Sunday Thoughts

 As I watch some of the Maxfield posterity struggle with the church I become more and more concerned about their happiness and where their lives are headed.  I've watched sadness envelop Neal as one by one his children are leaving the gospel behind.

I read a statement by Jeffrey R. Holland who said, "The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a fairy tale, it is God's very truth.  We need to live by obedience in the morning. diligence in the afternoon and miracles in the evening."  

Sometimes it is hard to move on beyond all your doubts.  You say you have doubts of the first vision, Joseph Smith, the priesthood being withheld from all God's children for a while, etc.  But to all of that I would say leave those doubts all behind and move forward in faith.  

Jesus Christ is the head of this church.  I have a testimony of that and know that His church had to go through years of refinement and will continue to be refined until the second coming of our Savior.  

Hi Jeffrey!

After meetings and dinner I settled into my chair to do some stitching and find something on TV to entertain me as I worked on my new stitching project.  As I surfed through the channels I came across an NFL football game.  It was  the Green Bay Packers.  You all know that I love football and especially BYU Cougars!  I don't usually get into NFL - well maybe a little bit- but this game caught my interest because it made me think of Jeffrey.  He was such fan of Green Bay.   I wondered what he was doing and if they get to watch football in heaven and cheer on their favorite teams.  I hope he knows that his mom thinks about him all the time, misses him but knows that he is happy and always close by.  I know he's not far, so I said, "Hi Jeffrey".  

Sweet Message from Hermana Gertson

 I was so excited to get this note in the snail mail from my little namesake missionary.  From all reports she is happy, working hard, loving the gospel, loving her Savior and serving Him with all her might, mind and strength.  We love you Abby!!

Derek Celebrates Halloween in China

 Derek sent us these pictures of his Halloween Costume that he wore to school.  He said he won the best costume award from the teachers and from his students.

I asked Maren to send me some pictures of her two boys in their Halloween costumes but I haven't received any as of this posting.  As soon as she sends me some I will post them.  

Emmi's Little Church Group

 While Emmi is on deployment she still finds where they are holding church on the ship.  She sent this picture of the usual group who gathers on Sunday to partake of the sacrament and then have a talk.  I can't think of a better, more secure and right place to be out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean than in church on a Sunday morning.  So proud of your choices Emmi Girl.

Emmi just got off the ship yesterday and is now safely back at her apartment and waiting for her leave over Thanksgiving to spend with the family.  

Looking out on the deck of the huge Harry S. Truman Carrier.

New Sink

 I'm amazed at how quickly this all came together once Neal and I made the decision to have a single sink installed in the kitchen.  We bought it on a Thursday, called Justin, our plumber on Friday and it was installed the following Tuesday.  We love it!

Peyton Jean Turns 15!

 I'm sure that Jamie and Tucker are experiencing a little bit of  the 'what happened' syndrome.  To now have their youngest, the baby of the family turn 15.  I look at all my grandchildren and realize that the percentage of them are high school and college age.  Time does slip away so quickly.

These are pictures of Peyton through the years.  Happy birthday to a beautiful and sweet granddaughter who bears half of my name.  Birthday wishes and hugs coming your way.

Sunday Thoughts

 Just experienced the most incredible Sacrament Meeting ever.  The message was from our Stake Presidency.  I obviously can't do it justice but this is what I wrote from what he said.  Four things that we should do:

1.  Don't carry the weight.  In other words, let go of stuff we don't need.  Give our burdens to the Lord. "Even in the most difficult of circumstances, the Savior will lift our burdens and make them light. " Elder Brent H. Nielson  

2.  Travel in the lane or path you want to end up in.  Don't change lanes because you think you will get somewhere faster.  Stay confidently in the lane that will lead you to where you want to end up.  

3.  Let it go.  He was referring to anger.  We shouldn't hang on to anger.  Just let it go.  Anger can be poison to our souls.  

4.  God loves us and that is all that matters.  

He ended his talk by telling us that these four things are simple things of the gospel to live by and will lead us safety home.  

Two more quotes.

"I love you dear brothers and sisters.  The Lord knows you and loves you.  He is your Savior and Redeemer.   He leads and guides His church.  He will lead and guide you in your personal life if you will make time for Him in your life-each and every day."  Pres. Nelson

"We believe in the divine potential of God's children and in our ability to become something more in Christ.  In the Lord's timing, it is not where we start, but where we are headed that matters most."

Elder Clark G. Gilbert

What an incredible meeting that literally filled my well to overflowing for the love of my Savior, Jesus Christ and for his gospel.  

Finally Finished

 This project has been a tough one.  Fun to do but a challenge.  The border just about did me in, but I finally got it finished!  YAHOO.  This one will definitely be entered in the fair next year.  Neal said "It should be a sweepstakes winner!"  Not sure about that but I'll take a blue ribbon for sure!  I don't think I could win the sweepstakes twice.  Happy to have won it once!

This is the finished project but not framed yet.  It will be gorgeous when it is framed.  I will be posting that when it is done.  I did it because it has one of my very favorite songs on it.  All things bright and beautiful is how I feel about my life, my Savior and the gospel!  

Finally done!

