forget me nots

saturday evening was the general relief society broadcast. unfortunately i had to miss it. (for a good reason, no worries) after being sick and being busy and whatnot i decided to take a few minutes with rachel's laptop and enjoy at least President Uchtdorf's talk..."Five things to Forget Not."

wow, did i ever need to hear his talk. it hit home, big time. here are the five things he implored us to not forget:
1. forget not to be patient with yourself
2. forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice
3. forget not to be happy now
4. forget not the 'why' of the gospel
5. forget not that the Lord loves you

you know, that is a list that is quite challenging for us women at one time or another in our lives. i do have a difficult time being patient with myself; i am constantly reminding me that i am a work in progress. i won't go through the entire list, but i will say that the message was loud and clear: Heavenly Father, and our Savior, Jesus Christ have not forgotten us, they never will forget us. in fact, it's just the opposite, They know and love each of us, They want what is best for us. we are blessed to have a loving Father and Brother who want us to return to live with Them someday.

i am so very grateful for President Uchtdorf's comments, for the obvious love he has for each of us, and for his ability to receive inspiration and share that with us.

and i am super excited about conference. i know i need all the inspiration and wisdom i can get!

calendar

i have been a bit on the busy side the past few days, and am not going to slow down any time soon. but, i took a few minutes today to update my dry erase calendar that amy gave me a few years back for Christmas. it looks so cute! i put the o in october as a ghost, drew a witch on a broom to the left and added a jack-o-lantern on the other side. i also put orange cardstock as the background and made the ctober all scary like letters. fun-ness!

i love being creative, and am grateful for every month that allows me to be so! thanks amers. :)

physical therapy

after a year of struggling with Achilles tendinitis i decided it was high time to go and see a pt, to find out what more can be done to help. this morning, bright and early, i had my first appointment with dr.jeff.

what a nice guy!

after just a few minutes he evaluated my ankle/leg. apparently due to the fact that i have arthritis in my knee i somehow over compensate or under compensate, something. as a result my calf muscles are strung too tightly and they need to be loosened. he said, 'it is not a coincidence that your ankle is only bad on the same leg where your knee is giving you problems.' then as he examined it, and treated it by massaging my calf muscle and my ankle i began to feel better. thank heavens...really.

after the exam he told me that this is going to be a pretty easy fix, that i need to do two exercises several times a day that take perhaps three minutes all together. he said my ankle isn't far gone, and that i will be good as new in no time.

i cannot even tell you how great it was to hear that news. i feel like i am going to get my life back again! that i will be able to walk regularly, and function normally. it was like this huge sigh of relief and a breath of fresh air hit me all at once. i wanted to rejoice. and on the inside i did. on the outside i simply thanked him profusely for giving me hope.

i just love it when the day starts out with good news. i am so grateful for the chance that i have to become healthy once again.

catching up

i have been absent from home quite a bit the past few weeks. while i am not completely back to normal health-wise i am catching up on the things that need to get done...one task at a time.

i am grateful for the time and energy that i do have that allows me to get my home in order. don't you just love an orderly home? i have a long way to go... like me, our home is a work in progress!

blessings

the other night just before rachel got sick i realized that i had a blood clot in my right leg. i called craig and asked him to come and help pat administer to me. just before craig arrived rach said she wasn't feeling well. she received a blessing also.

thank goodness for the priesthood. where would we be without the blessings we receive? while rach had a very long night, she was given all the support pat could give her (which was really hard for me because i wanted to help her but my leg wasn't doing well and we needed to not have an emergency on our hands).

pat and i talked last night briefly about all the blessings we had received yesterday:
1) he was able to drive the entire way home and take care of us at the same time
2) my leg didn't get worse
3) i actually didn't puke; i just was sick
4) rach only puked once on the trip
5) the car performed well
6) there was very little traffic

seriously, the trip could have been much worse, we were blessed and i am so grateful.

now all we have to do is get better.

home

yesterday we left for utah to travel home. we were a sorry bunch. rach had gotten the stomach flu the night before, i got it that morning, plus i had a slight case of phlebitis. that meant that i had to keep my leg elevated for the entire trip home. as a result pat was the only one able to drive, and we had to get out so that i could walk frequently. such a very long day.

