Snow & Sleet

Today we had the actual celebration for Tara's birthday. Church was cancelled, so Adam's and Isaac's families came over for dinner. The freeways are cleared but they had to drive really slow on the neighborhood streets.

I tried to clean off the driveway but it was impossible. The sleet had fallen over the top of the snow so there was a super hard layer over the snow. And with no snow plows, this stuff is going to stay around for a few days.

Four and a Half Inches of Snow

We got 4 1/2 inches of snow overnight and today it has been sleeting on top of that. The temperature is going to drop more tonight so nothing is going to melt. Church has already been cancelled for tomorrow.

Our governor has declared a state of emergency. Our state really can't handle snow at all. I doubt we will have school on Monday, maybe not on Tuesday unless the snow melts by then. The roads don't get plowed so it just turns to ice. All the stores close and we just stay home. We are so thankful to have electricity.

Our big stake Relief Society day was cancelled this morning, and I've been having fun watching TV and sewing. Its lovely to have everything cancelled.

Tara's 18th Birthday

These photos show Tara at her birthday party around 2005, pink dress in 1996, her pre-braces teeth in 2002, and in her Primary class about 1st grade.

It has been a great joy to have Tara in our family for the past 18 years. She is definitely the princess of the house.
In only 7 months she will be going away to college. She is waiting on an acceptance from BYU. She has already been accepted to BYU-Idaho and NC State.

Shepherd Nativity

Newsflash: We're supposed to have "significant" snow and/or ice tonight.



Tara was so sweet, she went shopping to a second-hand store with her friend, and came home with this present for me.

I own a lot of nativities, but this is the first one I've seen with just a shepherd. You can put a candle inside it so the stars shine.

I really like it.

Compatibility and Booklights

For all of 2009, Wayne went to bed before I did, because he was working the 3:30 am shift. I would very quietly go to bed at 8:30 or 9 pm and not wake him up.

Now he is back on a regular shift. I still have to go to bed at 8:30 or 9 so I can get up at 5:00 am for seminary, but he doesn't have to go to sleep early.

He will get in bed and start reading a book. AAAAAAAAGH!!! This does not work for me.

So Saturday we bought this cute little book light, General Electric brand, hanging at the checkout counter at Walmart, for $4.99. I am hoping that it helps. And that we do not get a divorce.

(It is such a well-designed little booklight, and so inexpensive, that if any of my kids want one, just tell me and I will go buy some more for Christmas or birthdays. Anything I can do to help your marriages!)

Little Seamstress

I wrote a few days ago about Elizabeth sewing 5" on my quilt.

Then I went to babysit there again, and I planned to keep my mouth shut. I wanted to know if she really liked sewing or if I was pushing it on her.

I got to her house, Thomas was napping, and Elizabeth came up to me and said, "Let's look in your bag." So I let her look at all my quilting stuff again.

She said, "My friends said I don't know how to sew, but I DO know how to sew. I want to sew!"

So I threaded the needle and helped her push it in at the right place, and then she pulled it through, and we did that all the way around---12 inches worth of a running stitch!!!!! And she didn't want to stop, but I had to knot off the thread because we were at the end.

She is 3 1/2 years old. I am in shock.

And when we were done, she said again, "My friends say I don't know how to sew. But I DO know how to sew." It was kind of a mantra with her, she was proving to herself that it was true. Amazing.

She also said, "I want to sew my own quilt." So I promised her that next time I would bring her own quilt to sew on. I guess I'll make some little patchwork thing so she can hand quilt it, thats obviously what she likes to do.


Also, I just bought 2 new shirts for my cruise. I am getting excited to go. I wish I could find a very cheap formal. I don't care for the only one I have, but it is going to have to do unless I find a good deal.

Thirty Years Ago- Dating Wayne (part 1)

Thirty years ago I was a junior at BYU, interested in lots of different guys. The main guy I had a crush on was Dave J., and Dave and I were the "mom and dad" of our Family Home Evening group. Wayne was a member of our FHE group, also he was Dave's roommate.

Because today is the 30th anniversary of my first date with Wayne, I thought I would tell a bit of the story.

