Halloween Meme

1. What is your favorite work of horror fiction? I really don’t purposely watch horror shows.

2. What is your favorite work of science fiction/fantasy? I’m a real dud here. Not a fan of science fiction. I haven’t even read a Harry Potter book. I know...that’s not natural. Or any of the Lord of the Rings. So, for science fiction, hmmm. Does "Contact" count? "Frequency?" Does a person get much cuter than Jim Caviezel? I loved the time travel thing. Sixth Sense was spooky.

3. Who is your favorite monster? Edward. Does a righteous monster count? I love any monster that has my grandkids in it.

4. What horror movie gives you the most chills? Really, I don’t watch them. When I was little, "The Birds" scared the daylights out of me. I still get chills when I see a telephone line lined with birds. I wouldn't know the difference between Freddie and Jason.

5. What scary story frightened you the most as a child? A teenage couple was making out in a car when they heard a report on the radio about an escaped murderer with a hook for a hand. The girl was frightened and insisted that her boyfriend drive her home immediately. Back at the girl's house, when they got out of the car they discovered a bloody hook hanging from the door.

6. What is your favorite Halloween treat? Halloween treat, How do I love thee....let me count the bars....

Actually, my favorite Halloween treat hands down would be a caramel apple.
7. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal? When I was in high school, I had a speech class where I had to prepare a speech to "convince." I decided to convince them of the paranormal. That meant I had to read a whole bunch of scary evil stuff. I was giving the speech in a large auditorium, that had a heavy divider in the middle. The divider required several people to pull it open or shut, being heavy and cumbersome. During the middle of my speech, the divider started moving smoothly across the floor. Some boys in the back, spooked, jumped up to see who was moving it. No one was there and the door to the classroom on the other side was locked. My teacher was very impressed and asked me how I "did" it. I became "convinced" to not delve into evil stuff.

9. Do you believe in Ghosts? I heart Casper.

10. Favorite Halloween costume? When I was a little girl, Cinderella with plastic sparkly high heels.
As an adult, I also dressed up like a turkey and went to the elementary school and told stories for Thanksgiving. It was a pretty great costume. I did it for my friend, Trish Morrison. I would do almost anything for Trish Morrison. I love Trish Morrison. She is on the ads against vouchers for schools. She is so cute she could be a movie star. I love Trish Morrison. I hope she loves me when she finds out I’m voting FOR school vouchers. I’ve studied it and studied it. Sorry all my friends that are school teachers. I hope I don’t get hate mail.....


11. Favorite Halloween memories-school carnivals growing up. I loved the cake walks and the haunted rooms.

When I was at Rick’s College, my boyfriend at the time and my roommates and I dressed up and went trick or treating. It was so fun to be goofy and oblivious.

Then at BYU, a guy I was dating bought me a way-cool dress at DI and we went dancing in Salt Lake, then snuck in to Gilgal Gardens with flashlights and toured the gardens (which I LOVED) at midnight....then he recited Kahil Gibran to me before kissing me good-night. Okay, I’ll have to edit that one for the great-great-greats. Grandma kissing would totally gross them out.

I LOVED fixing my kids up for Halloween and I LOVED when we would have over 300 kids come to our door. Now, where we live, we get no one. Nada. Nobody. Rylee and Boston are you listening? Grammy got really cool candies today. Big candies. Candies your parents will hate.


12. When have you been the most scared? Personally, once when I was stranded on a rock climb. I went up but couldn’t go down. Heights are an issue, remember.

Probably the most terrified I have been is when I have lost a kid for one reason or another. Absolutely scared spitless until they were found. Actually, one of the kids I kept purposefully misplacing but people kept returning him.

And when Brandi’s husband Ryan got his brain tumor. Of course, it explained a few things as well. (Just kidding, Ryan!!!)

When I used to balance my check book.

9-11 was pretty scary. Bomb drills in elementary school gave me nightmares.

Oh yes, I remember another childhood scary movie. It was called Invasion from Mars. When the Martians "got" someone, they made a mark on the back of their necks/head (when they pulled their spirits out or something.) It was really tense in the movie because all of a sudden, a good guy would turn around and they would have the mark. But guess what! So did my brother. He had a birthmark right in the exact spot so I KNEW they had him. He was pretty scary!

Name 10 things that really scare you: 1. Snakes
2. Yellow teeth
3. David when he used to sneak up on me in the shower, after I thought he had gone to work.
4. David when he still delights in sneaking up on me. He loves to pop bags when I’m not paying attention. He makes me crazy!
5. Heights
6. Breaking rules
7. Going to the bathroom in an outdoor toilet at night. I’m always sure a hand is going to reach up and grab me.
8. My refrigerators. Scary things are growing inside of them.
9. Bad breath
10. My laundry room
11. (Here’s a bonus...) Birth marks on the back of necks
12. Bonus-Bonus....that I slipped outside in my favorite Halloween costume.

Butterflies

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. Budda

What a fun day. The kiddos were out for UEA so after Brandi’s work today, BF Cathy and I loaded up 3 of her grandkids and we picked up Rylee and met Brandi and her kids at Thanksgiving Point. They have this amazing corn maze and tons of interactive activities going on. We spent hours there just playing. They had this scary monster walk, a dozen different kinds of slides, go carts, bouncing toys, spider web crawls. A perfect fall day.

Then tonight David and I went to Provo to the Covey Center for the Arts for a benefit concert for EB that Marci and her sisters were singing at. This week is EB awareness week so I’ll telling you all about this devastating disease and about one particular amazing girl, Jamie Gibson Hartley that has it. Maybe you have read about her in the Ensign....if you put her name in the search on LDS.org you’ll pull up the article. There were special performances by Jamie, April Meservy, Noteworthy, Hazelwood (Marci’s group) and a combined children’s choir of Scera Children’s Theater and the Aurora Children’s Choir. People with this disease are often called butterfly children. Butterfly children are born with skin as fragile as butterfly wings, from a genetic disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB. The skin is so fragile that friction from everyday activities can cause very painful wounds. In its most severe forms it is terminal. There is currently no medical treatment available. More information at www,debra.org and

www.ebkids.org

So, after a day playing with the kids.....and then going to this benefit, you really come away with a grateful heart. Several mothers spoke who have children with this devastating disease...and yet they are filled with gratitude for the privilege of raising these children, of being their mothers. I was touched. I know I have said this before, but each time I have been with Brandi and Parker at Primary Children’s Hospital, we come away counting our blessings realizing that what we have is fixable. The girls sang beautifully and I got to be with Joshua and Heidi all during the concert. So it has been a kiddo day!

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. Eric Hoffer

Fairytales Do Come True

When I was a little girl, I spent a lot of time alone so I wrote and I drew and I lived in my imagination. I started a novel when I was about 10. I remember going to the library and checking out books about Paris, because that is where my heroine goes. She is just ready to start high school when her father is transferred to Paris. I think it had all the workings of a Newbery (and you think they would spell that right) or Caldecott award. I filled a notebook with all sorts of "Paris" facts...and places to go. I remember a club where instead of clapping your hands, everyone snapped their fingers. Obviously if the owners had been cub scouts, they would have used the watermelon applause or the soda applause. Or a "round of applause."


