12 March 2016 = Summer?

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous!  It felt like a warm, May day and it is only March 12th! We grilled out burgers and dogs and had a picnic with whomever could make it.  Bikes, bikes, bikes and lots of riding up and down the driveway.  The swings got a workout as well.  Tracy and I went for a 4 mile walk.  My toes hurt after that.  I don't care.  It was such a beautiful day.
Yard work got done.
Firepit got cleaned out.
Car and truck got vacuumed.
Workout room got cleaned.
All of that was done by my sweetheart with the help of the boys.  I took Tom to track practice and spent some time grilling.  I did a lot of laundry and some inside cleaning.  A few windows even got washed.  I think I may have a touch of sun on my face.  It feels a tad warm.

I love these unexpectedly beautiful days.  I know there will still be snow as its only March.  But the cranes are back and I heard a lot of geese today.  I haven't seen a robin yet, but my husband has.  The ice is melting off the pond across the street.  Life is good!  I am a blessed woman.  Such a wonderful husband and family.

What God Can Do

 I have never been to the Provo Tabernacle.  It is a building used for conferences, seminary graduations, concerts and other civic and church events.  It was built by the Mormon pioneers who settled there.  In fact, General Conference was held there.  Clare recalls having her Stake Conference there when she lived in Provo.

Five years ago in the middle of the night, a fire started, completely gutting the facility.  Much of the community was devastated.  

With all those flames, I can't imagine that there was anything left.  But actually there was.

 There was a set of scriptures that survived the fire with just a little charring on the edges.  The pulpit was also left completely in tact.

 But really is was a burned out shell of a building.

President Monson announced a few months later that it would be rebuilt and turned into the second temple in Provo.  They would call it the Provo City Center Temple.  

After an engineering feat, it is finally finished and Pat, Erin and I had the opportunity to tour the facility.  

 There is a floral pattern throughout.  There is much stained glass both interior and exterior.  The rich dark wood is so rich and beautiful.  Upon entering these exterior doors, a person walks up to the 

recommend desk.  I love the Savior standing there with His sheep!

 I don't know if I recall seeing a baptismal font on the backs of dark oxen. 

 What bride wouldn't want to spend a little time in this room?

 The largest sealing room.  I believe it holds 48 people plus the witnesses and the couple.  I will have the opportunity to witness a sealing here in October.

 The Celestial room.

 I am not all that impressed with the exterior of the building, but the grounds are beautiful!  The interior is absolutely stunning!  I look forward to going back.

 As we attended church with Erin on Sunday, the bishop stated that he had been to the open house and witnessed all the beauty there. 

He then said something that will stay with me.  He said if the Lord can take a burned out Tabernacle and turn it into a beautiful temple, imagine what He can do with us! 

At times in our lives we struggle and we don't make good decisions.  In effect, we burn to the ground because of ourselves.  Other times, the circumstances and actions of others burn us down.  Only the Savior has the ability, because of His atonement, to build us into what He knows we can become.

In seminary on Friday, we talked about Solomon's temple and how important it was to get it built with the best materials available.  I showed the above photos to the youth and was pleasantly surprised with their reactions.  None of them have ever been to a temple dedication or open house.  At least that they can recall.  This was as close as they've come.  

I invited them to always to worthy to enter those sacred doors.  If they aren't worthy, to get themselves there.  Their temple recommend will be their most prized possession ever.  

I didn't know this lesson would turn out this way.  I never felt impressed to go further into the prepared material.  Just stay with them in our virtual temple.

Each of us has been given a tabernacle for our spirits.  

God is in control and He can take that tabernacle and create a beautiful temple for our spirits if we will allow Him to do so.  

I want to live in a temple!

A Mid-Winter Trip

Last week Thursday, Pat and I headed to Chicago.  We went to the temple and then met up with Candi McGregor for dinner.  It was a wonderful visit!  The next morning, after our workout, we headed for the airport and winged our way to Salt Lake City.

Erin picked us up at the airport and we headed to West Valley City to take a few items to Andrew. Most importantly, his driver's license which the USPS lost TWICE! I wasn't trusting them to deliver it to him.  Since we were already headed in that direction, we dropped it off at the Mission Office.

Erin is doing the goofy Andrew face.  We met some wonderful senior missionaries who love our son.

While in the office, we saw the companionships for each zone.  Elders Pleshek and Wells are in the Granger East District.  We heard Sister Caldwell call Andrew and tell him his things were delivered.  We got out of there!

We attempted to go the the Provo City Center Temple on Friday afternoon.  Who knew that it would be so busy???  The standby line was a 1 1/2 hour wait at a minimum.  One sister told us that if we came back in the morning at 7am, we would be able to get right in.

Pat wanted a good hamburger so Erin took us to the hospital cafe and he got his burger.

We attended the open house the following morning.  What a spectacular building!  I will write about that in my next post.

When we finished at the open house we drove to Payson and attended the temple there.  Another beautiful place.  

We spent some time with Sharla, as Dean was at school working on a project.  We decided we needed a D.I. run.  So off to American Fork we went.  Some very successful shopping was accomplished.  

On Sunday morning we attended Erin's former single's ward.  This is where Bishop Manwaring and his wife Melanie are serving.  They are incredible people and I understand why Erin loves them so much.  

We also attended Sacrament meeting with the Bohls but with Erin not feeling well, we left afterward and headed to Salt Lake to our hotel.

We had time to spend with Erin so we walked temple square. We spent some time roaming through both visitor's centers before we headed to the Tabernacle.  There we spoke to this wonderful sister missionary.

After sitting in the Tabernacle for some time, I decided that the Conference Center is much more comfy.  The acoustics are incredible though.  I was careful not to be too loud or laugh as the sound carried.

Pat gave Erin a father's blessing before she went back South to Provo.  I really wanted to bring her home with me.  It broke my heart to leave her.  That's not normal for me.

On Monday morning we worked out again and after showering, had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel.  We packed everything and since we didn't have to be out of the hotel until noon, we walked back to the Square and visited the Church History Museum. 

There we saw an inspiring film of the First Vision.  We all know what surround sound is, but this was Surround Vision.  It was as though you were walking through the Sacred Grove.  

We spent 1 1/2 hours touring at our own pace and not really being able to take everything in.  A person could easily spend the better part of a day in order to see everything.  

One of the things I really enjoyed was the artwork.  Someone painted the above picture.  I love the story of Peter going out to meet the Savior as He walked on the water.  This shows how we all need to lean on our Savior more than we may recognize.

We walked back to our hotel and grabbed our bag and headed to the airport.  A wonderful weekend to be able to be with Erin.  So many instances during the days where I felt the Spirit very profoundly.  Again, in the next post.

Half Way There

The new semester at school has begun which means that my seminary year is half over.  I think it is just the material I'm teaching at the moment, but its beginning to feel long.  Does that make sense? Some years the weeks and months flew by and the material was very interesting.  I feel like I'm trudging through this particular part of 1 Samuel.

I've been teaching since Erin was a senior in high school.  That's EIGHT years!!!  I've loved it more than I can express.  I've learned more than I can express and I'm grateful that my Heavenly Father had confidence in me that I could do this.  With that said, I'm ready to give it up.

Don't get me wrong.  I love and care about these youth more than I can say.  I pray for them and worry about them.  They are so precious and spectacular!  I'm still enthusiastic about being with them once I get there.  Its just that some lessons are really dry compared to others.  I know every single day can't be and won't be as exciting as I want it to be.  I just pray that they are able to feel the Spirit.

I wish I would have taken pictures every year I taught.  I know I have a few more but they're on the other computer.

The only thing I think about is, "What will the Lord have me do next?"  I guess the Lord qualifies those He calls.  I can bear witness of that!

Cleaning Out

After a person leaves this life, tax papers and such are required to be kept for three years. More than one year has passed for my daddy so I started going through his filing cabinet to get rid of more things. The real reason for going through the file was to make room for all of our music and piano books that were laying on Tom's closet floor and various other places around the piano.

There were a few things that I tucked away.  One was his wallet.  I've removed most everything.  I looked at his driver's license. My heart swelled with sadness of him being gone and happiness that he's my daddy.

I found a letter from a couple whom Dad employed and befriended many years ago.  She wrote the letter.  In it she expressed their love for him and how they looked to him as an example of goodness.  She says, " I've thought of all the people we have known throughout our lives, and can't think of one person that helped us and shaped our lives into who we are today more than you."  These people were not relatives but friends.  That's a legacy I can treasure.

He also received a card from one of my cousins.  She writes this memory.  "When I think of you, it's when I stayed with your family when I was 16 and Bonny was a baby.  I looked out in the back yard after supper and I saw you and Carol hugging and kissing by the remains of the stone building.  That loving image has stayed with me because I thought it was so beautiful...even as a teenager."

I felt, once again, the ache for my daddy.  It comes rarely as I know he is so much better off without being encumbered by his sick physical body.  I'm happy he can be with my mom, his sweetheart.

I've found that the pain of losing a loved one fades with time and you go on without them here.  I have not lost my spouse.  I do not know that kind of pain.  Pat's step-mother knows that pain and lives it every day since Pete's passing.  My mother-in-law recently lost the man in her life as well. All three men succumbed to cancer.  STUPID CANCER!!!!

I am so grateful for these pictures that my niece Liz took on Dad's last Saturday living outside of a hospital or nursing facility.  I was already seeing the decline but had no idea it would come on so dramatically.  Looking at this I can see how much I resemble him.

I miss you daddy.  More than missing you, I love being your daughter.  I love that you taught me what it means to be kind and generous.  Your example will remain with me always.  I am grateful for pictures that will never let your smile diminish in my mind.  You were the best daddy for me.  Thank you!

Christmas 2015

 There is no snow and very mild temperatures.  There are coughing people all around in my family, with me probably the biggest offender, yet Christmas is here.  We had planned to go as an extended family to Birch Hill Health Care Facility to sing to the residents.  With all of the illness we've had, I decided it was probably not a good idea to possible infect those elderly people.

Instead we stayed home and ate delicious food and watched The Nativity Story on DVD.  We sang a little and the children acted out the Nativity while Papa read the story from Luke 2.  Our children did their gift exchange.  I believe they were all happy with what they found for one another. I had the grandchildren open their books from Pat and I.  I know they were all happy with those!

Jeff had to work on Christmas day so we had him open his gifts on Christmas Eve.  He typically comes home from work exhausted and goes to bed shortly thereafter.

Christmas morning brought gifts for all of us.  Everyone seemed pleased with the things we picked out for them.  Dinner was being prepared when Elder Pleshek phoned to say he would be calling via Skype at noon.  We called all the girls and told them he was calling.  Sammi and Erin had gone to Shawano to pick up Bonny.

The children got a sibling photo.  I love it!  I think I will blow it up and have it framed.  We had a wonderful time visiting with our missionary!  It is absolutely the BEST part of Christmas!

Not to take anything away from our other children, but being able to speak to our missionary is the best feeling in the world for me.  I recall Sammi's call home.  We were on Skype forever, it seemed. It was wonderful to see her beautiful face and hear her voice.

Two phone calls per year makes a mother's heart yearn for her child no matter what his age.  He is loving the missionary life which makes it all the better.  

My sweetheart again went way overboard in buying gifts for me.  More jewelry, which I love, as well as a new robe.  Wow, is that thing heavy!  It's white so I know it will be laundered often.  I paid for my sweetie to buy himself a new recliner.  The kids got us a wood carved raccoon.  I love that as well.  He's so cute.  

On Wednesday we had some picture texts of Andrew sent to us.  Those make me emotional.  People send them and tell us of the love they have for our son.  They compliment us on raising such a fine individual.  There is no way to explain how much I appreciate those random text messages.  My heart is filled each time we receive one.  

Christmas 2015 is now in the past, but the spirit of love that I feel continues.  Erin will go back to Provo on Monday and that makes me sad.  I wish she lived closer.  Life continues.  I am so very blessed to have these wonderful people as my family!  I am blessed to know that my Savior was born and lived a perfect life so He could atone for me.   Once again, My cup runneth over.

Winter?

What a strange weather we have.  It should be somewhere around freezing and there should be snow on the ground.  Over the past week we have had record breaking warm temperatures in the 50's.  It began raining on Saturday night and it rained steady through all of Sunday and it finally has slowed/stopped today (Monday). 

Lake Pleshek has once again reared its head.  The lower lawn is flooded which always means there is water in my basement.  I've never had water in the basement in December.  There is a blessing in all of this.  If the ground was frozen, all this water would be just sitting rather than soaking in.  But, I do need the ground to freeze so the truckers can get into the woods and bring some wood into the mill. 

It's strange now that I think about the weather and how it affects the truckers that bring wood into the mill.  I still don't know how I feel about being a business owner. 

There are cooler temps forecast for later this week.  Hopefully the lake will be gone by then.  At any rate, as much as I love this warm weather, I'm ready for winter to get here.  It can stay long enough to kill off all the germs and viruses in the air.  I wonder, with these mild temperatures, are the bears hibernating?