In my diary of Jan. 1980 these are the people I either went on dates with or they came to my house to visit me:

Jan. 4- Phil
Jan. 5- Dave
Jan. 6-Dave
Jan. 10- Dave
Jan. 12- Dave
Jan. 17- Dave

Jan. 22- My brother-in-law Mark bought tickets to the Osmond Concert at BYU, and told me to invite someone. I invited Wayne on Jan. 22, because I was feeling like Dave didn't really like me and I didn't want to invite him.

Wayne has said since then that he had a rule never to date someone his roommate was dating, but he was oblivious that Dave was interested in me, so he said yes, and proceeded to come over all the time.

Jan. 23- Dave, Wayne (at different times)
Jan. 24- Dave, Wayne (at different times)
Jan. 25- Dave found out I had invited Wayne to the concert. He came over and yelled at me because he thought I was mean to ask Wayne out just to make Dave jealous. I said I didn't think Dave liked me that much, that I asked Wayne because he seemed like a nice guy and I hadn't known who to invite. So we worked it out and he left feeling better.

Jan. 26- Dave in afternoon. Wayne and I to Osmond Concert that evening. Our first actual date. THIRTY YEARS AGO TODAY!

Jan. 27- Wayne
Jan. 31- Wayne

I bet you are wondering how this all turned out! I'll tell more of this exciting saga on Feb. 5!

Ten Years Ago- Record Snowstorm

On Jan. 24-25, 2000 we had the biggest snowfall on record for the Raleigh area. I kept a newspaper from that week:

"The Triangle's biggest snowstorm on record shut down the region's roadways, schools, businesses and airport Tuesday...

"As much as 20-inches of snow and ice buried the area, the deepest amount recorded since measurements were first kept in the 1870's. It was the first double-digit snowfall in 20 years.

"Governor Jim Hunt declared a state of emergency."
--Raleigh News and Observer, Wed. Jan. 26, 2000

Here's our side of the story:

Mindy was living with us ten years ago, when the weather forecast called for a little snow. We were so shocked to wake up in the morning and find out that 20" had fallen.

School was cancelled for the rest of the week, then for 3 days the next week. Seven days cancelled in all.

Tuesday we just stayed home, walked around the neighborhood, and shovelled the driveway.

Wednesday we and all the neighbors shovelled out the culdesac. We had a party with all of Adam's, Isaac's, and Seth's friends at our house that night (all the ones that lived in our neighborhood.) We were able to drive out of our culdesac to go get them. Lots of the kids spent the night instead of going home.

Friday we were able to do some errands. We haven't received any mail all week, we mailed some letters at the post office.

Sunday- Church was cancelled for second Sunday in a row.

Monday Jan. 31, 2000- Kids are still home from school, even though the snow is melting.

Tues. and Wed.- Did errands as normal, the main roads were fine, but still no school.

Thursday Feb. 3- Went back to school.

Tiny Quilting Students

(Bad news! That church/builder meeting that was supposed to be held Thursday WASN'T held after all. Boooo! I'm going to have to go to church from 4:15-7:15 pm FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!)


I was babysitting for my grandkids last week. For the first hour, Thomas was napping. I asked Elizabeth if she wanted to see my quilting stuff. She seemed interested as I showed her a few things in my sewing bag.

Then I decided to demonstrate how I make a quilting stitch. She said "I want to do it." So I helped her hold the needle and helped her poke it in at the right place and pull it out the other side.



She loved it! "I want to do another one!"

So I helped her sew another stitch, and another, and another, and she ended up sewing about five inches worth of stitches! She is only 3 1/2! I was so excited.

After she got tired of that, we started looking at quilting magazines. She never complained, and kept looking at the pictures and showing me which quilts she liked. (She liked the pink ones, basically.)

When Thomas woke up, all he wanted to do was sit on my lap, so we just continued looking at quilting magazines together. When Rachel came home, she was so amazed that she took these photos.

What a lovely way to spend my babysitting time.

Getting Skinny

After I had gained a few pounds at Christmas, I went on the South Beach diet, and am proud to announce that I am at my skinniest since 1996!!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!!

I had to get down to "skinny" because I am planning to eat like a pig during our cruise and I don't want to worry at all.

Plus, I know that using the South Beach diet, I can lose it all again after the cruise anyway. It is a great diet. I first used it in 2009 and lost ten pounds. Then I stayed at that weight for a year (gaining a bit at Christmas), and now I've gone on it again and have lost 7 more. That is 16 pounds lost in all (but of course I did it in two tries.)

