Borrorwed from my Niece

A few weeks ago my niece posted this mem onher blog. I thought it was fun so I'm doing the same.

*Who eats more: Probably me. She lost a ton of weight over the last while and is looking really good.

*Who said I love you first: Me; I fell in love with her first

*Who is smarter: Definitely her

*Who does the laundry: She does it more often than me

*Who does the dishes: That’s probably even

*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: How do you tell? If you stand at the bottom and face the bed, she sleeps on the right.

*Who mows the lawn: Isn’t that one of the things kids are for?

*Who cooks dinner: She probably does it a little more often than me.

*Who drives when you are together: Usually me

*Who kissed who first: Both; it was just after we’d agreed we would get married. But before we were officially engaged.

*Who asked who out first: I asked her out on our first date. Took me half an hour

*Who has more siblings: She does

*Who wears the pants: We both make the decisions

*Who is funnier? Schwarzebeere says Mom is funniest but that he is funnier than both of us combined.

They're Here!!!

Heidlebeere and her little baby came to see us! Here she is seven weeks, almost two months old and we're finally getting to see and hold our newest grandbaby for the first time. Incredible. That's the down side of have your kids live so far away. Oh, well. It sure is nice to have them here.

What a cute little girl!

This kid has a grandmother that is totally enjoying have this little baby here. I had forgotten how small a little infant is. She is so tiny.

Everybody was enjoying the little kid.

Band Concert

Maulbeere had a concert at school Thursday. She was in the first band that played. First the whole band trooped in. Can you see her?

They sounded pretty good. Her concerts are getting much better than when she was in the younger bands.

She always says she's nervous before these things start. But when she gets there and into it she settles down and does a good job. The band sounded real nice.

A Sunday Thought

When I see the words “command” and “evil” in the scriptures I think how modern society has vilified these words to make them more harsh than they really are, or at least than they originally were. As you read the scriptures, almost every time we get council from the Lord it is in terms of a commandment. You seldom see a softer word used. But you can frequently tell from the context, and you know from your other study of the character of the Lord, that He does not generally use it in harshness. He sometimes might be pleading with us to accept what He’s offering but could still use the word “command”. He commands us to be happy and accept what He offers us and many of us are repulsed at it simply because of the word “command”, forgetting why we came here. Makes you wonder if the adversary has worked to give that word its repulsive connotation in our time. Especially in American society where so many of us think we’re being individualists as we wear the uniform of our chosen life style and persona. “Evil” is much the same way. We all know and readily recognize that “no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God.” That means a little bit of disobedience will keep you out just as effectively as a horribly gross amount of wickedness. So when the Lord says we are evil, He’s not calling us horrible or incredibly wicked. He’s just acknowledging that we are disobedient enough to be disqualified. Thank goodness for the Atonement! This incredible gift is from a Very Special Person who knew from the start we would need help getting back and has provided a way.

"How great the wisdom and the love
That filled the courts on high
And sent the Savior from above
To suffer, bleed, and die!

"His precious blood he freely spilt;
His life he freely gave,
A sinless sacrifice for guilt,
A dying world to save.

"By strict obedience Jesus won
The prize with glory rife:
"Thy will, O God, not mine be done,"
Adorned his mortal life.

"He marked the path and led the way,
And every point defines
To light and life and endless day
Where God's full presence shines.

"How great, how glorious, how complete,
Redemption's grand design,
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!"

Eliza R Snow

A Most Glorious Event

Want to see something fantastic? Take a look at my new grandbaby!

Heidelbeere's first child. She did pretty good for the first time, eh? One cute little girl.

The happy Mom. . . . .

The proud Dad!

A miracle, very nice indeed.

Sitting in her great-grandmother's lap. Thanks to the parents for making these photos available so quickly!

Sunday Scripture

And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure until the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.
I Nephi 13:37

Big Snow

Well, winter is finally here and it came in a big way. The storm started last Tuesday night and kept up until Thursday. These pictures are from Wednesday mid-morning.

I got stuck in the end of the drive-way, where the plow had turned the snow into our drive=way. They won't let you just shovel it back out into the street. How is that fair? Anyway, I didn't hit the pile hard enough going thru it and got stuck. Fortunately there were those to help push me out. School had been cancelled Wednesday so I got some help.

Couple of things around the yard, with snow piled deep. We got about 11 inches by mid-morning Wednesday. Then the snow quit falling quite so hard.

So after all the work was done and the drive-way, deck and steps were clear: Hot Chocolate and Cookies!! Yay!! 'Course, we had to make the cookies first but nobody minded that. Some times its a contest around here to get them baked before the dough gets all snitched away. Popular stuff!

Sunday Scriptures

And now I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed? Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord - I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission pf their sins, I Say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God. For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed? Yea, and are not the prophets, ever one that has opened his mouth to prophesy, that has not fallen into transgression, I mean all the holy prophets ever since the world began? I say unto you that they are his seed. And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: thy God reigneth?
Mosiah 15:10-14

A Good Worker

This summer has provided plenty of opportunity for service for our kids. Himbeere has been real good about going and helping for pretty much all of it. The Stake had a service project for the quarterly activity earlier in the summer. Out west of the stake house a ways is a garden park where the stake youth put in a good Saturday's work pulling weeds, moving bark and generally doing spring clean up.

That one had some perks that Himbeere didn't object to at all. He has a way of working his way into the cushy-jobs but he still gets the work done.

A few weeks later there was an eagle service project for one of the other boys in the troop. They removed an old boat house that had fallen down and was a real eye-sore. That day it was all rainy and a little cool but he still was there, working along until the work was done.

A little later there was another eagle service project. This time they were splitting logs and building a rail fence. Himbeere got some experience running a post-hole digger. Heavy machinery? Maybe not, but they got the job done.

The batteries on my camera died before it was all done so we didn't get any pictures of the finished product but it was a pretty nice looking fence.

Just last Wednesday the Elders and Young Men went out to the house of one of the members to move firewood for the family. They heat with wood and had been cutting it all out front so it needed to be moved back around behind the house, closer so it wouldn't be such a trek to bring in wood all winter. That one got done after dark. They had a generator and lights and all but we didn't end up getting any pictures.

Then this morning the troop had arranged to help out a retired guy who had some trees across the street from the church that had become diseased so some of them needed to be taken out. All the cutting had pretty much been done before today. The work today was just loading it all up and hauling it off.

He confided in me that he enjoys this kind of physical work. That's a good thing because life is full of it. Himbeere can be a good worker.

Sunday Scripture

"Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times - including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of dispair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to "come unto Christ, and be perfected in him." That phrase - taken from Moroni's final lines of testimony, written 1,000 years after Lehi's vision - is a dying man's testimony of the only true way."
Elder Jeffery R Holland, October Conference, 2009