How to Have JOY?

As I was getting ready for the Sabbath this morning a rush of GRATITUDE began to take over my thoughts and eventually spill over into this blog post!  Lucky you :)  This post is mine.....strictly introspective and unique.
It actually all started when I wondered to myself, (quite oddly), "why have I been so happy?"  and then "what is making me happy?"  The questions evolved and eventually I was left with a list of things that bring me JOY.  I decided that happy was the COMPLETE WRONG WORD.  It is more than happy, more than fun, JOY seems to describe the heart...joy is the right word.  The list is short.  It includes the things that are presently making room in my heart!  Remember, introspective and unique.  Heavenly Father made me different, of that I am aware :)

1.  This week I got to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert....Muppet's and all...regardless if you are Mormon or not, the sheer cultural, beauty and magic of this event is HAPPY.  And it was, sitting there with my entire family and my sister Patti, I thought to myself.  Life is AWESOME!   However, as the concert was drawing to a close and the Choir began to sing of the Savior.  I cannot describe to you the feelings I had.  They can only be felt.  Music brings me JOY.  The Shepard, the angels, all dug their way firmly into my heart I began to feel like I knew them, like I knew me better, just from listening to this music.  I thought to myself, Mack Wilberg has the most AWESOME LIFE!  If he gets to FEEL like this as he creates, produces, and delivers his testimony through music!  Jealous I am :)

2.  Food brings me Joy!    Lest you think badly of me, let me rephrase that.   Making food for other people brings me joy.  Yesterday JoDee and LaWrell and Brigham were here.   As I fed them Tortellini and Christmas cookies for lunch, LaWrell said, "That was perfect!"  I was delighted :)  All I have ever wanted to do was be DONNA and create an environment where people wanted to come, feel welcome, and stay for a spell.

3.  Snow brings me Joy!  Actually, I am sitting in my kitchen watching the snow fall at a 30 degree angle (that is important) and thinking of what my sister always says.  "When you see snow, you know Heavenly Father Loves YOU!"  To be perfectly honest, I am not at all convinced it is the snow.  Snow to me is synonymous with my dad.  The blizzard, the snowblowing, the sleds tied on back of the snow machine.  The big grey snowsuit all the way down to the way we would sit on the couch and watch the snow fall in the late night under the street light.  That is where you learn about the ANGLE at which snow is falling.

4.  Yesterday I got to go to our first ward party of the Spring Lake 4th Ward.  It was delightful.  Ward Parties bring me joy!  I am not sure that I can fully put my finger on why, only that, it is in these settings that you realize you are literally surrounded by A LOT of really good people, that you really like.  At one point during the party, I left to find a child and came back to the table to find Jared and brother Day both on their phones....annoyed...then as I got closer, I found that they were  both scanning their family trees to see where they were related.  COOL!  Good people!

5.  Teaching brings me Joy!  Testifying of the Savior brings me joy!  There is nothing quite like that feeling.

6.  Being at home!  With my kids!  With music playing, food on the table, the air hockey table going, the dominoes on the floor, the couch cluttered with people.  FAMILY IS MY JOY!

I remember one particular Christmas EVE, a very long time ago.  Laying in my bed, completely distraught.  At the beginning of December I had been given a scripture list from my Young Women's leader.  "If you will read one of these scriptures each day of December, you will feel the Christmas Spirit."  I had not read the scriptures,  the Christmas Season had been HAPPY, but I knew that it was not JOY yet.  I lay there determined to read every scripture and fill up my JOY meter right then and there.
The Spirit taught me something very important that night.  IT COULD NOT BE DONE!  I could start.  But I could not accomplish it in a night.  My studies would have to be ongoing, not one and done!  And so that night I started but I did not finish.  This past year I have continued that quest by studying the Book of Mormon for the sole purpose of learning more about the ATONEMENT.  And now I know about JOY.  Everything good and prosperous, lovely and joyful, calming and peaceful, creative and enriching....EVERYTHING has come because of the Savior.  JOY is here!  Joy will always be here because HE has overcome the World!  The Savior Brings me JOY!

Merry Christmas!

Can You Say BOOK CLUB!?!?!

So!  I officially belong to a book club.  A LEGIT book club.  Like so legit that they have been reading books together for over 10 years and have a monthly record of the books they have read, which they like to stroll through every once in a while.  Made up of some of the funniest, most honest people ever!  Not to mention the after treats that I partake of, but do not always furnish :)  It may be the BEST THING TO DATE that I love about Payson, UT!

I started the year of 2014 with a goal.  I was going to read 24 books this year!   Honestly, this was a really exciting goal for me.  I LOVE to read.  But that was not always the case.  When I was a teenager, I received a blessing that instructed me to read "good books" that would enrich my life. (like not just the scriptures etc which I love the most, but....books!)  My love for literature was not instant, but Harry Potter may have been accelerant....and I may or may not think that he is real sometimes :)   And I may or may not sometimes still cry when I remember that Dumbledore is dead.

