MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOUR FAMILY ~ FROM THE 9 FAMILY

 

Each year our family looks forward to receiving the Christmas letters, cards, and photos from each of you, and we happily share our own. It is the time of year we all reconnect and we love that feeling. Thank you for sharing yours with us!

Our family has been blessed yet again another year. Like you, we’ve had our share of home runs, curve balls, and outs, but as take time to look back we see how each has been a blessing to us. We are grateful for this crazy adventure called life! It has been our greatest teacher.

Bob’s news is that he started a new job. After working for his previous company for many years, he was blessed with a “new and improved” job as Regional Manager-Southwest, Endpoint Operations for a AmerisourceBergen. He loves this new opportunity and the people he is working for. He was content and blessed with his Concentra job, but as he prayed and sought the Lord’s guidance, this was the direction he felt he needed to go. We found out just a couple of weeks later that it was indeed a blessings he switched jobs precisely when he did. So thankful! Another big change for Bob was his being released as the Ward Clerk and being called as the Young Men’s President. He loves these young men, and they love him. He has helped most of them grow from young boys to 18 yr old young men, helped them through Scouting as their Scout Master, and now will get to help  them as YM President. These boys (and Bob) are so happy about this!  It is neat to see the relationship and rapport he has built with them over the years, and I cannot imagine a better man to help usher them into their next phase of life as grown men. Bob also continues to be webmaster for Dallas Millennial Choirs & Orchestras, the choir that Emily sings in, and spends his “spare time” helping and serving others as well as his family, plus catching a bit of Dr Who when he can!

I, Teri, was released as Activity Days Leader after I received a call to be one of the first two Stake Social Media Specialists, creating the new Stake website, Facebook Page, Facebook Group, Twitter, and Google+ Page. It is time consuming and a lot of work, but it is fun, and having served the past 2 1/2 years as Admin. for the Missionary Moms support groups on Facebook for both the Texas Dallas Mission and the California Bakersfield Mission (plus their respective Returned Missionary groups) has given me the necessary know-how to be able to fulfill this calling well. It is amazing how the Lord prepares us ahead of time sometimes for things to come. I also continue to homeschool Emily, serve as Visiting Teaching Supervisor, and have also begun teaching another 3-year round of the “MOA” (Making of America) Class to homeschool teens ages 14+. This is a class on the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Founding Fathers, and the Principles that serve as their foundation. It is an amazing experience and one of my passions in life - to teach the rising generation these important truths, so they may help maintain our nation free for the next generation. I first taught it when Jonathan was a teen, and now it is Emily’s turn. This time we have only 17 students, but we have added some side activities such as Focus on The Founders oral presentations before an audience, and Constitution Bowl which is a competition of teams to show the student’s knowledge on the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Founding Fathers. Family and friends are invited to attend these and they turn out to be a lot of fun.

 

Jonathan is returned home after serving an honorable 24 month mission in the California Bakersfield Mission! A very emotional experience! To say he had ups and downs, and experiences that tested, tried, strengthened, and enlarged him would be an understatement. He grew to love the Mission President, the missionary companions and friends, and the people he served and taught there. It has been one of the greatest blessings of his life, while coming home and leaving it behind has been one of the hardest things in his life. He misses it and thinks about his mission daily. He is still learning to adjust to “civilian life” post-mission, though he’s been doing well at it, and he hopes to return to the mission to visit sometime in early 2016.  A highlight for him was being able to go to Michigan where he surprised Elder Peterson by being at the airport when Elder Peterson walked off the plane having completed his own mission! Shortly after that, Jonathan's mission Trainer, Elder Norton, came and spent a couple of days with us while he competed in The Texas Titan Challenge.  Jonathan began working full time as an IT helper for Apple Orthodontix, which covers all their offices in the Dallas area, and also restarted his university studies with the Pathway program through BYU-Idaho. This is an On-Line general studies program that includes attending the local Institute of Religion class. He has loved it so far and will continue with the three-semester program. Once he completes that, he plans on transferring up to BYU-Idaho full time. At least that is what we hear so far. School and work keep him quite busy, but he manages to squeeze in some social time with family, friends, and even some dating!  We love having him home for a few months before he really flies the coup. He was sorely missed the two years he was serving his mission and we are really, really happy to have him home for Christmas this year!

Welcome home, Elder Nine!
(Click the photo collage to see the homecoming video - 10 min.)

