Moving Forward

The first 5 days of Shad's chemo are behind him.  He has done amazingly well and to quote one of the nurses, "handled it like a rock star."  He is still eating fairly well, drinking lots and acting like Shad.  We are all very pleased and extremely grateful.  He should now have a 2 week break and then start chemo again.

Today the big news was the possibility of everyone going home on Friday.  This is both exciting and frightening at the same time.  Shad's response to the announcement was, "No thank you. I will just stay here."    I think in some ways that would describe the oldest daughter's feelings as well.

While the hospital is not really where anyone wants to stay forever, it does come with it's perks.  It is a safe, isolated, somewhat predictable enviroment that is stocked with all the necessary supplies and conveniently located to all the doctors, medications and equipment that Shad might have need of.  It comes complete with trained professionals to handle any problems that may arise, consistent food delivery and a competent and entertaining cleaning lady to top it all off. Shad is enjoying the special order menu and almost unlimited movie watching time and the McDonalds in the basement is also a nice addition.

Performance expectations are pretty low for mom and Shad most of the time in the hospital. Mom has been handling her supporting role exceptionally well and has gotten used to the routine of just being the observer, cheerleader and hugger while the doctors and  nurses do their jobs. Going home thrusts mom into the driver's seat as primary caregiver and this job comes with a lot of unknowns and new responsibilities in addition to all of the usual household chores that will still need to be done.  It seems a little overwhelming even before you add in all the trips to the doctor that will be necessary.

CHANGE IS HARD (that's why the grandson has been wearing the same socks for 5 days now), but it's time to be moving forward and forward we will go.

Tomorrow I get to move forward all the way back to Arizona.  Leaving the hospital, ie. Shad and his family, is hard for me too.  Really hard.

Good news though while we are on the topic of moving forward.  We are proud of the son-in-law who found out this week that he passed the test to became an E5.  I'm not totally sure what all this entails, but it is a rank advancement that brings him more responsibility and more money and means he is moving forward in his chosen career.  Way to Go!

Today I am thankful

for a promised visit from Shad's friend Lily tonight.  It got him to do a lot of things he didn't want to do today.  I'm also thankful that he handled the disappointment well when Lily's mom and dad finally arrived, but without Lily. Apparently she got a runny nose and had to stay home.

for Kevin and Casey - I finally got to meet this infamous couple tonight and they are as wonderful as I had heard.  They came bearing gifts, a jar of pickles for Shad and a celebration cake for daddy complete with E (a backwards 3) 5 candles. They brought some needed frivolity and light into our evening and both of the treats were enjoyed immensely.

for insurance that pays for Shad's expensive medication and the equipment he will need to have in order to go home.

that Shad put his brace on and sat in a chair several times today.  Wearing the brace and becoming more mobile is the next big step for him and he was very brave even though it wasn't what he wanted to do.

P.S. While you are keeping your eyes peeled for an ambulance could you look for a moving van too?  They just might need one to get all the stuff home that they are accumulating.

On a Lighter Note

This evening we were all sitting in Shad's room doing our own thing when one of the hospital chaplains came to visit.

He talked for a few minutes and then asked, "Are you Christians?' and turned to the son-in-law for a response.

The son-in-law slowly replied, "Not ... really", and then went on to say something that I wasn't really listening to.

I was too busy thinking, "Wait, my son-in-law doesn't think we are Christians?  Hadn't he read all the articles on this topic?  Didn't he serve a mission?  Doesn't he listen to General Conference?..."

and then in a matter of seconds I understood what the son-in-law had heard and responded too.

Every doctor's visit, and there are A LOT of them, ends with the question,  "Do you have any questions?"

That is what the son-in-law had heard and "not ,,, really."  He didn't have any questions.

While the chaplain stood, with obvious concern, trying to decipher the son-in-law's response and determine where to go from there, I think I might have burst into laughter.

(I blame it on being cooped up in a hospital all day under a great deal of stress. I have no idea how the oldest daughter and the son-in-law do it so well day in and day out. It felt good to chuckle, so good that I was still laughing about it an hour later much to the son-in-law's consternation.)