But I didn’t take French. I didn’t even think about taking French. The only French words I know are french fry, french dip, french toast. Hmmmm.....

One month from today, I will be hopping on a plane to France with girlfriends! For a week! I am still pinching myself! Valene has a sister, Janet, who is there with her family (http://voilafrance.blogspot.com/) on a sabbatical and we are going to stay with her and drive her and her family crazy! Mary Gunderson and Karlin Richards are going as well. We are getting together soon to squeal and plan. I need an assignment....like do all the research on the French revolution. For Dummies. And what in the heck was Napoleon doing sticking his hand into his jacket like a ninny when he should have been looking assertive? Where was his mother? And just who invented the french kiss and why don’t we hear his/her name in our history books? Important things like that. I need an assignment.

Sunday Thoughts

Brandi’s birthday yesterday always heralds Halloween. I got her for 3 whole hours to myself! Gracie asked her what we were going to do and Brandi said, "Go play." Gracie thought that was hysterical! "You can’t do that...you’re a mom! What are you going to play?" Brandi said, "Well, we’re going to celebrate my birthday." Gracie said, "Oh, that’s okay, that’s different than go playing."



After "not playing", last night I babysat 6 of the kiddos....Brandi’s 4 (so they could go out to dinner with friends) and 2 of Travis’s (they had a Halloween party.) One was excited to teach the other kids the chant, "Trick or Treat, Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat." That part was fine. The next verse was the problem. "If you don’t, I won’t care, I’ll pull down your underwear." Okay, that doesn’t cut it with the prudie gramma. Kids think that is SOOO funny. One minute these little kids are oblivious to running around in their undies or changing into swimsuits in the middle of the front room, to thinking "underwear" is the naughtiest, funniest thing around! So we spent a lot of time thinking of OTHER endings for the chant. ("If you don’t, I won’t care, I’ll put spiders in your hair....) I don't want my little kiddos to grow up. To be tossed by the world. We love them too much.



When Tanner was little, each year he wanted to a vampire. Now, this rattled my creativity so one year I insisted he be something other than a vampire. "Okay," he announced, "This year I’ll be Dracula."




That reminds me of last year, when Travis and Tenille went to a Halloween party. He was dressed as a Chef....and she made a large box look like an oven that fit over her head (her head and arms and legs poked out). There were knobs on the oven, and a window and inside the window was a picture of a roll. (Bun) Get it? That’s how we found out about Nash!




My favorite fall/winter drink is a wassail you buy and just add to apple juice or apple cider. Aspen Mulling Spices comes in a little milk carton and is delicious hot or cold. You can buy it in some grocery stores but usually a party store or kitchen store (Spoons and Spice). You can order it online (just Google Aspen Mulling Spices) Trust me, it is fabulous. One year I bought a ton of them and gave them as neighbor gifts with a gallon of cider. I noticed on their website that they also have a caramel apple wassail but I have never tried it. I don't know how I could like anything more than the original.





Besides looking forward to Halloween, I also have our Stake Women's Conf. on Thursday night. I just get to go and enjoy. How fun will that be. I'll tell you all about it on Monday. I'm finishing up Mormon today, so I'm planning on completing the Book of Mormon on Tuesday. It feels so good, it feels so good. Last night as I listened and read, I was filled with such sorrow for these wicked people. My heart actually hurt!






Also, Pretty Patty Petty flies in on Friday to spend a week with me. I have a Family Super Saturday planned for my 3 girls (Brandi, Marci and Tenille), PPP, Aunt Pat and myself. We are making fun, fun, fun neighborhood gifts for all the neighbors. I can't wait to post them. They are great ideas! But, sorry, you'll have to wait!






So I'll end today with a few of my favorite scriptures in Mormon. It is Mormon 9:27-29. It is actually too long to write the whole thing (but it is Sunday and a good day for my great-great-greats to do a little scripture chase!) but here is the middle:



"Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear (respect) and trembling before him. Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will serve the true and living God."

"Brandi, You're A Fine Girl, What a Good Wife You Would Be..."

"A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend."

I had two doctors and a couple of nurses tell me that my first baby would be a boy. David had a macho attitude like, "Of course I would have a boy." So, he about fell off his chair when our "princess" was born. I was so happy I cried. Well, I know every first mother cries but I REALLY cried because I had my girl. Yes, she was named, in part, by my favorite song, "Brandy" even though we spelled her name Brandi. Brandi Nichole. Brandi wasn’t a name you ever heard as a girl’s name and we took a lot of flack, which seems so funny now. "Why would you name a Mormon girl Brandi?" I would say, "Why would any Mormon girl be named Sherry?" Everyone soon settled down. And every school teacher has sung her the song (hence, the title above....)

She was born with this amazing "good" spirit. She has never done a willfully naughty thing in her life (okay, skinny dipping at an Adventure’s camp.) As a baby, if she heard a baby in a Pamper’s commercial crying on t.v., she’d start to whimper and run up and pat the baby on the t.v.
Her most traumatic memories growing up were when her girlfriends would fight (argue.) She was the peacemaker. She danced with Razz Ma Tazz forever which meant we hit every parade in Utah and dance competition. She was a cheerleader at Alta High School all three years and was Morp princess her Sophomore year, Homecoming her Junior year as well as Jr. Class Attendant and Morp queen her Senior year. She was also chosen to speak at her class graduation. You would think she would have been a snob but she is about the most loved person I know. She was continually an influence for good. After graduation, she attended Rick’s College and served as a Relief Society president there (as well as in her current Ward) She also lettered in track. Then she graduated from BYU, getting married just before her Senior year. After graduation, she and Ryan moved to New Jersey so Brandi could attend Rutger’s University for her Physical Therapy degree. She and Ryan now have 4 of the cutest kids ever. Okay, these are mere facts.

Here’s what I have learned from her:

1. She never wavered when a hard choice had to be made- what the kids around her were urging her to do or society or what God expected from her.

2. She actually went to school to learn. What a novel idea! I remember her getting a A- or a B plus in a class at BYU and her saying, "That’s okay because I learned so much." She got straight A’s one semester at BYU and all semesters at Rutgers. I can’t believe she was my daughter. Oh yeah, she was also David’s daughter....

3. She has had to deal with really hard, painful health issues since she was young. I’m sure there were many who thought her life was ideal and perfect and easy. They had no idea what she dealt with on a daily basis. She’s a trooper.

4. She was/is the champion of everyone. She loved/loves everyone. She was/is friends with everyone. She is my best friend.

