A SPECIAL GIFT

My father is not one to sit around, he always needs to be doing something to keep him happy. Even with his leukemia he will still get up and find something to do. Fever, aching, no energy, it doesn't matter he will find something that needs to be done. One of the things my father does to keep busy is some woodworking. This is something my father has picked up over the past few years. He has always been good with his hands and can do anything he sets his mind to. This has been something that has brought him a great deal of joy.

He has made several wood pieces for himself and my mother. I saw the beautiful work he was doing and I asked him to build me a cedar chest several years ago. I have always wanted a cedar chest and have never had one. Over the years I watched as he would put other people's request in front of mine. I actually had given up on the idea that it was going to be made which was alright since I was watching his health decline. I was disappointed but I wasn't angry.

Then I got word that he was making my cedar chest when he asked Scott for some money to help cover the costs. I was so excited and couldn't wait to see it. One day I finally got to see what he had created. It was so beautiful! With each process it just continued to get more and more beautiful. Then it was done and I got to bring it home. I was cleaning out some things and I came upon my Grandmother's baby bonnet. I sat and looked at it and thought, I wish I had somewhere safe to put this. Then it dawned on me that I finally had something for my keepsakes. I wrapped the bonnet in tissue paper and placed it safely in my beautiful new cedar chest.



There will never be enough words or the right words to describe how precious this cedar chest is to me. It was made with lots of love and sacrifice. I will treasure it forever. Thank you Dad!

HE DID IT

Last Thursday evening Jason graduated from High School. This is the last of my children to graduate from High School. Cumulative I have seen my kids through 36 years of school and I hope to see Daniel and Jason through college.

It was a stressful time getting Jason through to the end. He tends to put things off until the last minute and so we were sweating things out there at the end, but he did everything he needed to do and was able to enjoy that evening.

Earlier that day he went golfing with his new golf clubs (which are his graduation gift) with some of his friends. Then he came home and got ready and we went to California Pizza Kitchen with Zach Pierson and his family, Cameron's family and Parker's family. We had a great dinner and then headed to the Marriot Center for the graduation ceremony.

It was so cute, while we were taking pictures Christine and Jason wanted to pose as if Daniel was there. This is the two of them acting as if Daniel is in the middle with them. (We miss you Daniel!)

We are so proud of Jason. His plans are to work at Best Buy where he just got a promotion to full time. We are so excited because with the promotion comes tuition reimbursement and other benefits. Jason will attend UVU this fall and turn in his mission papers in October. We are also very proud of Jason graduating from Seminary!

I guess I better find another nickname for Jason. I've always called him Baby and then when he got to old I changed it to Abies so that he wouldn't be embarrassed at the name. He is definitely no longer a baby! Congratulations Jason

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL

Well last Monday was hard but rewarding at the same time. Daniel turned 20 last Monday and we celebrated the day far apart from each other. It was hard not being able to be with him on his special day, but I know he is where is suppose to be and doing what he needs to be doing and we have all been so blessed from his service!

20 years ago last Monday my first son was born to me and it was a glorious day. Daniel brought me so much joy that day and has continued to bring me that great joy over the past 20 years. He has always been a son I could depend on and would always work hard when asked to help. He has always had a cute sense of humor and has made me smile and brought laughter to our home.

In the ward where Daniel is serving his Ward Mission leader owns a bakery/deli there. I was able to work things out with Bro. Callejo and his wife to have Daniel come in with all of his mission friends and have lunch and then Sis. Callejo made Daniel a birthday cake and surprised him with it after their lunch. I am so grateful to the Callejo's for their kindness and help in making Daniel's day a great one. It also made me feel better that I could do something special for Daniel that day.

Daniel gave me the greatest compliment that he feels like one of the Stripling Warriors who had a mother that taught him well. I told him that I feel honored and blessed that I get to be his mother! Happy Birthday Daniel.

HIGH BEER FLOATS

Lately Carter and Easton love to come to Grandma's and have "high beer floats". Now Carter usually calls root beer "heat beer", but when he asks for root beer floats he calls them "high beer floats".

We will never be able to call root beer and root beer floats by their real name again. They will forever be called "heat beer" and "high beer floats"!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

Monday was my Father's birthday, he turned 74. I took him out to eat at Tempanyaki's. We had a great time there. The food was good and our chef was so funny.

