Honoring Dad

Hi, All,
We just got done celebrating Father's Day and Dad's birthday this week. What a great time to focus on the patriarch of our family. I doubt that he knows how much he influences our daily lives, even you girls, who are married now and living away from home. I'll bet there aren't too many days that the choices before you, the things that you spend time on, or the way that you treat others doesn't bring Dad to your mind. "What would Dad do in this situation?", or "I wish Dad could be here now and go hiking with us," or "How did Dad always do this?"

It is great to have such a wonderful example before you of how to live a humble, just plain old good life. I know that his example has tempered the way that I treat others and how I do things, such as not yelling so much:), driving more carefully, not speaking meanly about others.

So, I thought it would be a nice way to end this week of celebrating Dad's and your Dad in particular, by doing one more thing that Jeanette started. That is to think of the one word that best describes your Dad and my eternal companion. It would be a gift that lasts a long time. Just respond on this blog and I will share them with him.

The word that I think best describes him is "dedicated." He is dedicated to me and to Scott, making sure that all of our needs are met and that we are happy. He is dedicated to fulfilling his callings and doing the best job that he can. He is dedicated to our Father in Heaven, by kneeling each morning and night to say his prayers. He is dedicated to treating everyone fairly and kindly.

Now it's your turn!

The Greatest of These Is Love

I just attended a meeting at the Center for Persons with Disabilities today. It is an Advisory Council made up of people in the community who have are invested in advocating for people with disabilities. My role is as a parent; there was a married couple there who are self-advocates who have developmental disabilities. I was fascinated as I watched them together. They are truly so happy being together and I could see how much they loved each other as they teased and laughed together. We had a sandwich during the meeting and as the husband was talking to the group, his wife was trying to wipe some mayonnaise off of his cheek, kind of like we do with Scott, only with her finger. She just kept at it the whole time he was talking and he didn't mind in the least. I could see that they take good care of each other.
As I watched him eat, his tongue pushing his food out between his teeth as some people with disabilities do, and watched his feet splayed out like Scott's do, it made me realize that all they needed was love. Love overlooks flaws and weaknesses. Love makes us happy just to be with someone. Love doesn't judge another. Love doesn't just look on the outside. Love is pure and innocent. It doesn't take a genius to give love. It takes someone with a lot of heart to simply love someone else.
That is why I am so drawn to people with disabilities; they love openly, completely, simply, innocently. It's in their eyes, and in their smiles, and in their laughter. It is something to strive for, being able to love that completely, without worrying about how someone looks, or what they say or do.
It is the way that I want to love others. It's the way that I love all of you. Completely without restraint.

A Great Visit!

What a great visit, Jenny & Devin! I still can't believe that it has been a whole year since you left. You've done a lot since you left Utah....got two great jobs; bought a house; hiked some beautiful trails; met some wonderful people. It looks like Alaska has been good to you and is where you should be. Don't get me wrong, I still wish you could be closer, but as long as you are both flourishing there, all is well.

You left some good memories when you were here:

• Playing & beating you at games :) (Taboo, Peg game, Pictionary, Chess, Apples to Apples, and Back Alley)
• Eating out at Olive Garden
• Getting a great Mother's Day present from all of you!
• Shopping with Jeanette & lunch in the park
• Jenny getting her ears pierced, hair cut & highlighted & clothes galore!
• Devin's run to Casper's when he was bored or losing at Back Alley
• Crab legs and shrimp dinner!
• Playing crochet...Wayne's rules!
• Pehrson Family picnic and seeing the Fam
• Dutch Oven dinner up Smithfield Canyon
• Celebrating Mother's Day with 3 of my kids
• Celebrating Devin's birthday early & eating ice cream cake

All in all it was a great visit! Thanks so much for coming!Can't wait until Anna and the girls are here in June. Time for more memory-making!

In the meantime, thanks Michele & Wayne for being here and making memories everyday with us!

We love you all!

Give me Sunshine!

I love the sunshine! It does something to a person to see bright blue skies and deep green grass! And those birds....watching them flit around finding bits of fluff and twigs for their nest and chirping their heads off! The spring flowers are blooming their little hearts out and I love them! I LOVE Spring! I think I could live in springtime all of my life! Every day, every minute! Let's hear it for the sun!

Priorities

We watched an interesting movie last night, "The Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith. (Thanks for sharing it with us, Michele & Wayne!) It wasn't quite as happy-go-lucky as I had anticipated. In fact, at times it was really depressing. It is based on the true story of a man named Carl Gardner, who struggled and struggled to keep his son and himself out of the streets and to improve his lot in life. Along the way, his wife left him because she didn't want to be part of his struggle. But he fought to be able to keep his little 5-year old son with him, even though he didn't have a job other than to sell some medical equipment that he had invested in.

Through all of his struggles, I was impressed with his determination to try to keep life as normal as possible for his son. He almost always kept his son's need to be a child as his priority. Even at his lowest ebb, he was able to create a make-believe adventure for them to get through the night sleeping in a bus depot restroom.

