December 28, 2011

We had a nice week last week. Jacob arrived on Wednesday and we mostly prepared for the family Christmas party. I fix fixing for a taco bar, Extreme Nachos ,Creamy Taco's, carrot and celery sticks, fruit and dip and of course some pies and goodies. Deborah brought a wonderful shredded Chicken with black beans and Betty some salad mix and whip topping. I think everyone got plenty to eat. The kids spent their time outside playing in the dark and then came in and made guns out of Lego's. We had a good time visiting. Before they all left we gave their envelope which contained their Christmas gift. I think it was well received. I had made for each member of the family a crocheted snowflake. So that was 47 different patterns I had to find and make. But I didn't I couldn't figure out how I was going to attach the name and I wanted to make a special card for each family. When I saw Cathy Rogers, Bucks mom, at one to Cody's game, I told her of my dilemma and she offered to help me. So one day I went over to her house and she helped me. She cut out the cards and fixed the poem that I found so that it would fit on the card. She then suggested ways that I could decorated the cards. She was so much help. She is really a sweet person with so much talent. I really enjoyed getting to know her better. Anyway, Willard then wrote to letter to each family and told each individual why they were special to us and how much we loved them. Willard agonized over these letters because he wanted to make them special and also not say the wrong thing. The gift wasn't expensive but a lot of love and thought went into it and we hope that it was meaningful to them.




I did get a great picture of Trenton's family. I really appreciated them letting me get a picture of their family. I do love pictures of the families.

Christmas was very quite. Jacob finally got up around 10 and we opened presents. Jacob gave us a laptop from work with a docking station and a web cam. It has Microsoft office on it and so I was really excited. Then he also put Window 7 on my old laptop for free and now I can use my web cam on that one too. He spent a lot of time just helping us out with tech stuff. We so appreciate all of his time and all of his help. That was the best gift of all. For Willard we got the Dragon program so that he can just talk to the computer and it will type. Willard gave me a keyboard of my choice that would be touch sensitive and can use a sustaining pedal. I plan on using it a lot where every we end up. We then went to church and the Christmas program turned out really well. All the musical number were performed so well. It was much simpler than other years but still was very inspirational. Many people hearts were touched and I saw some tears. I know I had a hard time singing the last song. I had asked the Willits to be the narrators and Luci Willits did a great job in editing the narration that I had written. After church we went over to Deborah's and enjoyed seeing all the new toys the kids got. It was a wonderful Christmas day.

This will be my last entry for this year. Looking back it has been a year of trial but also a year of growth. This year that I retired and we decided to go on a mission. I look back on all the little decisions I have made and that now they have prepared me to go on this particular mission. Such learning about gardening and over the past 6 years have learned how to plant, maintain and preserve our harvest. I helping other with their genealogy such as this year I helped Suzie Dyvad by imputing all her family names in the computer. I now understand the program better but have a lot more to learn. By sharing with others my musical talents with the group I have learned what my strengths and weakness are and what I need to do be more successful. I have gained more self- confidence in my performing. It doesn't scare me so much. I just have to keep myself focused. My mind wanders way to much. Am I a little ADD?

The Lord has blessed me this year with many little miracles. Far to many to name and some are too personal to share. One little Christmas miracle I will mention is that I found my little voice recorder on Christmas Eve. I had been looking for it for weeks and couldn't remember where I had put it. The last place I remember seeing it was in my purse but it was no where to be found. Then Christmas eve I was working on Summers baby's blanket and I searched on of the pockets in the bag for some scissors and I found the voice recorder there. I then remembered I took it to listen to when we went to Hailey's dance recital but I didn't listen to it so I forgot that I had put it there. I was so thankful because I wanted to use it on our mission to record the Navajo Music. I know it may sound like a small thing to others but it wasn't to me. The Lord has been so mindful of my needs and has blessed me with idea's and events that have soothed my soul. He let sunshine to my soul while dark clouds of despair hung over my head. I will always be grateful for His blessings. In fact, I am going to make it a goal next year to write down something I am thankful for each day. Next year, I think is really going to be a negative year with the election and the economy but I think having an attitude of gratitude will always helps to keep things in perspective.

I marvel at how the Lord knows what we need and provides a way for those things to happen. He knows our desire to serve Him and how important our family is to us. He has certainly guided us these past months and so many things have fallen into place because we have acted on those impression. In July I felt impressed that I should retire. In September, Willard then expressed a desire to go on a mission. One day in the end of September I was looking through the church web sights on missions and the spirit bore witness that the Navajo service mission was the one we should go on. It would best use our experience and talents. I shared it with Willard and he contemplated it. I then had the idea that we could combine the desire to go to the temple and see family. We then made plans to go see Tobin at the end of October and Ben for Thanksgiving. October 18th we got tickets, to go to Sarah's to take care the children. While visiting Tobin for Halloween we attended the Seattle temple and we knew that we needed to submit our papers. We submitted our papers when we got home and then Joe accept a job in Colorado Springs and moved there. Now we will be able to see both Joe and Sarah's family! How awesome is that? The Lord has provided a way for us to spend time with each family before we go. I recognize the Lords hand in our life and feel so blessed. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have confidence in the Lord and His ability to guide me in making good decisions in my life a long as I keep close to Him.

I look forward to next year for I know it will be a growing and exciting year.