Our Stay-Cation

Alan couldn't work last week because they are redoing all the flooring in his office so we decided to have a mini-vacation where we would stay close to home, but still have a chance to get away.  Our first stop was to go to the beach in Santa Monica, ride our bikes, eat lunch on the pier, and relax on the beach. Cheryl joined us and we had a great time.

These next two pictures are of a cute little play park that we saw as we were riding our bikes from the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach. It made me wish I had my grandchildren with me. Milo, especially, would have loved that play area.

This was taken on the pier

The worst thing about going to the beach is that I always end up with wavy/curly hair because of the humidity in the air. It looks so nasty. Not fun for me!

After my temple shift on Wednesday, Alan and I drove to Solvang. We love that little town. It is like you are visiting a foreign country.

This is the hotel we stayed at. It is called The Wine Valley Inn. It reminds me of a bed and breakfast more than a hotel. It is very quaint. We stayed there before when I had my sibling family reunion two years ago.

Our room was pretty unique. The bed wasn't the most comfortable, but it was ok.

There is a wood burning stove here next to the chairs in the sitting area.

I didn't get to use this unique shower, but Alan did. I forgot all my hair products so I waited until we got home to take my shower.

We ate dinner at a Dutch Cafe. This gave us chance to eat foods that we wouldn't normally eat. Alan had Duck A L'Orange over mashed potatoes. 

I had Linguini Pasta with Lamb Meat Ragout.

The main purpose for our trip was to be able to see "My Fair Lady" at the Solvang Festival Theater. We love their performances. We saw "Fiddler on the Roof" two years ago. The actors are great and the music was great.

It got down to 55 degrees that night, but we had jackets and extra blankets to help keep us warm.

 Thursday morning before we headed home, we took a walk around the town. As you can see from these pictures, this really is a unique little town. 

 This is a replica of the famous "Little Mermaid Statue" in Copenhagen Denmark

This is some kind of monument (I think). I called it the Danish Stonehenge, but it also kind of looks like a big turtle.

Statue of Hans Christian Andersen

Remembering My Father

Today is Father's Day. During Sacrament Meeting, Bishop Richardson told us to think about our own father's today and to call them (if we can) and let them know how much we love and appreciate them. My father passed away 8 years and two day ago, so I can't call him, but I can ponder on the type of father that he was to me and my siblings. He is someone I really admire and I miss him (and my Mom) every day. 

A couple of weeks before my Dad's passing in 2007, I had an overwhelming impression that I needed to write a poem about him and have it read to him before he left us. He was living at my sister Janice's house so she could take care of him. I have no idea why I felt impressed to write a poem. I am not a poet! I don't even enjoy reading poetry, let alone writing it. I don't know the proper rules and methods of poem writing either, but this was something I felt compelled to do. Sitting down with pencil and paper, I quickly churned out the following poem. Jane surprised me by printing it on the back of the program at Dad's funeral:

********************

My Father's Hands

By Joan Burton Stott

I think of my father's hands

Strong, sturdy, comforting, worn

Hands of a hardworking man

Providing for a family of nine

Hands used for multiple tasks

Warm hands and a warm heart

Strong hands, always working

Must feed the children

Hands planting and harvesting gardens

Food grown to sustain a growing family

Hands feeding cattle, fishing, and hunting deer

Strong hands and a warm heart

Sturdy hands, always capable

Must spend time with the children

Hands for tickling and hugging

For lifting and tossing children up high

For playing catch and pushing swings

Sturdy hands and a warm heart

Comforting hands, always gentle

Must be a patriarch to the children

Hands for cradling and nurturing

For blessing and baptizing

Hands for correction and discipline

Comforting hands and a warm heart

Worn hands, getting older

Now aged, wrinkled, and shaking

Hands worn by time and hard labor

No more pushing mowers or pulling taffy

Done milking cows, cleaning barns, and pulling weeds

Worn retired hands, but still a warm heart

********************

This poem pretty much sums up my father. He was a very hard worker and taught all of his children the value of work. At one point, he worked two to three jobs in order to meet the needs of a growing family. He was amazing. He worked hard, but played hard as well. He was very much a hands-on dad. He would spend time with each of us...especially if it had anything to do with sports. We were all actively involved with sports and he was always there to support us. 