We quickly cleared up the misunderstanding, declared that, yes indeed we are Christian, and then appreciated the prayer that the chaplain offered in Shad and his family's behalf.

ALL of the prayers that are being offered, by so many people of so many faiths, are felt and appreciated   by us.  They are what make it possible for us to laugh even in these difficult times

and laughing is good.

Today I am grateful for

laughter.

some of the "best possible news" we could hope for.

the opportunity to be here with Shad and his parents, along with the hubby and the youngest son.

conference talks. So glad that my November Ensign arrived as we were pulling out of the driveway to come to California yesterday.

For an update on Shad and the good news we got today go to the daughter's blog post here.

Shadrach and the Fiery Furnace

The past few days have been very difficult for our family, especially for the oldest daughter, the son-in-law and the grandson.  The three year old "light of my life" is seriously ill.  For more on what he is going through you can go to my daughter's recent blog post.

My grandson's name is Shadrach.  His name comes from one of my favorite Old Testament stories found in the book of Daniel - chapter 3. The other day as my thoughts were drawn to him and his parents I felt inspired to re-read this scripture story. Here's a synopsis of it with a little background information.

About 600 years before Jesus Christ was born, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and took captive many of Israel's finest citizens. Among those deported to Babylon were four young men from the tribe of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

In captivity the youths were given new names. Daniel was called Belteshazzar, Hananiah was called Shadrach, Mishael was called Meshach, and Azariah was called Abed-nego.

These four Hebrews excelled in wisdom and knowledge and found favor in King Nebuchadnezzar's eyes. The king put them into service among his most trusted wise men and counselors. When Daniel proved to be the only man capable of interpreting one of Nebuchadnezzar's troubling dreams, the king placed him in a high position over the whole province of Babylon, including all of the wise men of the land. And at Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego as administrators under Daniel.

As was common at the time, King Nebuchadnezzar built a huge golden image and commanded all the people to fall down and worship it whenever they heard the sound of his musical herald. Anyone who failed to bow and worship the image would be thrown into an immense, blazing furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were determined to worship the one true God only, and thus were reported to the king. Courageously they stood before him as the king pressured the men to deny their God.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.  (Daniel 3:14-16 KJV)

Furious with pride and rage, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than normal. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were bound and cast into the flames. The fiery blast was so hot it killed the soldiers who had escorted them.

But as King Nebuchadnezzar peered into the furnace, he marveled at what he saw: "Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:25 KJV)

Then the king called the men to come out of the furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego emerged unharmed, with not even a hair on their heads singed or the smell of smoke on their clothing.

I have always loved the imagery of this story - 3 faithful servants being accompanied and protected by the Son of God during their time in the fiery furnace. It is such an amazing picture and as I read from my scriptures, another beautiful picture appeared in my mind.  My grandson was on his hospital bed with his mom and dad on either side of him, their arms around his shoulders, and there standing behind them, embracing them all was the Savior.  I fervently wish I were an artist and could draw that marvelous scene that I beheld.   

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego courageously took their stand before Nebuchadnezzar, they didn't know with certainty that God would deliver them. They had no assurance they would survive the flames. But they stood firm anyway. 

And now, my daughter and son-in-law embrace their brave little man in their furnace of affliction and stand firm also, putting their trust in our Heavenly Father's love and his plan for their family. Their faith in their Savior, Jesus Christ, is strong and He will support them in their time of need.  

We do not know what the future holds for our family.  We know that the God we serve is able to deliver Shadrach from this burning, fiery furnace and we have faith and hope that he will,  but if not, we join with other faithful servants in whatever age, in vowing to worship the one true God, regardless of the outcome.  

It's the only way.  

Today I am grateful for 

the faith, love and prayers of family and friends. 

my testimony. 

modern medicine.

My Good Friend Jo-Ann

Today the oldest daughter had to run out to her school to pick up a purchase order and she invited me to go along and do some shopping at the stores on the rez while we were out that direction. Her dad has been asking her to bring the grandbaby by his office so he can show him off to all his co-workers so we decided that we would meet him at the cafeteria there for lunch. The son-in-law was going to be gone flying with his mom most of the day, but the weather didn't cooperate, so he wanted to be included in this outing as well. The daughter warned him ahead of time that this adventure would involve some store visits, but he decided the free food was enticing enough to put up with the shopping.

