a bit, and gave him a taste. He got very excited and very animated with both his hands and feet moving rapidly. Sarah gave her a serious scowl.

She shrugged and winked at Parley, “Who’s your favorite auntie?”

He let her know his feelings with a big smile.

It didn’t take long for everyone to arrive on the scene and begin the traditional eating of the cinnamon rolls and meal prep in synchronicity. Hannah noticed her mom looking around often as they worked through the morning.

She began to feel a little uneasy thinking maybe she’d forgotten something important, so she asked, “Is something missing? What are you looking for? Maybe I can help find it?”

“I’m not looking for anything,” Samantha deigned.

“It’s just that, I see you looking around like you’re looking for something,” Hannah explained, feeling confused.

Samantha waved her hand in front of her as if to clear something away and went on with the food prep.

Sarah chuckled from behind Hannah and she turned to see what Sarah was laughing about. “She’s looking for Uncle Alex,” Sarah accused her mother.

“I most certainly am not!” Samantha defended herself, but couldn’t hide the guilty look.

“Oh,” Hannah sighed, catching on, “He’s not here. If, you were looking for him, he’s out till this afternoon.”

“Looking for another wife, I suppose,” Samantha scathingly accused.

“Ha!” Hannah returned. “He wasn’t looking when he got me, so I doubt it. He took Buck and some of the guys over to help out a fellow who’s had some hard times. You know, do some home repairs, mend fences, stock the pantry, stuff like that.”

“Mmm,” Samantha shrugged, “I’m still bewildered as to why you would marry a man old enough to be your grandfather. Even if things were perfect, and he’s not, you’d still not have very many years together,” Samantha sighed in frustration.

“She has a point,” Brenda shrugged. “With Sarah and Max the age difference isn’t that much. But Hannah, really, your guy is substantially older.”

Hannah’s thoughts went instantly to her friend at BYU, “Yeah, there’s an age difference, but it doesn’t matter to me. I think he’s awesome and amazing. Besides, you remember my friend, Helen. She came home with me a few years ago, she was a couple of years ahead of me in school. She was 21 and her husband had passed away a couple months before. They were the same age,” Hannah sighed. “They met their first year at BYU. He was so cute, very handsome, they had fallen in love immediately. He was sweet, kind, and really perfect. They were perfect together, so happy. Till his headaches got really bad. He went to the doctor and yeah, brain cancer, inoperable. Three months later all Helen could do was hold his hand and watch him die,” Hannah sighed again.

Silence settled on the room as Hannah finished telling about Helen. She noticed a sad smile on Sarah’s face, and how her mom was pretending what Hannah had said didn’t affect her at all.

To Hannah’s surprise her Dad spoke breaking the silence, “Sammy,” he began slowly, “You need to leave Alex alone. He’s a good man, and he loves our Hannah. And even more importantly Hannah needs him.”

Hannah wanted to run over to her dad and give him a huge hug, but she knew it would cause trouble with her mom. So she mouthed a silent, “Thank you.”

David winked and nodded, then went back to breaking beans.

Her mom continued to pretend nothing had been said.

When all the work of the day was done Hannah resisted the urge to grab another biscuit as she put them in the fridge for the next day’s work. They always made loads of them for the dressing, but Hannah liked them with a little butter and sometimes a little jam, it was a weakness.

Everyone was heading out for ranch tours, everyone except Samantha. They were going to take turns flying over the ranches and New Parish. All this was to happen before the traditional pizza and charades later. Dave and Sarah were already doing a bit of “clean” trash talk about who was going to win, Hannah had found that very entertaining, all day.

When everyone was gathered back together that evening, TVs were set up in the sitting room off of the kitchen for the kids to watch movies and play video games. Alex’s staircase room was the designated charades room, he hadn’t winced much at giving up his man cave for a couple of days.

There were five teams this year, the scoreboard was a large white board set up in front of Alex’s bar. This was the first time Hannah had her own team. She’d always known it would happen and now that it had, it felt even better than she’d thought it would, “A little weird,” she thought, “But, cool.”

Teams were divided up thusly: David, Samantha, and Beth. Her parents had always claimed Beth for their team because she was the book worm extraordinaire, she was also a librarian and had vast knowledge of all things literature.

They thought it gave them an advantage, Hannah thought it only gave them an advantage when the charade was about some old book or Shakespeare.

The next team was Dave and his wife Tabitha. The third team was Paul and his wife Margie. Next was Sarah’s team, which included Brenda, along with Max, of course, and Myra, and Del. Lastly was Hannah’s team, with her, Alex, Patty, Hope, and Cilla.

Once everyone was in the staircase room, numbers were drawn by the team captains to see what order the teams would present. Dave drew the number one, and smirked at Sarah, who rolled her eyes and drew number three. Hannah’s parents got number two, Paul got four, and Hannah drew five.

As Dave went to the charades bag, sitting on the center table, to draw his first challenge from it, Hannah noticed Alex sitting back relaxed looking amused. She had to smile…

Dave groaned a bit when he pulled the old strip of paper from the bag, then walked over to the designated charades spot at the end of the sitting area. He looked at it again as if he was wishing the words had changed, then placed one hand under his chin to accent his mouth opening as his other hand was behind his back acting as though he were moving a lever up and down. The room was silent with a lot of questioning looks on many faces.

