Patrick and Hettie's wedding

Okay, I promised pictures. Uncle John will be posting his professional pictures. This is what we have in the meantime. Sorry they aren't any better. Love, Mom

Mom is all moved and Time Capsule opened

We spent the day moving mom from her cozy little cottage to her new condo just a mile down the street. I know she is apprehensive about this move, but I'm sure she'll get use to it rather quickly. Once we got her furniture in it, it really looked like home. She tried to take a nap, but I think it was a bit much. She is oh so weak from lack of sleep and probably just plain 'ole stress.

I stopped in to say hi to Dad on our way home from the condo. He was quite alert and pleasant. You just never know what you're going to find when you stop by. I put my face in his and said "hi" and he smiled a big smile and asked how I was. He spoke clear as a bell. Go figure.

There is still quite a bit to do before we can say mom is settled. A lot of it will be over time as things find the place they want to be. I'm sure she is frustrated at having lost some control over her life. We were putting things away and she just didn't have the energy to give much input.

The time capsule was fun to open and peruse. We didn't spend a lot of time on it as it was huge. I will scan the pages and somehow share them with the family. We had a nice lunch, which gave us enough fuel for a few more hours. It was 5:00 by the time we left Mom and Shauna with what was left. Hopefully, they'll restrain themselves and go to bed early. Monday is another day.

Packed and ready to go

It's after 11:00 and we're all packed, watching the news and weather and then we're off to bed.

I have a little apprehension about leaving, as Dad is not doing well at all. Two days running now he hasn't been awake for meals. Today the CNA's couldn't stir him for his pill or meals. The nurse says to let him sleep. It's hard to watch, but I believe he's happier when he's asleep. Mom is the one who is really suffering. Until we've been where she is, none of us will really know. I try to put myself there, but I'm lacking, I'm sure.

I'll try to download pictures of our experience each night and put them on this blog. I have the tools, if they'll just work right.

My Dad's Birthday

I had such a lovely few hours celebrating my Dad's birthday. He is 88 today. I don't think he ever wanted to be 88. I'm quite certain he never wanted to be in a wheelchair some day. But he did both with real class. He pulled himself together and we went up the canyon with Aunt Beth, Shirlene and Aleana and of course, Mom. We had Subway sandwiches. He did a fine job putting his away. I was prepared to build a fire, but it just seemed fine sitting at the picnic table. We were close to the water and it was just a pleasant time. Dad was perkier than I've seen him in a very long time. This was a joyful blessing to be sure.

On the other side of the spectrum is the sad news that Tommy has filed divorce papers. I haven't heard from Stephanie, and keep expecting a phone call. This is going to be hard to handle. I was extremely blessed though that I was able to sleep last night. The Lord does watch after me.

And somewhere in the middle is the fact that we put earnest money on a condo for Mom to live in. It's a nice place. Aunt Beth saw it and was quite pleased. In looking, we made it seem much more doable by having mom sleep in the 2nd bedroom as opposed to the big master bedroom with a bathroom that is huge. When we talked about her sleeping in the smaller area, all of a sudden it became a reasonable size. Blessings abound.

Why was I so blessed?

A late-night talk about crumbling marriages that are all around us, makes this video seem like a fairy tale. It's a fairy tale I'm living. So grateful Camber shared this with me in her blog saying she is living the same thing.

Angels Surround Me

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY:
2 Nephi 10:23-24

"Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves---to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved."

I have to mention gratitude for two things:
1) I had the impression to pray for angels to ride with me as I was going over Suncrest and truthfully, coming down the other side is a bit dangerous.
2) Angels not only surrounded me, but orchestrated the location and softened what could have been a serious fall. I was climbing over the Point of the Mountain. I may have been looking down into the sand pits. At any rate, all of a sudden the guardrail was getting too close. I reached out to it (why, I don't know) and next thing I knew I was under my bike on the other side of the guardrail. Weird! I took inventory of myself quickly and then my bike. We both seemed to be okay. I sat there for a few minutes to gather enough stability in my legs to get back on my bike. The only injury was a bruised thigh and ego. I can live with that. Had I been just 100 feet further into my ride and had that happen, I quite possible would have stopped at the bottom of the hill in the sand pits. Phew!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
Lorenzo Snow
"I often ask myself, what am I in the world for? Where did I come from, and where am I going? Well, we have learned something in regard to this. We have learned that we existed with God in eternity before we came into this life, and that we kept our estate. Had we not kept what is called our first estate and observed the laws that governed there, you and I would not be here today. We are here because we are worthy to be here, and that arises, to a great extent at least, from the fact that we kept our first estate.

"I believe that when you and I were in yonder life we made certain covenants with those that had the control that in this life, when we should be permitted to enter it, we would do what we had done in that life---find out the will of God and conform to it. I have not the least idea that I would be here today talking to you, unless it was distinctly understood in that life that when I came into this I would be obedient to the will of God as it should be revealed. Of course, we have forgotten these things; but the Lord is beginning to illuminate our understandings and is bringing to our recollection certain things in regard to how we were there, and for what we have come into this world.

"What you and I now want to know is how to secure the position we occupied in the other life when we go back, and that which will naturally be added to us in consequence of the experience that we had in this life; for the Lord has told us that those who would keep their second estate, glory should be added upon their heads forever and ever. It seems to me that no man or woman can afford to do anything in this life only that which, directly or indirectly, will be in conformity to the will of God" (Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p. 91-92).