I think it is a very healthy and smart diet. If you've never read the book, the author/doctor explains that when people eat carbohydrates, their blood sugar goes up, their body makes insulin, and then later the blood sugar plummets, and then the person wants more sugar.

I used to do that all the time. I would feel hungry, eat cookies or candy, then an hour later I was ravenous.

With this diet, he teaches you to eat nuts, or cheese, or vegetables, (either a protein or a high fiber thing) and then it satisfies your hunger, and you don't get that spike in blood sugar that makes you hungry an hour later.

I can honestly say I feel stuffed all the time, because I can constantly eat, but it is mostly vegetables and things that make me full without piling on the calories. I lose about 10 pounds in three weeks and it stays off.

Read "The South Beach Diet" by Dr. Agatston, I learned everything from that book. But you can also go to the South Beach Diet website http://www.southbeachdiet.com/sbd/publicsite/how-it-works/how-it-works.aspx




(Sorry, politics is huge this week.)
Here is a great article: "The Incredible Deflation of Barack Obama" by Mortimer B. Zuckerman, from the US News and World Report, Jan. 22, 2010. http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/mzuckerman/2010/01/21/mort-zuckerman-the-incredible-deflation-of-barack-obama.html?PageNr=1

Here's a paragraph from the article:

Most critically, Obama misjudged the locus of the country's anxiety: the economy. Instead of concentrating on jobs, jobs, jobs, he made the decision to "boil the ocean" and go for everything, from comprehensive health reform to global warming to a world without nuclear weapons ... and the beat goes on.

This was more than the Congress could absorb and more than the country could understand. Obama, the theoretician in a hurry, made no allowance for the normal resistance to dramatic change and the public's distaste for big government, big spending, and big deficits. He didn't seem to realize that Americans understand in the most personal terms that excessive debt has real consequences, given how many have mortgages that exceed the value of a home and credit lines that are too much to carry. Yet this was what the president seemed to be getting us into. Over 60 percent of the country believes that government spending is excessive; Obama's lowest approval ratings come from his mishandling of the present and future deficits.

Santa Spools

Here are some more things that came inside that big load of buttons and sewing supplies that my mother got at a yard sale.

These are little Santa Christmas ornaments handpainted onto some wooden thread spools. I can picture some cute little 1950's woman painting these.

I don't like to paint, but I'm always looking for things to do with thread spools, because I empty so many of them. I keep bags of empty ones until I can find some crafty person who wants them, I can't stand to throw them away, especially the wooden ones.


I loved this picture:

Wild Weather

News Flash! Tonight is the meeting between the church and the builders! I hope we get our ward building!

Also, tonight is the second episode of Project Runway, my favorite show! I can't wait!


Has anyone been feeling like there has been an eerily high number of natural disasters in the past few years (months, weeks)?
I'd say we had all better be prepared for more.

It is really scary to see all the Haiti news coverage every day, it really gets inside my head and then I think about earthquakes too much. Things constantly pop into my mind, like "If an earthquake hit right now, what would I do?" I really don't like it.

Well, with that said, I just read Wednesday's post in Totally Ready, entitled "A Dire Weather Warning for the West Coast of the United States" which contains a report from James A. Hobbs PhD from the NOAA, telling about the extremely record breaking severe weather that is hitting California this week. (And remember, anything that hits California will eventually have repercussions on all of us as it moves eastward across the nation.)

(I just looked at the post again, now there is a new post up so you'll have to scroll down for yesterday's post.)

His computer models predicted "tens of feet of snow" in the Sierras" and 20 inches of rain in some areas. (I think that if you were the Donner Party, and you had this weather report, you probably shouldn't plan to travel through the passes of California in the near future.)

His report is quite lengthy and detailed, so if you want to read it go to Totally Ready, but here is the final paragraph:

In short, the next 2-3 weeks (at least) are likely to be more active across California than any other 2-3 week period in recent memory. The potential exists for a dangerous flood scenario to arise at some point during this interval, especially with the possibility of a heavy rain-on-snow event during late week 2. In some parts of Southern California, a whole season’s worth of rain could fall over the course of 5-10 days. This is likely to be a rather memorable event. Stay tuned.

