You would think I

would have a major headache from being upside down so long.  Obviously I need to do something about how I blog from my phone!   I'll do a recap of my fun trip later.

Getting ready for . . .

the Stake Primary Meeting tomorrow.

Getting ready to go to St. George, with my high school friends, after the meeting tomorrow night.  

So I better be getting ready for bed right now.  

We went to

the Temple today.   And though we didn't plan it that way, I realized when we were there that it was exactly 20 years ago, and at that very time, that my Dad, Golden Stevens Anderson, passed from this life.

It was at about 5:30 in the evening, 20 years ago, when Charlene called me at Mom and Dad's home to tell me that Dad had just died.  At the time I felt that his spirit had stopped by on his way out.

(Reference: My Dad)  I felt so close to him then, and I feel close to him now.

All evening I've been thinking of the familiar quote:

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take

 but by the moments that take your breath away."

Today has been one of those moments.

Gary said he was

talking with his students in his technology class about the days before cell phones.  They are the generation that has never really lived without them.  

He told them the stories of the "olden times" and how, if you were in a car caravan, you couldn't use your phone to find where someone was if they got lost. 

He tried to help them understand how difficult it would have been in Costco before cell phones.  How could he have found his wife, once he was through browsing all the samples, and was ready to go?  

Tough times, for sure, in the olden days.     

It's been a good day.

I can't put my finger on why, exactly, but I kind of feel a greater sense of purpose.  

That may have to do with my new church calling, and the fact that I'm having to stretch a little.  But that's not all of it.    

It could be the feeling of fall in the air, which I love. Especially after our record-breaking hot summer.

I'm feeling gratitude for the blessings of family and good people in my life.  Gratitude is a great morale booster.  

Natalie and Trent came to dinner, and we had a nice visit.  Richard called to tell me about his new great-granddaughter, and it made me happy to hear him so happy.

I guess I should quit trying to analyze why it has been a good day, and just enjoy it.  

I'm sitting

here listening to a couple of guys who are sure that they could coach better than either the BYU or Utah coaches.  Score in 4th quarter.  Utah 13 BYU 6.  

Our grandson, Hyrum,

is officially a teenager today.

Here he is (on the right) looking cool with his cousin, Ashton.

Here he is looking even cooler (on the left) with his brother Harrison.

So while he is, no doubt cool,

the best thing about Hyrum is his happy smile.  

Which he isn't really showing in these cool pictures.  

His smile can melt your heart.  

And he has a very loving heart.  

We feel so blessed to have Hyrum as our grandson.

Happy 13th Hyrum!

Goal . . .

Be in bed by 10 pm.   I've got 3 minutes.  Good Night.

This is what I'm working on for this month's

quilt kit.

I'm not sure how I feel about appliqué.  We have to stitch 4 of these.  Amazingly, I am actually enjoying the very small stitching.  It is the preparation of cutting, pressing, pinning, etc, etc. etc.   

It's fun wondering what the finished product will look like.    

I have a new

calling in the Church, and I was actually sustained on Sunday when I was gone.  I am a counselor in the Stake Primary.  We met last Tuesday for the first time and then again today.

It is always a little nerve racking to receive a call from the Stake clerk saying the Stake President wants you to come into an interview.  I was quite relieved when it was in the Primary organization, which is the teaching arm of children up to 12.  I was also relieved to know I would be serving as a counselor and not the president.   I don't like being in charge of anything (except as Gary noted during the interview, I do like to be the boss in our marriage).

I'm actually feeling quite revitalized by this new calling. I already really enjoy the other women in the presidency, and it will be fun to visit the Primaries in the wards.  It will also be good for me to dig a little deeper spiritually than I have with my current callings.

I've been feeling a little in a rut with the Relief Society Activity committee, which I've served on for about 5 years now.   I'm also supposed to be released from my service to Ethan (the handicapped boy I am with during Primary) which I've done for several years.   I'll still happy to help with him when they need me to and when I'm not visiting the other primaries in our Stake.

Change is good when it makes you stretch a little.  

 

  

I haven't been a very attentive

hostess, as I have been putting in a lot of hours for work.  We are working hard to get all the pictures up on the website, and we have a long way to go.

But, I love having Tom and Lynn here.  We get to see Stephanie and her cute little girls and we sit here in the family room in our "comfies."    It doesn't get a lot better than that.  

Family Blessings

We kind of had a comedy of errors.

Richard forgot his medicines and had to go home to get them.  Gary forgot the computer that he needed to record the stats, and he went home to get it.  The men had a t-time that got rained out..  But we three had lots of fun shopping and then we all enjoyed reminiscing about memories of our grandparents tonight.

Good times

I don't know if the fact that the pictures on my phone are upsidedown is sending some kind of message about us or not.

I was talking

with a friend today and telling her that we we going on a reunion trip with my siblings this weekend.  She commented that she hopes I appreciate how lucky I am to have a family that likes to get together.   I told her that I truly do appreciate it.  I feel very blessed with the siblings and spouses in both my Anderson family and Gary's Ashton family.

Cuteness

Text from Misty.   Headed to the library never know what you may need to tackle

Preserving your Life Experiences

Besides resurrecting the flower pens for Relief Society, I also resurrected the old "History in a Jar" that we did years ago.

 I repackaged it, and tried to make it look more sophisticated, but the questions are still the same.   It is a jar of prompts to help you share your memories, in bits and pieces, without feeling overwhelmed.

I'm also going to use it as a "blog prompter."     This should take care of those days when I have nothing to say.  

I woke up with a

renewed commitment to "get my life in order."  I don't know how many times I've said that.  And what does "getting my life in order" mean?  I'm not sure I've figured that out yet, but I keep thinking I'll know when when I achieve it.