5. She is one of the most Christ-like people I know. Once I was in charge of the first school carnival at Park Lane. It was a huge job. Tanner was a baby at the time. David, of course, was out of town during the event. Brandi was in Middle school but helped all night at the carnival even though she had a migraine, even filling in for some of her friends that had committed to help and then didn’t. When the carnival was over, Brandi said she would stay and help clean up. I said the best thing she could do was to take the boys home, pick up Tanner at Penny’s house next door, and put everyone to bed and she go to bed as well. I knew how sick she was but I needed her too. I stayed for several hours until the school was spotless. I couldn’t even put on my shoes because my feet were so swollen from all the running around. I remember pulling in to our driveway and being too tired to even go inside, especially knowing that I had left the house in a disaster, with all sorts of poster clippings and sticky snow cone juice spills and all the boxes from prizes and carnival stuff. I remember opening the door and seeing a light down the hallway in the kitchen. I slowly shuffled down the hallway....and was surprised to see, Brandi, twelve years old, on her hands and knees mopping the kitchen floor. With a migraine. She had put the boys to bed, then cleaned the entire kitchen so I wouldn’t have to face it when I got home. I remember looking at her little figure there on the floor, and it was like an angel there, selflessly serving. That is how she has always been.

5.We won the lottery when we got her. She is my greatest hero. I could easily fill a whole book with story after story with "Brandi" stories....I used to get notes and letters from kids from school, teachers, even professors telling me the things she had done or the influence that she had. Life hasn’t been easy for her. From Parker born needing a dozen surgeries to her own health concerns to Ryan’s brain tumor, it has been a stretch. But she does. They do. God knows he can trust her in anything. Me too! Happy birthday, punkin!

Oh, and she snorts when she laughs. And the first time she made baked potatoes for our family, she peeled the potatoes. And she once chased down a shoplifter. It was a big scary deal.
Once she was crying that she didn’t feel good. Finally I said to her, "If it hurts that bad, we need to go to the Dr. If it doesn’t hurt that bad, quit crying!" She had appendicitis. Bad mom.

Oh, and she also makes a mighty fine pioneer girl. Inside joke.

The Metaphor

Cousin Casey ( for anyone who doesn't know, Cousin Casey is one of my nephews, who lives with us on the weekends) called last night to share something with me. I could tell he was a bit shaky and I can understand why.

Each week, Casey attends an institute class somewhere in Utah Valley, then he and friend meet a friend from high school at a gym and they swim. When they got there, a man was swimming in the pool, or rather not swimming, but seeing how long he could hold his breath under the water. When they talked to him, he said that he was stretching his lungs out to be healthier. So after he left, one of these guys (young men, not boys) decided to see if he could swim the length of the pool and back holding his breath. Casey was to time him. So, off he went. He swam the entire length of the pool and back, then stayed underwater additional time. Casey kept looking at the clock thinking, "I can't believe he can hold his breath that long!" It was then after a minute and Casey was still watching, timing. At about 1 1/2 minutes, Casey reached out to touch him, and found that his friend had passed out! Here he was, drowning, just a foot away from Casey! Casey hauled him out of the water and up on the side, yelling for help and for someone to call 911. He said it was so horrible.....his lips were blue, looked horrible. A gal happened to be walking by that just happened to be a nurse so she immediately went to work on him. Nothing happened for a time, then he started gasping and throwing up. The ambulance got there and he was taken to the hospital where he remained for two days. Casey is still shaky. He kept saying, "Here I was standing right next to him, watching him, not realizing he was in trouble." Although he saved his life, he also realized that he could have watched his friend die, doing nothing.

What a great metaphor for life, huh? We watch our friends and family around us sometimes, thinking they are "just having fun", when in reality they are losing their life, maybe their spiritual life, and we stand by watching but doing nothing. I imagine our anguish someday will be even greater than my sweet nephew who is suffering.

Random

I actually had another post for today but things have been in an upheavel this morning so I decided not to post it. So, nothing profound. I do have a fun lunch at Zinn's Bistro today. A woman I used to Visit Teach years ago has a birthday tomorrow and Elsa and I are taking her out. My artist friend, Cali Grimshaw, that now lives in Cedar, also taught Kay and they were close. She is in town and we'll surprise Kay by Cali being at lunch as well. Kay's husband, Rick, has been in a care center for a couple of years now. Kay goes almost everyday to be with him and he's frustrated that he can't come home. It is a hard sitution for Kay to be in. Since she is with Rick, she hasn't been to our Ward much and feels out of touch with everyone, which is understandable. So, we are happy to pamper her a little today. And, since we're eating at Zinn's, getting pamper ourselves as well!

The fires in California are so frightening. Everyone you talk to has family somewhere in those fire zones. One of David's law partners lives in San Diego. They had to evacuate overnight but their home is safe for now but a friend of theirs was in Hawaii and his house burned to the ground. I can't imagine devatation like that. I realize that "stuff" is just "stuff," but I also realize that "stuff" is a trigger for memories. And without the trigger, sometimes we lose the memory as well. My sister-in-law is a crisis volunteer with the Red Cross and flies in to any disasters (Katrina, Kansas City, etc.) but she has asthma so she can't do this one and it is killing her.


The funniest comment I heard at Girl's Night Out the other night. Loretta was talking about this darling boy that her daughter is dating, that lives in their Ward. She said, "He even came over in his scrubs last Thursday night to watch Grey's Anatomy with us." They ALL dress in scrubs to watch this show! How funny is that!!! McFunny!

I have been talking on the phone for two hours this morning. Lots of arrangements with people, then my BF from college,Peggy called from from Oregon, and we hashed for an hour. She is still not quite finished with her total kitchen remodel and needed someone to share her excitement with. She knows I will squeal in all the right places. Friends do that. Then I needed to call my mom. In the middle of our conversation, I screamed, "Oh no!" I had remembered turning on the bathwater during the first of my conversation with Peggy. You would not believe how fast I sprinted to the bathroom. I'm lucky I didn't pull a hamstring. Luckily, although I had turned the bathwater on, at some point I had also turned it off. I'm that forgetful! But had I not done this silly thing, I really wouldn't know how fast I can sprint and I must say, I'm impressed!!! 

And with that happy note, I'll share just a few more pictures of JoAnne's way-cute-house.

One set of shelves in her laundry room. The assessories make everything delightful.

Blackboard in the hallway to the garage by the coat lockers.

One of my favorite things was the way JoAnne displayed pictures of her grandkids in such fun ways throughout the house. Many of the frames are handmade. I love the star one.
A couple of kitchen shots. The decorative bottles three down are in an end alcove in her island. Just personal touches everywhere.
" At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. "- Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) (thank you A.)

Dream House Tour

So, I've finally figured out what excites me more than good food! That is "good houses!" I really do love to see fabulous decorating. Funky appeals to me. Cozy and Creative. That's why last night's girl's night out was so fabulous! Touring JoAnne's new home. First of all, creative runs in her family. Her sister is Donna Smiley of scrapbooking/photography 7 Gypsies Fame (I can't remember the number...is that right?) The house is mission style architecture but she has filled it with what she calls "French cottage." It works. Let's have a tour of my favorite places:

The gorgeous harlequin marble and granite floor entry invites you in.

The dining room off the entrance was beautifully set. This picture doesn't even begin to do this justice.
Just part of the comfy living room.

The kitchen table was filled with food.

