Missing In Action

Well, needless to say, it has been awhile.  We are in the process of moving to Rio Rancho, NM.  We have been here for almost a week staying at an Extended Stay America until we figure out our housing.  We were supposed to have gone to Farmington, NM but that changed two weeks ago so we have been scrambling to make new arrangements.  The good news is is that Ty seems to be adjusting well. He actually found one of his friends from St. George, Alex Searles, who moved here about four years ago.  We knew he and his family had moved to New Mexico but we didn't know it was to Rio Rancho.  Alex played baseball with Ty on the Rebels before he moved.  What a blessing that has been.  He and Ty attend early morning seminary together and also go to baseball class together. Baseball tryouts are on February 1st so we are trying to get Ty ready.  He is attending Rio Rancho High School which is a 6A school consisting of 2,400 kids.  It is a big school, but he seems to like it so far.  He has noticed the difference in standards here, but we have noticed a difference in his eagerness to have family prayer, read scriptures, attend church on time, and we haven't had any complaints about 6:00 am seminary.  We as a family have certainly had our bumps in trying to settle in here, but the tender mercies of the Lord have been amazing!  Thank you Heavenly Father for loving us so much and for being so mindful of our every need.  I will try to get back on track with my posts as time allows.

The List Goes On and On

I have been staying up late the last few nights doing some editing in a few chapters of the book I am writing as well as transcribing an interview with a therapist and doing additional research.  My brain was fried by the end of that so I was too tired to update the blog, so here is a list of the things that I have been grateful for over the past couple of days:

Finally found a physical therapist who knew what he was doing (we have been to doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors to figure Ty's hip problem out)!

A diagnosis for Ty's hip problems - His right leg is over a 1/4 in shorter than his left!

Glad that the treatment is simple.  He is already seeing results after suffering for six months with it!

Beaver and Paul Elieson, PT...  Thanks for the great care and professionalism (love my home town)!

Carter and Blaine studying Spanish together by using a Spanish Book of Mormon along with the English version.  I am impressed with Carter's ability to read it and understand it!  It is so fun to listen to them.

Carter working hard his first semester of college and achieving a 4.0 GPA!

Dallin receiving word that SUU has upgraded one of his scholarships and he will now be receiving an additional $750.00 per semester!  Wow! What a blessing.  Both Dallin and Carter have all of their schooling paid for through scholarships with money left over to pay for housing, etc.. Way to go guys!  I am so proud of you!

Fascinating people...  I had the privilege of helping Blaine in the dental office yesterday while he did some dental work on some of his all time favorite patients.  First he worked on the daughter of one of Blaine's patients (who is also our good friend Lana).  Lana's daughter came all the way down from SLC to have Blaine do some dental work for her.  I also met the Mortensen sisters - all four of them! Wow!  Talk about intelligent and interesting.  They are so cute.  They all came to the dental office together to give their love to Blaine and to support their sister Amy who was having some dental work done.  They have been all over the world serving in various capacities from family history work, teaching English, archaeology digs, and serving full-time missions - to name just a few!  They shared many stories about their experiences and travels.  They have witnessed many miracles as they have been called upon to use their many talents throughout the world.  It was especially interesting to hear of their experiences in main land China, Japan, Mexico, and Bangladesh. They brought Blaine some salmon that they caught on a recent fishing trip to Alaska.  He is such a wonderful dentist.  I love to watch him interact with his patients.  He is so gentle and patient with them; he truly cares about his patients and they know it!

Carter's willingness to do laundry once again.  He had the entire bin washed when I came home last night, and he even cleaned his room and the bathroom!  Your mission companions, roommates, and your wife will surely appreciate your skills someday!

Good books!  I have been re-reading "The Peacegiver:  How Christ Offers to Heal our Hearts and Homes" by James L. Ferrell.  It is a book that should be read and re-read.  It provides incredible insight into grace, forgiveness, and charity.  I promise that by reading it, your entire perspective will change in regards to your relationships!  The section on "The Gift of Abigail" especially resonated with me.

