General Conference

General Conference is upon us once again. I started some time ago, taking notes on each speaker. This has made me listen closer and in turn feel those things that are for me.

On Saturday I was impressed by many of the talk given. Who will ever forget Elder Holland! He certainly doesn't mince words. He gives it straight. Satan comes at us these days straight on so why not the words of an apostle?

I loved listening to Elder Bednar as well. What promises were given as he testified of the importance of reading and talking about the Book of Mormon.

Last night I listened in on part of the priesthood session. I heard Elder Rasband talk of how mission calls are made. I will love reading that one in the Ensign. I also listened to Elder Oaks talk about priesthood blessings. Many of my questions were answered in that talk.

I'm sure there will be more to come.....

Really? A cow?

Since my last post was a bit emotional, I thought I could make a few people giggle with this one. Our first track meet was on Tuesday in Wild Rose. A windy day for a meet, but warm temperatures for March. I was excited for the kids who I knew would do well and excited for those who did really well and I didn't know how they would perform. All in all, a pretty good meet.

On our way home, we were about 5 miles south of Marion when Todd says, "A deer. No a cow!" Jean slams on the brakes and tries to swerve around this heifer that is standing on the center line facing us. It is almost totally white, so it was a little difficult to see in the white lights. Just as Jean is swerving around the critter, it turns right into the bus. We hear a thump, thump and the beast is down. We stop and the thing gets up. Can you believe it? I get off the bus and there is only a cracked lens cover of the yellow marker light. It actually hit a big iron piece that holds the "arm" in place on the front of the bus. What a stroke of luck. How is it possible to hit a cow and not have a ton of damage to your vehicle? Imagine if a car would've hit that beast. YIKES!!!

Hopefully the rest of our meets will have the most excitement on the track and not on the ride home.

The Gift of a Sister

In 1981 my brother married a wonderful woman who then became my sister. I already had a sister, but not an older sister. This was a new and exciting event for me. I now had this sister and we did sister things. She became one of my dearest friends. What a gift a sister is! I married 18 months later and then we could really share our lives as we became mothers and wives. We spent hours together talking about our kids and husbands while our children played together. Sometimes those hours were on the phone.

In 2000, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I mourned for days and was almost unable to do anything. I was going through the motions as I took care of my family. The following six months proved to take me through every emotion imaginable. There was joy and laughter along with sadness and tears. There were prayers of hope and finally prayers to let go.

Tina has been gone now for nine years. I still miss her very much and always will.

I was blessed with sisters because my brothers married. I never thought I would love these women the way I do. Life goes on when we lose a loved one but it's never quite the same. There is still joy and laughter and at times sadness and tears, but a piece of my heart at times feels empty because of the beautiful sister that's missing.

Thanks to my brothers for giving me these wonderful women in my life.

Track Season Begins

I started track practice with my team last Monday in Bowler. Tuesday I was in Gresham and the rest of the week, we were together. The BIG change this year is that I'm the head coach and not the assistant. I liked being the assistant! But, Matt moved away and there was no one else willing to take on the job. I fear I may have this job for more years than I'm prepared to put in. I'm still waiting for an assistant coach. Erin has been a dear and is filling in where I can't be. What a blessing she is!

I've got some interesting youth on the team. Some are very talented and work hard. Some work hard and will do just fine simply because they work so hard. Some are talented and don't work hard and then there are those with little/no talent that don't work hard. Those are the ones that make the job difficult.

I surely miss the seniors from last year as they were such good leaders and workers. I've got some really great seniors this year so we'll be alright. Our first meet is scheduled for Tuesday the 30th. As I checked the weather for the next week, I doubt that we'll end up having that meet. The rest of this week looks good but beginning on Saturday our temps are supposed to decrease with snow/rain coming for next week. It is March so I suppose that's expected. I'm just really thankful for the warm weather in the past week.

An Apostle

On Friday evening, my husband, Tom and I drove in the fog to Neenah for a fireside. Elder D. Todd Christofferson is here to preside at the Green Bay Stake Conference. His son lives in Fondulac and so he had his father and mother speak at a fireside. Prior to the meeting, we had the opportunity because of Pat's current calling as Stake President, to have a meet and greet (along with the Appleton Stake Presidency and wives) with the Christoffersons. It was really fun.

I think we look at the general authorities as people who aren't really human. We put them on a pedistol and think that they must be more favored than any of God's other children. I discovered spending 45 minutes with them, that they are people who put their shoes on one at a time just like me. They have families and responsibilities and careers (or used to).

I've gained an appreciation for these gentlemen who serve so diligently. One of the things that Elder Christofferson told us about was President Monson. He said Sister Monson's health isn't very good and President spends a lot of time taking care of his wife. What a wonderful example of priorities. I'm very thankful that I went and was able to feel the Spirit bear witness of his holy call as an apostle.

I'm Gorgeous!

This afternoon Cami and I were lying on the bed watching Sleeping Beauty. I told her that I thought Aurora was beautiful just like she is. She replied, "I'm not beautiful, I'm gorgeous!" There is apparently no problem with self-esteem in that child. The following are some pics she posed for just to prove how gorgeous she really is.

A returned missionary

On Sunday we had the opportunity to visit the Shawano Ward to listen to my nephew give his first talk after coming home off his mission. He's grown from a kid to a man while he served as is evidenced by the preceeding picture. Ok, maybe he doesn't look like it, but it surely shows in the way he carries himself. What a blessing to be able to serve a mission! The example goes a long way for the other siblings, cousins and friends as well. It was a real treat for me to be there.