Family Portrait

The day after Christmas we all gathered together for a family portrait.  The last one taken was two years ago when Milo was just a couple of weeks old.  We took two - one inside our house and one on the front porch. Nicole's brother, James, was our photographer. I think he did a great job.

Only 5 grandchildren so far...hoping for more in the future.

I love my family. It has been great to be surrounded by my family as 2014 came to an end. I like this quote by Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf about love in families:

 "Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations." 

Families are a gift to us from the Lord and love of family truly is a bond that unifies. My hope is that my family's relationships can remain close in spite of any trials that may come our way. This quote by Pres. Henry B. Eyring kind of sums it up:

"The greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love. The ideal God holds for us is to form families in the way most likely to lead to happiness and away from sorrow.”

Now that 2014 has come to an end, I would just like to add that for the most part, this year has been a great year. I have grown in many ways and have struggled in others, but all in all, I can say that I have a good life. Life is full of struggles for everyone, including me.  Health issues seem to be my biggest trial right now...mostly with regard to my back and hips. All trials are meant to help us grow, which is good, but sometimes I feel like I need a break from all that growth.  It is good to remember, however, that life really isn't meant to be easy. If struggling means growth, I should be happy for any trial that comes my way. I want to have a better outlook on trials and how helpful they can be.

As 2015 approaches, my wish is for good health, a better outlook on life, more peace, greater prosperity, and much happiness.

Home for the Holidays

One of the best things about the Holidays is being surrounded by family. As far as our children go, we only had Jared and Cheryl here for Thanksgiving. Cheryl invited her friend Parker as well, so there were five of us. In spite of our low numbers, we had an enjoyable time.

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Unlike Thanksgiving, we had a full house for Christmas. Kyle, Emily, Milo, and Clara were the first to arrive followed by Ryan that same night. Two days later Eric, Nicole, Ethan, Ella, and Livi arrived, then Cheryl and Parker later that day. Jared wasn't able to arrive until Dec. 21st, but Parker had left by then to go to Utah to spend the holidays with his family.  We now had a very full house. There were 14 of us. I think that is the most we have ever had sleep here at the same time - except for a YW sleepover. Ethan, Ella, and Livi had to sleep on air mattresses on the den floor, but everyone else got a bed.

Eric's family always has Christmas Eve at the Beelseys so we had our own Christmas Eve on the 23rd instead of the 24th.  As part of our evening, we had a live nativity.  Since Clara is still an infant it was nice to be able to have a baby to play the roll of Baby Jesus while reading from Luke 2.  Ella was Mary, Kyle was Joseph, Ethan was a donkey, and Milo was a lamb. I love this picture of Milo adoring baby Jesus (or Shesus as we called him because Clara is a girl).

Livi was the angel and Eric, Ryan, and Jared were the three wise men.

After the live nativity, we read "The Christmas Orange" together and learned the importance of sharing and giving to others as Christ did. Then Kyle introduced us to the "Tim Tam Slam."  I had never heard of this before, but in Australia they have rectangular shaped chocolate covered wafer cookies called Tim Tams that are good by themselves, but when you take a small bite out of each end and put them in hot chocolate and suck like a straw, the cookie kind of dissolves and creates chocolatey yumminess.

Kyle demonstrates how it is done.

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Here is a picture of all the grandchildren in their pajamas on Christmas Eve. Milo wasn't being very cooperative.  Eric's kids get new pj's every Christmas Eve at the Beesley's house. This year the girls got face masks as well and they loved them.  They slept with them all night long too.

We had a little Christmas miracle...well, at least Kyle and Emily did. Clara hadn't been sleeping well, waking up several times during the night to be fed. Before she went to bed on Christmas Eve, I spoke with her and told her that if she wanted to give her parents a Christmas gift she should sleep through the night. Well, this little three month old took my advice and slept until about 7 a.m.  That was the only night she did that during their two week stay here. Good choice of nights, little Clara. Great gift to your sleep deprived parents.

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While Eric's family was at the Beesley's on Christmas morning opening their gifts, I watched Kyle and Emily have their little Christmas with Milo. He got a little toy trumpet that he loves to play.

Milo loves Handy Manny so when he opened this gift, he got all excited and quickly wanted to put it on.