We got the purchase order, ate lunch and appreciated all of the appropriate oohs and aahs that the baby received and then it was time for the real fun to begin. We told the driver that the first stop was Jo-Ann's. He said "You mean Jo-Ann." Apparently during the many visits to the fabric store that the son-in-law has made with the daughter since he joined the family he has determined that the official title of this business is Jo-Ann - singular and not Jo-Anns - plural or Jo-Ann's - possessive.


Well, I will be the first to admit that I call this store Jo-Ann's. Always have and probably always will. I will even go as far as to say that I thought perhaps the official name of the store was Jo-Ann's and I have a few canceled checks in my possession to prove it. Well, now I know that I have been mistaken all these years, but I doubt that will quickly change how I refer to this store. The son-in-law went on to expound "you don't say you are going to Wal-marts or Targets do you?" He is absolutely correct. I have never once in my life said I was going to Targets.

Of course, this conversation got me started thinking about why this is. Why do I call the JoAnn fabric store Jo-Anns but have no trouble calling Target Target or Wal-mart Wal-mart? Now, I have already said that I might have possibly just been confused about the name of the store, but I am pretty sure I would have still called it Jo-Anns regardless. Jo-Ann just sounds wrong to me.
After much musing on this topic I have finally come up with a logical explanation. It all goes back to the relationship that have with this store. Obviously, through my many frequent visits to this business I have developed a strong and lasting friendship. Just as I would not say I am going to Kim or Denise or Moana when I visit one of my good friends I don't say I am going to Jo-Ann. Actually I think this has something to do with the English language. When I say I am going to Kim's the word house is inferred even though it is not said and therefore the name becomes possessive as in Kim's house and the s is added. When I go to the fabric store I think of it as belonging to my good friend Jo-Ann. I can even envision this Jo-Ann person in my head. She is about my age and she is happy and friendly and funny and extremely talented, not unlike many of my other friends. Sometimes she employs grouchy, overworked individuals in her store, but that just shows how truly charitable she really is. Therefore when I head off to the fabric store to make a purchase I am going to my buddy Jo-Ann's store and the s makes perfect sense. I have no such vision of Target (the person) in my head and as far as Wal-mart goes, well I can conjure up Sam from the commercials that I have seen but he seems to reserve his friendships for people who belong to his club and since it costs money to join his club I just can't get too excited about pursuing that relationship.

Now, back to our shopping experience. The daughter and I had a wonderful time at JoAnn's and found some exciting after Christmas bargains. We enjoyed ourselves so much that perhaps we stayed longer than we had intended. At least that is probably what the men folk in the car were thinking.

Hey, it was a nice day for an afternoon nap in the parking lot of my friend Jo-Ann's store.

Today I am grateful for

a yummy chicken salad sandwich with pecans and dates.
a proud grandpa who loves his grandson and isn't afraid to let that love show.
a patient son-in-law.

Ready or Not...

Here he comes?

Well, the son-in-law has announced on Facebook that my oldest daughter has been admitted to the hospital under doctor's orders to be induced and get this little boy on his way into the world. I guess that gives me permission to put in my two cents worth. This evening, at her regularly scheduled appointment, her blood pressure was a little bit high. The doctor said it wasn't a problem at the moment, but could become a problem so he would like to speed things up a little bit. 3 hours later she has an IV and some "miracle gel" that will hopefully convince her body that it is ready to deliver a baby. She will be monitored for 12 hours to see if the gel does the trick and then the medical professionals will decided where to go from there.

While the two of them are enjoying the luxury accommodations for the night perhaps they can decide what to name this little guy. I doubt they'll be doing a whole lot of sleeping.

Today I am grateful for

lds.org. It's unbelieveable how easy it is to find past church talks (and a whole bunch of other stuff).
medical professionals.
clean laundry.
a husband who is smarter than me when it comes to computer printers.

