We pulled off a great surprise as we traveled stealthily many hours to see our daughter Claire for her 30th birthday. She didn't know we were coming. We didn't know we were going until just a few days before. Call it an act of pure spontaneity. Rick hadn't see Claire & R and their little girl Skippy since early December. He hadn't seen Jord and Jake and their family since Christmas. He found out that J&J and girls would be visiting Claire and he suggested that we hop in the car and head down to celebrate with Claire AND see our little grand girls and their parents. It was a no brainier. Off we went. We drove for six hours, slept in a hotel and then drove another three hours arriving at the restaurant where they were all having breakfast on a Saturday morning. We stayed in town for 26 hours and then we drove the nine hours back home again. Crazy, but very fun! Grandpa Rick enjoyed playing with the girls and entertaining them with stories, songs, a few little gifts and activities.
I'll admit that I've very interested in them. Politics that is. Maybe my interest started in high school when I took US Government & Debate. Maybe it was visiting the Idaho State Capitol when I was in high school and watching the legislature in session and learning about how laws are made. Maybe it was marrying my husband who had a father who was very active in politics. Maybe it was going to Washington DC on a couple of occasions and feeling the great spirit of that place. Maybe it was in reading about our government and the leaders in our country in the newspaper online most every day and realizing the power that is in their hands to affect our lives for the better or for the worse. Maybe it was being involved in the planning commission in our town and seeing how city governments are managed and how things get done. Whatever the reason, I'm just interested. I follow the national scene. I follow the state scene. I follow the city scene. Somehow I got elected to represent our voting precinct as chair at the next county and state conventions coming up in April. I had to stand up in front of 120 people or so and state my political views. Evidently those views are held by others in our precinct. I'm looking forward to participating in our state and country government process. I'm looking forward to adding a vote for a MODERATE Republican approach in Utah. I'm tired of the ultra-conservatives having their way all the time. I'm tired of various groups taking the GOP platform and turning in into something that is unrecognizable. I'm tired of hearing from the Eagle Forum and their ultra-conservative views and for having them hijack the party. I don't think the Tea Party movement has had a positive affect on our country. I think it's time for moderates to stand up and be heard. Now I'm receiving three or four phone calls from pollsters a day to find out how I feel about different candidates and different political issues and problems facing our nation. I'm receiving lots of fliers and mailings from the candidates trying to sway my vote their direction. I'm going to various neighborhood meetings to meet the candidates and hear their views. If they're ultra- conservative or extreme constitutionalists, I'm not going that direction. My belief is that if we're going to get anything done in this country, then we absolutely HAVE to meet in the middle. Neither the liberals or the conservatives get the luxury of having it their way. If we are going to succeed, I believe that we have to talk. Compromise. Work together. Give some. It may be an overly simplistic political view, but nothing else seems to be working so maybe the politicians should give cooperation a try. One can hope! There are really only two issues that I personally have strong feelings about. One is against abortion. Another is the holding on to traditional views of what constitutes a marriage. Our country is too great to have it ripped in two by the uncompromising voices on either end of the spectrum . We've almost become our own worst enemies. We need to do what is in the best interest of the nation. I'm with Mitt Romney. More jobs. Less debt. Smaller government. and... No Obama.
For a link to Mormonism 101: FAQ go to this link. Scroll down to the bottom of that link to see this graphic in a readable version. It's pretty interesting! I'm a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint and it influences my life in positive ways every day.
My niece Madison got married last Friday night. Rick performed the ceremony and it was a lovely affair. My sister Carol (the brides mother) did a wonderful job as hostess and we all enjoyed ourselves. Madi married her sweetheart Doug and we hope they live happily every after! She looked beautiful in her wedding dress. Her little daughter (pictured above) was one of the darling flower girls and she performed her duties as well as could be expected of a 2 year old. I'm happy for Madi and hopes that she enjoys her new life happily married. All the best to you Doug and Madi. We love you and we're very happy for you!
A few weeks ago we attended a youth activity in our area. A musical number was announced and we watched a young high school age boy go up to the microphone and another young man get his violin ready to play. They were accompanied by a pianist. Rick and I thought it would be a typical youth musical number and waited to hear what they would perform. We weren't expecting what happened next...the young man who sang literally took our breath away. He had an absolutely clear and beautiful voice and he sang the song Savior, Redeemer of my Soul with such feeling that it brought tears to my eyes. He sounded very much like the male artist in the last clip included below. The text was written by Orson F. Whitney many years ago and the music was added to the text and written by Rob Gardner for the musical called Joseph Smith, the Prophet.
This kind of music really touches my heart. I hope you enjoy a beautiful piece of music with such meaningful words. I add my love for the Savior to this message and hope you can feel the spirit of it as I did. "Never can I repay thee, Lord. But I can love thee."
Savior, Redeemer of my soul,
Whose mighty hand hath made me whole,
Whose wondrous pow'r hath raised me up
And filled with sweet my bitter cup!
What tongue my gratitude can tell,
O gracious God of Israel.
Never can I repay thee, Lord,
But I can love thee. Thy pure word,
Hath it not been my one delight,
My joy by day, my dream by night?