ONWARD!  This year, I was going to Make TIME!  If something was important enough to be instructed about, I should probably get on with it.  I have read 20 books to date, and loved most of them....(which I will list soon hereafter).  What I have loved the most about this entire goal is what I have noticed about me.  And it all came together for me during a Young Women's lesson this week taught by my friend Stephanie!

We were studying the Word of Wisdom and the blessings to body and mind that come with it.  I read this particular verse.  Doctrine and Covenants 88:124

Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.

I hope you don't find this a stretch at all, because, it all made perfect sense to me.  I have always wondered why that phrase in red was included in a verse that seemed to be about good health.  Then I realized that this last year has been a little different for me.  Because I have been reading, I have had very little desire to talk bad about people or things or insignificant things in general.  It is like my thoughts have been elevated.  Gossiping doesn't seem to be much fun!  I would rather talk about China!  AND BELIEVE ME, THERE IS A LOT TO TALK ABOUT CHINA!!!!!!

Work through it...it makes sense eventually :)  So now for the books!  I will list them in the order I read them and rate them or caution them for your reading pleasure!

1.  Elizabeth Smart, My Story

I had to read this in one day....getting to a happy place before I went to bed.  It is hard to read, but she is AMAZING and her story needs to be told.  

2.  The Great and Terrible- The Brothers

This book made me think more than any other book this year.  I eventually read this entire series.  Although the character development is sometimes a bit shallow, the story line is intriguing and worse yet, possible!

3.  Assisted by John Stockton

I have elevated Stockton from a good guy to a HERO!  Great book!

4.  Great and Terrible -When Angels FAll

5.  Gifted Hands!

There is a quote by C.S. Lewis that says "since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage."  Ben Carson is one of these!

6.  The Great and Terrible #3

7.  The Great and Terrible #4

8.  The Giver

An all time favorite....no I have not seen the movie!

9.  The Great and Terrible #5

10.  The Great and Terrible #6

11.  God's Double Agent!  Bob FU

By far the most influential book I read all year.  I have been changed!  READ IT!

12.  Strength Training for Women

BLAH!

13.  My Name Used to be Muhammed

The story was fascinating.  Some of it was hard for me to hear.

14.  I Knew their Hearts

HUMMMM?

15.  The Secret Journal of Brett Colton

An all time favorite!  One of the few I could read over and over.

16.  Heaven is for Real

fascinating!

17.  A Distant Prayer

Another to add to my book of Heroes!

18.  When the Bough Breaks!

I love the writing more than anything else in this book :)

19.  The False Prince

Slow to start, but left me wanting more....Christmas maybe ...Jared?

20.  Bishop's Agent

I plan on meeting my goal by finishing when I am already reading, The book of Luke, My December Book Club Book, and "A History of the Lost Rhoades Mines."  Just so I can talk to my Brother -in-laws about their crazy stories :)  

THOUGHTS ELEVATED!

Happy Conference Weekend!

So!  We have a lot of family visiting this weekend!  Yeah  for Conference Weekend!   A couple of days ago, I started wandering around my pantry and making a list of meals, treats, and favorites for the weekend festivities.  Quite normally, I found myself saying, "Oh, I really should make some of my taco soup, DAD loves that.  And oh!  Pick up some nuts from Costco..he loves those too!"

It only lasted for a few seconds, but the thought of my dad coming to my new house, eating with us, and TALKING! JUST TALKING!  Almost left me in tears....But not for long!  Thank Goodness for the Gospel of Happy Endings!

I have long loved General Conference!   It always happens at the very best times of the year!  And you had better believe that we are LOVING FALL this year!  We have  spent 10 long years without seasons....leaving us feeling like we live in the Garden of Eden!

But 7 years ago, Conference started to totally change my life!  Bishop Leavitt called me into his office to issue a calling!  There was not a name for it, because he made it up :)  But, one week later, I would be sustained as the "Ward Teacher".  A calling I kept for 7 years!  I loved it!

My job.  I was to teach every 5th Sunday Lesson, on a topic the Bishop assigned.  Topic:  whatever was weighing heavily on the Bishop's mind.  The Text:  The Latest General Conference!

I tried to remember the topics...try being operative!  Here are the few I DO remember!

*Budgeting
*Employment
*Housekeeping
*Education
*Pornography
*Using Technology
*Extremism
*Using the Atonement EVERY DAY
*Studying Scriptures
*Being Willing and finding the time to SERVE


I would be assigned my topic and then I would dive head first into the Conference Ensign Issue.   Marking and Marking and Marking everything that pertained to the topic, and the questions I had about it.  THE PROCESS NEVER FAILED ME...NOT EVEN ONCE.  I never had to go to another source.  The Prophets of Latter Days answered REAL LIFE QUESTIONS!