I just can't get over that my parents are as old as they are! In my mind they are still 50 something. I feel so blessed to have my Dad around still. When they diagnosed his leukemia they gave him 7-10 years to live and 11 years later he is still with us. My Father has always been there when I needed him and he has been the person I have turned to with so many of my problems. I love you Dad. Happy Birthday!

THE LAST HIGH SCHOOL PROM

Friday night was Jason's prom night. He was so excited about it and had put so much work and effort into it to make sure it was a great night for his date.

To ask his date to the prom, Jason made a scrapbook of memories that he has had with his friend Elise. Napkins from places they have gone, jokes between the two of them and pictures etc. were put into the scrapbook and on the last page he made a page saying Prom 2009 and then a note asking her to make one more memory with him by going to Prom with him. He did it all himself (thanks to the Cricut) and it turned out so adorable.

He and a group of his friends got a Cadillac Escalade limo. He got wrapped flowers for Elise along with her corsage and he also got flowers for Elise's mother. He got a vase of flowers for Elise and had Scott go to her house after they left so that the flowers were waiting for her when she got home. Along with the flowers was a thank you note telling her how glad he was that she went to prom with him and thanking her for a great evening.

This is my last high school prom. Where did the time go? I know the first two children turned out awesome and watching Jason with his date I have a pretty good idea that he will treat his wife pretty special and that some girl will be darn lucky to get him!

BIRTHDAY FUN

Wednesday was my birthday. The last birthday I can enjoy before I turn that awful, horrible 5 - 0!!!

It was a great day. The night before after coming home from Wicked Jason had a dozen roses waiting for me with a beautiful note. I got a wonderful phone call in the morning from Christine and the boys. They sang happy birthday to me and Carter sang all the words, it was so dang cute! My family met me at Paradise Bakery for lunch which is always yummy. To top it off it was a beautiful sunny warm day which made it extra special!

That evening my wonderful daughter cooked me a delicious dinner with apple dumplings for dessert. She did such a wonderful job (which she always does) and it was so nice to just have a quiet evening with the people that I love so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD & WICKED!

Last Tuesday was my son-in-law Brad's birthday. We celebrated by going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Brad is a wonderful man who works very hard to support his cute little family. He is devoted to my daughter (which I am so thankful for) and to his two cute boys Carter and Easton. He is faithful to his Heavenly Father and honors his Priesthood. Brad has been a wonderful addition to our family and we are so grateful to have him! Happy Birthday Brad.

After dinner Scott, Christine, Brad, my mother and myself went to see Wicked at the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake. It was a wonderful production!!! I am so grateful to Scott for standing in line for 6 1/2 hours to get these tickets. He even went without drinking water the evening before so he wouldn't have to go to the bathroom and lose his place in line!! Thanks again Scotty!

After the play Christine got a wonderful surprise, she got to meet John Bytheway and his beautiful wife Kim. We have long admired John and we have listened to many of his talks. He was very gracious and kind. It was a wonderful added treat to our evening that had already been so wonderful!

SPRING BREAK TRIP

We had a wonderful experience going back east to see some of the church history sights over spring break last week.

First we visited Winter Quarter's and saw the beautiful new temple there next to the cemetery where 300+ pioneers are buried. We had a wonderful sister missionary from Tonga share the stories of these saints and bear her testimony to us. We learned so much about the Mormon Battalion and the role they played in Sutter's Mill and clearing the road over the pass in the High Sierra's for other people to come through.

We then visited the tabernacle in Kannesville and headed to Nauvoo. I can't even begin to describe in words the feelings I felt as we drove down the main road into Nauvoo and I caught my first glimpse of the temple. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I saw this beautiful building standing where there had only been a huge indentation for so many years. That temple stands as a testament that nothing will stop the work of the Lord. God will triumph no matter how hard Satan and other people try to destroy the work.

We visited several of the sites in Nauvoo and Scott and I attended a temple session on our second day. Jason was going to do baptisms but he was ill and spent the whole day in bed. It was a wonderful experience to see our friends Dennis and Carolyn Horan who are serving a mission there and also the Mc Ghies from Alpine who are there on a mission. We attended the Rendezvous that the missionaries perform in the evening and it was a wonderful show.


