I Don't Hate Cancer

This is my nephew JD, my dad's oldest grandson.  Given his name, Joseph, and much of his athletic ability (Although there is a SLIGHT chance that we inherited some of the same genes :)).  Tonight I will be listening to his Westside Pirates battle it out in their first game of the State Basketball tournament.  The rest of my sisters and their families will be watching it LIVE in Boise, ID.  In fact, they should be checking into the hotel right about now.  People LOVE it when they see my entire family checking into a hotel together with 20 excited cousins.  They always hope that they can get the rooms right below ours :)

Last year we did the same thing.  I even got to go.  And although JD really is a SUPERSTAR, we all knew that we were not going for JD.  Two weeks earlier, my dad had been diagnosed with bone cancer.  It wasn't a shock, we already knew that something was terribly wrong.  It had been caused by taking 30 years of medication to save his kidneys.   It was evident to all, that things were going downhill fast!  This is us right before the game last year.

 My flight plan was to fly into Boise on Thursday and fly out of Idaho Falls on Sunday to return home.  That never happened.  I drove home with Jared and my kids two and a half weeks later, the day after my dad's funeral. 
After the basketball tournament had ended, we drove from Boise to Ashton (my hometown).  The next morning, my dad announced his decision.  There would be no more doctors, no more medicine.  "Call the girls.  If they can let me go and pray that I can die, I will go quickly,"  he told my mom in the early hours of Sunday morning.  He died one week later.   
That Sunday morning, I went into his room and had a very personal, sacred conversation.  During that conversation I asked him, "Dad, have you done everything you were sent to do?"  With his jaw set and his eyes fixed heavenward, he said, "It is all done, I don't know if I did it all right, but it is all done."  It was evident to all close to the situation,  Our time together had run out. 
Although, we were surrounded by death, the following 2 weeks would be the most spiritual of my life.  Through the events that transpired, it became very apparent that there was a grand design and plans on both sides of the veil that needed to happen.
And so, for the past year, many people have asked me if I hate cancer.  The answer is no.  Cancer had very little to do with this entire situation.  It was simply a means to accomplish a grader plan.  I remember reading a talk by Elder Maxwell.  He said that he didn't know why the Lord chose to manage the great "Switchboard in the Sky" the way that He did, but He knew that the purposes were divine.  I know they are too. 
There will be a reunion, but there must be much accomplished between now and then.  So in the meantime, Go Westside!  Go Pirates!  Go JD!  Play hard, but above all, be good.  Live up to your name.  Make the family proud. 

Think Kathryn Think!

So Jared had the Family Home Evening lesson this week.  He began by saying, "Ally will you write down every family member's name on a piece of paper?"  Promising beginning, right?  When she had finished that, he then said, "Now we are going to write down how every person reacts when they get mad."  Well, that was fun!
Without revealing too many family secrets, the list contained a bit of yelling, some spanking, a little pinching, some hitting.....He then concluded with "For the natural man is an enemy to God and has been since the fall of Adam."  I went to bed that night asking myself how I should be reacting to Jared after such a fun Family Home Evening :)  But like every deep thought that Jared has, it made me wonder.  And after two days of wondering, I am ready to report my results.
The difference between an EXPLOSION in my home and a peaceful resolution, is A SINGLE THOUGHT.  Sometimes it comes in the form of, "What would Jesus do,  If the Savior stood beside me.." But mostly it sounds something like this, "Please, PLEASE help me not to mess this up."  In those few seconds of thought, impulse is turned into inspiration. 
While reading my scriptures this morning, it became apparent to me that Heavenly Father is interested in us thinking, "Arouse your faculties, Shake yourselves, Awaken"  Satan is not "Lull them away, deep sleep, All is Well,
So the next time that I hear that one of my children has been sent to the Principal's Office (SAM!), I will unclench my fists, close my mouth, and think, "Please, PLEASE, help me not to mess this up!"

Freedom and Reason make us men,

Take these away, What are we then?

Mere animals and just as well,

The beast may think of Heavn' or Hell.

I have the Best Job in the Whole World

I did not lay Daniel down for his nap with Sam's Ground Hog Day Hat on his head.  I have the Best Job in the Whole World.  That's all for the day!

Don't Demonize the Dishes

Today is Monday. Monday = CLEANING DAY!  Believe me when I say that my kids are so excited to be home from school today. 
My mom is a brilliant homemaker.  She took the job very seriously.  She taught us all how to do the yearly Spring Clean, the weekly Thorough Clean, the daily Walk Through, and the true art form of the 5 Minute Pick Up.  My sisters are laughing right now, wondering how I ever ended up learning how to do any of  these things.  You see, while they were cleaning, I developed another true art form of walking around and looking very busy.  They affectionately named this art form, "The Kathy."  Now when we get together and it is time to do dishes after the big meal, when someone is not doing their part they say, "Quit doing The Kathy!"  (My next post may be about letting people outgrow their pasts gracefully)!
Because so much of our time as a family revolved around working, cooking, and cleaning together, and I recall it as a happy childhood, it shocks me when I hear people talk so hatefully about "cleaning house" or make it seem like it is of little importance.  I recently overheard someone say, "At my funeral they will not line up all of the dishes I have done in my lifetime."  To that I say, "Don't Demonize the Dishes."  They are the very things that tie us to our homes.  The house, the dishes, the laundry, they make it so we are home when our children are home,  we see what they are doing, we overhear the conversations they are having, and during these tasks we can have the opportunity to teach and train.  They give us a small opportunity to make a HUGE difference by controlling the one environment they will take the most from. 
My mom is a Mother Who Knows what a difference a clean house would make in our lives. 
Now after that short pep talk, I am ready to embark upon a rather long day!  You are welcome to come and visit, but I warn you, it is at your own peril!  The other thing my mother taught me is that "things always get messier before they get cleaner."