December Winds Down

Well, the holidays are almost over. Joe and I don't usually do anything on New Year's Eve. He doesn't even stay up to ring in the New Year. It's just another night to him. Maybe Steve and Michelle will come up and play games this year. If they do, I'll stay up. I won't plan on getting up at 5:00 a.m. on New Year's Day if I do, though. I do seem to remember them being here and going out on the deck with them and making a racket banging spoons on pans in years past so I'll just play it by ear. (What a funny saying.... I can't play any musical instrument by ear really.)

I noticed a young girl in Church last Sunday sitting in the bench in front of us. She had some pencils and was drawing the face of a girl. It reminded me of when I was her age (about 14) I used to draw girls faces too. She was pretty good for not having any training. I thought it would be fun to teach her some tips to help her along with her talent but I forgot about it when the meeting was over.

I happened to see her mother in Relief Society and went over to sit by her to see if she thought her daughter would like to come over and let me teach her a little bit. She was thrilled about it. After the meeting her daughter came in the room and I asked if she would like to do it. She was very enthusiastic about it so she ended up coming over yesterday. I thought it would only take about twenty minutes or so. We ended up talking and drawing for over an hour. It was really fun for me and she was very willing to learn and seemed to enjoy herself.

I suggested she get a book at Provo Art and Frame that showes how to draw faces from all angles. It will really be a good book for her to learn from. I told her she could practice drawing from it and then come over after she has some more work to show me and I will teach her a little more.

Joe and I tended Joshie, Brianna and Brayden yesterday afternoon so Stacey could have a break. I was somewhat apprehensive about our ability to take care of them all because I don't get around very well but it turned out to be a lot of fun.

We had only been in the car coming home from their house for about 4 minutes when Brady asked if we were there yet :) He asked the same question about 4 or 5 more times before we got home. It reminded us of when we had little kids. It must be a rite of passage for 3 year olds.

When we got home we played with "grandma's toy box." We played the teddy bear game, played with the clay, went through both decks of cards that teach words and numbers (counting) and did the alphebet puzzle. They were all very good to take turns and share in the games. Brady did very well for a three year old and Joshie was so excited to be doing the "toy box" again he had to be restrained from giving all the answers to the questions in the card games before Brady and Brianna could have a chance. Brianna was her sweet little self and excitedly helped Brady do some of the cards. They were all so cute.

Then Joe set up the TV upstairs and turned off the lights and we all watched 'The Incredibles" like we were at the movies. Brady was in constant motion as he watched. I was laying on the love seat and he came and laid down with me about 5 different times (which melted my heart) in between climbing on the rug we have rolled up on the floor, laying on the floor himself and rolling around on the floor. All this time he had his eyes on the TV so I know he was watching the movie. About half way through the movie the cd went on the fritz so we had to turn it off. It was just as well because Brady was getting hungry so we took them to Artic Circle for supper.

I was apprehensive again about what we would do if they got to playing on the gym set they have there and wouldn't come down when it was time to eat but it turned out not to be a problem. I was afraid Brady might not mind us and get up on the part of the gym where we couldn't reach him and then what would we do? Luckily it didn't happen. We got them some tiny ice crean cones after they ate their food (Brady only had fries but Joshie said that was all he would eat so we didn't push it) We told them we would buy them a gum ball when they had their boots and coats on. They all minded so well it was a joy to have them. I'm glad Joe was there, though, as I couldn't have done it alone, but with him, we all had a great time.

It was altogether a very good day. Today was good as well. After going to my mission and my 12 step meeting I came home and had a good, long rest this afternoon.

I had a little bit of a flare up after all the excitement from Christmas but have been doing much better the last two days.

It's good to feel good. Lots of good things going on :)

Best Christmas Ever, without a doubt!!!

(Just a warning, this is an extra long post and I don't expect anyone to read it, but I wanted to record all the details so I can look back and remember how great, fun and wonderful it all was.)

So, by the title of my post you can guess how my Christmas was. Organized bedlam :) I wish there was some way to make a huge smiley face because that's how it was.

And it was fun and loud and boisterous with tons of little people running around and a half-frazzled kitten (well she's almost a cat now, she's about four or five months old)venturing out from under the Christmas tree over and over again only to run back after she'd gotten her fill of all the little people (and I do mean little people - Camden is only 18 months old and Matthew isn't much older) following her around trying to pick her up when she was already stressed out from chasing her little cat's toy that the kids kept teasing her with. The kids are all enthralled with the kitten (except for Holly and Brendon who have had two cats for a long time now.) They all want to play with her at once, it seems.

Luckily we have the family room downstairs where the kids can go to play so that we have some respite for the adults. I don't know what they do down there. There's no furniture down there but they seem to have a ball. You can hear their screams of sheer joy and laughter as they run around chasing each other. They also play hide-and-seek although when Seth was down there watching he said there were only about six places to hide. That's not many places when you figure there were about 40 kids to hide (just kidding, there were only 16 down there - it just sounds like 40 when you hear their screams of delight when they "find" someone.)

Actually, it's not that bad because there is a hallway that turns once and then a turn into the stairs down, a turn after you've gone about 6 steps down and a turn at the bottom of the stairs so the screaming is like a faint roar by the time it gets to where the adults are.

Even so, when you get 18 happy, joyous adults all talking and laughing together there is a lot of noise, too, so we can't say too much about the noise the kids make. It's just so fun when we get together, what can I say? We are just so incredibly blessed that all 9 of our children settled in Utah Valley. And just think how many more people there would have been if Jenn and Jan had married. Or I should say how many more people there will be when they do marry.

Christmas Eve we talked and visited until everyone got here which was about a hours wait. Actually, it was a much longer wait for Seth and Karla who came about an hour and a half early and the girls who came 45 minutes early to help us get everything ready. I was so grateful for Karla who got all the vacuuming done which I hadn't had time to get to yesterday. I was exhausted by the time they got here and didn't have the strength to do anything more.

We had the small dining room table full of ham and rolls for a light snack and then five bowls of hard candies, three boxes of See's chocolates and various cookies and brownies. We left it up to everyone's discretion what they ate. The kids were hesitant to take the candy at first but got a little more courage as the night wore on. Fortunately no one got sick from eating too much though the kids were even more wired (from the sugar rush from the candy) as the night wore on.

Anyway, we had the children all dress up in costumes to do the Christmas pageant. Daniel made a huge (8' x 10') vinyl backdrop of the nativity scene. We hung it in the opening of the family room that separates it from the extra space (room?) behind it. It was just the perfect place for all the kids to wait in for their part on the program. Janelle brought a whole box of simple costumes for the kids to dress in for their parts.The kids were all hyper they were so excited to be in this "play."

It all went off well except for a little drama with Logan who wasn't sure whether he wanted to be Joseph or a Nephite. He ended up being both but wearing one of the wisemen's costume as Joseph because the Joseph costume was too hot. (cute kid :) It was all resolved in the end and the play went happily on.

At the end of the play Joe read Luke 2 as was our tradition.

Steve and Michelle let us use their digital piano for the songs we sang as an audience. We were also going to use it to sing Christmas carols after the play was over but we decided to go upstairs to exchange white elephants and open one gift for each family before we sang the carols. Unfortunately several of the families left right after we opened the present (which was an animated board book about what happened here in America the night Jesus was born) so we only had about 8 or 10 people left to sing the carols but it was all good in the end. The carols were all sung a'capella but were beautiful just the same. Finally we sang Silent Night, to which Janice and I sang an impromptu descant. It was a nice, calm carol to end with. It was a beautiful song and a wonderful night.

Christmas morning was wonderful as well. The breakfast was the best organized ever. Daniel let us use two large chafing pans from his rental center so we could cook all the food and put it in the pans to keep warm until people came to eat. That made it so we could serve each family as they came, instead of having 37 people, all at once, waiting in line to get their food. It was so much better this year, much more calm and easy.

The food was delicious. We served 3 pounds of bacon, 5 pound of sausage, 6 dozen scrambled eggs with a pint of whipping cream and three cups of shredded cheese mixed in, 3 large loaves of Texas toast for French toast, a gallon of white milk, a gallon chocolate milk, a gallon of orange juice, and a gallon and a half of hot chocolate. And that was just breakfast. We had most of the candy and cookies left over from last night as well.