we arrived at home around 10 pm. i don't think i have ever felt so happy to be here. i found rach immediately lying on her bed, asked her how she was doing, and she said, 'i feel like goldilocks, this bed feels just right!' needless to say she was grateful also.

baby blessing

i love the Priesthood of God. when babies are blessed i love the way the Priesthood holders stand in a circle, each with their hand supporting the baby. it is quite symbolic. to me they are saying, 'we will always be here for you, to love you, to help you, to guide, teach, and lead you back to Heavenly Father.'

how wonderful that today little darci lynn was blessed by her daddy, with support from her grandfathers, an uncle, a great uncle, a cousin, their bishop and a friend. i am so grateful for their worthiness, and the blessing she was given.

i am also grateful for the members of our family that could be in attendance.

Rise and Shout!

Since we are visiting in Orem we had to take a trip to our alma mater BYU. There was a LOT of blue on campus today, even with families and all their children wearing blue too! We have been keeping track (in Oregon and now in Utah) of the school spirit by counting various clothing articles and car decor to see how much spirit they actually have! Let me tell you, there is plenty! I think the ducks actually outshine the cougars in this area, amazingly enough!

It was fun to be on campus, to browse the wonderful bookstore, to walk around campus in the heat (do they know it's September?) and to partake of ice cream at the Wilk. How fun it is for Pat and I to walk the halls where we waited for a concert on our second date (near the bowling alley). Ah, the memories. So wonderful.

I am grateful to BYU for so many reasons. First and foremost that I discovered that my testimony is mine and not my parents while here, second that I met my eternal companion, and third for the great educations that we received there, as well as some of our family members, and finally that my gratitude goes on and on and on, with no end in sight.

marriott

marriott is my hotel of choice...nearly always. we stayed at the el dorado in reno last night. not so great. today we have arrived in orem and are enjoying the marriott's towne suites in orem. i just love their hospitality, their cleanliness, the little extras they give (like bottled water and popcorn last night) and the fact that we get a decent breakfast in the morning. (i also love staying at the provo marriott, but they don't include breakfast and this hotel is closest to craig and angie)

i am grateful that we can stay at the marriott...a great second home! ;)

Darci and Lucas

we are leaving tonight to drive to utah tomorrow. i am so excited to meet darci and spend time with lucas! i love that we have such lovable grandchildren! i love that i am finally going to be able to snuggle with darci, give her hugs and kisses and tell her how much i love her. i love that i am going to see lucas and enjoy his antics, and give him loves, and laugh with him!

i also love that i am seeing their parentals (whom i also love), and to whom i am so grateful to for giving our family miss darci and mr. lucas! yay us!

snuggles

this past week i had the privilege of sharing james' room with him. that having been said...the cutest thing ever was when he would wake up, realize i was there, and say "gramma!!!" then he would sleepily hop out of bed (though one morning he slid down the bottom, what a boy!) find his way over to my bed, then climb in and snuggle. after happily snuggling for a few minutes he would say 'hand!', meaning he wanted me to get up with him. then he would say 'sweater' (when i am away from home i wear a sweater as my robe, it's just easier to pack and warmer). and off we would go.

how i love snuggles from my grandkids, since my kids aren't really into that anymore! ;)

sameness

we attended amy's ward yesterday. it always amazes me how wherever you go in the 'church' there is so much sameness; things you can count on, rely on, to make you feel as though you are home. the members were kind and welcoming, happy to have a stranger in their midst, the Sacrament was the same, the speakers spoke on the same type of subjects we hear in our ward and stake. (the only thing that differed, really, was that i went to primary with amy, where i sang primary songs and was sung the 'hello' song to...so cute!)

that is one of the things that i love about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...wherever you go you can pretty much count on hearing the same lessons, just delivered differently as the Spirit guides, and as personalities differ.

but the BEST thing about it is this: you feel the Spirit just the same as you do when you attend your ward. that is what i am deeply grateful for. it is wonderful.