 

Surprise & Welcome Home, Elder Peterson!  Thanks for being one awesome Missionary companion!

 

 Mi casa es su casa, Elder Norton! Thanks for being one awesome Missionary Trainer!

 

Starting out the holidays right - Star Wars VII with friends!

 

Emily is 6’ tall now and just turned 14 - which means she can now attend Church dances!  The world has gotten exponentially better! Her birthday just so happened to fall on the day of the big Halloween Dance, so her birthday party was one big “Pre-dance Party”. She continues to homeschool (sort of 8th and 9th grade both), to sing in the Dallas Millennial Choirs & Orchestras, participate in the MOA class as well as provide Community Service (Toys 4 Tots is one of her annual favorites!), take piano lessons, and take classical art lessons, where she was excited to begin to learn oil painting. She got to attend her first "Texas Homeschool Teen Camp" for a few days down near Houston this year which was a highlight for her. She also loves to spend time with family and friends, and in her free time (any little minute she can squeeze in) you’ll find her drawing and sketching. This girl cannot live without art! Emily attended the Young Women’s Summer Camp again this year where she mastered one of her greatest fears:  Her fear of heights! She actually went zip-lining and actually liked it! Proud of her for trying that. Emily is still a big helper to her family, a caring, selfless, and ultra considerate young woman. She brings purity, innocence, laughter, and even deep reflections into our family. She was just as excited as I was to welcome Elder Nine home from his mission!

Dallas Millennial Choirs & Orchestras
(Click HERE or on the image to listen to the choir)

Christmas Concert 2015

Community Service at Toys 4 Tots with friends

One of Emily's first oil paintings

 

At Teen Camp with other Texas homeschoolers

Young Women's Camp (Church group)

She loves it when her Daddy gets to go to Young Women's Camp to help with the sound system (and so does he!)

Jessica has had a rough past few years. This past year saw her in jail, and afterward seeing her diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (“BPD”). You may look it up online by clicking HERE, to see what it’s all about. It has been a very long road for Jessica and our family.  The bottom line is, that just like alcoholism, BPD is something that is life-long, but it is very manageable if the person gets the very specific therapy needed. BPD people can have good lives and relationships. However,  the person must want it badly enough to do the hard work it takes to get there. Time alone will tell if and when Jessica gets there.
    
Orli, our little 2 yr old granddaughter, is a joy for us to have over every Sunday, thanks to Nate (her father) being so gracious about having us in her life. She gets to spend the day here with us, attend church with us, and play with us. She is a blessing and a light in our lives. We just adore her! She is growing up so quick and is talking more and more, so we can now have small conversations with her. She is a lot of fun and we are excited to be able to have her over for Christmas again this year, with her spending the 24th and 25th with us! 

Orli loves to find ornaments on the tree - 

And she's very good at it too!

Some highlights for our family this year: Feeding and helping Missionaries in our ward and area. Since Elder Nine served his mission, we have become acutely aware of how much fun this is and how very much it helps and supports the moms, and missionaries too. We especially love helping them celebrate their birthdays! 

 

 

 

Next, my sister, Eileen, came down to visit us in October and we all got to spend some time with my brother, Billy, too. It had been way too long since the three of us siblings had been together - such a wonderful blessing!

 

Another one was sharing a delicious and special Thanksgiving Dinner with our good friends, the Kozlowski's - we even got to meet Alex, their foreign exchange student from Germany! We love these friends and love spending time with them.

 

And last but definitely not least, a highlight happened in November when my dear friend, Jen Felix, came to the Plano area to spend Thanksgiving with her brother and his family, and we got to spend some time together. it seems our friendship has been a long-distance one for most of the 28 years we’ve known each other, so this was another big blessing!  

 

That about covers it for our family. We managed to survive the 2015 storm season which saw many parts of the DFW metroplex, including Plano, inundated with water within a short few hours of non-stop, pouring-down rain. A week or two of that, and one could almost see fish swimming in the streets! But it was a blessing overall, as we were in bad need of water, and this filled up our lakes again. Another tender mercy from heaven!