The crowning event of the day was opening the presents. The kids were all playing downstairs so we left them there while we opened the adult gifts first. We all ooood and ahhhhd about everyone's gifts which was fun. Then we passed out all the gifts for all the children to their parents and called the kids upstairs to open them. They were so excited to finally get their presents (to which we ooood and ahhhhd as well.) I think having the kids stay downstairs until the adults open their presents first may be a tradition in the making. :)

Finally, Karla, Jan and Jenn cleaned up all the dishes, picked up all the odds and ends and vacuumed again for which I will be eternally grateful. The house looked as good as it did before everyone came minus the food, which they also put away.

We has such a good time giving and getting presents. We gave all the adults the little board book, a large, #10 sized can of hermetically sealed non-hybrid garden seeds for their food storage, and a large, family sized Book of Mormon that has all kinds of explanatory notes and definitions that make it much more easy for the smaller children to understand. We gave Jennifer two Church books both of which have absolutely beautiful illustrations. (We gave her the two books because she already had a copy of the Book of Mormon.) One of them tells the story of the last days, the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. This book has a picture of the garden of Gethsemane that is almost the same picture that Jennifer is painting with me. Besides having beautiful illustrations, this one's are also extremely moving, touching pictures. The other book tells the story of a young girl who experiences a miracle in her life.

We gave all the boys from Truman's age (5) on up a Transformer, which is a robot that changes form into an army truck or a jet or some kind of vehicle for fighting the bad guys. We gave the girls from Sabrina's age (4?) a little suitcase full of crayons, markers, paints, scissors, glue and colored paper to do crafts with. We gave Joey and Brayden felt storybooks of the movie "Cars." Matthew got a little wood workbench that has various shapes of wood blocks to pound through the matching sized hole and Camden got a small truck with a driver. Holly got a set of four Nancy Drew books and a the same Church book of the young girl's miracle that we gave to Jennifer.

The children and grandchildren all drew names and exchanged presents as well. Joe just said I shouldn't write about all the gifts as it sounds too mercenary. and it would get a little long to write everything. Suffice it to say we got some fun gifts from the white elephant game and Joe and I received some got some really nice presents from our children.

I am going to mention what Joe gave me and what I gave him. He gave me four packages of ten doorknobs each for my cupboard and drawers in the kitchen and bathrooms. I've been wanting some all seven of the years we've lived in this house. He also gave me matching picture albums which hold 300 pictures each. I picked out both of these "gifts" myself. Secretly, in my heart, I was wishing I didn't know every gift I was getting. Suddenly he pulled out a small a surprise gift! It was a pair of sparkling earrings which are just beautiful, an understated beauty, not gaudy. How fun!

I gave him the first volume of 'The Joseph Smith Papers," (I found out about three weeks after I bought it that he really didn't think he'd buy it because it was basically the same as reading the volumes of Church History which we already have.) I also got him a small box of See's chocolates just for himself (6 cherry chocolates and 6 chocolate marzipan) and a very nice (expensive) pair of slippers (which were too small even though they said they were a size ten.)

I have to say that besides all the joy and laughter, pageant and gifts, one other thing made this the best Christmas ever, for me. Joe was relaxed and mellow. He enjoyed it all this year and let things happen at their own pace. He exuded a spirit of peace and tranquility in spite of the noise, happy confusion and (organized?) chaos that went on all around him. His contribution of money to pay for all the festivities (no small thing in itself), his quiet reading of Luke 2 and his idea to open the gifts one at a time so we all could see what each person was getting (which prolonged the fun of the gift giving) all added substantially to the whole holiday. (I should say that where several people were getting the same gift, we did have them opened at the same time.) Anyway, he brought with him a spirit of love and tenderness that was especially meaningful. He is such a good man and I am blessed to be married to him

The final tradition, after everyone has gone home for the day, which happens at about one or two o'clock in the afternoon, Jan and Jenn come back (after a good nap) and we spend the evening watching a movie together or just talking and laughing. We made ham sandwiches and ate some of the leftover candy and just had a good time talking and laughing together.

Remembering the quiet, calm interlude of reading Luke 2 and singing the Christmas Carols between the happy merrymaking of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning all make a fitting end to the meaningful days of December.

Love to everyone!

Christmas Eve Festivities

Well it's Christ Eve and I'm already done shopping for presents, got all my Christmas card sent and shopped for all the food. Usually I don't get the cards done and shopping for presents are all done by Thanks Giving. So this year was a little different but enjoyable.

I am having a hard time staying away from the sweets. I've done really well until today when I ate a coconut bar that had fruit and nuts in it and I'm pretty sure it was held together by corn syrup or something sugary. And I took one bite of a brownie but whoever made them obviously forgot the sugar. It tasted terrible which was just as well for me. I'm going to have to pray harder to be able to keep my abstinence or I will be lost. Holiday are especially hard.

Tuesday Joe and I cleaned out our respective rooms so Steve and Michelle could move in. It was a Herculean task for me. It took about 6 or 7 hours to get my room done and there are still some things I don't know what I'm going to do with. I did keep the most important parts of my art supplies and my sewing machine with the two sets of drawers that hold my supplies for it. I'm trying to get everything set up on my tables, now, but I don't have enough room with the printers on the table where I want to put my things from my "desk" downstairs. Joe has gone to the Temple with Daniel so I am here alone and can't do it myself. Oh well, I need to study my scriptures anyway.

I am looking forward to tonight's festivities. Mostly I get to just sit back and watch. The pageant is going to include about 4 or 5 angels, four Nephites and Samuel the Lamanite (we are doing the Christmas story from the perspective of the Book of Mormon), several shepards and sheep and one donkey played by David. He's such a good sport. He plays the donkey every year. Seth is going to be the narrator. It should be a little better presentation this year as most of the kids are 4 to 7 years old and can pretty much do their parts alone (without parental help that is.) Melissa organizes this every year which is a real blessing. I would like to print out the lyrics to several Christmas carols that we could sing as part of the program but I'll need some help doing that I think. We'll have to see. I may be able to figure that one out for myself.

Anyway it looks like it's going to be a fun night. And tomorrow is going to be even better although I know what I'm getting. Joe doesn't want to surprise me which makes me a little sad. I don't like to know what I'm getting but I do like what I am getting. I found some knobs for my cupboard doors (four packs of ten each) and I also picked out two photo albums for my pictures at Costco. I'm excited to see if Joe likes what I got for him and the kids as well. Michelle, Jenn and I wrapped about 40 gifts for the family. It's a good thing I start shopping for Christmas in early summer. We couldn't afford this many gifts if we left it all until December.

Well I need to get on with my day,

Love Loves!

Melancholy December Day

Today is my Father's birthday. I always think of him in December. I wonder what he was like when he was a little boy. Seth reminds me of him. I don't know why. Maybe it's because he loved his children so much. Seth once said to me that all he ever wanted to be in life was a Father. My Father probably felt that way too. He was so affectionate. He always gave you a great big hug whenever he saw you. Friends, ward members, everyone! Well maybe not the lady in the grocery store checkout line, but close. ;) I loved him and I miss him at this time of year.

I remember going with him to deliver milk (one of three jobs he worked at the time). It was early in December and it was a cold winter morning. The sky was just starting to get light. He let me help him when it was just a bottle (quart) or so. I would run up to the house and find the box to put the milk into, put the bottle or two I had in and then run back to the truck. I ran because it was so cold but I could slip on the ice so I had to be careful. I remember how cold it was in the back of the truck. It was refrigerated to keep the milk cold but it was even colder outside. There was a heater in the front of the truck but it didn't do much good because we had to open the door to deliver the milk every 5 minutes or so and the cold air would blow in. (Did I say how cold it was? :)

The truck was very noisy because the bottles were glass and rattled in the metal shelves as we drove. I remember getting to have some chocolate milk which I loved. I think the paper cap on one of the bottles came off so we had to drink it (of course) It was a real treat because we couldn't afford chocolate milk at home. The chocolate milk only came in pint bottles so it was easy to drink out of the bottle, even for me. Wait, maybe they did come in quart bottles, too, but the bottle Dad gave me was only a pint so it was perfect for me to share with him.

I don't remember him saying anything but I remember the feeling of companionship I felt. I was about 10 or 11 years old. I really loved my Dad. I miss him. (Oh, I said that before ... oh well. It's the truth.) I didn't go with him very often, I don't think, but I do remember that one morning.

Actually I do remember one other time I went with him. It was on Christmas Eve. Mr. Stimpson, who owned the milk bottling and delivery business, allowed my Father to deliver the milk that night instead of having to deliver in the morning and miss seeing his children coming into the living room to see what Santa had left for them. I remember that it was in the early evening so the light of the day was waining and was much like delivering milk in the morning. Again there was that feeling of companionship and love. We were working fast to get home so we could enjoy Christmas Eve together with the family. There was something about the light of the morning and the light of the evening that makes it seem like a dream to me now.

