Beautiful eternal reminderof what life is all about

No words in this beautiful video from the 2013 Young Women broadcast, but SO much is said so perfectly! How grateful I am for my family and for the sealing power of the Priesthood that binds us for eternity!

Late, late night blog post

It's almost 1 a.m.

I should be sleeping, but I needed to just sit and read/look at Jessie's blog posts. Words can't describe how much I love her and ALL my precious family members. I have about a billion pics I want to post here, but did I mention it's almost 1 a.m.? Won't even get started tonight with pictures!

But how about this one to start my new determination to start blogging SHORT THOUGHTS and PICTURES:

It sort of says it all, doesn't it?

Tribute to the men in my life on Father's Day

 

It's Father's Day. One of my favorite days of the year, and NOT just because I know Danny's gonna get chocolate at church and he HAS to share it with me, although that's a nice extra touch... :-)

It's a favorite day because I am so very grateful for Danny and for Dad and for Zack and Michael and for my brothers and my brothers-in-law and nephews and cousins and friends. Although some of those aren't biologically DADS, they have been terrific to our kids and grandkids and they are very loved along with those who ARE dads.

I'm grateful to be married to an incredible man-- my "Captain Moroni" (see Alma 48:11-13, 17 in the Book of Mormon). 

Danny is a man of integrity, honor, kindness, compassion and patience. His sense of humor has made me laugh more times than I can count, and I pray I never get dementia because I want to always be able to retain my countless memories of him talking with Jessie and Michael, teaching them to live their lives as he does-- with integrity, honor, kindness, compassion, patience and love. Memories abound of Danny playing catch with both kids, with him running with Mike while talking about topics ranging anywhere from NBA players and Fantasy Football teams to lessons of life. Memories of Jessie's first date bring sweetness to my mind-- as I recall, they went out to eat (where?) and then spent an hour or two in a bookstore poring over their shared love of poetry. She couldn't have had a better date for her very first!
And now I am blessed to watch Danny as a beloved grandfather, loving these precious little grandchildren and being loved in return with "ooh hugs" from small, active bodies with tiny dimpled arms and hands. I am so grateful for Danny on Father's Day and every day.

I'm also grateful to have my dad. He taught all six of his kids to love so many things in life that we may not have noticed without his guidance and example.

 His love of nature and of music has been instilled in each of us, and it's wonderful to watch as we have continued his legacy by sharing his loves with our own children and then watching Jess share Grandpa Claeys' favorites with HER children.

I am thankful for Zack as I watch him teach his children such important things as faith, prayer, love, patience, respect, thrift, service and hard work. Those little children are growing up to be pretty incredible people as they live the way their father (and mother-- but hey, its Father's Day!) teach them by word and deed.

I'm thankful for Michael-- for being the best uncle in the world and for loving his nieces and nephews so much. For being the type of uncle that prompts squeals of delight and joy when he and these precious little kids are blessed to be together. He'll be a terrific dad when that day comes.

I'm so grateful for the eternal connection we all have because of the fathers in our lives. Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful fathers in my life!

Loni and Malcolm: REAL happily-ever-after

Loni and Malcolm got married in the Reno Temple last Saturday. I know that post-wedding life requires love, patience, understanding, selflessness, a listening ear, sacrifice and all that, but their first day of marriage sure was the right way to start a real-life fairy tale!
                                                                                
In Disney movies and happily-ever-after fairy tales, we never hear about what happens AFTER the wedding, but let me tell you-- happily ever after is alive and well, and L&M started out totally right!

I know from experience that their love will only grow exponentially from here. And that growth will come as a result of life's rollercoaster ride of ups, downs, thrills, scares, boring straight parts, and views from the top. If we keep our seatbelts on and hold hands and scream (sometimes with delight, sometimes not...), it's a great ride.

I can't wait to watch yet another one of our beloved kids and her sweetheart have the ride of a lifetime! Woo hoo, L&M!!

Trying to express what I feel...

I am so grateful for the blessings in my life-- that I get to be a mom and a grandma and a sister and a daughter and a wife.  And that I get to HAVE such an incredible mom, mom-in-law, sister, sisters-in-law, grandma and daughters-in-law. I'm grateful for my sweet, good husband and for our precious, precious kids (including in-law kids) and grandkids. I'm grateful for my siblings (including siblings-in-law) and THEIR kids and THEIR kids too. Our family continues to grow with delightful new children to love.

