Merry Christmas! Happy New 2010!

Dad, Mom, Katie and Abigail, Kristy, Brian, Katelyn and Isaac in their new homemade jammies.

Kimberly and Rob, Jeffrey, Bryce and Nathan . . . and baby boy

Ken, Shiann, Spencer and Shawn Boardin, Kyle and Karolyn, and doggy Bo. Kyle is sporting a beard for an opera he will be performing in at the end of January.


The year 2009 has come and is now almost gone. It is amazing how quickly the years go by. This one has been particularly challenging for our family. We have learned so many lessons and have received so many blessings throughout our many struggles. In October 2008, Max became unemployed due to government funding withdrawal. After a full year with no income for either of us, he has had a couple of small projects, but is still applying for positions. Lonna has also applied for various jobs with no success. We had to sell our home which made it possible to pay tuition for Max and Karolyn and Kyle and to catch up on our taxes. We are now renting once again—-and loving it!

We would like to share the joys that being real-life “starving students” again has brought to us:

*You don’t need to own a home to be happy.
*Nothing else is important except God and family.
*Grandchildren bring incredible happiness. (We have two girls and seven boys, plus
one boy to be born at any moment.)
*Education is worth the effort.
*We can live on much less than we realize.
*Children, friends and family love us and look after us continually.
*Every day is precious.
*If you put Heavenly Father first, He will bless you.

Our family continues to be busy. Max will likely graduate with his PhD. in May or August. He has been released as bishop and is working on his dissertation. Lonna spent four months staging our home to sell and taking many trips to Idaho, California, Iowa and Tooele, Utah to help out children. She continues to play in the Bell Choir and to over-practice the organ. Kim and Rob are expecting their fourth beautiful boy the first part of January in California. Ken and Shiann live in Tooele with their two boys and Ken is remodeling basements. Katie and Ben will both graduate from the University of Iowa in May with a master’s and a doctorate and have accepted an Assistant Professorship in Kentucky next fall — Abigail is one year old. Kristy and Brian coach high school and elementary school dance teams and teach private dance. Little Katelyn and Isaac are a great help(?) Karolyn returned from her Siberian Battalion Mission in Russia and Kyle returned from his mission in Chile and both are attending Utah State University. Karolyn is majoring in Family Consumer Human Development and Kyle is a Choral Education Music major and is now singing opera. Our German Shorthair dog, Brittany, and our Siamese mix cat, Gabby,are understandably spoiled and loved.

We've had all but Kimberly's California family and Katie's hubby Ben in Iowa here at our home for a few days for Christmas. It has been fabulous!

Soon I will head to CA to help with the newborn and to corral the three older brothers.

May the Lord bless you all with great understanding of the meaning of Christmas. As we focus on serving others in need, then the stress of the season becomes secondary to the true spirit of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love to you All!

And so is Kyle!

We have them both now. Karolyn (our Ruuski, sp?) and Kyle (our Chileno) have returned from their missions and have brought a wonderful spirit to our home.

We are currently camping in the basement apartment of some good friends, but will be moving once again on Saturday. Our two youngest children have made all of this stress and mess seem insignificant as they have returned to us with their love and goodness and even some of their former craziness.

We are having a great time with them here. They begin school tomorrow at USU. Hopefully that will help them adjust to non-missionary life. Here are some pics:

Karolyn is Home!

We picked her up on Wednesday night at 8:36 p.m. at the SLC Airport. What an amazing experience--to see her descending the escalator to where we all stood waiting. She is so beautiful, so sweet and so huggable! It has been so fun to have her home this week. We are hearing a lot of Russian. She is trying to adjust back into civilian life and has at least adjusted to having her own cellphone again. We are moving in the next two days, first to a friend's basement apartment for 12 days, and then finally to the home we will be renting here in Logan on the 29th.

Kyle will be home from Chile on the 21st. He'll miss all the moving (and we'll miss his strong arms) but we'll have both missionaries home and ready to begin school at USU.

Their joint home

coming report will be on Sunday, August 30th in the Logan River 3rd Ward (corner of 100 East and 200 South ) at 11:30 a.m.

California--there I went!

Photos are of Nathan Cutie, Wizardly Bryce and Jeffrey the Wiz.

I haven't written for four months. I guess I haven't been able to deal with much for most of this time. I let our trials get me down for awhile. Max and I still have no jobs, but we did sell our home. It closes on August 7th. So now we have got to find a place to live. We are looking at two rentals, one which includes a job for me to manage their properties. Hopefully we will know soon where we will be going. Lots of changes: moving, Karolyn and Kyle coming home from their missions in four weeks, Max being released as Bishop of the single's ward so that he can finish his doctorate (seven years running so far), and . . . hopefully we can add in "new job" to that list very soon.

