Another Jenni Story

This past week Jenni and her best friend, Val decided to take off for a trip to Disneyland. If you knew these two girls, this would not be strange at all. They decided to go on Friday and left on Saturday. My head was kind of spinning. I have to admit that I was really concerned about sending these two out into the big, scary world all by themselves. Let's be honest... "concerned" does not even begin to describe the terror I felt. On the inside I was having massive panic attacks, but knew that I could not hold them back. My first reaction was "absolutely not!", but then I realized that they are almost 21 years old and I ccouldn't tell them no. They are technically adults...technically. What were we to do???

I am grateful to say that they had a wonderful trip and arrived back home all safe and sound earlier today. However,yesterday I had a funny (alarming) little call from Jenni that I have to relay. It went something like this:

Jenni: Hi Mom! We are at the beach and it is awesome!!!

Me: That is great! What time are you leaving today to make it to St George? (They spent the night in St George both ways)

Jenni: I think in a little while. Hey...could you do us a favor? Would you please google how long it takes to get to St George?

Me: Didn't you just drive there from St George three days ago? Don't you know from that?

Jenni: Oh yeah!!! I forgot!!! Will you do one more thing please?

Me: Sure, what do you need?

Jenni: Can you look on the computer and tell us what road we need to be on to get to St George?

Me: What road did you drive on to get to Disneyland?

Jenni: Oh yeah! I forgot!

HELP!!! Can you see my concern? After a few more minutes of discussion I discovered that they did not even take a map with them. ARE.YOU.KIDDING.ME???? 1200 plus miles and no map. Just get in the car and start driving. It is a miracle that they even made it to the California boarder, let alone a complete round trip. That girl is going to be the death of me. I have to believe that a lot of angels were out there watching over those two. Thank goodness :)

Kaycee & Emma's Halloween Party

Tonight Emma and her best friend, Kaycee had their Halloween party with 15 of their "closest" friends. They have been planning this for weeks and pretty much driving me crazy. I am still not sure how we all got roped into having this little shin-dig, but oh-well.

Emma and Kaycee planned EVERYTHING for this party. They got their hands on a "Family Fun" magazine and discovered lots of party games. I have to say they did a really good job. They ran the show and planned the entire thing. The only thing that went wrong was when Kaycee cut her hand really bad on an ice skate right before the party and had to go to the ER to get stitches. Other than that, it ran really smooth.

I did not get any pictures until right at the end, so not many of the kids where still around, but you can get the idea. Also, I had the wrong camera with me so the photos are kind of fuzzy...sorry.

Gardening Complete :)

Yesterday was the last day for all the volunteers that work on the temple grounds at Mount Timpanogos Temple for 2009. We finished planting all the tulips and pansies in preparation for winter. It was actually rather bittersweet. I have loved these past six months working with these wonderful sisters and feeling of their spirits. When I was called to this position, I was really surprised. At first I was hesitant, but I quickly learned to look forward to each Thursday morning and visiting/working with these wonderful ladies. They have taught me so much, not only about gardening, but about life. I now look at the temple grounds with a totally different perspective. I always thought that we had to go inside the temple to learn about our Heavenly Father, but I now know that much knowledge can be found on the dedicated grounds as well. I am already looking forward to returning next spring!

Christopher's 22nd Birthday

Today we celebrated Christopher's 22nd birthday. I cannot believe that I have a 22 year old child. I keep telling Greg that I am too hot to have a kid this old-ha!

We had to speak in church today, so Christopher, Sam, Tara and Austin visited our ward and afterwards came to our home and we all had dinner and cake with Josh, Emma, Greg and myself. Jenni had an unforeseen detour in Kaysville and could not make it...bummer :( Maybe next year!!!

Christopher still requests my triple chocolate cake each year. I made up this recipe and it is indeed very rich and probably something that should only be eaten once a year...but oh...it is so yummy :\ Happy Birthday Christopher! Hope you had a great one-love ya!

Happenings

It has been a while since I have posted anything on my blog and decided that I need to say something. Even if it is not really that significant :) After all, this is my journal.

Let's see...what has been happening? This past weekend was General Conference. What a wonderful spiritual feast we had! Jenni and Christopher actually were able to get tickets to go to the Conference Center in SLC and see the Sunday morning session. What a great experience. Jenni told me how much she loved seeing President Monson and listening to his great talk. He centered his talk on giving service to others. He asked that each day we ponder the question "What did I do for someone today?" Wouldn't that world be a much better place if everyone had this mindset?

