Pennies

Doran has told me many stories of when he was running and has ran past coins on the road but it seems like just too much effort to bend over and pick it up. I have done the same. But we may have to think again after I received the following e-mail.

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.....

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband.. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached own and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value. A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see.. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this? 'Look at it,' he said. 'Read what it says.' She read the words ' United States of America ..' 'No, not that; read further.'

'One cent?' 'No, keep reading.'

'In God we Trust?' 'Yes!' 'And... ?'

He explained, 'And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him. Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as my response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful! '

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, 'In God We Trust,' and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.

It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient...

What a great reminder. Then it got me thinking how many blessings we receive and the abundance of love we feel when we are striving to live the commandments and

Trust In God.

If we stop to pause we will see how they overflow.

Cheri's book

I have a friend, Cheri, that I met through blogging and found out that she also knows my brother. Her brother-in-law works with Jon and their cousins are friends to my uncles niece's grandfather.....ok not really but what a small world.

Cheri's brother-in-law, Jeff, really does work with my brother and therefore, Cheri and her husband, Kennon, have met Jon and his family. So that makes us all cousins right??

Anyway Cheri and I got to finally meet a couple of years ago. We have kept in contact and have met for dinners, camping and blogging. She is pretty awesome!

Well Cheri also happens to be an author among her many other goofball great talents. She plays guitar, sings, she is heavily involved in her church assignments (including getting hurt during camp so the girls can practice first-aid), dresses up like a clown and goes to serenade people for their birthdays (I didn't type that part out loud) and struggles with some health issues and always has her head held high and carries on a positive attitude. What a great sport she is!!

Her Kate series books are some of the first ones that hooked me to the LDS novel reading life.

I couldn't stand to read when I was a puppy but you rarely see me without a book now.

Ok back to my title. For the past few months I have been bugging Cheri about her new book. Sorry Cheri. Did she have it done yet? Did she send it off yet? When are you going to be done? No pressure.

Well finally about a month ago she said she had it done and she is waiting to hear back. I can't believe the headache that she has to go through to publish a book. Sheesh! I would have given up long ago. Anyway, she e-mailed me the "script" so I could read it!!! What?! Really?! I was so excited!

Well it didn't take me long to whoosh through the script! I can't wait for it to be published! This is a story that will be popular for all audiences, young and old maturing.

Waiting.....waiting....waiting....

Why a loss of appetite?

Well, let me tell ya.

I am currently reading a book and they are on a ranch back in 1911.

A long story short....I am at the part where the rancher took his new wife out on a cattle run with him. She is an awesome cook and she was going to help "Cookie" cook meals for the ranch hands.

Every time there is a "greenie" that comes to cook, the ranch hands break them in by bringing Rocky Mountain Oysters for her to cook.

The greenie usually gets sick and loses breakfast, lunch and dinner for an initiation. So....husband took her out the day before to show her how they would be branding calves and "collecting" the oysters.

Ok at this point I am already sick to my OWN stomach.

Then.....

during lunch I came home for a bite to eat.

Just before I get to my front door I see this blech that is bright red.

Upon closer inspection I find.....

part of a mouse's head...like the nose, whiskers and eyes.

There were innards that were still attached and little red things like maybe a kidney or heart.

Oh for ICKsakes!! I about frowed up!
Let me insert here. We have a neighbor that feeds the tons of wild cats that roam the neighborhood.

I am so disgusted that I step over it and run in and lock my door!

Why lock my door? Who knows but ick!!

I refused to let the dumb dog out for lunch. This time of year we try to make her STAY out but, but... I made her eat inside because I didn't want her to eat the rest of that mouse....ick...forry. I bout threw up in my mouth again thinking about it.

DAD can deal with it when he gets home!!

During lunch I picked up my book and started reading again. Still about the same place I was last night and still talking about the same stuff and how she was going to show the ranch hands that she was tough!!

Then back to work I go but when I passed the "you know what"

IT WAS GONE!!!

Ewwww!!!

