January 28th

It is Sunday, January 28th and many thoughts have tumbled through my mind as I think about the significance of this date.  Two years ago our family suffered the loss of son, father, husband, brother, uncle and cousin.  It was a sad day and one that left each one of us trying to deal with the reality of having Jeff gone from us.  As I sat in stake conference this morning I had my eyes water many times as I thought about my son.  But each time a sweet peaceful feeling would come over me and I knew that Jeff was thinking about me and his family.

I'm not sure how much I actually heard from the speakers as my mind wandered back to the day when we got the call that our baby was born, healthy and waiting for us at the hospital in San Bernadino.  Adoption is no different than the "natural" way to have a baby come to your home.  I was full of anxiety and anticipation.  Questions swirling through my mind.  "Am I ready to be a mother?"  Am I prepared physically and spiritually?"  "Do I know how to take care of a new born?" " Do I know how to raise a child?"  All of these thoughts and millions more as we traveled in our blue mustang to pick up a our long awaited baby.

We stopped at a department store and for some silly reason, as we got to the check out area I was embarrassed to be buying all this baby stuff.  I was afraid the clerk would know that I didn't have a baby and question me as to why I was buying all this baby equipment.  How silly!

When we got to the hospital the nurse greeted us and said that our 'baby girl' would be ready in a moment.  We questioned her and said we thought we were picking up our son and she said, "No, it's a girl."  Our attorney got there just after and told us that there were two adoptions going on in the hospital that day and that we indeed were parents of a beautiful baby boy.  I would add here that I've often thought about that baby girl and have wondered what kind of life she had.  Maybe in the next life I will learn about her.

The next thing I remember, is the nurse taking me into the nursery and asking me if I wanted to meet my little boy and dress him ready to leave the hospital.  I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't respond yes or no but the tears told her the whole story.  So I followed her into the nursery where Jeffrey was placed in my arms.  At that very moment, I knew what a mother's love was.  The nurse asked me if I wanted to diaper and dress him.  I was so nervous that I could hardly do anything without her help.

The next years were filled with, loving and caring for Jeffrey.  I was called in by the Branch President (Dean Fairbanks) and told that the sisters in the branch were complaining because I wouldn't let anyone hold Jeffrey.  I remember thinking to myself, "Well that isn't going to change!"

We moved to Salt Lake when Jeff was about 6 months old so that his dad could go to law school.  We lived in South Salt Lake and Annette and Allan moved in to a home across the street.  

The next great event was taking Jeffrey to the temple to be sealed to us for Time and all Eternity.  I remember the nursery sisters bring Jeffrey up to the sealing room all dressed in his little white suit and looking every bit a chubby, healthy and happy one year old.  They sat him on the altar and we took his hands in our and the sealing became a reality.

I know that we have a picture of Jeffrey in his little white suit, but I don't have any of his pictures anymore.  I gave them all the Jeff when he got married and moved away.  Maybe when Mindy has time, she can go through his pictures and find it.  I would love to see it again.

The next big event was when we got a call from California again telling us that we had a beautiful healthy little baby girl.  Again, in the Mustang we headed to California.  This time to Ridgecrest.  I don't know that Jeffrey totally understood how this would change his little 'only child' life.  Traveling home was fun and eventful.  We had Lynda Ann in a little back seat car crib and I had to watch Jeffrey closely because he kept wanting to play with her and hold her little hands.  She didn't want to be bothered and thus began the sibling brother, sister rivalry.

I so remember taking Annie and Jeffrey to have family pictures of taken and I had Jeffrey get on his suit (which he did not want to do because it was Saturday and he was playing).  He came running out of the house and jumped in the back seat and laid down on the floor.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I don't want my friends to see me!"  He stayed down there all the way to the photography place.

Jeffrey was a happy child and a mischevious one.  Lynda Ann probably has millions of stories about Jeffrey that she could tell - many that I probably don't even know.

He brought me happiness and he filled my heart with love.  Was his childhood perfect?  No.  There were lots of bumps along the way for him and for me and the two of us together, but through it all love was the center that we always went back to.

How grateful I am for him and for the opportunity to be his mother.  I miss you, Jeffrey.  Sometimes I miss you so much, it hurts.  But I know that you are happy and surrounded by so many loved ones.  There will always be a little part of my heart missing until we meet again.

