This was our introduction with the Easter All Week.
Each child got to cut out, paste, and explain what happened during the last week.
We also had our holy week picture wall up.
We attended sacrament meeting with my Uncle and his family. After the blessing of the sacrament, Hurricane announced in his outside voice, "That was a short one" in reference to the prayer. We smiled to ourselves that he was paying close attention. He later fell asleep.
What strikes me is that the sacrament helps me remember the covenants that I made at my baptism to always remember Jesus Christ. Even though the prayers are short, they help me to keep myself close to God and the promise given that he will forgive me as I repent and continue to keep the commandments during the week. I hope you felt God's love today in your church service to be better for the coming week.
In an attempt to get more physical exercise, I pushed our boys up our hill. I asked them to get ready. And this is what I got on one boy. He was obedient and put shoes on. They are both his older brothers.
I am the oldest in my family. I've liked being the oldest. Growing up I was told (by Grandparents) that I needed to be an example that all the others would look to me for what I would do. In some ways, there was a lot of pressure in that comment. In a different light though, apparently my Grandparents believed I had great potential to do great things. I have done some pretty great things. Right now in my role as a Mom, I'm trying to do good things so they will become great boys.
They decided to share a blanket on the chilly morning.
I've been learning lately that I don't have control over everything in my life. Something I desperately want. I especially would like to know how the plot turns out so I can go along my way. Yet it is not the plan God has for me. He wants me to trust and wait on him. Robert D. Hales talked about waiting on the Lord and said that from the scriptures waiting is "means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust." (Source) So when I look at Hurricane who looks to his older brother for help and a way to be, and then I look at Underfoot as he and his brother look to us, their parents, on what will be, they have given us an incredible amount of trust. And it is similar to how God wants me to look to him.
Wow! What a great realization!
Elder Hales explains:
We realize that the purpose of our life on earth is to grow, develop,
and be strengthened through our own experiences. How do we do this? The
scriptures give us an answer in one simple phrase: we “wait upon the
Lord.”
Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow
us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to
follow His Son. He already knows, and we have the opportunity to learn,
that no matter how difficult our circumstances, “all these things shall
[be for our] experience, and … [our] good.” (Source)
We have the choice to follow Jesus Christ and his teachings to learn and grow. As Easter continues to approach, I continue to think about the power that Christ gave to each of us to deliver us from death and sin to experience joy.
As I walked, I thought of our journey in the moment up the hill. It was a push and hard. But as I've thought about what life is that it too is a push and hard. And can be made easier if we look to Jesus Christ as our big brother and example.
My Grandpa served in the Navy during WWII. He went with his sons and a few of his grandsons to see the ship he served on from age 18-20. The picture below is him as a Grandpa and one as a sailor. The hair color is the same.
For his viewing, either my Dad or Brother made arrangements for the same gun to be next to the picture displayed of him. As different people would come through they were asked to heft and hold the gun. The gun weights around 10 pounds without a full clip.The truck is a Diamond T 1950 model 222 (link gives history on this actual truck for the restoration). The brakes were the last thing to be done. It is a beautiful truck.
I don't get in many pictures with my Sweetheart. When we take pictures we want to make a memory. :)
Someone said to me that you expect your Grandparents to die. I didn't. I still will have moments that I think I should call my Grandma for this recipe or to talk to my other Grandma who listened to me with complete love and kindness. I am thankful for the resurrection and the power that it gives me. I believe that I will be with my family again and continue to enjoy the same association that I had with them during mortal life.
I have been looking forward to Easter this year. I hope I can teach it well and to learn the lessons that I need to in the coming Easter season of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for all our families.
On our way to Idaho....Hurricane wearing Daddy's glasses.
We crashed Uncle Beck's birthday party at Famous Dave's in SLC. Because it was his, my, and his daughter's birthdays we each got an ice cream sundae!
Breakfast with cousins - Hurricane, Gelly, Linc, Underfoot. They played and played while Sweetheart and I went on a date. It was Valentine's Day.
Before the funeral services of their great-Grandpa with their youngest cousin.
I wanted to share this picture because of the honor, dignity, and respect my Grandpa had for serving his nation (and mine) during WWII. My Uncle Richard and he worked on a War Diary of his experiences on LCI-222.
Aunt Karol was given the flag. Her brother, my Dad, is standing next to her with the glasses. The shot doesn't show this but together they lifted the flag to her heart. She held it very tenderly.