Some cat came by and finished him off, while I was home! To think of something eating what I saw....blech blech. There was still some goop on the porch that I made daddy clean before he got to go to the gym.

Stay with me....

Dinner time rolls around.

I often have a book on the counter and read between stirring dinner.

Tonight was no different.

Well, yes it was.

As I was cooking my hamburger I begin reading where she has passed the "Oyster" test and now she has to make

Sonofagun Stew.

It is made with the innards of a calf and the brains.

My dinner was NOT smelling good OR looking very good.

I didn't even like the taste of it without thinking about what I was reading and that darn mouse!!

NOW you know why there are NO pictures!!

I couldn't even bring myself to take one!

That's IT!!

I am sticking to CHOCOLATE!!

Crazy goals

Have you ever made a crazy goal had a friend with some crazy goals?

Well here she is....

Susette had this crazy goal to walk 46 miles to celebrate her 46th birthday.

I am a little bit smarter...I would have challenged myself to eat 46 pieces of chocolate instead or something healthy like that.

Or had Doran do 46 push ups for me...

Or drove 46 minutes to go for ice cream...

or....well you get the picture.

However, I was a little envious that she could do this.

I thought I would have liked to try this with her but I had prior plans. We were moving Camri that day.

I text Susette a couple of times and called her too.

When we were heading back from Lehi I thought I would find out where she was and we could surprise her with a drive by.

We found her and drove past her and daddy dumped me off (he did slow down) ahead of her so I could get a picture.

She didn't even know it was me until I was right on her. Then I walked with her a couple of blocks....well I tried to walk with her. She was walking faster than my running.

Then I hopped back in the truck and we continued to move and Susette continued to cruise!

Then I thought...well maybe next year we can do it together but we will stick with her age instead of mine.

But....after I got reading about her "One week/weak later" experience I might have to rethink that goal.

But she is AWESOME even IF she IS crazy!

Logan Temple

I love to see the temple.

I'm going there someday

To feel the holy spirit,

to listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.

A couple of months ago Cortney came up for a visit and we went to visit the Logan temple before a delicious dinner at Chuck-A-Rama.

What a handsome daddy and beautiful daughter.

I love to see the temple.
I’ll go inside someday.
I’ll cov’nant with my Father;
I’ll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:
A fam’ly is forever.

I think I am getting shorter the fatter I get.

Our dream is to have all our family in the temple with us.

No Empty Chairs!

John A. Widtsoe

A couple of months ago I went to Bananie's school for a program.

Each of the kids in her grade represented some person that has made a difference in history or even now.

Bananie got to be John A. Widtsoe

Grandma Annie took her to the DI and found some "finds".

I think she even had a wig but decided not to wear it.

Bananie did a mighty fine job!

She had her part memorized and she looked the part.

It was so fun to go listen to her!

Thanks for the invite Bananie!

Plantar moves to knee

Did you know you can have Plantar Faciitis in your knee?

Well you can't.

Just as I was getting over my Plantar problems my knee owie started taking its place.

Ahh....a visit to the Chiropractor to get adjusted and muscles rubbed til he makes you cry and then a little stim makes a person all better!!!

NOT!!

Well anyway. I did feel a bit better.

I need to better about rolling my muscles on the foam roller, walk on a golf ball, stretch, stretch, and stretch.

Especially if I want to be able to run!!

I will NOT bring up the fact the I am getting Plantar in my left foot either.

I already know how to hurt in my right foot and knee.

I do NOT want to learn how to deal with pain in my left.

STRETCH, STRETCH!!!

Christmas Treats

Ah ha ha ha...I am still laughing!!!

So is the rest of the family when we tell the story.

You know during Christmas when you get mounds of treats from your neighbors? Ya well I have one area in the kitchen where they go and we pick and binge from the treat spot.

On Christmas morning I usually have breakfast in the oven cooking while we open gifts.

Well while the rest of us were WAITING PATIENTLY for breakfast to cook WHILE we were getting ready to open presents we hear a "EWW, SPIT, YUCK, BLECH" sound.