Blaine's New Mexico License came today!!! We have been waiting for three months.  I thought we were all going to go insane.  The tension was growing stronger and stronger everyday in our house. Last night I think it hit an all time high so out of desperation I told the Lord that he had the power to speed up that license and that he could push it through immediately if it were His will, and if it was not His will then it would keep dragging on long enough for us to work on more patients here to convince us that it was worth staying in St. George.  Well, the call came today that it was approved and we should receive it by Monday!  We were told on Tuesday that the board would likely take another three weeks to get this approved, but the Lord really came through!

The Lord's mindfulness of each one of us, and His ability to penetrate our hearts and give understanding even when we might be bitter or cankered.  I am grateful that He loves me enough to bless me with His Spirit especially when I am the least deserving of it!

Verses to Ponderize:

2 Nephi 22:1-3

And in that day thou shalt say: O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou was angry with me thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Monday Morning Initiatories!

I can't think of a better way to start a Monday then going to the temple and being reminded of the glorious blessings promised to us during the initiatory ordinance of the temple.  After a "rocky start" morning that began at 5:30 am I decided to head to the St. George LDS temple and take in an endowment session at 7:20 am.  Just as I pulled into the temple parking lot the thought occurred to me that I did not have my debit card.  I do have my own temple clothing, but the hem of my dress has come out and I haven't been able to fix it because my sewing machine is in storage and I am too lazy to go get it.  Thus, I have been renting my temple clothing for quite some time, and every time I do I think that I could have paid for a new temple dress by now with the money I have spent on rentals.  I have digressed from my intent in writing today - sorry!  Anyhow, I opted to go participate in the initiatory ordinances instead.  The clothing is provided at no cost, and plus they only take about an hour instead of over two.  I am so grateful that I did this today.  I really needed to be reminded of the magnificence of my mortal body, and the grandeur of my mind and spirit.  Our Heavenly Father loves us so much, and this love becomes very evident in the pronounced blessings of the initiatory ordinance.

The rest of my day was wonderful.  My burdens were lifted, and I was able to accomplish many things today with a much improved attitude from the 5:30 am attitude that threatened to ruin my day!

Another thing that I am grateful for today was the opportunity I had to eat lunch with Dallin and the Swedish moms and missionaries from St. George.  We ate at a new place called Marv's over on Bluff Street.  It is like an old fashioned diner.  We had a wonderful visit with these sweet mothers, and Sela Sandburg who served as a sister missionary in Sweden who just recently returned home.  Thank you Lesa Sandberg for organizing this fun lunch together.  We will meet again in May when two more missionaries from St. George return from serving in Sweden!

Welcome Home Sela!

Today's Verse to Ponderize:

2 Nephi 18:17

17 And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

The Blessings of Christmas

My apologies for not posting the last few days...  I love, love, love Christmas and all its surrounding excitement, but despite my resolutions each year to have everything taken care of a few days before Christmas arrives, what generally happens is that I over plan, over do, over book, and of course over spend, I still find myself stressed to the max and not enough hours, minutes, and even seconds in the day.  This year was no different, and so some of the fallout of that is that I simply did not have the energy to post until tonight!  So, please forgive me, and enjoy a quick recap of the past few days...

Christmas Eve day was awesome, but it was planned down to the very second of its entirety!  So the first thing I am grateful for is the fact that I had the strength and energy to not only get through it, but to enjoy it as well.  Also, I am grateful for the Lord's tender mercies along the way that allowed everything to fall into place.  Some of the highlights of the day included:  Rejoicing that Kneaders hadn't sold all of their gingerbread men cookies, buying a loaf of cinnamon bread for a perfect stranger because she noticed that I was in a hurry and she let me go ahead of her in the line, delivering gifts with Blaine and Ty to neighbors and friends, last minute shopping at the mall, the annual Milne Family Christmas party with Santa himself, our Christmas Eve dinner with Rod and Bobbi Allen - our dear, dear friends that are more like our parents, and wrapping presents until 1:00 am while listening to Christmas music.  

Every year we have a gathering with the Milne Clan on Christmas Eve day where we all bring our own food, and get to meet Santa with his bag full of gifts for all the kids.  It is always so fun to visit with family members and watch the joy and excitement of the kids as they sit on Santa's lap and unwrap their gifts!  I cannot believe that my baby is now 15, but he still loves to sit on Santa's lap.

Even our newly called missionary - Carter enjoys sitting on Santa's lap!