Three weeks ago, Kimberly asked me to come early to California to help her get ready for Bryce's baptism. I went by bus. Greyhound bus. Don't do it--ever! The first leg of our trip (8.5 hrs.) was in a bus with no air conditioning. Vegas was 112 degrees, 95 at night. I had no leg room in my seat. My knees had to go up a little to rest on the seat in front of me. And as we were trying to sleep in the dark, a young man was loudly talking on his cellphone for over two hours. The next busdriver stepped on to the bus and angrily proclaimed, "If anyone on this bus is going to go crazy, just get off now because I won't take care of you, I'll drop you off in the desert and leave you there." (We didn't know why we were going to go crazy, but it later came to us.) As we tried to sleep, he drove so fast that if he turned a curve one way, we smashed into our seat partner, or if he turned the other, we fell off the seat!! Seriously! He honked at any car in front of him and scared us all to death. (But no one dared say one word to him.) Then at the LA station, I missed my next connection because they cut it off in front of me. I waited another hour and they then told me that it didn't go to Long Beach. (But it did.) I waited another hour, and someone stole my ticket. When I asked what to do, they just told me to buy another one. (The third driver sneaked me on. :)

At Kim's I painted two rooms and a hallway, refinished her kitchen table from mahoghany to traditional cherry color (to match her chairs), cleaned all the tile grout, windows and blinds and spring-cleaned her home. Happy Birthday Kim!! We had everything ready for the baptism. It was a wonderful experience for Bryce. For part of the program, Kim played the piano, Jeffrey played the violin, and Bryce and Nathan sang "I like to look at rainbows whenever there is rain . . . " Jeffrey did so well on the violin and Nathan stole the show at the end of each verse. That is where he knew the words, so he ate the microphone while he said them. (Bryce kept poking him when he did it and the congregation laughed each time--at both of them.) Many of Kim's friends and neighbors came to the service and to the dinner at her home afterwards. We had enough food to feed 60, but we got about 30. Kim has some wonderful friends. I really enjoyed meeting them. This next pic is of Tami and Kevin giving Bryce an exciting gift.

Max drove in by himself on Friday and Rob's parents came from Provo as well. We all left California on Monday morning, July 12th to drive through the desert to Utah. Much better than the bus! I'll take Max for a driver any day. We stopped in Las Vegas to visited one of my bestest friends, Terri. She treated us to a buffet and we talked for a few hours. I hope her boss didn't get upset because we kept her for such a long lunch hour. It was so-so-so good to see her again.Now we are home and getting ready to move and find a place to go.Busy summer. The pic below has three fun boys with wizard wands.

Check out my last post if you want another way to paint countertops that is easier, less scary and looks great!

Generosity

Barbara Bush once said, "Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others."

Many loved ones have opened their minds and hearts and more to help us make it through our current lack of employment. We have recently been overwhelmed by the generosity of our family and friends.

Jean Jacques Rousseau stated that "when a man dies he clutches in his hands only that which he has given away during his lifetime."

We thank you all--May you kind and beautiful people be eternally blessed for your thoughtfulness and goodness of heart!

The Laundry's done!!!!

This job took less time than the stairs (one and one-half weeks) but was so much more difficult. Things I learned to do:

1) hang sheetrock on the ceiling--and the walls around and above my washer

2) cut and put up white beadboard (you would have to enlarge the picture to see the lines of the beadboard) around pipes and electrical outlets and on those pale pink walls (Max had to put in the cement anchors and screws in the one concrete wall--I don't have the hand strength.)
3) cut and install moldings using a miter saw
4) paint a concrete floor
5) add two shelves (with a slanted heating duct running
through the unit









6) paint my almond dryer white. (I learned how online.) However, our kitty checked it out during the night and we now have non-shiny areas on the top in the shape of little paw prints.


Ta da!

I Learned a big lesson

Yesterday was a first for me. I gave a talk in Stake Conference which was held in the Logan Tabernacle. I was asked to speak for 15 minutes about how the scriptures have influenced my children. Stake President Nelson had interviewed three of our children for missions and had wondered if their love of the scriptures could be credited to their parents, . . . or to the children themselves. (Answer: The children themselves!) Hence, my topic.

I certainly learned a huge lesson from the research for this address. I began by making a list of anything to do with the scriptures and my children at the same time. Then, as I looked at the list, I realized that although we as parents got the ball rolling for reading the scriptures in their lives, they are really the ones who taught us! I selected ten lessons we learned from our children:

1) Exposure to the Scriptures: We began, like all new parents, trying to teach them the scriptures through regular scripture study, Family Home Evenings, Flannelboard stories and Scripture Scouts Audio Tapes. What we learned was that little children love the stories. Their love of scripture stories brought back memories of my dear Daddy sitting in his rocking chair when I was tiny, and reading stories to me from the large Family Bible Stories book.

2) Believing the Scriptures: When Kimberly was three years old, we had enjoyed a Family Home Evening about the creation and Adam and Eve. We had used a flannelboard story to show them and the tree and the fruit on it. The following morning, at breakfast, Kim looked at the big, yellow grapefruit on the table. She asked, "Mama, what dat?" I answered that it was called a grapefruit. She put her little hands on her hips, looked at her Daddy as he was eating a grapefruit and said, "Jesus say not posed ta eat da fwoot!!!" We should all believe as a little child.

