Christmas tree tradition

Many years ago my parents started the tradition of cutting down our own Christmas trees. They begin by driving to Idaho to purchase the permits mid-October. The day after Thanksgiving we all meet at the junction of Preston Idaho and travel caravan style up Mink Creek Canyon. Almost at the top of the canyon we take a side road and the leader picks out the perfect spot to begin our search. Winter clothing is piled on until the children (and adults)resemble over-stuffed snowmen.

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While adults look for the elusive "perfect tree", the children play and tumble in the snow, making snow angels, sledding and forming the ever dangerous snowball. Depending on the hunter, the search for their tree can take any where from fifteen minutes to an hour an an half (Gary wins the prize for hunting the longest, but also bringing back a pretty nice tree), though I have to say Dad your fifteen minute hunt produced a fine specimen as well.


With trees in tow the tired hunters load there precious cargo into the trucks. We then reverse the process by stripping off soggy, wet clothing to reveal rosy cheeked children. Vehicles are loaded and we caravan down the canyon once more, each family happily recalling their recent adventures, while warming hands on hot chocolate provided by Grandma.

This tradition would not be complete without the stop at the Pizza Villa in Preston. We are quite a group for the small town pizza parlor. They kindly accommodate our large crowd and the pizza is quickly devoured. Warm, heartfelt goodbyes are said as we each head for our individual homes to display our treasure. Traditions are so much a part of the season and become so meaningful to each one. I think traditions are really about love and family and creating memories that will long be remembered. Thanks for the tradition Mom and Dad!

Life

Life is to short to wake up in the morning with regrets.
Love the people who treat you right, forget the ones who don't,
And believe that everything happens for reason!

If you get a chance take it, if it changes your life, let it!

Standing Up

Last Thursday I finally got in to get a haircut and color. I had been procrastinating getting this done for quite sometime, so consequently my hair really needed it. It takes awhile to do highlights and color so naturally I started to make conversation with the hair stylist. Her comments kind of wound their way around until she came to religion. She began to criticize my religion, and make assumptions about my beliefs. I was a little taken back at first as I have never been in such a position of having to defend my faith and its teachings in such setting before. I listened for a few minutes and then decided I could not sit silent any more. I pulled my courage up from the bottom of my feet and politely started to correct her. It was amazing how the words and scriptural references came as I found my voice in standing up for truth and righteousness. Yes, we are Christians. Yes, we do believe in the Bible as far as it is translated correctly, we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. It is another testament of Christ. Yes, we do believe Christ is our Savior, that he atoned for our sins, that through him we can be saved. We believe He is the literal Son of God. We believe in God the Father, and in his son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost. They are three separate Beings, that constitute the Godhead. We pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. We believe in modern day revelation, that God does speak to us today through a living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. He was ordained to that position by men holding the Holy Priesthood of God, who can trace their authority back to Christ. He is not paid, he willing accepted the call to serve the Lord without monetary compensation. Likewise all of those who serve in His Church do so without monetary compensation. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men. Indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, we believe all things, we hope for all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things, if there is anything virtuous, lovely of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
We are not perfect, but we are honestly striving to be the best we each can be. We desire to emulate the Savior, to be like Him.
I walked out of the salon that day with my head, wet, but held high. It felt good to testify of what I believe! I hope that her impression's of "Mormons" now rank higher than before I met her. That she is a little more informed on what we believe. Maybe I planted a little seed that day. I am so grateful to Parents, Primary teachers, Sunday school teachers, Young Women teachers and leaders, Relief Society teachers, and all others who have taught me about the Savior, and who have helped me to gain a testimony of my own of His divinity. He is my Savior to this I do testify!

Being true to oneself

A few years ago I had someone recommend the Movie Akela and the Bee. It looked like a wholesome movie though I wasn't sure exactly how entertaining it would be. I was surprised, it was fabulous. Full of real emotions about overcoming obstacles, sometimes known as ourselves, an achieving goals. But always staying true to oneself. Akela, a young African American girl who is trying to win a national spelling bee, adopts this motto:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." -Marianne Williamson

Bruce and I happened on this movie again tonight while trying to find something "good" on TV. I love movies that are inspiring, that push us to reach our highest potential, that teach us to be true to oneself; by not being afraid to live life to its fullest. If you are looking for an inspirational movie, Akela and the Bee is a great one.

Missionary and Firefighter

The Island of Robinson Cursoe

I received an email from Riley today and thought it would be fun to update everyone again. From the sound of his letters he is loving the work and his new area. He is working hard and finding creative ways to get to know the people of the island. The following is a exert from his email, (with a few grammatical corrections).

I hope he was not in the process
of eating this cute little snail!