Dallin does too!

My three sons have been really good this year Santa!

Blaine and I, on the other hand, just might be on your naughty list!

Here's the whole crew!  Thanks for the picture Becca!

Glenda Gai kissing Santa Clause and it is not her husband Scott...  What do you think?  Is she naughty or nice, Santa?  Thanks Glenda for always planning a terrific Milne Christmas Eve Party!

The only real regret that I have from Christmas Eve is not taking more pictures.  I hate that I didn't take any pictures at the Allen's.  I had prepared bbq ribs, baked potatoes, corn, rolls, and baked beans to take to their home, and Bobbi provided a yummy salad and an incredibly delicious apple cake with a warm sauce and whipped cream.  It was all so good.  Rod gave a beautiful prayer on the meal and in commemoration of the birth of our Savior and the birthday of the prophet Joseph Smith.  The Spirit was so strong.  We enjoyed our dinner and then we watched a movie called the Magic of Belle Isle starring Morgan Freeman (one of my favorite actors).  If you haven't seen it - you must!  It is a really touching movie and highlights so many wonderful life lessons!

This lantern is similar to the one that we gave to the Allen's.  It symbolizes the light that they are in our lives.  I attached a copy of the Hymn: Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy

Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From his lighthouse evermore,

But to us he gives the keeping 

Of the lights upon the shore.

Dark the night of sin has settled;

Loud the angry billows roar.

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;

Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor,

In the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning;

Send a gleam across the weave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

Thank you Rod and Bobbi for being our lights upon the shore!

Christmas morning...  Can you believe that we made the kids wait until 12 noon to open their gifts? We had to do some damage control with the house - dishes, de-cluttering, etc...  We also had a big breakfast and lots of discussion!

Not many gifts, but they were big!

Santa was good to all of us!

But this is the greatest gift of all!!!

After we finally opened all the gifts we loaded everything up and drove through the wintery white weather to Minersville.  It was a beautiful white Christmas.  Nanette and I were in charge of the dinner.  We decided to have a Mexican Christmas meal - Cafe Rio style salads and burritos, along with chips, salsa, guacamole, and fruit.  Mom and Raymond, Nanette's family, David's family, and our family enjoyed the evening together.  There is nothing better than being with family for Christmas!  Family is the next best Christmas gift!  I love, love, love, them!!!  Everyone watched the Joan of Arc movie on KBYU.  It is an excellent movie funded by the LDS Church.  Joan of Arc is absolutely inspiring.  Another must see!  We drove back to St. George late.  It was a wonderful Christmas day.  There were a few wrinkles in it, but that is for another time and a different venue.  I am grateful for the love of family and the manner in which the Spirit can heal hearts and repair relationships!

Saturday and Sunday were both days of rest and rejuvenation.  I went on a long hike Saturday afternoon and enjoyed some much needed alone time.  Although the wind was bitter cold, the sky was an incredible blue and the Dixie sun was shining.  It felt good to run, walk, climb, and breathe in the crisp air.  Sunday was a beautiful day of worship and rest.  Where would I be without the Sacrament each week?  It is like pushing the reset button. It never ceases to amaze me how life can seem so hard and overwhelming, but after attending church and feeling the Spirit everything becomes so much more manageable! Clarity of thought is actually restored, and faith is renewed!  I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the sweet and precious blessings of the Spirit!

Today's Verse to Ponderize:

2 Nephi 15:20

Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Laundry!!!

LOL!!!

Do not let the title of this post deceive you...  I am not grateful for laundry, in fact, it is the one chore that makes me insane.  No matter how hard you try, it is never completely finished, because even when you think your laundry basket is empty, all you have to do is look around and see that everyone is wearing clothes and using towels that will go right back in within a matter of minutes.  But today my sons gave me an early Christmas present by doing all the dirty laundry in the laundry basket, and trust me - this was no small undertaking.  It had reached what we call "Mile High Stadium" status.  I was so happy when I returned home from helping Blaine at the dental office and gift wrapping for the Dove Center because all the laundry was washed and put away!  Thank you Dallin, Carter, and Ty - You are the best sons a mom could ever ask for.  It is so nice to have them home for Christmas break. Now the biggest challenge I will have is keeping them fed!  So grateful for my three boys - they bring me so much joy!  Thank you Heavenly Father for choosing me to be their Mother!

