2008 in Review

I have a few moments to review the year.........how can you sum a year up in a few minutes?! I found a word that will likely work!
We have many joys that I am grateful for; there were challenges as well and I have worked to remind myself challenges are part of the plan...an important part...an essential part....but many more great gifts from heaven. So.................................

Marisa was endowed and then sealed in marriage. Joy. My beautiful daughter is all growed up.
I had all the grandchildren together in one place for the first time during the holidays; that goes into the great joy category.
Cavin Ragnar Hartzheim joined our family. Joy
Corey ordained a high priest. Joy.
We spent time with Chris and Chira in the Mediterranean this spring. Joy
Madi started kindergarten. Mixed joy (she can't be old enough)
Visited Chris and Chira in their new home in Virginia. Joy.
Hurricane Ike came and WENT. Joy (the went part)
The protection and care we experienced. Joy.
Marisa transferred down to BYU in Provo. Wonderful.
Johhny. Joy
Madi. Joy.
Ella. Joy.
Caden. Joy
Cavin. Joy.
Health, resources and employment. Joy. Priesthood bearing husband, sons and and sons in laws. Joy. Temple duties and opportunities. Joy. Visiting with friends in Heber and Bountiful and Vernal and by email and letter. Joy. Sisters and brother. Joy. Goodly parents. Joy. Callings and opportunities to serve. Joy. Lisa and Rags in Houston. General Conference. Living prophets. Great prophets who have gone on. Laurel breakfasts. The gospel to cling to. Joy, joy, joy. Time is short and the joys are many. The challenges kind of fade with the thoughts of rich blessings. May we wish you a safe and happy holiday and a joyful new year!!!!!!

I was tagged as I was making my list for the week and checking it more than twice...a few too many things on it...anyway

This is a photo of the casino on the cruise ship that we sailed on earlier this year....we walked through the casino most days to get to the auditorium on the ship where they had shows and stuff...we did not go near it in the late evening because it was full of really kind of 'interesting' people. I have WAY more interesting photos than this but if I am honest...this is the fifth photo in the fifth file........

9 point 2

That is how many pounds I have lost as of yesterday. You may be saying to yourself, big deal! And rightly so, BUT, it is 9.2 pounds less that I weighed in August and hopefully I will be 29.2 pounds lighter NEXT August. (Weight Watchers wants it to be 39.2....I may be settling but 29.2 will be FINE with me!) Hope you have a happy healthy week.

Crazy Government

I am sitting on the phone waiting for someone from the Social Security office to answer. They arbitrarily denied Nan her SSI benefits last week (and her SSI has the medicaid benefit attached which is what pays for her community resources program that really doesn't do anything anyway BUT....) and as our insurance company has decided to release her from coverage again, I guess I will try to see if anyone has any in the heck idea why! I marvel at human capacity when I watch a plane fly overhead or hear an aria or a symphony or a ballet or tour a beautiful cathedral in Europe and with the very same breath that causes me to marvel, I am also compelled to wonder how we can mess things up so badly! How can intelligent, capable, sophisticated individuals have created a government and society that is so complex and difficult to navigate that fewer and fewer individuals are capable of figuring out taxes, benefits, insurance, retirement and investment plans, banking procedures and mailing processes. Oh my goodness...
Now, if I were an intelligent and capable person I would cease my ranting and get on with something more productive. Thanks for allowing me to the figuratively 'kick the wall'

Fractured

I am feeling fractured! When I have more than a few projects that I need to attend to, I don't do well! That will not be news to most of you. So I am trying to figure out how to get moving in a forward direction! Yikes...maybe a list


SOOOOOO..............................
centerpieces
texture the bathroom wall
clean fridge (and freezers)
laundry
Sunday school lesson
Christmas finished and wrapped for out of town folks
organize wedding junk
mailing lists
figure out how to get invitations down here
turn RS stuff over to Amy
baby shower tonight and gifts to about five babies now that I have missed
Natalie's ICS people
phones exchanged (7-10 days if I can get Missa to authorize them because Kerry has her listed as an authorized account member but not me!)
budget/funding management
money to Missa's account
talk to Jenny
send Halloween treat to grandkids
call Bobbie
walk the dog
AND..........
clean up my little old MESSY house!

