The Two FFs

Everyone needs them.

They are such a great blessing in our lives.

And, you realize that more and more as you:

have a celebration for something in your life,
have a tragedy in your life,
have something you want to share with someone special,
need a listening ear,
get older.


So, today, I just want to tell my
FAMILY and FRIENDS

You rock my world.

Thank you.

A Tale of Two WWII Veterans

This is a look at two good men who have some things in common. By comparing these two people, I am not passing judgement in any way, but just showing a different set of values. One is not necessarily the right way and one is not the wrong way - just different philosophies.

Both were in the Pacific in WWII....one as a member of the medic core and Marine band. The other was in the Navy.

Both returned when the war was over and were blue collar workers; neither ever earning a lot of money.

Both loved their wives deeply, and had big families.

These are some of their similarities, now let me tell you a little about their differences:

Carl loved life; he was a man who enjoyed his family and his life to the fullest. One year, while living in a very modest home, he and his wife sold the home, piled their large family, plus 2 neighbor kids into a station wagon, and took the family to Disneyland for a week. They returned home and moved into a very small trailer. He was hard-working and was also generous with his time and talents. He loved people and people loved him. He never really had a large home, but was happy with the little trailer where he and his wife lived. After the death of his wife, each month on the day his social security check came, he went to the neighboring town to do a little gambling on the Indian reservation. He loved going golfing and spent a portion of his meager income on that hobby. On the day he died, he had no money and very little in the way of worldly possessions, but a large contingent of good friends. His children went in together to pay the funeral expenses. Within hours of his death, his few possessions had been distributed. And, since he was living in a small trailer that his children had paid for, there was nothing to leave the children....except a lasting legacy of happiness, family fun, laughter, music, and fond memories.

Ed was a stern man with his family while they were growing up. He worked hard every day and looked forward to some peace/quiet at his family table. But, he believed in paying his bills...he was very proud of the fact that he rarely owed anyone any money. He paid as he went. He saved a little money from his modest income each month, paid for his and his wife's funerals so that his children would not have to worry about that expense. After the death of his wife, he visited neighbors and friends, until they were all deceased. He found pleasure in reading his wife's journals, having his family visit, and was very proud of the fact that he had saved a small amount that he could give each child on his death (if health bills did not take the modest amount of money first). He wanted very badly to leave them a small inheritance at his death.

Ed and Carl both looked at life a little differently. Each loved life in his own way, each man was very proud of his children and the chidren honored and loved their father deeply, and each enjoyed his time on this earth.

Perhaps there are lessons to learn from both of these men.

Favorite Picture Day

Just saw this on my daughter's Facebook..
it was taken in 2004 in Oregon where they were using a friend's home:
We went on a portion of the trip with them...fun, fun times.

It's All RELATIVE

WOW, so fun.

That describes the visit we had last night with a cousin and his wife that I:

rarely see,

hardly know,

and think is genuinely awesome!

Because of his job with the church and church callings,

Martel and his wife, LaRue,

have lived in:

Accra, Ghana

Yekaterinburg, Russia - mission president

Germany

Finland - temple mission

He was, in a measure, responsible for the church getting genealogy data on line when they did. It would have eventually happened, but, he modestly adds,

because of his persistance, it happened sooner than later.

He helped establish networks for the church in foreign countries.

Oh, I love to reconnect with cousins.

Thanks, Martel and LaRue, for taking the time and effort to visit!

How To Have a Great Sabbath

Take one grandson who is leaving to serve an LDS mission:




Add several family members from the Fisher family and Hackworth family: (wish the rest could have shared this day with us! There were lots more people than just shown here.)





Stir in heaps and heaps of food:




Sprinkle with a generous amount of warmth and fellowship that always exist at the Fisher home in Hurricane.




And you have yourself a mighty fine Sabbath.

Here's a further breakdown of the ingredients...

Inspiring talk by Sean on selfless service - filled with gentle humor, smiles, scriptures, examples, and testimony.

Musical number with Sean @ piano, Janessa and her friend, Celeste on violins playing, "Be Still My Soul."




Allen standing in the 100-plus heat cooking burgers for lots of people



And, of course, lots of picture taking, laughter, food, advice to the missionary, and fond farewells all around.