My handsome brother, Superman (a.k.a. Scooter - Grandpa's nickname for him) and my Mom at the visitation the evening before the funeral. My brother was my Grandpa's companion in business and sometimes social for the last 6 years plus and every day for the last 6 months they were either together or in some way communicated. My Grandpa wore a lavender shirt the often in honor of my Grandma. It was her favorite color.
My Grandpa would say this phrase every time I would hang up with him on the phone. "When are you coming again? I'll probably check out before then." I would respond that he wouldn't check out, and I'd see him or talk to him again. He always told me he loved me before we hung up on the phone.
Yesterday he checked out. And just in the manner he would have liked - quick and with his dignity. I was called and told he went to the hospital in the early evening. When I called back later (because I had silenced my phone), he had passed.
The tender mercies we have seen as a family have been that he passed quickly. He carried his dignity with him and did not need to have assisted care. He was not alone at his home. He did not fear death. He understood that death is part of God's plan to be with family and friends and await the resurrection.
To celebrate Easter during Christmas might seem odd. Because of Christmas we have Easter. This post was to go up yesterday, but we spent the day as a family doing odds and ends.
Our happiness is improve when we following the teachings of Christ such as prayer, service, scripture study, and having a Christian heart. In keeping with Christ's admonition to study Isaiah, Richard G. Scott about the power of scriptures in our lives.
Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give
place to guidance and inspiration from on high. They can become the key
to open the channel to communion with our Father in Heaven and His
Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. (source)
I hope each of us can find Christ in our Christmas to ponder the miracle of his birth to bring about the miracle in our live to live with God again.
One week ago at church, the women had a social gathering. (We call this gathering an additional Relief Society meeting meaning it isn't on Sunday.) The purpose of the meeting is to bring women closer to Christ. The evening had food, conversation, and an opportunity to share a Christ-centered family tradition. Many ideas were shared of giving gifts through service organizations or to a family in need, filling a manager with hay for acts of service, each member of the family unwrapping a picture of Christ as the first present on Christmas morning, and many others.
One of our traditions is the Advent Jesse Tree. Over the past 13 days, I have shared each day of the advent by adding my own thoughts and feelings building up to the birth in Bethlehem through the Old Testament.
As we opened the "gift" today, Underfoot asked if after Christmas the picture could be put into his room for the rest of the year. I think it is sweet because the scripture we read talks about how a little child shall lead them.
The wolf
also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the
kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a
little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
Isaiah prophesies of Jesus Christ's Second Coming. He sees that we will have peace on the earth after the coming of Christ. "Isaiah taught that even
the animals will live in harmony: wolves, leopards, lions, and bears
will no longer hunt lambs, goats, and calves" (source). Isaiah 11 is to encourage and give hope to the followers of Jesus Christ in a world where wickedness will be the same as in the days of Isaiah.
"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people" (Isaiah 11:10). An ensign is a flag, a banner, or a standard that signals to others what the beliefs are of a group of people. My Dad's favorite hymn is High on a Mountain Top. For me, this anthem says that there is a "bigger picture" in God's plan than the pinhole approach sometimes I have. Isaiah shared this vision because he knew that men and women in the winding-up-scenes before the Second Coming would need to remember the Savior's love.
I am reminded each day recently through our advent experience that God does love his children and wants to teach them of His plan so they can return to live with Him. Our day is not isolated to receive the word of the Lord. He has given it to His children throughout all time - Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Ruth Esther, and many more.
Here are a few things I learned from a talk called The Olive Press:
The olive tree is a perennial, not a deciduous tree. Its leaves do not
seasonally fade nor fall. Through scorching heat and winter cold they
are continually rejuvenated. The tree is thus evergreen, or “everolive.”
Without cultivation it is a wild, unruly, easily corrupted tree. Only
after long, patient cultivating, usually eight to ten years, does it
begin to yield fruit.
New shoots often come forth from
apparently dead roots.
Today
some trees, still productive on the Mount of Olives, are known by
scientific measure to be at least 1,800 years old.a
Even after the harvest, the olives are bitter, useless to man
or beast. To make them edible, one must place them in a large stone box,
layer them with salt and vinegar, make more layers of olives, and add
more purgatives. Slowly the bitterness is purged from them.
To produce
olive oil, the refined olives had to be crushed in a press. The mellowed
and seasoned olives were placed in strong bags and flattened on a
furrowed stone. Then a huge crushing circular rock was rolled around on
top, paced by a mule or an ox and a stinging whip. Another method used
heavy wooden levers or screws twisting beams downward like a winch upon
the stone with the same effect: pressure, pressure, pressure—until the
oil flowed.
