Lissy's Facetime Birthday Party

 Little Elisabeth turned two in February.  She is our youngest grandchild, and she is a cutie.  Kristen Facetimed with us so we could share in the fun of the birthday party.

We gave her some pretend cupcakes and cake pops. 

Lissy was thrilled beyond thrilled when, after waking up from her nap, she was introduced to the kitty cat cake her mom made for her while she was sleeping.  Lissy loves kitty cats.

Happy birthday to our precious Elisabeth!

The Deal of a Lifetime

 

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A short study on what is important in life. A man who has amassed a fortune, but lost his wife and son, tries to make amends by giving his all. The message: Family and love- nothing else really matters. This is a sad, powerful, and haunting book. I can’t stop thinking about it.

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State of Wonder

 

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Several years ago, I started to read a book with a protagonist that was so stupid (Dreams of Joy.) She kept making really dumb decisions. I kept screaming at the book, but she didn’t listen. She never listened. I finally closed the book and didn’t finish it. This one was kind of the same way, except that I did finish this one. “Stop!” I yelled, “Why are you going to the Amazon? This is crazy. It’s not worth it to please your emotionless, uncommitted boyfriend. What do you hope to accomplish? You are going just to pick up some binoculars? Think girl! Think!” Marina didn’t listen, either. She just went and then has problem after problem. It is a frustrating story. I really didn’t like any of the characters, oh, except Easter- the little deaf boy in the jungle. I liked Easter. But everyone else was irritating at best, including Marina. I was just starting to kind of like her, when, at the end she does something really wrong, and, well, stupid. I won’t tell you what, just in case, after reading this glowing review, you want to read the book. It was an imaginative plot and full of excitement, but I was mostly just glad when it was over. I have liked the other Patchett novels I have read, but this one just didn’t float my pontoon boat. If you liked that Joy girl in that other book, then you’ll maybe like this one. Maybe.

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Anxious People

 

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This quirky, funny, but sad book was really engaging. I really got a kick out of the characters. What an interesting group! The plot was so imaginative and I loved how the author unfolded the details little by little, with surprise after surprise. I will give a book a 5 rating if it 1) is a page turner and 2) it makes me want to be a better person- if it is life-changing. This one was both. But the language makes me have to take it down to a 4. That’s sad, because it was really so very good. I just know someone will make a movie of this book. It would be such a great movie.

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A Huge Project Completed

 "Work expands so as to fill the time available for it's completion."  That has certainly been the case for me in completing this huge organizing/cleaning project.  I started it months ago- last spring- thinking it would be the perfect COVID isolation project.  And it was.  But it was a doozy!  I spent many, many hours.   I am pleased that it is done.

I have a problem.  I love books.  I do listen to books and read them on screen, too, but my favorite is to hold a book and read it.  I cannot resist books.  Don't believe me?  Ask my husband.  But that created a problem.  We just plain had too many books.  The downstairs shelves were full.  So we started stacking them in front of the shelves.  More and more and more stacks were created.  It was time to do something.  Ken set up a big Costco table for me in the middle of the room and I pulled books down and started in.  I had a throw away pile and a giveaway pile.  Most of the giveaways, I photographed.  Later, I listed all of the giveaways in a document.  I then found that book title on goodreads and linked it.   I sent that list to my family so that they could choose any books they might want.  

During:

Chaos and disorder reigned downstairs for months.  But it was so fun to handle each book and relive some of those precious stories.

This was after getting the left side done.  That was the biggest part- where most of the novels and children's books were.

Then I tackled the middle and right shelves.  Things got held up for awhile in the summer as our air conditioner went out down there and I found it too hot to work until we got it repaired.  Then, things were held up again as one of the shelves had to be repaired and we couldn't find the little clip we needed anywhere.  Ken, after checking in every possible store, finally found some in a carpenter's shop in the next town over.  Only a few days later, he found some extras we had saved in a drawer!  We both knew we had some, but just couldn't find them. Anyway, then he was able to mend the shelf so I could finish the last few shelves.

