Of Good Report

Today was a perfect Thanksgiving Eve day. The kids helped me to clean the house since we are hosting dinner tomorrow. I made two pies. The boys went on a 4-wheeler ride in the hills behind us. It was a gorgeous, sunny day. I am especially grateful that Taylor was able to go. Sarah played with her friend Lydia, pretty much all afternoon. Emma, Estelle and I went shopping. We bought each of the girls a pretty black and red dress. I bought a red sweater to wear with a black skirt I already own. We are going to be matchy, matchy on Sunday. Destry worked hard for us. He worked late last night hoping he could leave early tonight, but it didn't work out. We are all gathered around watching a movie with a few friends. This is what life is about and I am very grateful.

I am so glad I live where there are mountains. I love driving down the street outside my neighborhood and looking over at Mt. Timpanogos and Utah Lake. I love nature and the varied beauty that this earth offers each of us.

I am grateful for Family Home Evening. I am grateful for prophets who have encouraged church members to set Monday night aside from other activities in order to have quality family time. I love that my kids are old enough to have meaningful discussions. Poor Sarah has to put up with it, she is only 7. I love our activities and our traditions and rituals surrounding Monday nights. I have a feeling that watching the new episode of Studio C is going to become a regular part of our Monday nights. The kids and Destry really enjoy watching it and I really enjoy watching them watch it, so we are all happy. I am not perfect at many things, but I can proudly say that I guard my Monday nights for family time nearly perfectly. My kids enjoy it too, even the teenagers participate without complaint.

I am grateful that I live in a place where I can experience all four seasons. I love the feeling of renewal and rebirth that spring brings. I love the summer sun and that my kids are home. I love the colors and smells of autumn and the crisp morning air followed by the warm afternoons. I love winter for about a week. I doesn't feel like Christmas unless it is cold and the earth is blanketed in snow. Ok, I could do winter for maybe two months, December and January and in my Camelot that is all we have. I actually love change and the changing seasons revives me and gives me one more thing to look forward to.

I am grateful that I can receive Priesthood blessings. As a child my dad would give us a blessing before school started each year and when we were sick. My husband does the same for our children. When I get a new church calling a member of the bishopric gives me a blessing to give me guidance for the calling and in other areas of my life. I have asked for blessing when I have had a question or felt overwhelmed by the demands of life. Right now I am in the overwhelmed part of needing a blessing. I have the opportunity to do many things in the next year. They are all good things, and indeed I do consider them all to be blessings, but I just hope I have the capacity to fulfill them. Motherhood alone can be too much. It is my top priority and my top choice of where I want to spend my time. Even though my kids are getting older, I do not feel like they need my time or attention any less than they did when they were younger. I am the Primary chorister, something I love doing. I love the ...

For the past three or four years my sweet mother-in-law has taken all the adult girls in the family to Time Out For Women. Deseret Book sponsors an event that features popular LDS speakers and musical artists who share their talents and inspirational messages. They do this in several cities throughout the United States throughout the year. It is always at the end of November when the finish their tour in Salt Lake.  We always have a great time. I get a break from the kids and Claudia, JuNette, Whitney and I get a little big girl bonding time. Claudia pays for us to stay in a hotel. It is a mini vacation for all of us that I think we all look forward to. Last year we even had our picture in a newspaper article with cute Claudia front and center. We got to hear from Sherrie Dew and Ann Romney at the same time. This year I am looking forward to Noel Pikus-Pace. We are heading out this afternoon. I will be able to pick up the kids from school, get them organized then enjoy ...

I love to sing! Especially songs of testimony of my Savior. I love to hear other people sing praises to God as well. I am grateful for music and its ability to uplift and inspire. I am grateful for opportunities to sing by myself and with others. I am grateful for composers and poets so I have something to sing.

Today three of my children benefitted by the Church of Jesus Christ's youth activities. Estelle went to Activity Days. A program for 8-11 year old girls. They get together twice a month for hands-on learning. Estelle loves it. Today they made Thanksgiving center pieces. they are very cute. Emma went to Young Women's. She gets to go every Wednesday. Sometimes she meets with the 12 and 13 year old girls, sometimes she gets together will all the girls who are 12-18. Once a month their activity includes the 12-18 year old boys. Spencer went to his Young Men/Scouting activity. Taylor would have gone had he been healthy. I am grateful for the dedicated adult leaders who sacrifice their time to allow my children to have experiences that I could not provide for them alone. They are loved and shown skills and values that reinforce what we do at home. They get to have a social activity and learn practical and spiritual skills. Life gets busy with everyone's schedules, but on the ...

Today I am thankful the Grandpa Leon stopped by in time for dinner and especially that he went to Emma's game and saw her make two baskets! Her team was tied in the fourth quarter and Emma made two of the three baskets that helped them win the game.