Truman G. Madsen spoke on this topic better than I about how Jesus Christ is the stem of Jesse and how Christ is similar to an olive tree and the fruit it produces. I encourage you to read Madsen's words.
My own paralells from the point above are:
We are forever living. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, we will gain immortality. We may grow and change with time but our spirit lives on.
Today we tied Ruth and Boaz to Obed to Jesse to David. Each was given the promise that Jesus Christ would be born through their lineage and what an honor it was for them. They were taught the commandments and given the choice to choose if they would follow Jesus Christ. "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ" (source).
The gift of the atonement makes it possible for new life to come to each of us. We can repent and make a better life.
We lived before we came to earth, and we will live again after this earth life.
Some times we are bitter and mean, time, care, and experience helps each of us to be more specific in how we want to be better to ourselves and to each other.
The refining process comes to each of us in our trials. We can either
choose to reach out and ask for the aid of the Savior or suffer on our
own.
Here is a three generational picture at my brother's wedding. The yellow haired girl is my Gramma Rae. My Grandpa Hoggan always called her by this name. His Yellow Hair Girlfriend. He still does. Similar to the sun, she was named LeRae by her parents as a bright light in their lives. She was their oldest and only girl.
She loved to dance. She was before her marriage a principal ballerina for the Utah Ballet Company. When she married, she hung up her ballet shoes along with her tap shoes. She decided to be a wife and eventually the mother of 7 children.
As a gift to their children and grandchildren one year they gave their autobiographies. The book is full of beautiful stories of their faith, work ethic, life experiences, and hopes. I want to share some of the experiences that she writes about that have encouraged me as I have struggled.
Marriage to Glen
I married him because he was so respectful and kind to his grandmother. Because he would not whisper or talk to me in Sacrament Meeting or even miss going to Sacrament meeting. He honors his priesthood. I have learned that a man who honors his priesthood will honor his wife.
When we would visit them after morning prayers he ALWAYS gave her at least 5 kisses and would say, "That should hold you until lunch time." I liked to see them kiss because I knew they liked each other.
Aunt LeRae
Gamma Rae holding Cannon after his birth.
Aunt LeRae lived 23 days. Grandpa Glen named her after her mother. She was their first child.
LeRae had an obtrusion of the small bowel. She was born with the small intestine on the outside of her stomach. After two surgeries, she passed away with mother and father's hands touching her through two small holes in her humid crib.
Every time I read this story I cry. I can't image creating life and having a baby die. I can only image the sorrow and loneliness this caused for my Grandparents.
Through it all, I matured and learned some valuable lessons:
The importance of good health. I never ever cared about the sex of my babies, only if they were well. I developed an appreciation and deep gratitutde to Heavenly Father for good health. I don't take that blessing for granted. Even today I thank Him daily for our good health.
The importance of the Plan of Salvation. I'm grateful to a loving Heavenly Father that will allow me to care for LeRae someday providing I live worthy.For any years I prayed vocally to be worthy of that blessing for I know she is perfect and did not need to come to earth to be tested. With the years, the words have faded from my memory but the thought is always in my heart.
The gift of life and the importance to living life as obediently as possible.
The gift of motherhood and parenthood.
These blessing bring into perspective her faith and desire to be obedient. Her mantra was "Be Obedient." It was said to her children and grandchildren. Often.
Fun Story:
Gamma Rae was fun especially with her grandchildren. She made each of us a sleeping bag when we turned 5. That is mostly because we were potty trained by then and we could bring our own bedding to sleep at their home. She loved to cook but didn't like a food-sneaker. If you tried to sneak while she was cooking she would poke your hand with a fork. You never did it twice. I took tap in college, and she would practice with me. The highlight was going to Thoroughly Modern Millie with her. She was all smiles after the show.
Here is one of her own stories:
Learning one's way around a new place takes experience. One evening Glen asked me to pick him up at the Oakland Airport. I piled all the children in the VW and headed toward the airport. I knew I needed to exit on the right, but when I arrived at the Bay Bridge tollgate I was a little confused. I asked the attendant, "How do I get to the Oakland Airport?" He said, "Lady, you will need to turn around." I looked across the twelve-lane freeway at rush hour and said, "How?" He responded, "When I say "GO!" turn left and drive across the lanes, go between those two buildings and get on the freeway heading the other way." He picked up a telephone and all twelve gated lowered across the bridge. He then yelled, "GO!" I put he pedal to metal and putted that bug across the freeway with the children's noses pressed against the window looking at all the stopped cars.
She was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease that later was assumed to be Lewy bodies disease. She died on the eve of Easter. She knew of the resurrection and hoped for the promised blessings.