Saturday evening Jenni, Tara, Emma and myself all went out to eat at Zupas while Christopher, Josh and Greg went to the priesthood session. We really had a great time! Greg took the boys out after their meeting. It always makes me smile to drive around our little city after the priesthood session and peer into all the restaurants and see the men/boys in their white shirts and ties. If you live close to me, you have got to drive by JCW's and look into the lobby next time priesthood session gets out...WOW! I honestly think that Josh looks forward to the meal more than the meeting. Perhaps one day he will see the light :)

This Saturday is Emma's last soccer game for the season. They did really well this fall. They have only lost one game. Emma continues to love it and at times takes it a bit too seriously. Last week she was not pleased with a call that the ref (who is all of about 14 by the way) did not make. She came out of the game talking under her breath saying that he needed to go back to "Soccer School"-EKKKKKK! Talk about a teaching moment. That child is going to be the death of me! Hopefully next week she will learn to hold her tongue...

Emma is also trying to decide that all important issue of what to dress up as for Halloween. Can I just say that I am so happy to almost be done with this stage of my life? I have been worrying about Halloween costumes for 21 years now. She was debating between a lawyer and a princess. Talk about polar opposites! I think I have her finally convinced to be a cute little bunny...easy costume, warm and cheap! Not really sure I how pulled that one off.

Wedding plans are still plugging along. Before we know it November 20th will be here! We really do not see too much of Christopher anymore. He is busy working and going to school. When he does have free time, it is spent with Sam.

Jenni is still Jenni :) I don't want to go into much detail about what is happening in her life. Let's just say that she is here a lot and we seem to have LOTS of talk lately about boys ( I guess I should say boy) and looking forward to what lies ahead in her life.

Tara and Austin are doing wonderful and seem to be loving married life. They are both in school and working full time. Life is busy for them and we are grateful that they continue to stop by and say "hello" and eat. Eating seems to be a theme when they arrive. I kind of wonder if Tara is feeding that poor boy...just kidding, Tara!

Greg started his new job a few weeks ago. It has been such a blessing for our family. He is busy learning all the in's and out's and is a bit stressed, but doing fine. He is the new accountant for MetalMart. I am very grateful for all the hours he spends away from home so that I can stay home with our children.

Well...I think that pretty much sums everything up. Life is good...crazy, but good :)

My Eternal Family

Today was our ward's annual Primary Program. I have had the opportunity to teach the 7 year old class this past year and I love it! They are so cute and I have learned to love each and every child for who they are. They have certainly taught me so very much.

The theme for our program was "My Eternal Family". What a great church we have that is centered of eternal families. As we were singing some of the songs and listening to the sweet, pure testimonies of different children, I could not help but feel the spirit and begin to get a big lump on my throat. When I hear the words to songs they really seem to touch my heart. One song that has really had an impact on me this year is "Love Is Spoken Here".

The words that really spoke to me are:

I see my mother kneeling with our family each day.
I hear the words she whispers as she bows her head to pray.
Her plea to the Father quiets all my fears,
And I am thankful, love is spoken here.

Mine is a home where every hour
Is blessed by the strength of priesthood power.
With father and mother leading the way,
teaching me how to trust and obey;
And the things they teach are crystal clear,
For love is spoken here.

What a beautiful image this made in my mind. How thankful I am that I can be part of the restored gospel and to also have my family sealed to me forever. I can think of no greater happiness than to have an eternal family. As I was pondering this, it came time for Emma to give her short talk. We had practiced it many times so that she would have it memorized and she was more than ready for her moment. She was the last speaker of the program and I said a silent prayer to myself that she would be able to do her best. When she started to speak she began to cry and I realized that she was feeling the spirit. What a sweet moment. She told her simple story and touched my heart so very deeply. What a priviledge to partake of her testimony. I will always remember that feeling I had watching her testify of eternal families with such humble power. How thankful I am for the opportunity I have had on this earth to be a mother and be part of an eternal family.

Harvest Time!

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) said: “With the arrival of spring we hope all of you will put in your gardens and prepare to enjoy their produce this summer. We hope you are making this a family affair, with everyone, even the little ones, assigned to something. There is so much to learn and harvest from your garden, far more than just a crop itself”

I love my garden! This year we had a rather successful one and I am still busy canning and freezing much of the produce. We planted pumpkins, corn, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, radishes, carrots, tomatoes (LOTS of tomatoes...24 plants to be exact), green and red peppers, jalapenos, black eyed peas, crook necked squash, zucchinni, spagetti squash, green beans and both red and golden potatoes-whew! I decided this year to freeze a good portion of our crop because of the ease of the process...SO much easier than canning. I still have apples and grapes to deal with, but I will think of that another day :) How grateful we are for all the Lord has provided for our family.