Drive by picture taking

One of the best parts about working in Orlando is seeing the temple ALL the time.  I haven't made  it inside as much as I would have liked to but that's a different story.  One evening about dusk I was driving by the temple and it looked so beautiful.  I pulled over to the side of the road and took these pictures.  I love to see the temple and how it makes me feel.  I could have a horrible day and when I see it or drive by it the feelings that come from this building heal my soul. 

This one was with the window up- ignore the weird colors in the sky

I'm thankful that I came from a family who loved the temple so very much.  My dad was the stone mason for the Oakland Temple and my mother worked for years as a temple worker in the Oakland temple.  I am thankful that Heavenly Father has put such holy places on this earth at this time of life.  Oh how I love to see the temple and go inside as well!

Recording/Pondering thoughts

I found this on another blog and thought it was wonderful... 

“We may think there is little of interest or importance in what we personally say or do – but it is remarkable how many of our families, as we pass on down the line, are interested in all that we do and all that we say”

~ Spencer W. Kimball

I've been running another blog for over two years, it's called Tuesday Tell All, and I've decided to incorporate it into this one, so I can be more organized.... hopefully. This was the reason for the blog:


In the last few years both of my parents have passed away, with my father being the most recent in, Feb 2009. There have been key events, like getting married and having babies, that have happened since my mum passed away six years ago, and there were so many questions that I had for her especially during my pregnancy, that I never thought to ask. This blog was created to give suggestions for topics that could be included as part of my personal or family history, and hopefully yours. I will post a new topic every week. Feel free to leave comments with your thoughts about the subject on this blog, but more importantly, simply record or share your answers in any way you wish. You can see the original 'Tuesday Tell All' blog that this blog is inspired by, by clicking here.

Below are a list of topic ideas for recording/pondering or sharing your thoughts on:

• Share a moment that you will never forget when someone has shown kindness to you, or that you have done something for someone else that has affected you.
• How is the world now different from what it was like when you were a child?
• What has been your biggest fashion mistake. Post a picture if you dare!
• Do you remember your great-grandparents? What do you know about them?
• What is one of your favorite recipes?
• What are so me of your favorite things to do, or go to, close to home?
• What are the 5 words that matter most to you, and why?

Tis better to give....

Christmas day  was a wonderful day and almost perfect.  We missed having Rob, Brittany and Bebe with us the most.  Maybe we can snag them for next years gathering  where ever they will be.

Having adults children makes Christmas present opening a bit different.  I love watching them open each of their gifts.  Their expressions and thoughtful jesters of thanks.  Long gone are the ripping open of presents and throwing that aside to only open yet another present to be tossed.  For the last 2 years we have opened presents later in the day.  I have to say I kind of like that.

Mike and I have had some crazy work schedules so it has made planning what to do for Christmas a bit harder this year.  After I was done traveling to and from Orlando (the Friday before Thanksgiving) we drove over to Jax to visit the outlet malls the next day.  Ya that was odd I had just finish driving home the previous night for 4 hours and was back in the car for another 2.5 hour trip over to Jax.  But Mike was driving and he promised me Sticky Fingers for dinner so it really was fine.

During that drive Mike and I talked about what to give our children and he suggested we make quilts for them.  I laughed at first but he promised he would help with everything that needed to be done.  As I was listening to him talk my mind reflected back to many times years ago when Mike has helped me sew and get some other Christmas presents together so I knew his promise would be good.

I came home and with this new idea in mind and searched Pinterest for a quilt idea that would be easy enough to do in time for Christmas.  I fell in love with what I found and did some checking to see how hard these quilts would be to make link. I figured they would be pretty easy to do but they would be time consuming to cut and sew and clip.  But this was my choice and Mike agreed.

I went into a high end sewing machine store (they happen to carry fabric as well) and just happened to get a woman who had made these before.  She gave me lots of suggestions on how to do the whole quilt.  I was truly grateful.

We finally started and determined that Rob and Brittany's quilt would need to be first in line.  We sure did learn a lot from making that quilt. So here are each of the quilts we made.

  They are called Rag Quilts.

Rob, Britt and Bebe's Quilt

Alyse's Quilt

Kristen and Lance Quilt

Bryan and Michelle Quilt

For me this was such a labor of love.  I thought about each person as we made each quilt. There were times I wondered if we were crazy to take on this task with such a short time frame.  The quilts aren't perfect by any means but I hope our children know our love for them and get great use out of their Christmas Quilts.

Christmas is almost upon us.

As I sit down here to type I have a gazillion other things I should be doing but my mind is just overloaded for a few moments.  Mike and I finally finished the Christmas gifts for all our children.  It was such a great idea in Nov but now that they are done I am glad we moved forward with that idea.  I will share just what that is after Christmas morning but I will say I do have THE  greatest husband in the world who pulled his weight during this project.  And one terrific sister in law that gave me a day of service.

Today I took out all the presents that have been purchased and put them into piles.  I still have 3 more gifts to find and 6 more to finish.  I like to think our children will love gifts given from the heart more then gifts from the store.  Only time will tell come Christmas morning.

For me I have very few wants.  I have a wonderful life and usually all my needs and wants are filled throughout the year but I do have 2 that come to mind-  My first gift I asked Mike for was more TIME!  Time spent together and just time to do things.  But mainly his gift of time is all I ask.  Our lives are so crazy that we don't see each other as much as either of us would like.  The second gift would be fruit trees.  Oh and someone to dig the hole!

I love this time of the year as we search for the real meaning of Christmas.  Yesterday Kathy and I went to the temple to go through with Sapphire Rosier.  I can't think of anything better to give someone then the chance to progress eternally as their temple work is done.  Merry Christmas my new Sister friend.