JASON is missing from the group!

He has snuck in to "pick" at the Christmas treats and what did he get for sneaking without us?!!!

Cat food!!

Ah ha ha ha!!!

This little baggie of cat food was sitting on the counter and he thought it was some kind of peanut butter balls or something.

That's what you get for not waiting for the rest of us!!

Ah ha ha ha!!

Guess you had to be there.

I know what to get Jason NEXT Christmas!!

Puzzled

On rare occasions I get to put a puzzle together.

I LOVE puzzles.

The problem: when I start a puzzle I usually want to stay at it until it is finished

even IF it is at 3:00 in the morning.

Not a good idea if I want a good nights sleep.

Most of my puzzles have to go on my kitchen table because I live in such a cracker box.

I will extend the table but I still feel like I need to get it done so we can eat there.

(Not that we eat there more than we do in the front room but I am NOT going to tell you THAT!

Oh the things we do as empty nesters)

This puzzle was small enough that I could put it together on a

TV tray

in the front room

while I Doran was watching the Jazz.

I had a little help from the dumb dog.

Don't be fool, she really didn't help much.

She was more IN THE WAY than any help!

Easter fun TWO years ago

A couple of years ago I was prepared for Easter. This year...eh not so much. Sometimes I just feel so tired and lazy. My mom usually has the fun parties.

Well a couple of years ago mom took care of the Easter Egg Hunt for the little kids and I took care of the BIG kids Easter Egg Hunt. Since I DIDN'T plan well this year and I still have to prepare my lesson for tomorrow I thought I would just share what we did two years ago.

Maybe next year...maybe.

NOTE: Tomorrow our ward is taking a Ward Family Picture. This will be put in a box, along with the rest of the wards in the Stake, for the Temple. I can't remember where they are going to bury the box or if they were placing it inside somewhere. How fun eh?!

Grandma's chair

When Grandpa and Grandma Snoopy moved from the "Ranch" in to town years ago they each had a glider they loved to sit in.

When we moved Grandma to an assisted living place I am not sure where Grandpa's glider went but Grandma took hers with her.

Then when we moved Grandma closer to us her glider came also.

She would spend most of her time in this glider visiting and even napping and when she was in her wheelchair WE got to sit in the glider.

I have always wanted one but just haven't found the "right" one.

Well when Grandma passed away this past December my mom told me to take Grandma's glider.

A little piece of Grandma.

I took the cushions out and washed them up good and decided to recover it because it was getting a little worn and thread bare.



(The bottom cushion in washing)

 Then I turned it into this.

I still have to put the back buttons on it but because I am such a procrastinator so busy I haven't done it yet.

However I already put the fabric on the buttons.
One step at a time here, don't rush me.

I WAS going to sand it and restain it but decided that I like the worn Grandma look.

I just LOVE Grandma's chair!

Letters in the Jade Dragon Box

This was a really good story however, it was MORE than a story.

As I read this book all I could think was that all AMERICANS NEED to read this book. It talks about how Obama Mao slowly turned China into a communist country. There are similarities going on NOW in our country! It is scary! We need to put a STOP to the destruction of our wonderful free land!

The following is from the Desert Book web page:
 
Truth. In mainland China from 1949 to 1976, truth is all but eradicated, suppressed and supplanted by the iron will of Mao Tse-tung. Millions of people suffer untold anguish as their history, their culture, and their lives are brought under communist rule. Many flee to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
 
As a child, Chen Wen-shan was taken from her family home in mainland China and sent to live with her great-uncle — a former general in the Nationalist Chinese army who had become one of the first converts to the LDS Church in Hong Kong. For ten years, Wen-shan has carried the sorrow of abandonment in her heart, with few memories of her life before. But at the death of Chairman Mao, fifteen-year-old Wen-shan receives a mysterious wooden box that holds a series of beautiful paintings and secret letters that reveal the fate of the family she has not heard from in more than a decade.
 