 When I got the books done, Ken and I spent an afternoon cleaning and organizing the whole room. Here are some pictures of the completed room.

It was so nice to get it cleaned up and get the big table out of there.

The thing I am most excited about is these children bookshelves. I ordered some floating bookshelves (Michelle had some in her home- that's where I got the idea) and Ken put them up down low on the wall.  These are for the grandkids.  They can easily choose their bedtime story.

We go downstairs and watch a movie or show many evenings.  We are so enjoying going to a clean, organized room.  Now, we just can't wait for grandkids to come and try out the new shelves.

Sing

We enjoyed this cute show.  Animation isn't what it used to be!!  We watched it on Netflix DVD.

My Story: Birth Through Wedding

 

My sister, Pam, gave me a copy of her personal history.  I have just finished reading it.  She has done a wonderful job of combining verbiage with pictures, creating a beautiful history.  Pam is eleven years older than me, so there is much I didn’t know about her.  I always looked up to her and even idolized her as I was growing up.  She was beautiful, popular, and talented.  As I read some of the stories, I thought, “How did I not know this?” It was fun to learn details I had never heard.

 Pam was part of a quartet in high school that performed frequently and part of a singing group at USU that’s purpose was public relations for USU.  They traveled the world entertaining troops, did commercials, and performed all over.  I loved the Balladiers and can still sing every word of every song in their USO tour program, as I would play the tape over and over. Craig Jessop of Tabernacle Choir fame was also part of this group.  It had incredibly talented people. 

I have loved reading this history, looking at all of the wonderful pictures and learning more about my wonderful sister Pam.  I look forward to Part Two, which she and Roger are working on now.

We've Been Chalked!

 Our cute little neighbors made our day by chalking our driveway.  It was such a joyful surprise!

Miracle on Palmyra's Main Street

 

Miracle on Palmyra's Main Street by Gordon L. Weight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This little book tells the amazingly big story of the absolute miracle of the printing and publishing of The Book of Mormon in 1830. The bottom line is that the Book of Mormon simply could not have been published in the short time that it was- not without miracles. It was written by a printer who knows from experience the slow, methodical process it took to print back in 1829. By his estimation, not even the type setting could have been done in the eight months in which it was done, let alone the printing and binding (sewing by hand). There were so many miracles that happened during this time, making the printing and publishing possible by the revealed date for the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I loved reading this and am filled with gratitude for the miracles on Palmyra’s Main Street.

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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Among many old books inherited from my ancestors, was an early edition printing of this classic novel. The book was in excellent condition. Had I ever read it? I wasn’t sure. But now that I have finished it, I don’t think I ever had. What a thrill it was to read this classic from these old pages. I literally smiled every time I walked by the book while I was reading it. It is just one of those kinds of books. It was engaging, hilarious, and so well written. You can’t help but love mischievous Tom and his equally naughty cohorts. What a delightful journey! 

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This is the copy I read.  Deliciously old!  Unfortunately, there is no printing date in the book.

A History and Memories of Charles Overn and Libby Peterson

 

 I hope I can find the words to express what I want to express here.  I just finished reading this wonderful compilation of histories of my grandparents and their ancestors written by sister, Patty.  I was so moved by it that I laughed, cried, and hugged it tight when I was done.  I literally laughed out loud in parts, with no one around to hear me, and cried and even sobbed in parts.  Patty did a remarkable job at capturing our grandparents and other Peterson ancestors.  I learned so much!  Patty did extensive research, piecing together information from many sources to create these histories.  She expressed that her goal was that each ancestor would be pleased with her efforts and what she wrote about them. I know they are. I was deeply touched to read of the faithfulness of these good people. Included in the book was a short history of Aunt Elisa.   I heard her name all my life, and even have some of her china, but really didn't know who she was. She was a beloved sister of my grandpa Charles who never married.  I love her and will be so pleased to meet her someday. Maybe my favorite part of the book is the excerpts from grandma’s letters.  Patty did such a good job of capturing her personality in the excerpts she chose to publish.  Grandma was a prolific letter-writer, especially after the death of her husband.  I, too, corresponded with her in our early marriage and loved getting her letters in her distinctive handwriting.  I shouldn’t start, because there are so many wonderful pictures in the book, but I have to share my favorite picture in the book. 