Dad died in 1990 so it's been 19 years for Mother to wait to see him again. I can only imagine the love my affectionate and loving father must have radiated to her when he saw her come to the spirit world after her death. If the love radiating from Stephan when I saw him in my dream/vision was anything like the love Dad must have radiated when he saw Mother it must have been enough to consume her. I'm so happy for her that she has finally returned to heaven to be with him but it makes me a little melancholy this December.

I miss them both.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!

I finished my Christmas shopping last night for my nine children, their seven spouses, and their nineteen children (my grandchildren, minus the one that will be born next summer :) I still have to finish shopping for my husband. Usually I am done by the end of October or early November so I was hassled this year that I didn't have it all done. (is "hassled" a word? it's how I felt out there jostling with all the other shoppers.{is "jostling" a word?}) :) So now I have a total of at least 57 gifts to wrap. Whew !!! (is "whew" a word or am I just making up my own vocabulary as I go along?)

I am giving three gifts to each of my children (family gifts, not individual - I really would be nuts if I had to figure out individual gifts for each person.) We buy all the same gifts for each family and then also for some of the grandchildren. The younger ones I have to pick out individually because they really have a difference in their abilities from toddler to three years old.

Besides all that we have three birthdays in December. That means three more to buy for by this Sunday for our family birthday party.

It just occurred to me how blessed I am to have all these people in my life. And I am glad for this time of year that I can give them tokens of my love. I should say "we." Joe provides the money for all this gift giving and is equally happy to have our children, their spouses and the grandchildren.

I am excited to have them all open the gifts we have for them; to see their reactions. I hope they like them. I start buying Christmas gifts in the summer so that by this time I'm all done. Well, I still have that one more gift to get for my husband. I hope it won't be too hard to find what I have in mind.

Next year we are going to have to seriously cut back on what we buy for Christmas and birthdays this next year as Joe has had a 25% cut in pay and we have been making that up by using our retirement money. On the other hand we've thought
that we should buy what we need and want this next few months because when the inflation hits as a result of the TRILLION dollar bailout and the TRILLION dollar stimulus package there will be no buying power in our money anyway. So cutting back on our expenses really won't matter. It's something that's hard to fathom. It's hard to go against our mentality that we have to save for our retirement.

Enough of the doom and gloom.

I am happy to have this Christmas time of year. I'm happy to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. I am happy that He was willing to make it possible for me to repent and learn from my mistakes without losing exaltation. I am happy to look forward to our little Christmas pageant that the grandchildren will put on on Christmas Eve. I am happy that Joe will be home for the two weeks of Christmas and New Years. I am happy to anticipate our traditional BIG family breakfast we will be having Christmas morning. I am happy to be able to watch everyone open presents on Christmas morning, as well. I am happy that I get to have my 6 chocolates (three key lime and three lemon truffles , YUMMMM) on Christmas Day and New Years Eve. (I still have to figure out a way to get through from Mother's Day to our anniversary without any chocolates. Maybe I'll have to start celebrating the 4th of July and Labor Day with chocolates. hummmm. I'll have to think that over.) I'm happy that we were able to go to the Christmas program put on by the Church this year even though we were late because of HUGE traffic jams and the fact that we ended up in the very back of the balcony in the most far left corner of the Conference center.
Oh well, it was an inspiring production and I enjoyed myself. (Thanks Jenn for the tickets)

Christmas is going to be great! I can hardly wait!

Lub lubs, Everyone

Gingerbread houses and grandkids

Janice organized a gingerbread house making party for all the Grand kids. It turned out to be unorganized madness :) Well, at least she learned how she will do it next Christmas. And the kids were hyper with the joy of the season and seeing all their cousins and all the candy, Candy, CANDY.

Chloe got overwrought with all the kids wanting to hold her. Stacey brought the kids early because Adam had to go to school so Joshie, Brianna, Brady and even Camden got to play with her for some time before everyone else came. I ended up putting her in my bedroom and shutting the door and just letting a few kids at a time come in to see her. Still it was too much for her, so finally I let her just have the rest of the night alone. All the kids did get to see her if only for a few minutes.

I still can't believe Stacey's pregnant! I am torn between being concerned for her and being overjoyed at having another Grand baby. She said she was glad that if she is having another (unexpected) baby she is having it now and not ten years from now. They will be moving into our apartment the first week of January. It will really be cramped for them and Steve and Michelle and for us too, for that matter. I hope Adam can find a job, soon.

I went to bed in a lot of pain both Sunday and Monday nights but was able to recuperate on Tuesday. Tonight I feel a lot better though still not out of the woods. I spent the afternoon resting and dozing while the Glenn Beck show and the nightly news on the Fox channel played in the background. It amazes me that I can sleep through all that but I do.

Steve and Michelle came up and visited for a little while last night. I sure like having them here. We have a lot of fun together. They made Egg McMuffins for dinner and we made powdered milk (which is a really good milk - it doesn't have the powdered milk taste so much.) Jenni couldn't tell it wasn't whole milk. We didn't tell her, either. The chocolate powdered milk was really good. We mixed it up in my new Kitchenaid mixer which worked really well. Next time I think we need to mix the white milk with a little more water and that will take away the powdered taste completely. It was especially nice to have them come because Michelle did all my dishes and theirs too.

I think I'll spend the day tomorrow wrapping Christmas presents. I do need to get a painting done for Janice's friend before the end of the month, too though, so we can pack up all my art supplies for the kids to move in. (Steve and Michelle will be using the two small bedrooms and the family room downstairs to live in until they can get on their feet. They will share the kitchen and laundry room with us.)

I won't be going to Joe's (my brother) house tomorrow to do genealogy because we are all (Larry, Venice, Joe, Eileen, Joe and I) going to do Initiatories on the 15th. It will be special to do our own ancestor's work. These are names David Griffith gave us. It will take a long time to get all the endowments done for all the names we've got but it will be a joy to do it for them. I need to establish a regular day to do Temple work so I can get into a routine. I had planned to do it on Tuesday's but I find I'm needing that day to stay home and rest. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to work this out.

I hadn't intended to write so much tonight but I think I'll look back on the things I've written and be glad I did.

Cheers!

p.s. So Michelle, I didn't lose it this time. I think this computer may be warming up to me :)

Gingerbread houses and Grand kids

How Blessed I Am

I've spent almost the whole day from 5:30 this morning until about 5:00 this afternoon writing in my spiritual journal. Well I did spend a lot of that time deciding which scriptures and quotes from the D&C Study Guide I wanted to use in my journal and also which spiritual experiences I wanted to include.

And my only goal from Education Week other than getting up at 5:00 a.m. from then on was to practice temperance. Does that mean like moderation in all things? Like not spending the whole day at the computer? I will be in serious pain tonight and possibly for the next several days from this but I honestly didn't think to eat or watch the time. It just got away from me.

I read about NieNie tonight and could hardly keep from crying. I am so blessed to have had healthy children and few serious life events over the 42 years of married life. What a great life I've had, what a great marriage and what a great testimony to the goodness of God.

Now I have to read scriptures with Joe and go to sleep. (I guess I should get a bite to eat, too :)

Nite, all.

More pictures of Chloe

This is Jenn again. Janelle sent a link to some pictures she took of Chloe, and Mom wanted to put them on her blog. Thanks, Janelle!

This is me now, not Jenn. I am so glad you got these pictures of Chloe, Janelle. They are special to me. She is such a pretty kitten and you know what I realized? She is color coordinated with my living room. When I mention it to Joe, he said "Gee, we'll have to get rid of her when we move and she doesn't match." (cute, huh) I should have said "We'll just have to paint the new living room to match her!" (we as in you!")

(OK. I don't know why the last three characters above came out bolded when I tried to get the "you" bolded and the computer wouldn't do it for some reason. Yep, it's just my touch with computers showing up again! What can I say? This computer hates me!!!)

Chloe still isn't scratching the furniture, at least when we are home and she's not alone. But then if you heard the hissing and clapping that happens when she even tries you probably wouldn't be surprised. That's what one of the handouts they gave us at the animal shelter said to do. We've only had to do that a couple of times.

I've heard her using the scratching post on her condo several times. I'm glad I got her young so I could train her. In the handout it said it was important to set boundaries for your cat as soon as you get her. That cats can be trained and that you aren't doing it any favors by letting it get away with anything you don't want her to do. So it looks like I won't be having her declawed after all.