I love Bishop Leavitt for a lot of reasons (mainly his family :) But this opportunity he afforded me changes me still to this day!  Thank You Bishop!  Because of you!  I KNOW!  No more a stranger, tossed to and fro!  I know there are PROPHETS OF GOD!  They speak to  us,  if we cling to their words, WE GAIN THE ETERNITIES!

Happy Conference Weekend!  May your heart be soft!  May your ears be searching for truth! And may your answers be MANY!

It Is Time to CHOP CHOP!

I went to the Provo Temple last night.  It is the temple we are assigned to until the Payson one is completed!  At which time, you, all of my friends and family, are invited to the dedication  and party at our house afterwards :0  (See you then)!

However, back to the Provo Temple.  Throughout these next couple of paragraphs, it is imperative to remember that IT is the crux of this entire post!  However, we must start in a far away place.....high school.

My parents and my adopted parents (the Christensen's)  were excellent at teaching us how to work.  Their  escapades were many and opportunities abounded.  Today we we will focus on ROLLING TREES, my part-time, high school employment.  DON'T JUDGE.

If this conversation is to continue, I must briefly educate you!  In Idaho, we still believe in logging  (like chopping down trees for man's use :) So, after the trees are chopped down, the Forest Service would go in and plant tree seedlings.  These tree seedlings are very delicate.  They are stored in an ice cache until the day before they are ready to  be planted. At which time, Papa Joe, would dig into the ice cache with the back hoe, hit a tunnel, and Jay, Renn, Paul, Chris....would pull out massive boxes of trees.  The trees were then taken to a small warehouse consisting of barrels of burlap, tables, and a conveyor belt down the middle.

Within this warehouse, were two sets of people.  The Counters!  and The Wrappers!  If you were really talented, you got to be a wrapper:)  Just kidding Ernie! (kind of)!  The counters stood at the front of the warehouse, counting bundles of 25 trees, aligning their root collars, and sending them down the conveyor belt.  The rollers stood at the back of the warehouse.  Their job was to grab a wet, nasty burlap out of the the barrel, grab two bundles of trees off the conveyor belt, align their root collars, cut the roots to a certain length, and proceed to roll up the bundle, sealing it with a big rusty nail.

Paul, at the end of the conveyor belt, would then gather all bundles, and set them in the cold storage room, where the next day they would be retrieved to be planted.

The job would start right after school and end....well, when you got done.  Some nights, we rolled 50,000 trees.  Some nights we rolled 90,000! I bold that, just to make sure you know that was a feat of nature in itself. It was those nights that hold the memory that was brought to my mind as I sat in the temple last night.

Around 70,00 trees, life looked BLEAK!  We were TIRED, HUNGRY, and no amount of root beer barrels were going to ease our anxious desire to GO TO BED!

As soon as we felt like faking sick, a whispering started in the ranks!  Beginning at the head of counter's table (Bob)!  you would hear the faint sounds of "it's time to chop chop!"  Before you know it, the rollers were bombarded with bundles of trees!   Just when we were the very most tired, we were not going to be outdone by the counters, so it was also time for us to CHOP CHOP!  20,000 trees had never been counted so fast. All to the humming whisper of a conveyor belt and CHOP CHOP!  To this day, every tree roller knows  what it means to CHOP CHOP!

I  LOVED  this job!   I was surrounded by family!  Blood and Not Blood.  Believe me when I tell you that you cannot spend months with someone dressed in  grossly enormous bright yellow rain gear, smelling like a combination of dirt and formaldehyde and not become deeply emotionally connected :)

Now...Remember the crux of the story...The Provo temple.   I walked up to the doors of the temple last night, feeling like I had just physically rolled 70,000 trees.  Emotionally, I was weighed down to the tune of ISIS,corruption,and hopelessness on all accounts of what we call Public news!  I was ready to relax.  That is not what happened.

This temple is a MACHINE!   PEOPLE EVERY WHERE!  Everyone quietly hurrying off to an assignment. Lest you get visions of irreverence, stop your self there.  If there is such a picture as a SACRED URGENCY,  picture that!

At one point, I had to wait.  And as I waited, I listened!  There was a HUM of words.  The hum seemed to grow and the feeling I got seemed to intensify.  I felt  RIGHT THEN  and THERE as if I finally knew what it meant that the "WORK IS HASTENING!"  It is through the Power Of God on earth!  Through Covenants!  Through righteous messengers (on both sides of the veil)  that the bleakness will lose its clenching grip. 

Strangely, I whispered to myself, (which I do quite often) "I get it now."  I also felt Papa Joe there, and then the memory of ROLLING TREES.  The feelings and thoughts all seemed  to converge with a message from my dad.  I get it dad! Like never before, it is time to CHOP  CHOP!

Marriage is good :)

Jared and I have been married 13 years TODAY!  So in honor of contemplation I have made a list of why the last 13 years of my life has been AWESOME!  Fast, a blur, and tiring, but AWESOME.  INDULGE ME :).

