Another funeral and a trip to Pioche

Yesterday, B and I drove to Pioche to attend a funeral for his aunt R. What are the chances that his aunt R and my aunt R would die within two weeks of each other and have funerals six days apart? The picture, above, is of the M & N B-----n family--B's grandparents, and their eight children as well as some of the eight children's spouses and a few of their children. Uncle R died in the war but Aunt R, Aunt H, Uncle J and now Aunt R have all died since I came into the family. B's grandparents and their children are all gone now except the three "babies" of the family.

There was a nice service in the LDS chapel. B's parents, three siblings, two siblings' spouses and B and I were there. There were a few other familiar faces (familiar to me) but not many. I'd met this aunt R only twice that I can recall. And her daughter said Aunt R had always appreciated our Christmas cards so that was nice to know.

I've heard of the name "Pioche" all of my life but I do not recall ever being in the town of Pioche. Evidently, I've driven past Pioche once on the highway, but I don't remember much about it.

I'm always, for some perverse reason, looking for somewhere else to live, particularly now where we could be gainfully unemployed as easily elsewhere as we are here.

There were things I liked about Pioche. For example, I always relate to a one-ward town (which is what Pioche seemed to me, despite the large chapel), because I grew up in a one-ward town. I liked that the whole town was situated on a steep hillside, which is different from flat areas I'm used to. However, I don't think Pioche is the town for me (besides the fact that B maintains I'd never REALLY move). It would be too cold there for me, for one (desert rat that I am), and too far from shopping and essential services for another (I've waited fifty years for the shopping choices and the essential services to come nearer to us here in what a couple of my N-----n aunts called, alternately, the "Navel of the Universe" and the "Tri-cities"). Pioche looked like it still had a pretty hard-scrabble existence, even more so than here. But I am drawn to a small-town which we really don't have here anymore in the Navel of the Universe, although I know that "small town" is a relative perception.

Cricut class ends

Today, I finished my Cricut Expressions class at Robert's Craft in St. George. I enjoyed learning how to use the Cricut software, the jukebox and the Cricut itself. I don't know that I would enjoy the Cricut without the computer capability--it is so much more versatile with the software. Now I need to USE the machine and, of course, I need to teach my sister everything I learned.

Eyebrows

Tonight for YW, SJ gave the Laurels a lesson on skin and hair care with a free eyebrow wax thrown in. I have never had my eyebrows waxed before and I took my turn. Something new and different (ouch). It was a great evening.

All gone except the "babies" . . .

All these people are gone now except the "babies" in each of the families, Aunt A shown in the inset on the top photo and Mom, the girl in white on her mother's lap, above.

I tried to think of the order of passing for each of the members of each family and I'm not sure I have it right. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The G---ers: (the two girls who died young, J & O, who are not pictured here and then:) Uncle W (I didn't know him; he died before I was born), Uncle T, Dad, Uncle H (those three in the same year), Aunt R, Uncle D, Uncle C, Aunt L (those two within months of one another), and Aunt R (101). The N------s: Uncle L (of cancer), Aunt M, Aunt L, Uncle R, Aunt B, Aunt G (those two in the same summer), and Aunt E. All gone now, except the babies.

More violets and one busy bird

The other day as B & I were out walking, I noticed a cluster of violets that were a lighter violet color amidst the darker purple violets so I snapped this picture. These flowers were in Mom's yard.

Later, on that same walk, I took a picture of these pure white violets amidst darker purple voilets. These violets were located a few blocks south of my mother's house.

And if I could capture a smell, I would upload for you the blast of violet scent that will hit you if you walk into Aunt A's yard that is covered with violets. It smells great.

On the same walk, we heard a loud racket and I thought for sure it must be someone working with power equipment. Nope. It was a little wood pecker, working hard on a telephone pole. Such a noise!

He held really still while we photographed him or I think he would have been a blur. That was one busy bird!

Sister missionaries--photo from a few years ago

This is a photo I found online on a mission website.

It was taken after my mission president's funeral a couple of years ago.