This was going to be a post about Taylor and his healthy days, but the truth is, I am grateful for any day that any of my family is healthy. Up until 6-7 months ago Taylor has been sick for almost as many days as he has been healthy. He had a pretty good summer and early fall. Even the girls were keeping track of his good health streak. He missed a week of school a couple of weeks ago; he is still trying to recover academically. And we are headed to see Dr. Yeates, asthma and immunology specialist, today. It means we are heading into a few days of prednisone, which means we are headed into uberhigh blood sugars, tons of insulin, calls to Dr. Lindsay, his endocrinologist, ketones, and every two hour round the clock blood checks. I seriously have to get myself emotionally psyched up for it. I always say a prayer before I give him the first dose. And continue to pray. All day. And night. Anyway, back to the gratitude. I am grateful for prayer and that I can ...

I am thankful for babies, and the mothers who share theirs with me now that I don't have any of my own. As we were seated on our regular pew waiting for Sacrament Meeting to start, or friends walked in with their five young children and sat in front of us. Julie, the mom, took her baby out of the carrier and I snatched him from her before she could sit down. My girls quickly surrounded me, ok, I really mean the baby. They oohed and awed and asked to hold him. No, they could not. He snuggled right up and within minutes was fast asleep. I love sleeping babies most of all. Wyatt was warm and sweet and I loved every minute I got to spend with him. He woke up when there was only about 15 minutes left in the meeting. He seemed content and I decided not to be a complete "baby hog" so I let Estelle hold him. She loved every minute of it. I love watching my own children as they learn to nurture. She was gentle and patient. After about 10 minutes he started to squirm a bit so I h...

I guess I missed a day of gratitude. As I was viewing my posts I noticed that there are only 14 posts this month and today is the 15th, so here is my makeup post.  I have been taking online classes to get a real estate license. I attended a live review all day Thursday. I just need to study and then, find a broker to sign on with, pay a few fees, pass the test, then get started. I am nervous and excited to be starting a new chapter of my life!

I went to Emma's 9:00 a.m. basketball game this morning. She has a great team and coach this year. It was fun to watch them win. Her team this year is the reverse of last. They have not only won her first two games, but creamed them. Last year they got creamed. When I got home I was greeted by the smiles and sounds of four little neighbor girls who where gathered in the kitchen along with my two little girls making hot chocolate and eating waffles. When everyone had eaten their fill the breakfast party quickly turned into a "Frozen" music freeze dancing party. (I think Destry was glad he had a place to go). I loved it. I took a picture of their smiling hot chocolate faces with my phone and another of their smiling, dancing bodies with my heart. I love the pure joy of living in the moment that children are so good at demonstrating. They were free and connected to each other at the same time. I remembered the times when my boys were younger and their version of this kin...

I am grateful for my body. It works. It walks, talks, thinks, learns, and does pretty much anything I would like it to. It has changed over the years and I am grateful for that too. I am most grateful that it has borne five children. It continues to love, nurture and care for them.

I am grateful for Christmas music. In November. It warms me on the inside when it is cold outside.

Tonight I had the privilege of attending Young Women in Excellence, an annual recognition night to honor and share what the Young Women in the ward have accomplished. My new Young Woman was at my side. It was great to attend with her and know will be attending these meetings for the next 11 years. It is very different than scouting and I'm not gonna lie, I'm looking forward to the change. I'm grateful for what the scouting program has done for my boys and I'm grateful we are at the end of those years. I am also grateful to find out all that the Young Women's program will do for my girls.

Today, of course, I am grateful for the veterans who have fought for our country. I am especially grateful for my Dad who served in the Army as a cook during the Korean War. He continued to serve in the National Guard for many years afterwards. My Father-in-law, Leon Crump, served in the Viet Nam War. It was an experience that changed him forever. My other Father-in-law, Joseph Macdonald, joined the Navy and was a "sonar man" on submarines. He learned a lot from his experience and likes to share things with Destry. I am grateful that my children are patriotic and that their school teaches them to be grateful for the veterans who served our country. Yesterday for family home evening we talked about our grandfathers who served either in the Army or the Navy and we made cards to send to them to thank them. The girls came home from school having read a book that taught them the symbolism of setting a table with a white tablecloth, black napkin and a red rose with an empty chair...

I am grateful for schools and teachers and mentors I have had throughout my life. I am grateful I was able to home school my children for a time and I am also grateful for the schools they are currently attending. They have had (mostly) good teachers who have enriched their lives.

I am grateful for my calling as Primary chorister. The children bless my life. 

