A Feeling of Peace

My mom received a priesthood blessing from my dad, Randy, and Harley. There was a great feeling of peace and comfort in the room and I feel very good about her surgery for ovarian cancer. It is amazing to me how you can feel so worried and upset and how the power of the priesthood can make you feel so much better. I am guilty of sometimes taking the church to lightly and getting into a routine. Sometimes the social aspects of the church really get to me and I let them effect my attitude. The bottom line is, the holy ghost is real, the priesthood is real, and the promise of eternal life is real. These are the things I know, and no matter how much life tries to get in the way, I will always be grateful for the feelings of comfort I have felt in those quiet times when I have made the time to listen.

I am so grateful that a 14-year-old boy, Joseph Smith, entered a grove of trees asking to know which church is right. I will be eternally grateful for the answer he received and the subsequent restoration of the priesthood and its keys through John the Baptist; Peter, James, and John.

You Guys

Mya is so much fun to play with. She has such a funny personality and she is very creative. Sometimes I have no idea where she comes up with some of the stuff she says. Here is a video of Mya and me playing at my place.

Good Karma

Here is a list someone sent me that is supposedly "...what The Dalai Lama has to say for 2007". Whether this list is from the Dalai Lama or not, I am not sure, but the ones in orange really stood out to me today.

• Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
• When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
• Follow the three R’s:
• Respect for self,
• Respect for others and
• Responsibility for all your actions.

• Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
• Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
• Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
• When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
• Spend some time alone every day.
• Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
• Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
• Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
• A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
• In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
• Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
• Be gentle with the earth.
• Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
• Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
• Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
• Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Speaking of reckless abandon, here is a pic of me, Randy and little Debbie at the Poison concert a few months ago. Don't need nothin' but a good time!!

Californ-vacation

We just got back from California.Went to Disneyland for 3 days, Seaworld for a day and the San Diego Zoo for a day. Randy and I went with his 3 brothers, their wives, and their kids (we were the only ones on the trip with no kids, ahhh, the freedom!). The total ratio of kids to adults was 8:8 - so nobody was outnumbered, although the adults seemed to be at times. We rode with Randy's brother Brian, his wife Desi and their 2 cute kids Roxy (age 4) and Riley (age 2). It was a lot of fun. This is the first time in the five years that we have been married that we have taken this many days off in a row together! Even our honeymoon was only 4 days because of work and school. It made me want to go on more trips and maybe some trips with just the 2 of us for a long period of time. Before the trip, a friend that I work with was joking about Disneyland souvenirs. I asked what I should bring her and she said, "I want you to find me a Mickey Mouse antenna ball with a santa hat on it." We both laughed. Just for fun, I looked around a little at Disneyland, and in no time at all, I found this:



Disneyland is insane! I saw some even more crazy souvenirs than this, like a mickey mouse whisk, pirates of the carribean playing cards, buzz lightyear toothpaste, etc... you get the idea.

Classy.

So... Randy needed a haircut before disneyland because his hair was getting a little long. We went to mom's house and as the haircut progressed, we all decided it wold be a shame to not cut a mullet. Mom was feeling nostalgic about the mullets she used to cut in Texas and Randy was excited about the prospect of his sister in-laws being embarrassed to be seen with him. This is something I like a lot about Randy, he really doesn't take himself too seriously. When we left on Sunday morning, it was quite a surprise to everyone. We got some good looks and Randy purposely walked through a few pictures and videos of perfect strangers so everyone could enjoy the mullet. I hope his mullet shows up in someone's blog...

All in all it was an awesome trip, my only complaint is that I wish I could have relaxed a little more, but we got to ride a lot of fun rides, eat some amazing food and we all left with some great memories.

Randy on the dumbo ride with niece Paige.

My sister-in-law Desi with her daughter Riley