Christmas with Kids and Kidlets is fun!

We certainly had a white Christmas! about 18 inches fell within a few days of the holy day. I'm glad we had a van for Barbie and her family to use while they were here.


The Death of Matt's grandfather was the circumstance that brought all of their family to Utah. Though that is not ideal, it was nice to have them here and do share the holiday with them.






Becca and Steve, Laura and her new friend Chris, Kristina, as well as David also spent time with us.

Stevo's little family and Christine were able to spend some time with us on Christmas Eve.


Little Kyrie liked my chin!




Dave was so great! He took care of everything!

Christine also received her Young Women in Excellence award. I was able to make it to Kaysville for the presentation.




Our sons Steve Summers and David have been working on finishing the basement for us.
I haven't seen it yet, but Dave takes occasional pictures for me.




Holiday times are great! I LOVE it!!

Have I got a leg to stand on?

Try this for 6 weeks:
Sleep with one leg out of the covers, propped up on a pillow, while wearing a large heavy boot.
Wake up with pain, take a pill or two, then realize that you have to go to the restroom since you are now very awake.
Enjoy the pain as blood rushes into your already swollen foot.
Carefully transfer yourself from the tall bed, to the wheelchair, while holding your heavy leg up. Then stand up on one foot, use the walker to inch your way into the restroom being careful not to hop because the jerking intensifies the already painful foot you are holding up in the air.
Back up on one foot, reach to close the door and lift the lid.
While remaining on one foot, and holding the other foot in the air, lower the necessary clothing and carefully sit down.
Assuming that everything worked out alright -- which is not common while taking narcotics -- stand up on one leg again, get dressed, inch your way to the wheelchair: all on one foot!
Wheel yourself back to the bed and carefully lifting yourself onto the bed.
Hope the pain pill works soon.

That's the evening... what about going downstairs?
What about finding stuff to do throughout the day, every day?
What about some muscles growing stiffer, while the ones in your leg begin to atrophe?
What about the fog of medication?
What about the body aches and pain as you decrease the medication dosages?
What about sponge-baths for the first few weeks, and then trying to get in and out of the tub safely while holding one leg high up in the air?
What about...

Have I got a leg to stand on? Nope.
I have no reason to complain. I only have reason to rejoice!

No matter how bad things are... they could always be worse.
The Lord's goodness to me and generous tender mercies are overwhelming!

Is it a Wonderful Life?

Is it a wonderful life?
At Christmastime and at the beginning of a new year, more than at any other time, I find myself analyzing, introspectively, my life and how I have lived it.
I review the success with which I have lived in harmony with my values and the principles I hold dear. Did I walk the walk or just talk the talk?
I look at my talents, gifts and blessings… how have I consecrated them to the Lord? Have I used them to bless others?
Then, finally, I ask myself the question, “Have I done any good in the world…?”
This is the question that lingers the longest.
I ponder upon that question as it relates to everyone in my life:

•Family: David, children, their spouses, grandchildren, parents, siblings, their spouses, nieces & nephews
•Friends: church, temple, work, neighborhood, school

Have I served them? Have I paid close attention to their expressions or intimations of their thoughts or needs? Have I put them first?

When I fell and shattered my ankle, I was genuinely surprised at the outpouring of love and concern for my condition. The heavens seemed to open as I was drenched with caring and prayers in my behalf. Notes of love and compassion were expressed via. text, e-mail, phone calls, mail, and Facebook. Meals were brought in to help. Movies and magazines were given to help me avoid boredom. A few errands were made even though they were quite inconvenient to do. Rehabilitation equipment was lent to make it easier for me to get around. People came to visit, and the Sacrament was administered in my home.

Most importantly, Dave was so very patient as he cared for my every need. It is an eye-opening experience to see just how much caring goes on when a person cannot do anything for themself.

I dealt with a fair amount of pain and genuine discomfort for several weeks. These weeks seemed like months. With the timing being at Christmastime, there were still several preparations to be made in behalf of the holidays. I learned to let go of the non-essentials.

I had to allow others to make up for my absence at work, in the Temple, and at church. I struggled to get accomplished those things that I could finish for Christmas, and fought to remain coherent through the fog of pain medication.

