A Magical Christmas Gift!

This is an incredible video. I hope you can all see it. This was taken at a Russian Talent Show. These kids are incredible.

Merry Christmas

Dear Family and Friends,

I missed last year for my annual Christmas Newsletter and almost missed this year. Needless to say, a lot has happened in the past two years.

As of our last newsletter dated December 2007 we had some sad news. My father, who came to live with us in January of 2007, passed away on December9, 2007. It was a very spiritual experience for me as I was able to have him in our home for the last year of his life. I knew his time was coming during the final few weeks we had. He wasn’t eating very much the last few days and I knew it was close. On Sunday, Steve went to Church. I felt the need to go sit by his side and hold his hand. Every once in awhile he would squeeze my hand a little. Shortly after Steve got home my Dad took his last breath. He died peacefully in his sleep and I was so grateful I was able to be by his side. He was a loving and gentle father, grandfather and great grandfather. It was truly a wonderful blessing for our whole family to have him with us.

Douhet and Kylee

The most exciting news Douhet and Kylee had during the past two years is the birth of a SON. After four beautiful girls, Griffyn Leavitt Wilcox was born on September 21, 2009. He is adorable and a very sweet baby. Of course, having 5 children in a 2 bedroom house is likely to drive Kylee crazy. We are hoping they will be able to begin work on the “new” house portion of their house this year.

Laila is 11 years old and in middle school. She is growing up so fast and is a great asset to her mom and dad. I can’t believe she will be going into Young Women’s this year. I couldn’t be more pleased with the outstanding young woman she is becoming.

Alyson is 7, soon to be 8. She will be baptized in January (or February depending on when they hold the Stake baptisms.) She is working hard to learn her Articles of Faith before her birthday. She is growing into a beautiful young lady.

Audrey is 5 and started school this fall. She loves being in kindergarten. She likes to learn and works very hard. She is also as “Audrey” as ever. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who can talk as much as Audrey. And Audrey is a typical blond and all the blond jokes apply. She is a sweetheart and a delight to be around.

Kinzley just turned 4. She has the most beautiful wavy hair and very striking features. Douhet is going to have his hands full fighting off the boys with all these beautiful girls. Kinzley is in preschool and doing very well. She is a delightful little girl and growing up so fast.

Season and Sara

The newest addition to this household arrived on January24, 2008. Karsten Ryan Wilcox made is debut at 12:39 AM and checked in at 9 lbs 4oz and 19.5 inches long. He is ALL boy! Season has called him Hurricane Karsten or Dr. Karstvorkian. I can relate to the Hurricane name as we used to call Season “Monsoon”. Dr. Karstvorkian came about after Karsten got blamed for the demise their cat by feeding him dental floss. He is nearly 2 and look how much he has accomplished so far. I always knew Season would get at least one child like he was.

Madison is 6 ½ and a very BIG 6 ½ year old too. She is in first grade and loves to play school. Madison is a ballerina and loves to perform. We have been thrilled to see her in The Toy Shop and Hansel and Gretel over the last two years. She dances very well.

Brooklyn is 4 going on 8. She is very intelligent and seems much older than she is. She just started taking ballet this year and we haven’t seen her in a performance yet. I can hardly wait to see her. She reminds me a lot of Season too, as she always tries to keep up with Madison…which is why she is so smart.

MyLiege and Sean

They have wonderful news. MyLiege and Sean will be expecting number 4 in March of 2010. If the ultra sound is correct they will be having a daughter, much to the delight of Anna. She loves to talk about her little sister.

The other news for this family is they moved to Canby this year. They now have a much bigger house and Sean is much closer to work. Of course that just means he can stay at work longer and still get home at the same time as he used too.

Djeryd was baptized in January 2008. He is the biggest lego fan in the world and is probably going to be some kind of engineer because he loves to build incredible things with his legos. He is also an avid reader. He is a great cub scout and has advanced to the rank of Bear. Djeryd is in the 4th grade.

Erik is 6 and in the first grade. He could also be called Monsoon as he is a VERY busy boy. Sometimes he seems to have no sense of what is going on. He can be told to not do something and he turns around and does exactly what he was told not too. On the other hand, he can be the sweetest, most helpful kid around. Trying to get a balance between behaviors is a real challenge.

Anna is 3 ½ and very much her mother’s daughter. I am amazed at how much of MyLiege I see in her. Not in looks but definitely in actions. She is a delightful little girl with a mind of her own. I think MyLiege is heading into some “challenging” times ahead.

Sierra and Shonee

Sierra and Shonee sold their home and moved to a little “farm” in the country. They are renting to see if they like it. After nearly a year, they decided they are ready to buy again and it looks like they will be moving again in January. I haven’t seen the new house yet, other than pictures. They are hoping it will be the last move for a long while. I can relate to that.

Montana is 10 and in the 5th grade. He is in “virtual” school and doing very well. I believe the move is near the middle school that Sierra wants Montana to go to. He is also a big Lego fan and loves to create Lego characters. Tana is also a writer and has written several books. I honestly believe they should try and get some of them published. They are that good.

Alena was baptized in August. I can’t believe how big she is getting. She reminds me of Sierra more every day. She is older than her years and very grown up. She is also in virtual school in the third grade and doing very well. She got her ears pierced for her 8th birthday. She, too, is a beautiful girl.