Tongue Rolling

My kids like to make fun of me because I can't roll my tongue (bring the sides up toward the middle - see the son's example below).

They like to have me try to do it and then all laugh because I can't. I think it was in a biology class in college where I first learned that this is a hereditary trait. (There is some question as to whether or not this is true, but true or not it's fun to see who can and can't do it.) We traced my inability to perform this supposedly simple trick to my Grandma Christiansen on my mom's side. She couldn't do it either. We would both try and try. It just doesn't happen. Since this is a recessive trait, there has to be someone on my dad's side who couldn't do it as well. We never discovered who that was.

My kids like to show off their tongue rolling ability. Even the son-in-law was trying to get into the act.

So, can you roll your tongue?

Temple Miracle Grow

Back in the middle of April I went and helped plant flowers at the Mesa Temple as a stake service project. I took a picture of the flowers a week after they were planted.

They weren't looking quite like temple flowers. They were kind of tiny.

Today the oldest son, oldest daughter, son-in-law and I went to the temple and this is what the flowers are looking like just less than 2 months later.

(I think this is kind of a funny picture. The siblings look like they are trying to hold hands and the son-in-law is alone in front.)

Here's another shot of the flowers.
Before

and now.

and one more, before

and today. Where did the little purple and white flowers go?

The temple must use some great Miracle Grow, or perhaps it's their temple-made mulch. I'm wondering if my spiritual growth is that impressive when I hang out at the temple? Imagine how spiritual I could be if I lived there 24/7.

Boy oh Boy!

Today was the big day!
The oldest daughter
and the son-in-law
went to the doctor
and found out the sex
of their baby.
Even though I voted
for a girl on her blog
I am excited to add
a little boy to our family.

The daughter brought this bib
in a yellow bag to announce
the big news.

I'm sure he'll be a very charming child.

I've already been informed
that we need to start working on
a little boy quilt.

Today I am thankful for

a friend who motivated me to clean out my freezer and a working air conditioner while I did it. (This needs a little explanation. My friend called me today to say that she was cleaning out her freezer and found two, unopened packages of cream puffs left over from my oldest daughter's wedding. She wanted them out of her freezer so she brought them to me. I didn't have room for them in my freezer and couldn't just throw them away, even though they have been around for a while, so I cleaned my refridgerator freezer to fit them in. This was a project that has needed done for a while now, so I was glad to get it completed. The reason my friend was cleaning her freezer was because her AC hasn't worked for 3 days and she was looking for a way to cool off. I personally would have just gone and checked into an air conditioned motel.)
new scout pants for the youngest son that I didn't have to pay for.
an ultrasound with only good things to show.

One year ago today - Summer Reading Program

Empty Schools

The oldest daughter and I were talking the other day about how sad elementary schools appear at the end of the year. All the artwork comes down. All the colorful bulletin boards - gone. The colorful rugs and containers are put away. All that is left are bare white walls - sad, boring, bare white walls. The hallways and classrooms looks so lonely and forlorn to me. The son-in-law, both sons and I spent a lot of the day at the oldest daughter's school helping her get everything taken down, put away and moved to one side today. It was a big job and interesting working around her students. Her classroom has VERY limited storage space and we crammed lots of stuff into her one small, metal cupboard. I'm not looking forward to emptying it and putting everything back up when school starts again.
This year the elementary school behind my house is closing forever. The school district is losing students and money and decided it was time to take drastic measures and shut down a school. It is a very sad thing. None of my children attended this school. We moved into this house with 2 elementary school students, but I was working at the elementary school in our old neighborhood (one neighborhood East) so they just continued attending school there. My youngest daughter started middle school the next year and I was prepared to put my youngest son in the new school, but when I started asking my new neighborhood friends for a 2nd grade teacher recommendation they didn't have one. I dearly loved two of the 2nd grade teachers at the old school and I was still going to be working there so I just kept him there and he stayed until he left for middle school as well.
I think it is always a heart wrenching event when a school closes. Children are quite possessive of "their school" and it seems that many parents are too. From a real estate point of view it is also a negative thing. I have enjoyed hearing the children reciting the pledge over the intercom each morning and listening to the happy voices during recess. Knowing that the children won't be returning in the fall makes me view this empty school differently this summer.
The district has recently decided to rent the school to the High School district to use as an alternative high school. That wouldn't be my first choice for a neighborhood school, but I'm trying to withhold my judgement until I see how it turns out. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised. It will definitely be different.

