Sunday, October 11, 2015

8 Hour Spiritual Feast

I like to learn. I like to watch TED talks while folding laundry and talk radio while driving. I like to gather good information from all sources. Nothing is more inspiring and more a feast of spirituality for me than LDS General Conference. 
 I LOVED it this year!
This year, as is tradition,  my niece and her little family came down to visit. We went to Christensen's Department store and everyone picked out their favorite candy to share while watching talks on TV.
We also have a vegetable tray, fruit, and cheese and crackers. But, who cares about that. 


For these guys it's all about the candy!! 

You know something's up when it's too quiet. We caught this kid a couple of times--the best was under the ping pong table feasting on the entire tray of candy. What a happy, secret, world he was living for a minute...



Shenanigans during conference. Dad is "stair patrol" for those who think they can grab a handful of candy and skedaddle.
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As I mentioned, I LOVED Conference. I gleaned so much. Here are a few of the gems that spoke to me personally and didn't the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing amazing, "Come, Come Ye Saints."

What lack I yet?  Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion  The gospel is so simple, a child can understand, yet so complex it would take more than a lifetime to completely comprehend. You are rich if you can live happily within your means/avoid debt. We marry potential not perfection. A mother's love is the closest example to Jesus' love for us. The world fights for children's identity and mind. We must win this fight. This calling is not about me. It is about the Lord and his work. When you get an impression, DO IT!! Women are distinct and different than women of the world in happy ways. PONDERIZE weekly. The Lord gives us commandments because he LOVES us. Obedience is our expression of love toward HIM. When you can't do what you've always done, you only do what matters most. FAMILY is the center of life and the key to eternal happiness.



Pumpkins

Our annual trip to the Pumpkin patch after conference was a success.
How could it not be with Golden fields dotted with ripe orange pumpkins and being together as family in the crisp fall air.



We took the first hayride out and got busy treasure hunting for pumpkins.


Pumpkins make great props!


If you don't have grit in your teeth, you haven't been aboard the dusty train ride. 

Spinning around redneck style while the storm clouds gather. 

Fiery Fall


Fall is amazing. I think it's a perfect example of how God created this world with beauty and variety. 
We took a Sunday afternoon walk through the woods 20 minutes away. 




We took our traditional fall foliage photos. Josefine from Norway was pretty impressed by the fall colors. She said brown was the only fall color she remembers seeing in her woods. 

Goodbye Uncle

My dad's only sibling passed away this week. I attended his funeral in Provo, UTAH.
The most tender thing was watching all the grand kids and great grand kids as they sobbed near the casket of their loved one. They were going to miss him so much. He was truly a part of their lives. 


Burial took place at the Provo City Cemetery. It was a beautiful sunny day but not hot. The view of the mountains was amazing.

Like my dad, my uncle served in the Army during the Korean War. Because my dad was a good typist, he was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany doing office work for the war. He maintained close friendships with those whom he served up until he died. My uncle's war experience was very different. He was in Korea, building prison camps, bridges, and doing other hard work on the front lines. The military played taps and did the special flag folding ceremony which they then gave to his wife. 


My dad and my uncle grew were a lot alike. They both played sports, knew how to farm and garden, had an idyllic childhood in a small town where their dad was a teacher. When they grew up, they married very different women, and their family lives were very different.

Pictured are all my cousins, including their Indian foster-child. They are all each other's best friends and supporters. Living within 30 minutes of each other and their parents they are always the first ones to help each other. They are quick to say, "I love you" to each other and give a hug. They get together every Sunday for dinner.


Pictured in the foreground are the graves of my dad and both his parents. 
Of my dad's family, all his children live on opposite sides of the country, West Coast and East coast, with a couple of us in Utah. We used to gather once a year for a reunion and after my parents' passings' we don't even do that. Our family valued more adventure, travel, and fun than family closeness. One example of this was from the remarks  at the funeral. My uncle had a bucket list and on it was the wish to go skydiving. His son, told regretfully, that he had never accomplished it probably due to the fact that the family including his wife thought that would be a terrible idea. They even threatened to hide his keys if he pursued it. 
I found this somewhat amusing as seated next to me was my sister who has been skydiving 4 times and my brother who basically did this for a living on the SEAL team. On the other side of my was my 12-year old, who accompanied me, and on the drive up had told me how much she wished to go skydiving. 

Here is my skydiving sister and me (yet to try that) next to our dad's grave. I am sure he with his brother and parents are so happy to see each other again. 

My mom was cremated, so we don't have a grave to visit. Her remains were spread just this year in the ocean at Dana Point by her grandchildren. I'm okay with that, I think. That was much more her style anyway.  Conveniently located in the same cemetery are her parents.
I've been to a lot of funerals in my relatively young life. This one in particular really brought home the value that my uncle lived "family is everything." My cousins and I made a pact to do better at keeping in touch. Well, they are already pretty darn good at that but now they're going to be adding us to their gatherings.