I love you Jeffrey!  A couple of my favorite pictures:

 Seriously, this was Jeffrey's favorite look.

Proud to raise my hand!

Russell M. Nelson said, "I declare my devotion to God our Eternal Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ.  I know them, love them, and pledge to sere them and you with every remaining breath of my life."

Dallin H. Oaks said, "With all my heart I pledge my loyalty and support for President Nelson's loving and inspired leadership.  I rejoice in the opportunity to give my full efforts to bear witness of Jesus Christ and to proclaim the truth of His restored gospel."

Henry B. Erying said:  "The growth in the number of members and their spread across Nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples are visible miracles, but the greater miracle and the one which will accelerate is the growth in faith in Jesus Christ.  This is a great time in the history of the church.  And yes, the best is still to come."

I love how quickly and quietly on Prophet passes away and the next prophet and leader of the church is in place.  It is a divine plan of succession.  I love this church, I know it is true and I am proud to be a member and be able to sustain our new president at our April General Conference.

First official snow storm of the year!

This is what we woke up to Saturday morning.  It was a beautiful snow storm.  I was sick with a nasty cold.  Didn't go to work Friday and pretty much stayed in Saturday, Sunday and staying home from work again today.  Just felt like I needed one more day of rest.  Can't remember the last time I was hit this hard with a cold.

Grayson turned 14 on Saturday.  Happy birthday Grayson!  Neal and I didn't call and sing because I have no voice.  But we love you and wish you a happy day.

Here is a picture of the gorgeous snow storm that every skier around here has been praying for.  12 to 14 inches fell throughout the valley and in the mountains.

A Visit to Bobby Mack

Friday Annie, Abby and Saint came in to Salt Lake for a two fold reason.  Park City was having their annual Sundance Movie event.  There was a documentary done of guide dogs and Annie and Abby wanted to see it.  Annie went on line and got tickets to be at the showing.  There was also some kind of parade or event for all the people who brought their guide dogs with them.

Their second reason to come in was to see Bobby Mack.  Abby knew that Bobby's husband, Grant had two guide dogs.  One named Albie and the other named Matthew.  We all loved those dogs and loved what they had been trained to do.  Because Abby is training a guide dog she wanted to share that knowledge with Bobby.  It was a fun visit.  Not sure that Bobby understood everything that was said but I do believe that she was happy and pleased to have Annie and Abby come for a visit.  I was with them but had a horrible cold and didn't want to get close to Bobby.

We took a couple pictures.  One in particular was of Saint sitting by a stuffed dog that sits in the entrance hall.  The minute Saint saw the dog he stopped and Abby had to encourage him to go through the door.  He went right over to the stuffed dog and began sniffing the dogs nose.  It was very cute.  Amazing how real the dog looks.  I remember the very first time I saw the stuffed dog when coming into the facility.  I totally thought the dog was real.

Here are a couple pictures of Bobby, Abby, Saint, Annie and I.

We left shortly after and went to Woody's for a hamburger.  Neal met us there.  We parted there.  Neal and I went home and Annie and Abby headed to Park City.  It did storm that night but they made it up there safe, had a fun time and got home safe.

Funny story

Neal had a big scout training for all the leaders.  It went all Friday evening until 10:00 p.m. and then Saturday from 7:00 until 5:00.  They had fixed a delicious dinner using dutch ovens and charcoal.  Apparently they didn't have a training on starting fires and properly distinguishing them.  Someone three the charcoals in the dumpster thinking they were not hot enough to start a fire.  Well, guess what:  In this first picture you can see the flames coming up out of the dumpster and everyone had to scramble

 Running for a fire extinguisher to put out the fire the "boy scouts" started in the dumpster.

 This is the aftermath of the fire in the dumpster.  Funny, don't you think?  Aren't boy scout leader supposed to know to make sure the charcoals are completely cold before throwing them away?

Forgot to post this picture

As I was leaving Provo after being with Lila Mae and Susan, I glanced up at our beautiful mountains and there looking as gorgeous as she possible could was Mt. Timpanogus.  I just had to take a picture of it.  I love this mountain.