I might have been late in posting this (maybe all this weather is already happening).

I hope the severe weather in California does not travel on to affect my kids and relatives in Utah and Arizona. But if this blog post helps you prepare ahead of time, then I'm happy to send out the warning.

(Note about Totally Ready.com: That blog records the date on the post in a weird way. That blog post is dated Jan. 01, 2010 but it was really posted on Jan. 20. She says she got the letter from James A. Hobbs PhD "yesterday" so I think she got the letter on Jan. 19, or Jan. 18. So maybe some of that weird weather is still in the future.)

Antique Pins and Needles Holder

My mother went to a garage sale, and bought a big load of buttons, thread, and sewing supplies for me. When I opened the package, I was thrilled to find this darling little hand-sewn "pins and needles" holder.

I'm sure it was made by a little girl, while being taught to handsew by her mother. It is very sweet.

I just love antique sewing tools and supplies.

Quilted Coin Purse

Yesterday I taught 3 teenage girls a sewing class for three hours. I made this little coin purse last Saturday as the example of what they were going to make.

Last Saturday I found a simple pattern for this purse, and looked in my UFO's (unfinished objects) and found a quilted piece of patchwork that I had worked on in a machine-quilting class I had taken once. I think it was a 6-hr class, and the teacher spent the whole time teaching us various machine-quilting doodles to put all over the fabric. So I had spent that long on this UFO and had never thrown it away.

When I saw the UFO on Saturday, I thought it would be good to make the purse out of it. So I whipped up the purse in less than an hour.

I showed it to Wayne I said, "Look what I made today."

He said, "Wow! That's really impressive! You could sell those!".

I couldn't help but laugh. Ya, right. Someone would pay me what it was worth to make a coin purse that took me more than seven hours to make.

I think not.

New Cell Phone, New Bungee Chair

I have hated my cell phone for several years. We finally went to Best Buy and bought a new one yesterday. It took me so long because I try to avoid learning about technology, and I thought it would be hard to switch phones, phone numbers, input all my contact numbers, etc.

I was very blessed, though, because when we got home Wayne got on the computer and switched the phones, and paid for the minutes, and then Tara entered all my contacts and phone numbers for me, and helped me set all the rings, backgrounds and everything.

I am hoping that THIS phone will actually ring when people call it. My other one stunk. I could be expecting a call, and holding the phone in my hand, and it would still go straight to voice mail.

I still have the cheapest plan in the world, Virgin mobile, I think its 20 cents a minute, but I don't care. I have very short conversations on my cell phone, and hardly ever pay more than $10 per month for it. We have all our long conversations on our home phone. Someday we'll get rid of the home phone, and then we'll have to get good plans for our cell phones instead.







Remember the cool bungee cord office chair that Wayne bought me for Christmas? It finally arrived, and I LOVE IT! And its HOT PINK! Someday all the furniture in my house will be pink and purple.

They Said It Well

Some good advice from Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President, Sept. 29, 2007:

"Have the courage to forego the frivolous."

A great quote from Ezra Taft Benson, prophet of our Church (died 1994):

"When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power."
(in Ensign, May 1998, p. 82)

A great quote from Henry B. Eyring, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve:

"As the forces around us increase in intensity, whatever spiritual strength was once sufficient won't be enough."

Tenth Amendment and HealthCare bill

I'm a firm believer in the Constitution. Here is something constitutional that ObamaCare can be challenged on in the Supreme Court:


http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/01/13/ken-klukowski-tenth-amendment-democrat/

(I have included the main points of the article. Please read the complete article on the website above.)

An Obamacare Shocker

Much has been written about how the Obamacare individual mandate is unconstitutional. Less discussed, however, is that another key part of the Senate’s version of Obamacare likely violates the Tenth Amendment. And some states are preparing to sue....

....The Senate version of Obamacare includes a possible violation of the Tenth Amendment, which provides that any powers that either are not expressly granted to the federal government, or are not expressly denied to the states, are reserved to the people or to the states....

.....(from two cases spelled out in the complete article) emerged the anti-commandeering principle, holding that the Tenth Amendment forbids the federal government from commandeering—or ordering—any branch of state government to do anything. The states are sovereign and answer only to their voters, not to Washington, D.C.

