An Unplanned Respite

After cleaning bags of clothes out of my closet and taking them to the car, I was planning on heading out to deliver them to DI and then go to Costco. However, as I went to leave I realized my house and car keys were not in my purse and I was locked out of the house. I called Gary on my cell phone to see when he was coming home, and he said "soon," so I told him I'd just wait for him and relax in the car till he got home.

Well, if you know Gary, "soon" can be anywhere from a half hour to two hours, so after cleaning out the compartments in the car and getting bored, I decided to go relax in the hammock. It was another beautiful day, though after a bit I started to get chilly, so I covered myself with a tablecloth from the storage shed. I was quite happy I had been forced to relax there for a while.

Once Gary got home, we went in the house before heading to Costco (such an exciting event in our lives), and I couldn't find my keys in the house. I had looked all through my purse, and I knew they weren't there, so where were they? I retraced my steps, and after looking in the back of the car, what do you know? The keys were under the big bag I was taking to DI.

So all of that was not necessary at all.
I could have gone out and come back home
in the time I had been waiting in the hammock.
But then, of course, I would have missed
my relaxing time in the hammock
and missed having Gary with me at Costco
and wouldn't have bought a
Turkey Wrap and Berry Smoothie
and had the fine dining experience we did.

So, all in all, I'm glad I thought I left my
keys in the locked house.

It's so beautiful today!

Temperature right now: 56 degrees, but it feels warmer.

View From front porch:



A great day to ride along with Gary to Salt Lake
where he attended a conference.
I went to Gygi's, and guess what I found?
Cupcake salt and pepper shakers
(the frosting is the salt, the bottom the pepper)



and measuring spoons!

General Conference Tradition

Sometimes we are creating traditions without even realizing it.

When Natalie was about 4 years old,
our friend and neighbor, Eileen,was her Primary teacher.
Eileen told me how in class,
as they were talking about General Conference,
that Natalie said something to this effect:
"That's the day we always have cinnamon rolls for breakfast."
She didn't say anything about listening to talks,
but she did remember the cinnamon rolls.

Well, I didn't remember that we always had cinnamon rolls,
but I thought I better make them so as not to disappoint Natalie.
So, I made cinnamon rolls.
You know, the kind that you roll out, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on,
roll back up, cut, bake, and frost.
It turned out that those were not what she had in mind.

She remembered these:



What I know of as Butterscotch Butter Balls.

Well, that was the last time I made that mistake.
Now, without fail, this is our breakfast tradition
on General Conference Sunday.
Every once in a while I almost forget to get the frozen rolls out
and prepare them so they can rise over night, but so far I haven't.
That would be criminal!

I think I got started too early last night,
as this is what I found when I went downstairs this morning.

But it worked just fine, anyway.

And guess what?
There are 24 rolls in a pan,
3 of us to eat them,
and they are all gone.

But it's tradition, and we just have to have them.
Besides that, it's not as bad as it sounds.
I don't really eat all of the bread part,
I usually just eat the part that has the good stuff on it.

We may not be too nutritionally fed on General Conference,
but we are so spiritually fed that it makes up for it.

Here is the recipe:

Butterscotch Butter Balls
Makes 8 servings (that's what the recipe says anyway)

24 frozen white dinner rolls
1/2 box butterscotch pudding mix (about 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

1. About 8 hours or night before, dip rolls in dry pudding mix. Arrange rolls in bundt pan sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle remaining pudding mix over the top.
2. Combine brown sugar and butter and melt in microwave until butter is melted and syrup is formed (about 1 1/2 minutes)
3. Pour over rolls and cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Let rise until double or even with top of pan. Remove wrap.
4. Bake at 350 degrees 30-35 minutes.
5. As soon as you take the rolls out of the oven loosen the sides of the pan with a knife and invert bundt pan onto serving plate.

More Perspective

I love General Conference.

I love hearing the insights and reassurances of the
apostles, prophets, and general presidencies.
The messages always seem to reach right into the
hearts and concerns of the times and the people.
That shouldn't surprise me.
After all, they are inspired men and women
who are called to do just that.

Elder Quentin Cook today touched on my question of yesterday.
How did the early church members leave everything?

To very loosely paraphrase him:

"Early European converts overcame many stumbling blocks because they knew that revelation comes from Heaven. They were not fearful of the arduous journey they were undertaking because they had faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. They came to understand that the destination was not really the Salt Lake Valley but that the ultimate destination was paradise followed by exaltation. Though the journey is fraught with tribulation, the destination is truly glorious."

They had perspective.
They could look beyond the hardships and trials of this life
and know that "All is Well, All is Well."

I'm so grateful for my ancestors who had the strength and faith
to follow what they knew was the truth.
Without them, where would I be right now?
And I mean that literally.

Perspective

As the saying goes, “parting is such sweet sorrow. “

Sometimes, however, it hasn’t always felt so sweet

and has in fact been very heart wrenching.

During one of those difficult times for me,

I came across a history of my great-great grandparents,

Archibald and Agnes Adamson Anderson.

It tells of them being converted to the LDS faith in 1847 in Scotland. They had given birth to ten children, five of which died in childhood and one who died in young adulthood. (As if that alone is not enough heartache for a lifetime). Of the four living children, the three young sons joined the church when the parents did, but the older daughter did not and married a Presbyterian minister.

At that time members of the church were encouraged to immigrate to America, but after three years of saving they still did not have enough money. It was decided that the father would go on ahead to earn money and pave the way for the rest of the family. He left for America in 1855.

To quote from the history:

“It was on March 10, 1856 when the Anderson’s- Agnes (the Mother), Archibald Adamson, John, and James (the sons) said farewell and goodbye to loved ones and friends and began the long tedious trip to join their husband and father. The agony of parting so long anticipated and dreaded was upon them. In spite of the prayers and the faith they had in the Gospel and in their Heavenly Father, saying goodbye under these circumstances was one of the most difficult experiences of all.

One of James’ daughters, at a much later time wrote: ‘Many times I heard my father say, “It’s hard to erase the vision before my eyes, when our sailing vessel pulled out of the docks and left Agnes (the daughter and sister) with a baby in her arms sobbing her heart out, knowing that she may never see her loved ones again, and she never did.”'

Ok, that last paragraph

is what gives me perspective.

I may live far away from many family members I love,

but I’m only a phone call, a webcam,

or an airplane flight away.

Not a lifetime away.

How did they do it?

And how blessed are we?

Stunned Silence

Here we are sitting in stunned silence
after watching two hours of a
heart-pounding mental and physical workout
that ended in mind-boggling symbolism filled with some truths.
If that doesn't make any sense, then it is very fitting.



Before going to "The Knowing,"
(which we're still trying to figure out)
we ate at Zupa's.
(Love their Pineapple Chicken Salad and Ultimate Grilled Cheese)

Unfortunately it's back to real life after Misty goes home tomorrow.
What a wonderful time we've had this last week.

We dropped Tiffany off at the airport at 6:30 am.
(We miss you and Lucienne, Tiffany!)
At that point Misty and I were still deciding whether to stay in
Salt Lake and go to hear the Primary General Board give their
General Conference Workshop.
However, after calling Gary to see what the weather
would be through the morning and early afternoon,
we decided it would be wise to just come home.
After seeing the weather news at noon we were glad we did.

After getting a little more sleep
(ok, more like 2 to 3 hours more sleep)
we got serious about making our cards for
our card group tonight. We had fun meeting with
Taunya, Jean, and Trish and exchanging card kits
that we then put together.

Pretty cute, huh?