Then let my lips proclaim it still,
And all my life reflect thy will. CHOIR
O'errule mine acts to serve thine ends.
Change frowning foes to smiling friends. Chasten my soul till I shall be
In perfect harmony with thee.
Make me more worthy of thy love,
And fit me for the life above.22
The first clip is from the musical Joseph Smith, the Prophet and you can read more about it here. I've included two versions to listen to. One is performed by a female artist with a full orchestra and choir and the other is the version that can be heard at the conclusion of the movie 17 Miracles. by a male artist. Both are wonderful. (The song starts at the 2 minute 14 second marker.)
I just spent a week in Arizona with our kids and their families. There are five things I really loved about this last visit:
1. Meeting Dave and Courtney's little Charlie, spending time with him and introducing him to more family members.
2. Watching our kids as parents. There are few things I love more than this.
3. Spending time with our full-0f-energy grand girls and enjoying their activities, observations and chit chat. 4. Enjoying fabulous weather: eating on the patio, enjoying some yogurt after haircuts, taking in the palm trees and green grass, helping Jord with some projects, eating lunch with Lauren at school and going on a walk with the girls on their bikes. 5. Jord and Courtney and I also got some things done, like making an Easter craft, sewing a car seat cover for Charlie, making some freezer meals for Dave and Courtney and organizing their freezer and helping Jordan empty and fill her water storage barrels and pick and juice grapefruit and lemons. I really enjoy working/playing with these young moms and dads. It was a great week and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
I enjoyed a birthday today. It was such a fun day, but 1st, a recap of the previous days:
Friday night Rick and I went to the temple and then he took me out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants - Thai Mango. I love me some Thai food.
Saturday I spend the day with my friend Marcy who came to visit from Cali. She is my 5th sister. I love her so much and she is such a great friend. She gave me an awesome purple jacket, scarf and hat and I much say that I love it. We drove to SLC and spent the day looking around. We went to the church history museum and she enjoyed that a lot since she had never been there. We wandered around temple square, check out the almost complete City Creek center, ate a delicious lunch at Blue Lemon and then hopped on Trax and went down to the Gateway to poke around (another place she had heard about but never seen.) In honor of the 10 year anniversary of the SLC Olympics, I went to the Olympic volunteer board and showed her the names of Claire and Rich and his sister Max engraved on the wall. I still think that is pretty cool that they got to be Olympic volunteers. That evening we returned to Provo and picked up Rick to go to the Covey Center to attend the Kurt Bestor & David Lanz concert. It was wonderful! Two pianists just doing their thing. They are so talented and I love that New Age sound they create and some of their melo compositions. Great evening.
Sunday I made dinner and Rick's parents came over to eat along with nephew JRE and niece Brooke along with Andy and his friend Alex. We enjoyed a lovely meal and a rousing game of THINGS at the end with Grandpa Vern stealing the show. We had some great laughs.
Monday, was by actual birthday and it started out when I opened the door and found my exercise buddy Patsy standing there with a gift. All the ladies at Pilates sang happy birthday to me and wished me well. I had some nice surprises at work along with some well wishes as I advance in the aging process, and Andy brought me flowers and took me to Zupas for lunch. That was so sweet of him because he knows that I love those two things...fresh flowers and lunch at Zupas. After work I went and got a pedicure in preparation for my trip to AZ. Rick gave me a new purse and that afternoon I went and picked it out. Love what I found. I met Andy and Rick at Los Hermanos for dinner and we enjoyed a lovely meal complete with fried ice cream for dessert. It was so nice to receive cards, calls, texts, Facebook messages and gifts from friends both far and near. I must say that I felt really loved and it certainly filled my cup. Thanks to all who made my 57thBD a special day!
And the best part is that I get to travel to AZ in a few days to meet new grandson Charlie, visit Dave and Courtney, Jord & Jake and their girls, my Mom and brother Paul and his wife DeNae. Great times are ahead.
Click on the link above and check out this great story about a generous gift that was given to a school in our area. OES, the BEST! Wow, who wouldn't love receiving $100,000 for new computers in any elementary school? Way to go Ellen and Target. That's pretty impressive that they are awarding that amount to 50 different schools. That's $5,000,000 going out to deserving schools across the country. Impressive!
We pulled off a great surprise as we traveled stealthily many hours to see our daughter Claire for her 30th birthday. She didn't know we were coming. We didn't know we were going until just a few days before. Call it an act of pure spontaneity. Rick hadn't see Claire & R and their little girl Skippy since early December. He hadn't seen Jord and Jake and their family since Christmas. He found out that J&J and girls would be visiting Claire and he suggested that we hop in the car and head down to celebrate with Claire AND see our little grand girls and their parents. It was a no brainier. Off we went. We drove for six hours, slept in a hotel and then drove another three hours arriving at the restaurant where they were all having breakfast on a Saturday morning. We stayed in town for 26 hours and then we drove the nine hours back home again. Crazy, but very fun! Grandpa Rick enjoyed playing with the girls and entertaining them with stories, songs, a few little gifts and activities.
