My little sister Julie, "she's so pretty!"

{Julie and I this last October in NYC. She wanted to pretend like we were homeless.}

Members of our family know exactly what the word "bowtanny" means. But in order to enlighten those that may not understand this bit of verbology (words not found in the dictionary but should be, including verbology), I will explain. This is the very class my sister thought she was taking in college while striving to get her masters degree in social work. She was in the book store hunting down the assigned book for the class. After spending more time than necessary she finally gave up and asked the clerk if they, in fact, even carried the book. Yes, it is as you might have guessed, Julie was looking for the curriculum for her Botany class. But wait, my adorable little sister only gets better with age. Not to be out done by herself, Julie has added one more to what I call her "very strawberry blonde moments". While I was having a conversation with her, she told me with disgust dripping from her tone, "Do you know that I need to go home and take care of a hundred frozen cookie dough buckets? I went to pick up the orders only to find that they come in buckets as frozen cookie dough! ". I bit back my initial response to say, "Well yes honey, what part of the word dough did you not understand but instead asked, "Well Honey just how do think the frozen cookie dough should come?" "Oh, I don't know", she stated, still a little irritated, "I thought they were coming as cookies, not DOUGH!" Julie is proof that you may be able to take the girl out of Oklahoma, but you can't take the blonde out of the girl! Life with Julie is just plain fun!

The Appropriate Companionship of Wisdom and Power

In research for a talk I was giving I came across this quote. I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with others:

In 1866, when the Relief Society was reorganized, Eliza [R. Snow] was set apart as president over the entire sisterhood of the Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-dat Saints]. She received many letters from officers in ward Relief Societies, asking about their duties and responsibilities. In 1869, in answer to such a letter, she wrote these words to Mary Lightener:

“Tell the sisters to go forth and discharge their duties in humility and faithfulness and the Spirit of God will rest upon them, and they will be blest in their labors... (My Favorite part of the quote): ....Let them seek for wisdom instead of power and they will have all the power they have wisdom to exercise!!!” 1

Should you want to learn more about how incredible and inspiring Eliza R. Snow was/is, click on the 1 at the end of her quote.

Taught by my Little Ones

Though not so little any more they will always be my little ones and today I have been taught by them. As I spoke with my daughter Amber this afternoon she said "Mom I need to go, I think the children's mother is here". Though she is pregnant with two daughters of her own, (the youngest just turned one) Amber tended a set of 19 month old twins for the day in order that their pregnant Mommy could visit the doctor. Then, not but a few moments afterwards I was speaking with Melissa, (who also is expecting) and she said "Mom I need to go, the family we are having dinner with is here". In an effort to help a struggling family they had them over for dinner. It is one thing to serve others when you have an empty house but everyday I see young mothers, whose plates are already full yet find the inner strength to serve someone else. I am constantly humbled by their goodness. While being taught by others is vastly rewarding, there is something richly fulfilling for a mother to be taught by her children!

Alas, my tutorial was yet to be finished, as my daughter Stefani called, excited because she had aced a test! That in and of itself is wonderful but her continued explanation touched my heart. Stefani was concerned about her grade in this class as she had not done so well on the last test. When receiving her paper back for the test she took today she noticed that the aide who had graded it had given her credit for an answer she didn't deserve, as it was only half right. In the attitude and principle of integrity Stefani took the test back to point it out to her Professor. To give the professor credit (which was why Stefani told me this story in the first place), he gave her the point because of her honesty. Whether he had or not, is not my lesson learned here today. Her honesty will be measured far beyond her term grade and I am reminded that one act, one little point is not worth the honors of men. Our acts of righteousness honors God and in turn bespeaks of our desires towards our Eternal home.

I am so grateful for the lessons taught to me this day while glancing through the windows of my children's lives.

I love my son-in-law!

