New Year's Eve Covid-Style...

This year we all had to stay in because we all caught the Rona! I have absolutely no idea how or from whom we caught it... but we have it! So we stayed in and watched movies and rang in the new year with fireworks... pretty standard, and we managed to have fun.

Also... here are all my Christmas cards from 2020!

Christmas Day!!

Christmas came early—8am to be exact! Allison, Robin and Mom knocked on our door and the festivities began! It was fun to open presents all together this year! Mom stayed for a long time too! Robin left for the day to go to Brent and Shelby’s and the rest of us just relaxed and enjoyed the day here. I made our traditional German pancakes with Allison’s help cutting up all the strawberries. That tasted yummy! It was fun just being together. We played Mao (such a fun game that Brooke taught us from her mission and Karen missionary group) and Shanghai Rummy and watched a couple of movies—one of them was the new Disney “Soul” movie, which was a really cute movie with a really nice message. It was fun to watch together. Later, Brooke and I unpacked her suitcases and organized all her clothes. It was fun to just be together!

Christmas Eve with Family...

Brooke and I ended up doing some last minute Christmas shopping for stocking stuffers and some gifts for Robin and Allison, since they’d be spending Christmas morning together with us too! Brooke and I had fun thinking of ideas and running around getting everything ready! It was crazy though too, because when we got home, it was past the time I needed to start getting Christmas dinner and table set and ready. I was going to get dressed and ready myself, but never had time to do that. Brent, Shelby and Conner came for dinner as well, plus Grandma and Allison (and Robin), so we had about 10 people for dinner. It was nice to have everyone come! We enjoyed a yummy dinner and went caroling to a family in our ward too! We came home and opened Christmas Eve presents.  Instead of the normal PJ's I get the girls every year, I got them warm and comfy socks.  The clue on the box was "Comfort and Joy".  The socks were the "comfort" and the "joy" is on backorder!  Hahahaha!  I wanted to get them all the book entitled Daily Joy by Pres. Nelson for them to read each day of the new year-- there is a devotional for each day!  By the time I realized I wanted to do this, the books were sold out.  I have a copy of the book, so I'll just take a picture of each devotional every day and send it to each of them.  I got a book for Megan and Todd, as well.  After this, Brent and Shelby needed to head back to Gilbert.  Then the rest of us read the Christmas story in Luke and enjoyed a quieter time doing that. Everyone else stayed up late watching movies and working on a puzzle that had clues with a mystery escape room theme, but Brooke and I busily wrapped all of the stocking stuffers—which took us a while! Then around 2am, I went to BED, but everyone else stayed up to work on the puzzle… CRAZY!!

Sweet Day Together in the Temple with McKenzie!

Tuesday was such a WONDERFUL day! We all got up early and went to the temple together for McKenzie’s endowment! It was such a beautiful feeling to all be together there in that sacred and peaceful place! There was definitely a sweet feeling among us! Megan and Todd were asked to be the witness couple too, which I thought was so special. I thought maybe they would, since it was just our family in the session! Mom was also able to come—Denise Grover brought her and helped her, so I could concentrate on being with and helping McKenzie. She also came to be able to take mom right home afterward, so we could all stay and take pictures and she could go right home. As I watched mom approach the veil in her wheelchair, noticing that she was hunched over and tired, I wondered how much longer she’d be with us. Then McKenzie had a sweet experience. We were all in the Celestial Room and she was the last one to come through. She came up to us crying but said that she was happy and ok. Later on, she explained to Dad (after he pressed her to know why she was crying) that she had seen Grandpa right behind Grandma—that he was there to see her and be with all of us as a family—almost confirming McKenzie’s decision to receive her endowment. What a sweet experience for McKenzie!! Wow! Dad was allowed to be there with all of us and as I thought about it, it made so much sense to me. Of course he was there! This experience reaffirmed to me that the veil is thin and our loved ones are closer to us than we sometimes know! What a sweet day!! Later we told Grandma what McKenzie had experienced and she just wept and said, “of course!” She was very touched by it too!!

