Visitors From China

 In October Jen accomplished the amazing task of traveling all the way from China to our home with Will and June all by herself.  Taylor spent the next 4 weeks traveling throughout Asia with work and participating in bicycle races.  We shared Jen, Will and June with her family but absolutely loved every minute they spent with us.  Here are a few photos taken during their visit.

 While Jen and the kids spent a few days with her sister, we drove to Idaho to see our grandkids in their Primary program. That was so fun.

 Footzone, anyone.  Heather is practicing for her big exam.  She passed with flying colors.  Now she is a professional foot zoner.  She is awesome and I love the opportunity to have her zone my feet whenever possible.

 Halloween night was warm this year.  Steve was excited to trick or treat with Britton, Jenna, Korinne and Jameson.  Willl and June went with their other cousins.

 June loves to hug her Pappa.  They have a special bond.

 Will loved the snow.  We had a couple of random storms during the visit.

Fall Happenings

I hosted a wedding shower for Ali Stringham who was married in the Draper temple on Oct. 20th.

 We listed our Thatcher Way rental property for sale.  We put it under contract several times but finally closed it in December just before Christmas.  We will miss the use of the amazing pool, but I will be on the lookout for another one up north. 

 We enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous autumn scenery as we drove back and forth to our mountain, retirement construction project.

 Here is Steve's long awaited barn under construction.  He loves it and it is the envy of many neighbors.

 Here is the fireplace under construction in the house.  The first one turned out to be awful.  This is our second attempt which is much better.

 We loved our frequent visits with the Campbells and watching Jameson try new things every week.  He was so proud of himself for pulling himself to stand by this stool at about 9 months old.

 We took advantage of a visit from the Marcum clan to move our treadmill out of the basement so we can relocate it to the "barn" for temporary storage.

While they were in town, I went to the Gardner Village Spook Treasure Hunt with them.  It was a fun evening and we were rewarded with yummy cookies from the bakery.

We Can Still Choose In America

 And I chose to get deeply involved in the political process in America in 2012.  I served as a state delegate because my caucus group thought I was knowledgeable.  I was and I became even more so.  I worked hard for Dan Liljenquist so we could send a dynamic conservative back to the Senate in Washington.  I worked hard for Mia Love to send an honest, hardworking conservative to the House in Washington.  Along the way I met lots of other fantastic people who really care about our country and the direction it is going consistently spending way more money that it has.  But alas, the people in our state, foolishly I believe, chose to send back the same representatives who got us into this huge mess. 

I must admit that I have been grieving deeply since November for our country and especially for my children and grandchildren.  I became involved because I wanted to preserve our freedoms and way of life for my children and grandchildren.  I believe that as a nation, we have moved away from our spiritual roots and founding principles and we have allowed our leaders to choose socialistic principles instead.  Too many people representing us have become corrupt, evil and self-serving.  We have allowed it and now many people are embracing the idea of a "nanny state" where the government is all powerful and the people have sacrificed their freedoms and personal responsibility for pottage.  We are allowing and then embracing wickedness to prevail.  We will pay the price for turning away from God and His commandments.  I do believe some good will come from Mitt Romney's run for president, however.  The Lord will use Mitt and Ann's goodness to attract good people to seek the gospel.  Many thanks to them for the indignities they have endured in standing up for righteousness.

12-12-12

I'm way behind on posting to my blog so I always feel like I need to go back and catch everything up. This time is no exception BUT there will not be another day like today, a triple digit day,  during my earthly sojourn so I'll tell about a tender mercy I enjoyed today.
I wanted to do something that made a difference today so I went early to the Oquirrh Mtn Temple. In the waiting area there was a lady reading scriptures as I passed by.  She looked familiar.  After I checked in with the coordinator, I realized that she was Sandra Peterson, an amazing piano teacher who had taught several of my children in their youth. 
I decided that I would take the opportunity to thank her for her service to our children, Heather, Hilary and Taylor.  She remembered each of them and asked what they were doing now.  She still teaches lessons 5 days a wk beginning at 6 a.m. just like she did for our kids. On the day she works in the temple she is up at 4:30.
She is such a dedicated, unique teacher.  She never sat down during a lesson but  always energetically encouraged them--sometimes running back and forth between two students.  She always helped elevate the kids' personal expectations.  She had complete faith in their ability to rise to her expectations too.
She is just the kind of teacher we needed.  Another well known teacher told me that I was simply too late in placing the children in a good music program.  I remembered feeling like such a failure and a bad mother. She refused to take them but told me perhaps Sandy would.  Sandy was delighted to fit them in her busy schedule and worked hard to bring out the best in each child and help them reach their potential and develop their talents.  She was an angel to me then and still is today. 
A few minutes after our brief discussion, I was able to do all my initiatory names with her as an ordinance worker.  How grateful I am for this wonderful teacher and her very positive influence on my children and many others.  A gifted and dedicated teacher changes lives for the better.  She is one of those special people!  It was a delight to re-connect with her in such a sacred place.

Paris Left London...

 Paris returned home from his mission in the London Leeds Mission last week.  Today he spoke in Sacrament Meeting and we went to support him.  Hilary and Adam and their kids drove down after their church so Paris could meet his "cousin and 'brother'", Jameson.  They hit it off right away.  Jameson wanted to play with his glasses but I don't think he liked wearing them.

 I think that today Jameson was as popular with the girls as Paris was--and that's pretty popular.  Girls seemed to flock around both guys.
My sister Cathy holds her newest granddaughter, Lua.  She is Sidnee and Kenny's 2-month old cutie.

 Yesterday, my real estate friend, Jill, and I braved the crowds on the last day of the Brigham City LDS Temple open house.  It is a beautiful temple.  Jill seemed to enjoy the experience.  I loved it!