Gratitude

Tuesday evening at church the local prosecuting attorney spoke to the youth about his experiences serving a mission for the church in Haiti 20 years ago, and then returning after the earthquake there this year. To be honest I really wasn't interested and really didn't want to go, but I didn't have a good excuse so I went and my heart was touched.

The speaker told in vivid detail of poverty and squalor and desperation and of faith. How does a person hold onto faith in anything when living in shacks made of cardboard and sheets? Scrambling for just enough food and water to keep themselves alive day to day? Here I am feeling sorry for myself because both my sliding glass door and my screen door need new door handles and they're so old even the company that made them can't identify them, my oven door needs new hinges, my car has a small oil leak, and I really need to lose weight. Wow...my problems seem suddenly so insignificant!

Our speaker told of how everyone sleeps outside since the earthquake because they are afraid of being buried in rubble in the event of an aftershock - most do not have tents even, but hang sheets to shade them from the sun, when it rains in the middle of the night they stand up til it stops. Yet even under these conditions they hold family home evening complete with a song, and a prayer, and a lesson. I am ashamed to admit that I can count on one hand the number of times our family has had family home evening in the last 12 months.

It was a humbling experience. I am filled with a new appreciation for all that I have, I am truly blessed. I have a renewed desire to be the best I can be, because I have been reminded of how much I have and what a great advantage that gives me - my focus has been all wrong for a while now. I need to refocus on the things that are truly important, building my relationship with my Heavenly Father and my family.

Grandmother Taylor

My Grandmother Taylor (she preferred to be called Grandmother) left her tired body and went to her heavenly home in February. Her funeral was not a sad event. It was lovely to feel the peace in the room as her sons spoke of her life and the things she taught them. She had been so tired for so long I had forgotten that she was a fun woman at one time. I forgot that she loved to dance, that she gave "cocos", and taught her boys to cook and clean. I didn't realize how many copies of the Book of Mormon she bought and gave away, or that she marked in each one the verses she felt would be helpful.

I do remember: that when I said avocado she said avocate, she crocheted beautiful baby booties and once when she came to visit she made booties tailored to one of my dolls, she tried to teach me to play the piano and to this day I can't read music but I use her trick for following the "skips and steps", she drove a Mustang, she loved music, she loved Spanish, she loved Mexico, she was proud of her children and grandchildren, and her testimony of the gospel was her most prized possession.

This is a family photo taken at Grandpa Taylor's funeral.

This is Grandma with Camille, Doug, and me.

This is Grandma at her 85th birthday party with my sister Chris and her family.


My cute nephews and niece needed to see how deep the hole was... so adorable!

It was a lovely service and much of it was a mix of Spanish and English which I'm sure my dear Grandmother loved!

A busy week!

Wow - what a busy week it was!

Monday I took my three kids, Lilly's friend, and one of my nieces sledding.

****

Tuesday was our Personal Progress party at mutual...

****

Wednesday was a free day!

****

Thursday was Erin's induction into the National Junior Honor Society...

****

Friday my Grandma Taylor passed away, which was not unexpected, and was a great relief for her. She had been miserable for quite a long time and was quite eager to see her husband and other loved ones again. We also recieved a call that Tom's stepdad is in the hospital with congestive heart failure, his heart is operating at 16% of normal...so Friday was kind of a crazy, emotional day!

*****

Saturday Thomas was asked to carry a state flag for the Simplot Games as a member of the Order of the Arrow, so I took him to that and took some pictures - it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be!

They unfurled this giant American flag from the ceiling (I am so disappointed that I didn't get a picture of that! It was awesome!) and then four Army guys rapelled down from the ceiling in front of the flag...so impressive!

Thomas got to lead in the athletes from Utah...and they were a large and rowdy bunch of kids! Pictures of that group are posted on facebook. =)

Crazypants

Almost 5 years ago we got this adorable puppy from the pound, Tom and Erin named her Spot. She was an adorable little ball of fluff for a year or two and then she began to be a little crazy.



Over the last couple of years it has gradually gotten worse and worse. When Spot has a crazy spell, she starts to breathe hard and then begins to climb, the computer desk, the couch, the book shelves, the entertainment center, the side table, the toilet, the bathroom counter, people, whatever is near. She's a sweet, lovable dog, but crazy as a loon!