After all our Heavenly Father gave us the greatest gift of all!  Our Savior Jesus Christ.  Oh what a wonderfully perfect gift that fits every need, every size and shape.

Merry Christmas my dear Friends!

For you are a King, but tonight you are mine.

I have always loved thinking about the night the Savior was born.  I have many nativities that I have collected through the years because of this love.  Being a mother myself I have reflected upon Mary's roll as the mother of Christ.  What did she ponder about that special night and all the other nights that followed?  Did she snuggle with him and know truly of His greatness and the life he would need to lead?  Did she whisper sweetness into his ears?  Did she stare in amazement that He had come to her?  And did she think for a moment he was just her's. 

I cherished the nights when it was just me and my sweet babe sharing some time together.  Of course there were many nights I was just exhausted but on those special nights as I would sit with my baby in my arms looking at them I wondering what they came to this earth to do.  Why did they come now?  Why did they come to me?  Why were they sent to us?  How could I raise them to the love the Lord? Who were these little strangers joining our family?  The list of what, who and whys were many.  But those were times of sweetness.  I am sure Mary had similar thoughts and feelings.   Today Alyse told me she and Kristen needed me to open my Christmas present.  I said but it's not Christmas yet.  She said it doesn't matter you have to open it.  As I did I had no idea what was inside.  Until I saw the word "Willow"  And then I eagerly opened the box to find this....

Mary's Lullaby

All mine in your loveliness baby, all mine.
All mine in your holiness baby divine.
Sing on herald angels in chorus sublime;
Sing on and adore, for tonight you are mine.

The wise men are coming to worship their King,
The shepherds are kneeling their homage to bring.
Out yonder the star over Judah will keep.
No harm will befall thee, then sleep baby sleep.

O let me enfold thee, my baby tonight,
While legions are singing in joyous delight.
A new star has risen to hail thee divine,
For you are a king, but tonight you are mine.

Away spectered future of sorrow and plight,
Away to the years that must follow tonight.
The pangs of Gethsemane, let them be dim,
The red drops on Calvary, not Lord, for Him!

O let me enfold thee, my baby tonight,
While legions are singing in joyous delight.
A new star has risen to hail thee divine,
For you are a king, but tonight you are mine.

Sing on herald angels in chorus sublime;
Sing on and adore, for tonight you are mine.

I have my mother large nativity set that sits on a round table in the corner of the room.  I leave that nativity set up all year long.  I want to remind myself often of the birth, life and death of our Savior and how because of him I get to return back to my Father in Heaven.  I will now be able to add another nativity set that will stay up all year long thanks to my two sweet daughters who so thoughtfully gave me another reminder of who my King is. 

Thanksgiving=Gratitude to me

The last 5 weeks have been hard weeks for me.  I spent them down in Orlando for work.  I lived down there for 3 straight weeks since Mike was in Ca as well.  Someone asked me why it was so hard to do this.  It caused me to pause and ask myself that same question.  I came up with what I thought was the reason -it's hard to not see family.  But I don't "see" my family all the time normally.  They all have work and their own lives that they are busy with.  Rob and Brittany live in Idaho so I don't see them for sure everyday so what made it hard?   I have thought about this question a lot.  What makes things like this so hard?  I could call and talk to them,  I chatted via texts with them all the time.  I chatted with them on facebook.  I emailed them.  So I had communication with them. So what was different?

I think it's because it's not home.  I have come to determine that home is not only a brick and mortar place but a state of being.  I have read for years this statement "Home is where your heart is".   There is nothing I would rather do in life than spend time with my family.  I love it when they come up to see us.  I love to go to their homes.  I love to be in their presence.  My mom use to say to me "you are happiest when your family is near you."  It's true my heart resides in many different places and all at once.  I love my family with all my heart.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and a time when we all give thanks for those things we have in our lives.  Elder Hales said - 

“In some quiet way, the expression and feelings of gratitude have a wonderful cleansing or healing nature. Gratitude brings warmth to the giver and the receiver alike, gratitude, expressed to our Heavenly Father in prayer for what we have, brings a calming peace, a peace which allows us to not canker our souls for what we don’t have. Gratitude brings a peace that helps us overcome the pain of adversity and failure. Gratitude on a daily basis means we express appreciation for what we have now without qualification for what we had in the past or desire in the future.”

The older I get the clearer I think life becomes.  It isn't about stuff.  It's about people and relationships.  I would give all I have to my family and those in need over my own wants at this time.  As Christmas draws closer yet on the heals of Thanksgiving I am thankful for the very two people who have given and continue to give me everything I have.  I am deeply grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who blesses me with peace, love, abilities beyond my own natural talents.  I know ALL that I/we have comes from Him.  I am thankful for a Savior who gave his life for me so that I might return back to my Father in Heaven.  I pray everyday that a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ burns in my heart and my children's hearts.  Because without the Atonement all is lost.  Jesus is our perfect example in all aspects of life and to him I humbly bow.  

So you see as hard as this past 5 weeks have been I have come to understand a few things better and I am thrilled to have that knowledge.  And I am happy to be on this side of that 5 weeks where I can reflect better upon the nuggets of  pure truth from Heaven. 

Family

So today is a banner day!  We added one more Ladle to our family.  We knew Brittany was going to go to the hospital last night and things would start to rock and roll today (11/10/11).  And they did.  Rob was great at keep us all up to date with what was happening via text messages and not wanting to miss one thing I didn't get a whole lot done.  But here is a sneak peek at what we were sent!  I'm in LOVE and think he is the most perfect and beautiful grandson around!

This is when life really begins.  Children are truly a gift from Heaven.  And I'm excited to give this whole grandma thing a try!  I can't wait to snuggle this little guy! Dec can't come fast enough.  Truly this is a miracle from heaven. 

Welcome to our family little one!