Dave stopped this action and then did something very un-Dave like. He tip toed around with his hands pretending he were daintily holding onto a short skirt.

Everyone burst out in laughter and Myra shouted, “The Nutcracker Ballet!”

Dave sighed and nodded, “Thanks for ending that.”

Sarah jumped up triumphantly and went over to the scoreboard and put a tick mark under her team’s name.

David was next, and pulled out another old looking piece of paper. He slowly unrolled it and stoically read it. Then he looked at the back wall as if in deep thought and his eyes return to the slip of paper. With a sigh, he moved over to the presentation spot. Holding out both hands with a questioning look, he then pointed at himself.

“Who am I?” Beth spoke quietly.

David nodded and began to act very strangely. First, he squatted down and stood back up using his hands in a rising motion. Then he started strutting around like a bird with its chest puffed out. Then he opened his mouth as if he were singing, but with no sound coming out.

The audience went from watching intently to uncontrollable laughter in rotating intervals. There was also rapid whispering among the teams as they tried to figure out the answer.

He returned to the squatting and standing, but this time instead of the rising motion with his hands, he looked as though he were holding them purposefully low and then high. Then he began to pretend he were walking up stairs. After that, he pointed to his chin, and pulled at the loose bit underneath his chin to accent the extra part.

Hannah was at a complete loss, so she just decided to sit back and enjoy the show. She could overhear Sarah’s team whispering about a singing farmer and her Mom and Beth saying something about Fiddler on the Roof, but to her it was just hilarious.

Finally, Myra said, “Tevye?” 

As per the rules David still couldn’t speak, so he held up his index finger on each hand, put them together and then apart.

“Oh,” Samantha said, “that’s only part of the charade.”

“How many words?” Sarah asked.

David held up seven fingers and began to dance around like a bird and as though he were dancing around a large pole.

“Tevye, If I were a Rich Man,” Beth asked tentatively.

“Yes!” David said, exhaustedly.

Sarah stood and looked as though she were scared of what the bag might do to her. She grabbed the bag by the top and shook it really good, looking as though she hoped all the hard ones would be shaken down to the bottom. She drew a slip of paper that looked old and very worn, she sighed even before she unrolled it.

Stepping into the charades arena, Sarah turned to face everyone. Her face held a blank expression, she raised her hands to the top of her head with all fingers pointing up. Her expression changed to one that looked prideful and haughty.

Del asked, “Are you a queen?”

Sarah shook her head in the negative and held her arms up to show muscles and express masculinity. Then she pretended her hands were a book which she opened and closed several times as she pretended to read.

Everyone looked clueless so she changed her approach all together and began pretending to dribble a ball, then she suddenly jumped and pretended an epic slam dunk.

“King James!” Max shouted.

Laughter erupted throughout the room and another tick mark was added to Sarah’s team score.

Charades went late that night. David finally had to intervene and call it done for the night. Sarah’s team was ahead by five and Dave was not happy about it.

The next morning Hannah woke to her alarm blaring loudly and was very tempted to snooze it. Forcing herself up, she quickly showered, dressed, and ran down to meet Sarah, who was coming in the front door as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

That day progressed much the same as the day before, only different foods were made ready for the next day’s feast. There was only one incident, which was between Dave and Brenda. Hannah thought Dave should have known better. Brenda had always been able to promptly put him in his place, or the place she deemed he should be put in. They were running out of places to put the deserts and as they deliberated on where to store them, Dave snidely said, “Maybe we should just keep the best ones and toss the others.” To which Brenda replied, “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we were trying to solve a problem, I didn’t’ realize you thought it was a moment to be rude.”

Hannah had laughed so hard, not just at what Brenda had said, but at the expression on Dave’s face, which was priceless.

  When the work was finished for the day, they had every fridge in the house full to capacity, every counter top brimming, and five ovens filled with two turkeys and three hams.

Hannah lamented a bit over the smell of food throughout the house, it made her hungry all the time, no matter where she was.

Alex hitched up the big wagon and took everyone for a hay ride that evening before the pizza and charades. Hannah thought it was a really nice respite after the work and before the battle. Max brought his guitar so they sang songs as they rode along the old wagon trail. To Hannah this was a little bit of heaven, she could tell by the expression on Sarah’s face that she was feeling the same.

For the final tally in charades, Sarah’s team won by two points. Dave decided that he and Paul would merge teams for next year’s competition, “It’s only fair. You guys have more people on your teams, creating an unfair advantage over us two person teams.”

“Fine,” David allowed. “You guys can merge next year, but no more complaining this year.”

After her good night hug Hannah went to bed without full recollection of getting there. The alarm once again woke her before she was quite ready to be that way. Yawning, she rolled out of bed, although she was leftover tired, she was excited about the day. Thanksgiving had always been her second favorite holiday, just simply because she knew her family would all be together.”