If you know these sisters, you don't need identification, and if you don't know them, you don't care who they are, so skip the rest of this post. I'm writing the rest for myself, so proceed at your own risk: boring text ahead!

Photo identification, left to right:

• Sister Str, my MTC companion;
• Sister Br, who was in the MTC when I was and in one of my districts for probably eight months of my mission;
• Sister G, aka yours truly,
• Sister O'B, who was in the MTC when I was and who was in one of my districts in the mission for a few months;
• Sister Be, who was in the MTC just a few days before I left the MTC, my third companion and my first "greenie" (we called them "goldens" not greenies) and I'd just finished my "golden" two months before she came--"Innocents Abroad"!
• Sister Sc, who was in the MTC when I was and who was my companion for about six months in my last area.

I averaged a companion every two months on my mission. My companions were:

• *Sister Str (2 months MTC),
• Sister W (2 months Itzehoe, my golden trainer, from Germany),
• *Sister Be (2 months, Itzehoe, golden),
• *Sister Ch (2 months Luebeck),
• Sister Cla (2 months Luebeck, golden),
• Sister Sta (2 months Hannover),
• *Sister Sc (six months Hannover),
• Sister Cle (a two-week split in Hannover while Sister Sc had chicken pox and was with Sister Cle's ill companion), and
• Sister D (2 months in threesome w/Sister Sc and me in Hannover, from Germany).
• I also consider Sister V, a German ward missionary in Hannover Gemeinde, to be one of my companions. I was eight months in Hannover and she went out with us all the time.

The sisters with an * by their names were also in the MTC when I was, although Sister Str was the only one of my companions who was actually in my district at the MTC and who came into and left the MTC at the same time I did.

Keeping in touch all these years later.

I sent a Christmas card to all of my companions this year including Sister V, and excepting Sister Cle and Sister D, both of whom I lost track of right after our missions (i.e., who didn't ever write me back). I also sent Christmas cards to mission friends like Sisters B and O'B, pictured above, and Sister P, Elder SL, Sister Mc, Sister L, Sister N, along with a couple of people whom I taught, Mr. & Mrs. H, Frau B and her son-in-law and daughter M&S (though I didn't teach the son-in-law or daughter). I received no Christmas cards from Sisters St, Sta and Sc--must be something with the "S" names. I didn't hear back from Mr. and Mrs. H--we've exchanged Christmas cards for over twenty years and two years ago, I did not get a card. Since my card didn't come back, I sent a card again this year. I also keep in very sporadic contact with Sister K and her husband Elder C but we don't exchange Christmas cards.

After coming home from my mission, I kept in touch with my mission president and his wife until they both passed away a few years ago. They were wonderful people and I count them as dear friends.

My father always kept in touch with a couple of his mission companions and those companions and their wives were close family friends so I thought that is just what returned missionaries were supposed to do. :-) I've been home from my mission nearly twenty-four years. If I like people, I like to keep in touch with them. It is just something I do, have always done, and will likely always do, until I forget how. However, one important component to keeping in touch is having the other person keep in touch back. Much more satisfying.

Not really random at all

Today as I reflected on my last blog posting, I realized that most of the "random" topics in that post were actually written on the theme of our time to die. The idea in Doctrine and Covenants 42:48 that we'll be healed if we're not appointed unto death is where I get the idea of there being a time appointed for each of us to die. "And again, it shall come to pass that he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed." The same idea is found in Alma 40:10 that God knows "all the times appointed unto man." And in Ecclesiastes 3:2 we read of a time to be born and a time to die.

From January 2005, to October 2008, I served in two Relief Society presidencies, back-to-back. In the first presidency, about six weeks after we were released, AA, the president with whom I had served, whom I loved and considered a dear friend, died of cancer. She was 58 years old. I was just released from the second Relief Society presidency in October and this week, SB, the secretary with whom I'd served in the second presidency, whom I loved and considered a dear friend, died of cancer. I do not think SB was even 60.

