Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year celebration at Farley’s on Sunday!

We had a hot pot…and chicken nuggets for those who didn’t want hot pot.  ( the little girls and Monson-- although he did enjoy the beef in the hot pot)

Kimi and Bob hosted and Bob is so good at this!  They also had Christian and Joy, Collin and Andi.  Wayne and I, Monson and Lexi and Girls and Andrew and Sophia.  Kathleen Blake Newman and her boys, Davis, Luke and Blake with his two girls and girlfriend Erica.  The Newmans lived in China or many years.  I would stay at Kathleen's house when I visited there in 2011 and 2013.  

It was a lot of fun…we all chose our meats and veggies to put in the  seasoned, boiling pot on the table, then eat with chopsticks or a fork.  Tayla even tried it and liked some of it.  Andrew and Sophia were adventurous eaters with it, So I was happy.    We played Mahjong– on their automatic mahjong table..it’s so cool..and had a fun evening.

Wayne's mission experience with the Doctrine and Covenants.

The voice of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants

 

March of 1981 - I was a newly arrived missionary in Tucuman, Argentina – At 2:00 am one morning I found myself alone in our pension after we were awakened and my companion was hauled away in handcuffs by the military police.  

I didn’t really know what had happened since I didn’t speak the language well yet.  All I knew was that I was alone and didn’t have any phone numbers to call the district leader, zone leaders or mission president – in fact I didn’t even have a phone. I was terrified, alone and didn’t know what to do – So I sat down and opened my scriptures.  I went first to the missionary scripture  -D&C 4 and read the following:

 

D&C 4:2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

 

5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

 

(I thought to myself “am I even qualified to be here? I don’t feel like right now I have much faith or any hope – so I continued reading)

 

7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

 

I wasn’t sure what to ask for and I for sure didn’t know what it meant to knock, but I knelt down and prayed.   The feeling I had was to continue reading and so I decided I would read all of the scriptures I had marked in red. These are a few that seemed to speak directly to me.

 

D&C 6:34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

 

36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

 

I asked God how it could be possible to not fear in this situation, and then read the next verse.

 

37 Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. 

 

That was how – It was because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ – that is how it would be possible to not fear.  He would help me get through this difficult situation.

 

I continued to read-

D&C 84:88 for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

 

By now I had come to realize that the Doctrine and Covenants was full of the words of Jesus Christ – speaking to the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time but currently speaking to me. 

 

When I got to Section 121 I read the words that the Lord spoke to a despondent Joseph while he was in Liberty Jail, but I felt that he was speaking directly to a young scared missionary in a small room in South America.

 

D&C 121:7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. 

 

What a blessing the Doctrine and Covenants has been to me since that day 44 years ago.  It is full of the words of Jesus Christ, giving counsel, comfort and direction for my life.

(By morning my companion returned after being held in a concrete cell for many hours. ) 

Andrew's Symphonic Choir

Andrew played 1st cello in Viewmont’s Symphonic chorus.  It’s the Orchestra, band and Choir kids all performing together.  It was really beautiful.  These kids are so good and the music they are singing and playing is really difficult.  They were preparing for state and to head to St. George for the Music teacher’s conference.  At the end, the choir teachers said, “If these were athletes heading to state we would cheer them on… so I would like the audience to form a tunnel that the students will come off the stage and go up the aisle and out into the lobby. And I want you to cheer them on.”   

 The audience all moved as directed and we cheered and hollered for these kids for 15 minutes by the time they all funneled off the stage.  I had tears coming down my cheeks.  It was really sweet.  These students are performing at the top of their craft and deserve to be celebrated.  I’m so proud of Andrew for playing his cello and being involved in this… Then they went home on Wednesday night and packed their bags to head to St. George for the conference, Zions National Park and a backstage tour of Tuacahn.  Oh fun! 

Laila's 23rd birthday

 We are in Oceanside, California celebrating my baby girl's 23rd birthday.  Laila is easy to love.  She is genuine and interested.  She's a great listener, polite, and very grateful for even the smallest gesture. She is empathetic and cares deeply and I love to hear her belly laugh.   She can't walk by a person with their hand out and not give something. Just yesterday on a corner in Carlsbad, CA a man had a sign saying "My mom is sick, anything would help"..and she gave him a dollar.  Of course, she did...that's who she has always been.  

When I'm around her I'm reminded how very different we are. 

 She likes Anime and horror shows I prefer rom-coms and reading books.  Laila moves methodically and thinks about things and plans, I move fast and I am spur of the moment. Laila is very aware of germs and washes her hands a lot, I will eat food dropped on the floor (5-second rule).  She likes subdued colors and neutrals, I like bright colors.  She is an animal lover, I'm an animal tolerator.  She doesn't understand sarcasm...and is very sincere.  I have had to learn to NOT be sarcastic.  She reminds me to slow down and I remind her to lighten up.