After, we took a bunch of pictures out in front of the temple and then went to BJ’s for a nice lunch together. McKenzie REALLY wanted to go to Creamistry (she’s been asking for MONTHS now to go),  so we decided that we had time to do it before we needed to get Todd and Megan to the airport. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day. We enjoyed our ice cream as we drove to the airport. We got them there just in time to catch their flight to Las Vegas for Tanner and Andi’s open house. Everything just worked out so perfectly and I realized that Heavenly Father definitely had His hand in everything working out so well. We had to get plane tickets WAY before we knew what time McKenzie’s session would be at the temple—and I found out after we got them, that they only offer ONE session per day! It just happened to be at 8:30am when we would need it to be in order to be able to enjoy lunch together and send Megan and Todd off without rushing—or them not being able to attend at all! (The next day we were invited to go to the temple with another sister in our ward going through for the first time, and her appt. time was at 3:30 for the ONLY session that day. If that had been the case on Tuesday, Megan and Todd would not have been able to attend with us, much less enjoy a nice lunch together afterward!) The Lord is truly involved in all these details and is aware of our needs AND our wants! Even Brooke being able to be there was a miracle and such a blessing as well! I’m so glad that Megan and Todd could be here for all of our family’s special moments this past week. I felt a deep sense of missing them after we dropped them off at the airport. I feel like my life is now compiled of a bunch of hello’s and goodbye’s! But I DEFINITELY  enjoy the moments we are together and the memories we make!! 

 

Brooke's Homecoming Talk in Sacrament Meeting!

Today was Brooke’s homecoming in Sacrament meeting. She gave such a beautiful talk about the Savior. She tied in her mission experiences with a beautiful Christmas talk about His birth and life and the joy of sharing the good news of His gospel on her mission. After, we visited with a lot of people and took family pictures. Brooke had a Karen dress for each of us girls to wear, so it was fun taking pictures of all of us wearing them! After, we took Mom back home and visited until Dad got there. We did CFM a little bit, but ended up just visiting! We watched 4 episodes of The Chosen, because Brooke really wanted to see them and Mom wanted to watch them too. We went home and had a nice Sunday dinner together and played games the whole rest of the afternoon and evening, while watching the rest of the episodes of The Chosen. It has been such a nice day!!

I love my family so much! My heart is just full right now! It has been so fun having everyone here ALL TOGETHER—even if it is just for a few days! It doesn’t get much better than this! I am so grateful for Brooke and her sweet example. She is such a great example to me of kindness, meekness, gentleness and love. She has such a beautiful spirit about her! She makes me want to be a better person! I am so glad that she got to have the experience of serving a mission. I know and feel how much she loves the Karen people and the people of Minnesota! She bore a beautiful testimony of our Savior today in her talk—she knows Him because she is LIKE Him! She also bore her testimony in Karen—which was so beautiful, even though I didn’t understand it. I felt the Spirit confirm to me that what she was saying was true and good. I love Brooke so much! I know Heavenly Father has been able to use her for so much GOOD! What a blessing she is to me in my life!

Here is a copy of her talk:
Good morning!

I am so happy to be here and to talk today about Our Savior Jesus Christ!

I have just returned from an 18 month mission serving in the Minnesota and working with the Karen refugees there! I loved that experience and loved teaching them about Jesus Christ and the Good news of His gospel and I have learned so much from my time there!

I have learned that Jesus Christ loves us. He loves every single person in the whole world. All over the world!

I have learned that He KNOWS us. He knows our strengths and He knows our weaknesses AND He knows our potential.

I have learned that all though we can hardly ever see Jesus Christ with our physical eyes, when we tune in with our spiritual eyes or (as a mission leader liked to say) our "miracle glasses", we can see that He is EVERYWHERE in our life, He has a plan, and that He excels in the details. And His tender mercies are real and all around us.

I have learned more about the life that Jesus Christ lived and the person He was and how important that really is. 

One of the biggest personal lessons that I have learned is most accurately described in a story. This is a story that my parents read to me many times when I was younger but I don't think I ever truly understood the message. One day towards the middle of my mission I came across this story again at a time I really needed it and at first it hit me with familiarity like "Where have I heard this before?" And "How did the story end?" and then as I read on, the story it just hit me with a lot of power. It is the story of The Three Trees...