Thomas's Eagle Court

One whole year after the Eagle project was completed and almost 6 months after his Eagle was actually awarded, we finally held the Eagle Court! Tom and I are SO proud of our great son! The Eagle Court was Thanksgiving weekend to maximize the number of family members present.

The picture below is Thomas with his two sisters and two of his cousins.

Much as I hate to see pictures of myself (the view from the inside looking out is dramatically different than what shows up in photographs!), this is a photo of Thomas with Tom and me.

Thomas with Grandma and Grandpa Taylor.


Thomas with my Grandma.

This is Halli Stone who was Thomas's Cub Scout leader and the only speaker at his Eagle Court. On the other side of Thomas is Shane Ackerschott, who served as the Master of Ceremonies. They both did a great job, many thanks to both of you!

New York Part 3

My sweet Grandpa died in October of 1987, I was living in Mexico that year and remember vividly the early morning phone call from my dad to tell me that Grandpa had been killed in a car accident. I wasn't able to go to New York for the funeral and had never been to his grave either. So on this visit with Grandma we made sure to go.

Below is the church next to the cemetary.

Grandma's friend, Mrs. Dragan, is buried in the same cemetary, this is Grandma at her tombstone.

Isn't this a beautiful place to be buried?

This is Grandma & Grandpa's headstone. Grandma has never put Grandpa's death date on, she thinks it's more practical to wait until she dies and do both at once...I'm sure she never thought she'd live this much longer than Grandpa!



For several years the community of Saugerties has had a kayak race in October named after Grandma, they didn't have it this year, but they had a little get together at the town beach and a belated 100th birthday party for Gram. These are some pictures of Grandma kayaking with her friend Kelly.

New York part 2 (Palmyra)

When I decided to go to New York with Grandma, I started thinking about how close to Palmyra we would be...I thought it was about a four hour drive, which didn't seem too terrible to me. So I decided that would be the one thing that I would make sure we did. Grandma wasn't very excited about it until I mentioned that there is a temple there now. She did want to go to the temple. I thought if we left early in the morning we could squeeze it all in. WELL...the day before we were scheduled to go Grandma decided she was too tired. I suggested that she might feel differently in the morning and we would decide then. In the morning she felt like she could manage it, however, she was PAINFULLY slow getting ready and we didn't leave Saugerties until 9:30 am...she complained the whole way and got grumpier and grumpier as we went along...we stopped MANY times to stretch and eat and go potty (one of those stops just happened to be the boxing hall of fame, Grandma hated it). We finally arrived at the Sacred Grove at about 3 pm that day. There was no way there would be time to go to the temple and get back to Saugerties at a reasonable hour. We couldn't stay the night in Palmyra because Grandma was going to be the guest of honor the following day at 11 am at a party in Saugerties.

So, we got out of the car at the Sacred Grove visitor center and went in. They were just starting a tour so we sat down in the front row to hear the presentation. Grandma immediately interrupted by loudly asking the tour guide if she could go to the temple. I explained that we would not have time. So, we listened to the tour guide give her speech and then headed for the door to go walk the grounds. HURRAY! They had a motorized scooter they loaned to Grandma. She jumped on it and took off at high speed! I had a hard time keeping up while trying to look around a little! I would stop and take a picture, then RUN to catch up to Grandma before she noticed I was gone. She was still grumpy when we stopped at the Smith family log cabin, and slightly less grumpy when we stopped at the frame home. By the time we got into the grove itself, she had settled down quite a bit, but I was still running to keep up (even after I turned down the speed on the scooter). She didn't have much patience for my desire to stop and look.

Here's a picture of Grandma on the scooter in the Sacred Grove. We were short on time and because of the scooter we took the shortest route, so didn't go very far in, but it was beautiful and peaceful.

This is at the edge of the grove as you approach it from the frame house and barn.

This is on the path on the way to the grove.

This is the view from the pathway between the log cabin and the frame home looking left.

This is the view on the same path, but looking to the right, if I had turned a little more to the right I would have had a photo of the Sacred Grove. The orange tree in the middle of this photo is the same tree shown in one of the previous photos.

It was a long day, but I think the spirit of the Grove carried us home! Gram was much happier on the way home and began to sing hymns, I joined in and we sang all the way back to Saugerties. We stopped less often and Gram was so happy she complained very little and was surprised at how fast the time passed. We arrived in Saugerties at about 10 pm that night.