Today I am grateful

for a cool, rainy day in May. What a gift!
that I don't have to consolidate a classroom every day.
for boys to move heavy shelves.

Glittered!

This morning my mom asked me to take something down the street to her visiting teaching companion's house. When I went outside, I was met with a wonderful sight. During the night it had snowed just enough for a fine layer of tiny flakes to cover everything. With the sun shining on the snow, it looked just like someone had taken a giant container of glitter and sprinkled it over the entire neighborhood. It was so sparkly and beautiful! Of course when I tried to take a picture of the shiny effect it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to. You'll just have to take my word for it. It was amazing!

Actually, if you click on the picture and make it big you can almost see it sparkle. I doubt my son-in-law will appreciate this though. For some reason he has a very strong aversion to glitter. Go figure.

Cloud 9

Well, I climbed back into an airplane today,
on my way home to Arizona,
even though I'm still not sure
how they manage to stay up in the air
and then come down safely.

My son-in-law told me to imagine a hurricane.
He said, "It's not just the air
that does the damage
but the speed of the wind
that makes a hurricane so strong,
strong enough to even lift whole houses
off the ground.
Now an airliner going 4 to 5 times
faster then a hurricane
has no problem staying off the ground
being lighter then a house,
most of the time."
I think this was meant to be comforting,
and reassuring, but it really wasn't.
Perhaps my son-in-law doesn't like me
and was hoping to get rid of me
by causing me to have a heart attack.
I mean, I've seen what kind of devastation
Hurricane Katrina left in her wake
as well as Hurricane Ike just recently.
I don't like the picture of my airplane
being tossed around in a hurricane and
then dropped when the wind speed slows down.
Also what about that last sentence,
"most of the time."
What happens during the other times?
Said son-in-law is studying to be a pilot
and actually just got his pilot's license
so he must know what he is talking about,
but I still don't seem to catch the vision.

Oh well,
enough of that since I obviously landed safely
or I wouldn't be here posting this blog.

Today I was again reminded
of how much I enjoy looking out the window
of an airplane at the ground below.
On recent flights, for some reason,
I have opted to sit in the aisle seat
and haven't had the opportunity to
gaze out on the terrain as it passes by.
I have been missing out.
I spent almost all of my flight today
staring out the window,
admiring the scenery,
and trying to see how many
landmarks I could recognize.
I was amazed at how many
I could actually pick out.
The Grand Canyon being the easiest, of course.
Toward the end of the journey
we ran into some large patches
of white, fluffy clouds.
They looked so soft and substantial
and I could just imagine snuggling down into one.


For some reason they reminded me
of the idiom, "On Cloud Nine".
I started trying to determine
which cloud was cloud 9
and if it would look different
than any of the other clouds.

When I was an instructional assistant
at an elementary school close to my home,
one of the Kindergarten classes,
that I would often visit,
got a group time rug
with the alphabet and numbers on it.
Each letter of the alphabet was
written around the outside
and the numbers - 1 to 10 -
were each written on a cloud.
The first time I visited
after the carpet arrived
I informed all the children
that "Cloud 9" was my special cloud.
I told them it was my happy spot.


After that, whenever I would drop in,
they would clear my space and
demand that I sit there,
as only a 5 year old can do.
Then they would all anxiously ask,
"Do you feel happy now"?

Today I could picture myself
all wrapped up in one of those
soft, fluffy marshmallow clouds
feeling very, very relaxed
and very, very happy.