And I'm grateful for my friends and their families. So many people who bless my life in ways that I could never express but in ways that I pray I'll always get to keep forever.

I'm not even going to TRY to put all the pics of all of my family and friends who mean the world to me. There's not remotely enough space for that. Instead I'll post the above picture since it's a pretty good visual to represent all of the people I love and it represents our bond through eternity.

Happy sigh.

Squaw Peak...perfect mom-son date!

Last Friday, Michael and I climbed Squaw Peak, the dinstinctively-shaped pointed mountain peak that's behind the Provo Temple. As Jess would say: It. Was. Incredible.!!

That pointed, jagged peak behind Mike in this pic? Yep. We climbed that. I already said it was incredible, but did I say it was an awesome, perfect day?

We made it from the trailhead to the very top in a little under two hours. Two hours of arduous, every-inch-of-us-drenched-in-sweat uphill working out. And the view from the top? Well, pictures can't show it accurately. Especially on a sunny day. Anyone who has climbed to the top of any peak can tell you that.

And I could never ask for a better climbing buddy. I love this kid (man!) more than words can ever say. I'm soooo grateful to have had this special day with him!

(Note: We had the summit to ourselves for about an hour. Then a couple of guys showed up who were right behind us when we started out, but who veered off the main trail and ended up finding another way that took way longer. We're glad they made it so they could take our picture!)

What a good-looking man! I wonder where he gets his good looks from? :-) His humility as well...

Mike and Corey are moving to California in another week...this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I have a feeling... I'll just savor it and pray I never forget anything about it! PERFECT DAY!!!

I love going to the temple. I always feel such peace there-- a reminder of the bigger, eternal picture, and an ever-present message from on high that everything's going to be okay.











I am in Salt Lake City this week visiting Michael and Corey. I'm loving this trip. Relaxing, enjoying M&C and the cute way they totally love each other and appreciate each other...

...and their little apartment (for this summer only) is a five-minute walk from Temple Square, so I am taking full advantage of their delightful location! I decided yesterday morning to go to watch the live show of Music & the Spoken Word at the Conference Center, leaving at 8:45 and getting there at 8:50. :-)



And I went to the temple first thing this morning. It was still dark, so the lights of the temple shone bright, warmly beckoning me as I walked the few minutes from M&C's apartment. It was well worth getting up early to hit the first session. :-) And I got there way early (Monday times are different than the rest of the week), so I got to sit and quietly read half the Book of Proverbs. Amazing book.

Yep. Good visit.

No time!

Random picture. I just love this old bridge near our house. There are a bunch of slats missing, so I got a kick out of the "Road Closed" sign.

I wish there were more hours in the day. I am truly a chicken running around with my head cut off (thankfully not literally... otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading a post on my blog...). I keep myself insanely busy in a myriad of different directions and I don't seem to accomplish anything!

No time to write, as I'm between doing Relief Society work and babysitting for 7 of the 8 kids of one of my sweet visiting teachees, but Jess left a message a while ago about her blog, so I took a minute to peek (GREAT post! I'd so love to be there at the beach with them... with icebergs floating behind...), and I thought I'd at least write this much. I have to leave to babysit in 20 minutes, and I'm fresh out of the shower, so I'd probably better git.

The birth of "Lake Fairview" and other rising floodwater wonders...

 This beautiful lake was a field two weeks ago. It's down the hill from our house, and every day it seems to grow larger and deeper! It's so weird to watch the waters of the Missouri River (a few miles east of us), the Platte River (a few miles south of us), the two creeks-that-have-grown-to-full-fledged-river-size all around us, and the new various bodies of water that weren't there a week or two ago. Crazy!

Former-field-current-new-lake near our house. Our subdivision can be seen in the distance to the right of that road you can see going up the hill. Great place to live...even during times of flooding!

