Big Day for Nathan

Yesterday was a special day in our family. Our grandson, Nathan Thomas Weske was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His father, Jon, performed both ordinances. The room was filled with family and friends that love Nathan. Grandpa Seth and Uncle Jason gave talks. His cousins, Rachel and Elena, sang a special song. It was a wonderful meeting.

It's a thing to ponder--a grandchild eight-years-old and ready for baptism. It doesn't seem that long ago that his mother Sarah, pigtailed with teeth missing, was making that same choice. Where have the years gone?

Afterward, we all changed clothes and headed out to the motel play area where we set up the grill and put together a feast in celebration. Everyone pitched in to make it great, bringing food and drinks and hauling tables and chairs. Ben manned the grill, cooking salmon and burgers. Sarah made sure that we topped it all off with pie and brownies! The weather was perfect and the food was awesome. Boyers and Weskes and friends together enjoyed eating and playing and conversing away the afternoon.....definitely a day to remember.

Congratulations Nathan. We are proud of you. Remember those covenants you made today. Continue to try to be like Jesus. It will bring you joy and peace.

Mikayla

My granddaughter, Mikayla, is spending some time with us this week. Jason and Aubrey have taken advantage of my birthday gift to get away for a few days. We are adjusting to having a toddler in the house.

Mikayla is cute as a bug--only 14 months old and already communicating with noises and hand gestures. She opens her big brown eyes wide and pulls her lips into a round "O", expressing surprise and delight at a variety of events. She loves to have other children around her and is not easily upset by their interaction.

This week we have discovered an allergy (probably penicillin) that has covered her in hives, head to toe. But she remains cheerful and apparently unaware that she is now polka-dotted!

Her favorite activity has been to find, follow, and occasionally "freak-out" the cat. She can even say "kit-cat". It's so cute. He's been remarkably patient about the whole thing and doesn't even run away anymore.

I know it won't be long before Mikayla is grown, a woman with her own child. Time goes so quickly. So, for now, I will enjoy these precious moments with her and delight in the blessing of being a grandma.

(check out cute photos of Mikayla on Jason and Aubrey's site: theboyersblog.blogspot.com)

Life with the Littons

I've been hanging out with the Litton children this week. Melody and Brock took a much needed vacation and I flew out to stay with the kids--a birthday present for the two of them.

After my first couple days with the whole family, the parents headed out on their adventure and dropped baby Madison off to another home for respite care (Madison is a foster daughter), leaving me with almost-16-year-old Jessica, 4-year-old Braxton and 3-year-old Blake. Though I have Sarah's three boys over on a regular basis, I haven't done much of the full time, sleep-over type babysitting for a while. It took us the first couple days to move into a routine that worked for all of us, but then it was a piece of cake......and really fun......and quite exhausting.

Jessica has been full of excitement and anticipation for her sweet sixteen birthday tomorrow. Every thought is currently tied to that event. She loves to shop. Walmart is her favorite place on earth! She tried in all possible ways to drag me (the confirmed non-shopper) down to the store to buy something--anything. She wanted this and needed that and hoped for this and couldn't live without that. We had a variety of conversations about using your money wisely and not expecting others to spend their money on silly things you want that would mean nothing tomorrow. We ordered her birthday cake, talked about possible activities for the party, looked through all the decorations she's been gathering for weeks, made invitations and invited everyone she knows to come to the party. Getting her to bed tonight will be difficult because she is so excited.

Braxton is currently interested in only two things: Bakugans (the latest transformer type toy) and money (preferably coins). He spends long periods of time spreading out his twelve Bakugans on the floor, opening them up into their "transformed" state and admiring them. He keeps the money he's earned or found in a backpack and will regularly pull the coins out and put them on the floor in front of him, counting each piece. It doesn't yet matter whether it's a penny or a quarter, each is just one. But at any given time he can tell you exactly how many coins he has collected.

Blake is a loving, giving, teddy bear jammed into a wildly energetic body. He loves hugs and kisses and "I love yous". He'll eat and drink about anything, but especially loves Popsicles. He'll share whatever he has, but will not be left out. He wants his turn. He likes to play rough, and hard and fast. But he also enjoys "shows" and stories and songs. He missed baby Madison and regularly asked if I missed her, too. He kept close track of how long it was until his parents would be coming home.

Madison is adorable. She is growing quickly and has left behind most signs of her very premature birth. She has beautiful skin and a charming smile. Her eyes are big and dark brown
and she has the tiniest feet! She loves to be held and in the middle of things. Her favorite spot is cuddled in the sling on Melody's chest. She fits right in to this unique, welcoming, loving family. They all hope it's forever.

So Melody and Brock are back and Madison, too. They had a good time and were ready to come home. We were all glad to see them. We attended church together and shared the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be a big day for Jessica and I'll be here to watch it all happen, helping out where I can.

Then Tuesday I'll fly home. I'm so glad to have come and shared a few days of life with the Littons.

Afternoon on the River

Seth agreed to take some friends rafting on the Snake River last Friday. He suggested I come along this trip and leave Mariah in charge of the motel (a kind of trial run for this week while I'm in Tennessee). We pumped up the rafts and gathered up all the other essentials, like life jackets and oars and buckets and sun screen and food and water. He gassed up the truck and replaced a flat tire. I made breakfast and helped clean motel rooms. Together all those coming along (the two of us, Tom Nielson and his family, Jordan and Andrew) loaded the rafts onto the trailer and piled in the rest, strapping it all down for the trip.

We headed north for nearly two hours and up the hill to the best spot to launch, leaving Tom's van at the bottom and piling everyone in the truck for the last eight miles or so. We unloaded everything by the river and parked the truck and trailer nearby to be retrieved later. Most of those with us were new to river rafting. There was some hesitancy, even fear, in their eyes.