So, I'm sure you are all
as curious as I was to find out
where the phrase "On Cloud Nine",
which means to be
in a state of blissful happiness,
originated.
A commonly heard explanation
is that the expression originated
as one of the classifications of clouds
which were defined by the US Weather Bureau
in the 1950s, in which 'Cloud Nine'
denotes the fluffy cumulonimbus type
that are considered so attractive.
Wow! That means all the clouds
I saw were Cloud Nines.
Another explanation is that the phrase
derives from Buddhism
and that Cloud Nine is one of the stages
of the progress to enlightenment
of a Bodhisattva ( one destined to become a Buddha).

Neither of these explanations holds water,
(unlike clouds which often do hold water.)

To begin with,
both the cloud classifications
and the Buddhist stages to enlightenment
have ten levels.
To single out the last but one stage of either
is rather like attributing the source
of the 'whole nine yards' to American Football,
where it is ten yards rather than nine
that is a significant measure.
Also, the fact that nine
is far from the only number
that has been linked with clouds,
argues against those origins.
Early examples of 'cloud' expressions
include clouds seven, eight, nine
and even thirty-nine.
Thirty-nine? That must be
super duper happy!
It seems that it is the clouds themselves,
rather than the number of them,
that were in the thoughts of those
who coined this phrase.
The imagery was originally
of a 'cloud cuckoo land'
or 'head in the clouds' dreaminess,
induced by either intoxication or inspiration,
rather than the 'idyllic happiness'
that we now associate with the phrase.
The early references
all come from mid 20th century USA.
The early favourite was 'cloud seven'
and many of the oldest citations use that form,
as in this piece
from The Dictionary of American Slang, 1960,
which was the first printed definition of the term
"Cloud seven -
completely happy, perfectly satisfied;
in a euphoric state."
This early preference for seven
as the significant number
may have been influenced
by the existing phrase 'seventh heaven'.
Since the 1980s or so, 'cloud nine'
has become predominant.

Now wasn't that informative?
Apparently we cannot be ecstatically happy
without the help of alcoholic beverages.
I think I beg to differ with that assumption.
I have managed to be extremely happy
sans booze on more than one occasion.
But hey, now we have all learned
something new today.

Today I am thankful for

a sister to drive me to the airport and take care of my mom.
my own home.
the break I had from the HOT September temperatures. It was a "comfortable" 106 degrees today according to our pilot.

Good to Go!

This morning both daughters, both hubbys, and I desended on the daughter's school to put the finishing touches on her classroom so she'll be ready for school to start on Monday.

We all worked hard and made lots of progress.

The young hubby was given the dangerous climbing and stapling jobs.













The older hubby was sent on garbage duty, car loading duty, and screw purchasing and placement duty. He got a work out.



The teacher daughter specialized in lesson plans.
The other daughter was the desk washer. She declared them clean enough to sit on.














She was also the official name writer and I was responsible for bulletin board completion and name tag placement.

Finally we were all happy to say that the room was good to go and we went to Sweet Tomatoes to celebrate!

Today I am grateful

for helpful husbands.
for free lunch. There is such a thing
for computers that work right when I'm typing up the ward bulletin.

My birthmonth present today was a fun, paper, desk top suitcase that I bought for 50 cents at the ARC thriftstore.

Now I just have to decide what I am going to put in it. It's too small for my clothes when I want to run away.

Sunday Sermons

Today we went to listen to the daughter and the son in law speak in their sacrament meeting. They are actually in the same stake as we are, but the demographics of their ward is a little different than ours. I think almost every family there had a baby under a year old and I bet their nursery is LOTS bigger than ours. It was fun to see so many new families and remember going to the BYU Lamanite Married Ward when we were in that phase of our lives. The nice thing about that ward was that we met in an old church building in Provo that came complete with a cry room at the back of the chapel, where you could sit with your loud infant or toddler and still see and hear what was going on in Sacrament meeting without them hearing you. Evergreen Ward could use one of those. There was a dad who got up to take his toddler daughter out of the chapel. He got about 10 steps from his seat when his son (who looked about 3) started screaming "DADDY! DADDY!" and burst into tears. The dad motioned for him to come with him, but he just stood there screaming while the other son, about 4, mowed him over and took off down the aisle to the dad. By this time the dad had started back for the screaming son and the older son passed him by and then started crying too because his dad was going the wrong way. Dad grabbed the 3 year old and the 4 year old and finally made it out the door with the toddler who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying all the attention. The entire congregation was momentarily distracted from the son in law's amazing talk, but just momentarily. I think I am glad that I am past that phase of my life.

