Annie's birth, Lucy's bike accident, and Trent and Natalee's start of graduate school, Rach and James' housing, marked the end of the summer and the period of some great stress for everyone. It was and is a time of fasting and fervent prayer. We are grateful Lucy has recovered so well and that Annie is gaining weight.
Just recently Lucy has learned she has been accepted to Vienna study abroad, and G & K will go to the Washington seminar.
On Labor day weekend, we went to Phoenix to celebrate Dwayne and Maurine's 60th wedding anniversary. It was wonderful to be with all the family, including many Larsens and many friends and ward members. There are so many of us who have been affected by the faithful lives of Dwayne and Maurine--and we are only the living ones. There are many on the other side as well. I enjoyed going to Steve and Brookie's home, and to the celebrations at the churches. The Williams girls did a great job planning all the food and decor. It was wonderful to stay at Karen and Paul's and get caught up on their lives and with the boys. I do love my Williams family.
The next weekend we went to Hill Field to hear grandpa give his "Candybomber" talk. Ryan had arranged for that at the chapel. We love to hear the talk!
Joy Reish and her mother, Joyce came to Utah and stayed a week at Wolf Creek in Ogden canyon. I was able to join them for two nights and have a good visit there. Joy has Lymes disease and is not at all herself. I hope she can find some treatments that will help her. She has had many difficult times in her life.
I enjoyed the Relief Society broadcast with Lucy and Kassie. I especially liked Elder Uchtdorf's talk to the women about being kind to ourselves. His bright attitude and encouraging ways are healing balm. He seems really tuned in to what women need to hear. It is wonderful to spend time with these young women whenever I can. I like sitting by Greg and Kassie in church and seeing them whenever we can. I feel so happy around them and feel that they are so good for each other. They look happy and I'm excited to see where their lives will go.
General conference at the end of the month was so uplifting and testimony building. I always feel stronger and want to do better after hearing conference. I am so exceedingly grateful for all those who work very diligently to prepare, then to present such an undertaking. We are so richly blessed in many ways. It was fun to have a girl's night with Kassie, Abi, Logan and Lucy when the boys were at Priesthood.
In September I enjoyed some days of driving to SLC to help with Elsie and Ruby while Nicki went to the hospital to spend time with Annie. This is a very stressful time for their family and I feel good to be able to help if possible. Knowing when and how to help has been a learning experience for me too. We look forward to the nightly updates to know how Annie has fared that particular day.
I feel I am really examining priorities and decisions right now as we move toward a phase of having more of our children move away. We are in the process of changing our stake YW presidency. I will stay, Emily Avery will stay to be camp director, but I will get a new counselor and a new secretary. I don't know for sure when that will happen. I pray for the right thing to happen for everyone. Piano students keep coming and I keep encouraging and trying. This work is full of every kind of emotion.
Particularly meaningful to me was to finish editing and placing photos in the book I've been working on, "Alta Jolley Halvorsen," for the past 10 years. Friday I turned it in to BYU press to have them print a draft and then after making small revisions, I will have them go ahead and print it. It will be hard-bound and will take about 4 weeks to print.
Now the leaves are turning and it is birthday season. We are harvesting in the garden, vineyard, and orchard. We are filling many quart jars with tomatoes, grapejuice, peaches. We are richly blessed. Time to give back is coming in different shapes and forms and I pray for guidance to know how to give back. Life is full and good and I have a feeling and a testimony of the Lord's caring and presence in my life.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Summer 2011
This summer goes down in history for many reasons. Greg and Kassie were married on August 12th. Everything about the wedding was wonderful. Ryan and Nicki and family welcomed Annie Maurine into this world on August 17th. Her early birth at 28 weeks will change things for some months to come--in fact forever. On that same day as Annie's birth, Lucy had a bicycle crash, which will likely change things for the next while also. She starts her second year and wonders if she will be able to do her Sophomore recital this fall. Trent and Natalee moved to Indiana just before the wedding(s)--Natalee's sister was married too. They begin a whole new life now in Indiana as students--surely they do miss their home in Texas. Abi and Brian are raising their active little boy, Logan, who learned to crawl and now stands up in his crib. They are considering buying a home and selling their condo. Life is adding on and on.
Something unusual about this summer is that we didn't go on an extended trip. David and I went to Delta and surrounding area the first weekend in June with the Utah History Association and visited the Japanese internment camp and Wheeler Peak. The other activity for me was to go to YW camp at Mia Shalom on July 12th. David came and stayed one night to help out as a Priesthood holder.
Another reason for notability was that Rachael and boys came to Utah and stayed with us for about five weeks starting about July 9th, just before YW camp, while James finished his Master's degree. They left after the wedding, on August 15th. Since Nicki was on bedrest, then started her five-week stay in the hospital, Rachael spent some time there with her boys taking care of many children. We also had turns with Ryan and Nicki's children while Ryan stayed in the hospital with Nicki. Abi and Logan came to visit quite a bit. Trent and Natalee and family arrived before Greg and Kassie's wedding so we had quite a full house. One night we had three tents in the back yard, and Ruby slept in our shower in her pack-and-play. We had the four oldest grandchildren sleeping on the floor of our living room for many nights, the three younger ones were up in the bunk bed room. George and Rachael were in the northwest room. It was cousin heaven around here for a while. We had all of our children and grandchildren here except for Nicki.