Emma Dawn is as precocious as ever. Her beautiful curly hair is very becoming. Because of her birthday in September, she couldn’t start school last year with her cousins so she started kindergarten this year in the virtual school. She is really smart and was already reading chapter books before she started school. Needless to say she has already passed kindergarten and is in first grade with her cousins. She is on track to be completely caught up by the end of the year.

Savannah turned 3 in October. Her best friend is Anna and they love to play together. They don’t get to see each other as often as they would like. Savannah is already learning to read as she tries to keep up with her older siblings.

Steve and Leslee

With the economy in the shape it is many people have been hit hard. We finally succumbed last December and had to close our doors for the final time on The Water Doctor. We were struggling with sales and when the big snow storm hit the Northwest for three weeks it did us completely in.

Through it all we were still able to see the Lord’s hand blessing us everywhere we turned. I was able to get a great job I love working for HawkSoft, Inc. This is a wonderful company owned by my son-in-law, Sean and his father and brother-in-law. I didn’t even really have any down time at all. Steve was also blessed to be able to work for the dealership in Washington that took over our area. He still works with many of our old customers. The only problem is they don’t keep him quite as busy as he would like, but somehow we are managing to stay afloat.

Well, that brings us to a close of another year. We have come to appreciate even more how much family and friends mean to us. We are grateful families can be together forever. We are grateful for our Lord and Savior whose birth we celebrate this time of year. We are grateful He loves us so much. He is our Redeemer, the Prince of Peace. We love Him! May you be filled with the pure love of Christ now and forever.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
Our Love and Prayers,
Steve and Leslee Wilcox

Thanksgiving

I love this time of year because we have lots of opportunities to get together as a family. As my children got married I devised a plan so I could have the whole family together for both Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. It was simple. I would let the in-laws have the kids for the actual holiday and I would get them the day after Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve. The first could of years we had a conflict with one of our daughter's in laws. They wanted them on Christmas Eve too. After a few years of trading back and forth, we decided to invite the in-laws to our house for Christmas Eve so they could see our family traditions and why we needed all the kids there. It worked. After that year they agreed we could have them every year and they moved their celebration to a different day.

Our family gatherings have grown over the years. We are now up to 25 people! Next year will bring the total to 26. We have so much fun just being together. All the grand kids love playing with their cousins and they all get along very well. This Thanksgiving there was so much laughter during dinner we could hardly carry on a conversation. They food is great and abundant. After dinner we played Apples to Apples and have a wonderful time.

I really look forward to Christmas Eve. We all gather at our son's house to enjoy the holiday. He has the perfect house to entertain. Last year it snowed so we met earlier than normal. They kids had a great time playing in the snow. Everyone decided they want to start earlier this year so the kids can play outside again.

There is usually a fun activity for the kids to do, such as making ginger bread houses or Christmas ornaments. After we've played and eaten we gather for our traditional nativity play. We have been doing this since our children were small. Now the grand kids perform. We still have one adult in the play. That is our son who always plays the Inn Keeper. Sometimes he enlists the help of a couple other grownups, but it is always very entertaining. Our Inn Keeper has been a number of characters over the years from Shrek and Donkey, to the three characters from Princess Bride, to a newscaster and weather reporter last year during the snow storm. We can hardly wait to see who he is going to be this year. Of course he always brings it back to the true Nativity and why we celebrate Christmas. But it is always a treat to be entertained with his great imagination and spontaneity.

I wonder who he will be this year?

Grandchildren

I love the saying that says "If I'd had known having grandchildren were so much fun I'd have had them first." That isn't to say I didn't enjoy my children, but it does reflect on what a different person I am with my grandchildren. That patience I used to pray so hard for when my children were small I seem to have in more abundance now with my small grandchildren. Of course that isn't to say I don't still get frustrated with them, but it usually takes a lot more to get to me now.

I love all the side benefits of grandchildren. I get to love and adore them without having to be the bad guy....at least not very often. They generally love to visit Grandma and we love to have them visit us.

On Friday and Saturday we had a delightful time with Douhet's four beautiful daughters. On Saturday morning I spent some one on one time with his oldest. Laila is our oldest grandchild. She wanted to set up a blog of her own so we created her very own blog. It is called "Imagination is Everything". You can view by clicking on her blog under blogs that I follow. I hope you will check it out and give her some encouragement.

Liken the Scriptures

I have read the Book of Mormon many, many times over the past 38 years since joining the Church. I remember being told the Book of Mormon was written for our day so carefully consider and ponder what is written and how it pertains to us. Of course I have found a tremendous about of information and inspiration that has helped me over the years. The Book of Mormon is true.

One thing I have wondered about was why so many chapters are included in Alma and Helaman that concern about a 70 to 100 year time frame when the rest of the 1000 years take up the rest of the book. It seemed un-proportional to me. I always wanted 4th Nephi to be longer. Have you ever wondered what “no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.” (3rd Nephi 17:17)

I never felt the “war” years really pertained to our time. Oh, I know we have had wars somewhere in the world all the time, but it never seemed to touch me. I remember a Sunday School lesson once when our teacher told us how he studied Captain Moroni during his time in Vietnam and used many of his strategies with the men he was in charge of. I think he was a Lieutenant or Captain. I thought at that time, “Wow! The war chapters really are for us.” But after a while I went back to thinking what do they really have to do with most of us.

