I am done

Lately I've been struggling with some challenges in my life. As a result I am done blogging...for now at least. I may take it up again sometime, but seriously, I just don't have it in me right now. (not that it really matters, not many read my blog, so...)

I hope you find much to be grateful for in your lives. I know I do, but at this time I just feel inadequate sharing them. Take care!

Treasures in Heaven

On Friday night thieves broke into our chapel/building and broke down every single door that had a lock on it. They stole 3 TV's that were in the library and a box of chocolate that was in the Primary closet.

Our High Council speaker addressed this for a moment at the beginning of his talk today. He mentioned Matthew 6: 20-21 - "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and thieves to not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

How grateful I am for the treasures that are truly ours. How sorry I am that others don't recognize them.

Family Unity

Since Sadie is struggling we are having a family fast for her tomorrow. I'm so grateful for all of our family members being not only on board, but enthusiastic, about fasting for her. What a wonderful family we have!

Helpful Friends

Our granddaughter, Sadie, went to Primary Children's Hospital today for tests, and to meet with the Dr. Linzi, Maci, and Linzi's mom and sister, went to SLC to stay last night, and tonight, at the Marriott near the hospital. Fortunately, a friend of theirs was able to swing a really great deal for them to stay there. I'm so grateful for the kindness of friends, especially when it's so needed.

Reminders

Once upon a time, in the land known as Dell, the King and Queen welcomed several members of their family into their lovely castle. Following the joyous visit with their Princess daughters, Prince son-in-law, their grand-Princes, and a Prince from a far away land they found that items had been left behind. While some may find annoyance at their findings the King and Queen did not. Rather they welcomed the finding of belongings left behind by the Prince and Princess and their grand-Princes.

These belongings tugged at the hearts of the King and Queen as they served as happy reminders of the time with their family, whom they love very much. They even discovered that some of the 'items' left behind weren't tangible. A hand-print of the youngest Prince was found on the large viewing box in their living area; which the Queen has decided to leave for a time, since it is a loving reminder of Prince Jack-Jack and his adorable little self.

How grateful the King and Queen are for the reminders of their family travelling the Kingdom and coming to stay in their castle. 'Twas truly a time when Castle Dell was ruled by fun, joy, and most magically - love.

My Knight

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! He truly is my 'knight in shining armor'! He brings a smile to my face nearly all the time. He loves me when I am unlovable. He praises me for the simplest things. He cares for me even when it isn't needed. He is a wonderful blessing of how we should all live our lives. He is a loving father, grandfather, son and husband. Simply put: he is the best man that I know. Having him in my life has been a blessing from the start. When we met we became friends, and soon became best friends. Here we are, so many years later, and still one another's best friend.

I love that he: 

• Loves his family unquestionably. He may not be the best at showing it, but the love is there and it is deep and abiding. 
• Faithfully calls his mom several times a month, just to let her know that he loves her.
• Okay, this is another family thing - but the man simply LOVES being a grandpa! He loves it I tell ya! He cannot get enough of them.
• Has a wonderful testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and is grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Fulfills his calling to the best of his ability, and always has.
• Is a hard worker, and dedicated to doing his job well.
• Has a great reputation as a Geotechnical Engineer.
• Is super friendly even though he is very shy.
• Gives others credit for their accomplishments.
• Researches everything he is interested in, and then proceeds to tell me about it!
• Enjoys the outdoors, particularly Yosemite, with Yellowstone following close behind.
• Is generous. 
• Welcomes others into our home and family.
• Lastly, because this list could go on and on, and on... I love that he loves me with all of my imperfections, and that he sees who I am better than I do.

I'm sharing these two pictures with you because this, at this time in our lives, defines him:

Yeah, he is loved.

Happy Birthday Pat!

We all love you!

Resilience

Today I'm grateful for our granddaughter Sadie's resilient little spirit. She is going through a great deal with this Nephrotic Syndrome stuff. Yet, she handles it beautifully. This Friday she will be seeing a specialist at Primary Children's in SLC, and will go to the appointment donned in her Pirate costume!

What a way to approach life! If you have to go through something that trying, why not do so on your terms?

Well played, Sadie! Well played!

Perspective

There are times we all experience challenges. What I am grateful for is the perspective that each of these trials give us, especially since we learn and grow from them...giving us the faith and knowledge we need to get through the next one, because whether we like it or not they will surely come. :)

SC Part 2

We live in an awesome Stake. Our leaders are amazing men (and women). They follow the promptings of the Spirit, and beautifully share their testimonies and the guidance we need with us. We had the privilege of having Elder Packer (nephew of Pres. Packer) as our visiting authority - he was incredible. What an example for each of us to follow. I feel very blessed to have been there today; partaking of the spirit, feeling motivated to do better, and visiting with many dear friends.

Stake Conference

We have stake conference this weekend. We just came home from the Saturday evening session - it was wonderful! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to attend and feel the Spirit.

Salad

Pat and I love Wendy's salads! When he is super busy he'll pick up a salad for lunch. Recently he's gotten salad from there - twice! As a result he has brought home the extra pomegranate dressing. I love that stuff! One of my goals is to eat healthy more often. Costco has their great Parisian salad so I brought one home, took a good amount of it, added chopped apples, walnuts, and chicken, combining for a wonderfully tasty salad! I am grateful for the freshness and lightness of salad.