Find Return to New Parish, New Parish, and Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Worthington/e/B00E6622QO?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1569181539&sr=1-3 

   

Thanksgiving in New Parish – Part 1

 

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful time of year! Today I thought I’d share some of the Thanksgiving activities that happen in New Parish. In Return to New Parish Hannah’s family all come out to New Parish for Thanksgiving due to Sarah’s baby Parley, having a little head cold. So, of course, there’s a cowboy flair to this year’s Thanksgiving…

 

Excerpt from Return to New Parish:

Chapter 13 – Let’s Talk

“The morning her family were to arrive, Hannah thought, the holiday arrangements had gone pretty smoothly. The only kink in the plans had been when her mom insisted that she and her dad would be staying at Max’s, not Alex’s. Hannah had shrugged that off with the smirky smile thinking, “Really, it’s dodging a bullet, the less time Mom and Alex spend together the better.”

            Hannah remembered finding a bit of extra humor when Alex had told her, Cilla, Patty and Hope, “We’ll put ’em in the South wing.”

            “Maybe no one else would think it’s funny,” she thought, “but I do.”

            That whole area was empty, putting her family in the South Wing for the Thanksgiving holidays was perfect. It was the South Wing part that had given Hannah the giggles. Her southern heritage had long been a source of both pride and embarrassment, depending on the situation or the topic. When someone would say something had “gone south” Hannah always felt a twinge of embarrassment, but when they would refer to southern hospitality there would be a little beam of pride shining from her.

            Hannah pondered the memory of telling her sister wives about how her family all worked together to make the meal, “The prep, and cooking, and clean up are hang out times for us. We’ve always done it that way.” She was relieved and grateful they had embraced, and even gotten enthusiastic about her family’s traditions.

            A couple of weeks before the family were to fly out, her Mom had sent out the list of ingredients and supplies they’d need for the dinner. It literally took that long to gather all the supplies. Hannah supervised the extreme overloading of the house pantry. It was a very large pantry, twenty foot by twenty foot, but, it was so full with all the Thanksgiving supplies till it looked a bit inadequate. Some stuff had to be stacked in the main house kitchen. Hannah and her sister wives had decided that using the main kitchen probably wouldn’t be sufficient for the monumental job ahead. So, they planned on using Patty’s, Cilla’s, and Hannah’s kitchens to compensate and would probably have to use Hope’s fridge too.

            Hannah felt like she needed to heave a sigh of relief and brace for impact at the same time, as she waited for Max to arrive with the South Wingers. About an hour before the plane was to arrive at the small local airport, Max dropped Sarah and the rest of the family off at Alex’s so they could be there to greet the incoming family. Everyone was excited to see everyone again, and for some it was the first time meeting, so there was excitement all around.  Even Del was there, feeling better, and looking a bit more plump.

             Alex had Buck and the boys on standby, to take the bags to the designated rooms. Hannah watched, at the side windows as Max’s van slowed to stop. The South Wingers began emerging from the van, and Buck and his crew began unstrapping the luggage that was attached to the top of the van.

            “So far, so good,” Hannah thought. Then she took a deep fortifying breath, “This is gonna be fun. I hope…”

            The next little while was full of hugs, kisses, and laughter. Everyone was shown their rooms, and given help with settling in, everyone except Samantha and David. Their things were left in the van. Hannah noticed her mom avoiding Alex, and Alex not minding.

            After the settling, they had lunch in the big kitchen. As they were finishing up with the meal David leaned over to Hannah and asked, “So, where are all those Palominos you told me about?”

            “In the stables,” she chuckled. “I can show you in a bit, after the dishes are done. Okay?”

            “Sure,” he smiled.

            “I can walk out there with you. If you want to go ahead out?” Alex offered.

            “Alright,” David nodded, getting up to follow Alex, “Thanks.”

            “You’re welcome,” Alex said leading the way out of the kitchen.

            Hannah didn’t worry about this matchup, she smiled, thinking, “It’ll be good for them to get to know each other.”

            After inventorying and assessing the supplies, Samantha gave Hannah her approval, “Looks like you got everything, Sweetie. We’ll get an early start on it in the morning.”

            “Yep,” Hannah smiled, feeling a bit proud of her new position in the Thanksgiving hierarchy. All previous years she’d been the gofer, the assistant, and the “go put this in the garage fridge person,” which she didn’t mind at all. She was sure those roles would resurface in the morning. These roles were all comfortable for her. This new role was much more stressful, but she liked it all the same.

            “I made tea so we can have a nice visit in the sitting room,” Cilla said as she joined them in the pantry. “It’s herbal,” she smiled seeing the look on Samantha’s face. “Mint, no caffeine.”

            “Oh,” Samantha’s expression still looked awkwardly uncomfortable as she nodded.

            “Come on Mom,” Hannah chuckled, “it’s not against the Word of Wisdom.”

            “I know,” Samantha said, trying to recover from her obvious awkwardness at having tea.

            “It’s really good,” Cilla smiled. “Del grows it in her garden, all organic.”

            Entering the sitting room Hannah noticed that it was an all girl tea party. She looked questioningly at Sarah, “Max took the kids and Dave and Paul out to the stables to see the horses.”

            “Ah,” Hannah nodded, sitting down on the sofa close to Patty and snagging herself a chocolate chip cookie.

            “Here Mom, take this chair,” Brenda got up from the armchair she was sitting in and took a seat next to Hannah. It was a tight squeeze, but she was a very petite person and made it work.

            “Thanks, Sweetie,” Samantha smiled.

            “So, Samantha,” Patty began the conversation. “Tell us about your Thanksgiving tradition. Why do you all get together and do this? I know there has to be an interesting story in it.”