Well, I have finally figured out why those 70 to 100 years are in the Book of Mormon for us today. When I hear the news or read the several news emails I get, I feel like I am reading a modern day Moroni talking about the Kingmen refusing to defend their country or Amalickiah leading the people astray with his vain and flattering words as he tries to be make himself a king over all the people by taking away their freedoms.. The promise of wealth and power creates many followers who do the bidding of an unrighteous leader.


I find now when I read those chapters I can almost replace prominent names in the scriptures with current people in politics today. We truly can and should learn from the past. We need to take up our own Title of Liberty and stand up for what is right. The is a song we sing in Church that goes like this:

Who’s on the Lord’s Side? Who?
Now is the time to show.
We ask it fearlessly:
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?
We wage no common war,
Cope with no common foe.
The enemy’s awake;
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

The Book of Mormon is a gift from our Heavenly Father and we need to accept it and use it as He intended. It is time we follow Nephi’s counsel and “liken all scripture unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” I know I need to commit to studying the scriptures and especially the Book of Mormon better. It not only teaches us about our past, but it will show us our future if we don’t heed the lessons that are taught.

Time

Why is there never enough time to do the things I want to do? I have been trying to post a blog for weeks now but.... They say computers can save so much time doing things for you. Well I'm on computers all day and I don't ever have any more time available from all the time I supposedly saved. Where did it go?

I take 1/2 hour for lunch each day. I have about 3 hours worth of stuff I want to do in that 1/2 hour. I try to walk at least three times a week. It is also the time I have to write my blogs. It is also the time I have to read other's blogs.

I finally took the plunge and joined Facebook. Not knowing exactly what Facebook was I went ahead and clicked on most of the people it suggested to be my friends. After all I knew them. It would now take me days to read all the facebook entries that show up on my home page. How do I get rid of "friends" so I don't have to wade through all the frivolous entries to finally find one with some substance?

I also like to use my lunch hour to work on my lesson for Sunday. As you can see 1/2 hour a day doesn't go far enough to do all the things I want to do. What about evenings, you say. Well, after work I really want to get on the elliptical machine and exercise for 1/2 hour. That doesn't always happen. I sometimes still have to work at home. If I don't have to work, I have visiting teaching or Temple or some other meeting to go to. Occasionally, there isn't anything planned and I just want to watch a little TV.

What are the favorite things I would rather do with all the time I should be saving by working on computers so much? Mainly I would love to visit and play with grand children. I would love to go to lunch with family and friends. I would like to curl up and read a good book. I would like to sleep more. I think I would even like to travel and see new things.

Well, it is time for me to save more time so I had better get back to my computer.

Youth Conference

Last Friday and Saturday we went to Youth Conference. We met at Church at 8 AM and divided up 41 kids and a ton of adults. They put all the names of the youth in a bowl and then drew them out for each vehicle that was going. That way the kids were mixed up in hopes they would make new friends. We had 4 kids in our car, 2 boys and 2 girls.

In preparation of the long 3 hour drive to the camp, we made some goodies to eat on the way. We had brownies for the trip there and chocolate chip cookies for the trip home. The kids really enjoyed that. The food for the whole conference was great.

Upon arriving we all ate our sack lunches and put our belongings in the dorms we were going to stay in. The weather was perfect, not to hot and not to cold. After lunch we attended four workshops on several different subjects. One had games to help get the point across, another one had a treasure map, and the others used pictures and stories. Of course they all used the scriptures to teach their subject. I think the teachers all did a great job and I think the kids enjoyed them.

After the workshops we had free time for a few hours. The facilities were great. The kids could swim, play basketball and volleyball, horseshoes, board games, or just enjoy the beautiful setting. We practiced for the talent show that night. We also just talked and visited with one another.

As dinner time approached, several of us volunteered to help in the kitchen. We fed over 55 people and did so in a fairly timely fashion. Clean up went well too with everyone pitching in to make light work. After tables were cleaned up and chairs were set up again we heard from our keynote speaker. As usual, Troy did a fantastic job. The kids love him and can really relate to him. He definitely has a way with kids.

Then it was time for the "main event"…The Talent Show! I was so impressed with the talents of these young people. We had a group of three girls who could sing like angels and harmonized beautifully. They also wrote words to a fun song that they sang just for Troy all about the Trek they went on last year. Others played instruments such as a flute type instrument, mandolin, violin and guitar. One young man juggled and all participated in several cute skits. We shared our feeble talent of singing new words to "If I Had a Hammer." The final act had us rolling in laughter. Three members of the other ward Bishopric performed a "synchronized swimming" routine. It was hilarious. A good time was had by all.

The kids played capture the flag before final call to end the night. Of course nobody settled down completely once we were in the dorms. We had a devotional, sang a nice song and had a closing prayer. Then the talking and singing started. Thankfully that didn't last toooooo long. The singing was beautiful as a small group of girls sang in perfect harmony several hymns. The talkers were on the other side of the dorm room so I got to enjoy the singers. After a while everyone quieted down and went to sleep.