1.  It is the BEST WAY for my kids!  There is something so GOOD AND SAFE about living within 4 walls that are are governed by two people that are totally and completely devoted to and love each other...Ask me, I know!  I was raised in one of those houses :)

2.  It is the best when there is someone to check up on you!  "Did you make it ok?"  "How is your day going?"  "I love you have a great day!"  Can you imagine a better text :). Not me!


3.   He does the dirty work!  Something in his genetic make up makes it perfectly ok for him to stick his hand down the dark slimy confines of the garbage disposal, fix a toilet, or remove the snake that enjoys our front yard!  My genetic make-up...does not!

4.  Can you say Reinforcement?  "What did your dad say?"  "What did your mom say."  Nothing gets by us :)

5.   He steadies me!  At the end of the day, when he is home and I am home....I know it is all going to be ok!

6.  I love to talk!  He loves to listen!  It works for us :)

7.  He takes over!  When I have done everything, I can do, and I am left exhausted!  Which usually occurs around 9 pm on Friday night :). I can can slip off to bed and know that the kids will be taken care of  and life is good!

8.  He makes the money and I get to spend it!  Seriously :). I can't think of a better arrangement!  In all  honesty, he is a wonderful provider and leaves me so greatful each day that I can stay home and be with my kids!

9.  Life is so FUN!  TOGETHER!
10.   And lastly!  He is my constant reminder of my greatest goal! My companion on the pathway to Eternal Life!  With HIM!  With Heavenly Father, my kids, and the myriads of family that make me complete!

Today is 13 years, but it is only 13 years and COUNTING!

Just a Piece of a Puzzle:)

I inherited this piano from my mother's basement, who inherited it from her mother, who purchased it for her oldest daughter, Barbara, who was somewhat of a musical prodigy.  Barbara was my oldest Aunt, I never met her, she died shortly after giving birth to her first son Eddie.  And yet here I sit in Payson, UT with her piano.
I learned to play on it (we use the word "play" lightly).  It is so heavy, it should have been buried in my mother's basement and died there with the Yellowstone Super Volcano, if it were not for my brave husband, brother-in-laws, and Christensen boys.  The trek from out of the basement to Nevada to Utah, has nearly killed a  lot of people, and demolished the side of my dad's Pick-up.  But it will follow us wherever we may go.
It sat in our Overton home for many years in slight disrepair.  Several of the keys  needed a new ivory shell and the tuning, hammers, strings.....need  I go on.   I kept saying I was going to get to it, but the time and the money never allowed the getting part to come.  However, Donna came to visit one time, and offered to tend the baby while I ran into a Dr's appointment.  I came home to find all the keys stripped and ready to be redone (not that I was ready, but it was now ready).  5 months and several  payments later, I sat down in my living room to gaze at the masterpiece, at which point, a soft, sweet thought floated through my mind, "I love your mother, She is a very special lady."  And for some reason, I knew those words came from my Aunt Barbara.
Ever since that thought, this piano has meant so much more to me....I am not sure I can explain that part of it.
Yesterday I had another, shall we call it a "Barbara Experience?"  Moving to Utah has put us closer to so many relatives.  The closest of which is my Uncle Keith in Spanish Fork.  He is an artist, in the truest sense. His home is filled with masterpieces and he is the master.  And if you can imagine, his kindness is even superior to his artistry.  Upon visiting my home he said softly, "Now when you get settled, come over and pick out a painting you would like."  I waited, less than patiently, and yesterday, I made the visit.
This painting is my treasure.

A couple of weeks ago, I was a bystander to a depressing conversation.  The jest of which was, "Do you ever wonder what this life is all about?  I mean, you work hard, you die, and then what?  No one remembers, no one cares, is it really worth everything we think it is?"  I sat formulating a response, but never dared intrude to give it.  So, to you cyber world, I will respond.

"UNLESS YOU ARE INVOLVED IN A CAUSE, GREATER THAN JUST YOU, IT MEANS VERY LITTLE."

Thus, I receive so much satisfaction from serving in my church, building the Kingdom of God, building something that will last forever! Can you imagine!
And talk about SATISFACTION!  How about a family, that lasts, and lasts.....I am just a small piece of it, but as big as the eternities, because  the chain was meant to last forever.  I grip tightly to the piano, to the painting, to my kids, my nieces and nephews....because every piece of this familial puzzle that lands in my hands, is what makes life meaningful!

Planting Roots :)

Well, the transition has ended and we are officially here!  Payson, UT is our new home.   We uprooted and moved 5 hours north of home and, in all honesty, it feels like we have entered an alternate universe.

There are clouds here.  One morning this past week as we were walking to school, the kids could not quit staring at the clouds, "Mom!  That cloud is sitting right on top of that mountain!"  It was a very slow walk, but, YES!  We have mountains too.

On my morning walk/jog, I had a nice chat with 5 deer, which happen to frequent the field that resides a football field east of our house.

