A Quiver Full

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

OCTOBER 2017

OCTOBER 2017
(this blog contains my weekly emails to my precious family)

WEEK 1 ~ 10/1/2017

What a great week!

1) Weekdays in the Pocono Mountains. That’s Pennsylvania baby.

2) Weekend in Big Pine Key. We were totally wiped out Saturday. Paced ourselves better today. This area was hit hard but folks are returning, getting their power and water back, finding hope, counting blessings — though many are starting over.

3) Caden flew to Argentina!

4) General Conference happened. Missed President Monson, kinda happy for Elder Hales, but feel blessed to hear from 13 prophets, seers and revelators. We read talk summaries. So much to take in. We’ll try one session each evening this week. Which talk taught you the most?

No family birthdays this week.

Stay amazing!

Can you find 4 photos of Lane?

WEEK 2 ~ 10/8/2017

Dear charming chillin’,

This week. It’s a blur. And I’m tired. Oh well.

1) So much so that I’m parading out a dusty lamp that I painted earlier this year.

The skiwampus design is a mapping of all our home addresses. Seeing it now, I wonder why I chose to save it during our recent evacuation. Now that I’ve taken a photo, I can toss it.

2) Ever since I taught seminary I have subscribed to the New Era. I really enjoy reading it. Try it, you’ll like it too.

"How do we find our way through the many things that matter? We simplify and purify our perspective. Some things are evil and must be avoided; some things are nice; some things are important; and some things are absolutely essential.” Elder Andersen

My essentials center around faith in Jesus Christ and my family. I couldn’t be happier to be Lane’s wife, the mother of incredible children and a G’momma. I am a happy lady.

3) My mother shared this great news Saturday. "Dave went to the doctor on Thursday was told he was clear and clean (of cancer)!! So no more treatments til Jan.” Yippy!

4) We saw the first photos of Caden in Argentina. All smiles. Still thin. ;o}

This new week:

I’ll be flying to SLC on the 13th to accept the Gerber’s invitation to babysit darling g’kids while Callie joins Rayson on work detail in Hawaii. They return to SLC on the 22nd. Raylie, Chloe, Sophie and Sadie…get ready to PaRtY! My momma skills are pretty rusty, but this g’ma is finding her groove. Haha.

WEEK 3 ~ 10/15/2017

Fall Felicitations,

1) Life rolls on following hurricane Irma. In the midst of recovery efforts and breaking in our Helping Hands t-shirts I cleaned up to speak at the baptism of one of our young women. My friend Sheryl (mother of 3 and recently divorced) just received permission for her two daughters to be baptized. Lauryn, age 15 is one of our amazing Mia Maids. She is so ready! A great day! Their brother baptized her younger sister, age 10. An elder baptized Lauryn. (Sheryl’s twin is pictured here with 6 of her 9 kids.)

2) Speaking of Elders, we had a near-record number of folks sit down for dinner in HaRV this week. (The all-time record is still held by the Bullocks, July 2017)

3) I am enjoying hugs from the Gerber girls this week while Callie joins Rayson for a week's work detail on the Big Island of Hawaii. At first, Sophie was unsure of her new cuddle-bug.

Straightaway we made 8-day countdown chains. And I embraced the Utah hot cocoa craze, with candy-corn marshmallows.

4) Autumn is chilly in Utah.

5) Two weeks from now we’ll wave goodbye to HaRV (and Florida) and begin driving west in our CR-V. Our little beach house will be one of the hardest home’s I’ve left, but also the easiest to exit.

6) RV’s today are unbelievable. They actually have floorpans with 2 bathrooms, 4 TV’s, residential refrigerators, a freezer in below-storage, solid flooring on slide-outs, a sofa that converts to bunk beds, etc. Lane just wants a simple dimmer switch on my bed lamp. ;o}

7) Only 38 days! Our Thanksgiving plans are in full swing. Watch for more details to embrace (or ignore).

8) My honey joins me in Utah Monday.

Coming soon!

Monday the 16th - Adelaide blows out 4 candles

Friday the 20th - Kim celebrates the anniversary of her birth

Friday the 20th - Maggie will be baptized!

Saturday the 21st - Samie turns 16

Sunday the 22nd - Thomas marks his birthday

WEEK 4 ~ 10/22/2017

Progeny pictorial,

1) Time out with giddy Gerber girls. (Oct 14th until this afternoon) Serious playtime.

2) Maggie gets baptized! Taking hot tubbin' to a new level.