She is such a sweet kitten. She is affectionate and playful. She follows me wherever I go, unless I am going into the office. She has learned by being shut out several times that she isn't allowed to go in there with me. She can't go in there with me because Steve and Michelle are going to be using the two small bedrooms (office right now) when they move into the other part of the house in January, and he's allergic to cats. If we keep her out of those two rooms, he said it won't be a problem.

When I go in the bedroom and lie down on the bed she comes up and lays on me. That's on not by. Even when I am on my side she jumps up and crawls around until she is balanced and then lays down. She has to do this several times because when she finally gets settled she finds she is not quite balanced right so she has to get up and try again. Joe said he woke up and turned over the other night and she was laying on me while I was on my side sound asleep. Cute kitten! And yes she sleeps on our bed, something I allow. (ok, now I can't get the computer to turn off the italics.... Like I said, it hates me. >:(

btw, Joe has come to love her almost as much as I do for all his calling her "Homewrecker." (Halleluyia, no italics. Beats me how it does this)

Pictures of Chloe Nutmeg

This is just a quick guest post from Corilee's daughter Jenn. I know Mom has been wanting pictures of Chloe Nutmeg on her blog, so I thought I would post some that I took on Thanksgiving. Isn't she a cute kitten? The kids sure love her, and she is so good with them. Enjoy!

Chloe, prayer

I named my kitten Chloe though my whole family (well the girls anyway) think I should name her Nutmeg. So her whole name is Chloe Nutmeg Southern.

I didn't have her declawed. I had some real doubts when I prayed about it and I got a sure answer not to do it. I reasoned with the Lord in prayer and finally came to the point where I was willing to hear the voice of the Lord in the words of the Vet. I had to pray really hard to overcome my will and submit to His. I also prayed that if possible, my strong desire to have her declawed would be lessened.

The Vet said to wait a couple of months to see how much she really claws the furniture and then if it is a problem we can do it when I take her in to have her spayed. My strong desire was overcome to a great extent so that when the Vet said to wait I felt alright about it.

Jan and Jen gave me their cat condo and a scratching post, both of which were well used but still look pretty good. They also had some spray to put on the furniture to discourage the cat from using the furniture instead of the scratching post. I am feeling a lot better about it tonight.

I just love this little kitten!

All's Well That Ends Well

Well as you can probably guess from the title of this post, I got another cat.

Turns out, I called around to see if anyone had a Birman in their shelter, yesterday, and no one did. Still, I was set on a cat or kitten, but I badly wanted one that looked like Grayson. My heart was still grieving for him. But after looking around on the Internet, and finding no other cat that had those markings I decided to go the Animal Shelter and see what they did have.

At the Shelter they had a kitten that looked similar but smaller than Grayson But it was wild with reaching It's little paws through the gated door of it's pen trying to claw whoever got close enough and crying this pitiful loud hoarse cry and climbing up the grate of the door. the poor little thing was all wet probably from turning over his water bowl.

Any way I took pity on it any took it out to go to the little room where you can shut yourself off from the noise of the rest of the animals and just get to know your kitten. But this little kitten couldn't even settle down with lots of petting and coaxing It kept running and jerking around the room and would hardly let you hold him. When I did finally get to hold him I held him quite firmly and snuggled it right up to my chest. It held still for about 10 or 15 seconds and then start clawing and jerking around to get away from me again. The poor little thing was so badly traumatized that I doubted it would ever be normal again. Needless to say I didn't get that little kitten.

As I was about to walk out of the shelter I noticed a little cat in the display Plexiglas pens in the foyer and realized that it was a gold tabby point birman with such delicate markings that it almost looked white. So I took this cat back to the little room and it was adorable. It was curious about the room and had to check out the little cat condo they have there and also climb the five foot excuse for a tree. It made it to the top of the "tree" and had nowhere to go so it sat there a minute and then looked at me as if to say "could you help me down?"

When I picked her up, she purred and purred and as I held her, she kept snuggling up to me, even gently licking my face. She was as sweet tempered as was Grayson and as affectionate as well. She has all the marking of a true Birman right down to the white feet but she doesn't have the long hair and she doesn't look like she is going to be a very big cat as most Birman's are
Anyway, I bought her.

She did have a little trouble with the car ride home but not as bad as Grayson. When I got her home I had to keep her in the "kitty bus" they gave me at the shelter while I disinfected every thing that Grayson had touched. I got a bucket of soapy Clorox water, stripped down to my underwear, and started washing everything inside and out. It's a good thing I stripped down because I was soaked by the time I got everything washed. The next thing I did was to use a mop and mopped the floor of the laundry room and for good measure I mopped all the tile everywhere he could have walked.

By then Joe had come home and helped get the litter box full of litter for me and get everything back in the room as it should be. Then I let the kitten out of the box to look around her new home. She went around the room sniffing everything and finally settled in on her food and water bowels She drank a little and then was ready to be picked up and held. I could tell by the way she climbed up my leg and purred so I picked her up :P

So, anyway, we spent the rest of the day just hanging out together. She didn't want to be left in a room by herself and would follow me where ever I went. Even to the point of getting in front of my feet so I wouldn't get away from her. She did this all the way down the hall. I just about stepped on her a couple of times so I had to pick her up, which was what she wanted all along.

She has turned out as companionable as Grayson was and just as good with the Grand-kids. She lets them pet her and doesn't run away from them, even the little ones. She has two drawbacks:

She has very sharp claws and she sheds like crazy. I am going to have her declawed next week by Dr DeGerring who does a procedure that isn't as painful for the cat. He doesn't take off the claw back to the first knuckle as is the standard practice. He only takes out the claw itself. So the cat can be out of the hospital the same day, you don't have to use any special litter for the litter box, and there isn't nearly the pain and trauma to the animal.

As for the shedding I have bought several of those roller, sticky things that pick up cat hair. I plan to use them ferociously. To save my clothes, I have designated two shirts and two mumus to be used when holding Gold Kitty (for want of a better name. We haven't yet named her). And I am going to train her not to sit on the furniture, as well.

I love this kitten just as much as I loved Grayson. I hope nothing happens to her.

I could hardly believe my good fortune to find that she is "potty trained." She feel so comfortable around us that when I shut her in the laundry room for the night, and shut off the light she just climbed up into the basket that I made for her to sleep in and settled right down - no crying at all. AT ALL. Not a peep.

Now I'm going to have to get a years supply of food and kitty litter for her. But I don't mind in the least. She's worth it.

Jenni, Joey, Emma and Matthew have all been here to see the new kitty and to play with her. She was so cute with them and played with the cat toy with them for about 10 minutes. Emma hasn't yet made the connection that this isn't Grayson. I don't remember if it was me or her that first said the name but at one point she called the kitten "Goldson."

I just LOVE this little kitten!!! Thanks Heavenly Father, I honestly didn't think I'd ever find a cat so lovable and sweet as Grayson was but this one is! Thank You again.

Sad, Sad Heart

I had a dream early Tuesday morning that I had gotten a cute little kitten with a gray tabby face and a plain body. I realized when I woke up that I really did want a cat after all these years without a pet. I prevailed upon Joe and his heart was softened and he finally agreed to let me get one.

I went to the Animal Shelter in Lindon that very day (Tuesday) to get a kitten and thought I would have to settle for a gray tabby. That was alright with me. But when I went into the room where they had the cats, the very first cubby hole/pen I looked in, there was the exact kitten I saw in my dream! I could hardly believe it.

(This isn't a picture of my kitten, but is the closest one Jenn could find on the internet)

On the way home from the shelter I stopped by Emilee's house to show Emma (age 4) my new kitty. She was so cute with him. She hardly dared touch him but when she finally got up her nerve she petted him very softly and he immediately rubbed up against her leg. She was thrilled. I told her she could come over to Grandma's house any time she wanted to to see the kitten. She took me up on it and came over the very next day (Wednesday)to see him again.

That night (Tuesday) Steve and Michelle brought Jenni (6)and Joey (3 1/2) up to see the kitten and after being in the room only a few minutes, Steve started sneezing. I had completely forgotten that Steve was allergic to cats. He said it was all right just so long as the cat didn't come in their bedroom at all, which I readily agreed to. Joey had no interest in the kitten but Jenni just loved him and had a good time petting him and holding him.