Sadly, I go to the grocery store and I know NOBODY.  I catch up on no friendly news.  Nor do I set up my visiting teaching appointments.  Sadly, the grocery store is just a grocery store!  And oh how we miss the two hardware stores that were a mile away from us!  They could have made a killing on our "finishing the basement " venture :)

Speaking of which.  I drove to Costco yesterday, simply because it was Friday and I didn't want to make lunch.  Can you say samples?  Can you say alternate universe?

It is August and the trees don't look like they are going to spontaneously combust!  Sam, Gary, and I went to Farmer's Market last week.  There was SO MUCH PRODUCE :)!  But alas, no figs :(

I can't keep up with the online yard sale.  It goes too fast and it would be a full time job!  I quit!

Jared teaches in a Seminary that looks like a Grade School!  Next to a high school that looks like a Jr. College!  Gone are the days of "let's go to the church to see dad!"

Did I mention that it RAINED here!  Hands down, I think we might be living in the most beautiful place on earth!

Just like Overton, Payson is full of good people!  We a re a little homesick for "The Village" :(

All in all, life is good, let the root planting begin!

From Whence Your Christmas Lights Came?

The Foster Family has a friend.  He could and should appropriately be called family.  And his name is WALLY,yes, Wally!  He is one of a kind.  And sometimes we think he is completely crazy.  Like the summer (much to Jared and I's delight) that he decided to get rid of ALL THINGS MADE IN CHINA that he possessed.  Luckily, Wally is a SHOE SNOB,  Luckily, Jared has the same size foot as Wally, and Luckily, all of Wally's shoes cost more than our cars :)

Well, I thought he was crazy.....until I just read my last book.  "God's Double Agent, Bob Fu."  Which is a chronicle of one man's religious persecution from the Communist Country of China, his escape, and his life-long mission to help other Christians in China.

My whole life I have heard about communism, about China....but really, the date is 2014.  People could not possibly still be being tortured and murdered.  After all, all I have ever known was America (some days freer than others) communism seemed so far away, dream-like.  Never as bad as it was made out to be.  Not for Wally.  Wally tells his own story of escaping from Russia just after World War II.  Burying his puppies alive, and children falling off the escaping truck.   Perhaps.....to Wally, the Chinese way of life hit a little too close to home.  Purging all things China felt right to him.  After this book, it felt right to me.

Before you read this short story, I would like to ask you, where do your Christmas lights come from?

I…became aware of thirty-three-year-old Liu Xianzhi (her English name is Sarah Liu), who was one of four women declared innocent in the retrial verdict.  However, she and the other women were sent to “reeducation through labor” camp, a fate worse than prison.  They stripped her, used three electric shock batons on her simultaneously, torturing her on all parts of her body.  When she cried out, they put the flesh-searing shock baton in her mouth.  It burned her so mouth so bad that she couldn’t eat for several days.  They also used this baton on her genitals, which caused so much pin that she eventually was sent to the hospital unconscious.  The doctors and nurses asked her tortures, “How could you treat a girl like this?”

After Sarah was released from labor camp, we rescued her through an Underground Railroad system stretching from China through Southeast Asia.  We arranged for local Christians to cover her with leaves in the back of a truck, where she stayed for hours, completely still.  Then they drove that truck, with her in the back under the wet, heavy leaves, across the border to Burma.  There, local people created fake identification for her, which identified her as a member of a minority tribal group.  To make her appearance match that story, they fixed her hair, put makeup on her face, and sent her into an underground railroad of believers who were willing to risk their lives to save hers.  Then after successfully navigating that maze, she swam across a river to make it into Thailand. 

Still, she wasn’t free. Once she was in a remote area of Thailand, she was in more danger than ever.  She needed to get to Bangkok, but the windy roads were dotted with police checkpoints.  Without a passport, she’d certainly be sent back to China and put right back into jail.  I sent a friend of mine from Hong Kong to help her.  After exhausting every other option, they realized the only option was to go to the nearest airport and fly.  Even though she didn’t have a passport or valid identification, they did just that.  Miraculously, none of the airport officials asked her to show any identification. 

After Sarah had managed an escape worthy of a James Bond movie, she had yet to face the mountains of bureaucracy the United Nations would throw at her.  They presented so much red tape that we wondered if she’d ever be allowed to leave.  The US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, John Hanford, who was appointed by President Bush, personally took our phone calls, called the UN, and demanded they speed up the process to grant her refugee protection.  Sarah got her approval within a month because of his direct and decisive intervention, and she finally arrived in America in 2005. 

When she was safely in America, Sarah Liu and two other refugees form the South China Church all resettled in Midland (Texas).  The Midland community helped provide support for their living expenses under ChinaAid.  We invited them over to our home during the Christmas season.  We watched as Sarah walked ever so slowly up our Christmas tree and stared at the lights twinkling on and off, absolutely mesmerized. 

