Selfless giving

I'm not even sure how to title this blog post. As we were sitting in the Huntsman Center waiting for Erik's graduation to start, my mom and dad came in and sat down one on either side of me with a story to tell.

They had decided to stop and eat at Chuck-a-rama in American Fork. They walked in to see my two cousins Craig and Tim (brothers) there, both living in Vernal. Craig was my age and we were quite close growing up. Tim was number 5 of 6, the 4th boy and not someone I really knew at all. He was the forgotten child who didn't seem to amount to much growing up. He had older brothers who kind of stole the spotlight and a younger brother who was the baby.

As my parents chatted, Tim brought up the fact that my oldest, Kiersten was getting married. He then said what a great mom I was and took a $100 bill out of his wallet and slid it across the table. "Give this to Miss to help with wedding expenses."

My parents were flabbergasted and tried to give him some change, but there was nothing more to do other than hand it over to me when they saw me.

Now, what do you do? What do I do? How do you thank such generosity? Who carries around a $100 bill in their wallet? And who has the sudden thought to give it to a cousin they barely know? And how would he have known he would run into my parents on that particular day?

I sat there stunned as the emotions took over. The world is full of such good, giving people. I want to be one of them who doesn't blink an eye about giving of my substance, my time, my self.

Tim and I now have a special relationship in my heart unbeknownst to even him. I will always remember him for his Christlike thoughtfulness who followed through on a thought he had.

Reborn

My little brother Matt told Ashlyn yesterday, "I'm so glad you were born . . . and reborn."

We celebrated with our Ash as she made an important step in being baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grandma and Grandpa arrived the night before with a few gifts. I let her open mine, her white dress, that she had picked out an entire year before and had forgotten all about it until a few days ago. When she asked about it, I played dumb and didn't know what she was talking about even though the dress was wrapped and sitting on the mantel. She never clued in.

Grandma Jules made her a beautiful purple quilt

and Grandma and Grandpa Leary gave her new scriptures which she and Nate have diligently been reading most mornings.

She was beautiful and glowed all day long. The service was short and simple with Ashlyn being the fastest dresser ever. Her Grandpa Sharm commented that she was like Superman because she changed so fast. We just wanted to hurry and hear the rest of Kiersten's piano solo of "Baptism" arranged by Paul Cardall.

Our new bishop took a few minutes to welcome Ashlyn into the ward. I liked what he told her about the Holy Ghost -- when we are doing right and following the commandments there is a peaceful feeling that accompanies us which is the Holy Ghost. When we are confused, then we know there are some things in our life that we must correct.

There was also a minor change to the program. Nathan was supposed to lead but ended up not feeling well and staying home, so I took over. The first verse of the closing song "I Am a Child of God" kind of hit me hard as I sang "has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me . . . " Those words touched me as I thought of my own parents sitting in the audience who have been so kind and dear and have taught me correct principles, who have shown me the way that I must go, who have led me and counseled with me. I am forever grateful to them simply for being wonderful parents, for being MY parents.

Breakfast is my most favorite meal of the day. I love it all and so we tried to have it all. There were egg casseroles with salsa and sour cream, Dutch oven potatoes, ham, bacon, cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, lots of fruit and dip, orange juice and apple juice. Oh my! I was in heaven. We ended up with more than enough, but my idea of a good hostess is that my guests leave feeling full, hopefully not wondering where they can stop on the way home to finish filling up.

I hope Ashlyn remembers the good feelings she had about her day. My only regret is that we didn't get a picture of her with Grandma Leary and Grandma and Grandpa Ellis, three of her great-grandparents. It's not usual to have great-grandparents attending such events. What a blessing to still have them around and in good health (Brian did get some pictures of them at our house, just not with Ashlyn).

Rock art

Prior to indulging in our Thanksgiving feast, we decided to work up an appetite and take a hike to see some Indian writings I haven't been to since I was a kid. The hike was easy enough that we took Alex with us. 