The next day (Wednesday) David brought Annika (4 1/2)and Mieka (2)over to see the kitten. He was a little nervous about them but he didn't run away. The girls kept trying to snuggle up to him and he would move 3 or 4 inches and sit down and then they would move up to him again. This happened over and over as the three of them made their way around the room. He did let them pet him though and they were very soft with him.

Later that night Jenn and Jan came over to see the kitten and fell in love with him. He was so cute with them, snuggling up to Jan's neck and pushing his nose into her hair. When Jenn saw him she immediately said he was a Blue Tabby Point Burmese kitten. I had never heard of the breed but he had darling markings. I thought he was a cross between a tabby and a Siamese. He had the tabby face and his body looked like a Siamese. His tail was black with gray rings going up about halfway. His legs looked like a tabby with little rings going down the leg to black feet. He had the sweetest temperament. He was soooo affectionate with everyone who held him. He purred every time he was picked up and wanted to nestle up under your chin. And he loved to be petted and petted and petted.

He was "potty trained" (what do you call it for kittens....? I can't remember) and when we left him in the laundry room (where we had his bed) for the night he cried for a couple of minutes and then settled down on a little rug we have in there and went to sleep. During the day he liked to sit under our big dining room table and watch the world go by.

The saddest thing happened yesterday (Friday). All of a sudden in the afternoon he suddenly got really sick. He started throwing up until there was nothing left to throw up and then there were dry heaves. Luckily we were able to get the last appointment of the day at the Vet's.

After checking him over the Vet said he was very sick with one of four possible illnesses which were all fatal. He said it could be distemper, leukemia, a virus he had picked up at the shelter or feline something or other - it had a long name too hard to pronounce. He said there was hardly any hope for the kitten. Maybe a 5% chance that he would live, he said, and as sick as the kitten was, he was sure the kitten wouldn't live.

When I came home from my mission, I knew he was really sick. His whole personality had changed. No cuddling or purring and he didn't even want to lay on my bed with me. As I took him out to the car to go to the Vet, I picked him up so I could put a towel in his carrier and he threw up again. As I was driving him to the Vet there was NO crying out, out of fear of the car ride, as there had been on the way home from the shelter. He was just silent.

When the Vet said if it were his kitten he would put him down I thought my heart would break. I did end up having him put down and then spent the rest of the night crying off and on. I feel a little better today but am still very sad. He was the cutest, sweetest little kitten I have ever had. Jenn is going to try to find another kitten with the same markings for me. I need to get everything disinfected first, but I hope we can find one.

Even so, Grayson (we named him that) was an answer to my prayers. The Lord knew that the kitten was going to die before He even sent that dream. To have the dream fulfilled, by finding the same exact kitten at the shelter as the one in the dream, was the perfect thing to reassure me that I do have gift of dreams. It was something I had been praying about and now have my answer. It was one of those tender mercies that the Lord gives us from time to time.

I'm still not sure what the purpose of having the kitten die was, though. Maybe I didn't pray hard enough for the kitten's life. I don't know. When I went to the Vet I really didn't expect him to say the kitten had to be put down. It was such a shock. After that I didn't think to pray at all. All I thought of was that they were going to put him down and how bad I felt about that. I will try to think to pray in the first place and then pray harder next time (although I'm hoping there won't be a next time.)

Still, I trust in the Lord that His purposes have been fulfilled in this matter.

-- ADDENDUM --

Hey all, this is Chelle. Mom asked me to put some pics on her post, but by the time I got up here to do it, she was gone, so I called her and she said she wanted the following pics on this post.

First off, Jenni drew a picture of the cat, and gave it to mom. Here's Jenni's rendition of Grayson (I was the one who thought of that name, by the way!)

The 'bing' part is the little bell sound the collar made.

Here's the back of the picture Jenni drew. We're still working on spelling!


And finally, here is a pic that Jenn (mom's daughter) found on the net that looks fairly close to what Grayson looked like.

He really was such a sweet kitty! Bye little Grayson! We'll miss you!

ok, I think that's all!

Since I can't post on my blog I'll post on Jenn's

PLEASE NOTE: THIS WAS PUBLISHED ON JENN'S BLOG, BUT SHE FINALLY HELPED ME LOG OUT, SO IT'S NOW POSTED TO MINE.

Good Times!

We celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary on Tuesday. 42YEARS!!! Yikes!!! I must really be getting OLD!!! We had a great time. We just had a nice easy going morning and then went out to have some fun in the afternoon. We went to See's and each got 6 of our favorite chocolates. I didn't know Joe had decided to go on a sugarless diet just the day before and since it was a Special Day and I allow myself to have chocolates on any Special Day I asked him to let me get my chocolates and he indulged both me and himself. I'm glad he didn't tell me he was off sugar because I wouldn't have tempted him if I had known and I would have missed out on my Special Day chocolates.

Just so you know, the Special Days are any major holiday, my birthday and our anniversary. So let's see, each year that's my birthday, Valentines Day, Mother's Day, our anniversary, Thanksgiving day, Christmas and New Years. It's a loooooooooong wait from Mother's Day to our anniversary but it gives me something really great to look forward to. Here's to lemon and key lime truffles.... yummm even thinking about them tastes good.

So after the chocolates we went to Deseret Book and each bought a small book (read not too expensive.) We spent some time that morning looking over all the movies that were out there and couldn't find any we both wanted to see so we went to Hollywood Video and rented three movies. We went home and started watching one that I had picked out. Turns out it was a grade B+ movie (not so bad as a grade B movie, but really close) It was long and rambling and repeated some scenes over and over and had TWO parts to it. We only got part way through the second part before we gave up on it. Joe said he thought it was a "made for TV" movie because of the repeated scenes. Anyway, it wasn't worth watching.

Then, in the evening, we went to Out Back for dinner with Jan and Jenn and then over to Emilee's for a few minutes until the girl's all went to Zumba (a dancing workout that Emilee teaches in their dance studio above the rental center) We stayed for just a few minutes longer with Daniel while Matthew threw a fit because his mother AND the girls left. He finally settled down a little because Daniel asked him to open the door for Grandpa and Grandma so they could go home and the thought of that distracted him from thinking about the fact that everyone important had gone (sorry Daniel, but there it is.)

A great time was had by all.... that would be both of us :)

This and that, "that" being the holidays

November!!! I can't believe the year has passed so fast. I have lost another 5 lbs through my OA group and doing the 12 steps. (Who would have ever thought doing a spiritual program would be the the key to my success?) Half of my grandchildren started Kindergarten (not really, but it seemed that way.... several of them actually did, though,)

When it snowed last week I had the Christmas Spirit sweep over me. I was ready to put my tree up and start the whole holiday thing going.

Halloween was fun this year. We had some fantastic costumes in our family. One Daughter-in-law had the hottest witch costume. She looked fantastic in it. And three little girl, ages 4, 6, and 7 (my son Michael's daughters) all had matching replicas of the BYU cheerleaders uniforms. They were adorable!!!

I look forward to Thanksgiving. We have such a large group of family for dinner that I can hardly hear myself think. It is fun though.

But Christmas is the best of all. We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving and start Christmas music that day. Having a huge breakfast on Christmas morning has become a tradition. It's all so fun and special and spiritual.. I really hope we get to go see the lights on Temple Square. If Joe doesn't want to go again this year, I'll just have to go with the girls.

Anyway, fun times ahead, for this year at least.

Going beyond the mark

When I took notes from General Conference I decided the one thing I was going to change was my problem of having very little temperance. That shows up in the weight I've gained as an adult, in the money I have spent without being frugal, the extremes I've gone to, and being black or white in my thinking. I'm sure there are other ways I've been extravagant that I can't think of right now. Anyway, I've wanted to learn to be more balanced and more temperate in my thinking and behavior.

So maybe it's just my negative way of looking at things but I've had the experience of realizing I was very intemperate. Last week I was typing up some long passages of scripture that were meaningful to me in a very personal way. I wanted to put them in my journal. So about a third of the way through I had the smallest of impressions that I should stop and get something to eat for lunch. But I thought to myself that I would do just a little bit more and then I would stop. Well, about four hours later I finally finished and realized I hadn't stopped for lunch and I was sick and in pain from pushing too hard to get it done.

I've learned two things. One is that I can be intemperate in so many ways that I would never have thought of. And two, that the still small voice is really still and really small and if I don't pay attention to it I can get myself in a lot of trouble.

I've also had the experience when I'm eating of feeling full and knowing that I had eaten enough but still wanting to eat more. I was not satisfied somehow and the urge to eat more was really strong. I prayed in my mind that I would be able to hold out for a few minutes longer and I knew that the urge would go away. Well, I did and it did, but I had to get away from the table and distract myself.

