My firstborn Child

This is Brians High School Graduation photo!

This is my son Brian at his birth. Today is his birthday and I am very aware of how blessed I have been for the last 33 years. There is something about your first child, I think it is because you have no one else to take your attention away from them. You remember a lot more.

Brian at 3 months

Ever since Brian was born, he seemed like the perfect child. Always alert, happy and communicative. He said his first word at 9 months "Twee" as he pointed to the Christmas tree that was in Dr. Gurfield's (our peditrition's) office.
Brian at 9 months
Once he started saying words he never stopped, and by 18 months he was a full on conversationalist and could communicate effectively. At 2 years almost 3 years we came home from Church one Sunday, where he was in the Nursery (with me because he wouldn't leave my side- even when I went to the bathroom!)

He got very serious and started telling me the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ! He laid it out in a very logical manner and told me that Jesus had died for our sins! He was very animated and his big brown eyes were very serious with the telling of that story, as if I didn't really understand what it meant to me. It was the most touching moment of my existance to hear that story from the mouth of a babe!

Well, from that moment on, no one could tell me that he wasn't the most wonderful child Heavenly Father had sent down to earth in a very long time. I loved my son unconditionally then and still do today. He has grown up into a fine man, a good husband and I hope an effective father! (That remains to be seen)

Brian in Kindergarten

Sunday, the day of Rest

Today is Fast Sunday in our Church. I had to work like a dog to get a substitute for my primary class today because I was asked to train the Brea 1st Ward in the New family search program for their 3rd hour which was 11:00 am.

It's also fast Sunday.

Then at 6:00 pm tonight I am to speak to the Fullerton Stake and answer questions about New Family Search and give them a 'shot in the arm' so they can go out and teach their members.

I'm not getting a nap today.

Two lectures that I'm not getting paid for.

Oh, well, it's all part of the Lords work.

aww...the Blessings

It's wonderful to feel like the most blessed woman in the world.

I'm involved with the two loves of my life right now and no foreseeable future to be stopped from enjoying them.

1. Family History
2. Primary

I know I'm a little different from almost everyone I know, but I am who I am. I love family stories, pictures, puzzles to figure out, and people to help- I'm in Heaven!

I also think that as I serve with love in Primary, I get back 100,000 more blessings than I give. Those four year old children just 'make my heart sing' every week. I truly am a blessed woman.

Reading your blogs

I woke up this morning very worried that I am not accomplishing what I promise I would accomplish and how I am going to break news to some certain people.

I can't believe how busy I am teaching, doing, advising, lecturing, makeing power point lectures and answering the phone 'help' calls that come in daily! What did I do before Genealogy? How sad I don't really remember.

So I read my scriptures, said my prayers, walked, took a shower and went to the computer. 1st thing I did was make myself a list. I e-mailed my friend in KY about how I didn't finish retyping his genealgy book but hope he lets me keep it and I will have it done by end of summer. Then I answered e-mail. Then I typed 4 pages of the book. Next I started the washing. I updated 2 power point presentations: 1) Overcoming Dead Ends 2) Organizing your Genealogy (don't anyone laugh at that, I know how to do it, I just don't take any time to do it for myslef! )I called my ladies and made appointments for Visiting Teaching. Changed the Wash. Made lunch for dad and myslef. Cleaned off my desk of a financial problem I had- I gave it to dad. Answered 1 phone call. Prepared a new lesson for next Sunday that I will give to Brea 1st ward and packed my stuff for the lecture tomorrow. Then I called in some Rx refills and will pick them up later when I go give blood at ''bleed & feed'' which is at the Church Blood Drive. I will then fold the clothes and mail a birthday card.

Now that I've listed all the things I do in one day, I'm feeling a bit better now, then I go to the blogs and start right down the line looking to see if anyone had put new info on them. Then I read them, comment on them, enjoy them and now I am relaxed. I don't know what it is about connecting with all of you that soothes my soul, but it does. I hope you get some of the same feeling from reading my blog as I get from yours. You are all very important in my life and I love you all- and your families!