 

As we remember our Savior this Christmas and always, we are reminded, as Elder David A. Bednar states, “In every season of our lives, in all of the circumstances we may encounter, and in each challenge we may face, Jesus Christ is the light that dispels fear, provides assurance and direction, and engenders enduring peace and joy. Many of our memorable and enduring Christmas traditions include different kinds of lights - lights on trees, lights in and on our homes, candles on our tables. May the beautiful lights of every holiday season remind us of Him who is the source of all light. 'Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years, Are met in thee tonight.' ("O Little Town of Bethlehem," Hymns, No. 208)”  I love Christmas lights! Perhaps because they remind us of the Light of the world!

 Merry Christmas And Happy New Year!

WHERE CAN WE EACH TURN FOR PEACE?

THANKFUL THE LORD HAS BLESSED US WITH A TRUE PROPHET

1. We thank thee, O God, for a prophet
To guide us in these latter days.
We thank thee for sending the gospel
To lighten our minds with its rays.
We thank thee for every blessing
Bestowed by thy bounteous hand.
We feel it a pleasure to serve thee
And love to obey thy command.

2. When dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us
And threaten our peace to destroy,
There is hope smiling brightly before us,
And we know that deliv'rance is nigh.
We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.
We've proved him in days that are past.
The wicked who fight against Zion
Will surely be smitten at last.

3. We'll sing of his goodness and mercy.
We'll praise him by day and by night,
Rejoice in his glorious gospel,
And bask in its life-giving light.
Thus on to eternal perfection
The honest and faithful will go,
While they who reject this glad message
Shall never such happiness know.

Text: William Fowler, 1830-1865
Music: Caroline Sheridan Norton, 1808-ca. 1877

WHAT IS THE LAW OF THE GOSPEL?

I just finished listening to this. I sought Balm of Gilead for my tired soul and found it. As with other good an marvelous things, I wish to share it here too, with some of my favorite quotes. 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

"Worthiness is honesty. With self, with God, and with Priesthood leaders. Worthiness is faithfully continuing to try as long as positive changes my take."  - Brad Wilcox


"The lie of this generation is: We cannot change.  Not only does that lie deny the upward reach within each one of us, Divinely placed, but it also denies the power of Jesus Christ. Not His existence, but His power in our lives!"  - Brad Wilcox

"At one point we were out boating on a lake and saw.... a group of young single adults, and they looked like they were very happy, with their alcohol, with their immodest swimsuits, with their tattoos, as they laughed and swore. They looked happy! Drunks can appear happy on the surface and in the moment, but the façade soon fades and it is replaced by regret, self loathing, and misery. That's what you see when they're not together with their friends."  - Brad Wilcox

"By refusing to mock that which is sacred and laugh inappropriately our perspective is broadened and we learn to see as God sees."  - Brad Wilcox

"Zion...is where the pure in heart dwell and where there is joy in countenance. By contrast, in hell there are no smiles!" - Neal A Maxwell

"God is the happiest of men. I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my God is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good natured being. He is a jovial person and a beautiful man."  - Heber C Kimball

"The Savior has not had among mortals a more faithful witness, a more obedient disciple, a more loyal advocate than Joseph Smith."  - D Todd Christofferson

"One great burst of effort won't be enough. Only a steady, ever-increasing effort will allow the Lord to take us to higher ground."  - Henry B Eyring


THE LAW OF THE GOSPEL IS:

* Avoid all light mindedness
* Avoid in appropriate laughter (irreverent, too loud, too much, crude, hurtful, etc.)
* Avoid speaking negatively of our leaders - 

     - Neither spirituality nor self-esteem can ever be found in tearing others down

     - Do not allow yourself to feel offended

     - Support our leaders, not blindly but through faith and prayer

* Do not take the Lord's name in vain
     - Do not swear using the Lord's name
     - Why? He wants true disciples to refuse to take His name in
          vain. not only because it is so sacred, but also because it has
          become written upon our hearts.
     - Blasphemy is usually the height of thoughtlessness - literally.

 I love my Savior, and I am so very thankful to have the fullness of the restored Gospel in my life. I can't imagine life without it. It gives my life meaning, fills it with lasting joy even in the midst of heavy trials or down days, it illuminates my path, a light unto my feet in the darkness of the world. It is my comfort and my shield. And it shows me the way back home to my Father in Heaven.

EMPTYING THE NEST IS FOR THE BIRDS

May I just say that I thought growing to be an "empty nester" would be a happy day - after having put in decades of raising kids and sacrificing all for them, I would finally get to focus on my dreams of oil painting, genealogy, etc. I thought it would be easy because I had things I wanted to do!