Both of them were women of faith and good works and, if life worked on the merit system (which it doesn't), they merited healing and long life AND they both had faith to be healed. I believe that if they had not been appointed unto death, their faith would have made them whole. They did not die because they lacked faith or good works. I have felt that the days of their passing must have been, for each of them, the time appointed for them to die, because to say otherwise, in the face of all the prayers and blessings offered for each of them, and in light of the verse in Doctrine and Covenants 42:48, would be saying that they lacked faith. They didn't lack faith.

On the other hand, we have Aunt R, who turned 101 in December and died this past week. She lived more than forty years longer than either AA or SB. Aunt R was a good woman, faithful and full of good works. Forty years is a lifetime to some people. The Lord knew the length of her days and she was not appointed unto death until she was 101.

Then we have my mother, who has been leaving us bit by bit for at least twelve but probably fifteen or more years. She's been a good woman, faithful and full of good works (including making great bread). She's still alive. God alone knows His purposes and the length of her days.

I didn't mention him in my post yesterday, but my father had dementia for twenty years before he died at a ripe old age.

To my mortal mind, none of this makes sense except to the extent I acknowledge the truth of God's statement in Isaiah 55:8-9: "[M]y thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, . . . for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

What is a proper lifespan? Elder Russell M. Nelson said: "The only length of life that seems to satisfy the longings of the human heart is life everlasting." Elder Russell M. Nelson, "Doors of Death," Ensign, May 1992, 72. That is probably the only equitable lifespan. Life everlasting. Something we all get for free through Christ's atonement and resurrection, including AA, SB, Aunt Ruth, Mom, Dad and the rest of us, but something we don't fully comprehend now.

When someone I care about passes away, I re-read President Kimball's "Tragedy or Destiny." Here is a quote I like:
"Could the Lord have prevented these tragedies? The answer is, Yes. The Lord is omnipotent, with all power to control our lives, save us pain, prevent all accidents, drive all planes and cars, feed us, protect us, save us from labor, effort, sickness, even from death, if he will. But he will not."

Another quote from that article:
"If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal past and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective.
"Is there not wisdom in his giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified?
"If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith.
If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil—all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls.
"Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood.
* * *
"Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery. …"

And this final quote to sum up my musings, also from "Tragedy or Destiny:"
"I am positive in my mind that the Lord has planned our destiny. Sometime we’ll understand fully, and when we see back from the vantage point of the future, we shall be satisfied with many of the happenings of this life that are so difficult for us to comprehend. "

Amen to that. I'm counting on it.

Some random thoughts/added a counter

Here are some random thoughts, not because I was tagged, but because I have random thoughts tonight.

First, I installed a counter on my blog a week or ten days ago (see at nearly the bottom of the first page of the site). I wanted that fact noted here, since I forgot to do it earlier, so I could have some kind of reference point.

After installing the counter, the number of hits to my blog were just cranking up there so fast that I was totally creeped out by the thought that that many people were reading my blog. "Egad," I said to myself, "who are these people?!?" However, I have discovered the numbers are somewhat inflated, maybe even quite inflated. The counter tallies when I open my own blog multiple times right after I post in order to see how things look and to proofread, and I do that compulsively. I can tally up about ten hits of my own that way on each post. (And that is on just a short post--I think on this one I've created, easily, about twenty hits!) Once I discovered this phenomenon, I relaxed a bit. :-) And then, this week, I've proceeded to tell about ten more people about my blog. What a strange cookie I am.

Second, this little creature is a Pokemon named Shaymin and, as part of T's birthday wishes, all of us drove to Toys R Us in Las Vegas on Valentine's Day so the kids could all download a Shaymin onto their Pokemon Diamond DS games. It took about ten seconds per child to download this little creature and then T downloaded a Shaymin for a friend of his, too. The kids were thrilled.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I love the color red and I thought these flowers were just beautiful. By unanimous vote, we finally had to put the lily (is that what it is?) out in the yard to fend for itself because it had such a potent scent that we couldn't stand it. However, we continue to enjoy the rest of the flowers.