There were three trees on top of a mountain. The first tree wanted to become a beautiful treasure chest to hold gold and the greatest treasures.
The second tree wanted to become a strong ship to carry kings across oceans.
The third tree wanted to grow to be the tallest tree so that when people looked heavenward, they thought of God.
One day woodcutters came and cut the three trees down.
The first two trees were excited—they thought their dreams would now come true.
The first tree, however, was not made into a treasure chest but instead a feed box for animals.
The second tree became a small fishing boat, carrying stinky fish all day.
The third tree was made into lumber and put in a pile.
“What happened?” they thought.
Time passed on, and the trees nearly forgot about their dreams.
But then one night a new star appeared in the sky and a newborn babe was placed in the feedbox (or manger). That tree suddenly realized he was holding the greatest treasure in the world. It was better than he could have imagined.
A few years later the second tree, which was made into a boat, had a traveler fall asleep in it when a storm arose on the water. The man awoke, stood, and stretched his hand and said, “Peace.” The storm stopped, and the second tree realized he was carrying the King of Kings.
Then, one Friday morning the third tree was taken and fashioned into a cross upon which this same man was crucified. The tree felt ugly. But on Sunday the sun arose and the tree realized that God’s love changed everything.
It made the first tree beautiful.
It made the second tree strong.
And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God, which was better than being the tallest tree.
Each tree had dreams, but the Lord saw their full potential, which brought a much greater reality.

I love this story and how perfectly it shows that Christ and His birth and his life changes everything and makes dreams come true.

He is the Prince of Peace, the anchor of our hope, our Savior and redeemer, the creator, the healer, the Living Christ, the Good shepherd, the King of Kings, the Morning star, the Living water, and so many other things!

This story teaches so perfectly the value of finding and seeking that eternal perspective and to Let God Prevail in our lives. He can and will make our lives greater than we even think is possible if we will let Him.

This story also reminds me of a talk that was given in this last General Conference by Michelle D. Craig called "Eyes to see" and she talks about how the savior sees people. Talking about the Savior, she said, "Where others saw fishermen, sinners, or publicans, Jesus saw disciples; where others saw a man possessed by devils, Jesus looked past the outward distress, acknowledged the man, and healed him."

Sometimes the world seems dark and maybe confusing or hard, and sometimes we may feel like we too are just fishermen drowning in a weary world, but when Jesus Christ came to earth, He changed all that. He finds the good in all of us and empathizes it. In fact he calls disciples of people from all walks of life and strengthens them to be able to do what He asks. I know that He strengthens us today and is with us.

One of my favorite New Testament stories is the story where Peter walks on water. The story goes that the apostles were in their boat and a fierce storm beat upon them and they were consumed by fear. Then Peter catches sight of Jesus Christ and at first is afraid until he hears Christ say "Be not afraid. It is I." It is amazing what seeing and focusing and listening to the Savior changed within Peters heart and mind. Fear was displaced by confidence in God and a desire to come unto Christ. So much so, that Peter feels like He can do a miracle and walk on water. And He does! The situation Peter was in didn't change. The storm was still raging around Him but focusing and trusting in Christ gave Him the strength to move forward. 

We are all like Peter. We are surrounded by darkness and often chaos encircles us, especially this year. But I know that as we focus on Christ He can change something within us too to be able to overcome all that life throws at us. That is the miracle of Christ.

I have seen that miracle work within myself as well as those I have taught over the last 18 months.

I remember distinctly, the first time we met one of our friends. He was sitting in the corner of a dark room with his hoodie up and his hair hanging down in his eyes, staring at his phone screen. When we talked to him that very first time I remember just seeing a glimmer light up in His eyes. Since then I have seen that light grow in him as he has learned who Jesus Christ is and how important the message we carry is! He has grown so much in a years worth of time and is a completely different person! Someone who once didn't know who God was and didn't have a ton of Joy in his life, now bears one of the humblest but strongest testimonies of Christ and shares light and joy when he talks about God.
I saw that miracle work within so many of the people i came in contact with and taught and it not only changed their life but it changed my life too in the process and it continues to change my life!

I don't think I can say enough how grateful I am for our Savior Jesus Christ and for the amazing experiences I had on my mission of learning of Christ and bringing others closer to Him.

