More Reasons to Celebrate

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
(1 Cor 15:55)

Believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, that he was born as a babe in a manger, that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up in the hopes of glory!
(paraphrased Mormon 7:5)

We celebrate because of Him!
Because of His humble birth

and his victory over sin and death
we have hopes of glory.

Merry Christmas!

Reasons to Celebrate

This weekend we got to celebrate! Why?

Because Molly and Ryan were recently sealed
in the house of the Lord
and are building an eternal family

including this precious girl!

They were sealed on a dark, chilly evening a few weeks ago.
Fortunately, this weekend the skies were blue
and the weather was beautiful.
It was the perfect time for pictures!


We continued celebrating into the night
with food and dancing
(and a constant drool spot on Ryan's shoulder thanks to Brianne!)

and delicious cupcakes made by this girl!

It was a beautiful day to celebrate and to think of our Savior.
I am grateful He blesses us with families and the sacred, sealing ordinances of the temple.

The day was even more special because it was the birthday
of John's mother, Mary Alice who passed away twenty years ago.
When Ryan was about Brianne's age, we spent 10 days with her
just weeks before she became ill and passed away.

She loved the Savior, babies and the temple.
I know it was a birthday celebration she would love.
I feel she was there with us at the temple joining in our celebration.

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Isaiah 52:7

My Memory Tree

I love my Christmas tree! I haven't always felt that way. For years I wished I had a designer tree with beautifully matched ribbons and ornaments. Now I realize that what I really have is a memory tree! I love looking at our hodge-podge of ornaments and remembering. Most of our ornaments fall into one of several categories. Here is a small sampling from our many ornaments.

1. Souvenirs from our trips

John and I love to travel. We even bring the kids along sometimes!
Clockwise: 2009 trip to Chicago w/John's sister and her husband, 1998 trip to New Orleans w/baby Evan who was an angel, Plimouth Plantation 2007, gilded leaf from Grand Canyon 2010, Paris 2000, bear from Yosemite, Bison from Yellowstone, Pinnochio from Italy 2000.

2. Ornaments made by my kids
Aaron seems to be our most prolific creator.
I absolutely love his handsewn yellow bird and the "E" he cut and carved from a tree branch for Evan. The white one with the blue ribbon is a sand dollar he found at the beach.

3. Ornaments I've given to my kids to commemorate a special event or interest
This year's additions are the bird for Evan and the cupcakes for Marianne.

4. Homemade ornaments from ornament exchanges over the years
Some of these friends I haven't seen in years, but it is fun to remember them when I see their ornaments.

5. Ornaments made by those who have passed away
The "Mel" ornament was made by our family friend Lynn. She actually made one for each member of our family, and my Mom used to hang them on the wall. My mom just gave this to me last year. The ice cream cone was made by my mother-in-law in 1987. We used to have a whole set, but some got broken and my boys actually ate a few of the cones. This is our last one and it is closely guarded. The "Dear Santa" ornament was made by my friend Linda who also made Marianne's blessing dress. The little reindeer was made by my Mom. We actually made a whole bunch of these together.

6. Ornaments that remind us of our Savior
We have numerous nativity scenes around the house, but it is fun to have some Christlike ornaments on the tree as well. The crystal heart is lovely, but the photo doesn't capture it. The shepherd and sheep are part of a beautiful set given to me by my sister. I love them!

What type of ornaments do you have on your tree?
I hope they make your heart sing!

Quilted Christmas Love

Christmas is about Christ, but for me it is also about family. In fact, I have spent every one of my 44 Christmases with my parents, so it is natural that many of my Christmas memories and traditions involve my Mom and Dad. This year I will not be with my parents or my brothers on Christmas and that makes me sad. I am grateful I will still be with my own family and my sister's family on Christmas. I am also grateful that there will be many reminders of my mom. We'll carry on many of the traditions she started and we'll feel her love as we touch and snuggle with her beautiful quilted creations.