3) Example of reading the Scriptures: My husband always has a book of scripture open on the kitchen table. (There's one there right now.) Any extra moment or time to eat a snack is spent reading the scriptures. I prefer to have my personal study sitting in my corner rocking chair. Now, we thought we were being good examples to them, but in reality, because they would comment on us reading, we would have to keep reading, . . . because they were watching! So they taught us to be good examples.

4) Learning about the Scriptures: When our children were old enough to attend Seminary and Institute classes, they learned from excellent teachers about how the scriptures affect us practically in our lives. Our children would come home excited and tell us what they had learned and how deeply they felt the Spirit of the Lord.

5) Power of hope in the Scriptures: When Karolyn was 10 years old, our family was in deep turmoil. An older child had become inactive and was deeply into drugs and trouble. We were also out of work at the time and struggling financially. One night after a church fireside, we came home and Karolyn started to immediately place chairs in a circle in the living room. Then she put all of our scriptures on the chairs and called us in. She said, "Our family needs more scriptures-we need more hope."

Romans 15:4 "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of
the scriptures might have hope. “

6) Diligence in reading the Scriptures: We had nothing to do with this! Katie read the Book of Mormon 13 times BEFORE her mission to Panama, including one time in Spanish, plus she listened through it by tape once in Spanish before she left.

7) Enjoyment in reading the Scriptures: When we bought our current home directly across the street from the Logan Temple, Karolyn and Kyle began walking over to the Temple Grounds on Sunday afternoons to read their scriptures. Sometimes they went together, sometimes alone, and sometimes with a date to find a secluded bench where they could read. They would always come home with a glow and a happiness that was palpable. Their emails from the mission field radiate such joy that permeates our home.
8) The Results and Influences of the Scriptures: For my talk, I called (and emailed) each of our six children and asked them how they were influenced by the scriptures in their lives. These are their answers:
Kimberly and Rob-- “When we read the scriptures every night in our home, the children don’t fight as much, there is much less contention in our home. (Actually, sometimes their is contention while reading the scriptures, but generally, it really helps.) It opens the minds of our children. They have 'Aha' moments about the gospel and about reading and other things. They are better readers, more articulate, have more understanding in general of secular matters, they understand more complex ideas and use bigger words.”
Ken--I decided to ask him the same question even though he doesn't attend church and does not read the scriptures.-- "The scriptures haven't taught me how to be a good person, I learned that from my mom and dad .“ (His parents know it was the results of training him up as a child-from the scriptures.) We'll get him back in the fold someday, there is a promise about that in the scriptures. One time Ken did make a comment about the scriptures. Kyle had been living with Ken and Shiann while working at a job to prepare for his mission. Everyday he studied his scriptures and Preach My Gospel in their living room. One day Ken told Kyle that he was really impressed that Kyle read the scriptures every day and that his commitment and dedication was impressive.
Katie--" You don’t have to read the scriptures every day, just every day you eat! Reading the scriptures is like a muscle in your body. When you exercise it regularly, it becomes stronger. If not, it begins to atrophy. Even the best scripture reader will become weak and incompetent if they stop reading everyday. If this happens to you, you lose."
Kristy--"The scriptures are always there for you—you can depend on them. I’ve learned that I can go to the scriptures for answers. Between the standard works and the discourses of the prophets and apostles, I can find verification for every truth.”
Karolyn--(on a mission in Novosibirsk, Russia--Siberia) "I love to read the scriptures. I just love the scriptures. It’s great when our investigators get excited and read way beyond what we assigned them. The scriptures are the basis of my life, not only in the mission field but at home as well.”
Kyle--(on a mission in Concepcion, Chile)--"The great peace that comes as I read fills my soul with joy and the joy is even greater when a simple scripture touches the heart of an investigator. Through the scriptures I come to know the will of the Lord and receive answers to my many questions. I´ve found my life’s liahona." (Wow, wish I had said that. --Lonna speaking)

9) Dedication and Commitment to reading the Scriptures: Kimberly had a memory of one night that she was visiting us in Logan. Karolyn and Kyle had stayed up really late playing games each night, way after midnight. But then she would always watch them get up and do their chores--dishes. And before going to bed each of them went to their room and read their scriptures. They taught their older sister something about dedication at that time.

10) Knowing our Savior through the Scriptures: Our children have been examples to us as they have often talked about knowing the Savior better because of the scriptures. We have experienced this as well. There is a scripture in D&C 18:33-36 that states:

"And I, Jesus Christ, your Lord and your God, have spoken it. These words are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man; For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them; Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words. "

My very favorite scripture that has always touched me, clear since high school, is in 2 Nephi 25:26:

" And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. “

I know that the scriptures are the voice of my Savior and that they are definitely the source to which we may all go to look for guidance in our lives and in finding the way to return to the presence of God. They are truly our "life's liahona".