Funny comments from the Retirement Center

Last week I taught my lesson at MBK, the retirement center.  I teach the relief society and the priesthood together once a month.  I always try and have some kind of handout for them to take back to their rooms with them to help them remember what the lesson was about.  In December I blogged a picture of the manger scene made with popsicle sticks.  This month, for January, I gave them each a little compass with a saying.  After this months lesson was over and I had sat down, the brother who was conducting made a couple comments about the lesson and then asked if anyone had any questions or comments.  Janet raised her hand and said, "When I grow up, I want to be just like Jeannine!"  I blushed and we all kind of laughed.  Janet is about 85+.  Then one of the men raised his hand and said, "When I heard that Jeannine was teaching the lesson, I thought, do I know Jeannine?  And then I remembered, oh yes, I know her, she is the popsicle lady!"  Well, we all had a good laugh over that one.  I am now known as the popsicle lady!

I do love teaching over there and getting acquainted with these sweet people.

I have to add here that Neal and I went to see Bobby Mack at the rest home that she is at and it wasn't a pleasant visit.  Apparently Bobby is very, very mad that I haven't been to see her for years and she railed on me good.  I told her I was sorry but she wouldn't accept my apology and it was one of those visits that you thought you were doing something good for someone and it completely backfired.  I actually asked her if I could come again and she flat out told me that she wouldn't be here next time.  I guess she figured it would be another long time before I came back and she really wouldn't be here.  I'm going to go again this week and if she isn't happy to see me then maybe I should stay away if it upsets her.  I was going to take a picture of the two of us but decided there was no way she was going to smile.  I'll see how she is in a couple of days.

I should blog that I spent Saturday with Lila Mae and Susan and we had such a great time.   I bought a few items - some needed - some not really needed.  We ate at a Mexican place in downtown Provo and the food was delicious.  It was a great day and a fun one.

Choir practice today and I had over 30 people!  It is great and I almost love my calling.  It is so nice to have a huge ward choir and to have people come each week to practice!  I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing but I keep plugging along :-)

Update

Just wanted to post where I am with my Catch A Falling Start stitching.

 I also had to post the hand out for my lesson this month at the Retirement Center.  Thank goodness for Hobby Lobby.  Who would have ever thought I would be able to find little tiny compasses!  And even more amazing is that they actually work!  The quote is fabulous and perfectly fits into my lesson!

The New Year

Happy New Year everyone!  At the beginning of this year I would just say that I love my husband, I love my children, I love my grandchildren, I love the gospel and I love America!  Stay true to who you are and hold tight to the iron rod!

Our family has experienced happy times, sad times and challenging times.  But we are a resilient family and seem to be able to move on no matter what our journey brings.  We will continue to move forward and stick together as a family.  We've had some very hard times to deal with.  In 2016 we lost our Jeffrey.  Such a sad time in our lives.  In 2017 our Taylor was in a serious car accident and became paralyzed and is now confined to a wheel chair for the rest of her life. Lexi is dealing with an immune issue that is very, very serious.  And to top things off, the company that Tucker was working for,  fired all their salesmen just before Christmas.   In all those tragic events our family rallied together.  It is times like those when you realize how important family is.

We did have a happy time when Mallory accepted a mission call to Nashville Tennessee and has been out in the mission field for two months.  Our family will be blessed for her service.

Let's pray that 2018 brings just happy memories and happy times.  I love you all and pray for all of you.

It's to laugh

I suppose every time a Christmas tree decoration bulb hits the floor and is broken, Neal and I think of Peyton and how upset he got when she accidently dropped a bulb and he got a little over excited.  As we put the decorations on the tree this year there must have been two or three bulbs smashed to pieces as they made contact with the floor.  The same thing happened as we took down the tree.  I think thee more bulbs bit the dust.  I'll actually be glad when all these glass bulbs finally are gone!  just had to post some pictures of the broken bulbs in pieces on the floor - just for Peyton!

 Neal and I can't possibly lift the heavy big boxes up on the shelves in the garage, so we had to push them up against the East window and partially under the piano until we get some strong arms that come to visit and can help us hoist these boxes where they are supposed to be.  You know it is driving me crazy having them sitting here, but I'm doing my best to ignore them.

 This is our kitchen almost completely put back together and Christmas put away.  Neal doing his job of filling the cabinet with the dishes for the next few months.

 And this is me watching a good NFL football game and happy that Christmas is finally and completely put away until November of 2018.

 I might add here, that as I was cleaning the kitchen, I made the decision that 'Count Your Blessing' had been up long enough and was looking pretty bad so I kissed it goodbye and it is no longer a part of the kitchen.  It has made it's way to the land fill.  May it rest in peace!