Still in mourning from the last BYU game (if we can even call it that), my son-in-law found a way to help bring a smile back to my face when considering this season's BYU football experience. He took me back to the moment when euphoria was high and expectations were the same. Thanks to Vaughn, I am reminded that in the midst of bad times we tend to forget the good times. If you are a BYU fan and need a lift from this past week's depressing loss, click on the link below and you will understand what I am talking about AND if you wait until the end of the video you will see one or two familiar faces...wait for us...wait for us...wait for us... honest you will see us, just wait for us. However, don't blink you may may miss us:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmLn6R9nJgY

My New Favorite Bumper Sticker...

It was on the back of a not- so-new passenger van;

"Don't let the car fool you, my treasure's in heaven".

Kind of puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?

Dishwasher Heaven!

You may be asking yourself...is there such a place? I can attest to you there is, and if you ever want to visit such a place you need only visit my kitchen!

Yesterday when my husband came home he ushered me into the bedroom... no, don't go there, I was left alone with my curiosity. I knew he was up to some birthday something. A moment later I could hear a noisy partial-disclosure of the act at hand, something was being rolled on the kitchen floor. My mind frantically began to wander, searching for anything that he might have bought me for my birthday. (Remember, it is not nice to consider me dense simply because you have figured it out, after all, I gave it away at the start of this post.) Oh no, could it be a bike? Certainly bikes have wheels...bikes can roll... in fact...just this morning I had told John I was going to use birthday money received to either fix my bike or purchase a new one. Suddenly I became worried...worried because I did not want to hurt my husband's sweet and thoughtful feelings let alone be ungrateful. However, to be honest I felt my bike purchase was going to take much research and consideration before signing on the proverbial line. Not like the Christmas when he got me two coats and I wished he would have done his homework, even if it took a little deceit to get a sense of my fashion taste, so as not to ruin the surprise. Personally I think it was a bit of impulse buying but .. back to dishwasher heaven. Much to my relief, as I considered the rolling noise it was way too heavy for a bicycle. Now I was worried he'd spent too much money. (I am really not that hard to please, I am just thinking prudent here.) As I rounded the corner into the kitchen I asked him if I was going to be mad? He just kind-of shrugged and smiled (he is so cute when he does that). To my utter joy and surprise he had purchased a new dishwasher. It is a beautiful stainless steel top of the line dishwasher. Believe me if a dishwasher can be considered sleek and lustrous, this is the one! And as I know you are all on the edges of your seats with this topic, I will post pictures tomorrow of what dishwasher heaven actually looks like. Until then... may the women of the today find accolades in knowing that we have something in common with a dishwasher. (Okay maybe the word accolades is a stretch) But after all, isn't it a nice thought to know we can be beautiful and useful at the same time?

As for the wedding, the wedding, the wedding...

I cannot begin to express how absolutely wonderful it was, but I will try. To see my children serve one another was so amazing. I have said before and state it again: It took a whole family to marry Stef and Nate off. Stefani had five mother of the brides and it was awesome to share that role with her sisters. Each one played a specific role in helping get where she is today, not too mention, through out the whole wedding festivities. Her brothers (we have no -in laws in our family) were Amber's right and left hand, Cory, Sean, Vaughn and Logan, we could not have done without one of them! In case you didn't get the memo, Amber was the CEO and wedding planner of this huge event. I tried to come in and take over and instead almost got demoted. By whom you might ask? I would say by the self appointed wedding planner but that would simply not be fair. Amber stepped into the role of maid of honor like I have never seen anyone else do. She worked and planned in ways that I wouldn't have dreamed of. Stefani was living with her as this was all happening. It was a perfect place for Stefani to be, it was the right place. I cannot say thank you enough to both she and Vaughn. However the gratitude does not stop there, as I said it took a whole family (and lots of friends and extended family) to pull off what Logan deemed "the perfect wedding".


Stefani's face said it all as she rounded the corner into the celestial room and saw her whole family waiting for her. Though we can put a price on the reception, the temple we cannot, it is a lifetime of blessings and it is priceless.


...But enough of the wedding... the wedding.... the wedding..., Let the pictures speak for themselves.
If you want to see more go to the site below (the photographer's) you will have further view of our destination's end.
http://jenheremphotography.blogspot.com
(you will need to scroll down to Nathan and Stefani)