Probably one of my favorite activities with the grandkids was to go to the Pioneer Park celebration on Pioneer day in Provo. It was fun going with them to the pioneer village and riding in the covered wagon. I liked helping all the grandkids get dressed up in their pioneer clothes. We cooked a lot of food, went to get a lot of food, and cleaned up after eating a lot of food. I enjoyed being around Rachael. She is very capable in so many ways. I don't know how she keeps it up. She provides all good things for her children.
I did miss Nicki so much while everyone was together. It is different without her and her pleasant and interested conversation. I missed knowing how she was doing and thinking of her in the hospital made me feel quite sad. However, I was at the same time grateful that she had such good care. Now little Annie is receiving fine care there too. Another sadness for me was that Ryan and Nicki's children stopped calling me "Nana Bean." Somehow everything is different after this difficult summer with Nicki in the hospital.
We begin a new season now with BYU starting and school beginning. Both Elsie and Millie are starting school for the first time. I hope and pray their teachers will be interested in them and love them and all the children. It is a beginning time of figuring out trips to Salt Lake helping Ryan and Nicki, time with the harvest, with Lucy, thinking of all our children and grandchildren, with Stake YW, with music and piano, with my extended family, with David's extended family.
Things uppermost occupying my mind are all the above. I am reading quite a lot in the New Testament and have found that I really love knowing more about what Jesus says and does. For example, when Judas comes to betray Him, He says, "Friend, whyfore art thou come?" It represents to me the way Jesus can have us look into ourselves to see our true motives. I love to study what he says to the Pharisees and how he answers questions. There are a lot of times where in the scriptures it says something about how "astonished" people are at the doctrine.
Yes, it was a crazy, chaotic, and exhausting summer. It probably won't stop too soon. Probably a good thing to do at this point would be to focus back into good exercise and eating habits along with more sleep. We've seen many miracles and blessings in spite of some challenging times. We've seen the Lord's hand, many tender mercies, simple gifts, and glimpses of joy.
Something unusual about this summer is that we didn't go on an extended trip. David and I went to Delta and surrounding area the first weekend in June with the Utah History Association and visited the Japanese internment camp and Wheeler Peak. The other activity for me was to go to YW camp at Mia Shalom on July 12th. David came and stayed one night to help out as a Priesthood holder.
Another reason for notability was that Rachael and boys came to Utah and stayed with us for about five weeks starting about July 9th, just before YW camp, while James finished his Master's degree. They left after the wedding, on August 15th. Since Nicki was on bedrest, then started her five-week stay in the hospital, Rachael spent some time there with her boys taking care of many children. We also had turns with Ryan and Nicki's children while Ryan stayed in the hospital with Nicki. Abi and Logan came to visit quite a bit. Trent and Natalee and family arrived before Greg and Kassie's wedding so we had quite a full house. One night we had three tents in the back yard, and Ruby slept in our shower in her pack-and-play. We had the four oldest grandchildren sleeping on the floor of our living room for many nights, the three younger ones were up in the bunk bed room. George and Rachael were in the northwest room. It was cousin heaven around here for a while. We had all of our children and grandchildren here except for Nicki.
Probably one of my favorite activities with the grandkids was to go to the Pioneer Park celebration on Pioneer day in Provo. It was fun going with them to the pioneer village and riding in the covered wagon. I liked helping all the grandkids get dressed up in their pioneer clothes. We cooked a lot of food, went to get a lot of food, and cleaned up after eating a lot of food. I enjoyed being around Rachael. She is very capable in so many ways. I don't know how she keeps it up. She provides all good things for her children.
I did miss Nicki so much while everyone was together. It is different without her and her pleasant and interested conversation. I missed knowing how she was doing and thinking of her in the hospital made me feel quite sad. However, I was at the same time grateful that she had such good care. Now little Annie is receiving fine care there too. Another sadness for me was that Ryan and Nicki's children stopped calling me "Nana Bean." Somehow everything is different after this difficult summer with Nicki in the hospital.
We begin a new season now with BYU starting and school beginning. Both Elsie and Millie are starting school for the first time. I hope and pray their teachers will be interested in them and love them and all the children. It is a beginning time of figuring out trips to Salt Lake helping Ryan and Nicki, time with the harvest, with Lucy, thinking of all our children and grandchildren, with Stake YW, with music and piano, with my extended family, with David's extended family.
Things uppermost occupying my mind are all the above. I am reading quite a lot in the New Testament and have found that I really love knowing more about what Jesus says and does. For example, when Judas comes to betray Him, He says, "Friend, whyfore art thou come?" It represents to me the way Jesus can have us look into ourselves to see our true motives. I love to study what he says to the Pharisees and how he answers questions. There are a lot of times where in the scriptures it says something about how "astonished" people are at the doctrine.
Yes, it was a crazy, chaotic, and exhausting summer. It probably won't stop too soon. Probably a good thing to do at this point would be to focus back into good exercise and eating habits along with more sleep. We've seen many miracles and blessings in spite of some challenging times. We've seen the Lord's hand, many tender mercies, simple gifts, and glimpses of joy.
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