This is my most recent Christmas quilt from my mom.
She gave it to me for my birthday last year because she
knew I was going through a hard time.
I spent many hours wrapped up in it, feeling her love for me.

I think these are from 2008.
Mom used her embroidery machine to decorate these cute reindeer pillows.
I just wish I had the other 6 reindeer plus Rudolph!

I love this quilted table runner mom gave me a few years ago.
The fabrics have lots of gold in them. It is beautiful.

In 2005 My Mom, my sister-in-law and sister all decided to make this adorable "rag" quilt with a Christmas tree pattern. As I non-quilter I requested they make me one too, but my mom insisted that I pay for my own fabric and come to help with the non-quilting parts of the project. It was actually fun to lay out all the squares to find just the right pattern.

For years I begged my mom to make me a Christmas tree skirt.
She finally did and I love it. The fabric is rich and vibrant.
The next year I told her I really needed a bigger one so that you could see it better
even when all the presents were under the tree.
She just laughed and I never was able to convince her to make me my tree skirt 2.0

These are the oldest quilts; they are from my mom's "pre-quilting" days.
She sewed and made baby blankets for years,
but didn't really start quilting until after her kids left home.
When my boys were very young, she asked them what they wanted for Christmas. They said they wanted Christmas blankets like their baby blankets. Mom tried to get them to choose another gift, but they insisted so she tied these quilts and put on the great triangle edging.

Mom worried that when she made a quilt for one person, someone else might feel bad that they didn't get one. She probably wouldn't like me posting pictures of these quilts on my blog. (Sorry mom!) Every time my mom made something, she wished she could make enough for all of her friends and family. She never wanted anyone to feel slighted or left out, especially at Christmas time. So if you have a quilt made my my mom or even by another special person, please snuggle up and feel the LOVE!

Everything you always wanted to know, but were afraid to ask

Getting ready for the big balloon release at the cemetery after Mom's funeral

I think death stinks! Do I just have a bad attitude?

Thomas S. Monson: Frequently death comes as an intruder. It is an enemy that suddenly appears in the midst of life’s feast, putting out its lights and gaiety. Death lays its heavy hand upon those dear to us and at times leaves us baffled and wondering. In certain situations, as in great suffering and illness, death comes as an angel of mercy. But for the most part, we think of it as the enemy of human happiness. ("May We So Live")

Do you know how awful it is to lose someone you love?

Joseph B. Wirthlin: When President Hinckley spoke at Sister Wirthlin’s funeral, he said that it is a devastating, consuming thing to lose someone you love. It gnaws at your soul. He was right. ("Sunday Will Come")

Where exactly is heaven?

Brigham Young: Where is the spirit world? It is right here. Do the good and evil spirits go together? Yes they do. Do they go to the sun or some other planet? No. Do they go beyond the organized boundaries of this earth? No they do not. They are brought forth on this earth for the express purpose of inhabiting it to all eternity.

Umm, President Young, You are really good at answering a question with a question. I think I'm the one who is supposed to be asking the questions here!

But how does this "heaven on earth" thing work? Is it like a different dimension?

Parley P Pratt: The spirit world is here on the very planet where we were born, or, in other words, the earth and other planets of a like sphere have their inward or spiritual spheres and well as their outward, or temporal. The one is peopled by temporal tabernacles and the other by spirits. A veil is drawn between the one sphere and the other whereby all the objects in the spiritual sphere are rendered invisible to those in the temporal.

So those who have died are right here, nearby?

Ezra Taft Benson: Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin. Our loved ones who have passed on are not far from us. (Conference Report, Apr. 1971, 18)

Joseph F. Smith: I believe we move and have our beings in the presence of Heavenly messengers and of Heavenly beings. We are not separate from them and therefore I claim that we live in their presence. They see us. They are solicitous for our welfare. They love us now more than ever.

Do those who have died know what is happening in our lives?

Joseph F. Smith: They see the dangers that beset us; they can comprehend, better than before, the weaknesses that are liable to mislead us into dark and forbidden paths. They see the temptations and evils that beset us in life, and the pronesness of mortal beings to yield to temptation and wrong doing; hence their solicitude for us and their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.”

