10 things that happily married couples do

Thanks to Valentines day, February is typically a month to think more about love and romance. There is so much written on the subject, but one thing is clear. Marriage matters for many, many reasons. As marriage drops in popularity in our country, so does the moral fabric of our civilization. I just read this article in Time magazine this morning while I was eating my oatmeal: "We are casting aside the institution of marriage and with it the notion that children should be raised in stable two-parent families. This is a social catastrophe."
To counter that trend, I also read this week another great article about 10 things couples can do to make or keep their marriage strong. I think they are worth mentioning here:

1. Have positive conversations.
2. Show affection.
3. Remember that you are each other’s therapists.
4. Be humble and cultivate Christlike attributes.
5. Date frequently.
6. Enrich your intimacy.
7. Spend time with children and grandchildren.
8. Seek feedback and help each other.
9. Eliminate anger.
10. Be sensitive to each other’s stress levels

My all-time favorite short piece of counsel on marriage came from President Gordon B. Hinckley, who shared this important key to a great marriage: “A happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one’s companion." If you want a happy marriage, do what happily married couples do.

Charlie's adoring fans

Courtney's sister Kim had her baby boy just a few days before Courtney. Her parents have been busy helping both daughters. Another sister is in having a baby in the next few days, so these little cousins will be very close in age. How fun!
We can't wait to meet little Charlie! What darling little boys.

Young Women camp

I've mentioned before that I've spend a goodly amount of time in my life with girls at a summer girls camp up in the mountains not far from here. I'm preparing to go again. I'm pretty sure that this will be my 20th year...yikes!
Our wonderful ward president and I have been attending some camp training. Even though I've been so many times, I always learn something new when I go to a camp training meeting. At the very least, it helps me to remember why we do what we do. As I've mentioned before, it has less to do with actual camping (although we do plenty of that) and more to do with getting the girls out in nature so that they can feel the spirit of our Heavenly Father. These goals really are at the forefront of our preparation and planning for a great experience for our Young Women:

• Draw closer to Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
• Feel the influence of the Spirit.
• Serve others.
• Build friendships and unity.
• Learn skills.
• Appreciate God's creations.
• Have fun!!!
  

Our stake joined together with the surrounding states over 40 years ago to purchase property in the mountains for this purpose. Recently, we were made aware of this fantastic web site that is for all who need ideas for girls camp preparation, as well as containing policies and procedures for this particular Camp Shalom. Check it out here. It's a great resource if you are or will ever be a Young Woman leader who "gets" to go to girls camp. Be sure to scroll through the handout section because it contains a lot of good information.
Plus, we got to listen to this classy and amazing woman and hear her thoughts on the subject. It was truly inspirational.

An enchanted evening

My sweet valentine surprised me with a Friday evening date that was superb! He told me to dress up and be ready to go at 4:30 pm. We drove to SLC. We parked in the new City Creek underground parking lot. We crossed the street and went in to this building:

and enjoyed a lovely dinner at:



complete with a buffet of many delicious foods prepared to perfection. Who doesn't love the Lion House rolls and the creme brulee served there (not to mention the prime rib, honey glazed ham, fresh shrimp, salmon and all the fixings.) We watched the sun set from our birds-eye-view of the Salt Lake City temple. What a romantic evening!

We walked around the temple grounds where we married, browsed in the LARGE and beautiful Deseret Book downtown and than meandered over to this location:

to watch this amazing performance, by this talented group and guest pianist Andre Watts:




The sold out crowd gave a 5 minute standing ovation at the conclusion of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, and the reviewers showered the performance with a praise and a great review.

My oh my...it was some enchanted evening to spend with my sweetheart! He outdid himself this year, seriously.

Introducing...precious little Charlie!

The proud parents...Dave and Courtney. They named their little boy Vernon Charles after their grandfathers and they will call him Charlie. How wonderful! He weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz and was 21" long. He was born on February 11 in the evening. They are going to be/are such wonderful parents. Charlie is such a lucky boy to be born into their loving care.


Dave's sister Jordan paid them a visit and met her new little nephew. He is the first grandson to be born in our family and we are so anxious to meet him.
Isn't he just the sweetest?


Newborns have the best little hands and feet! I just love seeing them. Another little spirit has come to earth and we are so thankful for his safe arrival!

Are you craving some of these? You can order them from SWEET'S candy company in Salt Lake City here.They even offer factory tours. Go ahead and get the 27 pound box! Of course they sell them at the BYU Bookstore by the ton, but in case you can't get there - just place an order.
This would be a good idea for an adventure with the Grand girls when the come to town next, since they give free samples. Hooray for chocolate covered cinnamon bears!

Happy Birthday 6 year old

This sweet girl is good through and through. She reminds me a lot of her mother. Her birthday is today and she turned 6 years old. I love her so much and I love being her Grandma Vonnie!

Strengthen your marriage

Take a look at this marriage web site sponsored by the state of Utah.
Stronger Marriage.org sponsored by Utah Department of Workforce Services, Work & Family Life

The mission of the Utah Commission on Marriage is to
help people form and sustain a healthy and enduring marriage.

There is some great information for dating, engaged, married and divorced couples and for those who are looking to remarry. There are classes and events to attend in various locations across the state. They also offer a free handbook for interested people who live in the state of Utah (all others can buy it for $2.50 or read the online version.) It contains good, good stuff.
I think every marriage has room for improvement, for new ideas and for a little review and introspection, maybe even a little kick start to move in a new and improved direction. Enjoy!

Married 60 years...WOW!

This is the month to think about love and marriage.
My in-laws celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. Just think of it...60 years of marriage. They are to be congratulated. Few people get to that point. Divorce and/or death usually take a toll long before a couple can reach that milestone. The neighbors and ward members in their area sponsored an open house at the church. Hundreds of people came to wish them well. All of their living brothers and sisters came and many nieces, nephews and friends. We thought it was a wonderful recognition that their ward members wanted to do for them, since they have lived in the same neighborhood for over 30 years. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and got to see some people they haven't seen in years.
We appreciate their great example, their good humor, their love and support of one another and their history together that spans decades. What a wonderful legacy they have created for their posterity.

Congratulations to Pat and Vern!

Serious Grandma Vonnie time

There's nothing like a mid-winter visit to see a little grand girl and her parents to pick up my spirits in late January. We had some serious fun and did some things that are really interesting to a two year old.
Such as...
Going to church and to nursery class.
Playing at the "Playland" in town

Enjoying a serious game of SORRY - she almost won.
Playing outside in her little house
Wearing crazy hats

Going to the park and being very brave to cross the scary bridge

Playing Legos and building lots of houses, and laughing out loud while watching Curious George
Going down the slide all alone
Riding her big girl bike and playing on the teeter-totter
I got to tend Skippy one whole day while her parents were working and we had a great time. When I left she said "I go wif you Grandma Vonnie?" and when I said "not this time honey" and got out of the car at the airport, she started to cry. It made me sad (but kind of happy) that she will miss me. We all had such a wonderful 4 days and I can't wait to see her again. Her parents are OK too (although I didn't take one picture of them...oops)

9 minutes 19 seconds that could change your life