A Real Vacation

So a week and a half ago Paul told me that we really were going to go on a vacation and I got to choose where to go. I had a crazy idea to go up to Secret Cove in British Columbia. When I was in junior high during the summers I went with my grandparents (Grandma & Popo) on their 45 foot yacht the "Ninaray". The last summer my sister, Nina, also came along. Well, I checked online and there was a resort nearby Secret Cove called Rockwater, and before I actually knew what I was doing I had made reservations for Paul & I.

I have always wanted to take Paul to this place, to share the beauty of the area. Of course I expected a lot to change because I had been there only slightly after dirt had been invented. I was thrilled to discover that much remained the same, especially Smuggler Cove which has been preserved as a Province Park.



This discovery was as much a new memory as a reminiscience as seeing it from land offered a very different experience than the one from the boat. I was grateful to be able to share it with my dear husband and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather!

I have always hoped that I could share this place with my family and it is very nice to know that it still exists!

Oh What Do We Do in the Summertime?

I'm back from Michigan and have almost caught up on the laundry. And I'm almost used to the time in relation to how tired I am according to where the sun is in the sky. Random, Savannah and Scout are visiting while Amanda & Troy have a grand adventure in Malaysia & Singapore. (Be sure to check out their blog, it is great!)

Well, while Mom & Dad are on their grand adventure I thought it might be fun if the kids were able to report something other than "we watched t.v. and played on the trampoline." So today was defined as "Errand Day" and we went to the store to purchase some activities that the kids could do. We went to two stores, Toys R Us and Michael's and did great! That was two hours ago and the kids are still having a great time playing with some of the stuff they got and using their incredible imaginations.



The pictures aren't great but you at least can get an idea of what they're doing. Let's hear it for camera phones!

They don't stay little long!

Here's a comparison of baby Jasmine at 5 days old and 14 days old in her car seat!

Baby Jasmine

What to do?

Here I am in beautiful Sterling Heights, Michigan with a beautiful new granddaughter and two great older grandchildren. I am supposed to be helping. The question arises: What is "help" really? If I interfere with the routine of life, when I leave there could be the potential of chaos for the parents and children trying to bring their life back to "normal". And let's face it, there's enough chaos with life as it is and with a new baby I think that is just the perfect description of "chaos".

So it has been my goal here to accomplish something that has been on the "list" for a long time but has not been done because of the reality of life getting in the way. You know, things like children needing dinner EVERY day... running out of clean dishes... even laundry (you know you get every single piece of laundry clean and you move that pillow and WOAH! Where did that sock come from????!!!!! It's like a curse, once you find one you know that within minutes there will be 4 more socks showing up and before you know it there's another load of laundry! And ONE load of baby clothes takes you 5 hours to fold because there are 124 MILLION pieces of clothing!!!)

So, I have been going through the boxes and bags of clothes that have been saved for the next child. The evidence of a frugal person, overwhelmed with life, but trying to do what is best.

It has been fun for me, as I wish someone would do this with my stuff! It's fun and much easier for me here, because I am a "disinterested" third party. I have no emotional attachment to any of the stuff, so I can toss it without any remorse or concern. And I am happy to report that I have finished the basement task here!!! With 10 days left I am excited and I think that I can help with the upstairs closet and a few other little areas and feel that I have completed the task. (Which is a great thing for my personality "type".)

And once I figure out how to do a slide show on this blog you can see the results of my efforts. I took pictures with my little phone, of course not the best quality, and that's pretty good too! However I did not do the "before" pictures, just believe me when I say that this is improved. Not that anything was dirty, just cluttered. I did not find one single yucky thing, so good job to all!

Babies, Babies, Babies!

Okay, so to say the least I LOVE MY LITTLE GRANDBABIES!!!!!!!!!

Here I was trying to be so good, finally updating my blog AND adding pictures. So I looked at all the baby pictures I have and these three pictures are of my latest three granddaughters. Can you tell the difference?

A Testimony of Family History Work

As is obvious, I am not very good at updating or adding to this blog, so I'm using a double duty to add to it today. I was asked to write a brief testimony about Family History Work for our ward newsletter. This is what I submitted. It may be too long for the ward news letter :-/

Over the 30+ years I have been a member of the Church, I have seen many changes in the accessibility to genealogical research materials. From the days when access to the Federal Census Records required “National Security Clearance” (Brother Bryan actually received that!) to today when we can research those records online, at home, for free, the call to search for our kindred dead remains a constant call to the sons and daughters of Adam. Looking ahead I have been blessed to have a glimpse of the new program that will help to coordinate the efforts of others seeking the same ancestor, eliminating useless duplication of efforts, correcting errors, perfecting our knowledge and increasing the ability to extend the blessings of the gospel to all of those in the post-mortal world. Through all of those amazing and exciting advances in technology it is still those singular spiritual moments that continue to motivate me to seek out those precious ancestors. I have felt such love from them, I have learned from them though they had long since passed through the veil. And one day I look forward to greeting them and embracing them and thanking them for their gentle influence in my life. I have learned about a mother’s love, I have learned about priorities, I have felt strength and courage by looking in the faces of ancestors whose names I had yet to know, but knew that somehow they were my family. Participating as a proxy for some of these ancestors has brought me closer to them as if I could better understand their joys and sorrows. Allowing another sister to be a proxy provided a profoundly joyful experience as I was able to assist her through a portion of the temple experience during my training period as a temple worker. Just as missionary work and reactivation efforts are about finding the One who is seeking the Truth, so is family history work about finding the One. Occasionally we find entire families, and other times it takes us a long time to find a single name. But in the searching we are blessed time and again with peaceful feelings of assurance that help us to press forward. I have come to feel that Love is a lot like Gravity: it flows down. Our ancestors look down to their posterity already knowing us, already loving us. We have the task of turning back to look to them and to look for them. It is then when we are filled with that wonderful Spirit of Elijah and we find that the love has multiplied in our individual lives and that even the tasks of today that had felt so burdensome are somehow a little lighter because we know we are more loved than we knew yesterday. I believe that time is measured or felt differently in the spirit world. Our ancestors are able to wait patiently for us to find them, or perhaps that is one of their greatest trials. Nevertheless they do wait for us. Let us each try a little harder to find those moments when we can search for those who love us.