Does it just make you want to jump off a cliff??!!!! The boys are saying to themselves, 'then quit blogging and get busy' and they will be accurate in their response to this frustration............so enjoy your day......I am off!!!!!!!!

From Dad's Files

My dad has been cleaning out his file cabinets...a task I ought to attend to instead of blogging... and he sent some silly stuff to me instead of tossing it; a brief historical note...Dad was known throughout the region at church for his speaking ability....he was funny and would quote poetry and scripture from memory and write his own poetry (he was also an artist...his favorite class in school....I don't think he really liked academics for some reason...he was plenty bright but I think that the formality of education caused him feelings of inferiority...he may have had some type of dys----something-a) He was sought after as a speaker and had opportunity to hone his skill with his fairly non stop years of church leadership and service....his like-a-bility was enhanced by his reputation as a problem solver and a tireless servant...he was forever running little old ladies catalog orders out to them so that they wouldn't have to come to town...then he would hang the little curtains they ordered or weed the garden on his way out or scrape their walks....he has ever been a historian at heart; hence his love of antiques. He would go through the VERNAL EXPRESS on Thursday afternoon and cut out articles that involved people near and far and drop them in the mail with a note congratulating them or commenting on their event or expressing appreciation for their effort and then he would cut out articles that would have something to do with our family or close friends which he would then paste in a scrapbook...so from dad's files:

Think you Know Everything?

A snail can sleep for three years
A dime has 118 ridges around it
A crocodile cannot stick out it's tongue
An ostrich's eyes are bigger than it's brain
Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age
Cats have over 100 vocal sounds. Dogs about 10.
Our eyes are always the same size at birth but our nose and our ears never stop growing.
The Bible does not say there were three wise men, only three gifts.
The cruise liner QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur
and.............there is no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewable Vitamins!

I posted a POLL at the bottom of my blog page just for fun. It is a silly poll but I think I will have fun with a few polls in the near future! So weigh in!

End of Week Review

Ike came in and kind of chewed up our September so we are happy to be working through (although it is going by VERY quickly) October. I am having a hard time getting some forward motion going...experiencing lots of starts and stops.......this week a bit more starting than stopping which pretty much characterized all of last week.(the stopping) The wedding plans that have been needing some attention are beginning to swim through my head......black.....white......pink....a little green......websites and numbers and layouts and black dresses and pink shoes are all running together in my head. Addresses need to start running through my computer and columns of numbers with receipts that are being tracked need to run through my notebook. I am getting a clearer idea of what we need to do so hopefully in a week or two we will have it jelled completely or at least almost completely. I did buy very cute black shoes today for little ole me. And a suit for John that Steph and I looked at and little outfits for Cavin and Caden (Chira, I need to talk to you about those)
Other events of the last few weeks:

• watched Conference and loved it
• did a little Christmas shopping...need to be done in three or four weeks
• Kerry came and went to Turkey...he is going back the end of next week or the first of the following week.
• Corey's neighbor came home from his place of evacuation and now we can get the car fixed
• worked on wedding
  
• Nan is working a bunch
• met with a caterer this week...yikes!
  