I am grateful for the easy access to information, goods and services that the internet provides. Digital scripture study is the best thing to happen to my scripture study habits. I love the ease of cross referencing and the ability to read conference talks, the Ensign, the scriptures as well as a whole library of Church reference materials. I love online shopping. When I order Christmas gifts I feel like I get Christmas twice. Once when the package arrives and again when the gift is given. I am not a huge fan of shopping, and if it were always cost effective I think I would purchase everything online. I love the access to information that the internet provides. I makes helping my kids do research so much easier. I can look up symptoms of illness, find a recipe, get homework help, checkout a dictionary and so much more. Keeping in touch with friends and family through social media and email is also a blessing to me. I know that I cannot believe everything on the internet and tha...

I was blessed to grow up in a large family. Being the oldest of six children, at the very least, taught me to have patience. We had to compromise and share, take turns and support each other. I had participants, often unwilling ones, for my plays and shows and circuses. There was always someone around to play with or go exploring with, if we were camping. I went to many "a" baseball game and they got to enjoy many "a" jazz hand at "Hi's" performances. These days we get to come together to visit and watch our own offspring play with each other. Cousins are great to, but that may be a post for another day. For the longer distanced ones we get to Skype and talk on the phone and look forward to visits from them while hoping that some day we will get to visit them. I think that the time I was most thankful for having a lot of siblings was when our beloved father passed away. We mourned together, planned together and remembered together. A favorite activ...

I love art in all its forms. One only needs to look around to discover that beauty is important to God. This earth is varied and beautiful. I am equally grateful for the works of the master painters as I am the works that adorn my walls created by the hands of my children. I am grateful for music and painting, photography and the beauty of words. I am grateful for theater and poetry and prose. My mother-in-law creates works of art in the form of quilts An online dictionary defines art as: : something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings :   skill acquired by experience, study, or observation <the art of making friends> 2 a :   a branch of learning: (1) :   one of the humanities (2) plural :   liberal arts b archaic :   learning , scholarship 3 :   an occupation requiring knowledge or skill <the art of organ building> 4 ...

Twelve years ago on October 22, I got to be the mother of an adorable baby girl. She is still adorable and I cannot believe that she has hit that milestone. It has been on my mind since January when we attended New Beginnings, a Young Women's meeting to introduce the girls who will be 12 that year and give a basic plan for the year.    I have had mixed feelings about this birthday. She graduated from Primary, received her "Faith In God" award, can babysit, thinks she is old enough to wear mascara, plays basketball, is funny, responsible, on the student council at Thunder Ridge Elementary, and just super awesome. It is fun to talk to her. We have more "mature" conversations. Her circle of friends is growing and it is fun to watch them grow up as well. Some of them I have known for almost as long as I have known her, others are new. She is on the quiet side and is not part of most of the drama that goes on among some of the other girls--hooray! She has...

Hats off to women who raise many boys, especially to those who are parenting them singly. I know that the Spirit will give them an extra measure of assistance to make up for the language barrier, but I am grateful that my husband can help out at our house. He may not be the same age, but at least he is the same species. There have been several occasions when I just don't get it and several others where they (my teenage boys) would rather talk to their dad. I am grateful for the inspired advice he gives to them. Yesterday Destry was prompted to check on things at home while he was sitting on the stand at church waiting to help with the Sacrament. (4 of our 5 children were home for one reason or another). As soon as the Sacrament was over he quickly went home to discover that he was, in fact, needed there. He had a Spiritual discussion with Spencer that blessed both their lives.

This morning was not a whole lot different from any other Sunday morning except that Emma and Estelle both had fevers and stuffy noses so wouldn't be attending church. Taylor got injured yesterday doing a scout activity and didn't feel like going. Spencer was having an emotional moment and was attempting to get ready for church. So really, it should have been an easier morning because I only had Sarah to get ready and she did that pretty much on her own, cheerfully I might add. But I was not feeling particularly repentant and ready to take the Sacrament. In fact, I knew that if I didn't change my tune, I probably shouldn't. I was feeling grumbly and worried about my offspring and I said a quick prayer in my heart for help as I was slapping on makeup two minutes before heading out the door. Destry sat at the Sacrament table because Spencer wasn't the only Priest who wasn't there on time. Sitting there waiting for church to begin my mood had cha...

November is the month for expressing thanks. I am going to try very hard to write something I am thankful for on the blog each day this month. Many posts will be short, I am sure, but I am going for consistency. To begin with I am grateful for the people who help me to enjoy Halloween. It truly is because of the people that I care about that I even care at all about Halloween. I have been known to be a bit of a bum bug, but when I get to make memories with people I love it makes it enjoyable for me. I am grateful that the Halloween parade at the school was just for the "A" trackers, which means that there were half as many students in it. My kids love it and I love to see them and a few neighbor kids too. I am grateful that I got to go to the temple right after the parade. I felt inspired, taught and uplifted. This year I am grateful that my Mom, David, Jessica, and Malcolm joined us for a festive dinner (positioned plates of food in a holes cut into a pair of Destry...