Lucky Number Seven!

seven years ago today our family spent a few minutes in the Oakland Temple, where brad and amy were sealed together for time and all eternity. i am grateful for the blessing of our family being sealed together, and pray that we all will live worthy of that blessing, so that we can all be together...forever.

i am grateful brad and amy have each other and their little ones, james, gavin and baby #3 that will soon join their family. i am grateful they are happy together and have a nice little family where they strive to live the gospel and teach their children gospel principles, and love them unconditionally.

it is truly something special to understand the purpose of this life, and the difference it makes in the next.

showers

one of amy's friends (ashley cooper bailey) was kind enough to throw a baby shower for her today. she did an amazing job with the decorations and the food. it was, oh - so - cute! the theme was mustache bash...so everything was mustache-y! she made mustache chocolate suckers; we played a 'guess who' for mustache's game; we guessed how many candy mustache's in a baby bottle and she had pictures of mustaches around the room. everything was in blues and blacks. we had tissue paper pom poms on the wall, and we hung blue pennants on strings around the room. simply put - it turned out quite adorable.

this is amy's fourth baby shower ever, and it was super fun. it may be her last, only time will tell.

thank you ashley, for being a wonderful friend to my daughter and having such a nice shower for her. =)

skyping

since we've been gone we have been able to skype with pat a few times. it is so nice to be far away and still see my honey! :)

oops!

when we left for oregon early yesterday morning i was distracted by pat's insistence that i take some things that i hadn't necessarily planned on taking or taking them a certain way. as a result i left some of my clothing at home - things that were hanging up, like clothes for sunday.

pat was able to get ahold of us on the road, we were already in sacramento and were not about to turn around! so onward we went, with the realization that if i am going to go to church on sunday i would have to find something new to wear.

so, shopping we went. i was able to find a nice skirt and top within a short period of time...thankfully.

i guess today i am grateful for making a 'mistake' by leaving behind my clothes! oops! ;)

Road Tripping

Rachel and I are driving to Oregon today! We get to go and see Amy's family! The real reason for the trip is for Rachel to search out jobs and possibly move up there soon. We will listen to music, books on tape/cd, talk away, and just enjoy the journey...beautiful as it is.

I am grateful for this road trip...and the upcoming ones! =)

Corinne

Our friend, Corinne, is moving with her family to the Houston area. We have known her for nearly 20 years. We have watched her grow up into an amazing wife and mommy. She is always dependable, always faithful and always loving to our family. We will miss her doorbell ringing, silliness, and happiness.

I am grateful for Corinne - she has been a bright star in our lives all these years. Her dad served in the bishopric with Pat, she dated Sam, she was Amy's wedding planner, she has laughed and cried with us, and shared many special occasions with our family.

To Corinne, Ken and Peyten - may you find great happiness and success in Texas; and may you always know that our home and our hearts are open to you. We love you.

planning ahead

soon i will be going to oregon with rachel so that she can hopefully has some job interviews. and then we will be going to utah for darci's blessing. :)

i have been Christmas shopping and will be taking the purchased gifts with us so that everyone can store them in their homes (hidden, hopefully)! today i have spent a bit of time wrapping gifts so that i can take them with us. i am grateful that i plan ahead annually and already have the necessary wrapping paper, and that i have the gifts that go inside!

heroes

ten years ago today people unexpectedly became heroes.

at the time we were living in idaho falls, the girls were getting ready for school, and pat was watching the today show. he suddenly yells, 'one of the twin towers has been hit by a plane!' i was busy, didn't stop what i was doing and responded, 'oh no! that's too bad!'

i had no idea of the devastation that would soon unfold. we were shocked as another plane hit the other tower - and then heard reports of the pentagon being hit. we knew then, terrorism had struck, once again.
as i drove home from taking the girls to school that morning the towers began falling. like many i was glued to the news the entire day.

all of us experienced that day with many emotions. first, the shock that anyone could do this knowingly and willingly to anyone else; second, that it was happening to us (here!) in the united states of america; third, fear in wondering what was next, and where; fourth, watching it unfold as people leapt to their deaths, making that one last choice for themselves in this life; fifth, being amazed at those that rushed in as others were rushing out, many of those ultimately giving their lives in order to save others (and that they did); sixth, finding out about those that took the terrorists down rather than risk the white house or capital being rammed with a fiery weapon; and seventh - the pride of america - truly becoming united, for a time.

today i find myself feeling grateful for all the firemen, policemen, and volunteers who went to the aid of others, and to those on-board united flight 93 who willingly crashed into a field in shanksville, pa, knowing they would not live to see another day. all are heroes, all gave of themselves. thank you.