Thanks, Sean, for living such a great life and setting a marvelous example to all of us! See you in two years....

We'll be praying for you!

Encounter - Albeit Brief - with the Kennedys

It was the fall of 1960...

John F. Kennedy was running for president...incredibly, he made an historic stop in Pocatello, Idaho at the high school. After his speech, we all crowded around this handsome young man...I reached through the throng, and stuck out my hand. HE SHOOK MY HAND!

I couldn't believe it, and I said looking him straight in the eye, "I'll never wash this hand again." In his very strong Boston accent, he said directly to me,"You'd bettah!"

(Just so you know, I did.)

Lots of years later, Allen and I were on a trip to Washington, DC. We got to go into the Senate chambers where a filibuster was going on. The ONLY Senator that I remember being in that huge room was Ted Kennedy. He was standing at the podium talking, talking, talking. Hardly anyone was there to hear! We were from there to here away from him. He seemed larger than life....booming voice, large man. It was invigorating to hear him and see him in person.

Now, I don't agree with most of the politics of the Kennedys. And, I know their personal lives have never been the most admirable....

BUT..

I applaud their commitment to service of our country. I believe they loved America; they loved freedom; they loved the principles upon which this nation was founded; and they had a strong commitment to make the nation a better place for all.

So, today, I'm remembering my VERY, VERY brief encounters with JFK and Edward Kennedy.

Gratitude Attitude from Grandkids

Hey, Bridger, Oscar, and Sayre are visiting from San Diego, California with their awesome dad, Jeremy!

We have a tradition that the boys tell me a few things they are grateful for.

So, here's their list for June, 2009:

OSCAR (age 7): I'm thankful for family and friends, the world, people, God, Jesus, water, food, my life, games, house, clothes, cars, stores, books, my body, my cousins, my heart

SAYRE (age 3): toys, cars

BRIDGER (age 10): I'm thankful for books, video games, my family and friends, food, America, water, sports, cars, animals, plants, air

Well, I'm grateful for them!

A Truly Memorable Day!

How to have an (Almost) Perfect Day:

1. Take a large dose of family (that is what made this a not-quite-perfect-day...we were missing Kristi D and Jordan and family). But here's who were there to celebrate with us:
Brent, Jenni, Sean, Janessa, Stockton, Landon
Justin, Amy, Eli, Miles
Jeremy
Allen, Loni
2. Stir in lots of other friends and their famlies: (These are the 4 other nurses from St. George who completed the Nurse Practitioner Degree with Jenni)
Bridget
Amanda
Heide
Melissa
3. Add great pot luck food at a church in Bountiful:
home-made chicken salad sandwiches
Macaroni Salad - the best I've ever had!
Costco potato salad
lots of fresh fruit
home-made cookies, brownies and cheesecake (none of which I ate because I'm cutting back a little on sweets - just a little! )

4. Blend in a short, but fun, fun program with Jeremy singing, Melissa singing a song about the Fab Five Nurses Finally Finishing their degrees after three long years, and Bridget doing a stand-up comedy routine about a day in the life of the fab five sharing a room in the motel!

5. Top with a highlighting event; graduation as a Master of Science in Nursing, and A Family Nurse Practitioner Degree.

6. Sprinkle in a surprise of opening the program to see that Jenni was elected to THREE honor societies for her FANTASTIC grades: Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Theta Tau, Golden Key. ( I just want to add here that not all Master's Programs are created equally...it is hard for any of us to understand the WORK,WORK,WORK that is required to get this degree. Classes, papers, research, patient diagnoses, more papers, traveling to Salt Lake many times, internships with a variety of specialists and doctors, projects, and a master's research paper. And, all of these 5 women did it while working and raising families. Their families deserve lots of praise. Thanks Supportive Brent and kids...you are great!)

Thanks Jenni for a great day!

And, ConGRADulations on being a Nurse Practitioner!

Wordles ROCK!

My daughter introduced me to this fun little site...wordle.net. I've made a few of these to send to people - both email and snail mail...they are mighty fun and have lots of possibilites. Here's one for the Hackworth family.