And fourth, while I'm on the topic of Valentine's Day and people we love, my dear friend Sheila (yes, her whole first name) passed away early this morning after a courageous battle with cancer. I will miss her. She has been such a wonderful friend and I admire so many things about her. Of course God's ways are not our ways, but she seems much too young to go so soon. We'll keep Sweaving, Sheila, and we'll look forward to the day when we'll see you again!

Fifth, Aunt R, who was 101 this past December, passed away a few days ago. Of one's mortality, who expects more than 101 years? Aunt R lived a long, full life and just wore herself out, as all of her siblings (but one who is with us yet) had to do before her, because they are of such hearty stock. I'll miss her, too. They don't make people more talented than my G---er aunts and uncles, nor more hearty.

Sixth, this is an experimental loaf of bread (and not a very pretty loaf of bread at that--when B glanced at the photo as I was typing this post, he asked whether the picture was of a potato!).

For the first time in the first half of my life (assuming my life span mirrors Aunt R's), I have made bread with my mother's bread recipe. And drat that recipe. It is written in that dratted cook's shorthand where all the REAL information is left out and only the ingredients appear. Consequently, this was an experimental loaf in several respects. I had to rely on other recipes to see how someone might possibly make bread if one would have had a recipe that, say, included practical details such as cooking time for one, and rising times for two, and total flour needed for three, and oven temperature for four, etc. Ah well. Experience is the best teacher, is it not?

I have been warming up to the idea of making bread with my mother's recipe for . . . hmmm . . . well . . . maybe . . . just . . . about . . . an . . . entire . . . decade. (My ideas and actions sometimes have long gestation periods.) And now I've baked that bread.

One thing my mother excelled at, in my opinion, was making bread. And I've decided both practice and understanding the recipe have something to do with that.

Seventh and finally, today after my mother's hair appointment, I told her that I loved her. She enthusiastically grabbed my hand and replied, "I'm so glad you told me that because sometimes I wonder why you do things . . . and why you don't do things." Yes, well . . . and there you have it.

Reminds me of home

February's violets remind me of my parents and of my childhood home probably more than any other thing. These violets grow in the lawn of my parents' house. (I think if the plants were not mowed along with mowing the lawn, they would be a bit taller.) Some lawn purists would think the violets need to go, a lot like the reaction of lawn purists to dandelions, another lawn "flower." However, the violets were always welcomed and nurtured by my parents and were likely planted by my grandmother. However, as of recent years, the former lawn company used "weed and seed" lawn treatments to kill the weeds in the lawn and, as a result, had just about eradicated the violets in the process. I'm hoping these February violets can now make a comeback.

A big wish for everyone!

A thought for today . . . .

What God hath Promised

by Annie J. Flint

God hath not promised skies always blue,

Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;

God hath not promised sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

* * *

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,

Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;

Never a mountain rocky and steep,

Never a river turbid and deed.

Refrain:

But God hath promised strength for the day,

Rest for the labor, light for the way,

Grace for the trials, help from above,

Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Sewing sisters

This is a photograph I collected at Christmas time when I was working on that Shutterfly book for my in-laws (see earlier post). I did not end up using this photo in the book because I tried to streamline what I included and I had other photos I used of this particular ancestor (middle gal) but I love this photograph. This particular ancestor of B's was a talented seamstress. I'm guessing her sisters (left and right in photo) were also talented seamstresses. Look at their dresses with all the fancy sewing work and hand work and all the different materials used just on the bodices of their dresses. I do not know whether they would have had a sewing machine or whether they would have had to make these dresses entirely by hand. It would be nice to know today. I wish the photographer would have included full-length shots of the girls in all their finery; heaven knows there is plenty of room left in the photo frame.

Six random things about myself . . . .

I've been tagged and I'm to post the rules. Here goes:

• Write 6 random things about myself.
• Link the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules.
• Tag six people.
• Let them know they have been tagged.

So here goes:

1. I can swim but probably not in any form recognized by the Olympics.
2. I love tropical blizzards at Dairy Queen, but they have to contain flaky coconut and NOT toasted coconut.
3. I took a floral design class at college.
4. I'm reading the FLYLady book, Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley--The FlyLady.
5. I was a minute[wo]man substitute yesterday for the Beehives (well, I had from 10 a.m. Sunday to our 1 p.m. block to prepare).
6. I would like to take some continuing education at some point.

