Special Delivery

Have you gotten any Christmas cards in the mail yet? What would you say if I told you I got a Christmas card from my grandpa who passed away five years ago?  Here is the story of how it was delivered:

Yesterday, I had a sick baby to care for and lots of other things on my plate. Yet I kept having the feeling that I should go out to the garage and sort through some family pictures. I knew I didn't have time to start on that project, but the thought wouldn't leave my head. Finally, I went out and found the box I needed. I quickly looked through it, but felt prompted to open another box. I brought it inside and was disappointed to find that there weren't many photos. I did find a folder that my mom had labeled "Geneaology." Inside the folder, I came across an old Zobrist family newsletter. It mentioned my marriage to John and I thought that was fun to see. Then I noticed the newsletter also had a Christmas messge written by my grandpa. I quickly skimmed it and thought it might be nice to share with my family later in the month. I put everything back in the garage to deal with on a less busy day.

As I was making dinner, thoughts of my grandpa kept coming into my mind. Eventually, I realized I needed to pay attention and I got the message. This was something I needed to share my extended family and I needed to do it now!

Grandpa may have passed away several years ago, but apparently he wants his family to hear from him this Christmas!

So here is the Christmas message, written by my maternal grandfather, Herman Arthur Zobrist on December 21, 1987.  He refers to his parents (calling them Mother and Father or Grandma and Grandpa), Anna Allenbach and Herman Zobrist who were from Switzerland.

As we come into the Christmas season our thoughts are of the Savior and his great gift to all of us.  In fact, to all of God's children who ever came to this planet, or who ever will.  It is a great time of the year for all of us to evaluate our lives and, if necessary, make sure we are going in the right direction.
         I always think of my Father and Mother at this time of year and of all the great gifts they gave to me, and all of their posterity.  As I have been to the birthplace of my parents, I am so very thankful that they left that cold and beautiful land to come to America, that all of their descendants would have a more abundant life.  They had many trials and problems in their new home and yet they built something very important to all of us.  
         My father instilled in all of us the willingness to work and to always be honest in all of our dealings with our fellow men.  The greatest thing I remember about Grandpa was his ability to put all things in their proper perspective.  It is one thing I have always admired, and yet I was never able to do like Dad did.  To my Father, there were only two things that were important, His Family and The Church.  All other things were secondary to him, nothing ever interfered with these two prime things in his life.  Some day, I hope we can all have the Testimony he had for the Gospel and for his family.
         Many you of younger people never had the privilege of knowing your Grandpa and Grandma, but you may all hold your heads up high for the way they lived their lives, and for the heritage they left each and every one of us.  I hope and pray that all of us will try each day to live as Grandpa and Grandma would have us live. Remember they are watching us every day and hoping that some day we will all be together as a family again.  
         Let us each strive always to live up to the Heritage they left us, and that they will be as proud of us as we are of them.

Herman Zobrist           

I am grateful for eternal families, especially at Christmastime! And now just for fun, here are a few pictures of Grandpa and his parents.  To see one of my favorite pictures of Grandpa, click HERE.

Grandpa as a young man.

Grandpa, a bit more middle-aged

Grandpa's parents (and my great-grandparents) Herman and Anna Zobrist

Great Grandpa and Grandma Zobrist at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration

Thanksgiving 2013

We had 18 people at our house for Thanksgiving.  My sister's family joined us and we were all especially excited because my brother David and his wife Annie flew in from Texas.  Sadly, my dad and Carolyn weren't able to make it because Carolyn was recovering from back surgery.

I thought it would be fun to list our menu and links to a few recipes. Annie & David even brought their baking supplies to make an apple pie!

Appetizers

• baked brie
• crackers
• turkey (shaped) vegetable platter
• hummus
• bean dip
• chips

Dinner

• turkey
• stuffing
• roasted garlic mashed potatoes
• scalloped potatoes
• green beans with almonds
• yams
• mandarin orange jello salad

Dessert

• pumpkin pie
• apple pie
• chocolate cream pie
• banana cream pie
• pecan caramel pie (bake in ramekins for GF folks)
• ice cream
• whipped cream

After our delicious meal, we took a walk to the park!  Here are a few of us along the way.

It was a lovely day except for one thing.  Lavender learned how to climb out of her crib and she's been doing it ever since.  I don't have the luxury of shutting the door and letting her cry because she sleeps in our walk-in closet (which doesn't have a door!)  She just climbs into our bed in the middle of the night and thinks it's a great arrangement.  Not! Then she got sick, so I haven't had the heart (or energy) to keep taking her back and insist she stay put.  As soon as she is better, we will be undertaking operation "stay in your own bed all night long."