“Those are just decorations,”  I explained. “They’re on a string.”

I pulled out a package and handed them to her, so she could see what they looked like before being draped over the tree.

She took the string of lights out of the package faster than I could blink, her hands untangling them like she was knitting a blanket. Within seconds, she had completely unwrapped and disassembled the lights.  Then she looked up at me with the various parts I her hands.

“I assembled these in my labor camp for sixteen hours a day,”  She explained.  We made Christmas lights and put them in packages that look just like this one.”

She then reassembled them just as quickly. The whole process took only seconds.  

Dear Blog,

I miss you!  I miss the days when I am not consumed in thought about moving..selling...buying...making, goodbyes, hellos, and KEEPING MY HOUSE SPOTLESSLY CLEAN!  I miss calm.  I miss reading and writing and calm!  But today is the Sabbath and I will enjoy every unhurried minute of it!

Today Jared spoke in Stake Conference and he did a great job.  He spoke about how important daily personal scripture study is.  And I don't think it will offend him when I say, that his habit of study is what I attribute most of his brilliance and all of his goodness to.  And the entire thing just got me thinking of how the Lord leads and guides us in this life.  Never alone are we!  Let me elaborate.

We are moving to Payson, UT.  We did not ask to move!  However, we knew when Jared took his job, that that would not always be in our hands.

We love MOAPA VALLEY!  It is stamped on our hearts!  We love the PEOPLE, the Lemon Trees, the pomegranates, the quirky way that everybody avoids the color green, figs, hikes to the mesa, the Pirates, our NEIGHBORHOOD, the QUAIL, the lizards (the small ones), our very old and sometimes warm church building, the local swimming pool, OUR WARD, our awesome garden, 2 feet long cucumbers, perfect THANKSGIVINGS, and did I mention the PEOPLE!  

And thinking about the end, just reminds me of the beginning.  We drove into this valley with a large OVER-HEATING U-haul, and a small green Oldsmobile.  Our family consisting at the time of Jared, Me, and Ally, age one.  Pulling into the apartment parking lot in 100 degree weather in the dark of night, only to greeted by my FIRST ever COCKROACH in the form of death, I sucked in my tears, and quickly gave myself the "Buck Up" pep talk.  Each time I drove into the valley during those first couple of years, I would see a palm tree and have an unmistakable feeling of nausea and home-sickness wash over me.  Every time I checked the clock, I would note the time, then in denial say what time it was in Idaho, dreaming of being at the family barbecue with everyone else!

But, the story does not end there. I remember desperately pleading with Heavenly Father before our first Sunday in Overton, "Please, Please, just let me find someone that I can trust with Ally.  A babysitter, a family, someone, so that we can go to the temple, and have help if we need it!"  

Looking back, I could not have ever DREAMED how He would answer that prayer that would BLESS our lives forever.  I remember walking into Sacrament meeting and seeing a family with a million kids, four of them being girls, darling babysitting little girls!  That is the family I thought!  I approached them, and that week, with absolutely no hesitation on our part, they babysat Ally.  10 years later, we love every member of the Rust family like our own.  We want our kids to grow up like their kids, we have been counseled by them, served by them, loved by them.  And the thought of driving away from this valley and the FAMILY that has taken us in here, well.......

The Rusts have been compounded by dozens of others, with very similar stories.  I am not very good at goodbyes.  In fact, I hate them.  We will be quietly be driving away, to the tune of, "See you in Payson!  There will always be a bed for you there.  We will feed you, laugh with you, and carry on!"  

We will be leaving behind much!  However, we will be taking the ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE that "God will guide the future as He has the past"!

From One end of the Spectrum to the Other!

Yesterday was an interesting day!  Which started by going to the temple with four lovely ladies who helped me do the work for 4 SISTERS at the same time!  That was a great feeling, I could only imagine as I sat there, all of my sisters, and how happy we would have been to be TOGETHER!

Then off to Gary's basketball game.  Where he led the team to a 18 to 14 victory....scoring 16 points.  I never really knew how fun it was to see a 1st grader score a fast break, until my own kid did it!

After dinner and clean-up, we sat down to read scriptures as a family, but started by celebrating a birthday!

Norma Jean (LOVE THE NAME) is Jared's Grandma! She died when Jared was very young, consequently, we went to Aunt Annette for our information!  As we talked about her, I asked the kids, "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH GRANDMA NORMA JEAN'S NAME TODAY THAT SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN PROUD OF."

Ally, "I tried to cause less drama on the bus."  To which I say Hallelujah! 

Gary, "I sat by someone at lunch that was alone, and I talked to him."  Proud moment.

Sam, "When Jim (name has been changed) told me he didn't want me on his kickball team, I didn't get mad, I just stayed quiet."

Me,"Sam does that happen a lot?"

Sam, (as his lip quivers) "Mom, nobody wants me on their teams, ever."