A hand-made clock one of her daughters-in-law made for her. I took intricate pictures so I could make one. It was SO COOL!

My favorite part of the house was her nook in the kitchen. This is her desk, her office, her scrapbooking place, her creative space.

Downstairs she had an old screen door hanging horizontal. The screen had chicken wire that she used to hang pictures.

This is the kid's place house downstairs. It is a whole room and a half. This is the entrance to the room. On one side, there are bookcases built in the shape of a house. Funky lamp shades hang down from the ceiling, great pictures adorn the walls. What I'm not showing is a little door that goes into another playhouse area. Wow!

I want to play house there. I didn't want to come home!

Again, we sit and eat and laugh and talk the night away. A fun time had by all.

First Snowman of the Year!

I may be coming back to life! I'm still stuffy but life goes on. I ran to the grocery store for the first time in forever because the kiddos were coming and they can't come to Gramma's without chocolate milk and treats. They were at the house when I got home with a surprise! They know one of my favorite things in the world is a snowman! And boy, did I get them! Below is the snowman.

And here is the snowdog. He really looks cute in person. They also made a snowdeer with antlers!

Now look at the green grass surrounding the snowman! You can tell they had to work hard to scoop up enough snow to roll! I was impressed! Who doesn't just smile when they see a snowman? They really make me happy! And I love these little girls. They crack me up!

Ben was here for most of the day and it was awesome to just have him hanging around. And Cathy picked up lunch from Porcupine Grill (our favorite) and brought it here to the house so while the girls watched a princess movie, we visited and ate. David got in from Houston tonight so while the Single's Ward was having a rowdy home evening upstairs, David beat me at Nertz downstairs, then we studied (read) Elder Nelson's conference talk about the witness of the Book of Mormon. I'm reading in 3rd Nephi this week...is there any scripture that could be more beautiful?! My heart just about breaks for the love the Savior has for them and for us all. This challenge to read the Book of Mormon has mattered to me, again. Every time I read it, I am so filled with love and peace. I feel a confidence in my day....when I have needed to call for help, He has been there. When we do our part, He will bless us beyond measure.

Just looking through one of my old journals and I found this quote from Brigham Young that I love:

Instead of pleading with the Lord to bestow more upon you, plead with yourselves to have confidence in yourselves, to have integrity in yourselves, and know when to speak and what to speak, what to reveal and how to carry yourselves and walk before the Lord. And just as fast as you prove to him that you will preserve everything secret that ought to be-that you will deal out to your neighbors, all which you ought, and nor more, and learn how to dispense your knowledge to your families, friends, neighbors, and brethren, the Lord will bestow upon you, and give to you, and bestow upon you, until finally he will say to you, "You shall never fall; your salvation is sealed unto you; you are sealed up unto eternal life and salvation, through your integrity."

What a wonderful goal....to have integrity with the Lord. That He can always depend on us. That what He asks, we will do. That He can trust us with sacred things. That we will know what to share and what not.

Oct. 22

I love the date Oct. 22! It was my due-date with Brandi and I've never forgotten it. It is as much a part of her birthday as her real birthday, Oct. 27. So happy day!

Two fun things this week: 
Brandi’s birthday- I love her! I love her! I love her!
Girl’s Night Out- at Joanne’s brand new home! Always over the top!
Two habits you’re are working on: 
reading my scriptures EVERY day
and I can’t even narrow my huge list down to two....so I won’t!
Two jobs you keep putting off:
folding laundry/clean laundry room
cleaning out the refrigerators (I have three that are regularly used and they all need it!)
Cleaning out the fountain, draining the water, wrapping it in a tarp covering
cleaning out the raingutters by our balcony
finish pulling out my annuals....I’m half done.
Cleaning my closet
Oh....it was suppose to be just two....
Two friends you will be calling this week:

Marilyn Bawden
Elsa Gray
Calli Grimshaw
Patty Lindquist (her birthday)
Kay Duvall (her birthday)
Cathy Olsen
Valene Cook
Kathy Wilson
Debbie Stowell Who could just call two?Two chores that are on your to-do list today:

Well, it is not what I would call a "chore" but Monday is my kiddo watching day.
And I need to do some cleaning since Tanner is having his single’s Ward home evening here tonight. And pick up refreshments for them. I don’t dare make anything with this cold.
Two yummie things you have made lately: 
I have not made one yummy thing for a week. The yummiest thing I have made is dropping an Airborne tablet into warm water and drinking it. But sweet Sheron Fitch brought me homemade soup and Valene brought a loaf of homemade bread. So I’ve HAD yummy...I just haven’t MADE yummy. 
Two last personal items you bought for yourself: 

Sweaters and Jackets....winter is coming!
Two Things you are looking forward to: 
the holidays
Paris (just to see if anyone is paying attention!)
Two things you are proud of right now:
that I’m going to finish the Book of M. in about a week!
And I’m just proud of my married kids right now. I love reading their blogs (or keeping a journal), I love seeing how they are raising their families, I love that they love the Lord.

Still Down For The Count

"Health is not valued until sickness comes." Dr. Thomas Fuller

I'm still mucking in the head cold. I did attend the Sat. night session of Stake Conference last night. We picked up Kirk and Cathy, and then afterwards Mark and Barbara Hall and Dan and Pam Gomez went out for dinner afterwards to Iggy's. We all lived, at one time (and the Halls still live there) in the Sandy Granite South Stake. We all live in the Granite View Stake now except the Halls, but he is one of Kirk's counselors in the Single's Ward and technically, they are in our Stake for now. Anyway, the talks were awesome. Denny and Terri Crockett got home from serving as mission pres. in the Fort Worth mission and they both spoke. TerrI, this cute little thing, gets up, pulls the microphone down and doesn't take a breath for the next 5 minutes. Just whizzed thorough experiences and the scriptures enthusiastically, then sat down. Her husband stands up slowly to the mike and says, "Now exhale!" It was pretty funny. He served in our previous Stake presidency. Both are really musical and have great experiences in that industry.

Terry began with a profound question:

"If every member were like me, what would our Church be?"



Scary and thought provoking, especially when it comes to missionary work.


I did want to leave this funny kiddo saying.

Hallee, age 3 almost 4, attended a Pirates of the Caribbean party recently. Brandi referred to it the other day and Hallee corrected her by saying, "Mom, it is a "Pirates of the Carrots and Beans" party!"

Oh my gosh!

Health Class part two

I just realized that I have already told you about my "almost death" on a pyramid in Guatemala. It was 10 years ago last June. So, rather than to bore you to tears, dear great-great-greats, let me just say, sitting on top of a pyramid and having the question cross your mind, "I’m going to die here. I’m going to die on top of a pyramid. How in the heck are they going to get my body off this thing?" My life didn’t pass through my mind. I was more concerned because I had a skirt on and questioned whether the darn thing would fly up Marilyn Monroe style (you know...when she stepped over the air grates and her dress blew up. That is really before my time but the picture did become famous and besides, I REALLY thought I was named after her and I DID have blonde hair but that is where the similarity ended) and embarrass myself. Thyroidities. Like mono only in the thyroid. It can cause something called thyroid storm...which means your heart goes nuts and bursts. (That is the layman’s description.) That’s why my heart was jumping out of my chest on the pyramid. But I didn’t know why. When I got home, it was another 4 weeks before I finally went to the Dr. and figured out what was going on. Then I was on beta-blockers so I didn’t care.