Therein lies the problem for the Senate's Obamacare bill. It requires each state to pass laws setting up a statewide non-profit insurance exchanges. It then requires the states to pass regulations for implementing those laws. And it further requires the states to dedicate staff and spend state money to administer those programs......

I do not trust the federal government to take over health care, and I do believe in state's rights and a limited federal government. I am praying that this health care bill does not pass.


You might also want to read this article, on all the new taxes that Obama has proposed:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34864985
It is definitely depressing.

"We Figured Him Out" by Ben Stein

Why is President Barack Obama in such a hurry to get his socialized medicine bill passed?

Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths:

The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008.

They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.

They ignored his anti-white writings in his books.

They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.

They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student.

They ignored his ultra-left record as a "community organizer," Illinois state legislator, and Senator.

The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.

Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth.

Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, way, way too cozy with the terrorist leaders in the Middle East ,way beyond naïveté, all the way into active destruction of our interests and our allies and our future.

The American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill -- a great idea in theory -- was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way an effort to help all Americans.

Now, Americans are waking up to the truth that ObamaCare basically means that every time you are sick or injured, you will have a clerk from the Department of Motor Vehicles telling your doctor what he can and cannot do.

The American people already know that Mr. Obama's plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never will be -- a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society.

Either the costs go up or the free society goes away.

These are perilous times.. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation.

Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to "protect us" from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man.

Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms. There is his urgency and our opportunity.

Once freedom is lost, America is lost.. Wake up, beloved America .

By Ben Stein

Hick

I don't know if any of my kids know this, but I first met Wayne in the fall of 1979 when I was over at his house in Provo visiting his roommate Dave. Wayne walked into the house after getting the mail. He was reading a letter from his parents (we didn't phone long distance much then, it was too expensive, also, email hadn't been invented).

Wayne came in the room with some exciting news. He announced to his roommates and me, "My folks say that in their ward in Atlanta they have just started a pilot program to have a three hour block of meetings on Sundays!" (Instead of the Priesthood and Sunday School in the morning, then sacrament meeting in the evening, and Primary and Relief Society on weekdays).

That first sentence I ever heard him utter was an unfortunate one, in terms of making a first impression on me. I had never heard anyone my age call their parents "my folks".

I thought he was a hick.

P.S. The Church implemented the 3-hour block program all over the world the next year, about the same time we got married, June 1980.

Project Runway starts!

Project Runway, Season 7 is starting tomorrow night, Thursday Jan. 14 at 10 pm on the Lifetime channel. I can hardly wait!!!

Last season, I hated Irina, and she won, so that was bad.

But I still enjoyed watching every minute of the show.

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway?cmpid=Consumer-ProjectRunwayS7-GoogleAdWords






Just as a side note, I am completely unhappy with the health reform bills, and oppose them in every way.

Overdoing It

Here is an interesting quote about overdoing it, in trying to live the gospel. It is by Joseph F. Smith, one of the past presidents of our church.

"...there is such a thing as overdoing. A man may fast and pray till he kills himself; and there isn't any necessity for it; nor wisdom in it......

"The Lord can hear a simple prayer, offered in faith, in half a dozen words, and he will recognize fasting that may not continue more than twenty-four hours, just as readily and as effectually as He will answer a prayer of a thousand words and fasting for a month.....

"The Lord will accept that which is enough, with a good deal more pleasure and satisfaction than that which is too much and unnecessary."

--Joseph F. Smith, in Conference Report, Oct. 1912, 133-134. As quoted in Ensign, May 2009, page 48.

My motto of "Good Enough" appears to be a true gospel principle.

Cruise Tickets Purchased!

The cruise with my family is finally purchased. My siblings, their spouses, my mother, and Wayne and I are going on a Mexican Riviera cruise on the ship named Sapphire Princess for my mother's 80th birthday. We embark in Los Angeles, and will be gone 7 nights.

The ship will go south down the coast of Baja California and will visit the ports of Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. Wayne is already salivating over all the shore excursion packages and wondering which ones to buy. I am wondering where to buy a good swimsuit, summer clothing and a new formal dress.

This will be our first cruise, and we are considering it to also be our 30th anniversary celebration (Our anniversary will be in June). This will also be our first time in Mexico.