I feel so blessed to grow up in the area that I did and wouldn't trade it for the world. And I love being able to share it with my kids.

 

Lunar eclipse

I was headed to the temple this morning around 7 am. As I pulled out of the driveway I looked at the moon and thought, "That sure looks different." I was down the street before I realized I was looking at a lunar eclipse that was almost over. I turned back around and headed home to show my boys who were awake.

It was totally awesome as Erik would say.

I'm so glad I got to see it.

And also that I got to share it with my boys.

This is a photo taken at Arches. It is the moon I saw, not the picture I took.

An addendum to my last post

I didn't mention how stressful it can be sometimes packing for 7 people. Tyler's brother and sister-in-law were kind enough to let us crash their house Friday night so I could be up early for my race.

So I thought I had everything and had even gone through it all in my head right before we pulled out.

Running shoes: check.

Shorts: check.

Shirt: check.

Socks: check.

About 30 minutes into our drive to Logan the thought suddenly popped into my head, "I think I left my running bag on the bed." And then I voiced this out loud to Tyler. In an effort to get everybody and all their stuff in the van I forgot the most important thing. This happened at 5:45pm and I had to be to Logan to pick up my bib and goodies by 8:00 pm (Logan is about an hour and 45 minutes from our house).

Ah, what to do.

We had to turn back and we did.

And, we still made it to Logan with minutes to spare.

I can't even imagine what I would have done had I realized my mistake later, maybe even too late to do anything about it (like buy new gear because the store might be closed).

Oh, I came dangerously close to missing out on a huge accomplishment.

I really think Heavenly Father sent that thought to me because we were still close enough to turn around and go back, close enough that I didn't lose too much time and still made it to Logan, and we were right by an exit. How grateful I am for tender mercies and someone watching out for me.

I'm grateful for . . .

mountains so close to where I live.

the beauty of the earth.
the wondrous smells of nature.

It whispers to me that there is a God, a master designer behind it all. It's awe-inspiring to look at the flowers and trees that just grow and produce on their own, for mother nature who keeps it all watered. I simply cannot believe that a cosmic crash in space could produce something as beautiful as this earth. It takes more faith to believe in the Big Bang than to believe that this world is Someone's handicraft.

I just returned home yesterday from my first backpacking trip ever. Our little entourage included my brother-in-law Jason and three of his boys, Scott, Jeremy, and Porter along with our crew of Ty, me, Kiersten, Erik, and Nate. Since we had little hikers with us, the men decided on a relatively simple hike of about a mile to base camp. The lake we hiked to was Wall Lake. It was breathtakingly beautiful!

After arriving home, we set up the tents and put everything outside to air out and get the smokey smell out. Sometime around 2 am I awoke to hear something banging against our fence. Our backpacking tents (that are known to weigh hardly anything) had decided to take flight with relatively little wind. The 4-man tent was in the neighbor's backyard and the 2-man was hitting the fence even though Ty used rocks in place of the stakes. So at 2 am we were sneaking into the neighbor's yard (hoping their dogs were in the house) and gathering up our gear. Now we know why they advise using the stakes :)

I'm grateful for . . .

1. Water. When that little stream into your house refuses to give of itself it makes one a little more grateful for the days it flows freely and abundantly. Last night no water came out of our taps. It happened suddenly and without warning. After an hour we got our water back when it was discovered that our sprinklers worked. Simply turning on and off a zone loosened whatever was causing our water difficulties. It sent me into emergency preparedness mode when I realized all the things we use water for. Thankfully I've got a little in storage, but maybe I could use some more.

2. Great neighbors who selflessly gave of their time this week in helping us move 11 tons of rock. There were 3 massive piles and within several hours we had it moved.