Remember previously scored 16 points....as happy as that was, not as painful as this is :(

Oh the joys of parenting!  I may be getting more sleep as my kids get older, by my heartache has increased as well!  Life will go on, Sam is ULTRA-TALENTED, and I am sure I suffer more than he does!

El Libro Numero 3....CHECK

Okay, this book was SHEER delight.  I really am not a sports person.  I try, I really try sometimes, but I am not.  I feel like the gene simply skipped me, both coordination-wise and liking it -wise.  However, I am a people person, and I have always been fascinated with John Stockton.  Ever since I remember him standing on the Olympic Podium with his lips drawn tight and serious, just after winning a gold medal.  Thinking...sing, smile, do something!  As the entire Foster household was screaming and singing at the top of their lungs!

Then my interest really peaked as I watched him introduce this book on Fox News.  The commentator asked, "what is your greatest accomplishment?"  And without flinching he said, "My Kids!  Beyond a shadow of a doubt, My Kids."  At this point, the book Had to be Read!

I will not summarize it for you, you will have to read it yourself, and then we can chat about it, because my neighbors are getting sick of me talking about it.  I will simply leave you with some quotes.  Enjoy!

Libro Numero Dos....Check

Obviously, I have taken this picture off of the Amazon website...Don't click.  Nothing will happen.  It is simply to show you the Second book that I have read this year...on my quest to read more.  

There is a little song we sing in Primary (the children's class in our Church) that says, "I lived in heaven a long time ago, it is true.  Lived there and loved there with people I know so did you.  Then Heavenly Father presented a beautiful plan.  All about earth and Eternal Salvation for man.".....So that would be the synopsis of this book.  With GREAT Literary license (I am not sure he could have done it any other way), Chris Stewart tries to portray what that Pre-Earth Life could have looked like. Although the facts are few and the illustration is grand, the lesson was not lost on me.  

For days, I have been wrapped up, trying so hard to REMEMBER what it must have been like.   Searching my life for any evidence that that pre-mortal life remains with me.  Although hard to see in myself, it is so easily seen in my kids.  Each of them came with TOTALLY DIFFERENT interests, talents, and skills. Gary can kick a ball farther than any of them, out run all of them, and SMILE at the same time.  Same can sit down at the piano and play a song for the first time as if he had played it before 1,000's of times. Ally can take the LEAD in any situation and has a determination unmatched.  

I told Jared the other night that I am loving this time in our lives.  It is so fun to watch the kids "unveil" and develop.  To be completely honest, I cannot look at myself and say that I came with any great talent, something that came easy to me.  Most everything I have done has come with effort.  And there are very few things that really capture my attention....Well, there is one.  

This Christmas, my sister Patti said to me, (as I was asking her about her calling), "Kathryn, can we please talk about something besides Church!"  And because this was not the first time she has said it to me, I finally just told her, "Patti, that is what I love talking about the most.  It is what excites me!"  As boring as that may seem.  It is true.  The other day I read a scripture in Alma that had the phrase "the affections of your heart!"  I loved that!  The affections of my heart have always been on the doctrines of the scriptures, the prophets, and the Savior!  That is where my loyalties lie.  

I cannot over emphasize how grateful I am to know that there was a life before this life....that there will be life after this life.  When I make decisions based in that framework, there is light.  When I make a decision based on now, not forever, there is darkness.  I love the light!  

And then there was Channeling!

When Ally was born and screamed the entire ride home from the hospital.  We knew she had lungs.  The next few years, it became apparent that she had the will to match the lungs.  When she was a Sunbeam (class for three year olds in our church) her teacher gave me a parenting book.  To which I was devastated.  But it only confirmed one thing for me.  No one could ever make her do anything she didn't want to do.

During the first 10 years of her life, I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the many variations of the following phrase, "She is so strong willed, now if you can just channel that, it will work out so well."  So we have been trying to channel - whatever that means, in the best way we know how for many many years.

This past week, I was so grateful for her "strong-will" that I wanted to share.  It seems that the fifth grade class had an outbreak of cheating.  Some may call it a little deal, but to me, cheating is never little.

Some of her friends confronted her to "let her in" on the cheating ring.  She was appalled.  And without any social graces at all, asked, "What are you doing?"....."No I won't do that!  I am a Mormon!"  And then, she knew that she needed to let the teachers know that the majority of the class was sharing answers to the test. She recounted it to me this way, "Mom, as Bailey and I were walking down the hall, all the kids were telling us we were stupid and they wouldn't be our friends any more.  And I just thought!  I don't care if I have friends!   This is wrong."  And then there was channeling!

 I was proud!  I never knew how much I would love having strong-willed children (oh and by the way, her other great accomplishment this week is to fit the words of Angels We Have Heard on High to the Theme Song of Harry Potter....strong-willed and talented :)

Another high-light of the week came when Sam was making his lunch on Thursday night.  He and I were the only ones in the kitchen when he said, "Mom!  People are so foolish!"  (Come to find out, that day they had discovered the many theories of evolution)

"Why do you say that Sam?"