            Samantha nodded and looked pleased, “My great grandparents were immigrants, from England. They came over in 1915, just as the war was beginning. They were very proud to come to America and become citizens.

            My great grandfather already had some family that had immigrated a few years before, so they had a place to come to. It was in August, and believe me, South Georgia in August is an experience. My grandmother said that her mother told her she felt like she was going to die from the heat that first summer. She didn’t, they survived, and became citizens just before Thanksgiving. So, for them it was a special time to celebrate every year, both being American and being grateful.

            My grandparents taught me that when a family works together, they are close and stay that way. Their family had always worked together, so that’s what my grandparents did. As things changed and the world evolved with different job opportunities becoming available – things other than farming. Well, they made sure there were still opportunities for the family to get together and work together. Over the years that work opportunity has become our Thanksgiving tradition.”

            “That’s so wonderful!” Hope said. “I’m glad we get to be part of it.”

            “Oh, me too!” Patty beamed. “Your Grandmother was right. Working together does bring people close.

            “Gran was an amazing lady,” Hannah sighed. “We called her Gran, but actually she was our great grandmother, we never got to meet our grandmother.”

            “Oh?” Patty queried.

            “She and my father passed away when I was a very young girl,” Samantha interjected. “I was raised by my grandparents.”

            “Oh, I see,” Patty nodded understandingly.

            Soon the tea party was over and everyone was back together. Hannah thought the whole house seemed to be alive with life and laughter, and noise. Later that evening was a true cowboy dinner with large rib eye steaks and baked potatoes from the grill and a huge cast iron pot of baked beans cooked over the fire pit. When Alex had said he’d take care of dinner that night Hannah had had full confidence in his abilities but was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. She watched as he and Max manned the grill, including Max’s older boys, teaching them the fine art of manly grilling.

            Hannah got a good laugh when her Dad commented on how good the steaks were and asked where Alex had gotten them. Alex smiled broadly and replied, “Fresh off the hoof.”

            Later that night all the kids were gathered to Hannah’s apartment for the traditional slumber party. All the nieces and nephews along with Liam, Cassie, and Bella were there. Even Rosie and Mia stayed which was a bit of a surprise to Hannah, but she was very pleased they felt that comfortable with her. There was popcorn, movies, and not much floor space when the dust of things settled.”

Find Return to New Parish, New Parish, and Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Worthington/e/B00E6622QO?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1569181539&sr=1-3

   

Hannah’s Thoughts…

We all have our own unique way of thinking about things. Sometimes we know we’re justifying ourselves, but, continue on anyways… Hannah has a lot to sort out, and sometimes she justifies herself too… But, she does have Sarah to keep her honest.

I love the relationship between Sarah and Hannah, I hope you all enjoy it as well!

 

Excerpt from Return to New Parish:

Chapter 6 – Things Change

            “Waking early the next morning Hannah did her best to swipe the vivid memories, of the annoying, recurring dreams, of the old cowboy and his horse, from her mind. She showered and dressed quickly so she would have time to go for a walk before the shopping trip.

            Pulling on her sneakers, she heard a light tapping on the door, it opened and Sarah said, “Hey, I’m glad you’re up.”

            “Oh, yeah, why?” Hannah queried with a “what’s up” look.

            “Mom, called last night,” Sarah said with a raised eyebrow.

            Hannah knew all too well what the raised eyebrow meant. It meant she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t. She also knew that if her mom had called things were about to change, for better or worse, things were going to change.

            Sarah continued, “She wanted to know how you’re doing and when you plan on heading home. You haven’t told her what you’re planning on doing have you?”

            “Um, no,” Hannah replied a little defensively. “I didn’t want to add any drama to my decisions.”

            “Coward,” Sarah accused her, bluntly.

            Hannah chuckled, “I’ll tell her, eventually.”

            “Han,” Sarah said firmly, “If you can’t tell Mom and Dad what you’re going to do then maybe you shouldn’t do it. This is a very serious commitment, you have to be all in.”

              “Fine, fine,” Hannah sighed. “I’ll call them tonight.”

            “Okay,” Sarah smiled, “We’re leaving at nine.”

            “Cool,” Hannah said as Sarah left her there to dread the call and the changes it would bring.

            Grabbing her coat, scarf, and gloves Hannah went outside. The gardens were all frost covered and when she breathed out there was a white mist where her breath touched the air. Everything seemed too quiet, nothing was moving, no wind, no sound to be heard from any direction. This made Hannah think of the old saying, “calm before the storm.” As she walked past the barn and toward the long driveway that led out of the ranch she wondered, if, there was an impending storm…

            Climbing up on the fence near the end of the driveway, Hannah sat on the top rail. She watched the cows in the pasture, they were standing still, almost like statues. “I guess it’s too cold for them to move around much,” she thought to herself. It was beginning to feel more and more like one of those surreal moments that don’t make sense till later, if ever. It felt almost like time were standing still and waiting for her to get the clue, but she just wasn’t getting it. “Maybe it’s this funk I’ve been in lately,” she pondered to herself. She couldn’t figure out why she was feeling the way she was feeling but decided it wasn’t a bad feeling so she would just file it away for now and sort it out later.