My Husband

Today was a very busy and stressful day for me. In fact the week has been that way. In fact the month has been that way.

Tonight I noticed my husband, Larry. Not that I don't notice him every day, but today it was very apparent to me how much he supports me and helps me.

I ran out of the house this morning to go to Mission Veijo to give a lecture. I had spent days turning my 'old' overhead transparencies into power point. Larry did the wash for us, 4 or 5 loads and he hung up all the items that needed hanging. All he asked me to do was to separate it for him before I left.

Then I came home exhausted and took a nap. Larry went out to check out the hotel for Mark and Lisa to stay in when they come for Easter and the Blessing. He also went to the store for some specials he saw in the newspaper.

I got up and went into the computer to learn a new program to help my client who is coming here tomorrow to record her parents. Larry reminded me to download the program Mark had told me to download, "Audacity". While I stewed and read and tried and failed to make the program work, in other words while I learned how to use the program, Larry cooked a delicious dinner. Larry also did the shopping and has done the meal planning.

While I ran out of the house after dinner to go to a Stake Primary Training meeting, Larry cleaned up the dishes and juiced Lemonade for me so I could offer it to my clients tomorrow.

During the day, he stopped me several times to just give me a hug with words of encouragement.

This is indicative of Larry's love for me and I feel like the luckiest woman alive to have him for my eternal companion.

I seem to have days like this a lot lately. God Bless Larry for all his meal planning and shopping and cooking and washing and cleaning and vacuuming. I couldn't do today what I do without him. In fact I might just starve to death, because meal planning, shopping & cooking are way down on my list of likes and necessities.

He also took time to blog and work on his own business and the house budget.

All in all, I am one blessed woman. I love you Larry.

The Winning Limerick

Today, Larry had family home evening with the Singles Ward. It was a contest on who could wright the best limerick. Well here is the winning limerick! I'm so proud, and Ashlynn will be too!

"Ode to Papa Robe's Stache"
We like Brother Rober's upper lip,
The ladies find his 'stache very hip;
A fine shade of gray,
We want it to stay,
Oh, never give that moustache a snip!

written by O'Doyle Rules

Happy St. Patricks day

Yes, truly we are very much Irish. At least in our tempers, right? Just kidding. On my side, I have Emma Lee Swan from County Cavan in Ireland, and James John O'Brien from County Cork in Ireland and then on Larry's side we have Annie McKean and John Glass both from County Tyrone.

So, wear the green of Ireland and have a great St. Patricks day, just don't celebrate the way the Irish do!

This is serious, I'm being stalked!

It seems like it was about 6-7 years ago, when a black man walked into our Sacrament meeting and sat alone. I felt sorry for anyone new in the ward to look so out of place and friendless.

That first Sunday, I plopped myself and my family down next to him and proceeded to be friendly. That day they were giving talks on the Articles of Faith. So, like a good member-missionary, I took out my Articles of Faith card from my scripture case and gave it to him.

It seems now that he has taken the "light of Christ" I try to exhibit and turned it into something ugly!

Everywhere I go, the Family History Center, Church, Store, I see him there and staring at me. He makes excuses to talk to me, send me notes and love letters and I thought I put a stop to it a few years ago by talking to the Stake President, Bishop and my husband. They all had talks with him and it seemed to get better for a while, but now he is worse than ever!

He was asked to change shifts at the ORFHC so we wouldn't run into each other. He refused saying "I won't change shifts and that's final. I want to give Caroline another chance!" The person who called him was flabbergasted!

Now Beth McCarty is going to tell him not to come back to the ORFHC- ever. We don't need him to volunteer if all he wants to do is bother me! I have told him off, insulted him, talked to him, ignored him and walked away from him when he was trying to talk to me.