This weekend has been a good weekend and lots of things accomplished.  Neal and I have been looking at a single kitchen sink.  Not the farmer style but a set in stainless steel sink.  We looked at a few places and finally ended up back at Home Depot where we bought the sink and the faucet and brought it home for Justin, our plumber to come install it.  This is a picture of it and I will post the installed picture when it is done.  We were hoping to have it installed by Thanksgiving and to our surprise, Justin has time on Tuesday to do it for us.  So excited.  We are still looking at either putting in a wall oven or buying a knew double oven.  I think that is on our list as our next project.  One thing at a time as we can afford it.

Saturday morning I got a call from Mallory asking if she could come up and do her laundry.  Apparently the machines at their apartment complex was not working and she needed some clean clothes.  She came about noon, we started her laundry and then the two of us ran errands.  Just like old times!  We went to JoAnns to get some material for a quilt I told Susan I would make for her and ended up getting some fun material for a quilt for Mallory.  The flannel material was on sale for 50% off, which was a bonus!  From there, we hit Swig for a drink and then to the Mall to get a couple more pieces to go with my new Thanksgiving dishes.  Then we went to the grocery store for some needed groceries and then to Olympus Burger for lunch.  By the time we got home, the BYU game was starting so we plopped ourselves in front of the TV and ate lunch, watched the game and finished up laundry.  Mallory had a stake meeting at 5:00 that she wanted to be back to so she left about 3:30 and headed home.  It was so much fun to have her here for a while - just like old times.  

BYU won!! Yahoo.  I love it when my team wins.  The Utah game came on almost immediately after the BYU game so I watched that with Neal.  Sadly, Utah lost their game.  Well, I'll say, sadly for Neal.  I could care less :-)

All in all it was a good Saturday with lots of things check off my "to do" list.  I went to bed a happy camper.  

Lila Mae's 90th Birthday Celebration

What an incredibly fun day.  Annie and I left ahead of the rest of the family to help with the set up.  Neal, Tucker and the Gertson family all showed for the festivities.  It was so fun to see so many family members from near and some as far away as Hawaii.  The open house was from 2 to 6.  Lots of people came to wish her a happy birthday.  Annie, Mallory and I left about 5 to get something to eat.  The three of us had not eaten all day.  We stopped at Cafe Rio in Heber, then to Lila Mae's house to get our home made bread that she had made that morning and then home.  It was a wonderful day!

Some fun pictures:  This is Jeff, Lila Mae and Andrew.  Quite a difference in heights.  We had a good chuckle over this one.

And this one!

Lila Mae's family.  Left to right: - back row:  Ross, Julie, Mark, Mary

                                                       front row:  Becky, Lila Mae Susan and Sandra

Me and Lila Mae - LOVE this picture!!  Love this sister of mine.

Lila Mae receiving this darling red truck center piece.  Lots of detail went into this red truck.

Lila Mae peeking through the window of the truck!

Head lights and license plate in her name.

License plate in the back.

Notice the lit head lights.

The sign on the door of the truck says Famous Swiss Bread and backed goods.

The owners of the Dairy Keen where Lila Mae works every day and makes her famous Swiss bread put these great signs up on the Marquee

Two cute cousins, Lynda Ann and Mary.

Lila Mae's daughter, Mary.

Me, Tucker, Neal and Lynda Ann.  It was great that Tucker was in town for the weekend and could drive up to Midway with his dad to wish Lila Mae a happy birthday.

Lila Mae's oldest son Ross and I.  Ross is 7 years younger than I am.  

Brother and Sister:  Susan and Ross.  Ross is the oldest of the two.

Shirlee Rae and I.  Shirlee Rae is my oldest sister, Nita's daughter.  Shirley Rae is 7 years younger than I.  

Picture of the Gertson family minus Emmi and Abby.  Emmi is out on the Atlantic Ocean on an aircraft carrier somewhere and Abby is serving a missing in California.

Rare picture of Susan.  But a cute picture of Susan and Lila Mae

I LOVE this picture.  The Gertsons were leaving and Andrew came over, knelt down on one knee to give Lila Mae a hug.  What a beautiful display of love and respect from my grandson with a heart of gold.  

Lila Mae's birthday cake.  

Tucker's New Toy

 Now Tucker says this new toy is for work but I think he is going to have fun with it while using it for work.  He says that the drone is perfect for flying over the top of home and commercial businesses so that the company can get an accurate layout of the roof and any obstacles that may be on the roof when putting or or deciding where to put solar panels.  And, I do think it is better / safer than climbing on top of buildings.  I'll let you decide for yourself.  He brought it out and showed us how it works.  First we did it in the front room and then he took it outside and flew it over our neighborhood and beyond.  It is absolutely amazing.  The only other one I've ever seen was when Neal and I were leaving a basketball game at the U and someone was flying one.  We stopped and watched him and asked a few questions.

You can see the drone just below the roof line.  Look carefully.

Tucker's phone is hook up to the control and that is where the drone send the pictures and video.  Amazing, isn't it?

Tucker was even brave enough to hand the controls over to Neal.  He wanted me to try it as well, but I was contented to just see it and take a few pictures.  A $1,000.00 toy is a little too much responsibility in my hands.