Grandma had a cute sense of humor.  When something tickled her, she would blink twice and laugh.  Someone, sometime, captured that.  Emphasized over and over is the love my grandma had for literature.  She was in a book club all of her life and served as literary chairman in Relief Society for years.  The apple does not fall far . . .

  My grandpa died when I was just seven years old.  I absolutely loved reading about him and learning that he was a soft, kind, loving man.  Reading about him was one of the “sob” parts for me.  He sang in literally hundreds of funerals and other events in his lifetime, including singing the basso solos in the Messiah for years.  My love of music and singing must come from him and other musical ancestors on all sides of my family.

I have been filled with the spirit of Elijah as I’ve read this beautiful book.  Thank you, Patty for your diligence and hard work.  You have blessed my family and I immensely. I will forever treasure this precious book.

I love this picture with two of her great grandchildren because it shows some of her living room, just as I remember it.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

 This movie was funny, quirky, strange, and fun to watch.  The main character boy actor was really good.  We watched it on Netflix DVD.

Family Zoom Meeting: Injuries

 We are so enjoying our monthly zoom meetings with all of our family.  Each family member prepares to answer a specific question about one of their parents.  We all participate in answering.  The idea is that each person interviews their parent, finding out the history.  This time our question was to tell about an injury one of their parents had.  It was such a great meeting, with even the little ones doing a great job.  Even little William got into it.  He was sitting on his dad's lap.  As his dad told the story about his dad, he thought it was his turn.  He chattered through the whole thing.  At one point, he put his hands on his cheeks and said, "It was so scary!"  So cute.

As we got on the zoom meeting, we had a spontaneous music recital.  Several of the grandkids played the piano and Gabbi played her cello.  That was so fun and really helped break the ice.  

Someone suggested we go from oldest to youngest to tell about the injuries.  That taxes my old brain to remember the order, so I always have Caleb, who knows the order perfectly, help me with who is next.  It's easy to remember who is oldest!  We started with Bria.

Bria told about when her mom, Kristen, broke her arm on the bars at East elementary school during recess.  She did a cherry drop from the top, but landed on her arm rather than her feet.  Ouch!

Nathan told how his mom, Kristen, cut her thumb while making tostadas for the family.  She was smashing black beans in the food processor.  The beans got stuck on the blades.  In trying to remove them, she severely cut her thumb.  (Jared shared gruesome pictures.)  She had to go have her thumb sewn back together.  Nathan ended by saying, "We did not have tostadas that night."

Gabriella shared about when Michelle sprained her ankle when she was dancing as a senior.  She enlisted the help of her brother to tell it quite dramatically with a "Dun, dun, dun" at the end.  So cute.

Caleb started by joking that his mom didn't have nearly enough kids to tell about all of Shonna's injuries.  Oh how right he is!  He told about how Shonna broke her ankle by stepping in a post hole (they were preparing to put up a fence and had the holes dug) when the neighbor's dog got loose and Shonna was helping to chase him in the dark. 

Jake told about how his dad, Jared dislocated his shoulder as a young man.  He was skateboarding and some girls came to watch.  He was showing off and tried to do a half pipe and fell, dislocating his shoulder.  The girls just walked away, unimpressed.

Lily also told about one of her mom's injuries.  She badly stubbed a toe and thought it was broken.  It took a long time to heal.