Last Sunday, I went to Church late because I was just tired (we meet at 9:00 am), I just missed Sacrament, and went directly to the Primary room, and received my class while they were coming in. He had the audacity to peek through the glass partition in the door of my classroom to see if I was there! That is the last straw! I want that man to stay as far away from me as possible. In fact I hope he gets into some accident and can never walk again! This is a living hell for me and I won't go to Church or the ORFHC anymore if that man shows up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got 'clocked'

No kidding I really did! I was getting ready for the day, I had just come back from walking, and I was about to brush my teeth.

The door to my shelves was open and I slammed it shut, no harder than usual and the clock on the wall came crashing down and bounced and slammed onto my nose. You would be so proud, all I said was "Oh, No! But it smarted a bit, mostly it just surprised me.

A Little food for thought

A Story:
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away.
I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom ina house dress; lawn mower in his hand, and dish-towel in hers. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio,screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that were-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meantaffluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in thewarmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets allused up and goes away...never to return.
So... While we have it... Its best we love it... And care for it....And fix it when it's broken..... And heal it when it's sick.
This is true... For marriage..... And old cars.... And children withbad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents....And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend who moved away or a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... And so, we keep them close! I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've shared it with the people I think of in the same way, my blog friends. Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

An Inspiring Message for our time

Ensign March 2009:
"Franklin said, 'The foundation of all happiness is thinking rightly.' This may be more important in the future as the world continues to spiral downward and crumble into moral decay."
I just read the article on Self-reliance: Spiritual and Physical in the Ensign today. It so made so much sense to me, that I want to challenge every adult who reads my blog to take some time (I do my best reading at the breakfast table) to read this article and apply what it says into their lives.
I have a testimony of this latter-day work and the goodness the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings into our lives. I hope the Lord will bless all my friends and family as we all strive to do what is right in these last days.

Happy Valentine's Day 2009

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the love of my life. My very one Valentine.
For the last 34 years, I have been the one to set a nice table, make a nice meal and provide everyone with valentine's galore on their plates. Tonight, my honey did it for me. Yes folks, that' a 5 lb. box of See's Candy sitting on my plate. He is fixing Steak and Lobster, Baked potatoes and chocolate dipped strawberrys. Brian, Lisa and Mark, eat your hearts out!

I love Primary

I love teaching the CTR 5 kids. I have 4 in my class, but last week only 2 were there. They are so hungry to learn and very good kids. They LOVE my stories. I can have them absolutely mezmerized by being melodramatic, which seems to come naturally for me.



This is Avery Hancock, Kim Mitchell's little girl. She is a doll and very good in class. She is making a face here to amuse me.

This is Jack Matheson, and what a doll. He will have the girls crying in a few years. Right now the two girls in my class could care less!

R S V

They say that you got it from your kids. Most of the time people are talking about insanity. No me. I am talking about RSV. My dear daughter is dealing with this in her three kids and it's not a fun thing to do. She worries all the time. I know how miserable I am with this cough, and they say it will last for up to 6 weeks. UGH! So, today I opened up my e-mail and I had a forward from my friend Barb Glaysher. It was from some Pastor on the meaning of life. I thought it was sort of profound, so I am copying just a part of the interview I though was pertinent. So enjoy the quote, it made me remember why we are really here.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

School with Caleb

Today was a special day for me. I was selected to take Caleb to his preschool. They were learning about animals that migrated, hibernated and lived through the winter. It was pretty cool and he made this cool diarama. So, I took him to lunch at In and Out Burger afterword and he had to take his diarama into the restrauent. He just smiled as we walked in and kept saying "see what I made today? It's a di ama!" Everyone was really polite and just about everyone in the place knew about Caleb's spactular diarama. It was pretty fun and I really like this pre-school Lisa found. It's run by LDS and they say a prayer and the pledge of allegience before they start every school day. Thanks Caleb for letting me go with you to school again, it was fun. Tomorrow Lisa will be left alone with her 3 cute boys.