They learned it all from their Mother!

Such Good Boys!

Today's Verse to Ponderize:

2 Nephi 8:12

I am he; yea, I am he that comforteth you...

The Joy of Serving with Others!

Today I am grateful for the feeling of joy I experienced as I served with others from our community to raise money for the Dove Center here in St. George.  The Dove Center is an outreach and support center as well as a residential center for women and children who are victims of abuse.  Last year my family and I fixed a complete Christmas Dinner for the 25 women and children who were staying at the shelter for Christmas.  It was such a wonderful blessing to be involved with this.  This year I didn't have time to be that ambitious, but today and tomorrow I am volunteering to wrap gifts at the factory outlet stores to raise money for the Dove Center.  I have always enjoyed wrapping gifts.  It is very therapeutic for me.  It allows you time to reflect upon who you are giving the gift to and why.  It was so much fun today.  I especially love it when husbands come in and bring gifts for their wives to have us wrap them.  They are always so grateful for this service!  Today I was able to reconnect with two of my favorite women that I worked with last year while I volunteered at the outreach center and also did the gift wrapping - Inger from Hurricane and Lana form St. George.  I could not believe that it had been an entire year since I last saw them.  It literally seemed just like a month or two ago, and it was so amazing to just pick up where we left of.  I love to meet women like Lana and Inger who are so service oriented and Christlike.  You can see it in there eyes and their countenance.  We had so much fun wrapping gifts and catching up on each others lives.  The three hours that I was there just flew by.  It was a much needed and a much appreciated break from the stressors of my own life. Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing me with the opportunity to serve today!

If you are looking for a good cause to donate to or to offer service...  This is definitely a good one!

Today's Verse to Ponderize:

2 Nephi 7:11

Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled.  This shall ye have of mine hand - ye shall lie down in sorrow.

Touching Moments...

I was so grateful for the blessing I received this morning as I went into the gift shop of our hotel to buy some toothpaste that somehow I managed to forget to pack. How is it that I can remember to pack toothbrushes and not the toothpaste?  Anyhow, I am so glad that I did forget, otherwise I would not have met Matthew, and I would not have had my heart overflowing with love and my eyes fighting back tears as I left the gift shop.

Matthew is a down syndrome 20-year-old young man who was being trained to work the register at the gift shop counter.  I was so impressed with his boss - an older gentleman who was so loving and patient with Matthew as he very slowly punched in the numbers to add up my items for purchase. Matthew was very talkative and reminded me that there were only four more days until Christmas and then told me how excited he was.  I told him that I was so excited too, because I absolutely love Christmas.  He then told me that his birthday was just a few days ago.  I asked him what day and he told me it was on December 18th.  I excitedly told him that that was the same day as my husband Blaine's birthday.  His face lit right up with a giant smile and asked me how old my husband turned. I told him he had just turned 47.  "Boy that is old!" he said with a grin.  I agreed.  By then I had finished paying for my items, and as I turned to leave, Matthew wished me a Merry Christmas.  I told him to have a very merry Christmas as well, and then he said, "I love you!"  With tears starting to well up in my eyes and a lump in my throat I told him that I loved him too.  He grinned from ear to ear.  My heart soared and my step was light as I left the store.  What a precious young man!  No wonder the Lord commands us to be as little children.  They love so unconditionally.  Thank you Matthew wherever you are for blessing my life with your childlike love and wonder!  I just wish I had taken my phone with me to take a picture!

Blaine had an interview with a dentist down in Murray at 10:00 am so I took the boys to breakfast and then did some shopping.  When Blaine was finished we met him back at the hotel and then we walked over to the Temple Square visitors center and went up to see the Christus statue.  We sat in that room for about 30 minutes just visiting and enjoying the peace that was there.  Then off to the Joseph Smith building to eat at the Garden Cafe up on the 10th floor.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch and shared a piece of some of the best cheesecake I have ever eaten!!!  From there we headed home to Washington.  It was another wonderful day!

The Christus...

I loved this gigantic tree in the Joseph Smith Building...  Can you imagine decorating it?

Today's Verse to Ponderize:

2 Nephi 2:18

...and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am their Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.