            The sky was starting to light up with a breathtaking array of pastel colors, Hannah sat there on the rail and watched the show. “Time’s not standing still,” she thought, “it’s moving wonderfully ahead.””

Find Return to New Parish, New Parish, and Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Worthington/e/B00E6622QO?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1569181539&sr=1-3

   

Dreams, Cowboys, and Horses…

 

As Hannah tries to process the bad thing that happened, she has a few unique dreams that give her some awkward feelings. In these dreams she gets unwanted protection from a cowboy she doesn’t want to think about much less get protection from. Feelings of frustration, annoyance, and anger mount as the dreams persist night after night…

Excerpt from Return to New Parish:

Chapter 3 – Palominos

            “Sleep came swiftly, and Hannah was back at BYU, it was like a stroll down memory lane. She saw her first boyfriend, Scott, the dream evolved into the night when she was going home from work – when she’d seen him with another girl. Hannah could feel the emotions starting to surface, then she saw a large golden palomino walking toward her with Alex James sitting on its back. He wasn’t smiling – he wasn’t teasing her. His face had a look of hardness she hadn’t seen in the waking Alex James, but his face also held an expression of care and concern. He stopped his horse between her and the scene that would have happened had her memory been allowed to continue.

            Hannah tried to shake herself from the dream, but only managed to shift it to another place. She could see a literal parade of guys that had tried to flirt with her while she was at BYU. They were all cute, charming, and smiling at her. Once again, the large palomino with its rider came between her and the scene.

            Hannah looked up at him, he held out his hand as if he wanted to help her up onto his horse. Hannah pulled back and the dream evolved into the night when she was at the restaurant with Mark, who had laughed at her and let her know she wasn’t good enough to be his eternal companion. She could see the scene before her, him sitting at the table waiting for her to join him, but this time instead of the palomino riding up with its cowboy, just the cowboy came.

            Alex James stood between her and the scene, the look of care and concern on his face was very evident now. Hannah was confused, “Why’s he here?” she asked herself. “And why would he care?” Again, he held out his hand as if to help her – she pulled away once more.

            The scene faded away… The restaurant was no longer the one she’d gone to with Mark it was the one she’d gone to with Nathaniel. Mark was not sitting at this table, – it was Nathaniel. Hannah felt so ashamed, she could hear the soft music and see the soft glow of the drippy candles dancing over the scene.

            Nathaniel sat there smiling at her, waiting for her to come over and join him. Hannah choked back some surfacing emotions, she could feel the fear, pain, and the nausea swelling up inside. As tears began to flow Alex James once again stepped into the picture, standing between her and the table where Nathaniel was sitting.

            “No!” she shouted as she remembered what had happened that night. The ever present whirlwind of emotions that always tried to engulf her when those memories emerged, anger, embarrassment, fear, and the deep sadness that felt like it was now attached permanently to her soul… She’d kept this secret buried deep inside herself, she’d only shared it with Sarah. He couldn’t know, “not him,” she thought, “He can’t be here.”

            Alex James again had a look of care and concern on his face, the ruggedly handsome face had lost all hardness. There was no teasing smile. The tenderness she saw in his face was almost overwhelming. This time when he held out his hand, Hannah took it, and ran to him. She was quickly wrapped in his strong arms. She felt safe… she hadn’t felt that way since the night she saw that little white pill dissolving in her drink.”

Find Return to New Parish, New Parish, and Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Worthington/e/B00E6622QO?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1569181539&sr=1-3

   

Return to New Parish Available Now!!!

Hannah’s journey has begun! Join her in her quest to overcome her fear, pain, and the terrible haunting of…

She finds many things in New Parish, the comfort of her sister, an annoying cowboy, horses, and finally her very own happily ever after… and peace.

Excerpt from Return to New Parish: The rest of Hannah’s ride…

Chapter 3 – Palominos

“A tapping sound in the distance brought her attention to the fence line on the other side of the stream. She saw a palomino horse that made her think of the one she’d seen when she was entering New Parish. The one the old cowboy rode to rescue the boy… the tapping sound continued as she tried to get a glimpse of the old cowboy. She half hoped to get to meet him, she had sort of envisioned him as a real life hero when she saw him that first day.

            Watching the horse stand there like a statue she almost wondered if it was real then she saw an old cowboy come around from behind it and put something into the saddle bags.

            “No flipping way!” she thought. “It can’t be him…,” but it was… Her heart sank as she realized it was, “It’s Alex James. That grungy, arrogant, old cowboy, that called me a red headed horse!” Her anger was on the rise once more.

            Hannah saw him push his hat back and wipe his forehead, then he stopped and stood motionless for a moment. He was looking straight at her, Hannah felt a flush of embarrassment flood through her. The instant thought, “Why didn’t I just ride on? Why did I stay here and watch him?” Hannah saw him hold his hand up high and wave.

            “Oh, grrrr!” she growled to herself, and pulling the reins, she turned the horse in the opposite direction, touched her heels lightly on Smarty’s sides. The horse instantly responded and the freedom of the ride was returning to Hannah’s heart.

            She could hear Alex James shouting something, but she was determined to leave him behind as quickly as possible. She glanced back over her shoulder in time to see him jump on that huge palomino and quickly ride back the other way, then run his horse straight at the fence he’d been repairing. The horse jumped it with ease and was barreling after her with incredible speed – to her shock and horror.