So I am having some success but it took the pain and sickness from "going beyond the mark" in typing up the scriptures to really get my attention. I am listening to that still small voice a little better now. I do wish I could eat without wanting to keep eating when I am full. It takes a lot of help from the Lord and some action on my part to pass up that extra food. I am going to have to find some way to distract myself that is really attractive to me so the feeling of having deprived myself will not be so strong.

Being temperate is harder than I thought it would be. And I still haven't understood the connection goals have to being temperate. I thought temperance was pretty much the same as "moderation in all things." I'm going to have to do some pondering, meditating and thinking on the subject of goals in relation to temperance.

Well, as they say, onward and upward.

Sick, Sick, Sick

I have been so sick this last weekend. I've had a bad cough for the last two weeks which the doctor at the Insta-Care said was just a virus, that I was no longer contagious and that the cough could last until MAY or so. So I've been bearing with it as well as I could and just hoping it would not take that long to get over. Then all of a sudden Friday night I started coughing all through the night, I hardly got any sleep at all and finally went in on the couch so at least Joe could sleep. By Saturday I knew I was really sick. I had chills (shaking so hard I couldn't pour my orange juice without spilling it all over.) muscle aches, head ache, runny nose, a temperature, you know all the classic signs of the flu.

I finally got in to see the doctor this morning, He said I had swine flu or h1n1 as they are calling it now. He said I was contagious for three days before the symptoms showed up and will be contagious for nine days after. So basically he said I should hibernate for the next week.

I am so embarrassed about going to work Friday morning. Sister Jones has been adamant that we keep wiping down the whole office with sanitary wipes so that no one gets sick and here I bring it in without knowing it.

Dr. Brown gave me a strong cough suppressant as a liquid and one in little gold pearls, as well. He said the cough should go away but just because I feel better doesn't mean I'm not contagious. He said this flu isn't spread by contact with something we touch but that it is spread in the little droplets of water we spray into the room when we cough.

So as much as we love having you visit, it would be best that none of you come until next Sunday or Monday.

Thankfully the worst of it seems to be over. I just feel wiped out. I did get a blessing yesterday that said I would get better in a matter of hours. That was last night and this morning I felt much better.

Love to all, Mither

Life is good for me right now....

Finally! A watercolor painting I'm doing that is turning out good. I am really enjoying this watercolor class. It's only going to be an 8 week course but it is giving me a good start in this medium. I am finding the teacher to be excellent. His style is really tight and detailed but every time he comes around to help me he does these wonderful little thumbnail sketches that are loose and flowing.

I am doing a painting of a tree that is in stark contrast to a dark river behind it. It's a very dramatic picture with dark greens and blues except for bright yellow leaves on the right side of the tree due to a setting sun (which is actually out of the picture.)

Like they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words." You'd have to see the picture

I was worried about painting the river and actually making it look like water. I did a smaller painting of this picture so I could work out all the problems on it before I did it on the larger, more expensive paper. On the smaller painting I overworked it so much that the river turned out to be "muddy." Not a pun. It's an actual term in water coloring. I find it hard to do it right the first time which is why I've always thought watercolors to be so difficult.

I had the teacher show me how to do the water on his paper and when I followed his instructions and example it turned out great, much different than the reference but beautiful. Instead of the dark, stark contrast the river is actually a very cool, light color but even more appealing to me. Now the tree is too harsh. I am going to see what the teacher has to suggest.

Anyway, it's a whole new experience for me. I am going to try my hand at this for the next year and see how it goes over time. Learning how to watercolor was one of the things on my 100 goals list. So, also, was spending a year doing something new and challenging. So I'm accomplishing two goals at once.

Getting up at 5:00 is something I am finding surprisingly easy. I don't have to drag myself out of bed every morning. The alarm goes off and I'm up without effort. And the "sleep withdrawals" are about gone now that I'm not getting back up due to the Ambien. The Lord is really blessing me so that I'm able to achieve this goal. I'm amazed at how much I'm enjoying the benefits of early rising. I'm loving the time studying my scriptures and writing in my journal when I 'm fresh. It really is invigorating as it promised it would be in the D&C!

Another great thing is that I've re-lost(?) the five pounds that I gained last month. Also, I'm starting to enjoy my mission and am getting more and more confident on the computer. And, last but not least, Joe has set up a small table in the computer room so that I can have all my books, scriptures and journal out and not have to have them in the way on the dining room table. He has moved his work computer up into the bonus room which makes room available for me downstairs. He has a nice long table up there for his puzzles, and we have put our family room furniture up there so it's a nice cozy place for him to be as well.

Life is good for me right now. Thanks Heavenly Father.

General Conference: I'll try this again....

Last Sunday morning, early, I wrote a long post about all the wonderful things I heard in Conference on Saturday and then somehow lost it just as I was about to publish it. I thought maybe Michelle could find it for me so I didn't try to write it again. Turns out she couldn't find it so I am going to try it again.

As I look back over my notes, now, I don't remember all the thoughts I had when I wrote them. Still, I will do the best I can but I am really upset that that can actually happen when you are writing on a computer. Dang computers! I have a love/hate relationship with mine.

So the first talk, right off the bat, set the stage for my thoughts as Elder Richard G. Scott spoke about personal revelation. I was impressed with the suggestion that we need to write down the revelations and strong impressions we receive from the Lord. Then we should thank Heavenly Father for the things He is revealing to us and ask if there is anything more He wants us to know or understand. And then we should respond to and apply what we have learned.

Sister Matsumori said we should "provide a quiet time each day to facilitate the prompting of the Spirit." It reminded me of something someone said about President Kimball's advice that we "lengthen our stride." It was said that he didn't write out a long list of things to do. He started meditating each day as a way of lengthening his stride.

I have tried to include meditation as part of my daily routine of prayer and scripture study. Unfortunately I have fallen asleep each time I've tried it. I still find that I have not yet gotten over the "sleep withdrawals" from getting up at 5:00 a.m. If I don't do something that occupies my thoughts like writing in my journal or writing my notes from my scripture study I get very drowsy and practically fall asleep. Several times I actually have gone in the living room and lain down on the couch and slept for a little while longer. That has happened only a few times in the 7 weeks I've been getting up early so I don't feel too bad about it.
This usually happens after I have been up for a couple of hours already so you would think I would be wide awake by that time. Well, not yet, but I am persevering.

Back to Conference talks....

Elder Ted R Callister's talk said that even something as important as the restoration of the gospel was still only given line upon line, precept upon precept as Joseph Smith asked questions in prayer. So, also, will we receive line upon line, precept upon precept as we ask questions of the Lord in prayer. I realized that I don't very often ask questions in my prayers unless it's something important that I'm fasting about and I need to get an answer about.

I thought Elder Kent D Watson's talk on temperance was good. He said that temperance is a gift of the Holy Ghost, that it's more than just moderation, it's being diligent and patient in pursuing goals. I can honestly say that I would never have thought of that.... Temperance and goals going together? He also said that being temperate will give us increased spiritual strength and self control. Great! I could use more self-control

I loved Elder Neil L Anderson's talk on Mercy; that the arms of mercy are extended to us if we repent and come unto Him, that the Lord will receive us; that his arms of love are extended "all the day long." The phrase "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands" is beautiful. It is my favorite phrase from a hymn on my Ipod from an album called Sacred Classics. The idea that the Lord's love for us actually is shown in the palms of His hands. The best part of his talk was when he said "don't be discouraged if you have been struggling with he same sin over and over. You won't see your progress without patience" He likened it to climbing a mountain through a forest of trees. That you can't see that you're progressing until you get near the top where the trees thin out, then you can look back and see that you really have made progress. The last note I took from him was that repentance always meant greater happiness.

The haunting rendition of "Oh Divine Redeemer" was so movingly beautiful I could hardly stand to hear it end. It was my favorite song of the whole conference.



And the one talk that impressed me most, above any other of the whole conference, was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's. Given the circumstances of how it was delivered that will cause it to be forever remembered, Elder Holland's POWERFUL TESTIMONY about the Book of Mormon and the truthfulness of the Church was astounding. I loved this part:

In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created...tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as impostors and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that!They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

I could see Elder Holland was visibly shaken as he spoke. The feelings of the Spirit could not be denied in watching him. What an AMAZING talk!!! It makes me want to go out and say the same thing to the world. I am glad that he spoke it when all the world could watch and hear it and that it will be recorded forever. Angels will definitely quote from it.

