Here it is the end of June. Where has it gone?

I have been quite lax on writing on my blog. I was sitting here this morning looking at all the blogs I used to read and most of these people are like me and haven't written in quite awhile. I know. Life get quite busy! I need to do better and take the time to write because it is the only way I will ever get any kind of a journal written of my everyday or weekly life. I can't believe this month is almost over. It is almost going, going, gone. I have had a busy month. We had girls rough camp on June 10th through the 13th. It was wonderful and we had great experiences. We normally go to our stake property up by Soldier Summit but this year it was closed for work they are doing on it and so we chose to go to the Willows Campground in Lehi. It was a nice place. I have never been there. In fact I didn't even know it was there. Silly, because we have lived here since 1986 and there are still places here that I am not aware of. Now this week we are busily preparing for our Stake Youth Conference. We are doing a handcart trek up at Martin's Cove. I am so excited about this. We went for training the end of April and it was amazing. You can feel the spirit there the minute you set foot on the grounds. I think the youth, if they have prepared well will have a wonderful and spiritual experience. I have finally got all of my pioneer clothing together and have most of what we will need to pack in our 5 gallon buckets. Lyndon and I will be sleeping in our little two man tent and we will be driving Todd's truck up there to help haul equipment ect. It shall be quite the adventure! Lyndon and I have been walking to the past three months to get in walking shape. The first couple of days of trek will only be 3 miles or so. Wednesday will be the killer. Not really, just long. We will be doing Rocky Ridge and we will be walking 14.5 miles that day, up and over Rocky Ridge. I am excited! I am so thankful for my pioneer ancestors! They were amazing people and I have great admiration for them and how stalwart they were in living the gospel and following the Prophet. It strengthens my testimony and makes me desire to live my life as valiantly as they did. I have also been doing some quilting and have been loving it. It is quite addicting. I did some pillowcases and a new watermelon table topper which I will be binding today. I will have to share some pictures when they are done. I am excited because this afternoon Ashley and the kids are coming for a visit. Ashley is getting with some of her friends from the ward for a picnic and then she is coming here for a visit and staying for dinner. I love when they come to visit. Then tonight we are gathering equipment for Trek. Coolers, tents, canopies, shovels, tarps act. You get the idea. It will be a busy evening. We will be storing it all in the gym until we leave on monday morning. We will be leaving at 4:00 a.m. We have to be at the Stk. center at 2:00 a.m. in preparation for all the youth coming at 3:00 a.m. Whew! We are going to be tired monday evening. I am also going to take a small journal so that I can write down the days events and then share some of those events on my blog. I better be off and running though. I have a lot to get done today, but it shall be a good day and I am so thankful for all my blessings and the tender mercies of the Lord in behalf of my family and myself each day. I am truly blessed!

I am back!

It has been awhile since I have written. I almost forgot that I have a blog. I need to do better with it and get excited about it again. I can't believe that November is here already. I love this month and the month to come after it. I have so much to be thankful and grateful for. The first is my wonderful and special family. Lyndon is the greatest guy, husband and father. I am so thankful for all that he does for me and his children and grandchildren. I couldn't ask for a better sweetheart. I am also thankful for five wonderful children. They have been a blessing in my life and I love the memories that we have made with each of them, and they are many. I love looking at scrapbooks and remembering all of our fun experiences we've had together. I am thankful for my children's wonderful spouses. They are such great people and I love them. I love my seven sweet and cute grand-children. They are the best and it is so much fun seeing them grow and learn new things. I love it when they are excited to see me and their grandpa. It means alot! Two months ago Lyndon and I decided we wanted to lose some weight and we were going to do it together. It is so much easier when you are eating and exercising healthfully together. Well, I went back to Weight Watchers and Lyndon has been doing it with me. I have lost 18.2 pounds so far and I am 1.2 pounds away from my goal, although I want to be 10 pounds below that. Lyndon has lost 22 pounds. I am so proud of him. He gave up his 64 ounce diet coke that he would drink everyday and has cut back of sweets and is exercising everyday with me. He looks younger and he feels so much better. His goal is to be down 10 more pounds. I have had a darn cold/sinus infection the past almost two weeks and I am sick of it. I think I am at the point where it is going to turn the corner and I am going to start feeling better. I hate being sick. It is the pitts!!! We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and getting to celebrate with family. We are also looking forward to getting together with Lyndon's family on friday and my family on saturday. It will be fun getting to see alot of family we haven't seen in awhile. I have been busy with my calling then the Stake Y.W. presidency and Lyndon has been busy in his calling in the Stake Presidency. Life is good though and we have been truly blessed this past year. I hope the next couple of months are good and that we feel gratitude to our Heavenly Father and our Savior for all that we are richly and abundantly bless with. I love the gospel and my Savior and know that he lives and loves each of us. The challenge is staying faithful, strengthening our testimonies and being converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know we can do it one day at a time. I am also, on this election day hoping and praying that Mitt Romney get elected as President of the United States. We need change and not the change that Obama promised four years ago. It will be interesting to watch the news tonight and see what happens. Well life is good and I am happy! I have been loving this beautiful fall weather, but I know that change is coming and that by friday we will have snow coming down to the valley floor of the Salt Lake Valley. I guess we need it though. Out winter was quite dry last year. We need lots of snow this year. So here is my hello again to everyone and hope to keep up the blog better the next two months and next year.