That’s it. That’s the big health news. My blood type is O Negative (again from my sweet daddy) which means I have the RH Factor when I have babies. After a baby, they give me a shot. This shot disallows antibodies from building up that could sabotage the next babies blood. If I would have been a pioneer woman (and easily Captain Elliot would have taken me to wife), I would have lost all my babies but Brandi. Now wait! You mean I wouldn’t have had to smell smelly socks and go to all those basketball and football and baseball and soccer practices (4 boys times 5 practices a week...).....games all Saturday. I wouldn’t have had to go through Travis’s "black phase" (only wore black clothing...before gothic) and his mullets. I wouldn’t have to be a Cub Scout den leader and listen to Ryan and all his friends screech out "Uptown Girl" at each meeting or sneak lizards in the house or take him to orthodontics appointments? I would not have had to hot glue scouting merit badges on banners and super glue my fingers shut and feel like just a mother failure if I just had Brandi? Brandi was perfect. Her parent teacher conferences never made me cry. No one said they didn’t want her in their class. People always asked me, "How did you raise such a perfect daughter?" No one asked me this with the boys. She didn’t get into 5 major accidents pre-mission. She didn’t take after my kissing habits. You mean, I wouldn’t have had to bawl my eyes out when they left on missions? I wouldn’t have had to bawl my eyes out because one didn’t go? I wouldn’t have had to patch my heart together when they found another "girl" to love more than me (the traitors!) You mean, without that shot, my life would have been different?

Hmmm.....

Heavenly Father knew I’d be good with girls. But because I was so boy crazy, He said, "You love boys? I’ll give you boys!" So he did. He’s so smart.

Other than that, great-great-greats, you have good health genes. My grandmothers both lived to about 94 and one grandmother on David’s side did as well. No diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancers that seem hereditary.

Okay, since my intimate health history is over, let’s talk about food! I promised to share with you Tenille’s sister-Ashley’s yummy cheesecake dessert. And finally (Ashley has a life), she called me back with the goods. So, here goes. It is your reward for all the previous, boring, nursie stuff info I shared.

Ashley’s Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Squares

1 cup pecan/ divided in half
1 ½ cup crushed vanilla wafers (about 50)
1/4 c. butter, melted
4 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
3 T. flour
1 T. vanilla
4 eggs
24 caramels (or more if you like)
1 T. water
3 squares Baker’s semi-sweet baking chocolate

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan with foil, with the foil extending over the ends (so that you can pull the dessert out easily). Put ½ c. of pecans aside. Finely chop the other half, add crushed vanilla wafers and butter. Press in the bottom of the foil-lined pan and refrigerate until ready.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Add sour cream, flour and vanilla. Mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well. Pour this mixture over the crust. Bake for 45 minutes until middle is almost set. Microwave the caramels and water in a dish. Melt and stir about 1 minute, until smooth and runny. Pour over cooled cheesecake. Sprinkle pecans on top. Melt semi-sweet chocolate (Ashley uses just a titch of oil) so that you can drizzle it criss-cross over the top. Refrigerator at least 4 hours. Pull out of pan before cutting.

Journal Jar- Just What The Doctor Ordered

First of all, Sheron F., thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your sweet concern AND your chicken soup has made my life bearable today. Just what the Dr. ordered. That brings me to today's entry-

Journal about your health- past and present. Any surgeries? Any broken bones? Allergies?
This is a great question to put in your personal history for future reference, for future posterity, for myself when my Alzheimer’s kicks in and I can’t remember my name. And since I am home-bound, laid up, miserable, sneezing, blowing, clogged (okay, more information that ANYONE needed!) I’ll do this journal jar question: (and PLEASE! Anyone reading this who is not one of my "great-great-greats"- you might want to stop reading this right now. This is just health talk. No redeeming literature found below. If you liked to play nurse when you were little, you might be interested. I’m not even interested even though it is my health. But get me going on funky band-aids...heh, maybe we could start a band-aid exchange on this site, THEN I would be interested."

Healthy as a horse. I threw that in so my husband would be enticed to read this entry. He doesn’t ever read my entries so if I mention "horses" he might perk up. Now, I do have to say, one of our horses has some issues. I have some issues. This horse has some problem in its leg, and had to be "de-nerved." He still rides and ropes but he always limps a little after. That about sums up my condition as well. I limp a little after hauling my body off the floor playing with the kiddos. I’m not sure when that happened. But I’ll go back to my little self:
Little self: weighed 9 pounds when I was born! About killed my little 5' 2" mother! Was a perfect child. Or so she says.

Kiddo self: healthy as a pony. ("Get that, David, get that?!") Other than lots of skinned knees and bringing home every contagious disease that school kids get, to infect my older brother, I never broke a bone. Never had anything bigger than a chicken pox. I know exactly how big the chicken pox were since I have a scar by my right eye. Everything as a kid was cured by iodine on your scrapes and Vick’s Vapo Rub on your chest. If I got a stye on my eye, my grandmother would heat up a glass pop bottle and stick it on my eye to draw out the infection! Mercy! It about would kill you! Maybe that is why I lost my eyesight in 5th grade. Glasses. The curse. I think they were blue with sparkles.

Junior High self: nada, nada, nada. Which is a wonderful thing. Can you imagine Junior High AND being a sickly? Junior High is the worst stage of life. When I hear that anyone teaches school in Junior High, I tell them (according to the book of Marilyn) - they make the Celestial kingdom automatically!

Senior High self: how boring! Healthy, healthy, healthy. Just love sick most of the time but that wouldn’t be cured for a long, long time. I got contacts in high school. I was beautiful again.

College Self: Okay, finally some juicies. My wisdom teeth were causing me problems. I had one out at Rick’s by a quack dentist that was more interested in his rock collection than my tooth. He actually quit working on my mouth, to dig in his bag of rocks he had just collected, to show an interested friend that happened to stop by, THEN began working in my mouth without washing his hands! But I was a captive audience and also in my non-assertive stage (which would last until I was 39.) But my then-current boyfriend brought me flowers and called me "Chipmunk" and pampered me so it was all worth it. Another tooth got pulled when I was home by our local dentist. By this time, I developed some "blood" issues, that actually continued for a couple of years, where my platelet counts were so low, my blood wouldn’t clot. So I wouldn’t (couldn’t) stop bleeding. I become so weak that one time, when my parents took me back to the dentist, he had to come out and carry me in. I think he just wanted to do that. Afterwards, he kept coming by my work and leaving REALLY big tips and my mother would say, "M., you stay away from that man! He has broken more marriages in town than you could count." Okay, I admit I was a bleeder, Mother, but I still had eyes! He was a "man" for Pete’s sake! Anyway, they were going to put me into the hospital if the bleeding wouldn’t stop. That is when my father asked me (this meant so much to me) if there was anyone I wanted him to call to come and give me a blessing. A sweet experience happened. Brother H., my best friend Debbie’s dad, came with another man in the Ward. As they laid their hands upon me (I was lying in bed.), I remember looking up to the doorway and seeing my father. He was concerned and worried...and helpless. I remember a sweet voice came to me and said, "You don’t want to ever not have the priesthood in your home." It was a wonderful experience, and one I reflected back to throughout my life. My father loved me so much, but when I really needed help, he couldn’t do it.