As Wen-shan and her great-uncle read the letters in the jade dragon box, they discover an unbreakable bond between each other, their family — both past and present — and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Letters in the Jade Dragon Box is a beautifully written LDS historical novel inspired by the real-life experiences of one man who was offered truth that would heal his heart, his spirit, and his family. His story helps shed light on a time and a place where, despite all odds, truth refused to be broken.

Second Try

Let me remind you of the post about the "Betty Crocker" post.

Well after that GREAT experience I thought I would use the rest of the dough and make more and this time remember the water in the oven.

That should do the trick right!?

NOT!!

Ignore the mess on the bottom of the oven and

look what happened to my stone!!

It just SNAPPED

while it was baking!!

And NO the bread didn't turn out either.

No matter how many times I try a new recipe it reminds me that my talent is NOT baking.

I guess that is why I buy store bought make up my own recipes. But DANG! We LOVE homemade bread!

I guess it is back to the kneading board.

Well no worries about the stone because it is lifetime warranted right....WRONG!

So I am starting my Christmas List wants...so pay attention to those that say I don't give ideas.

Want #1 - Pizza Stone

Want #2 - Homemade bread delivered to us once a month.

(Don't want to overstress the giver here)

Family Run

A couple of Saturdays ago we ran a race as a family. Well some of us anyway.

The Aloha Fun Run was an Eagle project by McKay who lives in our old ward.

McKay's older brother, Tyson, passed away several years ago from Cystic Fibrosis. He was only 17.

Tyson loved anything Hawaiian and so

McKay's Eagle project was the

"Tyson Wilding Memorial Scholarship Fund 5k run/1 mile walk".

Chelsea and Bananie did the 1 mile.

Doran, Cortney and I did the 5k.

Although we weren't very "Hawaiian dressed" we all had fun!

Bananie monkey

LOOK! There are even sharks at ROAD race! They are EVERYWHERE!!!

This one darn near et Cortney!

Doran placed 2nd in his age.

And I placed 3rd in mine.

And Cortney...well...maybe next year.

I'm thinking this might be the first of many runs for this scholarship. What a great Eagle project McKay! We will be back next year!

Intentions

A few weeks ago I attended the Story @ Home 2012 conference. It was great! (I will try to talk about the classes I attended and the wonderful people I met in a different posts.)

By attending this conference I thought I would be SO motivated to do better about writing about our lives and learn the techniques to do so. They had blogging tips and genealogy tips and ideas. Some of these got me so excited I wanted to start right away where I left off on my great-grandpa and great-grandma "finds". Well I did learn some great tools but I still feel inadequate and felt like I did/do not have the talent to "write" like the speakers taught us.

I, however, tried to drill it in my brain the reasons WHY I have this blog and WHO I am writing for. Yes, I would love followers. I really enjoy the friendships I make and the input and encouragements that come from others. Who doesn't? I have to remember that I am NOT a writer, heck I even dislike very strongly writing, spelling and language arts. I always have but I DO love reading, go figure.

Anyway as I have so many things happen since the conference I thought "OH! I can/will blog about that!!" But alas, I have yet to make it to my blog and post. I also have wanted to go to my old blog and transfer things to our new blog that I miss. I have YET to do that too. Then I get SO behind that I don't know where to catch up!

Then watching LDS General Conference this past weekend I find several more "topics" that I want to share but.... You get the point. We have all been there I am sure.

For Christmas my mother gave me a book that a distant cousin of hers made. It was full of genealogy and stories of my ancestors. Granted more than half of the book took me down the wrong side of the family line but the parts that applied closer to my heart were so exciting to read! Then it reminded me that I have my Grandma Snoopy's diaries. They are just the small "gas station" notebooks and they don't have much in them but they are in her handwriting. I was going to type them all up and copy some of her pages and make books for all my cousins but I have YET to do that too.

See INTENTIONS!! I am not sure which page in my life I was to do first but I will get the motivation.....somewhere.....sometime! I can't wait to see what I post!