What a Week!

Last Sunday, I left Naperville at 4:45 A.M. for a flight to SLC. It was bitterly cold at that time of morning. We were on a small plane and actually had to board by going outside and up the stairs. I thought this was unusual until we landed and had to deplane the same way (just like in the old movies). Steve picked me up and we went straight to the hospital to see Kim and new baby Eden. She is adorable and I was so glad to see both my babies - doesn't seem that long since I held newborn Kim. Jill had been helping with Emily and Ella and had taken them to meet up with Lynn for a sleepover. Lynn and family brought the girls to the hospital and I cared for them until Kim and Eden came home on Monday. The girls are so excited to finally have their sister at home. Monday, I also helped tend Tanna and Mason while Jill and Dave took Scottie to a specialist in SL. (He is short for his age but looks like everything is fine). I returned to Am. Fork in time to put the girls to bed.
Wed. we had to take the baby into the hospital for a check for jaundice levels. That is quite the ordeal - getting all the girls safely buckled in to those car seats! Then we had to go on Thurs. also. But this time, things were fine. We also ended up taking the baby into the doctor to check on her as she wasn't having wet or dirty diapers. Well, we laid her on the examining table, took off the diaper and whoosh! Out is all came - so she is normal!
I took the girls to storytime at the library and have taken Emily to and from the bus stop each day (afternoon Kindergarten). We had some nice meals brought in for three days. On Friday, I made cinnamon rolls and we took them and some black balloons (4o on Sat.) over to Steve's work and for him to show off the baby.
Saturday, I took the girls early to Spanish Fork for Samantha's baptism (and actual birthday). It was a wonderful day and Kim, Steve and Eden came just in time to see her baptized. Jill, Dave, Scottie, Mason and Tanna were there along with Paige, Dan and Natalia. Mark surprised us by driving from Green River to be there. He left the family home as it was so much driving in one day. We had a wonderful luncheon with the Johnson side of the family after. Samantha got a lot of wonderful gifts and was as pretty as a picture in her new white dress. What a sweet, beautiful girl!
Then we came back and had cake and ice cream for Steve. Mark was here for a little while before heading back. We ordered Papa John's for dinner with extra for the Super Bowl. We also watched Passage to Zarahemla that I brought to pass around to the girls here.
Now it is early Sunday morning - I still get up too early here. We are going to take the girls to church this afternoon while Kim stays home with Eden. Then Steve wants to watch the Super Bowl.
All in all, it has been very eventful for me this week. I will stay here until Wed. evening and then head to Spanish Fork. Lynn will have her gall bladder removed on Tues. and I will help when Dustin returns to work. I still haven't changed my ticket but maybe I will try to get back to my sweetheart by Valentine's Day. He is great about having me come but gets lonesome! (So do I - for him)!
I am anxious to visit my parents in Payson next week. Marilyn came over to see the baby (and me) with gifts for the girls and a movie ticket for Kim & Steve! Don't know if I will get to see any of the rest of my siblings, but if you are out there reading this, know that I love you.
I just heard a baby cry - she is actually very good and I didn't hear her at all last night. But I am in the basement and they are taking care of the nights so I don't know how things went. I am so glad to be able to be here - being a grandma is great!

Eden's Arrival!

Our 20th grandchild has just arrived! Eden Kim Asp, daughter of Kim and Steve and sister to Emily and Ella, came at 3:15 Utah time. She weighed 9 lbs and is 20 1/2 inches long. Kim did well (according to Steve - what does he know?). She went in at 7 this morning and everything proceeded normally. We are so thankful to have this little girl here. I am sure there will be pictures soon. I leave tomorrow to help out so I will take a lot, I know.

Inauguration Day Thoughts

Proud to be American
Music and Lyrics by Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone, I’d worked for all my life,

And I had to start again with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today,

‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.
And I’m proud to be an American where as least I know I’m free.

And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.

‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.
From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee,

across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea,
From Detroit down to Houston and New York to LA,

Well, there’s pride in every American heart,and it’s time to stand and say:
I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.

And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.

‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land

God bless the U.S.A!

Doesn't this say it all today? What an inspiring morning. Gives you hope and faith again. I pray for our country and for our new president. May he be able to do what he needs to do to get us back on track. We all have a lot of work to do. I'm proud to be an American today!

Brrrrr!!!!