I so look forward to General Conference. I promised myself I would only take one idea from each session to work on for the coming six months . I usually try to work on too many things and then get discouraged when I can't keep up with it all. As it turned out, I found so much in just the Saturday sessions that that is where I am taking my four ideas/goals from.

After going through my notes I've decided I will do the following things - write down my impressions from the Lord, meditate, practice temperance, and not be discouraged by working on the same sin over and over. Writing down impressions and not getting discouraged really aren't the kind of goals that take any actual work or effort so that should be easy. And I've decided that I will meditate on practicing temperance. :)

Practicing temperance is the only goal that I will really have to work at. Meditating is going to take some effort as well (but not as much as temperance) because I tend to fall asleep if I try to do it in the morning. I will have to write myself a note to do it in the afternoon. I am afraid I will forget if I don't have the note to remind me.

What a wonderful two days. I am so grateful that I can watch Conference on TV, what a miracle it is. I can hardly believe I am so blessed in my life with such abundance and prosperity. I do fear for our freedom, though. I must trust in the Lord about that. I wonder why we don't hear about that subject in Conference now days when we are so close to losing it. President Benson would have had a field day with what is happening now and that's putting it mildly to say the least.

Well, Conference was great and I am spiritually blessed to hear from a Prophet the things God would have us know.

Simple Pleasures

I went to my watercolor class last Wednesday night. It was much better than the first class because we actually painted from pictures. I never could paint good pictures without some kind of reference.

I chose a painting from one of my Teaching Books, which are books that have pictures that you can paint from to improve your skills, so I'm not plagiarising.

I did a watercolor of three iris's on a dark background of green and purple. I have to wait for the background to dry so I painted on one of the old backgrounds that I painted years ago and never finished. It turned out to be a poor rendition of a beach. But at least I tried. I still haven't painted the iris but I will try to get it done for the next class so I can get tips on how I did. I am learning to use frisket which is like rubber cement because it rubs off when you're done. It makes it so you can preserve the white paper while you paint something dark around it, or by it. Anyway it is neat to use it and see the outcome. It turns out that you use it just like the watercolors themselves. That is, you can water it down and paint with it on the parts of the painting you want to preserve. It's a good idea to paint the things you want to stay white first, so you don't forget what your plan was and paint in the wrong area.

Watercolor is SO much harder than oils. With oils if you don't like how something looks, you can just paint over it but with watercolors, if you try to paint over something you get mud.

I need to get back to my oils, though, because I have two paintings I am currently working on (ok, I know I've had them for years and haven't finished them, but they are the next thing that I'm going to work on so in a way they are "current").

I've been sick this last week so I've missed work and doing genealogy with my brother Joe, but as I said, I did go to my watercolor class. I made it a point not to sit close to anyone and to try not to cough. I was afraid if I didn't go they would cancel the class because the first day they only had two students show up other than me. This last Wednesday they had about five or six who were already there when I got there, so I wouldn't have had to worry. Oh well, I got to have some fun while I was sick. I was sure weak the next day though, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea.

I find I always seem to do too much when I am sick. It's like I don't really believe I'm that sick but I am sick enough that I can't do my usual routine. There have been times that I've really paid for that kind of thinking. I do need to pay more attention to my what my body is feeling and rest more.

Well, I have to go have breakfast and start my scripture study, so Cheers for now.

Love to you all,

Mither

Small Miracles

Still fighting sleepiness in the mornings, but to my complete surprise, Joe said I got up last night (after taking my ambien and going to bed) and talked to Michelle and Fleicia (incoherently they said - they just laughed off my crazy speech) until very late. He said I had been doing this several nights, not just last night. I have no memory of it at all. That's what ambien will do to you. I wish I could get off of it.

NO WONDER I've had such a HARD time staying awake during the day. I found myself nodding off in my ERC (Employment Resources Center - my Church service mission) Conference yesterday and then jerking awake over and over. How embarrassing!

I've asked Joe to gently suggest to me that I might want to go back to bed because I have to get up at 5:00 in the morning. Apparently, I get feisty and unreasonable when I am in that state. I'm hoping that my alter ego will listen to him and go back to bed. I still plan on getting up at 5:00 a.m.

The small miracle is that even though I got up so early (and then went back to sleep on the couch at 6:30 until 7:30 when I was wakened by a phone call) I still got my art room cleaned up so that I can at least turn around. The boxes of stuff that got put in there "temporarily" are finally gone! Hallelujah!

Now I have no excuse not to paint. Hope there is another small (BIG) miracle that will cause me to actually do it, now.

Hottest Date Night Ever!

Joe happened to be listening to the radio a couple of weeks ago and heard that the Utah Symphony was doing what they called Cirque de la Symphonie. Having seen the Cirque de la Soliel "O" in Las Vegas in May which was phenomenal, he asked me if I wanted to go. I thought he had read my 100 goals list and knew that one of my goals was to cultivate an appreciation for classical music, so that was why he asked. I didn't find out until last night that he had no idea that I had set that goal.

Strange coincidence.

In Brother Wright's class at Ed. Week he said that as long as we asked the Lord what goals to set and wrote down any thing that came to mind we would find that opportunities would happen and people would be brought into our life that would help us reach our goals. He also read a quote by Larry H Miller who said "How many coincidences does it take to realize that it's not a coincidence?"

The Symphony was incredible. The music was beautiful. It was interesting because they played music from Harry Potter and Star Wars along with the classical pieces. And then to see the extraordinary acts that were set to the music was much more than I ever expected. To tell the truth I hesitated to even go because I hadn't yet "developed" the taste for classical music. It was just a goal that I had set and was working towards by changing my radio station to Classical 89 in the car and listening to it on my Ipod. I thought that Joe wanted to go, (which was weird since we haven't gone to the symphony, ever, in our whole married life) so I said yes.

What a night! First we decided to drive up to 90th South and catch Trax and ride in to the city which was, in itself, fun because I had never done it. Then, when we got there, we had time to get a bite to eat. We went to the hotel restaurant that was right across the street from Symphony Hall, which was very convenient. We finished eating just in time to get to our seats without being late. And last to hear and see such amazing things, (the acts were just incredible, that's all I can say!) made the whole night more fun than I have had on a date, ever!!!

The really down side was that it was Emilee's birthday and she was going to invite us over to dinner.

The other down side was that we didn't get home until late and I didn't get to bed until after midnight. That made it so I slept right through my alarm and missed getting up at 5:00 a.m. Joe had been up at 5:00 himself and when he came back to bed a little later and heard my alarm going off (music from my Ipod, not very loud, but loud enough that I should have woken up) he thought if I was that tired he would just let me sleep. So I didn't wake up until 8:30 and even then I couldn't get really awake so I slept until 11:00.

So much for preaching "early to bed and early to rise." But tomorrow is another day so they say. (And no, I don't know who "they" is.)

Well, I need to get to bed now or I might sleep through my alarm, again.

Night, all.

Hottest Date Night Ever!

Why should I get up EARLY in the morning?

Just so you all know, this post is an answer to a question posed by Dave in the comments to my Yawnnnnnn! post about why I made it a goal to get up at 5:00 a.m. He asked what value I got out of getting up so early that could not be gotten by staying up equally late (that's basically the idea, I think)

I know this is a LONG post but you all might get something out of it (not just Dave) if you take the trouble to read it. By the way, I am using this blog as a journal, now, so some of the posts might seem weird, too spiritual or too personal. All I can say is "sorry, that's just me coming out on paper" (or should I say, on computer :)

There's a whole chapter on the subject of getting up early in Randal A Wright's book "Achieving Your Life Mission." His class at Education Week was so good I went to three sessions of it for the last three days. It was his class that inspired me to get up early and to write my "100 goals list." (goals I would like to accomplish in the next ten years of my life. That's a whole other post.)

He quotes several of the General Authority's writings that I think are especially good. I'll let them speak for themselves:

Elder Marion G. Romney asked Elder Harold B. Lee what he needed to do to be a successful General Authority. Elder Lee spoke about the necessity of receiving personal revelation in order to be effective and said: "If you are to be successful... you will need to be inspired. You will need to receive revelation. I will give you one piece of advice: Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested and then in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day."

President Romney said: "From that day on, I put that counsel into practice, and I know it works."

President Boyd K Packer said, "When I'm under pressure, you won't find me burning the midnight oil. I'd much rather be in bed early and getting up in the wee hours of the morning, when I can be close to Him who guides this work." Elder Christensen added his testimony by saying, "Some are habituated to going to bed late and sleeping much longer than your system really needs and thus missing out on some of the personal inspiration you could be receiving."