Dad was a loving, caring, and faithful man who took his role as husband and father seriously. He was the patriarch of our home in every sense of the word. He presided over family home evenings, gave father's blessings, and with oil specifically consecrated to bless the sick, he used his priesthood power to anoint us and to heal us. 

I remember one such blessing of healing well. My little brother, Phil, about 6 years old at the time, had swallowed a foxtail weed and it got stuck in his throat. It wouldn't go down and it couldn't be removed through his mouth. Exercising his faith, my dad gave Phil a priesthood blessing. While he was giving the blessing, he decided kind of as an afterthought that he should also ask that the plantar warts on Phil's feet go away. No harm in asking, right? When Phil woke up the next morning, the weed was gone. I remember thinking how amazing that was and that God really does answer prayers and can perform miracles. An even bigger miracle, I felt, was that all of Phil's warts had disappeared within a week of the blessing. Warts are very difficult to get rid of. They don't just go away on their own accord. I knew a miracle had occurred within our family. Possibly, this great miracle was given to our family to solidify our testimonies that God lives, that He loves us, that He watches over us, that He cares about us, and that He can, indeed, perform miracles in our lives. I will never forget that experience. It had, and continues to have, a profound affect on me.

Some day I will be able to see both of my parents again. I look forward to that day. They were both great examples to me of faith and dedication to the Lord who spread love in their wake. I love you Mom & Dad. I couldn't have asked for better parents!

"No Regrets" - An Inspiration to Me

I love listening to quiet, inspirational music. Alan has commented at times that I listen to too much music, but it calms me and inspires me and I like it. Sometimes a song will come along that really touches me and gets me thinking, like today. I have a number of inspirational songs that I listen to, but one really stuck out to me this morning while I was exercising in the pool that I have been pondering. It is called "No Regrets" and is on the "We Believe" album by Jenny Phillips. Although it was specifically written for youth, I believe that people of all ages can be inspired by it. 

As everyone knows, being a youth is hard and peer pressure plus a desire to experience new things generally takes over their thinking, making it difficult to always make good choices. When poor choices are made, one must suffer the consequences of their actions, which generally means living with regrets. "No Regrets" is a song about living in a way that when you look back on your life you will have no regrets for the things you have done. 

These are the lyrics of the song:

The sun is just rising in my life
And these are the years
Where I am deciding
And I am defining
The way I will go
In these moments of my youth
I want to live every day in the light of His truth

Chorus:
I want to look back on this time
And be proud of the person I've been
I want to know that the choices I've made
Won't leave me wishing I could make them again
That during these years my devotion was set
I want to look back on this time
With no regrets

The story that I want to write
Is one of strength
Filling each chapter with faith and with laughter
A beautiful life
I won't forget I'm a child of the Father
I want to live every day of my life with honor

Those lyrics kind of sum up what I have always tried to do with my own life - that is, live a life with no regrets. I was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where good values and principles were taught that would help me to live such a life. I cherish the ten commandments and choose to follow them. I also choose to live a life of virtue and to live the law of chastity. Making great choices isn't always easy, but it can be done and is well worth the effort. 

I honestly can't say that I wouldn't want to turn back the clock and change some of the choices I made throughout my life, but for the most part, I have lived a life with no regrets. When we do have regrets, it is comforting to know that God can forgive us if we repent and change our ways. The atonement is real. Christ suffered so that we don't have to if we repent. That is a huge gift that He has given to all mankind.

Part of the challenge of this life is to live in a way that will bring us joy as well as allow us to live worthy to return to that Heavenly Father who gave us life. Joy can be found without falling into the trap that Satan has set that entices mankind to follow worldly standards. Satan's standards fall well short of God's standards. Listen to your heart and to your conscience. They will be your guide when seeking joy. True joy comes from living the gospel and standards of Jesus Christ. If you follow Jesus Christ, you will have a life with no regrets and that is an admirable goal for anyone.

(Picture is of Cheryl and her roommates)