11-11-11

I love Mothers' Day!  I love thinking about my own mother and the wonderful job she and dad did raising me and six siblings.  I love thinking of my grandmothers and remembering the special things they did for us their grandchildren.  I love remembering what is was like to be a mother of young children and of teenagers.  I love watching our 3 daughters with their young children.  I appreciate my mother-in-law because she raised my husband do be the good man that he is.  I love to watch my sisters as mothers and grandmothers and learn from their examples.  I really do marvel at the institution of mothering and applaud all the good that mothers do in the world.  Sure, there are less than perfect mothers who do less than perfect things, but that is not my focus today.  I want to celebrate and remember THE GOOD that the mothers do who have influenced my life.
Here are a few things I remember:
Grandma Fuhriman - she was a small woman who was strong in many ways, she always colored her hair, she always looked nice and wore jewelery and dressed up when she went out, she was a wonderful cook and make candy, cookies, pies and cake, she bought me Paint My Number when I would visit her in the summer and give me money to go to the store, she took me to the Capitol Theater to the move with lunch at the Bluebird, she gave us lovely Christmas presents and had an extended family Christmas party most years, she worked hard on the dry farm every summer cooking for the family and hired men, she wanted all her grandchildren to get along and have fun together, she served at the Logan temple for many years, she made me a beautiful satin hand-stitched quilt, she knew how to tat, she was widowed at a young age and made the best of her circumstances, she loved her children and grandchildren and we all knew it.
Grandma Mayme - she was a tall woman who worked hard her whole life, it was easy to talk to her and she was always ready with a hug and encouraging words, she was a wonderful cook who make amazing desserts, salads and main dishes from scratch, she taught me how to play Rook and Parcheesi, I loved to sleep over at her house because the sheets always smelled so fresh and the covers weighed a ton in the basement bedroom, she often used an outhouse and was very frugal but very generous, she had a garden and bottled fruit by the ton, she was a postmaster and it was fun to visit her in the one-room post office with a pot belly stove as the heat source, it was always wonderful to visit her and gather around her kitchen table for a meal, she knew how to crochet and she made 100s of crochet items, she made me a purple and white floral quilt, she loved her family and worked endlessly to take care of their needs, she taught through her example how to be strong and do hard things.
Grandma Mary - she learned how to work hard as a young girl and she has worked hard her whole life, she is a caregiver and loves taking care of people, she has served others in the church and community and has worked to lift the burden of those in need, she has experienced great joy and happiness and she has known her share of heartbreak and trial - yet she perseveres through it all, she is joyful and fun to be around, she loves to get out and go and see  and experience new things, she is easy to be with and it is always good to talk to her, she is wise and knows what to do, she gives good advice, she gives people the benefit of the doubt, I love that she got to spend last week with us so that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren could get to know her better, she loves her children and their families and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she is a strong link in the generational chain and I'm so proud of her and so happy to call her mother.
All these women have excelled at mothering.  All these women are women of faith and courage.  All these women taught us how to live life well and how to be strong, compassionate, kind, and loving and I'm so grateful for their wonderful examples.

Value colored M & M's

We had a fun mutual activity last week for Personal Progress with our Young Women group. I bought a BIG bag of M & M's from Costco and proceeded to group them by colors. Did you know that all the Personal Progress value colors are in a bag of M & M's except for white, purple and gold? Those extra colors can be found at Zuchers and purchased by weight to make the 8 value colors complete. I put the separated M & M's in tall stemmed glasses and had the girls use a small scoop to put about 4-5 of each color in the little clear containers. Once they had some of each, I asked them to name the value that each color represented before eating the M & M. If they could recite the definition or give the reference for the scripture, they got to refill their cup. They enjoyed reviewing/learning the value colors this way and it made for a fun activity.
I love the Young Women values and what they represent. If every young woman truly understood and believed in these values and then let them guide her life, she would be so much more successful and happy. They are core teachings that will help any person ground their life to timeless values. Click on each value to learn more:

• Faith

• Divine Nature

• Individual Worth

• Knowledge

• Choice and Accountability

• Good Works

• Integrity

• Virtue

Now...what do I do with all those left over BROWN M & M's???

Are we improving as the years go by?

Rick and I have been having this discussion lately...

Are we better people now than we were 30 years ago?
Have we made improvements over the last 20 years?
10 years?
Since last week?
We go through all the motions of being good members
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints.
We're good Christians.
We go to church.
We serve others.
We read our scriptures.
We're honest and hard working.
We try really hard to keep the commandments.
We pray.
We try.
But are we gaining ground?

Are we becoming better people with more Christ-like hearts?
Do we criticize less?
Do we judge less?
Do we give people the benefit of the doubt?
Do we love those who are hard to love?
Do we help and serve those who are hard to serve?
Are we self-absorbed?
Are we self-righteous?
Do we think we're better than others in any way?
Do we think our ways are the only right ways?
Are we impatient?
Are we uncharitable?

This is the real challenge.
To change our hearts.
To not just go through the motions, but to actually change.

1 Samuel 16: 7 - But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature;... for the Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Why do we spend so much time looking at/caring about the appearance of ourselves
and of that of other people?
Why do we worry about our stature in life as it compares to the stature of other people?
This is not the way the Lord will measure us.
These things don't matter to Him.
He will look on our hearts.
Are we improving as the years go by to be to be measured by the Lord?

Kids take their Halloween candy very seriously

You can take the girl out of Idaho, but you can't take Idaho out of the girl

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is to return to the place was I was raised. Rupert, Idaho. I can't adequately explain how it makes me feel to return Rupert to visit my sister and her husband. Out of the seven children in our family who were raised there, she is the only one who remains. Driving back into town is like going into a time machine. Not much changes in Rupert. Many of the same places we use to frequent are still there. Just driving around town conjurers up so many memories of people, events and places where we lived out our lives for more than 30 years. Rick and I took a long tour around town and saw so many of the places I use to go when I was young. He was such a good sport and seemed genuinely interested in listening to me chatter on about this and that. The smells, the sights, and the sounds (or lack of sound, just peace and quiet) reminded me of my childhood. Harvest was in full swing and we saw HUGE mounds of sugar beets, fields ready to be harvested and huge storage bins for grain and potatoes. The "Sugar Factory" where the sugar beets are processed was in full swing and the distinctive odor permeated the air. I haven't smelled that smell for quite awhile. If you've always wondered how they get sugar from sugar beets and sugar cane, read this summary. Sugar beets are tough and hardy and can be bounced around and even stored on the bare ground for a period of time until they go through the factory for refining. Potatoes are a different story. They are treated with the utmost care and are often harvested and put to bed during the winter months until the next spring them they are processed and many of them are turned into French Fries.
Check out this farmer's blog for a descriptive narrative and pictures of what a potato harvest is all about. Interesting stuff!
We came home with 100 pounds of those lovely Idaho spuds, compliments of Tim E. and his lovely wife Cari. They were so kind to visit with us and to take us out to their potato cellar and tell us more about how things are done on a potato farm.

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