Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

Yesterday in Relief Society we had a wonderful lesson that really touched me and has been on my mind since.   As part of the lesson we were given this quote by  Elder   David A. Bednar   of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles ( BYU Address October 2001 ):   “I suspect that [we] are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the Atonement than we are with the enabling power of the Atonement.” 1  He suggested that most of us understand that Christ came to earth to die for us, to pay the price for our sins, to make us clean, to redeem us from our fallen state, and to enable every person to be resurrected from the dead. But, Elder Bednar said, “I frankly do not think many of us ‘get it’ concerning [the] enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our ob...

We decided to take some time off and head up to the Wolf Creek condo to celebrate BJ's birthday and also to rest and relax for a few days.  It was really hard that Tasha and Zane were not able to join us - the first time we haven't all been together for the birthday celebration.  However, we are so blessed to live in a time of great technology!  We were able to connect with them via Skype and the connection was wonderful!  It was almost as if they were in the same room with us - almost. We set them up on a chair and they played Disney Charades with us.  It was really fun!  Kalel even was able to give his Tia a big hug! We decided to watch some old home movies of when the kids were small and Tasha was even able to watch them with us - although she wasn't able to see them very clearly. We always celebrate BJ's birthday by playing games because that was his very favorite thing to do. Shandra and I both squeezed in a little time for homework while ...

Kim and I started hanging out with the Lotts and the Johnsons back when our oldest children were mere toddlers.  In fact, one year we were all pregnant at the same time!  We have had so many great times together over the years. This week we all got together for dinner at Moore's restaurant.  It is so amazing to me how much fun we have whenever we get together, even though we don't see each other very often any more, we still mesh together, laughing and sharing stories, just like we have done for almost 30 years! Needless to say we have changed a lot over the years.  Some of us have less hair on our heads, some of us now wear glasses, and some of us have added a few pounds.  Together we have worried about our children - and now grandchildren.  Together we have mourned losses of family members and learned to be caretakers of aging parents.  We have shared weddings and vacations, Superbowl parties, job losses, and house remodeling. How very gratef...

Our annual Christmas Eve party was held at Robin and Cory's new house this year.  We missed Roxane's family, but everyone else was there.  Cory cooked the turkey perfectly. Shanne loaned us her photo board so we had a fun time taking pictures! We played a couple of games, the kids sang, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", and then we played boomwhackers.  We then followed tradition and read the Christmas Story from mom's old bible while the children held up puppets. Finally gifts were exchanged.  We gave Robin a set of towels that we had folded into animals.  It was great! Our Christmas Jammies were a big hit.  Each of us had a character from Charlie Brown's Peanuts gang.  Tasha was Sally, Zane was Linus, Shandra was Lucy, (Jay didn't get his until the next day, but he was Schrooder), Kalel was Snoopy, Kim was Charlie Brown, and I was Marcie.  I had a lot of fun making the shirts. Our remodeling isn't finished, but...

December 2013 was filled to the brim with good times and great memories!  Kim and I decided to suspend the remodeling until January so that we could have time to just relax and enjoy the holiday season.  What a GREAT decision!  Kim and I spend some much needed time enjoying sappy Christmas movies, playing with our grandson, and just enjoying the lights and music of the season.  Shandra and I enjoyed the local community theater's production of "Five Carols of Christmas/Jingle Jacks" so much that we went twice!  I even knitted a couple of scarves! (I put my schoolwork on hold throughout the holidays also - hopefully it won't prove to be problem and make it difficult to finish all of my classes by the end of the term.) The first Saturday of December is always the Olsen Family Christmas Party.  This year it was hosted by the Woodlands, and it was a tremendous event.  Great food, fun trivia games for the adults, crafts and snowball fights for the kids. ...