Throughout all of this, in my amazement at the outpouring of love for me, I began to question, “Why?” Have I really made a difference in so many people’s lives, or am I simply surrounded by amazing people who go out of their ways to serve and care for me?
Have I somehow made an imprint on them such that they are simply responding in kind?

I don’t know the answer to this, but I do know that I am left with a tremendous feeling of gratitude. I am overwhelmed with warm comfort and the desire to do the same for anyone else I see that needs help from me. I am moved to tears at the thought that I am worthy of such expressions of love.

I considered the Jimmy Stewart movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

It is the story of a man who finds himself at the end of his rope, and feels he has nothing to life for. God sends an angel to help. This angel lets the man see what the world would be like if he had not been born. There was a striking difference in the two timelines. The good other people do seems to be a chain reaction. Somewhere along the line, that chain of good works is bound to make a tremendous difference in the lives of others.

Since that chain can be broken at any time, each link becomes enormously important. So, I actually have made a difference in the lives of many people.

Outside my window, the snow is falling. Millions of small snowflakes are consistently falling over the period of days. Each flake is small and seems insignificant; however, when combined with consistency and the sheer volume of others with the same purpose, over a foot of snow has fallen an amazing fulfillment has transformed a lifeless landscape into a winter wonderland.

In the end of the movie, the man is showered with love and help from those whose lives he had touched. This gets him out of his predicament and heals his wounded soul as well.

Similarly, I feel more than my ankle being soothed and healed. I stand all amazed at the love offered me by my fellow children of God. I kneel at the feet of my Lord and thank him with tearful gratitude; not only for the caring of His children, but for the amazing gift of love from His Son. How can I ever be anything but whole?

It truly is a “Wonderful Life!”

What is time?

I've been thinking... a dangerous pastime, I know...

Does time really exist?

There is no present because as soon as it is here, it becomes the past.
There is only the past and the future, but they only exist if there is a present to measure them by.
Therefore, time is so precious that it should never be wasted; so rare that it should always be cherished; and so constant that it should never be taken for granted.

Eternity is made up of infinite moments of time.

Therefore, no matter how intangible time is, it is the most valuable thing we have because it is the stuff life is made up of, and eventually creates our eternity.

Learn from the past, dream of the future, and live in the present.
That is the best present we can give ourselves.

Setting off the Airport Alarms!!

Okay, so if I dose off while typing this, it's the medication I am taking. Actually, I've already dosed off "()" once. I decided not to wait for the ()ward ice-skating party on Saturday. I decided to slip () on the ice in my own driveway. Last Monday, Dave and I got a new car, well it's new to us. I didn't fit in the garage() so I was going to exchange its position with the other car. As I went back to the other car, I began to slip. ()I slipped on some ice, shattered my Fibula and broke my Tibia. Translation: I did a number on my leg near my ankle.

Here's what happened: ()
I was sliding quite fast on a thin sheet of ice on the driveway. My left foot stopped abruptly when the heel of my shoe caught on a section of the concrete that didn't have ice, and where the crack in the concrete was. ()
My foreleg bent backward in a weird way like a noodle. ()
As I tried to regain my balance, I could not, and fell, more like sitting down than anything; ()so I didn't hurt anything else, except perhaps considering the subsequent whiplash.

I brought my leg around to the front of me so I could feel my leg. ()I ran my hand down past my knee only to () feel that the customary straight stiffness of the leg was gone and replaced by a sagging characteristic instead. () After the initial pain and fear, my brain turned it off, and I felt nothing. Everyone was surprised at how calm I was, but it didn't hurt very much, and I knew everything would be alright. I felt a strange peace.

Dave took care of me, preventing me from going into shock. He called 911, and also a friend so they could give me a blessing. Apparently, there were 6 pieces of bone floating around and the other two major bones were all skewampus () and pointing in different directions. I haven't seen the original x-ray yet, but this is the finished () version. ()



10 screws, washers and a plate later, I am guaranteed a personal screening at the security sections of the airports. Goodie! :'/

Catch up, Catsup, or Ketchup? I'm confused!

No matter how you spell it, it tastes good on french fries and scrambled eggs!
I actually am going to try to "catch up" on all of the fun stuff of last summer.
Let's see, what happened in August?
August -
stevo and aubrey sealed with aiana
dave's high school reunion

September is a blur!
September - The first wonderful thing that happened this month is the Baptism
Sarah and Mary were baptised. We had a wonderful time with them. The Curtis' had a picnic in their back yard afterward. It was lovely.