Tom, Carolyn, their three kids and Seth and I climbed into a big silver raft we've owned for years (we purchased two of them already well-used from some Grand Canyon river guides). Seth manned the oars. Jordan and Andrew, young and adventurous, opted for the smaller green raft and took up the two paddles, quickly learning how to make their way out into the current. We pushed off and were on our way.

You couldn't have picked a more beautiful day. It was warm and sunny with a nice breeze as we floated along. A cloud would hide the sun occasionally, giving us some relief from the direct sunlight. The water was COLD, but the heat from the sun evaporated it quickly away from the skin after the inevitable showers in the white water.

There were many others on the river in a variety of rafts, boats and kayaks, too. Some were with guides who run the river several times a week. Others were in smaller groups or families. There was a camaraderie among us all. We had common purposes and motives, common hopes and fears, common enjoyment and relaxation.

At one point we stopped for a picnic on the shoreline. The kids jumped in, enjoying the cold water and then the hot rocks. We headed out again rolling with the current and feeling a "rush" at the rapids.

There was a place with a cliff above a very deep spot in the river that was unofficially designated for jumping in. Several boats stopped and a variety of people climbed up and jumped the 15-30 feet (depending on how high you climbed) into the cold water and swimming to shore. Jordan, Andrew, Jessica and Riley all jumped--twice!

The afternoon passed quickly and even Carolyn left her fears behind and enjoyed the time. The take out spot was too soon in sight. We pulled the boats out and waited for Seth and Tom to drive up and get the truck and trailer. The clouds began to roll in. Just as we finished loading up the now deflated boats and other equipment, it began to rain. We piled into the vehicles and headed for home.

The adventure was over. But the memories will forever be with us of a perfect afternoon on the river.

My Garden

I'm starting to really enjoy the fruits of my labor in my little garden. I am harvesting spinach, peas, radishes and zucchini. There are blossoms and small green fruits on the tomato and squash plants. The carrots and beets show promise of a fall harvest. The sunflowers are reaching upward along the wall. The flowers have spread out to fill in the empty spaces and are blossoming in a great variety of colors and shapes. My trees (at least the ones in the garden) are growing into REAL trees instead of twigs. There are less weeds and rocks surfacing. I am basking in the beauty of it all.



Isn't it amazing the joy and satisfaction that can come from a little bit of work, a few seeds, some sun and rain, and the good brown soil. I find myself regularly looking out over the garden from the great room just to smile and nod in pleasure. And yet I am still surprised every time I walk into the back yard and find this small magic place that I have created. And magic it is, considering the way I have killed every plant I've ever tried to grow inside!

And so I am including a few photos so you can enjoy it too!

Loss and Grief

I just finished reading "Out of the Canyon" by Art and Allison Daily. It tells a remarkable story of loss and grief, hope and love. Briefly: Art loses his wife and sons in a freak accident and Allison loses her brother to suicide and her husband to divorce. They assist each other through the grieving process, cultivate a loving relationship, marry and have two sons. All of this is helped along by spiritual experiences involving Art's dead family. Though their experience is unique unto them, their thoughts and feelings, expressed so freely in this book, can be enlightening and inspiring for others as all of us face tragedy and death and loss.

Some thoughts I was drawn to from their book:

"...if an empty space of this dimension suddenly appeared in a forest, I know that nature would fill it with as much lushness and beauty as it could. It's the immutable way of our universe when vacuums occur. The human heart seems a lot like that forest. Shatterings are meant to be mended, holes to be refilled. And I believe that God, who created the extraordinary hearts of all beings, intended that they always be full, and that when they are filled with sorrow, an equal measure of joy must be brought forth in order to restore the essential balance of things. This is the magic of hope, the searing heat and glow of our eternal spirit."

"We must put our love into action, for in loving others, we are loving God himself." (Mother Teresa)

"Grief has no rules."

On Angels
(by Czeslaw Milosz)

day draws near
another one
do what you can

They also suggested two books that "are a must have" for those experiencing great loss. "A Grief Observed" by C.S.Lewis and "Only Spring: On Mourning the Death of My Son" by Gordon Livingston. I haven't had a chance to find them yet, but look forward to seeing what they have to offer.

I'm not, of course, going through any particular grief at this point in my life. I do think, however, that we should be armed with what ever tools we can gather to prepare ourselves for that eventuality. For everyone faces loss, and grief is a universal human experience. When that day comes, may we all find our way "Out of the Canyon" and back into the light of love and joy.

Thinking

I like to think.

I like to sit somewhere quiet and let my mind wander, settle on something and ponder. I like to imagine that I'm the first person to think those thoughts, though I know I'm not that original. I like to think about my family, my habits, my work, my world. I like to think about possibilities and probabilities. I like to think about other people, other nations, other places, other lifestyles. I like to think about spiritual things, personal and sacred ideas that motivate me and inspire me. I like to create things in my mind--food, crafts, gardens, quilts, photographs, gadgets, stories, businesses, vacations. I like to plan for weekly jobs to be done, trips to be taken, lessons and assignments to be completed. I like to review the past and take from it lessons to help my today and tomorrow. I like to visualize the future--my trees grown, the house/motel completely finished and business booming, children all settled and grandkids growing, Seth and I in some foreign land teaching the gospel together.

Boyd K Packer once said, "Thoughts are talks we hold within ourselves." It is common knowledge that I like to talk. So I suppose it is natural that I would like to think, have talks with myself.

I believe that if we can't think it, we can't do it. If we can't think it, we can't believe it. If we can't think it, we can't become it. So, I think....and I like to think.