However, I am finding it is the hardest part of raising kids for me - letting them go. Not that I don't let them go, but that I DO let them go, because it's the right thing.

I don't like it! Not one bit!

I don't like thinking back to when all the messes and noises were being made...In a nostalgic manner.

I don't like thinking that, just as we all do, they will move on, away from Bob and me, away from our family home, and live their own lives, and get involved with their own, their spouses', and their kids' lives and we'll be just the "once in a while" thought of "Oh, maybe we should go visit Grandma and Grandpa". I will no longer be the one they come to when they have bad dreams. I will no longer be the one they talk with late at night, when everyone else is in bed and they have something on their mind or heart or just something exciting to share. I will no longer have to quell fears of "my friends don't like me" or "no one asked me to dance" or "so-and-so was really to me today" or "how do I ask a girl out?" I will no longer have those little opportunities to talk about gospel topics while driving in the car, or here at home, as things in life come up.

I will no longer have someone to run errands for me either! haha.

No sir. I do not like this business of kids growing older and leaving home and building their own lives away from their Mama.

Yes, I'm happy for them. Yes, I'm excited to see what the future holds for them. Yes, I pray like crazy that their spouses of choice will fit in nicely with our family. Yes, I look forward to Christmas with my kids, their spouses, and all their kids here at "Grandma and Grandpa's".

But can't they do all that while staying single, young, and at home still?

They're very selfish creatures, aren't they??

Sniff. I guess I'll go paint, or do genealogy or something like that. Sniff.

 My once-upon-a-time, when we used to have kids that loved going to the zoo when it wasn't "just for little kids"

BEFORE AND AFTER

It just struck me today, the huge contrast of a missionary's face as they leave to enter the (2 yr) mission - full of innocent confidence, thinking they are fully ready for the mission, full of the "fire" to preach the gospel - vs. the missionary's face as they come home from the mission - humbled by great trials, having a greater faith and testimony that was forged in the "fire" of the mission life; meek and much more submissive to the Lord and His will. Leaving as a child and trying to look like an adult. Returning as an adult and feeling like, and having learned more how to be, a spiritual child fully dependent upon the Lord. There is no other experience in this world and life that can provide this intense of a learning curve, like a mission.

I sure love my returned missionary son!

MORMON WOMEN ARE INCREDIBLE!

Whether we are pioneers or not, Mormon women stand out. Not because we climb the corporate ladders, though we certainly have or share of those kind of Mormon women. Not because we win grand prizes either. Mormon women stand out because of our heritage. From birth or via baptism into the "fold", we become one when it comes to service, perseverance, stamina, and charity, which is the pure love of Christ.  I've been around many moons, as they say, and have seen many different types of people and women. I've never met a group of women, that no matter where in the world you go, they are willing to roll up their sleeves and just get to work on WHATEVER it is that needs doing. Volunteering and working and serving others - with absolutely zero thought for self or for reward or payment of any kind - is part of our DNA. I don't mean only the DNA that is inherited, but also the DNA that becomes part of a woman when she joins the church and becomes part of the "body of Christ".

Therefore, when I read this article, by a non-Mormon, about Mormon women and how awesome we are, it caught my eye, and made my heart - not proud, but thankful!  Thankful to belong to such a fabulous organization of and for and by women in the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints! 

Yes... Mormon women, especially our pioneer women, were and still are INCREDIBLE. I have been the beneficiary at their hands many times, and I hope that some of them may yet be beneficiaries at my hands along the way too.

Isn't that what life is really about?  Serving each other. Isn't that what truly brings lasting joy to us, when nothing else can? Serving each other. Isn't that what Heaven is made of?  Serving each other. Yes. That is what Heaven is made of - people who serve each other.

The article starts out:

The consummate author of the Western experience, Wallace Stegner, penned "The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail." He was quite enamored by the “suffering, endurance, discipline, faith, brotherly and sisterly charity” he discerned from the diaries, letters and reminiscences of the early Mormon pioneers. In his introduction for the book, which was published by the University of Nebraska in 1981, he also notes their “human cussedness, vengefulness, masochism, backbiting, violence, ignorance, selfishness, and gullibility.”
Yet he cannot find enough superlatives at the conclusion of his prologue where he writes, “That I do not accept the faith that possessed them does not mean I doubt their frequent devotion and heroism in its service. Especially their women. Their women were incredible.”