From Bonnets To Ipods

I wanted to share this little article by Dean Hughs. I loved it so much and think it so true. With the 24th of July upon us I thought I would share it. FROM BONNETS TO IPODS Dean Hughs What did Nauvoo look like in the 1840's? What time of year was it when the Saints were forced out of Nauvoo? And how did the pioneers cross the river? Everyone thinks they know the answers to these questions about the Saints' exodus from Nauvoo. The only problem is that much of what we "know" about Church history is not entirely accurate. History is never quite as simple as the stories we like to tell. Actual events are always more complicated, more nuanced,and more troubling than the accounts passed down from one generation to another. To begin with, Nauvoo wasn't the clean, shining city we often imagine it was. Though Nauvoo was established in a beautiful horseshoe bend of the river, by modern standards it was actually a muddy, rustic place - mostly a log cabin town. For example, one daguerreotype picture of Nauvoo shows the temple in the background and lots of ugly outhouses, fences, and sheds in the foreground. The flight from the little town called nauvoo began when a number of wagons crossed the Mississippi River on February 4, 1846. But only about three thousand of the Saints left during the winter months, not the whole mass of Saints, like we tend to imagine. Around ten thousand waited until spring, and some didn't leave until September. Late in February ice formed on the Mississippi, later than it did most years. When we describe this part of the story, we sometimes forget a few important details. First, some of the exiles did cross on the ice, but only a small percentage of the total number. In addition, the cold that froze the pioneers, so even though it helped hundreds get across, it made for a trying experience and dozens of deaths in the camp at Sugar Creek. The vision of the place the early Saints held in their memories - the one we inherited - is not really wrong. But the real story, in my mind, is not the ice bridge that formed. It's the story of dispossessed people facing trials and hardships and triumphing over them. There were plenty of backsliders, but we have every reason to honor those who made their way across the plains to the Great Basin. We have a noble heritage - whether we're direct descendants or not. We like to turn the exodus in to a miracle play, with faultless Saints marching toward Zion, their chins always held high and their children always singing and singing and singing. But after spending two years in Nauvoo and spending more years reading and writing about tha era, the lesson I have learned is that they were ordinary people, with typical weaknesses and failings , doing what they had to do. I often heard visitors to Nauvoo say, "We just couldn't do what they did." But I prefer the opposite lesson: we have inherited the strength of our forebearrs. We are also ordinary people with all the foolish tendencies and frailities that humans possess, but we're facing huge challenges, and we're doing well. We aren't wandering through a wilderness, but we're slogging our way through some deep spiritual and cultural muck - a kind of hindrance to our progress no one in 1846 ever could have imagined. Maybe the ice on the Mississippi helped for a time, but most of the triumph came from putting one foot in front of the other every day. And we're as STRONG as they were. We face a culture gone crazy, and the trail ahead is not always well defined. But we're moving forward,too, and we're doing our level best to lead our children in the same direction. If our kids sing as they walk, they're probably lip syncing to the music on their iPods, but you know what? They're doing all right. I think the generations are getting stronger, not weaker." I love this and I believe we are doing well. What do you think?

Well, it has been awhile, as all can see that I have not posted anything at all. I have been either busy and or lazy. One or the other. I had Y.W. Rough Camp the last week in June and it was crazy busy. Had a wonderful time at camp. We camp up by Soldier Summit and there were fires all around us but we were being monitored and were safe and able to stay the entire week without any evacuation. We couldn't have any fire in the fire pits but things worked out well and we had a wonderful time and many spiritual experiences. The last day at camp I pulled a muscle under my rib cage and have been in some pain for a couple of weeks, but I think it is finally healing. Not much fun! Because of that I have been babying it and not doing a whole lot. I am picking up the pace a bit more this week. Haven't done a whole lot during the month of July. So not a lot to tell. Life is good though and all of our family is doing well and keeping busy. So for now that is all I have to share and what I am sharing is not much. Bye for now!

The Weather is getting nicer!

Well it is a lovely friday. A bit overcast, but it is supposed to warm up to the 70's today and be really nice next week too! Love it! Lyndon has been in Michigan for the last three days with Spencer and Lance. They are at a Crest Training meeting. You know, when the cats away the mice play. So that is exactly what I have been doing. I have been sewing on my chickens table topper. It is going to be so darn cute. I got all the ckicken's wonder-undered on and am now blanket stitching them on. It is a bit tedious, but I will just have to take my time. Then I have to embroidery the legs on the chickens and then add the last border and then off to my friend, Dixie Sargent to get it quilted. She does really great work and is quite reasonable. I have also been making quite a few new cards. I have spent a little bit of money too at the Thimbles and Threads Quilt Shop open house. They had a lot of fun new things and I couldn't resist buying a kit and some fabric. I will be busy sewing again to day after I get some house cleaning done. This afternoon I am going out to Ashley's for a visit and will be watching Eli this evening so Ashley can take the girls to a movie night at the school. Ruby really wants to go and she should get to. They are going with Erin and her girls. The movie is Charlotte's Web. Well, I am off to the races and need to get going on my day. Have a good one everyone!

Pretty Darn Funny 101 - "Stand Up"

I think this is a great web series. I watched it and loved it. I just thought I would share. Also I love the www.nieniedialogues.com blog. I think you will too! She is Stephanie Nielson who what burned over 80% of her body and survived. She has written a book about it and I want to purchase and read it. I hope who ever is reading this will check it out. She is amazing and she and her family are on the cover of the Parade, Sunday, April 8th. Enjoy! Happy Easter everyone!

This video has alot of meaning for me because this couple is in my ward. They are a great example to all of us and we love them. I was so touched by this video and truly felt the spirit. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true and when we choose to keep the commandments, keep our covenants and serve the Lord we will find true joy, happiness and success in our lives! I just had to share this on my blog. They are an amazing couple!