Morning came early as I once again joined the kitchen crew to help prepare breakfast. I was amazed how quickly we were able to feed nearly everybody before they caught up with how many pancakes we had prepared. The last several people had to wait to get the freshest pancakes. With breakfast over we once again all helped with the cleaning. This time we cleaned everything as we packed up our belongings and stowed them in the vehicles and trailer. Then we headed to the fire pit for a beautiful testimony meeting.

Lunch was Subway sandwiches and goodies on the lawn so we wouldn't dirty up the kitchen again. Then we piled into the vehicles and headed home. The kids in our car slept most of the way home so they didn't eat nearly enough cookies!

To finish out the weekend we attended Stake Conference Saturday and Sunday and were truly fed spiritually the whole weekend.

Alena's Baptism

On Saturday we attended Alena's beautiful baptism.

It was wonderful to have the whole family together.
The spirit was so strong.

I loved Kylee's talk on baptism and I loved Sean's talk on the Holy Ghost.

I was thrilled that Alena was able to wear the same dress that Auntie My and Alena's mommy wore on their baptism day.

Sparks Lake

We managed to escape the heat wave last week by spending several days in beautiful Sparks Lake. We go with several choice friends and canoe into our favorite camp site. There are other families that love this site too and have fixed it up over the years. They have built a table with benches for our meals. They also put up shelves between two trees for shelves in our "kitchen" area. There are many nice spots for tents and the best part of all is the site is in a little cove so our water hole is nice and isolated.

The sun was hot and the water was cool so it was easy to keep cool in the heat of the day. With plenty of trees around there was always shade to find, but we did have to move our chairs around throughout the day. It was perfect for some reading as well as wonderful conversations with good friends.

Each couple planned and prepared several meals so we had delicious meals and plenty to eat. This year tended to be a bit of a Mexican theme to our meals as we had breakfast burritos, taco salad, nachos and enchiladas as well as a few more along those lines. We also had an abundance of fresh fruit and melons. Yum!!!

The canoe trip to the site takes about 30 minutes. On our first day we had to make two trips to get all our stuff. Since the canoe does all the work of packing everything in we bring all the comforts of home. My idea of ruffing it is sleeping on a blow up queen size bed. I don’t do well on the ground or in a cot.

Steve wanted to do his part this year to improve the camp. He always picks a nice spot on a little rise for our tent. There is a little path that leads to a gully that has to be crossed to get to our site. Several years ago someone built a nice little bridge to cross the gully. There are some very sharp volcanic rocks on the path to the bridge so Steve wanted to chip away at the sharp points and make the path a little safer. He planned ahead and brought along a chisel, hammer and gloves for the work. He had taken care of most of the rocks and had one more to go. Something happened while he was hammering and the chisel slipped and the hammer hit his thumb pretty bad. He didn’t think too much of it at first until it picked up his hand and blood started pouring out of his glove. He tore it up pretty bad.

One of the men cleaned the wound and bandaged him up real good. Just before dark we decided to change the dressing. When we took it off it was still bleeding. Everyone took a vote and decided he probably needed stitches so we headed off in the canoe to the launch to get our car. Thankfully we had a GPS which lead us directly to the hospital. They stitched him up and sent us on our way. It was nearly midnight by then and our friends said we could stay at their vacation trailer in La Pine rather than try and canoe back to the camp in the dark. What a blessing that was for us.

Steve didn’t mind the injury, because it gave him a good excuse to just sit and read his books for the rest of the time we were there. Since that is what he really wanted to do in the first place he was as happy as a clam.

Other than that little mishap we had a wonderful time. This year we went from Saturday to Wednesday. Next year we hope to be able to stay the whole week up there with good friends and Heavenly Father’s beautiful creations.

Live Long and Prosper

We had a day of fun and fantasy on Saturday. We started with the new Harry Potter movie. It was a fun movie to watch with more humor then most of the other Harry Potter movies. I think because of the sad ending they decided to lighten the whole movie up a bit. We enjoyed it very much, although it was a little hard to see things that were not in the book at all in the movie and parts of the book that I thought were important not make it into the movie. But they still got the story across and I can hardly wait until the next one.

After taking care of a one chore for the day we were off to more fun. We went with two other couples to enjoy an adventure in the park. A small theatrical troupe put together one of the episodes from the long time favorite show of Star Trek. They performed “Amok Time” in a park in downtown Portland. The natural amphitheater on a little hill was perfect for viewing the little play. The actors did a great job and followed the original show perfectly. We had KFC chicken and some wonderful goodies provided by the group to make a delightful evening picnic. The weather was even cooperative. We were under some nice shade trees and there was a light breeze to save us from the sweltering heat. A fun time was had by all.



Our day didn’t end there either. On the way home we were all talking about the movie “Galaxy Quest” which is sort of a spoof on Star Trek. One of the couples had not seen it before so we decided to have a movie night too. Since it was still early, only 6:30 when we got to our house, we covered our windows to darken the room, pulled down the big screen and popped in “Galaxy Quest” into the DVD player. We popped some popcorn and settled in for a fun movie.

Everyone needs a nice play day now and then!!!

Home Made Ice Cream

We had a very fun activity with our Young Women last night. They wanted to play water games, so we headed over to the college for some wet fun. One of our leaders is the softball coach so we had access to the enclosed softball field with a hose and running water. There is also a nice hillside by the diamond.

