cell phones in church

I came across this article this morning which reminded me of an incident in church a couple of years ago...

Norm Funke was sitting a few rows behind Josh Anderson and could see that Josh was texting during Sacrament meeting, thinking fast, he turned to his daughter Jessica, and asked for Josh's cell number.  Norm then sent an epic text to Josh: "no texting in church - from God".  Funniest texting in church story I have ever heard!!!!

I admit that I occasionally text in church, but I am mostly tempted to take pictures.  Every Sunday I look around the congregation and see families snuggled up together and wish I had my camera. :)

The Man Nod

Erin and I were driving home recently when she made awkward eye contact with the man in the car next to us.  This led to a fascinating conversation about "the man nod" which I am going to share with all of you in bloggerland.  Erin informed me that she has broken "the man nod" code...so, here it is...drumroll??....if a man gives you the nod in an upward direction it means he has made eye contact and needs to acknowledge it and he feels positively towards you, if he gives you the downward nod, it means he feels obligated to acknowledge your presence but doesn't have a positive feeling about it.

A few days later, Thomas and Lilly pulled into the driveway after a week at Scout Camp just as I was going to my car.  Lilly and I made eye contact...guess what happened??? Yep, she gave me the upward man nod.  She insists it was not a "man" nod, just a nod...but really, how many women do the nod??? I think 7 weeks surrounded by Boy Scouts has taken it's toll.   On the bright side, it was an upward nod...

still work to do

Grandma will 104 on June 10th of this year, she's always saying that she can't die yet because she still has work to do.  Quite honestly I've laughed a little when she says that because really, what kind of work does a woman her age do?  Yesterday God taught me a little lesson.  We went to the temple and while I was waiting for Grandma to finish in the bathroom a woman approached me and asked if she could hug me.  I was a little surprised, I've never met her before, but I'd seen her in the lobby when we came in and since it was the temple I said "of course" and gave her a big hug.  She held on tight and began to cry.  She thanked me for bringing Grandma.  I told her she should get a hug from Grandma before she left, she said she would wait in the hall.  When we finished in the bathroom Grandma and I stepped into the hall and Grandma gave this woman a hug.  She introduced herself and thanked Grandma for coming to the temple and setting an example for her.  I was touched.  I don't know what was going on in her life or why it was so important to her, but she was clearly touched by Grandma and showed me that Grandma really does still have work to do.  People we meet at the temple frequently tell me how inspired they are by her but none have touched me quite like the stranger we met yesterday.

Women Prayed at Conference...

Quite honestly I never noticed that women weren't saying the prayers at conference, and it never has mattered to me.  All the recent fuss about women praying and about wearing pants is weird to me.  I just don't get it.  I went to a funeral recently and considered wearing pants because it was in the middle of the day on a Monday so wearing a skirt meant I'd be wearing it to work too, and I hate to wear a skirt to work.  I decided to wear a skirt out of love and respect for the friend who had passed away.  I felt that wearing my best was a good way to show my love for him and his family.  A good dressy skirt is still a step up from dressy pants.  So why wouldn't I do the same for God and wear a skirt to church? 

I just realized that I have wandered off topic...I do have a habit of wandering :).  About prayers at conference...it just seems like such a non-issue to me that I have a hard time even addressing it.  Really?  Why would anyone care who offers the prayer?  Anyway, if you really pay attention in conference you'll notice that women are well respected within the LDS church. 

So now you know what I think about women praying at General Conference, AND what I think about wearing pants to church! 

I made a book...

a photo book that is, you can see it here.  I scanned all the photos in the album I found at my Mom's and put them into a book...it represents many hours of work and I'm really excited about how it turned out!

Below is my favorite photo from the book:

Here it is...

Proof that my grandparents were nudists 65 years ago...

 Grandpa is above, below are my mom and my uncle.

Nudity

Yesterday I took Grandma to the temple and when I drove her home I noticed a photo album on the kitchen counter that I didn't think I'd seen before.  So I opened it and found it was full of old photos of my grandparents.  As I flipped through it I came across one of Grandma with my Mom and my Uncle Pete, Grandma was wearing very short shorts and a halter top that in the black and white photo blended pretty nicely with her skin making her look almost topless.  As Mom and I were laughing at it I noticed that Mom actually was topless, when I teased her about it she told me that Grandma was always funny about clothes and really truly wanted to join a nudist colony so they were frequently naked at home, and when it would rain they would all go outside naked to play in the rain!  I had heard before that Grandma was very interested in the nudist colony, but I don't think I'd heard this story before!  There were several photos of Mom topless (all before the age of about 7)....the very last page of the album Mom has titled "photos that probably shouldn't have been taken"....so funny!  There a couple of Mom and her brother as toddlers completely naked and then one from a distance of my dear Grandpa!  Fortunately it's a side view and he appears to be squatting to maybe fix something?  Anywho...who knew that in the late 40's and early 50's my grandparents were walking around the woods of New York naked?  Too funny...no wonder my mother has always complained that Grandma is embarrassing!