Surgery

Larry is now counting the hours until his surgery which will be sometime on Thursday, the 21st. He is in severe pain. Every Sunday, people come up to me after church and say "Larry is really hurting isn't he?" I admit that he is. The strain shows on his face, especially as he sits on the stand. but that shouldn't be a problem, because he will hopefully be relieved of the pain and the bishopric! Not that we are celebrating that fact, we have loved this ward and the people we are surrounded by, but it was announced in church on Sunday that our stake is once again being shuffled. It was done approx. 5 years ago and our ward was left untouched at that time. However, the bishop has said there will be big changes. So, I'm thinking new callings. Larry is hoping for the library! Me? I just got a new calling, but we will probabaly be in a different ward, so I am up to anything(except choir director, the only calling that made me physically ill for the 2 1/2 years I had it).

Hurray!

It's a GIRL! I am so EXCITED for Heather and Jeff and the boys!

The boys have been saying since day one(at least Easton has)that it is a girl. You know I really do believe that the veil is very thin until the time when children can clearly communicate their thoughts and feelings with us. I say this because of an experience we had with Amy when she was very young......

I was pregnant with Amy in the winter of 1983/84. Larry's grandmother, Rose Elizabeth Knight passed away in her early 90's in December of 1983. I loved Grandma Knight and if we would have had another girl, I would have pushed for the name Eliza Rose(Eliza for my Grandma Boyes and Rose for Grandma Knight). I know old-fashioned. Anyway, she was not alive when Amy was born. When Amy was about 3 years old, we were sitting reading stories when she told me about how she used to sit on Grandma Rose' lap. Now you have to understand that Grandma was not someone that we talked about after she died, so it wasn't as tho that info would have been in her head. We could never remember talking about grandma, let alone "Grandma Rose". We always called her Grandma Knight. I truly believe that Amy had some experiences with Grandma Rose in the short time (2 months) that They may have had the opportunity to be together in Heaven. I am grateful for my knowledge of our premortal life and our Postmortal life and the continuation of family from Heaven to the Earth to Heaven. Families can be together FOREVER!

Book Review 4 These is My Words.....

is a wonderful love story. The voice of this book is amazing. This is the story of a young girl who is raised in the Arizona territories and spends her married life in the area. The hero of this book is wonderful, the romance sweet and the heroine is strong, down to earth and innocent to love. She is very uneducated to start, but loves reading and educates herself with her reading. As she first begins to write(it's written in journal form), her writing and her language are very rough. She finds a library of books(deserted on the side of the trail in a wagon) which become her education and as she reads more, her language and her writing change. She is a very strong woman. This book is based on memoirs and journals of the author's family. As you read the book you realize that this all couldn't have happened to one woman. The details which she writes of every day life are amazing and make you realize how very hard life was in the frontier of our country as people settled where no one had been before and built from nothing. There are some wonderful scenes in the book and some very heartwrenching scenes. This was my choice for our book group, Books Without Borders, for the month of February. An enduring Love Story. We had a wonderful discussion about the indomitable spirit of the woman, Sarah and her struggles in this 20 year period. This is a great read!

The Sunflower, Part 2

Wow! In rereading, I was quite harsh about this book, but still over all, must say it was a good book, but not a keeper or a reread. Quite light and "heartwarming" as they say on the book. But, having found my copy, I did want to post some of the insights that were given as quotes from Paul's journal as chapter headings.

"American culture is a curious thing. We fret over a sport star's twisted ankle or the ill-fated marriage of celebrities, yet lose no sleep over a hundred million children living in the streets."
(Britney Spears, Anyone?)

"A patient once told me that a trip to the mall was twice as effective as Prozac."
(I believe in and practice retail therapy!)

" The surest way to minimize your own burdens is to carry someone else's."

" Today I heard an American teenager comparing her deprivation to that of our children, because her aprents would only buy her a used car. There are none so impoverished as those who do not acknowledge the abundance of their own lives."
I think I see this everyday. We just don't realize how blessed we are to live in this country, to have the food that we need, a warm place to live, we all have great healthcare(speaking of those I know), we all have the opportunity to do what we want with our lives, the right to vote, the right to express discontent with our lives and our government. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the blessings He gives me. I try to make my evening prayers those of gratitude.

And Finally.....

"I have come to believe that the only true way we can serve God is to serve His Children."
Mosiah 2:17 "Behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

So, although it wasn't a book I would pick, nor a book I will read again, it did have some nuggets in it, which to me says you can find good in many things, if you look for it.

Book Review 3

My Third book was one I began while I was in Pocatello. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I have already given it away, so can not go into too many details with names and such. This was a compelling book in some ways, I can see why it is still a very controversial book. Although it points out the evil of slavery(moral, physical, etc.) it also treats the slaves ( or the slave population) as a bunch of children that need direction. Tom was one that embraced Christianity and touched the lives of a family he is sold to, the St. Clairs. He has the simple faith that I admire. He shows great love for those around him, no matter his circumstances. I see a great good vs. evil in this book with the evil of slavery juxtaposed with the love of Christ as manifested by Tom. There are 2 different story lines that I followed. Tom and the young couple who escaped, Eliza, George and their son. I do, however, have to admit that there were pages that I skimmed and pages that I completely skipped because they were sooooo wordy. When she started her explanations about the evils of slavery, I read it once but could not read it over and over. This was a point that she made very often in her writing of the action of the book. There were two points in the book where characters made very long speeches about it.

One of the most disturbing things about this book was the actions of Tom's original owner, who, because he was in debt and had property, had to sell property. He chose his most trusted slave, Tom, who had a family of his own and Eliza's child. So although Tom was a trusted and valued member of the household, in the end he was still property. So although gentlemen slaveholders wanted to think they were better than men such as Simon LeGree, they weren't.

This was a serialized book, released a chapter at a time and so I thought there was lots of details. Her writing style reminds me of Charles Dickens.

I am glad that I have finally read this book, more to say that I have (I can check it off my list)than because I enjoyed it. I would recommend it as a small way to gain knowledge of the slave trade and plantation life. I have begun reading another book which I believe will be a more through examination of the topic Slaves In The Family by Edward Ball.

Book Review 2

Wow Am I behind!

The Sunflower by Richard Paul Evans............. I have to admit I am not a fan of Evans' books(or for that matter Nicholas Sparks or Mitch Albom or a host of other authors that have one successful book and continue to play off that success with other books that are often the same. This is the story of two characters running away from their past. One(Paul) had been at it a little longer than the other. They meet in Peru while doing charity work at The Sunflower, an orphanage for street children. I think that Paul was a good character, but I had no sympathy for the female character. The most enjoyable part of the book for me was the captions and quotes from Paul's Journal that were at the beginning of each chapter.