• I am down little bits at a time at Weight Watcher's...at this rate you will note a difference in a year or so but what do you do!
• John and Madi lost power at school again for a few hours the other morning
• Alana says my 'little grandson is totally adorable' (I knew that)
• watched Conference and loved it
  
• working on wedding
  
• Our tree limbs and logs and debris that have been piled up from the storm is almost 100 per cent gone as of today; we have one more pile behind our gate which will hopefully be gone tomorrow
• Worked two shifts at the temple this week
• watched Conference and loved it
  
• working on wedding
• have some RS stuff that Susan needs me to do (invites to Board Meeting in TWO WEEKS! and Board Meeting)
• a gospel doctrine lesson to get ready for Sunday
• LSU tackles Florida tomorrow and the Longhorns are taking on the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry........go Texas!!!!!
• and, I AM WORKING ON THE WEDDING! and LOVED CONFERENCE
  

POWER

What an amazing thing electricity is. We were restored to power this afternoon and we are so grateful. I hope I can REMEMBER (that is one of the most oft repeated words in the Book of Mormon) to be grateful for blessings that are such an everyday part of our lives that we forget just how great a blessing they are.

IKE

A week ago tonight I was sitting in Provo having just sent Kerry back to Houston on an airplane to face down IKE! We had been in Utah working wedding plans and visiting our folks and checking in with ever growing grandchildren. The weather in Utah by the way was lovely! The evening was pretty much a wash because it is tough to focus on anything substantial with your fam in harm's way. Nightime came and went and the next morning revealed the effects of a massive weather event that will have a lasting place in our memory banks. All was well with our family and properties with the exception of a few trees in our yard and the electrical service that IKE hauled off with when he left! Nan and I dodged it as we sat it out in Provo. We flew back to Houston Monday afternoon after having several flight delays and was able to check in with kids and grandbabies who were roughing it at our house. We had purchased a generator after Rita and now that we are a week without power, we are SO GRATEFUL that we have some resource. GAs was tricky for a few days and groceries and diversion running thin. We need to do an assessment (one we can keep in a place where we can access it) The emotional aftermath is real and significant in that it is difficult to watch people lose everything they have temporally and not feel their pain and their loss and not have your own sense of security (or insecurity as the case may be) impacted. The very up-side is that it is nothing short of awe-inspiring and faith promoting to have the spiritual support you need from a loving Father in Heaven when there is no where else you can go. A very real manifestation of 'as thy days may demand so thy succor shall be'

Home Again Home Again

Flew in yesterday after a rainy departure from Dulles International Airport and had a quiet night. Kerry ran to the hospital to see the Sulin's who had a brand new (premature) little girl (3 pounds not sure oz) They will name her Paige. She should be ok. Natalie went to work this morning. We have struggled with her transportation this week while I was gone. She is home now. I am supposed to be cleaning house for the New Member Social tonight. We also have a baptism for a kid who has been coming to church for several years now and who is finally eighteen and can get baptised. Hoping to see Madi and John in the morning and find out about their fun week at school. Went to my 'meeting'! Did good.... for me. Miss and I need to come to a meeting of the minds. We need to make some progress on wedding plans so she can be more comfortable with where this is going. She is going to spend a few days with Lisa in Logan. That will be fun for Lisa and nice for them to have some time together before the new school year gets fully underway. Cavin went to the doctor for his 4 month check and he is working the weight charts. Actually, he is OFF the weight charts. Natalie said "He is a bouncing baby boy!" Lisa continues to hope for an early walking ability so she doesn't have to carry him! Chris should be home tonight. I probably need to get busy and focus on cleaning! I will post pictures when my cables come from Virginia. I left them there! Sorry Chira!