They both gave very good talks. She talked about Sharing the Gospel by doing good and focused on service and standing up for what you believe is right. He spoke about testimony and what a testimony is and how we can share testimony through music. I enjoyed both messages a lot. Unfortunately this daughter inherited the Cheever women tear ducts and got a little emotional when she was talking about one of her friends from college. Of course there were no tissues on the pulpit. She is going to have to start carrying her own or checking and requesting them ahead of time. That is what I always do now. I have learned my lesson. I firmly believe there is nothing wrong with being tender-hearted though, as long as you are equipped with lots of Kleenex. It's just the way some of us are made.

Our home teachers came to visit today and shared with us a story from this month's Ensign that really touched me. It was called something like "Lessons Learned From a Milk Jug". The woman in the story had found out that her husband was involved in Pornography and she just couldn't seem to forgive him and deal with all the emotions she had. She was embarrassed to ask for help and just kept trudging along but was not sure she could keep it up much longer. One day she and her 3 year old went to the store and when they got home the little girl was helping carry the groceries inside an item at a time. She did OK with the bread and the eggs but when she tried to move the gallon of milk,once she got it out of the car, it was just too heavy. The mom offered to help, but the typical toddler insisted on doing it herself. Finally she gave up and told her mom it was just too hard. She couldn't do it alone. When she said that, the mom thought how much she was like her stubborn little girl. Unwilling to ask her Heavenly Father for help when her burdens became to heavy to carry alone. The daughter asked the mom to carry her while she carried the milk.

So often I stubbornly refuse to accept Jesus Christ's atonement in my life and just try to struggle along, dragging my heavy, heavy burden behind me instead of admitting I need help and accepting what he has already done for me. We can all learn a lot from these noisy, stubborn little children in our lives if we just take the time to look for the lessons.

Today I am thankful for

A daughter and son in law who have testimonies and are able to share them with others.
Dedicated Home Teachers - who come every month even though they don't always get the warmest welcome from out youngest.
Kleenex - for the obvious reasons.

A funny Kleenex story - today one of the little girls in nursery needed a tissue, so I gave her one and then went back to picking up the toys. All of the sudden, something came flying at me. It was the dirty tissue delivered by the little girl who then turned her back and walked across the room. I called her name. She ignored me. I called her name again. She ignored me again. This is the same little girl who recently can't be more than 3 inches away from me without calling for me to sit by her. She continued to ignore me a few more times until finally she looked up and I asked her to come and throw the tissue away. She looked at me and at it and then went right back to ignoring me. I called her one more time and she stomped over and took the offensive item between the tips of her fingers and threw it away before running back to sit in my lap. What a stinker! Speaking of stinkers, we had 3 dirty diapers in nursery today. We haven't even had one before today. What's with that?