Later, we got a surprise visit from "Buddy the Elf." Nobody saw it coming. He was a huge hit. He even handed out our Christmas gifts. So much fun.

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Alan and I gave each other a new washer and dryer for Christmas this year. Our old ones were 15 years old, so it was long over due.  I really love them.  It almost makes doing laundry fun.

Among other things, Alan also gave me this amazing new printer that is also a copier and a fax machine. It is top of the line amazing!  Alan really went overboard for Christmas this year...more than in years past. I love that man!

Our Family's Christmas Miracle Circa 1968

For our Tri-Stake Creche Festival held earlier this month, I was asked to write an "Ensign Quality" article about having Christ-Centered Christmas Traditions. I don't have many traditions of my own, so I opted to share a story from my childhood where I felt the true spirit of Christmas. I don't know about it being "Ensign Quality," but this is what I wrote:

Our Christmas Miracle

By Joan Stott

Christmas is unlike any other holiday and is celebrated differently by families throughout the world. Family traditions can help make this celebration even richer and more meaningful. People of all ages love Christmas but unfortunately, the focus is often more on receiving gifts than celebrating the greatest gift the world has ever been given – the birth of Jesus Christ. One year, as a teenager, I learned by experience what the true spirit of Christmas is and what I had been missing.

During the fall of 1968, our bishop called my parents into his office to ask if they would be willing to pledge some money to aid in the building of the Provo Utah Temple. Bishops no longer do that today, but it was a common practice back then for the members of the Church who lived in a given temple district to be asked to donate funds to what would become “their” temple. My dad pledged $1,000 for the building of the temple. That might not seem like a lot of money to many, but for our family that seemed an impossible amount. We were poor. My father was working two jobs in order to support a son in college, a son on a mission, and five children still at home.

When my father sat us down for family council and told us that he had pledged $1,000 for the building of the temple, I remember thinking “you might as well have pledge $1 million since both amounts are unreachable.” I couldn't believe he had pledged that much, and we had less than 4 months to gather the funds. He asked what we would do to help reach that goal as a family. After some brain storming, we decided on three ways to help: 1) we would all forfeit our Christmas that year and donate any money we would have spent on Christmas gifts; 2) my three sisters and I would donate any babysitting money we earned; and 3) as a family we would go to a local apple farm and pick apples every day after school for a few weeks and donate all earnings.

Finding an old shoe box, we kids cut a slit in the top for the monetary deposits, gift wrapped it, added a picture of a temple and a picture of Christ, then placed it on a small table in our living room. The excitement was starting to build. By forfeiting our Christmas gifts and donating all our earnings to the temple, our focus switched from the gifts we wanted to receive for Christmas to the gift we would be giving Christ for Christmas. I so appreciated the gift he had given all mankind, even that of His own life, that I wanted to give something back to Him.

Picking apples turned out to be the hardest, but most rewarding way of earning money. Hard, because apples get very heavy and it was physically draining; rewarding, because as we worked together, we were strengthened as a family. Talking, singing, and joke telling not only helped to make the time pass more quickly, but helped knit us together in unity and love.

As time passed, I would secretly peek into the donation box to see where we stood. I always walked away disappointed. In spite of all our efforts, we were well short of reaching our goal.

Christmas was approaching and so was the deadline. I felt very good about our decision to forfeit our Christmas gifts and I felt a closeness to Christ that I had never felt before. I knew that the sacrifices we made were small but I had faith that Christ would be pleased with our gift.

One day my dad announced that we had reached our goal and the money had been donated. Somehow, dad must have accrued the remaining amount because I know there wasn't $1,000 in the box. Where he got the money I will never know. The fulfillment of dad’s pledge was one of the miracles that Christmas, but the real miracle for me was that through giving instead of receiving, my closeness to Christ grew. That was better than any Christmas gift I could have received. Ironically, seven years later the gift was returned to me as I knelt across the altar in that very temple to be sealed for time and all eternity to the love of my life. 

A One Sentence Description

How would you describe the gospel of Jesus Christ in one sentence? This question was asked during a recent Relief Society lesson in my Ward and I have been thinking about it and been intrigued by it ever since. I have come to the conclusion that there are numerous possible responses to this. I am sure everyone would have a different answer if asked this question. 