I tag: my niece M, my DSIL C, my DS C, my friends A and QV, S.

Notes from a cat farmer . . .

When M went to assisted living, I inherited M's cats. We already had a cat, Specks, who was still a kitten. We received three cats (and then some, as I'll mention). My b & s (HA!) said that if they had "inherited" the cats, they would have shot them but my kids have grown attached to them and so the cats "owe me" for their continued existence! Ha!


This is Snowball who has a case of some unfortunate fur condition. M "adopted" Snowball as a wild little kitten who was born to some transient cat in our stack of bricks just after we moved into this house. M loved that she was white and let her live in M's washroom but Snowball has to be the meanest cat alive and she has no meow. She'll move her mouth but no sound comes out. We asked the vet whether we should have her spayed and he said she was so mean (having kept her at his "pet hotel" when M would go out of town) that she didn't need to be spayed--she would not let any cats near her. So far, he's been right. I think she's "just" fourteen this year.

Here is Speedy whom we unknowingly inherited as a pregnant cat but we gave her litter of three to our relatives to catch mice in their barn. Whew. Speedy won't be populating the surrounding area again. Meine gute. Speedy got the name "Speedy" because she runs away very fast if anyone comes near. Actually, our relatives would have taken all of the cats, kittens and grown cats, but my kids were too attached to the adults by then. The kittens hid from everyone so the kids never really got a glimpse of them before they moved on to the haystack, but not from lack of effort, particularly on T's part. He was determined to get a look at those kittens but they were too fast--taking after their mother.

Here is Oreo whose life should have been as an indoor cat who could sit on laps and eat cat snacks--almost. For being a wild, outdoor cat, he is affectionate and calm--almost. One day, he "lovingly" put his paw on my leg. "How sweet," I thought. And then he extended his claws and gripped me. Well, not so sweet. He loves to rub up against legs--the kind of cat that could trip you to your death as you walked down the stairs. He always tries to come in the house. I think when that door opens into the house, he sees how life could have been for him if he'd been to the manor born and he's ready to give it a try. He never succeeds for very long.

Now here is a cat who lives the life of luxury--but who in her heart-of-hearts is a wild cat who prefers no attachments. She is coming around a little but she doesn't want to sit on a lap or even be petted. In fact, she'll swat at you with her claws or bite at you if you try to pet her when she's not in the mood for attention. I consider L the Cat Whisperer and Dog Whisperer and L just tolerates the swipes and scratches. The other day, L's friend NB had the cat sitting on NB's lap while NB petted her. L and I were speechless! Perhaps there is hope.

This cat is named Specks. She lacks for nothing in life. She belongs to T but is really cared for by everyone (we are all "staff" to this pampered feline). I believe Specks speaks. She'll walk up to me, for example, when I'm sitting at the computer, and she'll meow several times. This means I'm to attend to some need--perhaps she is interested in going outside or perhaps I am to get busy fetching food or water. Her request might also be accompanied by gently setting her paw on my knee and meowing.

When she's outside and wants to come in, she loves to throw herself against the door to try to open it. She will even hang from the door handle but since she doesn't have the forward momentum, she can't open the door. But that doesn't stop her from trying, and trying, and trying, and trying, and trying, and trying . . . . This is just fine except when I'm sitting at the computer in the middle of the night (luckily not often) and she sounds just like some burglar trying to gain entrance. She can also never decide whether she wants to be in or out.

That concludes the cat farmer's report for today!

More shots of Tom's place

I'm back on the subject of Tom's house because I realized I'd left out the whole downstairs in the last post about the house. So I'm adding those basement views and some other views for good measure and I am hoping to create a bench mark against which to measure the coming improvements. I just wish I'd taken some actual "before" pictures, of the true "before." I see a lot of improvement inside and know you would, too.