Winter Wonderland - but boy is it cold! You may have heard about the deep freeze that is enveloping the Midwest. Well, we are in the middle of it! These pictures were take a couple of days ago - there is even MORE snow now. Everything is frozen solid. Dad even stayed HOME yesterday because of the blizzard warnings. It snowed a lot during the morning and then the temperatures just dropped. Right now, it is not expected to rise until tomorrow at noon when it may break zero. So we just stayed in and got a lot done around here. Dad did go today. He bundled up and braved it. He says he is getting too old for all of this! Maybe this will be his last winter to do this.

Last night, we again watched some of the family DVDs that Kim has made from our video tapes. It is so much fun to see the children 20 years ago. They are delightful and so full of good ideas. Mark was on his mission so we haven't seen much of him in those we have watched. It is also fun to see our old home and remember all the wonderful times we had there. It seems like we gave the kids a great childhood. Hope that you have been able to see some of the DVDs - I know Mark & Kellie just got theirs in the mail. Kim is going to do more eventually. She will be very busy now for a while!

Well, hope all of you are faring better with winter. Come, Spring, come!

40 Years?

It just doesn't seem possible that 40 years have passed since our son, Mark, was born - January 11, 1969. We left for the hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska on a cold, blizzardy night but he wasn't born until 3:33 the next day - a Saturday. We were thrilled to have our second baby boy. He joined Chris who was 2 and 4 months. He was such a good baby and was so round and cuddly. He has grown up to be a fine man with a great family - four darling girls. It's a good thing that he had four little sisters to give him experience with dealing with girls!
Here is the family on a visit to Naperville. And here is one from just last summer on another trip to Illinois.

Christmas in Green River, WY - we loved being with them a couple of years ago.

And perhaps the best view of all!

We love you, Mark! You have added so much to our lives. We are proud of all you have accomplished and appreciate your love and concern for all members of our family. Happy Birthday - yesterday!

Unity

Here is the talk I am going to give today.