His resilience in the face of failure after failure is inspiring to me. We all have trials in life, and as we look around at all of the homeless and broken people, some do not make it through them very well. If we keep our priorities in order and pull from deep inside us to overcome each one, we will eventually reach our goal. One thing the movie did not portray was a faith in God. I know that without my belief in God and His mercy and guidance, I could not get through some of the trials that I have had.

I love each of you and hope that when trials come your way, which they will, that you can keep your priorities straight and be resilient, and most of all, that you can turn to Our Heavenly Father who knows what we need to grow and return to His Presence.

Take Luck!

Hi, Folks,
I had a hilarious time driving to work and back home today! I put in that Brian Regan CD....he is one bubble off plumb, I swear! I started out smiling and giggling to myself, and then as he went on I was grinning from ear-to-ear, trying not to laugh outloud. I couldn't hold it in and found myself laughing my head off, which I thought was hilarious in itself as I am driving alone and belly laughing all the way. Everytime I tried to just smile....I even sucked in my cheeks to try and stop smiling...I ended up laughing outloud! I sure hope nobody saw me!! He cracks me up!

I decided then that I just had to go ahead and laugh, even if people were looking....it was good medicine. I recommend it heartily. Laughter is good for the soul and keeps you young, something I need these days! Besides, it helps keep life in perspective and your thoughts off of negative things.

So, I say, go ahead and laugh your head off if you feel like it! Life is just too short to frown.

In Brian Regan's words, Take luck & Good care!

Coming Home

As long as there is a home to go to, I will go there as often as I can. I am looking forward to seeing my parents in a day or two. And, although it is not the home that I grew up in, it is still home to me; wherever my parents are is home. I think we all have a "bungee cord" that draws us back home. I am glad that the bungee cords in my girl's hearts are pulling them back home soon! This mom is ready to throw my arms around them, touch them, see their beautiful smiles, and look into their eyes again! Thank heavens for Michele and her constant, caring presence! I love my girls and their little families! Yeah for bungee cords!

Homing

There is something inside us that brings us home;
Like a deer drawn to a stream on a warm night.

We drink deeply, the memories soothing our parched throats;
Filling our spirit with the cool waters of belonging.

We bed down near the stream, close to its gentle sound;
Knowing that we can refresh ourselves through the night.

When dawn breaks, we sip one last time before moving on;
our path leads us away from this, our first home.

We make note of the hill close by, the forked tree
just around the bend;
Etching the scene in our mind to tuck away for
other thirsty times.

We will return to this quiet place in days ahead,
When our thirst cannot be quenched anywhere else
but home.


By Connie Pehrson
June 29, 2004

The Pursuit of "Happyness"

I used to have a plaque in our bathroom that I would read every day that went something like this...."Happiness does not depend on what happens on the outside of you, but on what happens on the inside." For a long time I believed that, but couldn't seem to make it work in my life. The things that happened on a day to day basis always seemed to affect my well-being and I couldn't really say that I felt "happy" a lot of the time. Of course, I had my moments of joy and peace and contentment, but I couldn't seem to make them stay very long. When the next crisis came along, or disappointment, or even conflicts in our home happened, I would be struggling to keep my "happyness" intact.

Lately, I have noticed that I feel happy most of the time! My 'happyness" quota is increasing! I have tried to analyze why that is, what has happened to change me from the inside out. I have come to a few conclusions:

• My health is improving from what it has been for the past few years. I guess I attribute that to the month or so that I was in the hospital and recovering....every gain is a plus. I appreciate even one little sign of improvement. For this I am truly grateful.
• I am only working part time which gives me less money, but so much more important, it gives me more time to do the things that make my life meaningful. Things like, organizing my home more ("my house is a house of order" said the Lord.); reading good books (including scripture study); listening to good music that lifts my soul; playing & singing music again, something I have put aside for a while; talking to, thinking about, and praying about the people that are important to me; listening to Conference talks to and from work; appreciating the beauty of nature and the changing of the seasons; beginning to work on my geneology.
• I am also learning about spiritual things through the spirit as I prepare more diligently for my Relief Society lessons. I am uncovering the depth of my testimony and what it takes to nurture and expand it. I am pondering more the lives of good people that I know and am trying to be more like them including my husband, my children, people in the ward, friends, President Hinckley, and most importantly, Jesus Christ.

I am finding that "happyness" comes from inside, and that it may sneak up on you when you least expect. it! Anna told me the other day that "it's okay to feel happy, Mom." I guess I was feeling odd that I hadn't really felt it for so long. I think I am learning the secret of happiness, though I'm not sure if I can articulate it yet. I just know that it is like a compass, and I am trying to keep my needle pointed to the true north where it is strongest. I guess I am learning what makes my needle get off course, and I want to keep it steady.

I hope for all of you, that your "happyness" quota is increasing daily and that you find out what you need to do to keep your needle pointed in the right direction! Have a happy day!