Up the canyon

Today we took a little trip up Payson canyon to enjoy nature and the cooler temperatures. We all, including mom, managed to fit into our van. It's good that the newlyweds like to sit very close. Our first stop was at the Grotto for an "easy" hike. One family member questioned this rating but it was relatively flat for the most part and only .3 miles long. The last time we made this hike (more than 10 years ago) my brother was the leader of the pack and led us up the wrong trail to start with and then the actual trail was in need of some major improvements so the trek took quite a while. They have really improved the path with log bridges and a wider trail so I thought the trip was much easier this time around. The pool and waterfall at the end was definitely worth the trip. We had to share the limited sitting rocks with some other visitors, but managed to spend some enjoyable time there. My youngest son demonstrated his rock climbing ability and climbed up to the top of the waterfall and I was impressed. He and the daughter and son-in-law then took the trail up to the top and got to look down on us all, literally and not just figuratively speaking this time. We left mom in the van reading her book while we hiked and even though we were parked in a cattle crossing she was still there when we returned. She said the largest creature she saw was a fly. We continued up the canyon and down the Santaquin side. We stopped at Tiney Flats for a picnic and potty break. I enjoyed both immensely. After we finished eating, mom and I were content to sit and appreciate the cool breeze and the beautiful scenery. The people under 25 weren't quite so happy. The fact that you can't get cell phone service when you are sitting between two very tall mountains really bothered the sons. They were certain they were missing some very vital text messages. My mom asked why they were in such a hurry to leave. She said "When we get home we will just have to work." The sons told her, "You don't have to work, you just choose to work." When we started expounding on why someone had to work ie. to pay the bills, wash the clothes, prepare food... They said, "Well of course the moms and dads have to work. That's a given." How is that choosing? If the hubby and/or I didn't choose to work, would someone else pick up the slack?? Sometimes I don't think life is very fair! It was a fun trip, even if I did have to leave before I was completely ready. I chose not to work when we got home and we still all survived. The oldest son took us all to the Polar Queen, his favorite Utah restaurant, for dinner tonight (so none of us would have to work). He and I really like their Fish and Chips. The chips are English fries and yummy. We were disappointed when we got there and found out that they no longer sell English fries. It was a sad, sad moment. Today I am grateful for Trees - I love trees. They are so green and provide shade that makes it cool. Canyons - that are close enough to drive up in just a few minutes and feel the temperature drop 15 degrees. My minivan - it is nice to have a vehicle that we can all fit in together even if some of us are a little squished.

Salt Lake Valley for the day

This morning we got up and went to the Jordan River temple. The daughter and I and our hubbies did a session and the sons did baptisms. It was nice to be back in the temple where our family got it's beginning. A lot has happened since my husband and I tied the knot there 25 years ago. It is fun to see my daughter now in about the same place I was then - a newlywed just starting out with the next 25 years still to be experienced. New beginnings are always so exciting and also a little scary. I hope the temple plays an important role in her next 25 years. It's a great place to ponder the whole picture and focus on the eternal perspective rather than the day to day trials. It was a wonderful morning. We met my sister and her roommate for a lunch treat at Cafe Rio. I enjoyed the Pork Barbacoa Salad a lot. It is one of my favorites. Then we took a scenic trip north across the valley past the new Oquirrh Temple (not sure of its actual name) that is under construction and to a store I had been wanting to visit. It was called Market Square (I think) and it wasn't quite as exciting as I had hoped it would be but now I can say I've been there and won't have to feel bad for missing out on something fun. The most exciting part was trying to find it. I was in my sister's car with her and my family was following behind in our van. They were pretty sure we had no idea where we were going and they were right. Then we headed east to another part of the city to locate Ye Olde Dutch Store for the son-in-law. He served his mission in the Netherlands and wanted to pick up some of his Dutch favorites. Once again the exciting part was in the trip and not the destination, but once we figured out it wasn't really called "Ye Olde" it was a lot easier to locate in the phone book and get the actual address. Our next stop was suppose to be to find out if there is still a Snelgrove's Ice Cream Parlor in Salt Lake but after 3 failed attempts to find an open road going under the I-80 we gave up on that adventure and just headed back to my sister's house. We drove really slowly past the Deseret Industries to make my family nervous, but we didn't stop. We did manage one more stop at the Deseret Book Bookcellar Outlet store on Redwood Rd. in South Jordan. This is a must on any trip we take to Utah. I love church books and when I can get them for a bargain, I love them even more. I bought several fiction books for $1.99, a Dowdle puzzle of San Diego for $1.49 (I could do it at the beach next year if I were going back), and quite a few music CDs for $1.99. It was the highlight of the day for me -after the temple of course. We hadn't taken enough scenic routes during the day so we decided to go back to Payson past the Draper temple (which is also under construction, but further along than the Oquirrh one) and over the mountain to Highland. It was a fun and exciting route and we saw lots of big houses and dedicated bike riders pedalling up hill. It was a fun day. I am grateful for a sister - who is willing to buy me and my family lunch and drive me all over tarnation too. Temples - where I can go to remember why I am here on earth. Daylight - until 9:00 at night so I can see all the scenery on my scenic trips.