Jaron also told about his mom's, Michelle's toe injury.  It was while she was in labor with William.  She was on the phone with the school secretary, trying to find out the kids' teachers for the new school year.  She rammed her toe into the kitchen island, but had to keep her composure because she was on the phone.  It really hurt.  The next day, she gave birth to William.  After coming home from the hospital, the toe kept getting worse.  They went to emergency care and had it x-rayed and found it was broken.  It was a long time healing and wearing a boot.  She went to two different foot doctors over the next several months, trying to get it healed.

Audrey told about an injury her mom, Kristen had that I only barely remember.  She was scoot skating in the park near our home when she was about a sixth grader.  She went down a hill and crashed.  She got a huge scrape on her thigh.  She said I dug dirt and gravel out of the wound.

Hannah was darling telling about an accident her dad had last summer.  He was riding his bike to work.  As he went around a roundabout, a huge truck didn't see him and forced him off the road.  It was raining.  He badly injured his wrist.  His keys were in his pocket and caused injury to his thigh.  His pants were ruined.  When he got to work, he called Shonna to bring him a new pair of pants.  She did and he went on working the rest of the day with an injured hand.  The next day he drove to Ogden, I think, where his friend works as a hand specialist. Luckily, it wasn't broken, but badly sprained.  He wore a splint for weeks.  That's a little tough for a dentist, but nothing stops Blake.  And he never complains.

Kenny was also so cute telling about his dad's, Brian's, injury as a youth.  He was in charge of a young men activity.  They were trying to open a pinata and it got stuck.  Brian climbed a ladder to unhook the rope from the basketball standard.  He said as he climbed, "No one swing now."  But one of the kids didn't listen and swung, knocking Brian's front tooth out.  Luckily, an endodontist was there and knew just what to do.  He stuck the tooth back in and later fixed it for him.  He went to the hospital, too, but I didn't get why?  Stitches?  Probably.

Speaking of adorable, Sammy told about his dad's very recent accident.  That little Sammy just lights up when he talks.  Anyway, Jared has been finishing their basement.  He was doing something and tried to step from wall to ladder and missed the rung and fell hard.  It made a loud noise.  Sammy heard it and called down from upstairs, "What was that?"  "I fell."  "Okay," said Sammy and went on with his play.

Gabe beautifully told about a car accident his mom, Shonna, had while he was in her tummy.  Another car ran a stop sign.  Shonna tried to honk and right then the air bag deployed ,badly injuring her wrist.  It tore a ligament and Shonna was months trying to heal that wrist.  It still isn't normal.  Like I said, too bad Shonna doesn't have nine or ten more children to tell all of her injuries.

William, with help of Brian, told about a time when Brian was at scout camp in the winter.  He fell face first on the ice and chipped, you guessed it, another front tooth.

Lissy is a little young to tell stories, but she looked very cute sitting in her dad's lap.

Kristen told about the time, when I was five-years-old, I cut my lip.  The neighbor kids and I were playing out back where we were adding on to our house.  The construction workers had left planks and nails and mess.  There were planks leaning against the new deck.  The neighbors and I were climbing the planks, when my neighbor, Billy Baulding lost his balance and fell on me, causing me to fall to the ground.  I landed on a nail poking up from a piece of wood.  I had many stitches in my upper lip and a large scar ever since.

Jared told us a story about an injury his dad had in South Africa.  He was cooking hot dogs on an army gas stove.  The stove tipped, spilling boiling water on his dad's foot.  It was a terrible injury and his dad was on crutches for a long time.

Blake told about his dad.  His dad has amazing stamina and energy.  He served his mission in Spain and always wanted to return to Spain to hike the famous Camino de Santiago trail.  It is over 500 miles, ending where the apostle James was buried.  He and a friend from Spain embarked on this remarkable adventure.  About fourteen days in, Mark developed a terrible blister and horrible shin splints.  He visited a doctor who advised resting for five days.  He still had 70 miles to go and was determined to finish.  His friend, because of time constraints, went on without him.  Mark, after resting for five days, limped the rest of the way, completing his quest.