            “What the heck?” she thought, as she urged Smarty to go faster. “He must have some ego!” Hannah tried to suppress the fears and panic that were building inside her. Thoughts of, “What’s he going to do?” and knowing that she was on her own to defend herself out here in the middle of nowhere raced through her mind.

            She encouraged Smarty to run faster, but in less than a minute he was grabbing her reins and pulling the horse to a stop.

            “Whoa, there!” he shouted.

            “Leave me alone!” Hannah shouted back at him. “Let go! What’s your damage?!” She threw a wild punch at him, but missed, as he leaned back in his saddle and pulled her horse around.

            Hannah was desperately pulling her reins, trying to get away from him. Alex held onto her reins with a vice like grip.

             “Hold on there Lady,” he tried to calm her.

            “Let go!” Hannah shouted at him again, tugging hard on her reins.

            “No, ma’am!” he returned firmly. Alex pulled the reins and led her just a few feet away in the direction she’d been going, then he pulled the reins to stop the horse, “Look,” he said through clenched teeth.

            Hannah angrily looked at what he was pointing at, and almost fell off her horse. It was a deep sinkhole or gully that had obviously been washed out recently, but what made her a bit nauseous was that it was full of debris and jagged limbs.

            “We had a flash flood a couple of months ago,” the cowboy explained, still holding her reins. “It washed all this mess in here.”

            Hannah sat there on Smarty in shock, she knew that they would have been hurt very badly or worse if the cowboy hadn’t stopped her. She knew she wouldn’t have been able to see it in time to stop. The horror of what might have happened flashed through her mind then a wave of embarrassment washed over her. That embarrassment fueled her anger, completely overriding the fear that had been there previously.

            Hannah closed her eyes to block out the image of what could have been, took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. She turned to the old cowboy who was still holding her reins and looking at her with concern in his eyes, “Okay, thanks. Now will you let go of my reins please?” she said with as much calm as she could gather.

            Alex James returned her reins to her with an odd quizzical look on his ruggedly handsome face, as though he didn’t know quite what to make of her. Hannah took the reins and guided Smarty away from the deep hole full of jagged ominous looking branches and roots. She could see Sarah’s home in the distance, she touched Smarty’s sides with her heels and took off in that direction, this time she didn’t look back, she was very determined to put that incident behind her and leave it there.

            When she reached the barn Alex, Max’s son was holding a shovel and on his way in. He smiled at Hannah and said, “I’ll take her in for ya, Aunt Hannah, if you’d like?”

            “Thanks kiddo,” she said as she dismounted and handed him the reins.

            Once inside the house Hannah felt the need to talk to Sarah, so she headed up to her room – she knocked and waited. She didn’t want to walk in on something, so the old tap and enter from when they were kids was not an option.

            She heard Sarah say, “Come in.” So she opened the door and seeing the mess and disorder shook her head and laughed.

            “Hey,” she said, looking around the room. “Did you get more stuff or is this just the other stuff shifted around again?” she teased her sister.

            “I got more stuff,” Sarah said defensively. Then she chuckled as she looked over the mess of her sitting room that was going to be her nursery.

            “So, there was a thing while I was out riding,” Hannah tentatively began her exposition.

            “What thing?” Sarah asked with eyebrows raised as she reached for her chiming cell phone. After quickly reading the text she looked at Hannah with worry in her expression, “Okay, what happened? Max just text me wanting to know if you’re okay and if you got home okay.”

            Hannah could see Sarah replying to Max’s text and insisted, “I’m fine, I’m fine,” it was her turn to be defensive.

            “He’s saying that you almost rode into the sinkhole! And that Uncle Alex caught you just in time to stop you,” Sarah looked at Hannah accusingly.

            “Okay,” Hannah said, trying to play the events of her ride down, “So, this is what happened.” She plopped down on part of a sofa that wasn’t full of baby stuff, sighed, and continued. “I was riding near the stream and heard a tapping sound coming from the fence line that was just beyond the creek.” She waved her hands to show the direction of the fence, “I looked to see what it was and saw a big beautiful palomino standing on the other side of the fence, like a statue, then that guy came around the horse to put stuff in his saddle bags,” Hannah paused to make a face of disapproval and blow out a big sigh then continued. “I didn’t want to talk to him so I took off in the opposite direction and before I knew what was happening, he was jumping on his horse, jumping the fence, and chasing after me!” Hannah threw her hands in the air for effect and gave Sarah a “what the heck” look. “So I go faster not knowing what he was up to, he catches me and grabs my reins!”

            Sarah interrupted her with, “You didn’t punch him did you?” there was a pleading sort of begging tone to Sarah’s voice.

            “I tried!” Hannah defended her actions. “But he’s pretty quick for an old guy. Sheesh!”

            “Hannah!” Sarah shouted at her in exasperation.

            “I missed!” Hannah shouted back still trying to defend herself.

            “Hannah! He was saving your life!” Sarah shouted back.

            “I didn’t know that’s what he wanted to do!” Hannah shouted, “For all I knew he was going to do something else out there, with no one else around,” her voice trailed off. Quickly thinking of a way to refocus the conversation she asked, “Besides, if he’s so rich why is he out mending fences anyways? Can’t he afford to hire people for that?”