88

Tomorrow we are celebrating my mom's 88th birthday! There isn't a whole lot that she wants or needs so I took her out for a pedicure the other day. She was happy about that! Tomorrow I'll fix her one of her favorite dinners, and give her a birthday cake. It seems the older we get the simpler life becomes. I'm grateful for my mom, for all that she has done for me throughout my life, but especially for loving our family.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Gray to blue

This morning I needed to go to Target to pick up a few things. Mind you, Target is not far from our house...2-3 miles. When I left home at 8:30 it was super dark out, I debated about whether or not to wear my sunglasses! However, as I headed west suddenly the darkness was gone and the sun was shining. I looked back toward our house and sure enough there was a dark foreboding sky!

The sky is still kind of gloomy around our neighborhood, but I sure am grateful for those rays of sunshine that I felt today.

So sweet!

Sadie had a classmate bring her flowers, pez, and chocolates today to cheer her up. They are only in kindergarten...how sweet is that? I love when people go out of their way to be kind, but am especially grateful it was done on behalf of Sadie.

Sunbeams!

Two of our grandchildren became Sunbeams yesterday! I can't believe they are not in Nursery! Chloe and Gav look so adorable and excited for this new change in their lives! Progress can be a wonderful thing! I am grateful for these little Sunbeams in our lives - they certainly make my life brighter!

Hastening the work!

Since today is the first Sunday of the month our RS presidency is in charge of the lesson. Today our president gave a lesson on hastening the work of the Lord. She took much of her lesson from Elder Nielsen's talk in General Conference.

Missionary work has never been something I've been good at. Never. I've always been great with the less-active, but not so much non-members. Why? Because I know so few.

During the lesson it just hit me how these are the latter days. Christ will be coming before we know it (of course I wish it were sooner rather than later). The time has come for us to prepare the way. There are so many of our brothers and sisters that would love to have the blessings of the gospel in their lives; yet, we keep our mouths shut. It's time to open our mouths, to share our testimonies, and to bring others to Christ. This is the time, of that I am sure.

I am grateful that the Spirit can testify to me that it is time. Now, I will just pray that I can open my mouth.

Research

We have now lived in our home for well over ten years, in fact it will be eleven on Rachel's birthday next month. Several years ago we started getting mildew in our dishwasher. It isn't smelly, it's just orange-ish, in a few areas. I have been spraying it with mildew remover, and cleaning it well, and that has helped. However, the pesky stuff just keeps on returning!

Two years ago I contacted our home warranty company and they kind of argued with me about it being something that we were or weren't doing. They had no idea why we would have mildew in our dishwasher! So, they finally sent a guy out - who knew nothing about dishwashers. In fact he was also there to look at our microwave that continues to run after being turned off, periodically. That guy laughed at me. (Grrrr.)

Pat and I have been pondering the idea of replacing our refrigerator, it's somewhere around 15 years old, so we figured it was about time. (plus I detest side-by-side fridges) Then we got to discussing the dishwasher and figured we'd have them come out and service it once again. I have an appointment for Monday afternoon - which I will be cancelling.

Why? (and here is where the title of my post comes in)

I got to thinking about how last time they didn't actually fix the problem when they came out. (they called another service company, the guy said it'd work, but it didn't, not really; and I never had to pay the first guy) So, I had a chat with Whirlpool online. The girl I was chatting with said, a) she was sorry about the odor (there is none, and I tried to explain that), b) that we should use some cleaner on it, and c) the detergents have changed in the past 3 years so that is probably the problem. I thanked her and went on my way.

Hmmm. I got the idea that perhaps it isn't actually something they could fix. Could I ask them to replace the dishwasher? Sure, I could. But I can already tell you that they won't!

Then I contacted a local appliance store and asked their service department about it all - was it unusual to have mildew? should I pay for a service guy to come when it isn't deemed 'fix able'?

They said a dishwasher lasts only 10 - 12 years, that my having them come out would be a waste of my money and that I should probably put it toward a new dishwasher. Which confirmed what I was thinking!

I sure am grateful that I did some research and figured out that it isn't worth my time or money to have a technician come out. Now to shop for a dishwasher!

Dedicated Dr.

Sadie-bug

Our granddaughter, Sadie, has been swollen and puffy lately. At first it was thought that she had an allergic reaction to some unknown source. So, they did blood tests. Fortunately, their family Dr. did more studies and diagnosed her with nephrotic syndrome. (not fortunate for the diagnosis, but the Dr's dedication) Sadie will be going to LDS Primary Children's Hospital in SLC, UT, to see a specialist.

I am so grateful for their doctor! He researched until he found the problem. Sadie is basically a text-book case - all the symptoms fit her exactly.

Now we await an appointment, and a visit. We are certainly praying for our Sadie-bug!

Word

One of the few blogs I follow is "My Frugal Adventures". What I like mostly about it are the good deals I've gotten because of it. However, yesterday she posted about self improvement. She shared how their family chooses a word each year as their 'theme'. Last year their word was gratitude, this year it's joy. I love this idea! She then shared several words that one could choose. I've chosen two for myself this year: peace & strength. I'm grateful for ideas that others share that are so simple, yet helpful. What word would you choose?

Happy New Year!

Today is the first day of... 2014! Yay! Isn't it so exciting to begin anew? I love that we can have start overs every year. Obviously we don't need a new year to start things over, or make improvements, but it is a nice marker.

Now that we have finished the Christmas cleanup (pretty much) we are beginning to focus on what we want to do this year; where to go, who to see, what to do, and as I stated earlier - what improvements to make.

I am grateful that we can have an annual restart. More than that, I am grateful for our true restart - forgiveness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There is no better start over than that.