A Facebook friend in my ward who was teaching the R.S. class posted the question on her wall and here are some of the responses she got to the question:

"The gospel of Jesus Christ to me is a feeling, it brings my life so much happiness and makes me want to be a better mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend and person." - M. Francis

"The gospel of Christ to me means having His divine love, compassion and eternal happiness." - R. Jovel

"In my world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is love - love for God and his Son, love of family, love of myself, love of others, and the amazing love the Savior has for me!" - A. Nadauld

I really like these answers, but mine is a bit different from theirs. I will share my own answer, but first of all I want to clarify it by saying that one of the many ways our Church differs from other Churches is that we have the Plan of Salvation. We know who we are, why we are here, and where we will go after our life on this earth ends. This knowledge gives me much satisfaction and peace of mind. My answer to the posed question is reflected in my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the hope it gives me for the future. This is how I would answer the question: The gospel of Jesus Christ to me is a blueprint, road map, or playbook for me to follow in order to live life to the fullest, to be the best person I can be, and to accomplish everything I need to do in order to return to live with my Heavenly Father again where I can enjoy never-ending happiness wrapped in the arms of His love.

I know that is a long sentence, but there is no way to describe the gospel of Jesus Christ in one short sentence. I want to challenge everyone reading this blog to ponder that question and come up with your own answer. Leave a comment and let me know how you would describe it. I would love to hear from as many people as I can. I am interested in what you have to say on the subject.

There's Nothing Like Holding A Newborn

I was able to make a trip to Horn Lake, Mississippi recently to meet my new granddaughter, Clara, and spend time with her older brother Milo (and their parents, of course).  Not everyone is drawn to infants, but I sure am. Once Clara was in my arms, it was hard to force myself to put her down. I had her pretty much to myself until Cheryl arrived a couple of days later. 

Milo is such a good big brother to Clara. He is very gentle with her (so far).

We happened to be there on Halloween. Milo was the cutest Ewok and Clara the cutest Yoda I have ever seen. Milo's warm costume was perfect for combating the frigid trick-or-treating temperatures.

Emily & Kyle completed the family's Star Wars theme by dressing as Princess Leia and Han Solo. So cute!

My first day there, we were able to meet Kyle for a lunch at a park close to his school. I didn't take many photos of the event, but here is one of Milo on the swing. You can't tell from this photo, but Milo really was enjoying it. He didn't want to get off. I call him "Mr. Sober Face." He might not be smiling, but he sure is cute none the less.

Clara loves her pacifier.

Sweet dreams for now, little one. You will be busy exploring the world before you know it.

Missing Roz

For a few years now, Alan and I have been Home/Visiting Teaching a sister in our ward by the name of Rozalia Bandish. She is currently 92 years young. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to her this past weekend because her son, Bill, came out here from Vermont to pick her up and take her back to live with him. Bill sold her house, sold most of her belongings (including her car), and they left this morning for the long drive to Vermont. I have to admit that I will miss her dearly. She has become like a family member to us. 

She has lived quite an interesting life. She was born in Hungary, but because of the war they had to leave and live in Romania. She was an orphan by the time she was 12 years old and was sent to live with an uncle who was single. He couldn't take care of her, so she was shipped to the United States to live with a couple of aunts. She traveled all those weeks on the ship alone, but made many friends because she could speak 3 languages (Hungarian, Romanian, and German). She would go around the ship translating for people.  When she arrived in the U.S., she was sent to Ellis Island and was there for three days all alone because her family didn't know she had arrived. Years later, she married and had four children and then became a widow and raised the children on her own. Life was always a struggle for her.

A few years ago, Alan and I were privileged to take her to the temple so she could receive her own endowment. That was a day that I will always remember. It was such a privilege to escort her.

Roz broke her hip a couple of years ago and now she needs a wheel chair. This photo was taken after a church activity.