When we first started planning this in September, my sister said, "Let's take Mother on a cruise for her birthday. If you wait until the last minute, you can get great cruises for only about $300 per person." We thought that was great, and so I started shopping for cruises several times a week. As October and November went by, we started looking at longer and longer cruises.

Yes, it was easy to find last-minute deals for $250-$400 on lots of shorter cruises (3 nights or 4 nights or 5 nights), but what we finally decided on was a 7-nighter. It was still an outstanding deal, though. It turned out to be $550 per person.

If Wayne and I had gone by ourselves, we would have gotten a ship leaving from Florida. It is going to be a pain for us to fly to and from California, but most of my family lives in that direction, so it will be easier for them.

Dear Solly

We had a couple of recordings by the 1960's LDS musical comedy group, the 3D's, which we listened to a lot, especially in the car on the way to and from church on Sundays. My kids will probably remember the following skit which was on the album "Old Testament and Other Stories" by the 3D's.

Every week on our radio show, you, our audience, have the opportunity to mail in your personal problems to be answered by the world-renowned expert on our show.

Our expert, of course, is the world's wisest man, King Solomon. And he will answer your questions based on his bestselling book, Ecclesiastes.

Welcome to this portion of our show, which we call "Dear Solly"

King Solomon, I have a letter here from a listener who writes:
"Dear Solly, I have such a hard time accomplishing everything that needs to be done. Do you have any advice on how to schedule my work?
Signed, Disorganized"

"Dear Disorganized,
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. Eccl. 3:1"

King Solomon, This is a letter from a young boy which says

"Dear Solly,
Everyone is always telling me that I've got to study and read and stuff, and your'e probably gonna tell me the same thing too.
Well, I'm sick and tired of studying, and I'm gonna go out and play baseball. What do you think of that? signed, Normal Boy"

"Dear Boy,
Be admonished that making many books there is no end. And much studying is weariness of flesh. Eccl 12:12"

Our last letter today is from a homemaker with a cooking problem. She writes:

"Dear Solly,
I have such a hard time keeping my bread moist. I keep forgetting where I put it, and by the time I find it, its all dried out. What can I do?
Signed Dry, Crusty, and Forgetful"

"Dear Crusty,
Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after many days. Eccl. 11:1"

(From a recording by the 3D's)

Money in a Fish

(News flash: We found out that there has been some progress on our new Morrisville ward building! There is a meeting scheduled for January 21 between the builder and the Church officials, rumor has it that the Church might get possession of the building at that time. But that's only a rumor so don't hold your breath.)



When I was at BYU around 1978, one of my religion instructors gave us an assignment to go to the Special Collections of the BYU library and read one of the original manuscripts they had there. I read the diary of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner (you might remember her as one of the two young sisters who rescued the Book of Commandments by running into a cornfield when the mob was destroying the printing press.)

I really enjoyed reading her diary, and I hand-copied some of the stories she told. The following story occurred during the persecutions of the Mormons, but I didn't copy down what state they were in or what year it was. Obviously the families were trying to flee the persecution when this event occurred.

"While waiting to be ferried over, they found there was not money enough among the men to take all over. A few families would have to be left behind and the fear was that they would be killed. Some of the brethren...thought they would try to catch some fish. Perhaps the ferryman would take them...when they took in their line they found...one catfish that weighed fourteen pounds. On opening it what was their astonishment to find three bright silver half dollars, just the amount needed to pay for taking their teams over the river."
p. 11, Diary of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, call #M270.07 L62 BYU Special Collections.

When I taught the New Testament last year in seminary, I used her story during the lesson when I taught about Matthew 17:27. In Matthew, Jesus tells the apostles to catch fish, and they find money inside the fish and use it to pay the tribute money.

It is a testimony to me that God uses similar miracles at different times, in one case to pay Jesus's tribute money, and in this case to save the lives of poor saints who didn't have enough money to cross the river.

No Snow

Yesterday I had such a hard time making myself prepare my seminary lesson for today, because the weather said we might have snow. Our area has very few snow plows, so when snow falls, it doesn't get removed. Therefore, everyone panics and everything gets closed. Our schools have been closed or delayed almost every time there has been even the slightest trace of snow, or even when it is predicted.

I kept thinking "School will be cancelled or delayed, so there will be no seminary." I kept putting it off. Finally, about 8 pm, Wayne said he didn't see any clouds on the radar at all, so he didn't see how we were going to get any snow. So I buckled down and prepared my lesson.