Oh, and the bleeding stopped that day. But of course, you would already know that.....

The "issue" came up again just before I got married. I went skiing for the first time with college best friend, Peggy, and the next day I looked like I had been in a car wreck. (I "felt" like I had been in a car wreck!) My whole body was bruised. It took months to get it straightened out again. I get my runny blood from my Dad. It pops up its ugly little head only occasionally. But I also inherited my Dad’s great low blood pressure. Although it makes you pass out sometimes, it always impressed the nurses.

Grown up Mare: (get it, Marilyn- Mare? Kathy Wilson always calls me that...it’s not real pretty but maybe David would like me more....)

Broken bones- nothing treatable.

Tail bone- read about it here:I Should Have Been A Cowboy

thumb: colliding with my friend Elaine and my visiting California cousin getting off the ski lifts all together. It still hurts after all these years. Thumbs never really mend.

Surgeries: Just one. About 5 years ago my shoulder started acting up. I didn’t take care of it until it froze. I had to have surgery to repair labrum tissue, a few bone owies, cutting scar tissue. It didn’t really sound like any big deal. The big deal was the 4 to 5 months of physical therapy. Have I mentioned that physical therapists (except my sweet daughter) learned some of their techniques at a Nazi training camp? I would promise myself each week that I would not cry. But that was their barometer. They actually "tore" scar tissue that the Dr.s had missed. They would push me until I cried, then push a little beyond. And they get paid to do that. I would (really, I’m not making this up) cry, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" Then when they were done, I would grovel, "I love you, I love you, I love you!" It was all worth it. I had my arm again! It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever done. I tried really hard to use my "Bradley Method" natural childbirth relaxation techniques but they were useless in this kind of horror. I think of physical therapy when I snap little chicken bone wings for appetizers. I could make money doing that sort of thing.....

I know great-great-greats, that you are all totally mesmerized by my medical charts. Good thing because Part two is coming tomorrow. I’ll take you to the top of a pyramid in Tikel. I’ll share a poem I wrote about my "Clotting Time." Heh, it is almost Halloween so I think this makes a dang good entry!

Feed A Cold, Starve a Fever

Well, THANK GOODNESS I don't have a fever! That would REALLY be miserable! But the cold has filled my head. So today I am going to borrow a few pictures from my girls. They make me feel better just looking at them!

This is Nash...one of our babies (not to be confused with the deer) who was blessed last weekend. He is so sweet. Very tender. He gets upset when people are noisy and loud. Poor baby. Rylee and Boston are his "elders." They invented the terms "noisy and loud." I remember when Boston was a tender little thing. It is called survival, Nash. You'll learn. But right now I just want to kiss his little neck. Just munch him to death. He's a gift!

Brandi took her kiddos to a pumpkin patch last week, where we have gotten pumpkins for years. These are some cute pictures from that outing. I love fall pictures. I love pumpkin patches. I love my kiddos.

I'm borrowing this from my friend, Mom Not Mum (she's in England.) It made me laugh. It make me shudder. Ouch!!! Somedays you feel like life is one big grater, don'tcha?

This is totally how I am feeling today. Like a bowling ball rolled over my head. Tenillie reminded me that I do this every fall. I never used to do this. How did hayfever turn into this? I am planning on spending the day on the sofa. I hope there are some good movies on. Otherwise I will be resigned to watch reruns like "Murder She Wrote." You can tell then how bored I am. Actually, I would like to live in Cabot Cove. I would love to figure out a murder. Well, maybe not that, I'd just like to sit on the pier and eat batter-dipped shrimp and read a good novel. I bet that is what Jessica Fletcher does when she is not solving murders.

I wonder what she does when she has a major head cold........probably write something profound like:

"A person's age is not dependent upon the number of years that have passed over his head, but on the number of colds that have passed through it."

Good Things In Utah and the Scriptures

It is 5:00 pm on a Wed. afternoon. My head is full, not of ideas but hay fever. Well, it started as hay fever yesterday morning but today seems like it has turned into a full-blown cold. I think your body does what it needs to do, then crashes when you’re done. At least I’m glad that it waits until I have finished what needs to be finished.


My thoughts for today...

First of all, today was our Discover Utah field, courtesy of Libby Hargrove that secured tickets for our group to be the audience for Good Things Utah, a local tv show. Yesterday was many hours of calling people either to remind them of the meeting time or trying to find people to go "in place of." We had a good group- 13- that went. I called Penny, although she is not in our Ward, and also Cathy, who is in our Ward but doesn’t attend since she and Kirk are in the Single’s Ward. We had a fun day. The taping of the show was enjoyable, the hostesses pretty. We met Joy, from Joy in the garden and Angel Shannon from the cooking session, then toured the studio. Afterwards we went to lunch at Gateway, to Biaggo's.
Debbie Stowell and Lisa Davies with Good Things Utah hosts.

Cathy drove with Penny, Arlene Summerhays and I in one of the cars. We were so lucky to hear a 40-year saga that culminated this past weekend for Arlene. Forty years ago, Arlene became activated in the Church although her husband didn’t. About 25 years ago, Arlene was asked to share her activation story in a Stake Conference which she did. My friend, Cathy, was actually in the audience that day. After her talk, Elder Gene Cook, who was the visiting authority, stood and looked right at her and told her that someday her entire family would be sealed in the temple. It was pretty amazing at the time Cathy said. And Arlene couldn’t believe that it would happen especially as the years have gone on and on. Although Arlene went through the temple about 13 or more years ago, her husband wasn’t ready. And hasn’t been ready all these years. In the past few years, he attends sacrament meeting and for the past 4 or 5 years, has attended the gospel essentials class. Over and over again. A short while ago, the missionaries were having dinner in their home, and one thought to ask Boyd why he didn’t have the Melchizedek priesthood. He didn’t think he could get it. They encouraged him to talk to the bishop, which he did. Rather than interview Boyd, Bishop Funk told him the questions he would be asking him, and then wanted Boyd to go home and pray and fast often for two weeks, on whether or not he was ready for this. Boyd has in the past jokingly referred to the temple recommend process as "getting a ticket." Well, he got his ticket. And he went with his son and a close friend (without Arlene....because he was nervous and didn’t want fanfare) to the Monticello Temple, which he now refers to as "his" temple to receive his endowments. This past weekend, their family (which includes my dear friend, J. and also Heather Oakeson) were sealed as a family in the Salt Lake Temple! We all sat in the car bawling as Arlene shared this beautiful story. It has been a long, sometimes frustrating experience for Arlene, but now! I can’t imagine kneeling around the alter with my parents and brother and being sealed to them. I long for it with all my heart. I think my heart would burst.