3. A healthy body that carried me up and over 6 miles of hills. I completed my first 10K that included part pavement and part trail. The last couple of miles I had a phantom runner behind me. She would catch up to me and then fall behind, catch up, fall behind. She literally kept me going that last mile. I did not want her to pass me. And she didn't. At the end of the race she told me I was her inspiration to keep going. We went camping to East Canyon and this race happened to start a 100 yards from our tent. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity and loved, LOVED running in the mountains early in the morning. There was no better way to start the day than to enjoy the beautiful, peaceful creations of God.

I'm grateful for . . .

Where I live!

Ty and I were living in downtown Salt Lake City eleven years ago. I was commuting 15 miles to work during the day and Tyler was working nights only several blocks from home at Fidelity Investments. He was driving a 1980 Honda and I a 1991 Geo Prism. We decided to consolidate and give the Honda (affectionately named Ralph) back to his Uncle Medardo who knew of a kid who could use it.

Nancy and Medardo live in Lake Point, Utah, a place west of Salt Lake. I mean west, west, west of Salt Lake. [As a side note, I did work with a girl in Logan who was from Tooele. But I didn't have a clue where that might be.] They invited us out for pizza and we delivered Ralph. As we left that night I told Ty I felt like I was coming home. I loved the country and the small town atmosphere was so different that where we were currently living. I told Nancy I was moving out there some day.

Fast forward a year and we were in the market for a home. Kiersten had joined our family and Erik was quickly on the way. I knew we couldn't stay in our one bedroom apartment any longer. In our searching we decided to take a drive out to Tooele County. As we drove through Stansbury Park, we decided there was no way for us to afford it. It looked to ritzy for us (I have to laugh now at that thought). Tooele was too far and Lake Point didn't have any homes.

As I perused the classifieds one day, an ad for a home in Magna jumped out at me. It said nice neighborhood, family friendly, quiet street. Magna became home for 5 1/2 years during which we met many wonderful people. There are good people everywhere. The back of our house was to an open field for quite awhile, but along came development and every morning I would wake up and look out my kitchen window to see if the neighbors were having Frosted Flakes or Wheaties. That was just a little too personal for us. Ty put our house up for sale several days after I gave birth to Ashlyn and 2 1/2 months later we were in our new home in Stansbury, seven years after my original prediction.

What brought on this lengthy treatise was I went running this morning. My route took me out through Erda which is sparsely populated and just to the south of Stansbury. It reminded me a lot of running at home in Ferron. The birds were singing, the crickets were chirping. There wasn't a lot of traffic. My heart was a little full as I took in all of the beautiful sights and smells. You just wouldn't find this in Magna. I love that a mile from my neighborhood home I can find the country. Yes, Heavenly Father does love me.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird or look at the blue, blue sky,
Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by.
Whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by our lilac tree,
I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart; I thank him reverently,
For all his creations, of which I’m a part.
Yes I know Heavenly Father loves me.

I love Ty because . . .

he got up BEFORE me to fix me an egg mcmuffin to feed me physically before I left early for BYU Women's Conference to be fed spiritually. One, he never gets up before me. Two, he rarely cooks. He even made the kids breakfast. I was touched by his thoughfulness. He spoke my love language whether he knew it or not.

Slight modification to my last post

"But it's also nice to be home . . . with a garage door that now opens."

That isn't actually true. It is nice to be home, BUT our garage door really doesn't open. We thought we had fixed it although it continued to open rather slowly. Today's *blessing* is the van was out when we REALLY couldn't get it to open. Upon further inspection both springs have busted and need replacing. AND, after talking to my neighbor whose garage door did the same thing, she's amazed we were able to open it manually the night we left for California. When we remember the Lord, he will always bless . . . even at 2 am.

It just didn't feel right to be reading this . . .

on the beach, in a short sleeved shirt, wearing flip flops, with kids playing in the ocean, in sunny 75-degree weather. I had started this book before I left on vacation for Southern California, but absolutely found I couldn't even unpack it.