Labourels
Patrick and Nathalie came to live with us for a few weeks again this year! How wonderful it was to see them and to spend time with them!
We visited temples, did a lot of shopping, and saw some sites.
We went to the Utah State Fair and took them to a rodeo.
Then we drove to Yellowstone and then around through Logan so we could drop them off for a wedding. It was a wo

Dave's mission reunion was fun. We went to a football game and had a fireside and food. David joined us. It was funny that he looked somewhat like my David did and people could see the resemblance.

September birthday parties were fun! We celebrated Dave, Becca, Aubrey, Laura, and Francine's birthdays. We did it two times to catch different people. Nathalie made an amazing chocolate cake, French style, with chocolate mousse in the middle. YUMMM!



~~~

October - General Conference started the show of October off right!
Nathalie and I were able to go to the Relief Society General Conference. President Monson told a funny story about a woman who every day would criticize the dirtiness of the laundry her neighbor was hanging out to dry. "Doesn't she know how to clean clothes?" One morning the laundry her neighbor hung out to dry was bright and clean. She commented to her husband that her neighbor must have finally learned how to do her laundry right. He replied. "No, I just got up early this morning and cleaned the windows!" President Monson talked about judging wrongfully.

Had to say goodbye to our "Old Reliable." Took it in to get an oil change, and they FORGOT TO PUT ANY OIL BACK IN IT!!!



We got a good harvest of Concord grapes and bottled 36 quarts! YUMMM!


A wind storm lifted out trampoline over the fence! We got some of the neighbors to help us put it back!

Missed it by THAT much!

On the way to Arizona to my 30th year high school reunion, we stopped by a few places.
My dad lives in New Mexico. We brought Christine with us and dropped her off with them so she could visit with them while Dave and I continued on to Arizona.



We visited the Anasazi ruins of the cliff dwellers. It was awesome.
We visited a cemetary in Price, UT where Dave's ancestors helped to settle the towns there.



On the way back, we tried to visit four corners monument, but it was closed due to construction. Many travellers were disappointed.
We hiked up to Delicate Arch. It was about 103 degrees. I thought Christine and I were going to have a heat stroke! Seriously!



We were recording pieces for Dave's new 6 Hymns in 6 Days lessons. It was fun, even though everyone was looking at us funny!

Then we visited Dead Horse Point. It is called that because in the old days, they used to herd the horses up on the plateau. They would gather the best horses, and leave the others there to die... within view of the Colorado River below. Sad.

By then, it was beginning to get dark, so we continued home. There was a wonderful thunder storm. Little did we know that behind us, that wonderful storm turned into two tornadoes in Price, UT!
"Missed it by THAT much!"

Hiking a mountain is fun to do... fun to do... fun to do!

Here are some pictures of Mt. Timpanogos with Rob and Julie, et. al.








And here are some pictures of our hike above Silver Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon, to Twin Lakes.

Did you start at one?

A little girl asked her grandmother, "How old are you?"
Came the reply, "Why, I'm 75 dear."
Then, with a puzzled look, the granddaughter asked, "Did you start at one?"

Well, Uncle Bud did start at "one." Now he is 90 years old! It was fun to celebrate his birthday, and to hear him tell about when he got stuck in Trinidad after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, his days of stealing signs, flying fighter jets for the Navy, and his thoughts about marijuana being legalized in Colorado where he lives.
He is quite a character; and we love him even more for it!

Here are some pictures of the fun...

A Memorial Weekend to Remember...

B-B-Q's, family, friends, cemeteries, new house dreams, and yard work... What's wrong with this picture? Nothing! It was awesome! Even the weather cooperated. It's just that we didn't do anything... well... patriotic. I mean flying the flag is one thing, and visiting graves of loved ones with flowers is another, but nothing "patriotic."

What I mean is, there are those who I love who have served our country, and have seen things no person of gentle heart and kind disposition should see. They have watched friends die in front of them. They have risked life and limb for my minor acknowledgement of the reality of the freedoms preserved by their bravery.

Teddy Roosevelt said, "This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in."

That means I need to DO something!

So... what will I "do?" I have to start in my own little corner.... and hope that little seeds I plant will grow. If it doesn't make a better place for others to live, at least it will be for me. (How's that for egocentricity?)