3) Callie & Rayson returned from The Big Island today.

4) We crashed Tom’s birthday dinner — lucky for us!

5) I’ve always felt that I can learn a lot about life at a funeral. I’ve tried to watch the proceedings from Elder Hales funeral, held several weeks ago. So far I’ve not met with success but I’ve been able to read some of the comments made about this remarkable servant of God. Here’s one that I particularly love:

“The titles of men really are not important. If you’re happy doing what you are doing, and if you’re providing for the…needs of your family while getting some satisfaction from your job and you have a few dollars left over, then you’re a rich man.”

6) We selected our next home. After a wonderful week in Utah we fly home tonight to prepare HaRV for trade-in. Saturday we leave him behind and begin driving to Utah via Disney, the Blue Ridge Moutains, and Cincinnati. Our new RV will be ready next February or March.

This coming week…

24th Our 21st anniversary!

25th Josh will be 15

27th Ava celebrates her 11th birthday

WEEK 5 ~ 10/29/2017

Hello heavenly hooligans,

1) it’s been a week of bye-bye gatherings with great folks, usually with good food. (One group of 5 couples finally met after attempting for 1yr. We should’ve moved sooner😆!) Pics are of YW, former seminary students, ward & stake friends. A few neighbors stopped to wave goodbye - one gave us a bible. Sweet Elvia.

2) We stood by helplessly as HaRV was towed out of our RV park without a whimper. A few minutes later we began the 7 hr drive out of Florida only to stop from exhaustion 2.5 hrs later. It’s been a jam-packed week. All our weeks are jam-packed. (Aren’t yours?!) We love it that way!

3) Today...breakfast in Fort Pierce, FL...lunch in Daytona, FL...dinner in Savannah, GA

Tomorrow we tour the Biltmore Estate (over 175,000 square feet of ridiculousness!!!) Then continue on to Cincinnati by Wednesday.

4) Samuel the Lamanite was super human. And Nephi (Lehi’s brother) was master of his universe. Such protective power and control of the weather bestowed upon obedient servants of God! I want to serve well so I can be with you guys in heaven.

This coming week:
Oct 30th Amazing Anissa’s birthday.
Oct 31st Boo 👻
Nov 2nd Jami & Chris Robison’s son arrives. Ta-dah!

Live life intentionally.

We love you forever,

Scatter smiles & sunshine Ü

Momma, Momma C, Carolyn

haP2Bmi@gmail.com

801 499 7994

Saturday, September 30, 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017
(this blog contains my weekly emails to my precious family)

Week 1 ~ 9/3/2017

Sunday bulletin,

1) I can smile again! I wore these 3 yellow temps for 4 1/2 weeks. Tuesday my smile brightened considerably.

2) My cousins’ daughter had her 2nd child. Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate.

3) I've maintained my 'stepping out' 6 out of 7 days each week for 7 weeks. I get electronic confetti when I get 10K steps.

4) Except last Saturday…I sat too long at the Miami Marlin’s game and fell short of my 10K steps. With 10 minutes before midnight Lane pulled off the freeway enroute home and told me to run .7 miles in my heels. I replied with a dirty look.

5) Actually Lane has been teaching me to find some joy in baseball. He took me to 2 games in 6 days. I can name the first 6 batters in the batting line-up. Gordon is my favorite player to watch. And all eyes have turned to GianCarlo Stanton, 52 HR’s. (The record is 62.) Baseball's greatest players have one thing in common. Each one developed the capacity to persevere in the face of chronic failure, abject criticism and occasional humiliation.

6) If you walk upright YOU also need to develop perseverance to succeed in the face of failure and criticism. The rock of our Redeemer is a stable and permanent foundation of justice and virtue. Christ offers the unchanging law of God rather than being held hostage to the wrath of the unpredictable rules of social media. Christ invites us to repent and rise to the gospel standard rather than to pretend there is no right or wrong.

7) How many of you can enjoy NO LABOR on Labor Day?

Today is Jerry & Erin’s 13th anniversary. CONGRATS!

This coming week!

Tuesday - Greg is FREE!!! Monday his belongings will be inventoried in Gunnison. Tuesday he’ll be transported by prison system to Bluffdale where his momma picks him up. That evening he’ll enjoy a steak dinner at a BBQ hosted by the Hills - everyone else will eat bologna sandwiches. Haha. (Nope, they’ll be fed burgers and dogs. And a tasty sheet cake we’ve arranged to have delivered.)