I froze two big blocks of ice for the girls to slide down the hill on. At first they didn't slide very good, but after they started melting a little they got slicker. The girls put a towel on the ice so they didn't get too cold on their bottoms and took turns sliding down they hill. Several of the girls brought water guns and had fun squirting each other. They balanced cups of water on their heads and played other fun games.

Meanwhile we prepared fixins for home made ice cream in a paint can. We put the ice cream mix plus goodies like fresh strawberries, Oreo cookies, and cookie dough in NEW pint size paint cans. Next we put the little cans into 1 gallon cans and packed them with ice and rock salt. After securing the lids we gave them to the girls to roll down the hill and find other ways to play with them until the ice cream was set.

Finally we gathered in the bleachers and sampled the different ice cream batches we made. They were delicious!!!

A fun time was had by all.

Princess Ballerina

 

What a fun experience we had last week when we got to see our adorable grand daughter in a full production ballet of Hansel and Gretel at the Oregon City High School. Madison's favorite part was getting to play a skunk where she got to "spray" Hansel. All of the Woodland animals were adorable. I got to watch several rehearsals and I don't think they ever did that part of the dance without giggling. There were six little girls who came out one by one as a different animal. The last two animals were a skunk and a porcupine. All the girls would giggle when the skunk sprayed Hansel and then Hansel backed into the porcupine. Even the night of the performance they giggled as they skipped around Hansel and Gretel.

In the second act Madison was a cute little gum drop. She danced and skipped and twirled around like any little ballerina. She is really quite good.

As an added treat, Grandpa got to be an usher for her final performance. He wore his Tux to make her evening extra special.

Shallow Waters

When I was about 13 years old I almost drowned. I went to the beach with my girlfriend’s family one summer day in California. We had a blowup raft that we turned sideways so we could both hang on it together and ride the waves to shore. We had lots of fun riding the waves and then paddling back out to sea. I don’t know if the waves started getting bigger or it was just one wave, but one time…the last time…the wave flipped us over. If felt like something was holding me under. As I struggled to get to the surface I discovered I was completely upside down and was going further under until I touch bottom with my hands. I finally turned myself around, put my feet on the bottom and pushed up hard to reach the surface. I barely gasped for air when another wave pulled me under again. I don’t know if my life flashed before me or not, but I do know I thought I was going to die. I was terrified. I don’t remember if my girlfriend had as much trouble as I did or if anyone on shore knew I was in trouble, but somehow I managed to get close enough to shore to drag myself out of the water.

I don’t think I have ventured into the ocean more than to get my feet wet since that day so long ago. For a long time I avoided deep water of any kind. I tend to stay in shallow waters. It just feels safer that way. I have gradually gained confidence to swim in deeper waters again, although I don’t swim very often anymore. There is greater pleasure swimming in deeper waters, but it is still a little scary for me.

I think I have been spending my life lately in shallow waters. I have been afraid to venture into deeper waters, because I’m afraid. A few years ago I almost drowned again. This time it wasn’t the ocean that held me captive, but life. Actually it was mostly a failed business. At first we were having fun riding the wave of being business owners. We didn’t notice the waves were getting bigger until one finally flipped us over and took us under. We tried to come up for air, but found ourselves hitting bottom over and over again. Occasionally we would grasp a breath only to be hit again by another wave.

During that time our conversations always centered on the business. These were deep conversations that talked about very serious issues. Yes, we prayed a lot, but our spirituality was still lacking. We never discussed gospel topics, only work. When we finally managed to get close enough to shore to drag ourselves out of the business entirely we were able to start talking about something besides work. At first we continued to retell our story, but eventually we were able to start letting it go.

However, now I find myself in shallow waters. We have avoided any deep conversations about much of anything. Our talk is shallow and light. It feels safer somehow. We are afraid to delve deeper into thought and conversation because of all the pain it might bring up. We know there are other waters that are deep and pleasurable to swim in. We have started to venture into those waters and explore depths in ourselves that have been long forgotten. Spirituality is coming back into our conversations, although we still tend to stay in shallow waters. It is easier to watch a movie then have a deep conversation. We know we would gain great pleasure swimming in deeper water, but still it is a little scary for me.

Hiking

For someone who is not very physically active normally, I outdid myself two weeks ago. I think I am finally able to move again without feeling all the aches and pains that showed up when I forced my body to do something it rebelled against. I have to admit I surprised myself as well as those who were with me that I actually completed both hikes.

On the "celebrated" Memorial Day holiday of May 25th we went hiking with two of our children and their families. The weather was perfect. We packed a yummy lunch and met everyone at the South Falls park of Silver Falls State Park. We had a total of 6 adults and 7 kids ranging in age from 2 to 60. I was closer to the 60 year old.

We headed right out and took the nearly 5 mile hike slow and steady. The scenes were absolutely beautiful. The kids had fun running behind the waterfall or up the bank of the hills. It took all six of the adults to keep an eye on our adventursome 5 year old Erik. He wanted desperately to slid down the "hills" that ended in a long drop right into the river. Somehow the end of the slide never seemed to register.

We stopped a few times along the way to rest and snack. One place had a hallowed out tree stump that was about 16 feet tall. The boys, both young and old, had fun climbing in and on it.