Here is an unflattering view from the rear of Tom's house. I include this so that later you can say, "Yes, it does look better!" However, this is how it looked today. The yard has been sprayed with Round-up so we hope it won't be a terrible weed jungle like last summer. Our family spent five hours hoeing those weeds last summer and we hope that's the last time for that experience!

This is the former storage room. It is downstairs at the foot of the stairs. This will be the laundry room. The pipes you're seeing are the sump pump pipes and the house plumbing pipes. TS has replaced the old pipes with the newer pipes. It looks so much better. In the process, he found and repaired a leak in the old pipes, for which we're grateful!

Oops! I'm skipping back to the upstairs. This is a wall in the kitchen. It has been preliminarily painted the finish color. However, the walls will be textured like the living room and entry.

Here is the front bedroom. TS put in the trim today. Other than finishing the trim (paint, putty, etc.), new windows, closet door and carpet, this room is ready to go. (Well, cleaning, too. :-0) This is the most finished room in all the house. This photo also gives a truer image of the wall color in the house.

This is the kitchen. The cabinet maker came today to take some measurements for some upper cabinets and she reported that the lower cabinets are finished. We're waiting for the windows to be replaced and then the cabinets and the tile can be installed. The contractor came today and did a final measurement of the windows so they could be ordered. We are assuming that it takes about two weeks for the windows to arrive.

Here is the new downstairs bathroom. With all the pipes and wires, it looks really official. This was formerly the south bedroom downstairs. It will now be a bathroom and a large walk-in closet. I am excited about this bathroom. Although we've "lost" a bedroom, I think the bathroom/master closet will make the house more livable. The idea is to make the downstairs area a master bedroom suite.

Here is the walk-in closet (with the new and improved water shut-off valve that TS installed). The idea is that this is the master bath and closet to the other room downstairs, as mentioned already.

This is the bedroom on the north. The closet and drawers have been removed and the new wall (on the left) will have to be remodeled to enclose the room. The duct going under the front addition was not attached to anything and TS will be working on that to get it in working order. There won't be a closet in this room--the closet will be the one in the foregoing picture.

Here is the view of the hallway from the "master bedroom" (right) into what will be the master bath and closet area. Look for more improvements here, particularly with the pipes but also with the addition of lights (there were no lights in the downstairs hall).

This is looking up the stairs from the "master bedroom" doorway. The new back door is a real improvement.

Back to the upstairs, this is the view of where the bathroom vanity will be in the upstairs bathroom.

Here is the bathtub area of the upstairs bathroom. TS has improved the plumbing and the tile has been taken from the walls. Once the window is replaced, this room can be finished off.

Here is what used to be the old doorway into the house, before the front addition was built. The wood casing around the door has been removed and cement molded to make a more attractive entry. Then C is going to work some texturing magic and, viola!

I guess that does it for the update.

Samples from my Shutterfly book

This is the front cover from the book I made at Christmas time on Shutterfly for my in-laws. It is 12 inches square and 78 pages. (The package starts with something like 20 or 25 pages so you see I exceeded that.)

Please be advised that Shutterfly changes its prices at random and without notice. Finish your book well before you need it and shop the company's prices until you hit on a combination of prices (if you're doing multiple books) that works for you. Hind sight is 20/20.

First, why Shutterfly: I looked at about ten other sites that offer photobooks but this was the only site (and book format within that site) I could find at that time that offered a lot of text spaces (or journaling spaces). Most of the other books allowed just for photo captions.

By the way, I won't go into the harrowing experience it was trying to do this project justice in just two weeks' time and all the pitfalls, unforeseen catastrophes, and setbacks, nor the huge number of hours this took and how happy my family was when I finally sent it off and how supportive they were (behind the complaints) and how I think I was given by God stamina and mental clarity beyond my physical ability during those two weeks. Now where was I? Oh, yes.

Second, beware the text issues of this format. I could not cut and paste within the project--if I decided to move text (which unfortunately occurred OFTEN), I had to write it out long hand and retype it elsewhere. That was hellish. When I complained about this to Shutterfly, it claimed that it could be done but I was not able to get it to work despite my efforts AND I think they're lying or at least misguided.