Friday - Justin will be 16 on the eighth. Watch out

Saturday - RayDean continues to get wiser per the anniversary of her birth on the ninth.

WEEK 2 ~ 9/10/2017

Progenitor Pictorial,

1) News of the week!!!!! Greg is FREE!!!

2) Irma happened. During Greg’s party we were packing up and evacuating to Orlando. On Thursday we headed to ~~DisneyWorld~~, er... SLC (Steph rescued us at a crucial time when flights were hard to come by).

3) Once safely in Utah… I enjoyed treasured time with a mom, a sister, a daughter and g’daughters. (too many photos of me, sorry)

4) Saturday was Raydean’s birthday and a coincidental 9/11 memorial with Maggie-moo.

5) Sept 10th - Sensational Sabbath. The food was first-rate, the family was fabulous, the Sacrament meeting was faith-promoting.

6) Caden shared Elder Hales talk “Meeting the Challenges of Today’s World”. Awesome conference address, Oct 2015. I will remember Caden’s talk for two reasons. First, his goofiest phrase came after he spoke of being shocked that he'd broken his arm. After all, he had NEVER broken anything in his life…except maybe a few hearts. ;o} Second, his obvious enthusiasm for teaching the truths of Christ’s gospel restored. Thank you Caden for being an incredible grandson. I am so proud of you, and your parents.

In the aftermath of Irma I am more certain that in the gathering storms of the last days there is only one person who can pilot me to safety. It is Jesus Christ. I take refuge in the stronghold of His Church. I seek the warning voice of His prophets. I am fortified when I obey His commandments. God is in charge - a comforting realization for me.

7) Tomorrow (Monday night) we return to Florida. We’ll send photos of HaRV. No news yet. It’s been a spectacular weekend. Thanks for all who made time to visit with us in SLC. Let’s stay in touch. Thanksgiving is in only 73 days!

Coming this week…

~ Carrie’s birthday is Tuesday the 12th - fanciful!

~ Lane’s HALF-BIRTHDAY is also Tuesday the 12th - whimsical!

~ Brian’s birthday is Friday the 15th - wacky!

~ Tom & Shalaun will have cute baby #6 in early January 2018 - astounding!

WEEK 3 ~ 9/17/2017

Hello dearest and choicest family,

POST IRMA: (I hope the photos don’t make this email too big to open)

1) Monday - dinner with my siblings in West Valley Utah

We flew away Monday night. And arrived safely home Tuesday afternoon.

2) HaRV was waiting. He must be perturbed with us for abandoning him, as he is withholding AC. We are hot and tired. Power should be back on this Tuesday night.

3) Not all trailers were as fortunate as HaRV.

4) We’ve spent as much time as possible at the stake center or driving the car — two places we have AC and the ability to charge our devices.

5) The Church sent 3 truckloads of relief supplies to help our stake…most particularly the Keys. The missionaries competed in building the wheelbarrows. There must have been 40.

5) Today and yesterday we joined hundreds of our friends to lend a helping hand in Key Largo, Marathon Key, Big Pine Key and Key West.

A senior missionary couple evacuated the home below. We drove them back to find it today. It was decimated. The hurricane shutters tore open allowing seaweed to swirl inside, and spitting out their refrigerator. Pillows and seat cushions decorated the trees. New ’seaweed mulch’ covers their backyard.

Our group of 30 was an efficient source of debris removal. After only clearing his driveway Ed said “This means everything to me!” Erika, a german woman, residing in Big Pine Key 45 years, cried and cried. Maria, thanked us profusely between tears as her husband recovers from chemo treatments.

Over the course of the weekend we were fed 4 free meals by local restaurants. Everywhere, restaurants offered their menu items for free. Free water and ice were handed out roadside. Burgers and dogs were thrust into the windows of moving cars driving on highway 1. Grateful recipients ordered pizza for us.

6) The famous Southern Most Point marker was sandblasted during the 150 mph winds. Robbies Marina was wiped out - where feeding tarpon was always a pleasure. The Post Card Inn (where we rented boats to sit on a sandbar) no longer exists as we knew it. Sombrero Beach and Bahia Honda beaches are shadows of themselves.

6) If ever life doesn’t make sense this is how I get calm.

Please let us know how you are doing.

This coming week:

September 19th - Randi will be 31!

WEEK 4 ~ 9/24/2017

Late night greetings!

1) Today Helping Hands strikes again — but only after the earliest and shortest sacrament mtg ever in my life. No talks, no musical numbers, just the sacrament…because that’s the focus of the meeting.