I want to read another poem that Elder Holland read in the Christmas devotional this year that really touched my heart. It too talks about how Jesus Christ came to earth and made what were once only dreams and hopes, a reality.

The Miracle Dreams or the Dreams of Bethlehem

"That night when in [the] Judean skies
The mystic Star dispensed its light,
A blind man [groped] in his sleep,
And dreamed [that] he had sight.

That night when shepherds heard the song
Of hosts angelic choiring near,
A deaf man stirred in slumber’s spell,
And dreamed [that] he could hear.

That night when in the cattle-stall
Slept Child and Mother [without talk],
A cripple[d] [man] turned his twisted limbs,
And dreamed [that] he [could walk].

That night when o’er the new-born Babe
The tender Mary rose to lean,
A loathsome leper smiled in sleep,
And dreamed [that] he was clean.

That night when to his Mother’s chest
The little King was held secure,
A harlot slept a happy sleep,
And dreamed [that] she was pure.

That night when in the manger lay
The Sanctified, who came to save,
A man moved in the sleep of death,
And dreamed there was no grave."

Through Christ, all of these dreams were made a reality! The message and reality of Jesus Christ really is GOOD NEWS! It is news full of hope!
Words can't describe the magnitude of what Christ did and what He means to me but I will bear my witness that He lives and He is working in our lives. He loves us. He will help us become all that we are meant to become.

I would also like to finish by bearing a quick testimony in Karen.

 

Celebrating Our 28 Year Anniversary-- As A Family!

Nothing has been normal about 2020 so why not celebrate our anniversary differently, as well! We were going to have a quiet dinner together, but we decided that we just wanted to be together as a family tonight! We also didn't go to our usual restaurant (Capital Grille in Scottsdale). We decided to go to Tommy Bahamas in Scottsdale instead-- one of my all time favorite restaurants! The food was SO GOOD! We had such a fun time eating and visiting and talking about Brooke’s mission and experiences. It was a fun night. After, we walked around the stores in the Kierland shopping mall… but it got really cold, so we went home! Todd flew in really late at around midnight. I went to bed, while the others stayed up a little longer. Megan went to pick him up at the airport-- too late for me to stay up!!!

Brooke is HOME!!!

Friday was our BIG day! Brooke texted me from the airport in Minnesota saying she was about to board her flight. She had gotten us all matching t-shirts to wear. I got her some balloons, and Katelyn had made some super cute posters, as well… along with a poster that Alyssa Muller made too! They all turned out so CUTE! We drove to the airport around 1:30 for her flight arrival time of 3:00. (It was running a little bit late.) Allyson Andersen came to take pictures and video for us—which was so nice so that all of us could be in them. As the people on her flight kept going by, we were straining our eyes to find her! She FINALLY came toward the end and I spotted her in her Karen dress from pretty far off! She started to run as soon as she came a little closer and McKenzie ran out in front and intercepted her for a hug! Then we all just went in for a group hug! Then I got MY hug from her! I missed her sooooo much! It was so amazing to finally get that hug! She looks so good and has such a sweet spirit about her! I feel like she grew so much spiritually on her mission and really worked so hard on developing Christlike attributes-- I  can see these and feel them in her personality. I can feel that she is very close the the Savior! There is a special spirit about her! We got all sorts of pictures and then we drove straight to the Stake Center where President Hinton released her—which always makes me feel so sad with having to take off the tag! She didn’t want to and roamed the halls of the church for a bit before we left and then finally had to take her tag off. Then we drove to Mom’s house, where we had corned beef and cabbage cooking (Brooke's request) and we all chopped up a salad together. We ate dinner, and then all of us went to the Stake Nativity together. Brooke really enjoyed that! It was just so much fun to all be together again! After we got home, we played a game of Shanghai Rummy and it went on forever! We laughed a lot as we played though. We all went to bed pretty late… after the girls watched a Christmas movie. (I headed to bed when they started watching it.)  What an amazing day!  It's so fun to all be together-- except for Todd!  We face timed him at the airport though and got him in a couple of the pictures!  He flies in tomorrow night to be here for Brooke's homecoming talk in Sacrament Mtg. and for McKenzie's endowment next week.  Lots of big things happening right now for our family!!!