The "end" of our trail before we turned around was a very long staircase leading to a beautiful spot where you could look back the way you came and see the beautiful falls. Grandma and Grandpa opted to wait at the top until the family came back. Grandma did venture down to the first landing where I could see a pretty good view of the falls, but that was as far as I was willing to go. Climbing back up was difficult to say the least. I never would have made it back up if I had gone to the bottom.

The trip back was just as beautiful, but hotter as the sun got higher in the sky. We finally reached the last leg. Unfortunately for me it was a very steep assend to the top of the trail. I know we didn't come down that way. The two year old had a nice cushy ride on Daddy's back the whole hike until we got to the last leg. Mommy decided she could walk for a bit. So there I was, watching a two year old walk up the steep path. If she could do it then I could do it. Besides I didn't really have a choice. I started up the path, huffing and puffing all the way. I stopped a few times to catch my breath, but eventually I made it to the top.

We headed to a nice grassey area for lunch and to let the kids play in the river to cool down. A fun time was had by all.

I could hardly walk on Tuesday, but by Wednesday I was doing my normal lunch time walk at work. I didn't walk as far, but I did go for a walk on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I'm so glad I did, because that helped me prepare for the hike on Saturday.


We took our Young Women to Silver Falls State Park for a 5 mile hike for camp certification. This time we hiked the North Falls. The hike ended up being closer to 7 miles and the pace was a bit faster. We saw 6 different falls and seemed to run to the next one. This time we brought two grand daughters with us. Alyson is 7 and Laila is 10. Laila stayed right with us and would stop to smell the flowers and take pictures with Grandpa. Alyson wanted to be in the lead. I told her she had to keep me in sight, but that didn't last long. Grandma was one of the last ones and she wanted to be one of the first. Thankfully the Young Women girls decided to keep an eye on her for me. They even had a hard time keeping up with her.

Again, after the long hike we headed to the grassy area by the South Falls and had a picnic lunch and let the girls play in the water.

Amazingly enough I didn't feel nearly as stiff after the second hike and was able to walk "normal" when I went to Church on Sunday. However, I was depressed that the scales didn't reflect a single pound drop off after both hikes.

The Law of Consecration

In a recent General Conference Address, Elder Dallin H. Oaks talked about the unselfish service that the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints uniquely practice. It isn't that others don't practice unselfish service, but as a group we are unique in the extent of our unselfish service.

How many other organizations send tens of thousands of young adults and seniors into full-time missionary service all over the world at their own expense for up to 2 years? Hundreds of thousands serve in the Temples that dot the earth to give unselfish service as workers and patrons with no thought of "what's in it for them" other than to have the privilege of serving their fellowman both living and dead. We serve in unpaid positions throughout the Church in all kinds of callings from Stake President to teacher, to librarian, to nursery work and everything in between. We work on welfare farms and humanitarian aid. Home bound members make blankets, toys, hygiene kits and other items they can donate to the humanitarian aid programs of the Church. We serve part time service missions throughout the church in such capacities as LDS Social Services workers, Employment specialists, Family History specialists, Bishop’s Storehouse, Deseret Industries and many other opportunities.

We believe this is part of the covenants and commandments make and keep so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father in the Celestial Kingdom. Bruce R. McConkie lists them as:

“We are under covenant to live the law of obedience.

“We are under covenant to live the law of sacrifice.

“We are under covenant to live the law of consecration.”

In a conference talk given in April of 1975 he described living the laws of consecration and sacrifice. They go hand in hand. He said:

“It is written: ‘He who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.’ (D&C 88:22.) The law of sacrifice is a celestial law; so also is the law of consecration. Thus to gain that celestial reward which we so devoutly desire, we must be able to live these two laws.

“Sacrifice and consecration are inseparably intertwined. The law of consecration is that we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the Church: such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the Lord’s interests on earth.

“The law of sacrifice is that we are willing to sacrifice all that we have for the truth’s sake—our character and reputation; our honor and applause; our good name among men; our houses, lands, and families: all things, even our very lives if need be.

“Joseph Smith said, ‘A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary [to lead] unto life and salvation.’ (Lectures on Faith, p. 58.)

Of course we are not usually called upon to sacrifice all things; but, as Elder McConkie says “we must in fact live them to the extent we are called upon so to do.

“How, for instance, can we establish our ability to live the full law of consecration if we do not in fact pay an honest tithing? Or how can we prove our willingness to sacrifice all things, if need be, if we do not make the small sacrifices of time and toil, or of money and means, that we are now asked to make?”

The Lord has said: “If you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.” (D&C 78:7.)

I love how Elder McConkie phrases our opportunities to serve. He says, “It is our privilege to consecrate our time, talents, and means to build up his kingdom. We are called upon to sacrifice, in one degree or another, for the furtherance of his work. Obedience is essential to salvation; so, also, is service; and so, also, are consecration and sacrifice.

“It is our privilege to raise the warning voice to our neighbors and to go on missions and offer the truths of salvation to our Father’s other children everywhere. We can respond to calls to serve as bishops, as Relief Society presidents, as home teachers, and in any of hundreds of positions of responsibility in our various church organizations. We can labor on welfare projects, engage in genealogical research, perform vicarious ordinances in the temples.