... to finish reading it, click HERE.

STATESMANSHIP CLUB OF NORTH TEXAS SPEECH COMPETITION 2014 - "FOCUS ON THE FOUNDERS"

Our Emily participated for the second year in this Speech Competition on the Founding Fathers. Each participant must select a Founding Father from the list provided that year and give a 2 minute, judged speech. There are three adult judges (familiar with the requirements) who serve as voluntary judges. It's a fun event, and the kids learn some interesting facts about interesting Founders!

This year, Emily's speech was on John Hancock.  Her speech is printed below for your enjoyment. (I'll see if my code will created the link! Keep your fingers crossed!)

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DID YOU KNOW I'M AN ANGEL?

 Well... I'm not really.  Far from it! But it sure feels incredible when my grown son says I am!

As previously mentioned, our son, referred to as Elder Nine while being a missionary, is serving a two-year voluntary mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are so proud of him for choosing to do so and for serving with all his heart, might, mind, and strength.  We surely miss him, but we wouldn't want him to be anywhere else, doing anything else, but where he's at and helping to bring others unto Christ if they wish.

Each Monday is the only time he is able to email home. That is the missionaries' "P-day", preparation day, in which to do their personal stuff like shopping, write home, clean the living quarters, etc. Last week my birthday was on Saturday. Elder Nine forgot to mention anything about it in his email. I really wasn't expecting him to remember. Particularly because he had a horrible past 2-4 weeks, and when I say horrible I mean stuff that induced so much negative stress he was feeling ill and had to, well, stay close to the restroom. I can empathize with that kind of stress.  Well, imagine my surprise when on Tuesday, while I was checking my emails, an email from him pops up! He had remembered my birthday and had gotten special permission from the Mission President to email me and wish me a happy birthday for my special (50th!) birthday! I was elated! What a perfect gift for me! :)

His short email, titled HAPPY BIRTHDAY! said:

"I got a couple spare minutes to type this up for you mama!! I LOVE YOU!!! Happy Birthday to my favoritest mama in the whole wide world! :D Thank you for being such an incredible angel of a woman. I dedicate the song "Angels" by Randy Travis to you right now...so go listen to it :) Thank you for being my guide, my example, my friend, and never failing support. There is no love like a mother's love, and especially no love like yours. I love you dearly.

"I have to keep it short...I hope my words are enough even though they are not!"

I could barely finish reading it, as my leaky faucets made my vision blurry. Words every mother dreams of, but never expects, to hear. Here is my payment in full for all the years of raising him and those years of pure H, E, Double Hockey Sticks,  we went through when he was suffering from food behavioral allergies, and we didn't know what was causing it for 3 years (no thanks to the 7 doctors/specialists we took him to! And great thanks to the internet and the God-given intellect to do my own research and find the problem and solution!)

Of course, I immediately opened my iTunes and found the song, which I already had, and listened to it...... and listened to it, and listened to it, and listened to it.... while weaping buckets of tears. Tears of gratitude, tears of love, tears of joy, tears of dreams and hopes being fulfilled, and tears of missing my son and longing to wrap my arms around him and hold him just one more time.

His gift was so beautiful to me, I wanted to capture it somehow, so I could come back to it time and time again as the years go by, and remember this special love. So I decided to make a video of it using pictures of Elder Nine and me throughout his growing up years. I tried to "match" the pictures when I could to the lyrics in some way, or to events that happened in our lives that can be described with the lyrics. So here is the video. It helps me flesh it out when I can share with others, especially with other missionary moms, who fully understand what it's like to send your child out for 2 years, with very little contact, and just entrusting them 100% to the Lord's hands via the Mission President and his wife.  It's not like sending them to college, or any other place. This is sacrificial offering of our children for a love and cause greater than our own... our God, and our brothers and sisters in this world who deserve to be offered the opportunity to come to know their Father in Heaven, how to get back to Him, and the lasting joy and peace that knowledge brings.

I hope you enjoy the video.  Happy 50th birthday to me! One I shall cherish always.

I REALLY MISS ART.... TIME TO PICK IT UP AGAIN

I saw this on the internet while I was looking for something else. Its cuteness factor stopped me dead in my tracks and I couldn't help myself. I HAD to draw it.   Enjoy. ;-)