I was over at her house the other day helping her to clean out her room prior to her move and she handed me this can and asked if I wanted it. I asked what it was and she told me it was for massages. My back always hurts, so I thought I could have Alan massage some into my back as therapy so I took it home. Later that day, Alan saw it on the counter and asked "what's Bag Balm". I told him what I knew about it but then he started reading the can and started laughing.  I had to see what was so funny, so I went over and read the can.  Bag Balm is not for massages, it is for a cow's udder.  Although Roz didn't really know that it wasn't for massages, I felt like the joke was on me! At least I have something to remember her by.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

A week or so ago Cheryl came up for the weekend to see Nicole, Ethan, Ella, and Olivia. While we were sitting down at dinner, Alan looks up at me and asks "did I tell you that I have a pet spider?" I thought he was joking but I played along and said "no, tell me about your spider." He proceeded to tell me about a tiny daddy long legs spider that he would watch while he was doing his duty in the bathroom. He even told about a time when he found a little bug and fed it to the spider and he watched as it wrapped the bug up in a web and then devoured it. I immediately felt a panic because I remembered cleaning the bathroom floor that morning and I had found a spider in the corner. Spiders are not welcome in my home so, unfortunately, I helped it reach the measure of its creation.  Had Alan let me know sooner that he had a pet spider, the poor thing could have lived longer, but I had no way of knowing that the tiny spider was a house pet.  Oops!!!

Drive-In Theater Anyone?

My three oldest grandchildren are in town. Since they were to spend yesterday afternoon with me, I thought it would be fun to have a little activity with them. I came up with the idea of turning cardboard boxes into cars that they could sit in and pretend to be at a drive-in theater. I had to explain to them what a drive-in theater was because they are extinct now, but they were plentiful when I was a kid.

They each picked a box from the attic, then we took them out back and began the work of turning them into cars. I asked Ethan to take a few pictures. He took 80 of them so I have plenty to choose from.

First, I cut off all the flaps and cut a door in the side of each box.

They got to decorate their cars and then we added paper plates for wheels and a steering wheel and decorated some more.

Then it was time to head back indoors for a Netflix children's Halloween movie, candy, and popcorn.

All in all, it was a very fun afternoon. I love my grandchildren and love spending time with them!

October Swim, or Are They Crazy?

Once upon a time, there were four individuals who had an insatiable desire to go swimming. Two problems stood in their way. First, since it was the middle of October, even for California the pool water was too cold for swimming. Second, none of them had swim suits.  The oldest, and brightest of the bunch, Aunt Cheryl, figured out a solution to their dilemma even though resources were slim. She dug through her "laundry" that she had brought home (and had already washed) and found some "work-out" clothes for all the girls to wear. Fortunately, Ethan could swim in his cargo shorts. This is their nontraditional swim attire.

 Although the water was cold (70 degrees), on the count of three they took the plunge. (The first plunge was on video - not included here. This picture is the second plunge.)

The "blonde team" needed a picture of their own.

After swimming for about a half hour, the girls decided to bask in the sun to warm up a bit. True to an 11-year-old's devious mentality, Ethan played havoc by filling the "noodle" with water then blowing into one end to spray it on the bathing beauties.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Lovin' My New Washburn Guitar!

A few years ago, I got a new guitar for my birthday but soon found out that I should have spent a little bit more money to get a better quality guitar. Live and learn, right?  I decided to get an acoustic-electric guitar this time around. So last month, with Kyle's help, I found one on E-bay that looked to be exactly what I was looking for. It is a Washburn D46SCE in new condition (upgraded). On September 21st (Kyle's Birthday) as I arrived home from running an errand, I saw a large package on the porch and knew it was my guitar. My excitement escalated as I opened the box and got to hold my guitar for the first time. It was love at first sight. It looked impeccable - there was no visible sign of use at all.  Kyle said this guitar sold for about $1,000 new.  I got mine for $259, case included. One very happy realization as I played it for the first time is that it doesn't hurt my fingers to play like my Ibanez did. I am VERY happy with it and play it nearly every day. I didn't even need to purchase an amp because Kyle left his old one here when he moved out.  It is small, but I will use it until he reclaims it.

Grandchild #5

I am pleased to announce that two days ago (September 24, 2014) our newest little granddaughter was born in Memphis, Tennessee.  She is the daughter of our son Kyle & his wife Emily.  Little Clara Paige was born at 12:20 Central Time, weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz., and was 20" long.

Not so pleased with this earthly experience yet.

Snuggle time

Hi Mom!

Where am I?

Milo meets Clara for the first time.   Emily took a video of Kyle holding Clara and Milo took Clara's hand and repeatedly said "hi" to her.  It is the cutest thing I have seen in a long time. I wish I could post it here, but I don't have it. Milo will be a great big brother.