“We can pay an honest tithing and contribute to our fast offering, welfare, budget, building, and missionary funds. We can bequeath portions of our assets and devise portions of our properties to the Church when we pass on to other spheres.

“We can consecrate a portion of our time to systematic study, to becoming gospel scholars, to treasuring up the revealed truths which guide us in paths of truth and righteousness.

“And the fact that faithful members of the Church do all these things is one of the great evidences of the divinity of the work. Where else do the generality of the members of any church pay a full tithing? Where is there a people whose congregations have one and two and three percent of their number out in volunteer, self-supporting missionary work at all times? Where does any people as a whole build temples or operate welfare projects as we do? And where is there so much unpaid teaching and church administration?

“All our service in God’s kingdom is predicated on his eternal law which states: ‘The laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion, for if they labor for money they shall perish.’ (2 Ne. 26:31.)

“And every member of his church has this promise: That if he remains true and faithful—obeying, serving, consecrating, sacrificing, as required by the gospel—he shall be repaid in eternity a thousandfold and shall have eternal life. What more can we ask?”

Attitude

In just the few short posts I done to Cathartic Muses I have already seen an improvement in my outlook. I don't know if it is because the sun is shining or I'm blogging, but whatever the reason, life seems to have a brighter outlook. Maybe it is a combination of both.

With the nicer weather I have been walking again at lunch. It has been far too long since I have done that and it feels good to walk again. I am sure out of shape and really need the exercise. I work at a small airport so it makes for a very interesting walk to see all the small planes around. I occasionally see people working on their aircraft. I haven't got up enough nerve yet to stop and talk.

With blogging I find myself looking at my days differently. I wonder if this or that may make an interesting blog. Blogging is different than keeping my journal. For one thing I get to add pictures. I have a different mindset when writing. I want to make it somewhat interesting to the reader. With my journal I am writing to myself or some future generation who won't even know me. Yes, it is a way for them to get to know me, but my blog is for the here and now. Live readers with immediate feedback. In a way it is a little scary and in another way it is kind of exciting.

I think attitude makes all the difference in how we live. A poor attitude leads to poor quality of life and a good attitude leads to a joyful and happy life. Too often we let outside influences affect our attitude. Some of these outside influences we have no control over, such as the weather. Why should we let several rainy days make us blue? Other so called outside influences we have complete control over, such as choices we make, things we do, or how we react.

I have been very guilty of excusing my attitude based on outside influences. For example, I have been overeating for some time now. I gripe and complain about how overweight I am. I get downright depressed about it, but it is something completely in my control to do something about it. When I take charge of my attitude and do something about those things I can change, I feel better and happier. Consistency is the key. Walking one or two days is not going to let me loose 20 pounds. However, if I walk consistently and watch what I eat I stand a good chance of seeing 10, 20 or more pounds drop off over time. As I do that my attitude will stay more positive and I will feel more joyful and happy. That will also lead me to improving other areas of my life, such as more diligent scripture reading or more sincere prayers.

Now by putting this in my blog, I may be more inclined to keep it up, because it is out there for others to read and maybe even encourage me in my quest.

Mother's Day

The greatest joy I have in life is being a wife and mother and now grandmother. There is a bumper sticker that says "If I'd know having grand kids was so much fun, I would have done that first." I think I'd like that bumper sticker, although I thought having kids was pretty fun too.

Oh, there were times when it wasn't much fun, but overall, I think it was great. I don't know if I just have selective memory in my older years or what, but I recall many more good times than bad.

I remember Family Home Evenings when we would lay a sheet on the floor and put the Stir Crazy popcorn popper in the middle of the sheet and leave the lid off so the popcorn would pop all over the living room. That was a "fun" refreshment. I remember playing "volleyball" in the living room with a balloon for an activity. I remember an object lesson where we made the biggest cookie with salt instead of sugar to point out not everything is what it seems.

I remember each of the children having chores before and after school. Some were simple like making their beds and picking up clothes and toys. Others were harder like emptying trash or vacuuming. I think they all complained about why they had to do chores when their friends didn't. Then one day Douhet came home from school and actually thanked me for making him do chores, because he could do something at school that one of his friends couldn't do, because he had learned to do it as a job.

I remember fun trips to the art museum and parks. I remember mid week primary. I remember playing office and school in the summer summer. I remember Season making his own credit cards and trying to be like "The Great Brain". I remember Wonder Woman, R2D2, C3PO and Spiderman all wrestling Daddy. I remember everyone playing on the water bed every Saturday morning. I remember reading together nearly every night. I remember Scripture reading with a German, French, or Chinese accent. I remember lots of teenagers at our house at all hours of the day night whether working on the school newspaper or playing games after a football game or play.

I remember supporting family members in basketball games, track meets, tennis matches, baseball and softball games, band concerts and plays and anything else they wanted to participate in. I remember a broken arm after a mud football game and a broken leg after sliding down an icy ramp after Seminary. I remember chicken pox and a smashed face after Sierra fell off the monkey bars and landed face down trying to emulate Mary Lou Retton from the Olympics. I remember being so scared Sierra would loose her eye after having a whip antenna hit her in the eye.

I remember drive in movies and camping in our big family tent. Most of all I remember long talks late into the night.