It's been very humbling and touching to witness how members of our stake (Council Bluffs, Iowa Stake) are helping each other at this time. There are a number of homes already under water, and it's feared that more homes will be under the floodwaters in the coming weeks. Members have been helping each other evacuate, working on sandbagging projects, building up levees, opening their homes to accommodate evacuees, making room in basements, garages and sheds to store the precious belongings of those whose homes are being flooded, and doing a myriad of other small and great acts of kindness and selflessness. 

The Relief Society president of one bombarded branch in Iowa sent me a copy of an email she sent to the stake presidency, and it made me want to cry, for she listed every family and every member of her branch and gave a report on each-- if they had evacuated, where they were staying, if they were thankfully on high ground, etc. What a wonderful example of Christlike love this sister is, and what unity that little branch must be experiencing at this trying time! 

I've learned through our own experiences that the difficult times in our lives often bring us the greatest joys. That we feel our Savior's arms around us the most tangibly when we are going through our tough times. That we feel each other's arms around us during those same tough times, and that OUR arms feel astonishingly like our Savior's arms feel! 

When we meet him after we leave this life, I have a feeling we'll recognize Him immediately because we've been blessed here by so many who strive to serve us, and His arms will feel a lot like theirs... :-) 

Michael's graduation, slot canyons, etc... (happy sigh)

It's been such a long time since I posted anything here. Stevie, beloved girl that she is, emailed me a week or so ago to say she missed my blogs, and although I've thought about a gazillion things I'd like to say here (and have a thousand or so pictures I'd like to post), I haven't taken the time. And I should, for I LOVE reading the blog posts (and seeing pics) of my loved ones, and maybe, just maybe, you all might like to see mine.

Dad in Lower Antelope Canyon. Amazing!

I'll write more about these two incredible photos on another blog, for I don't think any of us have THAT much time in one sitting. Mom, Dad and I were blessed to be able to do a trip together following one of the best reasons to take a trip: Michael's graduation from the University of Utah!!  The whole trip was more awesome than I can begin to describe in mere words. I wish Danny could have joined us for the post-grad part of our trip.

These two pics are not enhanced. Yep. That's what this amazing bit of heaven-below-earth looks like. Lower Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon near Lake Powell (Page, AZ). I haven't yet counted how many shots I took. Between Dad's camera and mine (well, 'mine'= my brother Mike's... a nice, expensive Nikon with a nice, expensive, heavy lens), we have hundreds. Sometime I will post more. Including the tiny crack in the earth where we entered and climbed down!

We loved every moment of our few days with Michael and Corey to celebrate his graduation. And Corey graduated two weeks earlier with her law degree (BYU), so we had much to celebrate, and they are on the cusp of beginning a whole new chapter of their life together! I wish so badly that we could spend more time with the two of them... AND with the five (soon six!) Edwards darlings in Juneau!

I love this photo! SO thankful Mom and Dad could be there!

Post-commencement lunch. Can't remember the name of the italian restaurant we love across from Trolley Square. Anyone? Corey's cousin Scott joined us, which was awesome! What a great day it was...

Michael and Corey are so cute together-- definite lovebirds. It does a mother's heart good to see such love and happiness... I wish the beauty of the mountains showed up better in this picture. Gorgeous!

Proud parents, proud wife, happy-to-be-done graduate! :-)

Water torture

Nope, that's not me on the left. And that's not me on the right, either!

I wanted to write a post about what has become a torture session that I actually sort of look forward to: Water Aerobics class on Mondays and Wednesdays (8:15am) at the pool on base here.

Picture this: a former nationally-ranked (for 14 years!) German gymnast who pushes us, her water aerobicizers, to well beyond our LIMITS during the entire 60 minutes of each and every class.

Every day I want to cry, and whenever her back is turned, I rest my arms or legs for just one delicious moment before she turns around to yell at me for not keeping up.  The other day I swear that we had our arms outstretched with no break for 15 minutes straight before she let us rest. Youch!

Before every class, I dread the torture I know we'll be subjected to, but by the time we are doing our final stretches, I always feel like I just accomplished a feat as remarkable as... climbing a 14er or running a 10K WITHOUT STOPPING TO REST!  So I keep coming back.

I'm scared of Patina, our instructor, even though she is super nice AFTER class. But DURING class?  Oh my.

After enduring Patina's endless 60 minutes of endurance training, I'd better lose my angel-wing arms and cottage cheese thighs!