"Mom, they think we came from monkeys, or bugs.....or worst of all, just appeared!"

"You don't think that Sam?"

"No! Mom!  For Heaven's sake!  Can't they find their pedigree chart!"

Now you make take that as face value, and say he doesn't really understand!  But Sam understands!  He gets it!  As I thought about it for the next few days, I knew he really did get it!

This week being a parent is awesome!  We will see what next week holds :)

Libro Numero Uno :)

When I teenage-ish, I was a HUGE goal setter.  Every New Years, I would write down my list of 20 or so goals on a cute piece of paper in my best handwriting and place them carefully in my journal.  I would check back on the piece of paper all through the month of January, then I wouldn't see it again until the next January, until it was time to find some more cute paper and write down the same 20 goals, with even cuter handwriting than the previous year.

When I met Jared, he was ANTI- new year's resolutions, "If there is something to change, why wait until the New Years to do it?"  he would say.  And I am not sure, but I think he may have heard that one form his dad :)  So my goal setting stopped, and I started focusing on the NOW.

A quote that really helped me came from last April's Ensign.  President Eyering was talking about what should happen during the Sacrament, "I have found in that moment (during the Sacrament) that God can give us what feels like a personal interview.  He brings to my attention what I have done that PLEASES HIM.  my need for REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS, and the NAMES and FACES of people He would have me serve for Him."

This has become my New Years RESOLUTIONS, plan, and follow up all rolled up into one nice little package.  AND IT HAPPENS EVERY WEEK, not just in January.  I feel the things my CHARACTER has to work on, are slowly changing over time and I am grateful.

But Alas, this year, I did set some goals, and that is the real point of this post.  I set goals with numbers on them.  Things that need to be quantified (indexing, maybe weight, and definitely dates with the husband :) so that I could say at the end of 2014 that I wasn't wasting away my days of probation.

One time I was given a blessing which admonished me to read good literature.  I do, but not nearly often enough.  This year I have made the goal to read 24 books.  The first one I read over the break.

Elizabeth Smart, My Story!  It was an interesting experience.  I had to read it in one day.  As I got into it, and beheld the horror, I told Jared, "I cannot stop until I get to a happy place."  Which did come, but not until the final chapters of the book.

This book was incredible!  Well written and tastefully done.  About a girl who was thrust into darkest confines that this life probably has to offer, yet she could still see through eyes of faith.  She had had 14 years of "light" when she saw the darkness, she could judge between the two.  Differently, than myself, she kept reminding herself what light was like, what happiness felt like.  Sometimes I am quick to jump into the black and grey and wallow in its 50 shades.  Not her!

At the tender age of 14, (and perhaps everyday of the rest of her life) she had contrast the two, and make a choice.  Quite simply, she chose light, she chose happiness.

What follows Christmas...Spring Cleaning OF COURSE!

We had a FABULOUS Christmas.  It was so good to be with family, and snow, and fireplaces, and peanut brittle, made by someone other than me.  It was good to go to Church with my family (I LOVE that) and to see my nieces and nephews, who I adore, and adore even more when they grow taller than me :)

Jared surprised me with a Kitchen Aid, and I surprised him with a picture of us, and a poem Photoshoped on top of it, that he wrote for me and read to me when we got engaged.  It was TENDER, and he CRIED, a reaction, I have never gotten out of him :)  The reaction from my sister Patti, who is pretty much REACTION-LESS when it comes to presents, was not as good, to say the least.

We played so hard, and lost so much sleep, that we came home DRAINED.  Sledding and snowmobiling for hours on end (and chatting, maybe sometimes (maybe sometimes getting into heated conversations about common core...that all ended well) can be EXHAUSTING.  To top it all off, Jared and I have been a little concerned about future plans, so what did we do.  We came home and SPRING CLEANED our entire house.  It was AWESOME!  I loved every minute of it.  That is a lie.

However, I love my house, I love its organization, and I love to live simply :)  Life is good.

I encountered a situation last night that I have yet to encounter in my first 11 years of parenting.  I was tucking Joe into bed, and (as always) it was a struggle to get him to say his prayers.  I finally said, "Joe, Jesus will be so sad."  To which he said,  "Mom, Jesus died.  He may be alive somewhere else now, but He isn't here, and He can't see me saying my prayers."

I honestly had no idea what to say to Him.  I was dumbfounded.  Finally I just told him, "Joe, I know you can't see Him, but He can ALWAYS see you, and he can ALWAYS hear you."

Maybe this parenting thing is more than I was cut out for.  I have never even contemplated the fact that He might not be able to hear me.  He always feels so close....like Christmas 365 days a year.  Joe is 5. Joe is going to be fine, life just takes practice, experience, and belief.  However, I may not be fine, I don't know if my heart can take this for the rest of my life...