On Sunday afternoon I went to visit a sister in the ward who has battled Leukemia for the last 2 years. I don't really know her well, but had felt a prompting last week several times to "fit her into my schedule." She had been moved to a long term care facility, but with good prospects of getting out soon after spending most of the last couple of years in the hospital or at home in a germ free environment. I took another friend, Paula Christiansen, who has breast cancer with me. When we got to the care facility, we found out that the sister had been moved to American Fork Hospital, so we went to go see her in the emergency room. She had taken a turn for the worse, with the cancer back in full force and given only 2 weeks to live. Her arms were black, and she had an oxygen mask on, but she recognized us and we visited for a while in a tender situation. My mom is suffering from a heart that is giving out. Dave's mom has a mass on her pancreas. All these loved ones were on my mind when I looked at my email this morning. Meridian Magazine (online) sent this today. Right now I am in the middle of doing a Venetian plaster on the study walls (a story of frustration), but clicked the computer to hear this while I worked. With plaster crusty hands, I kept hitting the repeat button. It is good to remember that we are never alone in our suffering and there is one who completely understands. This is the first conference address ever given by Neal A. Maxwell:
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
I have been accused of having no posts for weeks and then coming up with an epic one. I hate to break tradition, and since my goal last year was to start blogging, and I feel I have accomplished this, I have no ambition to compete with the consistent daily bloggers of the world. So here goes the month of December:
After driving over the Sierra Nevada pass in a lucky break in the weather we arrived in Cameron Park at my Honey's house in green California (not warm, sometimes foggy, more humid than we are used to, but definitely beautiful and GREEN). Grandma Hatch and Nicole joined us for some exciting times watching Connor and Gabe do homework. Homework? After finding the schools in Utah to be considerably easier than California, with decidedly less homework, this year has been a wakeup call for the boys. Gabe is in a ridiculously hard honors course for US History/English which has averaged 5 hours of homework a day with major assignments to be done during the holiday break. Connor is juggling 4 AP classes while working 20 hours/week at the local fruit smoothie shop, and spending a gazillion hours being involved in Chamber Choir. It was time for some makeup work.
Caleb had his 3rd annual Christmas bash for all the Young Adults that ever knew him or hoped to know him. He and his friends cleared all the furniture out, rigged up lights, sound system, and had a rip roaring dance which spilled over into every room in the house. Ever faithful Dad took care of refreshments to keep the crowds hydrated and happy.
I got lucky and ran into several old friends from El Dorado Hills (Courtney Parks and Amy Harrison) who I taught in Sunday School when they were 14 with Kara. Oddly enough this is my boomerang calling. No matter what other callings I have, this is the one I get called to over and over again. Good thing I love teaching the gospel to teenagers.
Christmas Eve the Barnes kids joined us (they spent this year with their mom) for the annual bon fire (to ensure that Santa can find the right house, of course). Compared with past years, this bon fire was fairly small, but some grouchy neighbors (probably the new ones that just don't understand a 25 year old tradition) called the police and we had to extinguish about 1/2 way through. Drats.
Christmas morning and the boys are excited. Gone are the days when we have to up before 7am. The crowds slept in, moseyed down, and leisurely opened the gifts. We spent the day playing games, visiting with Grandma, and enjoying each other.
Sunday the Barnes kids spent the day with us, along with Grandma Barnes. We redid Christmas all over. I love to watch Caleb visit with Clo. There is a bond there between them with true appreciation on both sides. In the video below she describes her fun hat that cousin Jennifer got her for Christmas and her brand new bike which is pictured right below the clip. Too cute for words.
No family gathering is complete without some manly wrestling. Gabe and Luke go at it on the couch like two muskrats. Woman don't get it, but men fail to see our need to hold hands while we venture off to find a bathroom in public places.
I am THE luckiest woman in the world. Not only do I get to be with some of my favorite people (we were missing a few since it is the year for married kids to go to in-laws, etc), but I have a husband who loves to cook!
Luke is going to smell good for the ladies.
Grant and Brittany smile for good reason - Baby Jr. will join them in June. Unfortunately Jr. is making new mommy feel yucky most of the day.
Both the Grandmas
Beautiful Nicole
The boats were sold out for Alcatraz, but we viewed the prison island from the shore.
After the earthquake a few years back, a group of seals invaded the harbor near Pier 49. Boat owners didn't want them on their boats, but instead built them several platforms to sun on and they have been there ever since.
When we drove through China town Grandma Clo suggested we stop to enjoy one of their little markets. It was complete with live turtles, toads, shrimp, and ugly looking fish which splashed us from their shallow bucket when we left the store.
The Palace of Fine Arts. We took the wheel chair and walker to facilitate moving Matt and Grandma faster. With the last 45 minutes of the Golden Gate Park Art Museum being free, you can imagine us zipping them through the whole building, trying not to miss anything.
Matt and Jessica came specifically to attend the wedding of Ethan and Nathalie Davis in the Sacramento Temple. Ethan is a year older than Matt, but when Matt first went into the Priest Quorum back in El Dorado Hills, Ethan took him under his wing and mentored him during a rough time in his adolescent life. In 2005 after Matt's accident and during many weeks at the long term care facility in Provo where the medical professionals thought he would spend the remainder of his life, Ethan was a daily visitor, helping with physical therapy and giving him words of encouragement as he came out of his coma. Of course this carved a place for Ethan in my heart equivalent to my own offspring. On Labor Day weekend of that year I drove the boys to Calif to see their dad, and Jessica took a needed break to visit her family in Colorado. Ethan promised to look after Matt. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve included Matt in their weekly prayer circle the day we left. The miracle started to roll out immediately. The respiratory therapist at the care center requested that Utah Valley Hospital take a look at him and see if he could be transferred into their intensive rehab. They excepted him that very day, and within 20 minutes Ethan had all of his belongings moved over and got Matt settled in to his new home for the next 2 months. Now the work really began and Ethan was up for the job. Between he and Jessica and I, with our constant cheerleading and encouragement Matt went through 6 tough sessions a day. Ethan was there EVERY day and could often get Matt to do the bidding of the therapist when they could push him no further. Their meeting at Ethan's wedding was one of a special bonded brotherhood. Ethan told Jessica that he waited to marry until he could find a wife just like her. I believe he did.
New Year's Eve we ate Tai food, saw a movie, played games and kissed at midnight. Perfect.
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