In our fast-paced world filled with so many activities, going to bed early takes every bit as much willpower as getting up early. Perhaps that is why so few people actually do it. President Joseph F. Smith, writing to one of his missionary sons said, "The Lord said, 'Retire to bed early,' and this is wise advice, but we do not heed it. Now let me say, Let us go to bed early, that we may rise early and be refreshed. So far as we can. It is God's plan. He tells us to do it and we should obey."

Some may think that they are biologically programmed to be a morning person or a night person. But Elder Christensen addressed this when he said, "Nowhere do the scriptures say, 'Thou shalt sleep eight hours.' Nor do the say, 'Retire early unless you happen to be a night person."

Brother Wright writes: After hearing a General Authority mention during a stake conference that he got up very early every morning, I asked how many of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve did the same. His eyes locked on mine and he exclaimed, "They all do!"

Also D&C 88:124 says, "... cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated."

Elder Russell M. Nelson also tied [getting up early] to our mental well being when he said, "Those who feel defeated and downtrodden, look to the early hours of the day for your rescue."

To all that, let me share my personal experience. When I was 27 years old I had six children and no time when I could do a serious study of the scriptures without interruption. So I decided to get up at 5:00 a.m. when I could be alone and uninterrupted. I did this for about nine months. I chose to study the Book of Mormon so I got a study guide from BYU's Book of Mormon course. I found, to my absolute delight, that I was more spiritually, mentally and emotionally uplifted than at any other time in my life. And I'm 61 years old so that's saying a lot. I am convinced that getting up early is really important. I don't know why I stopped getting up early except that I finished the Book of Mormon and didn't continue to study any of the other standard works.

(Oh Oh, here I go off on a tangent about scriptures, sorry folks, that's what I said before about getting the real me.)

As I studied, I found that I came to LOVE the Book of Mormon. I didn't want to be without my scriptures. I loved highlighting the scriptures that were impressive to me, marking them up, writing in the margins and cross referencing them. Those scriptures wore out, so I bought a new set and did the same marking, etc. This time I even got a copy of the paperback B of M and cut the pictures out and pasted them in the appropriate places of my scriptures. I bought a packet of B of M comments by the Brethren which were like sticky note pads only a little smaller and put them in the appropriate pages as well. Then I bought a set of study guides that could be pasted in at certain places where they commented on what was said in the text. I still have those scriptures but they are getting so fragile that I don't dare use them for studying any more.

I now have a large set of scriptures that I am marking all over again, but not referring to my old scriptures this time. It's refreshing to start over again. I have a whole different outlook on life, now, and I am impressed by different things in the scriptures than I was with my old set. It's like seeing with new eyes. I would suggest that you buy a new set of scriptures every 10 years and start marking them again. It would be like a new volume for each decade of your life. I guarantee that you'll mark them differently each decade according to your life experiences.

Well, that's it. Hope it was worth reading, Dave, because it's taken me four hours to compose this post. It's also 9:03 p.m. and Joe and I still have to have our scripture study together.

BTW the Dave that I'm writing to in this post is not my son David, he is just someone who started commenting on my post one day. All I know about him is that he is the loving father of three adorable sons (one of them only about 2 weeks old), he has a funny sense of humour and he likes classical music as well as country.

Cheers, everyone!

Yawnnnnn

Well, I still haven't gotten through my "sleep withdrawals" yet. I almost fell asleep in a class on using wheat from food storage at our preparedness fair this morning and I was sitting on the second row in the classroom with no one in front of me. %) Hope the teacher didn't notice my head bobbing as I jerked awake.

I am really enjoying the time I spend in the mornings doing things like getting my journal caught up, my 12 generation pedigree chart filled in, studying the D&C in depth and having a meaningful prayer. I still don't dare meditate for fear of falling asleep again :)

I have read my 100 goals list almost every day and am amazed that I'm doing some of the things on my list without even trying. One of my goals was to not stress about accomplishing the things I have on my list. So far so good.

I need to remember to write my posts earlier in the evening. It's 9:17 and I turned into a pumpkin at 9:00.

Night all, sleep tight.

Never Apologize....(part two)

Sorry about that last post. I had just barely started to write. I had only written two sentences when Joe came and asked me if I wanted to go shopping. He didn't have to ask twice. I minimized what I had written hoping to come back to it. For some reason the computer went ahead and posted just the title which is a terrible thing to say when you don't know the rest of the story.

So what you should never apologize for is giving Him the credit for the power behind your successes.

Two different friends of mine, who also have weight problems, have said that when they have lost 15 to 20 lbs. and tell it to someone, anyone for that matter, immediately they start to gain it back again. That has happened over and over again to all three of us.

Finally we got it! We were boasting in our own glory. Anytime we start to boast the natural result is that the spirit of the Lord is grieved and withdraws and we are left to ourselves, to our own strength, which in the case of a major difficulty or weakness (like trying to overcome an addiction to compulsive eating) is just about nil. Is nil, I should say, not "just about."

What we've learned from this experience is that it is Heavenly Father, not us, who gives us His power to overcome something that we've lost to power to do ourselves. Anytime an act or behaviour becomes an addiction willpower is not enough. It just doesn't function because we have abused the natural function (in this case eating)so badly that we have lost the ability to make good choices. We have lost the right to eat as a normal person would. So what it all boils down to is that we MUST draw on a power greater than ourselves. And if we take the credit for that power we suffer the condemnation of God, who is actually the power we are trying to claim. That was Lucifer's problem - he wanted to take God' glory for himself.

Anyway, what I've learned is that if I give the credit where credit is due, I can lose weight and keep it off. It's taken me 10 years in Overeaters Anonymous to learn that one fact. So now, I don't boast in my own strength. I try never to say I have lost x number of lbs without giving God the credit. Now I boast in my Heavenly Father's strength. I give Him the glory, which is where it belonged in the first place.

I never apologize for that.

Never Apologize....

In my last post did I mention...?

I should have made it much more evident where the success is coming from in achieving my two goals. The power is from Heavenly Father, period. Without His help this would never have lasted, even this long. I need His help in getting up early especially. Now, to bed, or I won't be able to get up at 5:00 tomorrow.

Feeling Better... Life is Good

So, things are smoothing out in the family since I my last post. As my DIL said in her comment "we are family." Sometimes I forget that we are hoping to be "forever families." I am not crying in my heart anymore. I know in my original family we've had times that were upsetting but they also smoothed out over the years and we are stronger for it. "This too shall pass..."

Reporting back on the two goals I set after Education Week, they are progressing well. I have 68 things on my 100 goals list. After considering them, I realize I have to reach one goal, first, before I will have the strength to do some of the others. The goal that needs to come first is losing a significant amount of weight (before I tour Israel or go on a Church history tour) I have set that goal to take several years to attain. It is not something I want to do in a year or two and then gain it all back again. That has happened too many times. This time will be different in that the weight will come off slowly. Last year I lost 20 lbs. At that rate it will take me six years to lose enough to reach that particular goal.

When writing my goals I didn't factor in the fact that I am 61 years old and that 10 years for me will be different, now, than they would have been if I were only 35 or 40. Maybe some of the goals I've written will be filled on the "other side" if I don't live 10 more years. But then I've said for several years now that I want to die when I'm 72. Maybe the Lord will take me at my word and let me live that long. If so, then I will have one more year than necessary. 100 goals add up to a lot of things to do even in ten years time, but then what is 10 years to the Lord? Since He is on my side, all things are possible. Right? Right.

The goal of getting up at 5:00 a.m. is working better than I thought. When I made that goal I didn't specify what I would do in those early morning hours, just that I would get up at that time. I find that I am getting a lot more done in a day than I ever dreamed. Usually I study my scriptures,write in my journal and have a meaningful prayer but since I haven't specified how I will use that time it is a pleasurable choice rather than a "have to." I also enjoy the unhurried time getting dressed and ready for the day.

I do have days when I am tired so I rest or even sleep for a while in the late morning or afternoon but I have maintained my goal, so far, through the grace of God. His grace is the key element in my success.

I still have "sleep withdrawal," but there have been days, lately, when I've found I have more energy and am much more alert, and I go the whole day without being tired! It is especially interesting to get up early on a Saturday morning. I haven't gotten over the idea of "sleeping in" that morning, yet, but I expect it to go away as I persevere.

It is still strange getting up early. I've spent too much time writing this entry. I need to go to bed right now!

So.... Sleep tight, everyone.