Shonna told about the horrible day when her dad crushed his knee playing ward softball.  Ken was playing left field and went full steam to catch a long foul ball.  He realized too late that he was going to hit the chain link fence.  He injured his shoulder, but his knee was the bad injury.  It caught the cement wall under the fence, shattering his knee cap.  He had surgery the next day.

Michelle also told about her dad's crushed knee.  Both remembered being so scared and praying hard for their dad.

Brian won the worst injury prize, telling about his father's most traumatic injury.  This happened when Brian and Michelle lived in Virginia.  Gary, Cynthia, and their two kids still at home were pulling the boat to Flaming Gorge to go water skiing.  Gary was driving.  They were in a terrible accident.  The boat pulled the vehicle off the road and they rolled.  The vehicle's roof was crushed, breaking Gary's neck.  The others were not badly injured.  Gary knew his neck was broken.  The car was completely crushed and he couldn't open the door.  The  engine was soon engulfed in flames.  Cynthia somehow got Gary out.  They got him to one location, then feared it was too close to the fire and had to move him again with that broken neck.   He was conscious and able to move.  He just held onto his neck and head as he moved.  It is a miracle that he was not paralyzed.  He had surgeries and is doing fine now.  Brian showed pictures of the accident.  Both the boat and car were crushed and burned beyond recognition.  How they survived is nothing short of a miracle.  

I told about injuries of both of my parents:

Dad:  Once when we went camping, my dad was splitting wood for the fire.  He had the piece of wood on a stump and had his foot up by it.   He swung the axe and missed the wood and buried the axe in his foot.  My memory is of him screaming and hopping around the campsite in pain.  

Mom:  When Joan and I were older, the ward developed a ward ladies' softball team.  Mom wanted to play with her daughters and joined the team.  When we were playing, she fell and broke her arm badly.  She was in a cast for a long time and it was a great trial to her.

Ken told about how his dad lost an eye as a young boy, playing with a rubber band gun.  He lived the rest of his life with just one eye.   Ken got quite emotional as he explained how the loss of that eye prevented the army from sending Grandpa to the front lines during WWII.  He was, instead,  a bomb loader on an island near Japan.   Ken also told how his life was miraculously spared when an incoming plane lost control and was coming right for him on the runway.  It veered off at the last second, sparing Grandpa's life.

After all the wonderful reports, I asked if any of the grandkids would like to tell about a time they were injured.

Nathan told about when he was a little boy and visiting us here in St. George.  He fell and cut his head on our coffee table, requiring stitches.  I chimed in, telling how fun it was to take that little guy to the instacare here.  He was so cute, telling stories to the nurses and doctor.  He had them all chuckling.  Nathan was an adorable, gregarious, talkative little guy.

Hannah has had a very traumatic year, breaking bones twice.  She wanted to tell about those times.  The first was her broken elbow.  She and Lily and Gabe were playing ballet (Oh, she told this so well) downstairs.  Lily and Gabe both leapt from the child-sized table without incident.  But when Hannah leaped, she fell, breaking her wrist.  She was in a purple cast for quite a while.  Then, just after she got out of her cast, she broke her ankle.  She and her siblings were playing a game on the trampoline and she landed wrong, breaking her ankle.  They had a babysitter at the time.  Hannah spent the rest of the day on the couch in pain, waiting for her parents to get home.

She has recovered from both injuries and is trying to stay injury-free.  She and her mom!

So there you have it, a report of our family zoom meeting on injuries.  

Red Cliff Temple Update

 I have tried to show progress on our Red Cliffs temple, but it is nearly impossible to get good pictures from the ground level.  Recently, the following aerial photos of the temple site were published.  They give much better perspective.

Perfectly Prophetic Preparations

 

At our ward conference a few weeks ago, our bishop used a phrase that just resonated with me: Perfectly prophetic preparations.  Isn't that a great phrase? When he said it, I quickly wrote it down and have been pondering on it and writing notes on it since. 

In the last conference, Elder Uchtdorf said, "My message today is that even though this pandemic is not what we wanted or expected, God has prepared His children and His Church for this time."

