Hello Dolly..... well Hello

I got one of my bucket list roles.... Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly at Center point theatre this August. 

 I am over the moon thrilled at this possibility and my counterpart is theatre BFF Maurie Tarbox.... so it's going to be so much fun at rehearsal. 

 Addison is doing the choreography and so he had to not participate in choosing Dolly since he is obviously biased, so I was glad to hear the other producers and music director really wanted me. 

  It will be great having something theatrical to fill up my summer as we come up to Marcie's and Dad's death dates in August. 

 Anyway... I can't decide if I will be a Carol Channing type of Dolly or a Barbra Streisand type of Dolly..... probably a Melinda type will be the best.  

What are we doing right now????

Bre is getting ready for a concert she is singing in with Mary Driggs tonight 

Addison is doing his daily drawing...this one of Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast. He plays this part at Hale Center theatre this fall. 

Alfie is having fries and a drink  somewhere 

Wayne is checking out Laila's lawn mowing job. 

Tru is on break with his Delta team. He is at training in Atlanta, Georgia for the next 6 weeks. 

Laila is working on her hair with her friend Heather Kofford. 

Melinda is at Costco in St George picking up food with Annette Pond and Annett Eiting for Utah online teacher training. 

Monson, Lexi and Tayla are sight seeing in Yosemite. 

I think they are the winners of the what are you doing right now challenge. 

Landon and Sophia are at therapy 

...with Andrew too 

Alex is waiting for people to get out of his condo. They are selling their Eagle Mountain condo.  Yay!   

My Laila Day talk in Church

LET THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDE

SING: 

 Let the Holy Spirit guide; Let him teach us what is true.

He will testify of Christ, Light our minds with heaven's view.

Let the Holy Spirit guard; Let his whisper govern choice.

He will lead us safely home If we listen to his voice.

 Let the Spirit heal our hearts Thru his quiet, gentle pow'r.

May we purify our lives To receive him hour by hour.

…. I love music.  It always touches my heart and teaches me.   In this hymn we learn about what the Holy Spirit can do for us… Teach, Testify, Enlighten, Guard, Guide, purify, govern and Heal….All of these words that describe the holy spirits function can be found when we seek personal revelation .      

Personal revelation is one of the greatest gifts and blessings we can receive. My remarks are based on a talk given by Elder Kendrick of the Quorum of the 70’s.  In it he says that  Personal Revelation  involves preparation, prayer, and promptings.

1. Preparation….  Receiving personal revelation is not a passive process.  We must prepare for these sacred experiences.  President Spencer W. Kimball told us that, “God reveals himself to people who are prepared for such manifestations.”    There are many things we should do to properly prepare to receive personal revelation, I will just mention one…develop a spirit of reverence.   Boyd K. Packer counseled, “Inspiration comes more easily in peaceful settings.  He added. “irreverence suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirit, “ and  he also said, “reverence invites revelation.   We live in a hurry up, noisy world…yet the spirit speaks in a still, small voice.    IF we want to access revelation more easily…then reverence is necessary.

2.  Prayer .  Pray often and ponder before we pray.   We must follow the counsel found in 2 Nephi 9:52, to “Pray unto him continually by day and give thanks unto his holy name by night. “  As I have studied this topic, I know it is not the duration of our prayers but the depth of our desire that results in revelation.   We need to study it out in our mind then ask.   We musk ask in faith, humility, sincerity and with intensity…then wait for answers.  In a world of instant communication, we are prone to become impatient and want instant answers to our prayers.  God always answers prayers, but He does it in his own way and in His own time.  Remember this counsel found in doctrine and Covenants 101:12, “Be still and know that I am God.”

3. Promptings.  One of the most important parts of our communications with Heavenly Father is the ability to recognize the means by which He speaks to us through the promptings of the Spirit.  If we have properly prepared, we will become sensitive to these promptings

This Flow of inspiration depends on Faith….I want to share a personal story with you about my fight with revelation…and finally being still long enough to hear and accept it…and the blessings that followed.

Today is May 15^th. It’s a special holiday in our family….it’s Laila Day… her gotcha day… Lailas adoption into our family was a miracle and we thank the Lord daily for this beautiful child of God. 

When our boys were 9, 11, 13 and 15 years old… we were  feeling like someone was missing.  Wayne and I have 4 wonderful sons, and I LOVE my boys…but I always wanted a daughter named after my Grandma Eulala Butters whom I adored. My aunt and Uncle were in China teaching English and spending time at the orphanages and telling us about all these black haired baby girls that nobody wanted that  needed families.   We started praying about adoption for our family.  We studied out the situation, figured out our finances and kept praying.……this would be a big change for our family and Wayne and I were 40….so… I  kept making deals with the Lord. Things like….if Sara Rigby  who is adopted, sits by me in Relief Society then we will adopt.  Sara would sit by me.  Or … If we are chosen to be the witness couple in a temple session, then we would adopt.  We were the witness couple.    Or If I see a picture of a Chinese baby in this magazine I am reading we will adopt…there was a picture.  Every time I asked  the Lord.. I received a clear answer….we were supposed to adopt.  Someone was counting on us.  This is the only time in my life I remember this happening  so clearly.  SO….. the Welches were going to adopt…and in my dreams I would see a black haired little girl. We started  paying money for VISAS and  adoption fees to China, getting our family home studies done and we were thinking that in about 2 years we would have a new 2 year old sister for our boys.  It was a gut wrenching, tender time… so many tears, so many social workers, so much money and  red tape…. But we felt held up by the spirit this whole time.  5 months into this process we received a phone call out of the blue from an adoption agency in Philadelphia  who was calling contacts all over the country who knew someone who knew my cousin, who told them about us….that a little black haired  3 month old baby girl was ready to be adopted right now…and the birth momma didn’t want the baby to go into any kind of foster care but to a family who was ready with home studies and fees in place right now…. That was us.   Now 14 years later I look back on that time as a testimony builder time.  The Lord was aware of the achings of my heart… and answered my prayers over and over again…and as we followed the promptings of the spirit to know what to do  thinking we were going the Chinese route, the Lord knew better and we were blessed with our daughter Laila.  She was an answer to our prayers…and  personal revelation.