DC

We have been hanging here in Virginia since Friday. I got into Dulles ( a very cute little airport that is easy to navigate) Friday afternoon after a flight that was close to perfect. I got to sit by myself on my own side of the plane and we just went up and came down slick. Chira and Caden met me at the airport. We have the cutest little grandson. Chris got home and we had calzones for dinner (y'all really need to get this recipe from Chira) and Chris took off for Germany at 3 the next afternoon. He was delayed getting out of Dulles, therefore missed his flight to Germany and so had to route to Lisbon Portugal and layover four hours before he could travel on to Germany; an eight hour trip turned into a 24 hour gig and we are assuming he is ok. We haven't heard from him since he called and said he had made it to Portugal (we have since heard from him...he is ok but has had no luggage and food poisoning among other inconveniences) Sunday we went to the kids ward. They have a very nice ward. I think there are some very nice people there and was excited to have an idea about who they are/will be working with. Monday Chira and I ventured over to Leesburg. Leesburg is at the beginning (or the end one might argue) of a ninety mile driving route that traces Civil War babttlefield sites! Guess what I will be doing in the not so distant future. We visited Rust Manor and Graydon House (just looked around because they were unavailable for touring) and wandered the outlet mall in Leesburg. Cute black dresses!
Tuesday we attempted a run to the temple and the zoo. The temple is huge and hidden behind a forest. I guess it rises off the freeway if you are coming from the other direction. Lovely visitor center with a map of ancient Jerusalem that I may attempt to 'mock up' just for fun. Then we went to the zoo and saw lions and tigers and bears (pandas) Our route home took us through Gerogetown and out over Lincoln Memorial Drive. It is a beautiful city that I adore and have a better feel for with our little tour. The National Cathedral is impressive! That goes on a list of places to get back to. Wednesday we slummed and went to the grocery and made some fun almond crescent pastries and watched Shear Genius. There is a FABULOUS biking trail that runs for miles back behind the kids town home that was great fun and beautiful to get out on in the morning. Weather delightful. A darling little park that Chira and Caden (and Chris when he is home) get over to every night. Caden loves to go 'side'. And he misses his daddy. He wandered for the first day or two calling for 'da..eee' in the late afternoon hoping daddy would come home. He is a darling and sweet and fun and charming little guy that steals your heart in about 30 seconds. And man does he have an arm. Happy to have a chance to see the kids and see where they live and how their daily life goes. And time with babies that grow too fast in precious. Thanks for letting me come!

Spooky

33 years ago today we were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Fiddler on the Roof was all the rage on Broadway and in the theaters and the immortal words of Tevya's daughters come to mind "Up to this moment I misunderstood, that I could get stuck for good!! Good thing I picked a good guy! So, is this picture scary or what?! A current picture may be scarier! Spooky.....

They have been really pretty interesting years and we have gone to places and enjoyed/survived/been challenged by experiences that I would never/could never have contemplated on that day so long ago. In the beginning I thought that we would live our lives out in eastern Utah and raise a family and grow a garden and do a little church work on the side. I knew where Texas was but only because Dallas was a TV show that was fairly popular in those days. And I was thinking six kids, Kerry was thinking three; I thought Salt Lake City was huge and totally beyond navigation and Kerry thought Vernal was Mayberry; I thought I would be a great little mother and homemaker (ie Mrs. CLeaver) and so did Kerry...OOPS. Kerry thought we would be VERY COMFORTABLE, riding snow mobiles and three wheelers and maybe go to Hawaii some day. Hard to even think what else we were thinking. Anyway, thanks, honey, for broadening my horizons and taking care of us all these many years. Bring on the next 33!

Seven is Heaven

Seven years ago today I was ambling through Southern Utah after having taken Lisa to Utah State and stopping by Provo to see how Corey and Steph were doing. Their baby boy was due anytime but as the birth didn't seem imminent, I hit the road to Texas as Marisa was getting ready to start school and I had been gone a week or two. My phone was low on battery power so I turned it off. At around 4 o'clock and just north of the New Mexico border, I checked in with Kerry and he told me that just after I had left Provo that morning, Stephani's water had broken and the kids were at the hospital. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I spent a few minutes agonizing about what to do and then decided that I wasn't going to wait for a month or two to see our darling first grandchild even though it would require a turn around and an eight hour drive back north. So off we went to see little John! What a sweet and darling baby he was and what a dear and darling young man he has become. Happy Birthday Johnny!

Cute Madi

Madi at the park

Madison is Five

Today is Miss Madison's fifth birthday! She is our beautiful little granddaughter who is starting kindergarten next week, has a hilarious sense of humor and a wobbly tooth! She ate a corndog for her birthday dinner and cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream. She has a new Aladdin and Jasmine doll and cute new clothes for kindergarten and lots of fairies to play with.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Madi! We love you.