Pretending to sleep after laying down with her bears.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am grateful for my many blessings. Here I am with four of the  sweetest gifts God has given to me.

Work

Evan gave a talk in church today.  His subject was "work" and he did a great job! Here is the text of his talk:

What do you think of when you hear the word work? Many people view work as a negative thing. Do you? If you find yourself thinking of work negatively, remember what Elder D. Todd Christofferson said about work and maybe it will help you see it differently. He said, 

By work we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the mortal experience. Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God.

I’m 15 year old boy so I know that doing work can be hard sometimes. But I also know how rewarding true work can be. I have found that when I am working toward something that is important to me, I have a much better attitude toward work and I see work as a good thing. 

Last year I wanted to have a garden. I had a good area on the side of my house, but it was filled with a LOT of weeds. I spent hours digging and pulling the weeds until I had finally cleared the area. I then leveled the ground and spent even more time building the raised garden beds out of bricks and cement blocks. I filled them with dirt that I hauled from a neighbor’s house and planted the things I wanted to plant.  Throughout the rest of that spring, I worked very hard keeping the plants alive and then harvesting them. I never complained about the hard work or even thought about stopping because I was working towards something I wanted and so the attitude I had about the work was positive. 

I have learned to try to have this same attitude towards work even when I’m not excited about doing it. When my parents ask me to help clean the garage I’m not very happy about it, but when I think of how I’m helping them and keeping our home clean I am more motivated. When I succeed in seeing work as a positive thing, I am able to see it’s benefit and make the work I’m doing important to me and more enjoyable.

Through my life so far I’ve also learned that while work is important, we also need to take time to relax and rejuvenate.  Elder Chistofferson also said, “Just as honest toil gives rest its sweetness, wholesome recreation is the friend and steadying companion of work. Music, literature, art, dance, drama, athletics—all can provide entertainment to enrich one’s life and further consecrate it.” There is always a time for work and play. But, if there is imbalance between the two, it can cause problems, which is why we need to know our Priorities and do the things that are the most important for us.

We have to work here on earth very hard to progress as far as we can, that way we will be one step closer to perfection when we go into the next life.  Learning to work now will also help prepare us for our eternal responsibilities. 

One example of someone who has taught me to work hard is my Grandpa Emerson. He was a very hard worker. To support his family he worked two jobs for 17 years. During the day he worked at the post office, and in the evening he worked cleaning the bank. He often took one of his children to the bank while he cleaned to, spend time with them and to be an example to them so they would work hard. This must have been very hard for him, but I’m glad that he did this because he was able support his family and teach me the importance of hard work. 

In D&C 75 it says, “Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be idle but labor with your might. And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life.” 

He bore his testimony and closed in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Hazards of Eating Nutella for Breakfast

In Her Own Words

This crazy-haired baby is fast becoming a little girl and she's got the growing vocabulary to prove it! Here are a few of our favorites:

*She holds up her finger and says, "one" when asked how old she is. Aaron worked for almost a week to teach her this.

*Sings E-I-E-I-O pretty much in tune. She loves Old Mac Donald and all the animal noises! She says, baa, moo, neigh, quack, woof and meow.

*Says, "Hi, honey" so sweetly. When we were on vacation I asked her to come over and she didn't want to. Finally I said, "Come on over honey." She growled back, "Me no honey!" I was so surprised by this response that I laughed and said, "Hey, I didn't know you could say 'honey'! Why don't you try saying 'Hi honey?'" So she did!

*She insists I pray for her grandpa in her bedtime prayer. If I forget (or don't get to him soon enough) she reminds me by saying, "Papa" over and over until I pray for him.

*At the end of every prayer she shouts "amen" very enthusiastically. In church she also loudly "amens" at the end of songs and musical numbers.

*She recently learned to sign and say "rain." Yesterday, I took her in the shower and she chanted, "It raining. It raining!" almost the entire time.

Her little words bring such joy to our whole family!

Desperate Measures

I know you thought you had seen the last of my vacation posts. It is great to be home, except for one thing . . . I want to go back! I am suffering from serious Maui withdrawal.

I finally resorted to looking at photos of the only undesirable things I found in Maui: sharks and high food prices! (Dont worry, I didn't actually find any sharks, i just read the newspaper article about the attack.) Even that wasn't enough. I am still ready to jump on the next Maui-bound flight. John did buy a pineapple at the store today. If only he'd picked up some chocolate covered macadamia nuts too!