The Hope of Spring

I just watched a robin taking a bath in a big puddle in our driveway! The robins are back! I always wondered where they go until spring, but at any rate, they are here now. We went for a ride yesterday out to the West Fields and saw the Canadian geese pairing up at the water's edge. As I look out the window at the snow covered fields and mountains, I wonder how they know that it is time to come home and start new life. They signify that there is hope that spring will soon come again.
I lost a dear friend this past week, John Wesley Bright. The heavens have received a joyous, lovely person who will soon be leading the heavenly choirs in beautiful music! The signs for hope in the resurrection surround us. One being that Christ told his disciples He would be "raised in three days"....and they witnessed that He was. Another sign being that by Joseph Smith's words, "we saw Him, even at the right hand of God!" And the Spirit has witnessed to me that he did see and talk to the resurrected Christ. The reality of the resurrection goes beyond a hope; the signs are there and I am as sure of it as I am that, in a few weeks, spring will be here in full bloom.
Never lose hope that spring will come or that you will see loved ones that have gone ahead. The resurrection is real and we will all be together again as resurrected beings in a place where it is always spring!

I love Spring!!

Had to share this with you. What a good philosophy to keep up! Enjoy!

The Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over."
I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.
"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these childrenthat I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"
My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."
"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.
"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."
"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around."
"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.
"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn.
"Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.
On the patio, we saw a poster headlined:

'Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking'
1. 50,000 bulbs
2. One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain.
3. Began in 1958.

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.
That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world . .
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way.

"Start tomorrow," she said.
She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting . .
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...
There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So . . .
Work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like no one's watching.
Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

~~ anonymous ~~

My Seven Wonders

The Seven Wonders of the World

When asked to vote on the seven wonders of the world, a group of highschool students came up with this list: Eqypt's Great Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, the Great Wall of China, and Niagra Falls.
One girl in the class disagreed. For her, the seven wonders were: to see, to hear, to touch, to taste, to feel, to laugh, and to love.
Sometimes the things we take for granted are truly the greatest wonders.
(Ronda Beaman)

I thought about it and came up with my own list of seven wonders. Here it is: watching the sun's rays as they climb up on the backside of the mountain I see through our kitchen window in the early morning and then watching it burst over the crest of a peak right into my eyes; watching the glorious, unnameable colors of a Cache Valley sunset as it stretches across the horizon as I head towards my cozy home; watching the full moon send it's soft glow down upon snow covered fields and mountains as Dad & Scott and I drive home late at night; listening to the birds chirping as the weather warms and they flit from our big tree to the bushes outside our front windows; listening all alone (so I can turn the volume way up) to a wonderful baritone voice (George Dyer) singing in his fullest voice "How Great Thou Art", and meaning every word of it; hearing Dad and Scott laughing heartily as they tease each other; being caught in a big bear hug by someone whom I love and who loves me right back.
It doesn't get better than that!

Now let me read your lists......I'll be checking your blogspots for them!!

Counting Blessings

I know, Devin, it is cheesy, but I'm going to do it anyway! I want to count my blessings today, so I can approach life with a positive attitude. Sometimes, when I face a new week, I get bogged down in all of the things that I don't want to do....like go to work or fold a mountain of clothes (how 3 people can go through so many clothes, I don't know!).

I have found that if I can bring into my mind all of the good things in my life that are gifts from my Father in Heaven, then the "uglies" get pushed back to a place that doesn't matter and I can feel peace and joy in the journey again.

So here goes, my list of blessings:

• The first has to be the knowledge of the truth and an understanding of the Gospel and of eternal things; it directs all that I do.
• Next comes family, both past, present, and future; what a great organization, the family. For most of us, it guarantees that we come to this earth already loved and accepted, surrounded by people who want to make us into the best people we can be. First to be loved by parents and siblings and extended family; then to find your own sweetheart who knows you better than anyone else and still loves you completely; when you add to that loving circle, children, then you have the greatest love possible...unselfish, unconditional love. To top it all off, we have the opportunity to continue those associations for eternity! What a grand plan!
• Living in a place of beauty has to be one of my top blessings! To be able to see majestic mountains (not like Alaska, I know, but they will do for me!) with and without snow; to see fields of grain and corn; to watch geese and hawks and an occasional eagle, and even the humblest sparrow (I love them all Michele!) ; to see the gorgeous flowers throughout the summer....mostly in my neighbors' yards; to watch the seasons change the trees is a miracle to me!

Those are the top blessings. Writing them down has made my day, and above all I thank my Heavenly Father for each one of them in my life. It sometimes takes a day of counting to keep me in balance for the rest of my life.

Take some time to count today!

Beginning again

Hi, All, I am trying this again because the first blog I made looked very dreary! Maybe I'll get the hang of it this time. I expect Anna and Michele to start their own blogs now! If I can do it (if i ever get it right) anybody can!
Mom