 I started a list of the perfectly prophetic preparations that helped us be ready for this time of pandemic.  I talked to family members and asked them to list the perfectly prophetic preparations that they remembered.  I also listed the preparations that Elder Uchtdorf listed in his talk:

• The sacrament was reemphasized as center of our Sabbath worship.
• Come, Follow Me was provided as a home-centered, Church- supported tool to strengthen individuals and families.
• We began a higher and holier way of ministering to all.
• The use of technology in sharing the gospel and doing the Lord's work has spread throughout the Church.
• The amazing advancements in technology, making possible communication never thought possible in earlier years. Could you have ever imagined Zoom or YouTube church meetings?
• Priesthood quorums combined into one elders quorum
• A doctor is at the helm of the church
• Our St. George temple renovation started the very month the pandemic started.  When the church announced that our St. George temple was closing for about two and a half years for renovations, people wondered why they didn't just wait until the new temple was complete to start the renovations.  St. George people are prolific temple attenders.  The reason soon became evident.  That very month (November 2019) the pandemic started and soon thereafter all temples were closed.  The renovations, as well as the construction on the new temple have gone forward during the lockdown time.
• Revelations to get food storage in order.  Ken felt a strong impression early in 2020 to get our food and other storage in order and advised our children to do the same.  We did so.  We never wanted for anything during the pandemic, including toilet paper.
• Two-hour meeting block on Sundays
• The prophet telling us to take our vitamins! Maybe that was literal to beef up our immune systems!  

I have been working on this post for a couple of weeks and keep adding things. It's one of those posts that is never done.  But I think the message is clear.  The Lord prepared us for this difficult time with perfectly prophetic preparations.  Can you think of others I have forgotten?

The Chosen

 We weren't sure we would like this short series.  We avoid dramatizations of the Savior and scripture, whether animated or with real actors and have done our whole marriage.  It seems sacred and that it's best left to each person to imagine as they will.  It took us a couple of episodes before we really liked this series.  Though much of it is fictionalized, it it well done and most thought-provoking.  We watched it on BYUtv.

Lesser Black-billed Gull

 Ken and his brother, Don went seeking this Lesser Black-billed Gull.  They read on their birding Facebook page that it had been seen in our area.  Neither of them had ever seen one.  Following directions given on the Facebook page to where it had been seen, they did find it, after quite a bit of hunting.  This picture was taken from far away, but with Don's fine camera equipment, they were able to photograph it.  That adds another book to Ken's ever-growing life list.

The Queen's Gambit

 

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I watched the Netflix series first, then read the book. Usually, I prefer to do things in the opposite order, but was glad I did it this way. The series follows the book so closely, that it helped me picture the scenes as I read. This was a very well-written and engaging book. The story is fascinating and well-told. I kind of skimmed the chess game descriptions because I don’t play chess, but that didn’t detract at all from the story. There were a couple of scenes that made me very uncomfortable and that I wish weren’t in the book, but, for the most part, I really enjoyed reading it.

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Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

 

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank


I am uncomfortable rating and reviewing this book. It is a young girl’s raw, open, coming of age story. I listened to it, so I can’t give the quote exactly, but at one point she is worried about what she just wrote, and says something like, “It’s not like anyone is ever going to read this.” The irony! It is probably the most read diary of all time! From her own words, the reader watches her grow from a girl to a young woman- with all the emotions and feelings that involves. She is obviously very intelligent- not only in her brain, but her emotional intelligence is, well, it’s what makes her so famous. She is far above her age in the ability to analyze feelings and emotions. I was uncomfortable at times as I listened; the feelings were so very raw. She is an amazingly good writer for her age. It is such a shame her pen was stifled. What could she have done as a writer, had she lived?
Reading it during my own confinement during COVID made for interesting contrast. I could so relate to some of her feelings of longing to be free from the confines of her hidden prison.
Somehow, I got well into my 60s before reading this famous book. I am glad I did so now.

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