How does that saying go?  Something like, "You only fail if you fail to try?"  Well, if I'm looking at it that way, I haven't failed.  Because I am still trying.

So, I got up this morning and went for a walk.  Not a very long one, but it was more than I have done.  Not exercising and gaining weight has really bothered me.  Seeing pictures of myself is painful.  But it obviously doesn't bother me enough to make positive changes.  I don't think I want a life without baking, and chocolate cake, and other yummy things.  But if I could only learn moderation.   Moderation is another word I don't think I understand the meaning of.  Too many times it is "all or nothing" for me.

Anyway, as I was trying to "get my life in order" by cleaning out a basket of papers, I ran across this "Declaration of independence from a weight-obsessed world."

 Some years ago this "Declaration" was sent to me anonymously in the mail.  I remember wondering if I should be offended or if I should be grateful that someone cared enough to send it. The message is important.  Because, honestly, I am not comfortable with my body.  Even when I've been "thin," by worldly standards, I have not been comfortable with my body.      

I remind myself all the time that I am a nearly 60 year old woman, and that what I weigh should not bother me so much.  It's ridiculous, really. My grandchildren don't care how much I weigh. They care how they feel when they are around me.  Gary doesn't care how much I weigh.  He just wants me to feel good about myself and be healthy.  God doesn't care how much I weigh, he just wants me to love myself so I can look outward instead of inward.

I remember reading an article about body image where the author suggested standing in front of a mirror, looking at each part of your body, and thinking how it has served you. (She suggested doing that without any clothes on, but I couldn't quite handle that).  I remember looking at my stomach, and thinking how my body has carried 4 babies, and that my womb is the only thing I have that still carries any possible remnant of two of them.  As I looked at my hands I thought of how blessed I was that they had been able to hug and touch so many people, especially those that are no longer with us.  It is a wonderful exercise in gratitude and one I need to do more often.

Ok, enough is enough.  This has been a lengthy and random discourse.  I'm not comfortable exposing my insecurities, but being honest about it has been very therapeutic for me,  I feel an element of shame that, at my age and stage in life, I am still struggling with self-image issues.  But I know that I am not alone in those kind of feelings.  

So, what is my next step:

1) Sign the "Declaration" and read it every day.
2)Take care of my body and my soul by nourishing them with love
3) Forget myself, and reach outward

I don't mean to brag,

but aren't these the cutest models you've ever seen?  Our Splish Splash party made the big time on Loralee's blog.

Here it is:  Splish Splash Party on Loralee Lewis Blog

Yeah!

 When did my Jackson get so much taller than me?  

It's hard knowing my grandson

is in town and I haven't seen him.  Jackson got in today for his first official visit as a baseball recruit. He has a packed full agenda today and tomorrow with the other baseball players who are being courted by BYU.

Gary is at the Timpview football game in Salt Lake, so I decided to go down in the last few minutes of the BYU Women's Soccer game (where I knew Jackson was with his group of recruits).  But that wasn't too successful, since there was not even standing room at the game with 5400 fans.  I texted him and he said he was somewhere in the end zone.  I guess I'm not a very good stalker, even though I tried to be.  But Jackson texted that we would find a way to see each other tomorrow.

By the way, it was an exciting ending with BYU winning Utah in the last minute with a score of 1-0.

I took Barb

up to Nordstroms today to try on her dress for Jen's wedding.  They really give you the royal treatment there.  I've always wondered why people love Nordstroms so much, but I can see where if you have plenty of money to spend and want great service, that it is a beautiful place to shop.

It's been a long time since

I've set up a blog, but this week I'm helping create two new ones.  Today I've spent time helping Barbara set up a genealogy blog.  On Friday I'm going to help my cousin and her daughter set up a blog.  My cousin's daughter has been dealing with serous health issues and wants to connect with other's that have the same problems.

I need to get some direction on my blog, too.  This everyday thing is getting a little too much, but, I'm committed to the end of the year anyway.

We had our

Relief Society Activity tonight.  Guess what I resurrected?  The flower pens that have been sitting in my storage room.  I added new ink and there they were!

We had our friends the

Adairs here tonight and Barbara is staying here for a few days while Ron goes to a conference.

I've got to stop burning the midnight oil.  Everyone of my posts this last week has bee after 11:30 at night.  We've been adding a lot to the website, so every spare moment that is what I'm doing.

We had a little

excitement at church today.  When I got there, Gary told me we had a "celebrity" visiting.   Of course, we don't look at Apostles in the Church as celebrities, but we definitely revere them.  Elder Dallin Oak's grandson is a member of our ward, and they were blessing their baby today.  Elder Oaks didn't talk to the congregation, as it was fast and testimony meeting, but it was very nice to have him sitting on the stand just a few yards from us.  

Gary asked me if I thought he should go up afterwards and tell Elder Oaks that he was good friend with the guy who broke his son's arm at Provo High.  That got me giggling, and I told him that he might as well, since in a conversation with Merrill Bateman (another General Authority and former President of BYU), he had mentioned that he had installed the two inch water line on his house.  That probably doesn't make any sense, and it didn't at the time either.

We were at a social gathering at Elder Bateman's home when he was our Stake President and Gary was in a Bishopric.  In an effort to make social chit-chat, Gary disclosed that very important piece of information to him.   He nodded his head as though it was very interesting that when Gary was 18, and working for Provo City Water, that he had been on the crew that installed, not just a 1 inch water line, but a two inch one.

When we left that particular social gathering we both burst into laughter, and I can't think of it now without doing the same.

Now we both just need to show a little more reverence.