I liked the general looks of the pre-set background pages--they were very nice looking--although working with the pre-set openings (for want of a better word) in which to insert pictures and that combined with pre-set phrases like "Passions" or "Challenges" really was limiting and difficult in the long run. They needed many more pages and combinations of openings and the ability to change the caption from "Passions" to "Fun Times" or something more fitting the photos.

I chose to make the title page picture sepia tone but I selected to do all the other pictures inside the book black and white (but one) to unify the look of the book and to make it all seem "vintage."

Two warnings: Shutterfly does warn you if a picture isn't the right resolution for a particular spot (i.e., size) but that does not mean that the picture will really look wonderful. I would say that nearly all the pictures I was working with were snapshots and small pictures, often poor quality, but they were all the pictures existing from the past--not like today when we have really too many pictures to choose from. The book was 12x12, so many of the snapshots were being blown up far beyond their original size. I was both heartened that some of the pictures turned out MUCH better than I thought they would and disheartened that some pictures which seemed good turned out worse than I thought they would (the picture of the man, above, being a case in point and nearly the first picture you see when you open the book). Overall, I am OK with how the pictures turned out and feel they, mainly, turned out better than they should have given what I had to work with. But you could not REALLY tell from the computer screen exactly how the pictures would look in the finished book. My DH was disappointed with the quality of the photographs in nearly every instance.

There was also more to putting in the pictures than dragging and dropping them in a slot. You had to refine the size so it looked right in the opening. There were also other tricks I had to employ to get some photos to even work within the openings.

Here is another sample of a layout. One note about text again. As I said, it was the most hellish part of the project. Just because Shutterfly has a small font size available, do not blindly rely on its presence there as an appropriate font size for your project. You need good bi-focals or a good magnifying glass to read many of the text sections of my book--I usually started out with a larger font but as I collected more and more history, I would add and add until the text was reduced to its smallest font. I would not "blindly" (pun intended) use the smallest font size in reliance that it will be a readable font. Hind sight is 20/20. However, on the upside, I believe most family books like this become photo albums after the first read (or they become door stops, or worse :-).

I thought the pictures on this page were particularly cute and representative of many of the classic/vintage pictures and important family images that the book contained. The background pages were great and I might still be trying to decide how to arrange my own backgrounds if I'd chosen to create my own.

Here is a sample of two of the ancestor pages I included. I searched out and included little nuggets of information about each individual. Some of the pictures I obtained from books or from the internet and some were pictures my in-laws had never seen before. That was pretty exciting for me. Ever since I married into the family, I have been actively collecting ancestors' pictures and so I had more than I actually included but ended up collecting new ones in the process. I ended up scanning about 200+ photographs, some multiple times to get them right, and some I had rescanned by professionals trying to get the best possible resolution. This project was scan-intensive. I don't think the book contains 200 photographs but I did scan more than that just during the two weeks I worked on the book.

Here is the only colored photo (see inset at right) and the layout is a great sample of how text can be used in the book. One problem is the text did not "flow" from column to column--this was extremely problematic because you could not change things around without much difficulty. Despite this, I think it might have been simpler in the long run (assuming I would follow my own advice and have everything typed out in advance) to have used these pages more and just done little captions and maybe a story here or there on the other pages. But my text evolved--I'd rearrange and then have holes where I needed text so I'd call and get information. Invariably there were more new stories than could fit so I would then find a "home" for those bits (and so the font shrank), etc. Going in to the project, I had not intended to have as much text as I ended up with--text was to be incidental--but the project seemed to demand that it was done right, and so I ended up doing interviews with family members and many telephone calls to my in-laws to get more information. I hope I got the details right, particularly since I initially relied on unreliable histories someone else had written. Egad.

Here is the back cover of the book. This is the only other sepia colored photo and I opted to go sepia here because I'd already used the same picture inside the book in black and white.