Now, these are a few words I want to share with my great-great-greats. I want you to know there are marvelous things for you to learn in the scriptures. I’m moving along with the Book of Mormon, filled with such love and awe at the amazing prophets, who had to contend with such wickedness from the people. You will find hero after hero. I love them all. I have been downloading the chapters one at a time from lds.org. I then play the chapter, listen and read along in my scriptures so I can mark as I go. This is such a marvelous way to study....I can’t believe I haven’t done it before. I’ve listened to them in the car but it is not quite the same as having the text in front of you as well. And "listening" keeps me more attentive. Yesterday I just sat and bawled as I listened to and read Helaman 5. This is the chapter, where Nephi and Lehi are having much success with the Lamanites in Zarahemla. Several of my favorite scriptures are in this chapter...

5:10 ...the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. (We sometimes think Christ is going to save us "in our sins." But really, through His help, we can be redeemed "from" those sins.)

:12- this is the wonderful scripture about building upon the rock who is Christ. This scripture reminds us that even though mighty winds can whirl around us, and the storms beat upon us, they will have no power over us if we build our foundation upon Christ.

Nephi and Lehi then travel to Zarahemla and are thrown into prison, where conditions are harsh. The guards come in to bind them and Nephi and Lehi are encircled with fire, so that the guards could not touch them. Eventually, the walls of the prison start to shake and crumble and everyone, the prisoners, the guards, are overshadowed by a cloud of darkness and "a solemn fear." And "then they heard a voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul." And then the shaking and the earth is quaking again and the people are filled with fear. And one among them looks through the cloud of darkness, and can see Nephi and Lehi through that destruction, and he sees them praying...and that their faces were illuminated even as the faces of angels. Their eyes were lifted to heaven, and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld. Somehow I could just see this happening, feel it happening. The people are more frightened than anything but they quickly fell to their knees and started repenting. Soon a voice came to them and said, "Peace, peace be unto you because of your faith in my Well Beloved..."

Sometimes we are in a prison not of our own making (although sometimes it is)....and our eyes become "clouded" by the darkness of the situation. I know, through my own experience, that, in retrospect, these personal Gethsemane’s are the times I could fall to my knees and meet God. He does not forsake us. He gives us the strength in the middle of the storm if we truly rely on Him. That He "can" and "will" give us peace because of our faith.

Have I mentioned, I love the scriptures?

Busy Day

Busy day...I'll post later this afternoon!

What Did You Want To Be When You Grew Up?

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else."
Emily Dickinson
Well, I’m still waiting to be grown up but I will give this journal jar question some thought. First of all, when I was growing up, I didn’t realize that there were options for girls besides chasing boys around the playground. I thought career "choices" were:
teacher- I don’t know why I didn’t think I wanted to do that. It just didn’t look fun.
nurse- I didn’t even play nurse as a little girl. I don’t like "nursie" things. I hate blood. I do like funky bandaids. Right now I have Christmas, princess, pirates, bacon and eggs (really!), snowman and a few others. Band-aids are the only part of nursing I like.
airline stewardess- this is when they had "regulations." No glasses, contacts and you had to be way taller than me (5' 4")
movie star/singer/model- Inspired by the Beatles, my girlfriends and I started a rock band for a few weeks. I guess I wasn’t the only one with an active imagination. It was so ridiculous. I think I played the tambourine. But I did learn to play "Love Hurts" on the guitar. It was made popular again in a movie (featuring Nazareth) in the 90's and Ben thought it was cool I knew the words to the song. My claim to fame. The model thing didn’t work either....5'4" didn’t cut that either....and the "look" was long straight hair, parted down the middle. Unfortunately I have a cowlick on the right side of the part...I have lots of cowlicks. My kiddos have lots of cowlicks. Sorry...
secretary- okay, this was my reality. I could type. I could take shorthand (shorthand!?!) I could lick stamps. I did death benefits/ or early payoffs for a financial services/mortgage company before I was married (when I got married, they closed the office and got their first computer!) Worked for Dean and Peay construction company/ apartment builder/manager in Provo until I had Brandi. Worked for S & M toy company in Provo until I had Ryan. Now I am David’s secretary. I laugh when he calls me into his office (in our home) and says, "Will you mail this for me please?" I say, "If you will call me Kathy." Kathy is his REAL secretary at his REAL office. My husband never played secretary so he never learned to lick a stamp or address an envelope.

But....there were three things I wanted to be when I grew up. A mom. A writer. An artist.

I had a Dr. tell me just before I was married that I probably wouldn’t be able to have children or carry them. I remember being devastated and worried. I laugh because I got pregnant on cue, had 5 healthy babies, delivered Ryan at 25 minutes from the first contraction and didn’t lose a beat. Goofy doctor. I’ve loved being a mother and a wife. I love our family. It is my proudest, most joyous accomplishment.

Writing has been a friend to me throughout my life, whether journals or stories or poetry. It has been a healthy escape, a constant friend. I have loved, in this later season of my life, to continually learn. "The Red Rooster Café" and having some things published in literary journals or anthologies has been a bonus. Something I never even imagined. A gift.

And art? I’ll never be great. I’m kind of a social artist. But I enjoy it. I’m improving bit by bit. Hallee told me today, "Gramma, you know that picture you drawed of me? (That's her word- drawed) It’s beautiful." Thanks, Hallee-Babe. That’s just because you are so dang cute! Sometimes I complain to David and say I can do a lot of things a little bit better than average but I don’t excel in anything. And then he asks me which one of my loves do I want to give up? Okay. I get it. I’ve had a great life, full of all the things I’ve loved to do. And, although the Social Security Office sends me a letter every year telling me I am worth nothing, I roll my eyes. I never imagined I’d have all the opportunities I have had. It is a blessed life. I recognize that.

"Count your many blessings, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done."

Goal Tending

It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it. Arnold Toynbee
In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it. Robert Heinlein

It is so wonderful to go to bed and wake up with a happy heart. That is how I felt last night. Let me share the source of those feelings. As I have mentioned before, our new Stake Relief Society presidency challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by our Stake Women’s Conference which will be Nov. 1. They issued this challenge in May so we had 6 months to read it. When I was in the Stake, and before, we always had a huge Stake Relief Society service project. We did a huge quilting project (I don’t sew...well, I can sew...I just HATE to sew so I roped Pretty Patty Petty into my project. I made about 20 fleece blankets (no sewing!) but then PPP BOUND 30 quilts that I did. 30! Okay, she’s a saint....) Then last year we did a literacy project. We collected books and I knew that would be easy for me (no sew) but then our Ward expanded it to include book bags filled with supplies. Again I took on the personal (ha!) responsibility of 50 book bags. Bags that had to be sewed. PPP to the rescue. Not only did I rope her into it again, but her friend, another PPP....remember Patty's friend that was named Patty, who made fun of PPP's name, so PPP lined her up with Tom's cousin and they got married so she's a PPP also...I call her Ditto, came from Texas and together we made all the bags assembly style. It was so fun. And I felt so good.