Well this week was a good week too. I have had a lot of fun doing the work here. You asked for a funny story and I have one for you. It was Friday night and we had gotten home, did our planning and all of that stuff and went to bed. I was sleeping so good when all of sudden we hear this banging on our windows and someone outside yelling to us "ELDER! ELDER!" I finally woke up and become conscious enough to know someone was trying to get our attention. Then I realized it was our mamita. She explained that there was a house on fire and we needed to go help put the fire out (there is no fire department on the island). So we got out of bed and I looked at the clock. It was 4:00 in the morning. We got dressed and ran to the fire. When we got there we ran into some members and they told us what had happened. Some little shack was on fire and by the time we arrived they had put it out. But the funny part is on a weekend in the middle of the night, at 4:00a.m, the environment outside is not very good for missionaries. The night was full of drunks and the funny thing was as they were all helping to put out the fire they were smoking at the same time. My companion and I thought of a scripture that could work. Where Christ says that we need to take the beam out of our eye before we take the beam out of our brothers eye. I think we could say take the cigarette out of your hand before putting out the house fire. And then the mom of the member family that we met up with made a really good point. She said "what would happen if the Savior were to come right now?" Lets just say they would´t be ready. My companion and I threw one bucket of water on the coals and realized we were wasting good sleep time so we started to run back home when the drunk women started making cat calls at us. So we ran faster and got home and went to bed. I learned a very good lesson; There is a big reason why Missionaries don´t leave at night unless it is an emergency. I don´t plan on being out again. Really the island is fantastic during the day. I love it, it is a million times better than the big city of Santiago. But at night I am sure it is all crazy. But oh well it was fun. I am really enjoying the island either way. Well how are you doing. That is funny that it is getting cold there. I am loving the weather here. It is really nice. I think it's like in the 70´s. My health is good. I have been running a lot here on the island. Actually last week we ran a little 5k deal with the community. A whole 20 people showed up for it. It was fun though. My companion and I took fifth. As we came up to the finish line we were running side by side and the people wanted us to try to beat one another but we didn't want to, so we crossed together. It is fun here, we have to work in different ways to get to the people. So the run was a way to gain more trust from the community. I was thinking in my next package could you send me some flea collars. I would wear one on my ankle. The fleas are a bit of a problem on the island. Well I love you and thank you for all of your help and support.
Love,
Elder Riley Davies

First Snow

I love snow! I always have. I love the feeling in the air that marks this time of year. It feels so crisp and alive! I even love the cold that comes with the snow. There is nothing like wrapping up in a warm blanket and sitting by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate watching the snow fall outside the window! I copied this out-take from the "Gilmore Girls" off of Lindsays blog. I laughed so hard after watching it because it reminds me of a conversation that I could see Bruce and I having.

28th Anniversary

Today is our 28th anniversary. It is hard to believe how fast the years have flown by. Is seems just yesterday I was that giddy, shy girl, anxiously awaiting the knock on the door from the blind date I had been setup on by my cousin. We went to Lagoon and had a great time. And as the night was coming to an end I remember the butterflies in my stomach wondering if there would be a second date. Of course there were, and many more to follow. We were married three months later in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. It was a gorgeous fall day and I remember thinking that nothing could have been more perfect. We were so happy. Blissfully happy.
The days, months, and years that followed continued to have moments of bliss, but life has a way of humbling us and teaching us that in order to appreciate those moments of pure joy there has to be opposition as well. We have had our struggles as most couples do, and yet we held on, sometimes to the thinnest of threads, because that was all we could do. But in the holding on we have grown and become one. We have come through the tough times together and we are stronger for it. The moments when life seemed as though it couldn't get better were heavenly, beautiful and without compare! But the times when we were hanging on by a thread are moments I will always remember as the ones that bound us together and made us one, in purpose and in soul! The following quote by Laura Marquez expresses so eloquently the evolution of our relationship, and how without even realizing it we became one.

"My life is -- as if each person I know was born with a beautiful book with golden edges on each page -- and each of us can read the language of our own book -- containing our own unique values, ideas, insights and direction, yet we cannot read the language of anyone else's book, and they cannot read our book. And, then, you and I started talking and I discovered that while the words in your book are different from mine, the language of your book is exactly the same as mine -- and words flow and flow between us without effort. Then, I looked closer in my book and I saw beautiful, happy pictures of you and our family...and I smiled."

Bruce, you are my life! My joy! You have held me together when I didn't think it was possible. We have climbed many hills together and have struggled to reach the top. But we did. We have been blessed in so many ways. Our family stands as a witness of that! If you love someone dearly, your love will grow as you practice looking through that person's eyes as much as into that person's eyes. Thank you for talking the time to look through my eyes and see past all of the imperfections. Happy 28th! I love you!