When I was a young girl, my mother and I were in the car listening to a radio program. The announcer asked this quiz question. "Name a word that means exactly the opposite when you rearrange two of the letters." My mother immediately came up with the answer – "united". It becomes "untied" just by changing the two center letters. At the time, I thought my mother was a genius. It would have been great to be able to use a cell phone to call in the answer. I have remembered this all these years – it doesn’t take much to change from being united to being untied.
At the beginning of a new year, the topic of unity is very fitting. How can we find unity when we live in such a chaotic world? Of course, the answer lies in the gospel. We have been commanded to "be one" and we have been shown how this is possible.
Often when we think of unity, we remember the early saints gathering to Zion. There were so many diversities coming together that it is amazing that they did as well as they did. In the Doctrine and Covenants, we are told that the early saints did not qualify to build the holy city of Zion because they were not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom (D&C 105:3-4). There were jarrings, and contentions, and envyings and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore by these things they polluted their inheritances" (D & C 101:6).
This sounds very harsh, doesn’t it! Are we doing better than they did? We as a people still have a long way to go to be able to be "of one heart and one mind and dwell in righteousness with no poor among us" (Moses 7:18).
I think we all have experienced feelings of discord, contention, and division at various times in our lives. We know that these feelings do not bring happiness. They cause us to be uneasy and uncomfortable. We long to make things right. It is wonderful when we feel harmony and peace again.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson states that "If we would establish Zion in our homes, branches, wards, and stakes, we must rise to this standard. We must become unified in one heart and one mind; become, individually and collectively, a holy people; and also to care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us".
Keith B. McMullin said, "We journey together toward Zion like the early pioneers when we receive the covenants and ordinances of the gospel. We, too, "Come to Zion, come to Zion, ere his floods of anger flow". In the scriptures we read, "Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion – the pure in heart." The establishment of Zion should be the aim of every member of this Church." Unity is the key to establishing Zion.
This summer, we had a reunion with the descendants of the Robert Orson Gibson family, Rulon’s grandfather. We reviewed family stories and the history of the Las Vegas area. Rulon’s great grandparents were sent by Brigham Young to the desolate area of Southern Nevada to colonize and build up the church. I often think how hard it must have been for them. Besides having no modern conveniences, they had to struggle with the intense heat and being so far away from Church headquarters. But they worked together, sacrificed for the good of the group and after many years, one stake was finally established which also took in parts of Arizona. When Lake Mead was created by damning up the Colorado River, the town they lived in had to be evacuated as the new lake covered it. The family then moved to Las Vegas. Robert Orson Gibson was now grown and had his own family. I think it must have been such a relief to move to a more civilized place. But the lessons of hard work and struggle had unified that group and, I feel, celestialized them!
Robert Orson Gibson was made the patriarch in the stake. At one point, there was a great deal of contention regarding the amount of money that had been spent in obtaining land for a welfare farm. At the time, it seemed to be an exorbitant amount and there was a division even among members of the high council. This good patriarch and was asked to give a dedicatory prayer on this new welfare farm. As he prayed to be able to unite the people and soothe feelings, he had a revelation concerning the Las Vegas area. He said that he could see thousands of homes in the desert and LDS chapels everywhere. He saw the temple that would be built there. As he dedicated the farm, he told the people of this vision. There was a different spirit after this prayer. They were able to unite in working to make these wonderful blessings come about. Now there are hundreds of stakes in the area. There are chapels everywhere. We stood near the temple and looked over the valley and knew that Zion had been built up in this area.
Elder Henry B. Erying says that the joy of unity is not solitary. We must seek it and qualify for it with others. This is why we gather together so that He can bless us. He wants us to gather into families. He has established classes, wards, branches and stakes and has commanded us to meet together often. In these gatherings, which God has designed for us, lies our great opportunity. We can pray and work for the unity that will bring us joy and multiply our power to serve.
Isn’t it wonderful that we don’t have to be "unified" alone – in fact, it is impossible! We must have others to help us and we are to help them.
Sometimes tragedy and loss serve to unify us. Trials can help us to unite and work together. Shared experiences bring us closer and give us a feeling of love for each other.
One sister told that as they attended the funeral of a 19 year old nephew in another state, they witnessed the miracle of Relief Society as food, helping hands, and most of all, loving arms encompassed the grieving family. Later, she heard this sister remark that as much as she needed and appreciated the loving kindness extended to her family when they lost a child, she found that the continual thoughtfulness and caring acts of her visiting teachers meant more. She said: "I really feel more touched by the love shown not in the crises when we were all stretched to meet the need, but during the small unapparent crises that touch each of our lives and are so often only noticed by those who really know and love us."
We have all been touched by acts that are done unceremoniously in quiet, loving ways. There are many who see a need and fulfill it and no one knows except our Father in heaven.
In our families, we can foster a spirit of unity and harmony. This is not an easy thing to achieve and may take years. But the main thing is to strive for good feelings and experiences. Showing love in countless ways over a long period of time can bind us together – knit our hearts as one. President Erying mentions several ways that we can strive to be unified. The first is revelation which is the only way we can know how to follow the will of the Lord. The Holy Ghost will testify to our hearts and the hearts of those gathered around with us, what He would have us do. It is by keeping His commandments that we can have our hearts knit together as one. The second principle is to be humble. Pride is the great enemy of unity. We need to be able to see and value in others, the qualities that we lack. Another principle is to speak well of each other. We need to speak generously of others in the Light of Christ. We need to step away from the possibility of sowing seeds of disunitiy. Remember how easy it is to change from being united to being untied!
When I think of the times when my life when I have felt a spirit of unity, it is in connection to ordinances. Absolutely nothing can compare with the feelings during a blessing, a baptism, an ordination or a sealing. As you may know, we have six children and have had eight marriages. We have four step grandchildren. We have been able to see families united by the sealing ordinances. I was privileged to hold a baby across the alter as he was sealed to his parents. At baptisms and ordinations, families from both sides have gathered to support the child. Feelings were put aside and there was a great spirit of unity that might not have been possible otherwise. We hope that we will work so that this spirit will continue and we can feel the harmony and love that should be present in our lives.
In our ward family, we need to work for unity. Are there those who feel neglected? Those who have had feelings hurt by thoughtless words or actions? How can we be peacemakers and draw them into the circle of unity? This can only be done as we pray for revelation regarding the matter, humble ourselves, and truly try to include all. We may be an instrument in the Lord’s hand to help someone who is floundering. We may be the angel sent to help someone return to fellowship. We also need to accept the help of those angels who are sent to help us when we are struggling.
It is my prayer that we will be able to resolve this year to strive for more unity in all areas of our lives. We must always work towards the ultimate goal of being united with our Savior. We all must work together to build Zion and become pure in heart. It is not impossible. We have had examples of those who have achieved this. May we be diligent in being unified is my prayer.

19 Christmas Blessings

Here are our darling grandchildren - in random order. First, Ty -

Then Karyssa -

Then Braydon -

Samantha -

Karli -

Kayla -

Holly -

Heather -

Ella -

Emily -

Harrison -

Tanna -

Sloane -

Natalia -

Tevin -

Chandler -

Holden -

Scottie (missed him by the tree) and Mason -

Mason -

We got to see each one of them during the past two weeks! Nothing could have been better. Eden Kim Asp is due the end of the month and I will get to go and see most of them again. Aren't I lucky!