Category: Family Time

Summer?

When Mark helps me decorate the kitchen for summer, we tend toward maximalism.

This cold week, I feel more like making a cozy beef stew than anything else. Truly, that’s on the menu tonight. So weird. We decorated for summer, despite the snow and nonsense. Summer decorations in the kitchen signal good times ahead.

Ramble

Richard and I spent time in Salt Lake City to celebrate our anniversary. The hills north of downtown were verdant and vibrant. These hills are usually straw yellow, but the grasses were young and bright.

The high school flags line the front of the school, the last concerts are over, and a new class graduates this week. Time is so compressed for me lately, it doesn’t feel like a year since Tim graduated. But then again, our lives are so different now, that time must have carried us to this new place. We certainly haven’t arrived at this end of another school year by any conscious, overriding plan of our own. We just kept working and kept moving, and here we are.

Here is an important quote I keep using as I see complexities in how to balance love of God and love of neighbor (thanks to my mom for this one),

“Ignoring the first commandment, or reversing the order of the first and second commandments, risks a loss of balance in life and destructive deviations from the path of happiness and truth. Love of God and submission to Him provide checks against our tendency to corrupt virtues by pushing them to the extreme. Compassion for our neighbor’s distress, for example, even when the suffering is brought about by his or her own transgression, is noble and good. But an unbridled compassion could lead us, … to question God’s justice and misunderstand His mercy.

“There are those, for example, who believe that loving others means we must twist or ignore God’s laws in a way or ways that advocate or condone sin.” (Christofferson, The First Commandment First, 2022 BYU Devotional)

I work in the yard each day, trying to reclaim sections of neglected areas. It’s so satisfying. Dirt outside and thread and fabric inside are my materials for work lately. In June, I will move to paint as my medium, as we cover more surfaces in my grand plan (many years old) to repaint every inch of the house.

Someone asked me what we are doing this summer. A wedding. Two family reunions. Drivers Ed. A trip to Yellowstone. High Adventure. Pioneer Trek. These are big events, and this is my last morning with Mark at school for a little while. I just keep moving and keep working, and here we are.

herein lies the difference

I don’t believe in astrology, but I have noticed some noise about Mercury in retrograde? and something about a moon phase this week… Wouldn’t it be convenient if I could blame my blunders of the week on the planets and stars instead of my own flaws and mistakes? Richard has found me in a fetal position a few times this week, feeling so vulnerable about my choices and my words, even my opportunities. We face life together, and are dealing with many of the same things. But somehow, while I am still trying to muster energy to go to the grocery store, he has been able to get going and take Mark for a ride in the convertible to buy ice cream…at 9:00 am. I wish I could be more like Richard today.

Mother’s Day Table

Richard took these photos of our Mother’s Day table. 💕

I used flowers from our yard and photographs of our mothers and grandmothers to decorate the table. Richard did most of the cooking, and it was a delicious meal.

Smoked chicken

Mashed potatoes

Green salad

Homemade fan rolls

Eclairs

Apple pie with whipped cream

We had nine at the table tonight, including my parents, and we were joined by Tim in a video call after dinner. 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 Ten happy faces.

We had a Mother’s Day show and tell, where we could tell a memory or show an object to represent our moms. I loved hearing what people shared, even though I realized late in the game that some anecdotes were going to be about me. It’s funny, but I don’t really think of Mother’s Day as being about “me.” It felt good to have my mom here to celebrate her.

Discipleship in the days following Easter

Holy Week teaching tools

Each year during Holy Week, we repeat our tradition of reading scriptures and setting out objects to remind us of Jesus Christ’s last week.

This year, my thoughts kept returning to Peter’s three denials of Christ. He really messed up here!

On Easter evening, we listened to the words of John 21:15-17 in a song,

15 ¶ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

In perfect mercy, Jesus allows a great reversal, offering Peter the opportunity to affirm his love for him three times.

With each “Yea, Lord,” and, “Thou knowest that I love thee,” the denials are overcome, one by one.

In the days following Easter, I want to remember Peter’s story of denial, and his story of reverting to fishing when Jesus left. Most of all, I want to remember the reversal that Jesus made possible for him. Peter’s story could be anyone’s story. No one is perfectly loyal to Jesus. Everyone can accept Christ’s mercy, repent, and get (back) to work feeding the sheep. That is just what disciples do.

Dinner party before the women’s session of conference

So much of my heart went into this night that it feels strange to write about it here. I’ll fill some pages in my journal about it.

Please enjoy the pretty pictures of my family and homemade petit fours. (Mark helped me with the fondant glaze and Paige made the rosettes.)

Missionary update

Tim is stretching as a Tagalog language missionary in North Shore Vancouver. His companion is fluent in Tagalog, as he was born in the Philippines, but moved to Canada many years ago. Tim is using his piano and organ skills in choir, sacrament meeting, and Primary. He lives in a basement apartment in the stake president’s home. I try to keep track of those who take good care of the missionaries, and in this area, the Oro family really stands out. I am thankful for them! He goes into the city often because that is where they can find Filipinos, and there is a lot of driving involved. Also, they are trying to get to know the members, as both elders are new in the area. They teach a weekly English class which they are trying to get more people to attend. On Preparation Days, he visits gorgeous places, plays volleyball, does laundry, and calls home.

There is a missionary mom on Tim’s mission Facebook page who sends out a reminder message every Monday, “Mamas, charge up your phones!” because that is the day we get to talk. Lately, we talk for a long time.

Some things that I admire about Elder Ross as a missionary:

  • He speaks positively about his companions.
  • He shows his humor superpowers when things don’t go as planned.
  • He seems to find things to like in everyone he meets.
  • He uses exclamation points in his emails to us, and this just lifts my day!
  • He took up social media even though that is not his jam.
  • He freely expresses gratitude.