Family Photos

I thought I would explore importing pictures and there is nothing I love more than pictures of the children and their darling children. So here is the whole family before Caden and Cavin were born. The weather had been rainy and wet and we look a little windblown because we are. But this is (left to right) Stephani and Corey and Marisa and Natalie and Ragnar and Lisa and Chira and Chris. (Caden is hiding in his mom's tummy) Then John and Madison and Ella and I and Kerry are on the front row. Time for another family picture!

Our Family
Kerry and I at Christmastime 2006 with Corey and Marisa and Natalie and Lisa and Chris

Pals at the Park
Johnny and Madi are Corey and Stephani's darling babies who will both be school kids this year!



A Box is Best
Caden Christopher at his first birthday celebration




Grandpa's Knees
Cavin Ragnar was born in April of this year




Ella in a Basket
Ella Nicole is Lisa and Ragnar's cute two year old

ADD

I am convinced that if I were enrolled in elementary school in the year 2008, they would diagnose me with an attention deficit! Certainly not hyperactivity!! Focus is a huge challenge for me. It may be because I have a bunch of little things on my plate or that I am really bad about 'routine'. I know that the thing that helps kids with ADD the most is structure, and I am bad at structure. I need to teach myself to quit avoiding it! As a result, I am kind of all over the map on 'to do' lists today. I had an assignment at the Regional Employment office but they cancelled us due to the storm (which has been something of a non-event) and it is my temple session day but they closed the temple. So we are scrapbooking and blogging and working wedding budget projections and watching HGTV! I NEED to do some of Natalie's paperwork and my family newsletter and some financial tracking stuff and make french bread to take to Porter's and a bit of laundry. I am going to try to find Nan a movie we can watch later this evening while Kerry is bishoping. I also have a few Relief Society assignments that need attention. Now this is not particularly interesting! That is because there is not anything particularly interesting going on today!

El Shabat

One of my favorite memories from our trip to Jerusalem was being in the Old City on the eve of the Sabbath and watching all the families dressed in their very nicest clothing making their way to wherever it was they were making their way to for their Sabbath observance. As the sun fell lower on the horizon, the level of hurry-d-ness increased exponentially until in the end, families and individuals were racing to their destinations.

Saturday Is A Special Day

I can tell that it is going to be a challenge for me to get the hang of this. I do love checking in with the kids blogs and have even followed a few links from their blogs to view some of the blogs they keep up on. I love the creativity that is manifest by some of those cute folks and I can see where this is an opportunity to connect and stay connected. So I am going to play with it too. Now, my kids have maintained for years that I don't have anything to do except silly stuff and this may be another piece of evidence to support that theory. But hey, it will make them happy. They love to be right!!!

So for my quick Saturday entry! Nice to have Kerry around for a Saturday. He didn't have anything scheduled except a baptism for a sweet little Jensen fella at 5 pm. So he got the carpet cleaner out and cleaned traffic areas of the carpet for me. I shut myself in the downstairs bathroom and finished scraping all the wallpaper off the wall. I had already started ripping into it earlier this week. I hung it eight years ago when we moved into the house and did a fairly poor job and it needed to be replaced. So, it is off! Now I need to figure out what to do next. I am thinking purple!
Went to my little 'meeting' this morning and am making VERY SLOW progress. But progress.
Been busy helping Ruth with her house and trying to help Becky with her reception and John and Madi are back so I need to get over to see my cute 'babies' (they are so NOT babies anymore!) Wednesday night at the temple is going to work out very well except for the fact that they made me the veil co-ordinator and I really really really would prefer just to work posts; but we serve where we are needed so.................I am having fun with this little effort and thanks for the inspiration!!!

A New Trick

I am going to try a new trick. This blog thing may help prompt my journaling efforts and maybe even my family newsletter efforts. So here we go!