Our "holiday" (as the Europeans refer to it) was the right prescription for the January blahs. Our trip took us to Sea World, the Mira Mesa 1st ward where at least 4 different people introduced themselves to us and asked if we were new (smile, smile) or just visiting (smiles quickly evaporating), the beach, the San Diego temple, Discovery Science Center, and Disneyland. Our vacation blessings began on departure.

Blessing #1: At 2 o'clock in the morning, on the day we were leaving, with all 6 of us buckled in our van . . . the garage door wouldn't open. No time was lost as we pulled the emergency string and lifted it manually. For a slight moment we all sat there a little stunned to think we couldn't even back out of our driveway.

Blessing #2: As we breakfasted in Vegas, I discovered that I had inadvertently left my Palm Pilot at home along with the case that houses my driver's license and credit cards. I was ID-less for the remainder of our trip. When we purchased our advance tickets online for Sea World, the instructions clearly stated I would have to show ID since we were buying a year pass (this is to insure that I don't hand my pass over to someone else to use). I was pretty sure I would be buying another ticket to get in. But upon arrival at Sea World, they issued our cards and took a scan of my fingerprint. The blessing is that my fingerprint worked the second day and they didn't ask for my ID.

Blessing #3: Kiersten's reappearing watch. The first time she left it at the bus stop in Disneyland. On our way out of the park the next night we decided to stop by the lost and found to see if Ty's hat had been recovered from Splash Mountain. It wasn't there (that will be Blessing #5 if it actually comes in the mail), but Kiersten's watch had been turned in. Oh, the joy of reunification. However, that was short-lived. On our way home, the tradition has been to stop at the Cache Valley Cheese Factory in Beaver. There she took it off and left it on the counter but was nice enough to tell us 20 miles down the road while we could still turn around. However, none of us were too pleased about the extra 40 minutes tacked on to our already long drive, and I was more than happy to just leave it there and let her buy a new one with her own money. But Ty remembered the joy on her face when it was found the first time and didn't want to let her down. I guess it pays to be a daddy's girl.

Blessing #4: Nobody got sick until we got home. The entire month before we left our prayers always included asking that no one get sick before our trip. Outside of Beaver Nate started to complain of a headache. I chalked it up to too many hours in the car and sent him to school the next day. I ended up checking him out early and he's been sick for 2 days now but it on the mend.

I had an incredible amount of fun planning this vacation. I even got a little giddy over the packet I put together which included maps of all our destinations, maps of the theme parks, coupons, hotel confirmations. Vacationing is fun. I even started thinking about where we should go next. But it's also nice to be home . . . with a garage door that now opens.

Influential Teachers

Every man and every person who lives in this world wields an influence whether for good or evil. It is not alone what he says, it is not alone what he does it is what he is. Every man, every person radiates what he or she is. It is what we are and what we radiate that affects the people around us.--David O. McKay, Improvement Era, 1966

Bishop and Sister Harman are amazing teachers. I've never known any quite like them. Their influence has touched me as I'm sure they've touched others simply by magnifying their calling. This year Erik had the privilege of having them as his CTR 8 teachers. For Christmas they gave each child in their class a homemade pillow, carefully hand-stitched and sewn.

Bishop Harman was our bishop when we moved into the ward 3 1/2 years ago. Shortly after, he was released and put in the Primary as a teacher with his wife to help. Homework is part of their curriculum and every child earns Cold Stone certificates depending on how many "homeworks" they've handed in. When it is their class's turn for Sharing Time, the class is invited to their home the week before for dinner and to practice. They never miss a baptism. I have been very impressed with their level of commitment and their love of the gospel and for the children in Primary. Having them as teachers has been a blessing for Erik and for me. Thank you Bishop and Sister Harman for your dedication.

I'm grateful for . . .

1. POWER. This morning we woke up to no power and dined on cereal by candlelight. I decided I would make rolls and let the dough rise while the power thought about coming back on. Then I realized I needed to melt the margarine, so I had to improvise a little. Regardless of the inconveniences it makes me realize how fortunate I am to have power and how I take for granted that my lights will always come on and my fridge will always be cold and my microwave will always work.