And now I get to experience many of these same things all over again with our beautiful grand kids. We have slumber parties and family reunions. Concerts and games. Balets and piano recitals. And above all lots of snuggle times with Grandma!!!

I LOVE being a mother!!!

My Happiness Challenge

Last night I attended a Relief Society meeting put on by the Stake for the two wards in our building. They discussed the building blocks of happiness. I found myself going through several stages during the course of the meeting.

Stage 1. What am I doing here? This isn't going to help? I know what they are going to say and it is only going to make me feel worse because I'm not doing everything I can to be happy.

Stage 2. I do need to listen to this because I need to be reminded that Heavenly Father's plan is a plan of Happiness. Maybe I just need to be reminded of the things I can do to improve my own happiness.

Stage 3. I appreciate the comments the others are offering. I'm not alone. Maybe others are feeling the same way. It helps when we come together like this. We can boost each other up.

Stage 4. I can contribute to the discussion. I can share things I have done in the past to help me over hard times. I can rededicate myself to those same things and help myself again. I can recognize that this too, shall come to pass.

Stage 5. I'm going to start working on ways to improve my own happiness. No one can make me happy or unhappy, it is up to me to choose. There are lots of things I can do everyday that will help me to find joy and happiness each day. I am going to start being a happier person.

Some of the things I learned (or relearned) are as follows:

1. We were sent here by Heavenly Father to be happy.
2. Satan will try to steal our happiness if we let him. He knows our weaknesses and will plant negative thoughts in our minds.
3. I am not the only one to have trials and unhappiness.
4. Heavenly Father will prepare a way to see us through if we trust and have faith in the atonement.
5. Happy people have a gratitude attitude. I can be more sincere with my thankful journal. I can also review to remind myself of all the wonderful blessings Heavenly Father has given me.
6. Happy people CHOOSE to have happy thoughts. I have to control my thinking and quickly replace any negative thought with a positive one. I have to TRAIN myself to have happy thoughts.
7. Relationships are important to happy people. I know that the relationships I have keep me going when times are tough. I need to nurture them more and strive to make them even better.
8. Happy people find passion and purpose in their daily activities. This one will be a challenge to me as I can't think of anything in my daily activity to be passionate about. I enjoy my job and I suppose I get passionate about that sometimes, but perhaps I need to concentrate more on my purposes each day and not make things so much of a routine.
9. Happy people laugh easily. I remember a time when I didn't laugh at all for years. I suppose I am in much better shape then I was then as I do laugh more. I still don't laugh as often as I could or should, so it is still something I need to work on. I need to find the funny side of life, even in my trials.
10. Happy people find great joy in trying new things and in creating. Well, my new thing is this blog. So far I am finding joy in being able to put down my thoughts and feelings. I have not got enough courage to tell anyone about it yet so perhaps that will be my next NEW thing. Maybe I'll tell someone in a email I have done this and give them the URL. ... then again, maybe I'll wait a little longer.

Jump on the band wagon!

I've been thinking about this for some time now, and decided to finally jump on the Blog band wagon.

I've been impressed with my children and friends who have blogs and the wonderful insight into who they are I have received from reading their blogs. We don’t always share our thought and feelings out loud, but it is sometimes easier to put them in writing. Hence the title of my blog…at least at this time.

My kids will know their father picked the title; because he is known for his “big” words. He thought Cathartic Muses would be a good title; because it is a way to purge myself of deeper thoughts and feelings that don’t always come out. I may find that I will delete some of my muses before they ever get posted because deep down I won’t want anyone to read them, but the exercise of writing them will have the same, “healing” affect. At least that is the theory.

I guess the jumping off point came after I reread my daughter’s blog on thirty something and her sister’s blog on a similar topic. They both mentioned that now they are 30 something they should feel and behave grown-up, after all they are adults now. Well, it got me thinking about myself. I’m way past thirty something and even getting to the upper end of fifty something. I related completely to both of their comments. The scary part was I didn’t just relate to their comments when I was thirty, but I am still relating to their comments. Am I who I should be? I keep wondering what I’m going to be when I grow up. Oh, I’m still growing, that’s for sure and sometimes the growing pains are very painful. I certainly expected to be in a far different position at this age then where we are. In many ways I feel we are starting over again, hopefully far wiser then we were at 20 something.

I’m not sure I have met any of my expectations of who and where I thought I would be. I still have so many of the same shortcomings I had when I was younger. I’m still impatient, prideful, critical, and a number of other caustic characteristics. Have I made any improvements? I think I am more thankful then I used to be. Years ago I discovered the great blessing of expressing my gratitude to Heavenly Father on a daily basis. I keep a thankful journal everyday. I try to look for something different each day to be thankful for. It is especially helpful on bad days, because it forces me to recognize my blessings. It is also very beneficial to go back and review my blessings from previous days, weeks and months. I am also working on overcoming my critical nature. When I think and pray about that I do much better and I’m able to keep that “nature” under control. I do think I’m a better person that I was 30 years ago. I’m definitely more patient with my 14 beautiful grandchildren then I ever was with my 4 children. I guess while I’m trying to look for the good in others in my effort to not be so critical I need to also look for the good in myself and recognize how far I’ve come.

I think maybe my cathartic muses will be good for me, whether anyone reads them or not. If for no other reason then to help me purge and heal it will be worth it.