Overall, I feel good about the book and feel that it was definitely my very best effort under the circumstances. There are things I would do differently now I've been though the experience once (and so I give you the benefit of that knowledge) but I did the very best I could at the time. I have heard that my in-laws really love the book and bore all visitors by talking about it. :-)

Today

This morning started out as usual, 5:55 a.m. We did the normal morning routine and then I got dressed and took J to the chiropractor before school. At J's school, I paid some lunch money for J--the boy with the ever-present hollow leg--with a bit of breakfast money thrown in for those days when the smell of donuts or something yummy is overwhelming for him.

Then, I went to get M for her hair appointment and I hoped to find out more about Aunt R's situation. I talked with Aunt R but she was off in her own little world--seeming to be busy with some kind of imaginary work, all the while lying in bed. We held hands while we talked and I told her I loved her.

M seemed very drifty herself and really was not perking along like usual today. The employees said she slept really well, so I don't know what the trouble is. She was doing quite well yesterday afternoon when I visited. It is like this sometimes.

M always loves to have her hair done and she always gets lots of compliments from the other residents when she returns from having her hair done on Mondays. I returned M to her place and by then, some of Aunt R's family members were there. I visited with Aunt R again at her request. This time, she talked and talked but it was not all sensible, about half and half. Aunt R is not really eating or drinking. Evidently, Hospice said she has probably two days to live. It is not unexpected when someone is 101. However, I don't think Hospice has accounted for the toughness of those G---ers, although not my generation but hers. Aunt R told Aunt A yesterday that it was hard to die, or hard work to die, something like that. I don't think Aunt R wants to go.

After I left the home, I picked up prescriptions and I'm happy to say Walgreen's has picked up the pace. Last time, I waited at least 45 minutes and today I waited five. Last time there were two people to handle the crowd and today, there were four. Good job!

I went to L's school and paid lunch money there, too. I feel like a stranger there--I was such a fixture for four years on account of T and now I hardly ever even enter the building.

I had the van washed inside and out. I think it has been months and was so overdue. To have a clean van is like pampering myself. It gave me a morale boost disproportionate to the actual event.

I came home for lunch and then B and I went for a walk with our faithful hound R. Just blocks from home, we saw DV & J's cows escape with DV trying to get on his four wheeler while shouting cuss words at the cows. B tried to help herd those cows but DV seemed to be purposefully driving the cows away faster than B could round them up. Actually, I think DV was so mad and impatient with the cows that he was just going about things wrong. In fact, until I talked with J, who said she suspected that DV himself had left the gate open, I thought DV was driving the cows away from their yard because they must not be his cows and had thought that was not a real neighborly thing to do. At one point, DV even rammed the cows with his four-wheeler, causing the four-wheeler to stall and, seeming none the worse, the cows headed for the highway and points west. It was eventful. Eventually Bishop M got involved as did DV's son Bl. DV slid and fell on some gravel, and had blood all over his hand and sleeve. The cows were eventually corralled. Bl had to chastise his dad for letting the cows out, and for not waiting until 3 when someone was coming to do whatever it was the DV was trying to do mid-afternoon. Boy, do I remember feeling exactly the same way with my mother or father on many occasions. R did her best to bark and bark either to tell B to come back or to tell him to wait up, but she was too far from the action to be of any help. We'd run out of time for our walk, so we hurried home and got here just after J arrived home from school.

I took J to his hair appointment--he has a nice, short "do" now, just the way he likes it.

I took the kids to the bank to cash/deposit checks for their work on G-ma's yard. We returned books to the library. Whew. No fines. Afterwards, we went to the S family's house to visit.

Then we came home, had dinner, had family home evening, and now we're all headed to bed (other than the night owl who will watch TV). This was an eventful day.

Eternal stewardship

"Each of you has an eternal calling from which no Church officer has authority to release you. This is a calling given you by our Heavenly Father Himself. In this eternal calling, as with all other callings, you have a stewardship, and ‘it is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward, to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity.’ This most important stewardship is the glorious responsibility your Father in Heaven has given you to watch over and care for your own soul.

At some future day, you and I will each hear the voice of the Lord calling us forward to render an account of our mortal stewardship. This accounting will occur when we are called up to ‘stand before [the Lord] at the great and judgment day.’”
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, “True to the Truth,” May 1997, Ensign, p. 15.