But can they really do anything to help us?

Joseph F. Smith: When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred and friends. In like manner, our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth having been faithful and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given to them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine presence messages of love, warning or of reproof and instruction to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.

Why does God allow someone to die when we really need them here?

Neal A. Maxwell: On the other side of the veil there are perhaps seventy billion people. They need the same gospel and releases occur here to aid the Lord’s work there. Each release of a mortal life here is also a call to new labors. A mortal life may need to be shortened by twenty years as we might view it. But if so, it may be done for special services to be rendered by that individual in the Spirit World. Those services will benefit thousands of neighbors. Therefore, though we miss the departed righteous so much here, hundreds may feel their touch there. One day those hundreds will thank the bereaved for gracefully foregoing the extended association with choice individuals here in order that they can help hundred there. In God’s ecology, talent and love are never wasted. Those who have true hope understand this.

Okay, I'm really trying to have "true hope." So, what can I learn from death?

Merrill J Bateman: Death teaches that we do not experience a fulness of joy in mortality and that everlasting joy can be achieved only with the assistance of the Master (see D & C 93:33-34). Just as the lame man at the pool of Bethesda needed someone stronger than himself to be healed (see John 5:1–9), so we are dependent on the miracles of Christ’s Atonement if our souls are to be made whole from grief, sorrow, and sin. If grieving parents and loved ones have faith in the Savior and His plan, death’s sting is softened as Jesus bears the believers’ grief and comforts them through the Holy Spirit. Through Christ, broken hearts are mended and peace replaces anxiety and sorrow. ("Power to Heal")

“I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left and my spirit shall be in your hearts. And mine angels round about you to bear you up.”

D & C 84:88

I know the name of at least one of those angels. I call her Mom.

Christmas Tapestry

"It will be very interesting one day to follow the pattern of our life as it is spread out like a beautiful tapestry. As long as we live here, we see only the reverse side of the weaving; and very often the pattern, with its threads running wildly, doesn't seem to make sense. Someday, however, we shall understand.

In looking back over the years, we can discover how a red thread goes through the pattern of our life; the will of God." (Maria Augusta Trapp)

Won't it be wonderful to see the finished tapestry some day? One of my favorite Christmas picture books gives us a glimpse of the final product. Sometimes we are given the gift of seeing how everything fits together. We know that God has worked miracles to weave something perfectly lovely.

Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco is the story of a young boy, Jonathan, who can't understand why he and his family are experiencing trials. It takes a move to a strange city, a blizzard and a dead car battery to get things started. The discovery of an antique tapestry, the kindness of an old woman and a visit from an elderly craftsman lead to a sweet reunion. In the end, Jonathan realizes that God's work is "seamless, woven so perfectly."

Christmas Tapestry is the perfect story for your family to read together. To help us remember that God does answer prayers, but that his time is not our time. To remind us that Christmas is a time of miracles. That God is always there and he will make our lives a work of beauty.

God can take what is broken or ugly . . .

. . . and make it perfect and beautiful.

"Be not afraid, only believe." Mark 5:36

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: … and with his stripes we are healed”
Isaiah 53:4-5

Christmas Shopping

Today I went to Costco and Urgent Care.

One trip was very quick with helpful, smiling employees. The other was stressful, crowded and I came home full of complaints. Can you guess which was which?

Surprisingly, the trip to Urgent Care was the pleasant one. We were in and out in about 15 minutes. Sadly, Evan has strep throat. But I can't imagine a nicer way to get the diagnosis!

Costco was a madhouse. First, the girl at the photo counter wanted to charge me for cards that that had been processed incorrectly. I had to insist that she check with her manager. Then I got stuck behind an elderly gentleman who kept stopping every few feet for no apparent reason.

So if you're looking for a calm, peaceful afternoon this holiday season, you might want to check out Urgent Care. I guess everyone has so much Christmas shopping to do that they don't have time to get sick!