            “He’s a cowboy,” Sarah answered, with exasperation in her voice. “He’s always doing cowboy things. Yeah, he’s rich, but he’s very hands on.”

            “He’s very annoying,” Hannah shared her opinion of the old cowboy.”

Find Return to New Parish, New Parish, and Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Worthington/e/B00E6622QO?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1569181539&sr=1-3

Hannah’s Ride…

Return to New Parish is still on the way! Even though there’s been a slight delay, it’s still coming soon!

So, here’s some more info on Hannah… One thing everyone should know for sure about Hannah is that she loves horses. Below is part of a scene where you can get to know Hannah a bit more and begin to feel her love for horses… hope you enjoy.

Excerpt from Return to New Parish:

Chapter 3 – Palominos

“After things settled down with Sarah’s digestive system she suggested to Hannah, “Hey, why don’t you go for a short ride? You can ride my horse, she’s very nice and easy to ride, and really she needs some exercise, I haven’t been able to ride her in a while,” she encouraged.

            “Really? Sure! I’d love to!” Hannah replied eagerly.

            With help from Del, Hannah saddled Sarah’s horse, Smarty. Sarah stood in front of her and gently rubbed her nose while they were synching things up.

            “Why is she named Smarty?” Hannah asked, curious about the different name.

            Del laughed, “When she was born, she was so blonde you could see through her hair and her skin was sort of pink with light shades of blue. The kids were eating that Smarties candy with those colors in it, so Max named her Smarty.”

            Hannah laughed, “Wow, so are all the horses you have here, born here?”

            Del looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “I don’t think we have any now that weren’t born here, but really, you’d have to ask Max. I’m pretty sure if they weren’t born here they were born over to Uncle Alex’s… Oh yeah, Princess was born over at Uncle Alex’s. Her mother died giving birth, so Uncle Alex gave Max the foal for the kids to raise.”

            “Oh, wow that must’ve been fun for them,” Hannah replied, not wanting to say that was nice of the old cowboy.

             “It was, we all love that little horse,” Del smiled at her then said, “Okay, so you’ll be safe and not get lost if you don’t go past that rise.”

            Sarah continued with more parameters, “And there’s a creek over that way, don’t go past it, there’s a big sinkhole. That’ll be a good ride if you actually go to the creek,” she smiled at Hannah.

            “Okay, gottcha,” Hannah nodded, took the reins, and stealthily mounted Smarty, who instinctively started walking toward the open door of the barn.

            “Call if you have any trouble,” Sarah called after her, “I’ll keep my cell phone with me.”

            “Yes, Mom,” Hannah returned sarcastically and nudged Smarty into action.

Hannah directed the horse to the area where Sarah had said the creek was. She found an immediate harmony with the horse. At first, the nice gallop Smarty was putting forth was sufficient, but soon Hannah felt the need for speed. She gently touched her heels to the horse’s sides to see what effect that would have – it had the desired effect instantly. 

            Hannah had always felt like she was flying when she was on the back of a fast horse. It gave her a sense of power and freedom – this time was no different. She left all the pain and anger behind her and flew along the desert landscape beyond the grassy pastures where the lazy cows seemed indifferent to anything going on around them. On and on she flew, feeling so free she never wanted it to end, but alas, no horse can run forever, so seeing the creek in the distance she slowed the run to a gallop and surveyed the area. The creek wasn’t much more than a stream, trickling through a worn wash of land. There were some fences not too far from there, and prairie as far as she could see.

            She slowed the gallop to a slow paced lope and took a deep breath, she could feel her past trying to invade her mind again, as the escape she’d been enjoying started to wane. She was still on a high from her ride so the invasion didn’t have any serious impact.

            She followed the stream for a while, slowly taking in the beauty of the environment. The prairie was new to her and had many mysteries for her to discover. “Living in Utah for a few years isn’t the same as this place, neither was Savannah,” she thought. She sighed, taking everything in – this place not only looked different it had a different feel to it. The prairies surrounded by the varying shades of choral mountains gave Hannah a sense of shelter and peace, along with a rugged untamed freedom that was here. She felt unconstrained, liberated, no longer hemmed in to the pain and frustrations of her past. “This is good,” she thought to herself. “I really do like it here.”

While you’re waiting for Return to New Parish to launch you can check out New Parish, or Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com. Links below.

New Parish and Brigham Tea Magazine available on Amazon.com

New Parish on Amazon.com

Also available at:

Barnesandnoble.com

Bee’s Grocery (in Centennial Park)

Coming soon to many new bookstores!

Brigham Tea Magazine:

https://www.amazon.com/Brigham-Tea-Magazine-Julie-Worthington-ebook/dp/B07R92QJT1/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=brigham+tea+magazine&qid=1556905020&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Hannah’s New Friends in New Parish

Below is part of a scene where Hannah goes to have lunch with her new friends and they share some of their experiences with her. Hannah is getting ready to follow in Sarah’s footsteps, or at least she thinks she is… She’s curious about how things happened for her friends, and wonders about her own journey. So she asks, “How’d it happen for you guys?” She gets her answers in Return to New Parish… can’t wait for everyone to see what she finds out.

Excerpt from Return to New Parish:

Chapter 7 – Matching

““Hey, Miss Hannah! Come in,” Liam said, beaming at her with excitement.