 It is a tender experience to petition our Heavenly Father in sincere, heartfelt prayer and know that He will respond with personal revelation. His promises are sure. I testify Revelation will come if we prepare, pray and listen to promptings then follow through with Faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Joy #10

It was joyful for me to know Truman and Laila were waking up and hiking to see the Sunrise over Bountiful this morning.  Truman will be leaving for Delta flight attendant training Sunday morn, so this was a last brother/sister time to talk about life and challenges.     

Joy #9

The sunsets in Bountiful are just the best! When I'm asked what my favorite color is I like to say , "Sunset."      The summer my mom died, I set a timer on my watch at sunset to remind me to stop and walk down to Davis Blvd and just enjoy the site and think of my mom. Most days I just cried but I'm glad I did it. Sunsets and clouds in clear blue skies remind me of my mom. 

Joy #8

This little one right here brings me joy.  Tayla is waving hi to me from California. I love seeing her two teeth, her drooly  smile and her dimples. 

I've had kind of a hard day. I don't know how to parent my teenager. I feel out of sorts and walking on glass most of the time. I know she's hurting and feels lonely and depressed and I want to help but she doesn't want me.  I know the answer is more patience, more love and more love. 

  I'm glad Wayne and I don't fall apart at the same time. When I'm at my worst he is at his best and vice verse. We make a good team...this thought brings me joy too. 

Joy #7

Family massage night brings JOY to all. Wayne, Laila and I had massages and then chick-fil-a for family night ...  It was one of our more successful ones. 

You know what they say, "the family that gets massages together stays together".....or something like that.  

Joy #6

Joy #5

The joy in Wanee's voice when we showed up this morning with her pre mother's day favorite breakfast of a sausage, egg Mcmuffin was eclipsed a few minutes later when  we all gathered and announced we were cleaning out her garage for her Mother's day present.  Wanee couldn't believe it.  We put her on a chair outside to direct us as to what to keep and what to toss.  She was so appreciative and delightful, as usual.   It was so fun to be a part of this.  Sandy and Clark, Mark,. Jill, Haley and Abby, Me and Wayne, Terry, Emily Dave and Anna, Tami, Hunter and Alex.... all came together to sweep, organize, refill water tanks and take a truck to the dump and a truck to the DI for her.   

Happy Mother's Day.

Joy #4

Andrew is a magician.  He was doing his magic show to amaze and entertain us all.  It was the typical 9 year old magic tricks with cards, a light up thumb, a magic wand, a magic box and 3 rings that couldn't possible hook together, yet they do......
The joy on Andrew's face as he did his tricks was magical....but the joy expressed by sister Sophia was contagious.  Every trick, she gasped and uttered, "How did he do that?"  "This is amazing."  "Andrew you are a good magician."  "Did you see that?"
It was a hoot.
 I'm still laughing thinking about it.
   It brought me JOY.

Joy#3

JIt's my sweet DIL Lexi's birthday!   She is such a fun part of my ever expanding family.  Lexi is accepting, relaxed, talkative and loving.  She is a "blue" and I try my hardest to not hurt her feelings with my "red" tendencies.  Because of her blueness, she is always kind and always empathetic to close friends and to strangers.  Lexi is a darling momma to our sweet Tayla....and great wife to my Monson.
 My joy moment happened this morning when we facetimed the California Welches to wish her happy birthday and Lexi had to hide from the camera because she was in her garments.... I love it....makes me smile.

Joy #2

My Wayne is home from an almost two week trip to China...and I'm so happy.  Wayne's handsome face, calm demeanor and love for me and our family always bring me Joy.

I know it's hard for him to get back into the daily Bountiful life when he's been gone. I know getting back into a correct sleeping pattern is also hard.    I know that the work he starts in China takes a lot of time to come to fruition back in the states.  I know he's patient and works hard.  

Wayne = Joy

Joy #1

I'm going to do an exercise on JOY for a few weeks.  I want to bring joy to the forefront of my thoughts and emotions and concentrate on even the little things that bring joy to my life.

Something that brought me joy ....

Laila has been having depression lately.  I know it's a disease, and we are trying to help her to get on the right meds, to not be demanding and to let school stuff slide...but it's still so hard to watch and be around.

SO.... I had a little glimpse of the old Laila for a few hours yesterday....and it gave me hope.  She was pleasant.  She came out of her bedroom.  We had a conversation.  She spoke to friends.  It brought me joy, and hope and I was reminded that she is a beautiful daughter of our Heavenly Father who loves her and I will continue to love and support her as well.    Depression is a difficult thing.

New Family pics

With everyone leaving me..... going this way and that...and my family life changing, I thought it was time for new family pics.  So thankful to Bre's sister Kirsten of papermoonphotography for helping us with this.  With Bre in the pics, there's no way she can be behind the camera too.
Here are a few of my favorites....

Custody

It's official!
After a 2 1/2 year custody court battle with appeals and dr evaluations etc... Alex is now the custodial parent of Andrew and Sophia. They will live with Landon and him 80% of the time and they won't be paying any more child support.  

The nightmare and stress are finally over!!

This has been such a long process and now we all just want what's best for the kids and we want their momma to get some help so she can be a better parent. 

This is the beginning of an avalanche of change for this family.  They will pay off court and lawyer costs then sell their Eagle Mountain condo and move closer to SLC and family!!