I was especially touched by this statue of Joseph and Hyrum on horses. The plaque tells of how they rode to the top of the hill and looked back on the beautiful city of Nauvoo and then Joseph looked at the temple that was partially completed. He then said to Hyrum something like, I fear the saints have no idea what trials await them. Joseph and Hyrum then rode off to Carthage never to return again.

We reluctantly said good-bye to Nauvoo and went to Carthage to see the Carthage jail. My dad's cousin and her husband are serving in that area also and they were at Carthage to take us through on a tour. They made it very special by sharing with us some extra things that are not told to everyone.

We stopped for several hours in Carthage to get Jason to a doctor and got a prescription for his sinus infection and headed south and west for Adam-Ondi-Ahmen. We were fortunate to have one of my friends from high school set it up so that we got to meet with some of the missionaries serving in the Independence Missouri mission. It was a wonderful meeting at Adam-Ondi-Ahmen. Not only did we learn so much from Brother Brickey who spoke to the missionaries but the spirit that was there was so powerful and sweet.


After the meeting we visited Far West, Liberty and Independence. We met another beautiful sister missionary in Independence who shared with us the stories of the Saints and her wonderful testimony. Jason really connected with her and they had a wonderful conversation. She told us that she was from Murray, Utah and that she was the only member in her family. She shared with us how she was working very hard to get her family to join the church. As we were saying our good-byes that evening she asked if she could write to me. She told me that she needed a mother who would understand her and what she was doing. She needed a mother to get excited with her about what she was doing and to give her some encouragement. My heart ached as well as being touched by this request.

Then it was time to head home. We stopped in Denver long enough to see Garth and Lisa (Sorenson) Jensen. What a beautiful house they have which is filled with the spirit!

It was a bitter sweet feeling as we pulled into the driveway. We had felt the spirit the whole trip and had learned so much and met so many wonderful people. We didn't want that to end, but to see Christine and Brad and the boys, and to sleep in my bed felt so nice.

EASTER

The first Sunday of every month my family does a dinner/family night. We each take turns hosting the dinner and everyone brings something that they are assigned to bring to help with the food. We sing Happy Birthday to everyone who is having a birthday that month (this month it is almost half the family).

April was my month to do the dinner. It is always interesting to try and fit 26 or more people in my small house, but somehow it always works out. Since Scott, Jason and I are leaving for Nauvoo and will be on the road Easter Sunday we did an early Easter celebration. We had the traditional ham dinner and then had an Easter egg hunt for the kids afterwords. I was so glad we had such nice weather for the hunt and so the kids could go outside and play, it made it a little easier on space inside.

It was a nice afternoon with everyone. The food was good, we had some good laughs like Christine fixing up Jason's hair to look like Edward's. (For those of you that don't know that is the Edward from the Twilight movie.) And most important the desserts were fantastic!

COOKIN' KIDS

I love that my kids love to cook. Everyone of my children love to watch the Food Network and then take their ideas to the kitchen and explore and create. Christine evens wishes that Paula Deen was her mom.

Christine is a fantastic cook! She loves noodles, Mexican style food and dips for crackers or chips. She made the best fish tacos for Carter's birthday dinner with the halibut that Brad caught when he went to Alaska last year.

Daniel loves spicy food. The hotter the better for him. We would watch the Food channel and he would tell me how we needed to change a recipe or come up with ideas of how to make a recipe better. He could cook up some of the best meals (just have the tums ready because he loved to spice it up).

Jason has just recently found this to be fun. Jason loves sweets and tends to go for making desserts, he also loves pasta. He made this cake today and it taste awesome! He made a caramel frosting that went in the middle and then just a buttercream frosting with red coloring for the outside. I was pretty amazed at how it tasted because it didn't look as good as it tasted. He learned that you need to make the frosting more stiff for it to look a little nicer.

I'm so glad that each of them enjoy experimenting and taking on the challenge of baking and cooking. I've always encouraged them to be in the kitchen with me and have asked for them to help out as much as I could get them to and I guess it has payed off.

A NICE SURPRISE

I got an email the other day with this picture of Daniel. It was sent from a bakery/deli in Kailua-Kona called "Buns In The Sun". The mission leader in the ward owns the bakery and Daniel goes and eats there a lot. The mission leader took this picture and then sent it to me. He told us that in the two weeks that Daniel has been there he has increased the work greatly. We were so proud. This just made my day to get this. I thought it was so thoughtful of this man to do this for me.