Shanksville, PA - where heroes gave their lives.

writing

i have always enjoyed writing. i discovered that joy when i was 7 or 8 years old and i wrote a 'play' called "the sad little princess". i still have that paper in my memorabilia; it is pretty funny.

we may become empty nesters once again quite soon. i have been wondering just what i will do with my time. without discussing it with rach she suggested that i take up writing again, since it is something i enjoy. she suggested that i do it just for fun, to make myself happy. not a bad idea.

i am grateful i love the creative process of writing, and that i can dig up that talent that has long been buried. :)

stability

pat came home the other day and told me that the levee project he has been working on for three years is probably going to be extended until 2015. in this time of uncertainty i am grateful for the stability of a good job.

tripping

we have a few trips planned in the near future. another one is planned that we hadn't expected. each of these trips will allow us to see our kids/kids-in-law/and grandkids! yay us!

i am grateful they all live within driving distance, especially since pat is not a fan of flying these days. (he will if he has to, but not if he doesn't!) i am grateful we will be tripping pretty soon!

cute fabric

i have been looking for fabric to make a quilt for our new grandson that will be joining our family in october. it has not been an easy task! for some reason joann's has not had great fabric the past few months, so it has been slim pickings!

today i had to go to joann's to get some mini cupcake liners for our rs broadcast dinner in a few weeks (to take to a meeting tonight, that i just found out about). while i was there i figured i would give the flannel section another try. i am so glad i did! i found the cutest dinosaur fabric ever! i am so looking forward to making this quilt!

i am grateful that joann's finally had some cute fabric.

feeling useful

this morning i went to sacramento to take my mom and sister some food and do whatever chores/errands they needed done. i am sure glad i went! i ended up going to get my mom's prescriptions filled, taking my sister grocery shopping and stopping at wendy's to get us all some lunch. as i was grocery shopping i thought, 'it sure does feel good to be useful!'

i am grateful i can be useful...sure beats being feeling useless.

labor day

even though it is labor day - a day to take a day off from our labors, i found myself laboring today in the happiest place on earth...the Oakland Temple.

pat, rach and i ventured to Oakland this morning with the hope of performing initiatories for family members who have been long deceased. recently the Oakland Temple was closed for three weeks. during that time they remodeled the initiatory area. it is beautiful, so peaceful and serene. we were fortunate enough to have to wait a while, and in doing so i was able to appreciate being in the temple and partaking of the spirit found there.

going through the temple for pat's and my relatives was wonderful. i felt the spirit strongly and i felt that they were rejoicing for the service we were giving them.

the thing is that when we perform service for others we reap the blessings. i feel truly blessed to have been in the temple on behalf of my ancestors, and pat's. i love that we are helping to make our family eternal, more and more all the time. and i love that rach was there with us to feel those same blessings.

today i have much to be grateful for.

fast sunday

once upon a time my cousins, gino and della rose, came to live with my family in paradise, ca. they didn't last long living with us, and i don't remember why, but while they were living there we had fast Sunday. my cousin, gino, thought at the time that it meant that it is a speedy Sunday! (which i had never even considered what a person that isn't a member would think of it.)

but that is not what fast Sunday is about. fast Sunday takes place usually on the first Sunday of each  month (in April and October we have General Conference so it happens the following week). during which we go without two meals (as long as we have no medical reason not to) and donate the funds we would have used to assist others that have fallen on difficult times. these funds are sacred and the bishop treats them as such. the funds are then used to help people with real needs, not wants.

the wonderful thing about fast sunday is that the blessings that come to us as we fast for help with our lives, or the lives of others, or just in offering our thanks to our Father for all that He has done for us. the blessings also come as we share our 'wealth' with others (we are encouraged to give more than just the cost of two meals if we are able to). the beauty of it is that when we give of ourselves spiritually and temporally we receive so much more in return. those blessings can be of a temporal or spiritual nature as well. it is a win.

i am grateful for the opportunity to fast on behalf of helping others, or us, as the case may be. each month is different, what we fast for is our personal choice, which we aren't expected to share with anyone else.

i love this quote from President Marion G. Romney:

“I am in harmony… about our need to contribute liberally to the fast-offerings fund... I am a firm believer that you cannot give to the Church and to the building up of the kingdom of God and be any poorer financially. I remember a long time ago, when Brother [Melvin J.] Ballard laid his hands on my head and set me apart to go on a mission. He said in that prayer of blessing that a person could not give a crust to the Lord without receiving a loaf in return. That’s been my experience. If the members of the Church would double their fast-offering contributions, the spirituality in the Church would double. We need to keep that in mind and be liberal in our contributions.” 

i love that - give a crust to the Lord and receive a loaf in return. with that in mind, who wouldn't want to fast?

wonderful helpers

today we attended the funeral of one of the sisters we home teach. (yes, i am pat's ht partner) she was 95 years old and had lived here for a very long time. we knew some of her family when we lived in ripon ward (we were happy to see them today).

while some of the family are active members a good amount are not. her son, wayne, gave the eulogy and did a really nice job. then pat gave the talk on the plan of happiness/salvation. he did a really great job too. it was a nice service.

a few days back our compassionate service leader called asking me to be in charge of the luncheon. really what she meant was would i be in charge of making sure the food was put out, that everything flowed well, and that the clean up was done.

i went with the intention of being in charge, but patti, the 2nd counselor in our ward's rs presidency ended up being there and she had everything all figured out. so, i assisted her, and many other wonderful sisters (and a few brethren).

at one point in time bishop said, "i made one phone call, and look what came of it!" there was food for an army... practically! and it was a good thing there was because we had planned on 100 people being there, but there was a bit more than that. :)

i am grateful for all the wonderful helpers - those who brought food, those who set up, served and cleaned up. we have our own little Zion's army when it comes to taking care of people in need! i love it and am so grateful for them!

when one door closes...

we live in difficult times - in so many ways. unfortunately one of them is economically...which has affected our family at various times. once again we are being affected by the economic downturn in our society. rach came home yesterday having been let go due to the office that she works at having not enough work. she was on the bottom of the totem pole, as it were.

she works until next friday...thank goodness. a little money helps, a lot.

fortunately she is still selling pampered chef and has 3 parties scheduled for this month. also, i received a phone call last week from a friend from ripon ward that needs help with housework one morning a week. (like i said, every little bit helps) another friend referred her to a friend of hers who is looking for some office work to be done, pamphlets to be delivered, that sort of thing.

while it feels like this could be a difficulty i have a feeling that it won't be. i think rach needed a new door to go through, one that would bring her greater happiness and satisfaction. i believe that this door closing is a blessing, so i am grateful for that. time will tell just how grateful i will be for this change in her (and ours) life.

p.s. if you want to have a pampered chef party, locally or away (catalog style), let rach know. she will be happy to assist you! (no, i am not proud!)

dependability

story - last week rachel's toyota, Dallas, was suddenly not working so well in the ac department. not a fun thing at this time of year in the central valley. (luckily we are having a cooler than normal summer...which does not mean it's cool, just not scorching hot!)

with her car being sick we decided it should get well. we didn't really expect it to be anything other than it needed freon. wrong. instead it needed a new ac compressor, which includes taking off the belt (which i cannot think of the name right now but it does start with an 's'...big help, i know.) it happened to have a crack or two in it so we opted to replace said belt as well.

after having the car in their shop (precision auto) for a day it was finally fixed. we went and picked it up yesterday morning, then rach headed to work.

about half an hour later i received a call from rach. her car was making noises ---which it NEVER does. odd. we just had it fixed, why would it be making noises now when it wasn't before (that was our thought). i immediately called precision, who were apparently at lunch until 2 pm because all their phones were busy. finally at 2 i was able to get through. i explained the circumstances. ted, the service manager, asked me if we needed to have it towed. my response was, 'i don't know, you guys are the experts, what do you think?'

then i gave him rachel's number since i had no idea exactly what her car was doing and how bad it was. they decided to have it towed in, and it arrived after closing time. which meant that we had no idea what exactly was going on until today.

around 11 am we received a call. ted praised rach for having the car towed in. apparently they hadn't put the belt on tight enough (i still can't remember the name and i know it!) and it was just about to come off. who knows what would have happened had she driven it more? (i haven't a clue) but i would venture to say that it would not have been a pleasant outcome.

so i am grateful for precision auto's dependability - that when there was a problem with the car they stepped up and took care of it, and paid for the towing so that my daughter was not in an accident and that her car is well again.

p.s. it was the serpentine belt! my, i am getting old!