Relationships

I look at everyons blogs almost every day. Mark and Lisa haven't blogged for a few days, but I did see a quote on their blog that just seemed like the most correct analagy of how a woman sees love. Since I am one of those women, I recognized just how true this statement is. It's no our fault, it's just how God made us and He did it to make Men better creatures than they already are. See below. I don't know who Chris Rock is, but he has insight- now I wonder if he uses it!


On love: "Women are like the police. They could have all the evidence in the world but they still want the confession. "
Chris Rock

2 New Babies

Here I am in SLC and I'm excited because today Kelly welcomed baby Savanah Jaye Rogers into the world. She was born at 8:44 am, 20 1/2 inches, 7 lbs 10 inches- exactly what Brian Rober was when he was born.

Then Lisa welcomed Beckham Lewis Henderson at 2:14 (I think), he was also 20 1/2 inches but he was 8 pounds 15 ounces. What a TANK! Horray for Lisa that she birthed him so well!

They were both reported to come out wide awake, eyes open and lookin around! They both had black hair too!

I'm convinced that they were best friends in heaven and covented with each other to come to earth at the same time so they would never be seperated! WOW! Now my sister and I only have to remember one birthday for the 2 newest twigs on our family tree! I'm so happy and excited!

Kelly's shower

Today was Kelly's Baby shower hosted by my sister Pam. It turned out really well, and Pam even cleaned up before she left, but she left us a ton of food! John should have been here. Here are some of the photo's I took. Her friend Emily also did a wonderful job of decorating and making sure we 'mormons' had something to drink besides wine and coffee!

Kelly had a headache most of the day though. It was so fun to see all the pink things she got!

The food table was to die for- leave it to my sister who loves to eat!

This is Brian and his brother Aaron, good Mormon's sitting at the poker table!

Christmas is officially gone & the END is coming

Well, everyone knows how much I DO Christmas, so everyone wants to know how do I ever get it all down and put away?

This year I repacked a few things and a few boxes. I also weeded out a lot of stuff that was old and NOT of sentimental value. Then I took my time repacking and it feels so good to have a spankin clean house! I think that is why I enjoy taking it down, I know I will have the cleanest house in town for at least 2 days unless my darling grandkids come to visit.

Also, I talked to my sister Pam today and she is sure she knows when the end of the world is coming. At least we both agreed that we are living in the last days. She has been watching the History Channel and they have been going over "End of Times". I thought it was interesting that the Mayan Calendar does end on Dec. 11, 2012, at 11:11 o'clock. (didn't say am or pm). Then I guess Nostrodomus also said that is the date the world will end. In fact when I googled Mayan Calendar, I got a lot of stuff I have never got before. I know the prophets have said that no man knows the time, not even the prophet. I'm not so sure about that though. Seems like I heard a talk about that recently. Anyway, anyone of you have an opinion on this?

FIRE!

Don't panic, there really isn't a fire.

I have suspected that for 33+ years of marriage, Larry IS Caroline deaf. It's so sad when you think you are going to spend the rest of eternity with someone who doesn't listen to you, or even acknowledge you.

When Larry talks to me, even across the house, I try to acknowledge him by saying something like: OK, really, your kidding, mmmm..., wow, thanks for letting me know, I'm sorry about that, what are you going to do?... the list is endless. Even if I can't think of something to say, I grunt, or go mmmm, or uh, huh.

Not so my husband. I was talking to him about something important to me today when he went off into the other room. It wasn't a real heart to heart conversation, so it was OK for him to wander. But I keep talking and then I ask a very important question and..................................I ask a very important question and.........................................I ask a very important question louder and......................then I yelled FIRE! You should have seen him come running! So, I guess I am destined to find my very imortant outlet for talking to the women I know. Or, my Bishop, but he is just like Larry and doesn't know how to "bounce the conversation back and forth''. Maybe it's just that most men are that way, but I have actually met some who were not. Why couldn't I have fallen in love with one of those?