So this year we are reading the Book of Mormon. Now I love the scriptures. And I did hear several women say they missed the service project. But from the beginning I thought, "What a wise presidency. Especially for a new presidency to have this kind of project - what could be better than strengthening the women of our Stake personally? And that would strengthen our families." So, as I’ve chronicled here, I’ve been reading. Then August hit. August and the Twilight Series and These Is My Words and a couple of other books just suddenly jumped into my hands. I read and read and read and enjoyed being eaten by vampires and shot at by Indians. And I got sooo far behind on my Bk of M.

About a month ago, I read in our RS bulletin encouraging the woman in our Ward to be reading. Because they are so darling and don’t want us to feel guilty if we don’t finish, they said, "Just skip ahead to where you should be." I heard several say ,"Yay! I can do that!" And I thought that for a second. But I knew in my heart I couldn’t do that. I knew that I wanted to be successful by completing the task. By pulling my cart. I didn't want to succeed, like Michaelangelo said, "Because I set my sights too low." Really, I just started Alma this past week...that is how far behind I am. And each day when I read, I would figure out how many pages I would have to read to finish by Nov. 1. I really hate reading like that. I didn't want it to be about the destination, but the journey. I certainly didn’t want to put in all this time and not "learn" anything or more importantly "feel impressed" by anything. If I can read a Twilight book in a couple of days, why does this seem so daunting? So, last night, I studied for about 3 hours. Can I just say it was wonderful! I love when I can do this....really put my heart and mind and soul into reading the scriptures...and of course, I do have a crush on Capt. Moroni so it was easier reading. I recommitted to finishing by Nov. 1 but last night I knew inside I would be victorious. Maybe that seems like no big deal but I’m a rule keeper. David teases me about that all the time. And attention deficit. But I’m also a sustainer. I "sustain" my new RS presidency which means I support them AND will do the things they have asked me to do. My commitment just isn’t to them. It is to myself. I will go and do what the Lord has commanded, even through his servants. Last night as I went to bed and prayer, I was filled with pure happiness. With power. With love. And I woke up this morning eager to continue reading before the kiddos get here. I can tell it is going to be a wonderful day!

Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed. Emerson
Goals are discovered, not made. Foster

Gratitude List for This Sunday

1. Baby Nash

Nash Darley Williams was blessed today. Just in time...I think he wanted to say a few words during the blessing. I think he wanted to skip up to the microphone. Okay, he is only 5 months old but the other baby being blessed was a newbie. Travis gave him a beautiful, tender blessing. Great things are in store for this incredible spirit.

2. Extended family

The family gathering at T and T’s was wonderful. Their home is beautiful and it was filled with all these people who love each other. We have spent a lot of time with Tenille’s family...especially since the kids lived with us for 3 ½ years. I miss seeing them more. But we’ve had them all to Lake Powell with us and a million family parties. I love how our family expands with a marriage of a child. We get a whole new group of people to love. The Campbells, The Welches, The Appersons. We’ve shared great memories together.

3. Thankful not to &^%$^&#%!

The wraps were more time consuming than I thought. I was thankful to get through the whole process without &^#%@^! Actually, I NEVER *&^#%#*&* but when I was hurrying, trying to clean up before running out the door, a container of con queso dip fell on the floor and splattered all over. In my mind I thought, "Okay, this is why &^%#&^%#* words were invented!" I didn’t ^%#&^#& but I was grumpy and stressed. Just as bad...

4. A husband that is infuriatingly funny

So, in the car, heading over to the blessing, I’m stressed and grumpy. Just frustrated grumpy. When we were almost there, David asked me if I wanted to swing by T & T’s house to drop off the food or just go to the church. I hesitated but said we needed to go straight to the church if we wanted a good seat. David questioned me. I insisted. We were 20 minutes early. But they have a young Ward with a lot of kids. So we hurried in. I’m still a little stressed and grumpy. Not a soul sitting in the chapel yet. David looks around and said, "Hurry, pick out which seat you want to sit in!" I wanted to remain silent and grumpy but it really was funny and I couldn’t help myself. I love my husband.....even when I want to smack him!

5. Being needed....

Ryan and Marci and the kids are in St. George for the weekend and Tanner went to Vegas for the BYU game with buddies, so just Brandi and Ryan’s family was there and Cousin Casey. I loved holding Hallee on my lap and just hugging her during church. I think I feel closer to her sometimes because she is the only one who needs me. The other kids are happy to squeal and sit by each other. Addison is happy with whoever reaches out for her. Boston never sits still with Grammy....he’s a fireball. So it was Halle who filled Gramma’s need to be needed. And Nash. What a doll!

6. Living Water

The Conference addresses are posted on LDS.org! Yeah! Each week for home evening, David and I are going to study one of the talks. I feel like a kid with her hand picking out of a candy bowl. Which one? Which one? Which one?

7. Sunday naps. No explanation needed. Brandi, you don’t know what these are yet but they are defiantly something you’ll want to look forward to!

8. A quiet week ahead.

I can’t believe it! Nothing unusual on any day! I have the usual things but no big projects. So this can be a service week. I was impressed in the kid’s ( T & T’s) program today, there was an insert called "Personal and Family Preparation for Stake Conference" coming up in a few weeks. This is a televised conference that our Stake is involved with as well. It listed one talk a day to be read as families and a challenge to go along with that talk. For instance:

Tuesday: Read "This Day" by Elder Henry B. Eyring, page 89 of the May 2007 Ensign. Ask the Lord for specific guidance in providing you the opportunity to serve someone. Act upon the promptings received.

Or

Wednesday: Read "The Healing Power of Forgiveness" by President James E. Faust, page 67. Consider someone who might need your forgiveness. Write a letter to a friend, family member, or missionary. Remember them in your prayers.

Or

Thursday: Read and ponder the message of your Patriarchal Blessing. Attend the temple.

I was touched by this Stake Presidency’s encouragement to their Stake, a reminder that we all need to prepare spiritually if we expect to feast. I was reminded of my own "bad example" (Thoughts on Stake Conference-April 2007 ) and also the sweet memories when I have gone to the temple or meetings in a spirit of worship rather than a spirit of hurriedness. I’m going to "borrow" these ideas for my own preparedness these next two weeks.

9. Field Trip

Oh, I do have something unusual this week. I just forgot to put it on my calendar. We have our "Discover Utah" (focus group) field trip this week. We get to be the guest audience for Good Things Utah, a local talk show. After the taping, we’ll get a little tour of the set, pictures, then lunch downtown. Elsa and several of our regulars are all touring South America for a few weeks but we’ll still have a good group.

10. Tenille's sister, Ashley, made a killer dessert today. Maybe killer should be spelled with capital letters...KILLER! It was that good! I'll post it tomorrow.