2. The excitement that exudes from my kids every time we help clean the church, which we did last Saturday. Every three months when the announcement comes that it's our ward's turn to help clean the building, they make me promise to sign up and I always do. Maybe it's not so much the pleasure of helping clean our ward house as the Pop-Tarts they get to eat for breakfast. :)

3. General Conference. I LOVE hearing what prophets and apostles have to say. I LOVE making my own personal commitments to try a little harder over the next 6 months. The talks that spoke to me were from Elder Neil Andersen on faith (Faith is not merely a feeling; It is a CHOICE), Elder David Bednar on meaningful prayer, Elder Jeffrey Holland on angels sustaining us through hard times, and President Thomas Monson on living and loving life now (especially as I think that Kiersten is halfway to leaving home).

4. Internet shopping. Isn't is wonderful to have packages come to your door? And I didn't even have to leave my house.

"Your friend died,"

to quote Ashie when we told her President Hinckley had died. Yes, my friend and prophet died. And what a friend he was to me and to all of us. I will miss President Hinckley. I will miss his optimism, his unwavering faith, his humor, his love, his humility, his example of untiring service. But how comforting to know that this church is a living church. It does not die with the passing of a prophet. It will go on. This past week I took Nate and Ashlyn with me to vote early. On the way home Nathan asked what I just did. I told him I was voting for a president. He paused for a moment and then said, "But I thought President Monson was going to be the president." I had to smile as I explained that I was voting for a president of the United States. It made me grateful that the church does not have to go through a voting process with candidates vying for the position. The Lord is at the helm and He is in charge. A new prophet will be called and I hope to sustain him with all my heart as I did President Hinckley.

O Remember, Remember

"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: 'Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?' As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened."
--Henry B. Eyring, "O Remember, Remember" Ensign

I loved President Eyring's talk and have recommitted to be more diligent in ending each day in thanksgiving. I started a gratitude journal a year ago and averaged an entry every couple of weeks. But with the hustle and bustle that comes with the holidays, I let it slip, and so I am resolving to write a little more frequently. Here's a top 10 list of some things I was grateful for this last year in 2007.

Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch me or my children or my family today?

1. For a washer and dryer to do the bulk of my laundry for me, giving me time for other things.

2. I'm grateful for email that allows me instant communication and allows me to stay in contact with my family.

3. What would life be like without good music . . . I mean good piano music. I love to play my favorite CD of piano solos. It calms my soul and brings me peace. Piano music speaks to me.

4. I'm grateful for the consistency we've had with family scripture study. Because of that consistency, I'm grateful my kids decided by themselves what was important and were reading scriptures together while I was out shoveling snow. I was quite surprised to walk in to the house and see all four sitting on the couch with their scriptures. They had made it through the first column and it was only 7:10 in the morning.

5. I'm grateful for President Roberts who paid me a wonderful compliment today, telling me that I was a wonderful mom and to keep doing what I've been doing.

6. Today was absolutely gorgeous. I went to the temple early this morning and got to enjoy the serenity of the morning as the sun came up. We went for our first family bike ride of the year. So I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. First, I'm grateful for sunrises. Second, I'm grateful we all have bikes and have somewhere fun to ride them.

7. I'm grateful to the Lord for helping me become a better morning person. I love getting up early, going for a walk or a run, and reading my scriptures. Morning is the hidden treasure of the day.

8. Reading a book by Sheri Dew, she said something that kind of hit me hard: "Most people who have ever lived in this world have faced their trials with no access to the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ." How thankful I am that I have been blessed the gospel to help me through my trials.

9. AIR CONDITIONING! Okay, it got hot. I remember growing up and when it got hot, we had fans and then the day we got a swamp cooler, we all huddled underneath it. How wonderful was that!

10. Garbage man. I'm grateful that someone is willing to pick up and haul away my stinky garbage every week.