Then, at 9 pm, the Wake County school board announced a 2-hour delay for school Friday. We all rejoiced, because we didn't have to get up for seminary.

I got up this morning, and as Wayne predicted, there was no snow.

There's Hope for Me After All

I love this quote by Elder Bruce R. McConkie, who was one of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in our church.

"As members of the Church, if we chart a course leading to eternal life...and are going in the right direction...and, step by step and phase by phase, are perfecting our souls by overcoming the world, then it is absolutely guaranteed----there is no question whatever about it----we shall gain eternal life....If we chart a course and follow it to the best of our ability in this life, then when we go out of this life we'll continue in exactly that same course."

("Jesus Christ and Him Crucified," in 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year [1977], 400-401) as quoted in the Book of Mormon seminary teacher's manual p. 140.

Some News

North Carolina is having a big cold snap, very much colder than it usually is, but I guess thats happening all over the place.

Seth and Janette flew back to Utah Monday, Bryce flew back on Saturday. We had lots of fun with all 6 kids and their families here together during Christmas break.

Wayne just went back to working regular hours at IBM, he was on the early morning shift for all of 2009 (3:30 am-noon).

I am still teaching seminary, I really love it that this year we are studying the Book of Mormon.

Our new ward building (1/2 mile from my house) is STILL NOT FINISHED, so we still have to drive the 9 miles to and from the Apex stake center for seminary and for church on Sundays. Our Morrisville Ward is still meeting from 4:15-7:15 pm on Sundays in the stake center until that new building is done. And we have no place to meet for Youth night, so they have to do everything at people's homes.

Our ward is not the only one feeling annoyed that the building is taking so long.

Last Sunday, the Fuquay-Varina Ward was created, out of some of the southern-most wards in our stake. They should be meeting in the stake center. But because the Morrisville building isn't done yet, the Green Level ward and the Morrisville Ward are still meeting in the stake center. So the new Fuquay-Varnina ward has to meet in the Garner building, which is a 33 minute drive from my friend Sally's house. And they have to meet from 4 - 7 pm.

I can't wait for this ward building to get done. It will be closer to my house than any other ward building I have ever attended.

Tara is waiting to hear if she got into BYU. She got accepted to BYU-Idaho but wants to go to Provo. She will graduate from high school in June.

Bryce bought a car, so can go more places now.

My siblings and our spouses are going on a cruise with my mom for her 80th birthday in March. We are waiting for the best deal, so we don't have the cruise purchased yet. I am really looking forward to it.

Elizabeth Weighs In

I was babysitting my two little grandchildren last week. We were in the bathroom, and Elizabeth (3) stood on the scales. I asked her how much she weighed. She said, "I weigh in a manger, like baby Jesus."

New Year's Dance

Wayne and I went to the Young Adult New Year's Dance. Wayne told me it was formal, so I got to wear my only formal (which I bought for Tiffany and Adam's wedding). Notice that I am about the only person in formal attire.

We only danced to a few songs, mostly we played games in the game room.

If you are wondering what is behind my back, Wayne is holding his New Year's hat in his hand.

Centipede

When I went to the NC Natural History museum I saw this awful centipede, and remembered an episode from my childhood.



After my second grade or third grade year, my dad was starting a crusher in Pawnee, Oklahoma, so we fixed up an old trailer house and moved it to the property so we could live there for the summer. (We still had our house in Bartlesville.)

My uncle Steven was either just about to go on a mission or else he was just back from his mission, and he came to Oklahoma to work at the crusher. He and another guy from our ward slept in an old farmhouse on the crusher property.

One day I was in their house, where they had their sleeping bags on the floor, and a centipede just like this one (about 4-5 inches long) came running out from under their sleeping bags. My siblings and I and the guys were all completely creeped out. I think they moved their sleeping bags up off the floor somehow after that.

The Dinosaur and Us

Our whole family was together for three days this week, so on Monday we went to the Natural History museum in Raleigh. Elizabeth and Thomas liked to watch the fish swim, Elizabeth did not like the stuffed mountain lion.

Gingerbread Houses #3

Our street of fantasy architecture!














Made by Seth.


Made by Isaac.

I am so glad I bought the ice cream cones this year, they are really cute on the houses.