Thoughts

With my house being stripped to the dirt and only the frame standing many thoughts have come to mind. First, I wondered what it must have been like to have only a dirt floor yet grateful you had a roof over your head. I wonder how Mary must have felt when she had to deliver her son in a stable with dirt floors yet a roof over their heads. I know she felt gratitude. I am feeling that way. How grateful I am to my family who loved me enough to in trust me with this beautiful home. I will always be eternally grateful. Second, it is Christmas time and I have missed putting up the directions. As I thought about this and was watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, I realized it isn't the directions that make Christmas, "it is so much more." Christmas is a feeling you get when you serve others, it is a feeling you get when you look into the eyes of a child. It is seeing the giving of money to a family in need. It is the prayers offered for one who is sick or needs special blessings. It is the time spent with family and friends. Yes, Christmas is so much more than directions. I want to feel this Christmas! I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for sending His Only Begotten Son so that I might feel the magic of Christmas.

The beginnings of the last phase of upgrading the home. It is such a blessing to have boys who are willing and able to use their gifts to help complete this project. As we were taking down some of the walls and what we thought were headers we could see how much it needed to be done. There wasn't much holding up the roof and upstairs. No wonder the ceiling was cracking. We are now able to upgrade the wiring as well. It hasn't been too much of a mess however the first week of the project I felt like a naughty child being sent to my room because I couldn't do or be out in the area they were working on. Now my biggest problem is deciding what to put back on the floors. Any ideas?
Erik hanging out of the ceiling.

Everyone getting into the swing of things. Even Ethan was helping pick up broken tile from the floor.

Sheet rock on the ceiling.

What is left of the kitchen.

A Mother's Love

Thought I would share a story I wrote. It's not true but it could have very well happened for all of you that know my wonderful mother. Enjoy.
A Mother’s Love

Christmas was coming. Mom was busy sewing dresses for the girls, jeans and shirts for the boys. These new clothes would have to last us all year. We didn’t mind too much because mom was an extraordinary seamstress. She would create patterns to make us the latest fashions after looking through the current catalogs.
This Christmas was extra special for me, I had been asked to sing a solo in the school’s choir concert. I could hardly wait to see what my new dress would look like. I was so excited. About a week before the concert, mom took me aside and told me she had run out of fabric and didn’t have any money to buy more fabric for my new fancy dress. She said she had made over some of the older girls’ dresses so I would have something new to wear. I pouted and said in a whinny voice, “Why does this always happen to me?” Being the last of four girls, I ended up with all the hand me downs, and never got anything new, or so it seemed to me. I ran off to my room crying, feeling sorry for myself.
All week I avoided my mom. I would only talk to her if I had to and then it was in short statements like no or yes. I was hurt. I didn’t realize at the time that mom was hurting as well. She wanted to make that special dress for me because she knew how important it was for me. She worried and stewed but didn’t know what to do because they just didn’t have the money for extra fabric. She had all the scraps from the other dresses and shirts, but that wouldn’t make a very pretty dress. Then, the night before the concert she kneeled to pray, asking for inspiration and pleading for help. As she slipped into bed, she noticed the quilt covering the bed. On the back of the quilt was the most beautiful red material. She treasured this quilt because her mom had made it for her as a wedding gift and it was a part of her mom. Suddenly, she knew what she needed do. She took her scissors and started taking apart the back of the quilt, making sure not to ruin the front of it. She worked until the early morning hours taking apart the quilt and making a beautiful red dress.
That night mom asked me to come into her room. At this point, I had resigned myself to wearing the old dress mom had altered and fixed up as best she could. It was okay, but it wasn’t what I had wanted. I went into the room and told mom I was sorry for the way I had behaved. She talked to me about how she felt and how she had prayed for inspiration. Just then, she pulled out the most vibrant, gorgeous red dress and said, “I love you!” I felt like a royal princess! She never told me where the material had come from and I didn’t think to ask because I was just so excited to get something that was my very own.
Throughout the years my mom taught me many skills I put to use as a new mother with very little money. Years later as my sisters and I were going through mom’s things after her passing, I found an old quilt top with a scrap of the red fabric from my beloved dress. I asked my sisters why the quilt top had never been quilted and why there was a piece of material from my Christmas dress pinned to it. It was then they told me the story about that special Christmas dress. That evening as I looked at the red dress still hanging in my closet and the old quilt top I now held in my arms, the tears flowed freely. I once again realized how deep a mother’s love is for her children.