At one point I hoped I would have a daughter JUST LIKE ME... who liked to go shopping, and play games, and sing loud, and be crafty, and love being involved at church, and being around people, a daughter who would sit and talk about ALL of the things with me and share her deepest thoughts and dreams with a daily phone call.  That's not who I got.  

We are very different from each other, and that's what makes it special.

I let Laila be Laila and she lets me be me.  I want Laila to be the most Laila she can be, and I get to love her and be her biggest cheerleader.  

She loves Din Tai Fung.... well, we all do... so that's her birthday spot.  The Soup dumplings, Cucumber salad and Garlic green beans are life changing!    We did a little shopping, and also got some Salt and straw ice cream...the flavors are scrumptious and non-dairy!  

I made Laila and I matching sweaters.  She picked out the yarn in November, and now I'm done crocheting.  She loved it!  We decorated her place, and had cake and a silly string war- to celebrate.

Grandkid Game night round two

First Grandkid game night of the new year. It’s been awesome to have all the cousins together without their parents.  They love seeing each other and have a great time, even with the wide range of ages.  We love it when Andrew and Sophia come…Sophia is like the pied piper and the kids ( including Andrew) do everything she says.  She taught them all some band/theatre games… "Bunny Bunny" and "Ninja" and they also played, "Down by the Banks."  

It was loud and crazy and they laughed a ton, and loved it.  

We served our usual, nuggets and fries…along with a fire pit for smores..and outside games…red light, green light and Mother May I… (with Sophia-it’s a hoot)  At the end of the night it had been so noisy— George screams when he gets riled up— that we instituted a whisper zone and only spoke like that for about 45 minutes.  

As I was enjoying the chaos of the night… Andrew and Sophia playing at the piano, Alfie learning a magic trick, Elsie and Tayla coloring at the table, George running around and Poppy and Lady playing Barbies… I was washed with such a feeling of gratitude that I get to be a part of these beautiful children’s lives.  It was really sweet and for one brief second I glimpsed heaven.  We will do it again in February.

All of the girls had to borrow a coat from me so we played, who looks the most like Meema

Finger knit animals

 

I finger knitLucky-ducks for the little grand girls and a Wish-fish for George.  They love them!  They are soft and squishy and we will see how long George's stays stuffed...

Goals for 2025

2025 -word: SPIRIT

2 Nephi 25:25-26  rejoice in Christ, speaking Christ

756 duo lingo streak then blew it!!

Read 25 books -- (The following is a list of all the books I read in 2025)

1. James*

2. White Teeth

3. The Frozen River *

4. Table for two 

5. The Paper Palace 

6. The Midnight Feast

7. The God of the woods

8. Beartown

9. The Tell 

10. What the Silent Say

11. Marion D Hanks Biography 

12. Hello Beautiful

13. Funny Story

14. Emma M Lion series.* ( 8 books)

15. Broken Country*

16. All the colors in the dark* 

17. Misery 

18. The Phoenix crown

19. Sandwich 

20. Homeseeking

21. Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe 

22. Wild dark Shore 

23. None of this is true 

24. When no one is watching 

25. This summer will be different

26. Once there were wolves* 

27. The Retirement Plan 

28. I Pilgrim 

29. Forty Autumns

30. My Brilliant Friend

31. The invisible life of Addi Larue 

32. Famous last words

33. Awake- Jen Hatmaker

34.  Lonesome Dove*

35. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn*

36. The unwedding

37. Into the water 

38. City of Girls

39. Crying in H Mart

40. Yellowface

41. The Secret of Secrets 

42. The Correspondent *

Grandkid game night - 2nd Friday of each month

Learn Mahjong - reach out to Farleys for this 3 times this year. 

Dinner party/ gather people at my home once a month 

Gatherings— start a girlfriend group once a month with Kathleen

Dads DEATHAVERSARY in September

Neighbor end of summer party

Set up FHE schedule with Edgar and others

Try out for a show….. Tuck Everlasting— NANA part

Alaska cruise. Aug 1-8

Bear lake July 7 -14, Boondoggle. 

Make more friends. Increase relationships - ask to lunch, walk etc..

Dance more— do dance workouts?  Dance parties with the grands

Lamb of God in March

SNAP hero program in April

Denver in June with Lakes and Belnap’s 

Hike a national park. 

Road trip to Nashville, TN. 

Clean out closet - 

Take a  son to lunch once a month 

Lexi to lunch 

Friend 2 Friend- choreography- June.