Father/daughter bonding time in the hospital. (I believe this was about midnight that first night. Evidently she was up most of the night.)

Obviously, I wasn't there for Clara's birth, but I got to "Face Time" with Kyle, Emily, and Clara the next day.  Emily was telling me a little bit about her surgery and stated that the Dr. started the c-section before she was completely numb so, unfortunately, she could feel the Dr. cutting her.  She told the anesthesiologist that she could feel it, but the anesthesiologist didn't tell the Dr. to stop cutting.  Fortunately, after a little while, Emily was completely numb and didn't feel the pain any longer.  That is kind of a nightmare situation.

Emily is a quick healer.  She was walking around 1 day after the surgery and was released from the hospital today, just two days after surgery.  Pretty amazing, in my estimation.

Getting ready to leave the hospital.

Going home from the hospital. Cutest little outfit!

To celebrate Clara's birth, I made hot pink heart sugar cookies to share with our Pathway students last night. They were a hit.

  Thanks for sharing these photos with all of us, Kyle & Emily. You and your children are a blessing in our lives.  I am grateful that I will get to hold my granddaughter in my arms upon my visit in about 3 weeks.  

Biking at Hermosa Beach

One of our favorite summertime activities is to take our beach bikes to one of the many fun Southern California beaches and go for a ride.  In spite of my back and hip problems, for some reason riding bikes is not detrimental to my health.  On September 13th, we finally had a free Saturday and decided to spend it at Hermosa Beach.  We invited Cheryl to join us and she accepted the invitation.  I wish I would have taken pictures of us on our bikes, but my mental lapse took over.  I did, however, get a shot of the beach.  It was a beautiful, sunny, summer day. The weather was pretty perfect. We sometimes freeze at the beach, but that was not the case on that day. It was about 80 degrees and we enjoyed basking in the sun.  The sun screen didn't work well for Alan so his arms got pretty burned, but other than that, the trip was perfect. (I can't believe I didn't take any photos with Cheryl either!)

Hermosa Beach

I know, not a pretty site with me in my swim suit, but I liked this view of the beach and the pier. I got wet up to my knees and the water felt pretty warm.  

The urge for a treat led us to the Paciugo Gelato Caffe where we could get some delicious gelato to round out our day.  

All in all, it was a terrific day where we could relax, spend time together with family, and enjoy the world that God created for us.

Busy August, Part III

After finishing all of our fun Utah activities, and after saying goodbye to Alan, who had to go back to California, I was able to take a little side-trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Cheryl and Jared were also able to make a flight up there too. The reason for this trip was to see Kyle, Emily, and Milo who were there for Emily's best friend's wedding.  The Crandall's were gracious enough to allow Cheryl and I to stay in their home and Jared stayed with Mark & Xan Pulsipher.  It had been almost a year since Cheryl had seen Milo, so she had a great time getting reacquainted with him.

I hadn't seen him for three months, so I got to get reacquainted also.

We were able to do several fun things while there - most of which had to do with water.  We got up pretty early on a Monday morning to go out on the Crandall's boat for some water skiing on Lake Hayden.  Of course Emily (almost 8 months along) and I didn't water ski, but Kyle and Cheryl did.  They both did very well. Emily's brother, Ryan, showed us his skills and it was quite a show. He is amazing. He looked like a professional water skier with all the tricks he can do.

Later that morning, we took Milo to a new splash pad area in downtown Coeur d'Alene. He had a great time playing with the water. He didn't want to get too wet, however, because the water was quite cold.

After having lunch at the historic "Hudson's Burgers", we went out to the Pulsipher's who live on Lake Coeur d'Alene and they took us out on their pontoon boat.  That boat is perfect for transporting a large number of people. I figure we had about 16 people on board, half of which were children that Xan brought with her (her four kids plus 3 neighbor kids).

Doug & Sally have only been back from their mission for a few months. It was fun to see them again. 

Doug drove the boat to this popular spot so anyone who wanted to could do some cliff jumping.

Milo found Doug's Crocs and hat and had a great time trying to walk around wearing them. He was a crack-up, especially with his life preserver on too!

I had to fly back to California the next day. It was sure fun to spend some time with Kyle, Emily, Milo, Jared, and Cheryl. We need more time with family like this.