Taking time continued

Talk about taking time, well I took the time to go over to Gillett to see part of my family there. I was over in Sheridan for a Reading Recovery conference and thought I would make a quick trip over there. I loved it and enjoyed seeing the three H's as well as Bryan and Chelsey. I spent a lot of time outside just watching the little ones play in the dirt and at
Hannah's school playground. Bryan performed for us all. Sorry I forgot to take my camera so no pictures of him showing off.

I loved conference! What a feast provided for us. There were so many messages that spoke to me personally. I am so grateful for those who serve day after day for me.

I had the privilege of watching my new grandson, Weston come into this world. I marveled at how perfect he was from the moment he took his first breath. I could see physical traits of his parents. Then I thought about his spiritual traits. Will he be kind to others, will he serve others? Will he follow in the Savior’s footsteps?
At the beginning of Christ’s mortal ministry, Christ instructed Peter and Andrew, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” I can only imagine the inadequacy they might have felt at that moment. Yet, they “straightway left their nets,” and followed him. Then when He saw James and John and called to them they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
I love that word immediately. They didn’t have to stop and wonder if it was convenient for them or think, “If I follow Him will my life be harder, or will people ridicule or mock me”. No, they dropped everything and followed Him at once or instantly.
What would I do if the Savior came to me directly and said, “Come, follow me?” Would I drop everything and immediately follow Him? Most of us have not or will not be asked to drop everything and immediately follow Him but the invitation is still there, “Come, follow me.”
So how do I follow Him?

Taking Time

I was ready to blog yesterday and my internet was down for some reason. I had all these great thougths I wanted to share but of course as the hours fly by so do my thoughts. One thing I did want to share was how we need to take time. Take time to ponder, time to share with others, time to enjoy family and friends, time to study the scriptures, time to enjoy the beautiful changes of the seasons. Time to rejoice in your life. Now that I am back to work I realized how much I have missed working with the children so I am taking time to enjoy them. There are just so many things I want to enjoy and take the time to do so. Following are a few picturs of what I am enjoying.

The boys taking time to paint my house.

Hannah taking time to enjoy the quilt I made for her birthday/

Whitney and Hannah taking time to color a beautiful picture.

Taking time to celbrate Kirk's 24th birthday.

Last week, me taking time to fix my computer so I could up date this blog.

Doings

It's hard to believe that school is just around the corner. I have been busy helping Carrol at the fabric shop and loving every minute of it. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed being there. I have had the opportunity to finish a few projects and start a few more. :) Other than that my life has been pretty simple. Went to the temple yesterday morning them came straight back home and went to work. I enjoyed it and it made the rest of my day so much nicer. I finished all my Young Women goals and projects this past week. It was so satisfying to get it complete. However, I plan to continue to work on goals for myself.
Here are a few of my finshed quilts or wall hangings.

This is a wall hanging for my classroom. It is all appliqued!I wish the picture showed it the way it really looks. I was even impressed!

This is a quilt for Kirk so he can learn how to make his bed using the frame around it. It is called Kirk's puzzle.

I love the colors in this one. I haven't given it a name yet. I still have to get it quilted and then I am going to make a scaloped edge around it.

This quilt is a birthday gift for Hannah. She picked out the fabric. It turned out very cute. As you can see I have been staying busy, not always what I should be doing but it has been fun and relaxing. It has been fun to discover my likes and dislikes with quilting. I love to applique!

Trip

This past week I went down to Shawnee's to spend some time with her and Bryan's family who made the trip there as well. I enjoyed being with everyone. The kids are so cute! Even Bryan had his moments of cuteness:) Some days I wonder how Chelsey puts up with all his fun antics. He did get to go flying with Eli so it made his day. Here are just a few highlights of the trip. I tried posting earlier but of course I made some mistake uploading pictures so this is the watered down version.

Bryan pretending to pick his nose because I wanted at picture.

At the end of a long day at the zoo and temple grounds we were all ready for food and bed. We had a great day!