            “Hi, Liam. Thanks,” she smiled at the little cowboy.

            “This way,” he said, leading her down the hallway toward the kitchen. “We’re having lunch at the kitchen table.”

            “Okay,” Hannah followed his lead.

            The kitchen was a familiar place that Hannah had really liked when she was there helping out for the Christmas party. A light, airy feeling permeated the room, which was due in part to the far wall, which was almost all large windows, the windows framed a large pair of French doors that showed off the gardens beyond. The other walls were an antique white color with little flecks of yellow, and many pale yellow wooden cabinets with glass fronts along with white trim and knobs. The spacious counters were white marble that had traces of gray every now and then. The huge double refrigerator had yellow wooden panels with white trim to match the cabinets. The kitchen table, which for anyone else would have been a dining room table, was already set for lunch. There was a green salad, pear with cottage cheese, finger sandwiches, and for desert a lovely bread pudding was sitting on a pedestal serving dish in the middle of the table.

            As Hannah walked into the kitchen, she heard Cilla shout excitedly, “Oh, Hannah! I’m so glad you could join us!”

             Hope and Patty and the girls echoed the greeting and there were hugs all around.

            After the blessing on the food and dishing up Cilla said, “I’ve been looking for someone to help Liam with his project for a while now. I’m so glad you can help him, he’s really very advanced and far beyond what any of us around here can do.”

            Hannah shrugged and smiled, “I’ll give it a whirl.”

            “Do you know a lot about computers and robots then?” asked Hope.

            “A fair bit about computers, I have two bachelor’s degrees in computer technology. One in programming, the other in networking, and besides that I took loads of extra classes,” Hannah tried to give her credentials without sounding like she was bragging.

            “That sounds like you’ll fit the bill then,” laughed Patty.

            Liam took over the conversation filling Hannah in on what the project entailed, which took a good thirty minutes. By the time he finished his outline of what he intended to do, they were already on the bread pudding. The bread pudding stopped Liam from giving further details because he was very involved in shoveling it into his mouth.

            This gave room for a change of subject. “So, are you planning on staying here in our little community, Hannah?” Patty asked as Liam occupied himself with the desert.

            “Yes,” Hannah replied. “I’m going to stay. I really do love it here, and I’ve already talked to Brother Michael about marriage and stuff.”

            “Oh, well, that’s exciting,” Hope responded. “I remember when I talked to the church leaders back when I was ready to get married. I was excited, but a bit scared too, not scared of being hurt, mind you, just of the unknown. I was very decided that I wanted to get married and have a family, but still it’s a big step.”

            “Me, too,” Patty agreed, “I remember talking to my parents and getting advice. And, praying, praying a lot!”

            “Yes, me too,” Cilla nodded. “I knew this is what I wanted to do and I was very excited about it, but still I was a little afraid. I waited until I was nineteen, then I told myself to get on with it!”

            “I’m a little nervous, but really very excited about it,” Hannah admitted. “How’d it happen for you guys? I know Sarah’s story, that turned out really great for her.””

While you’re waiting for Return to New Parish to launch on the 15th you can check out New Parish, or Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com. Links below.

New Parish and Brigham Tea Magazine available on Amazon.com

New Parish on Amazon.com

Also available at:

Barnesandnoble.com

Bee’s Grocery (in Centennial Park)

Coming soon to many new bookstores!

Brigham Tea Magazine:

https://www.amazon.com/Brigham-Tea-Magazine-Julie-Worthington-ebook/dp/B07R92QJT1/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=brigham+tea+magazine&qid=1556905020&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Hannah’s Journey Continues…

As Hannah begins to settle into life in New Parish, she finds that she’s still running from the emotional pain that she tried so hard to leave behind… When she finally tells Sarah what happened she receives some wonderful advice and support. Will Hannah find a way to heal from this deep wound? Will she be able to find peace? Only in New Parish…

Excerpt from Return to New Parish:

Chapter 2 – Cowboys and Horses

““No, you’re not damaged,” Sarah defended her little sister, “You’re hurt and shaken, but you’re not damaged. Just like any other wound this needs time to heal, take the time you need to heal and feel better. You’re strong and smart and you’re going to be okay!”

            Hannah heard the firmness in her sister’s voice, it gave her some strength and a little peace. Telling Sarah about what happened helped, but it also made the event very real in the now once more. A whirlwind of emotions tried to engulf her, anger, embarrassment, fear, and an overwhelming sadness that felt like it would never leave. She had kept it a secret, and tried desperately to bury it deep inside herself, but now it was on the surface and flooding her with pain.”      

Return to New Parish, coming soon!!!

Until then you can read Sarah’s story of finding her happily ever after in the first book in the series, New Parish. Brigham Tea Magazine also has a short story called, A Day in the Life of a Sister Wife, which catches the reader up on what’s going on in Sarah’s life…

New Parish and Brigham Tea Magazine available on Amazon.com

New Parish on Amazon.com

Also available at:

Barnesandnoble.com

Bee’s Grocery (in Centennial Park)

Coming soon to many new bookstores!

Brigham Tea Magazine:

https://www.amazon.com/Brigham-Tea-Magazine-Julie-Worthington-ebook/dp/B07R92QJT1/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=brigham+tea+magazine&qid=1556905020&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull