Life's Tender Mercies

WOW! What a summer. I have had some great opportunities to renew old relationships with family and friends this summer! I am convinced everyone is put in our life to bless us! I have truly been blessed! It seems like this has been the summer to renew relationships. It seems like only yesterday that all these people were in my life! One of these friends I haven't seen for 16 years, but I felt like it had only been a day.
It was really fun to take my children to Alaska and let them feel of the love we felt from the people there! I think we were all interconnected before we came to earth!









This past weekend we participated in the celebration of our little Grandson Matthew's blessing. It was a great day and we felt very supported by our family. One of the special parts of the day was renewing a relationship with my cousin Suzanne and her little family. It was pretty fun to see how well her children fit into our family even though they had never seen each other before. The bonds of family and genes are pretty strong.






All in all it was a wonderful weekend! But I think we totally wore the guys out!

Paradise on Earth?? ALASKA

Okay, I am sitting here highly jet-lagged thinking about the week I just spent with my husband and three kids. Actually, most of my time was spent renewing old acquaintances. Randy's favorite place to be is Alaska, we had special friends, the Kennedy's, in Fairbanks who invited us on a fishing trip. I knew I would never hear the end of it until Randy was able to go. NOW...I will never hear the end of it from Randy, Nathan, Alisa and Jordan, wondering when we can go back! The whole crew had a great time, yes even ME! And...Toni Kennedy felt like she really accomplished great things when I told her the moose was very tasty! My only regret was I couldn't take the married kids and their families. Maybe someday!
I have to agree with Randy about Valdez, it was absolutely the most breathtaking beautiful sight I have ever seen. I can't believe we never went there when we lived in Alaska. The water, the mountains, the trees, the animals, yes even the rain was remarkable. Maybe just a little bit of Paradise on Earth! We were only there a week, we needed to stay longer, but... that's how life goes. It was so nice to see old friends. It felt just like yesterday. I am so convinced the Lord puts people in our life's journey for reasons. He has totally blessed me in my journey. It was so fun to see old piano students and their little families, old friends and their grandkids, we just didn't have enough time to see all the folks I would have loved to see.
I did, however, get to go to the temple with two very special friends, Toni Kennedy and Cori Heath and Cori Heath's daughter, Becky! What a great day! I love the temple!

So.. with our memories and our fish, we journeyed back to Utah to face real life!

Okay, Rachel, this one's for you!

I love blogging. Especially browsing around and seeing other's posts. But I especially love being able to log on and see my daughter's families and what they are up to. It makes it so they don't seem so far away! Last weekend, as is tradition in Randy's family, we all gathered in Preston for the Famous Preston Night Rodeo. Grandma treats us every year. Knowing how much Rachel and Brad like rodeos it made me miss them!! Other than that we had everyone there, including Randy! (Randy has managed to miss the last few years due to work obligations). Nathan has always got into the spirit of things, but as we were making the rounds at the street sales, I realized Jordan wanted to follow suit. The favorite stop was the DI, where they had sold 160 pairs of used cowboy boots the day before and were headed to another successful day of sales. We found a pair for Nate. I wanted to give them to him for his birthday because I never know what to buy him, but Jordan thought he needed them for the rodeo. (Due to his broken foot, he couldn't wear them yet) Anyway, they made pretty cute cowboys! Grandma helped Jordan find a pair of boots and a shirt so he could join in the fun.

Well, Alisa couldn't miss out on the fun, so she donned Nate's new cowboy boots and searched grandma's house for something to dress up in, she reminded me of Annie from Annie get your Gun

Well, at the parade, Aunt Rozy told the kids you have to wave if you want candy, so Conner waved his little hand the whole parade, it was pretty funny! It worked though!

Anyway, another year, another memory!
We missed you Rachel!

"I Love to See the Temple"

Okay, so I love to see the temple! But...it's nice to be able to go in! I was so excited today, because I had my cousin's grandpa's name to do and then I could seal him to his wife and her dad. So we drove the 25 minutes to the temple (I know for some of you that isn't very far at all! BUT after Randy had fought the stand still, closed freeway traffic on the way home from work, it seemed like an eternity!) Anyway, we drove into the temple parking lot and I realized I had left my temple recommend at home tucked safely away in my purse! What a frustration that was! I told Randy to go in without me and I would try to get someone who was coming over from the ward to bring it to me. But, no luck, all the people who were coming had already left. So....it caused me to reflect on a couple of things. #1 - How will I feel if I am not prepared at the judgement bar and I have squandered my time and not done the important things. Will I watch my friends and family enter in to the peace and rest of the Lord and not be prepared to go with them. Am I spending my time doing the things that bring peace and happiness or just spending my time being "busy"
#2 - It helped me understand a little more why I love the temple. It seems like when life gets so out of control and we feel lost in the shuffle, or exhausted, or we just can't do another thing - then just being able to step in the doors brings rest to my Spirit. I was so disappointed tonight to miss out on that peace. #3 - Do we make our homes a Haven where we can feel the Spirit and escape the evils of the world and experience the good.
Anyway, I could ramble on and on but my mind is working overtime right now and I thought a good way to slow it down might be to "blog" So to any of you out there reading this...thanks for being in my life! That's what life is about - the relationships you have. All the things in the world can never replace that! There's never any U-Haul's following the hearse, but there's generally a lot of cars!

Nothing Like a Man in Uniform

Nothing like a man in uniform! Actually, I keep wondering if my soldier will ever retire!! We had a celebration at Fort Douglas for the 100 anniversary of the Army Reserves. Emily and Steve are always so good to come and go with Jordan and I, because they know Randy will be running around feeling important! (of course, he is important) They had lots of blow up toys for the kids, Conner was in heaven on most of them, but look at the look of panic on this picture




It was a fun time! We usually go to the Days of 47 parade, but with the new little Matthew, we ended up watching it in the nice cool living room! I don't know if there is a two month old out there who has been photographed more. He is pretty cute as he discovers how to coo and smile, but the camera is always about two seconds behind! Anyway, here are a couple of shots I got with the help of Conner! Happy Summer to you all!

Crazy Summer!

I had such grand plans to post weekly this summer, looks like I blog about as well as I journal. It has been a HOT summer and lots of running here and there. I spent a few day this week with my sister Shannon trying to see how we could help my mom. It is a sad time when your parents reach the latter part of their life without their complete faculties. My dad has what appears to be severe dementia. But he also has several lucid moments. It has been very wearing on my mother and sister. I think it must be very hard for my dad, because I can tell he has many moments where he is very aware of the capabilities he has lost. As I visited with my mother, she said she knew she agreed to these trials before she came to earth, but she wondered what it was she was to learn from the experience. As I have contemplated the situation, I know it is her time and her trial and my job to be as supportive and caring as I can be.

Good, Better, BEST

Well, I am really struggling today. Do I clean the house, work on the yard, work on sewing projects, scrapbook, etc, etc, or go visit kids? I had a friend asked me if I was bored now I wasn't working. I thought how does anyone even have that word in their vocabulary!!! I look around and see the many things I should be doing, but then I get a call from Conner, "Grandma, come right now, my mom is boring!"


Oh, what I wouldn't give for $2 a gallon gas, so I could run up whenever he's in need of a grandma, Jordan, or Grandpa fix. I am learning that all the money and things in the world don't even touch the joy of one great big marvelous hug from a grandchild or child. We had Rachel here for a week, how sad I was to take her back home. I'm not sure how some are so lucky as to have their kids within 20 minutes, but I am so glad we are able to have the extended family relationships we have, because in my mind that is the BEST of the good better best decisions! Thank goodness, I have such a fun posterity! Of course, I am waiting for those "college kids" to be excited to come home, but...right now they are doing exactly what they should be.