Life as a "Mormon"

I challenged myself to start blogging again and to make the focus be about letting others have an idea of what being a Mormon is all about.  There seems to be a lot of information about what people think being Mormon involves that is not necessarily accurate.  So hopefully this will be a way to share what life is like for me that will also give insights into what those who are called Mormons believe.

The first thing that I would share is the correct name of the church.  I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I am sure most people are familiar with the term Mormon Church.  I do not belong to the "Mormon" church.  I belong to the Church that bears the name of the personage that I worship and serve, that being Jesus Christ.

The term Mormon is like a nickname but  since it is a familiar term to most people who would be looking for information about the Church and/or the members, I used it for the name of my blog.

 I want to say up front that this blog is not meant to put down other faiths or beliefs in any way. It is meant simply to share my experiences, to hopefully inform and to correct misconceptions along the way.

I look forward to sharing the joy that is mine through membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

thankful #7

These are some of my greatest joy in this life.


I am thankful for each and every one.


Each one is my favorite.


Each one teaches me so much.


What a great blessing to love and be loved by such great kids.


I am thankful for the joy that is mine.

thankful #6 a good boot in the butt

When you get older, it is so very easy to slow down, simplify, and become set in a routine and to become( lets face it )downright booooring.

that's when you need a good boot in the butt to liven things up.

my boot is grandkids.

We have them in all sizes, ages, temperments and attitudes. When they are around anything is possible. It is great. There is all kinds of laughter (directed in both directions) There are fun movies to watch together (even if you have seen them a dozen times), books to be shared (my grandkids got me into Harry Potter, Twilight, and numerous others I would have missed out on), updates on what is new in life, new ways to use toys, new artwork made to display, hugs and wet kisses given freely or taken under protest, new cell phone usage learned, the list is endless when you have young people around.

Lets face it, we couldn't handle it all, all of the time, but boy is it fun to have a regular dose of young people to keep your perspective in the right place.

I love a good boot in the butt. I needed that.

thankful for #5

What do you get when you are doing a family photo shoot with over 30 people and 18 of that number being kids of all ages. You would think it would be total chaos and bedlum.

I am thankful for just downright good kids and for the parents who are raising them.

they had to wait for long periods of time, stay close and stay clean at all cost. they had to pose and sit close to siblings and look happy. many were tired and hungry (oh that was the adults) anyway, we all survived and accomplished the goal of family and individual pictures.

Next photo shoot we need matching t-shirts that say we all survived having our pictures taken.

coming soon, the results of all that effort

thankful #4

I am thankful to live in a country where traditionally and culturally we help one another.
It was wonderful to see the outpouring of support and help that has been and still is being given. People came from numerous states and even some far away to lend a hand.
Many companies gave money, supplies, equipment and workers.
Churches organized and individuals from all walks of life showed up to do their part.
We are blessed as a country, a state and a local community for the outpouring of love, help and support from so many sources.

thankful #3

I am so very thankful for the years spent going to Young Women Camp and for the equipment that was bought for those occassions that came in handy when there was no electricity for so many days.

after the storms, thankful #2

A friend shared a quote with me years ago about worry. It says, if money can fix it, it isn't something to worry about.

I was out of town when the recent tornadoes hit. Being far away was hard until I got word that all of my family were OK. Once I knew that they were alright, I didn't need to worry.

You can repair, rebuild or replace a house, you can't replace the people in your life with any amount of money.

#2 I am thankful I don't need to worry.

after the storm, thankful #1

I am thankful for family, for their safety, for the love and support shown to each other, for prayer and strength gained to make it through the after math, for renewed faith in a Heavenly Father and His presence and hand in our daily lives.

Who would have thought?

I have never been a cat person. I have not be much of an animal person at all. I would never intentionally harm or hurt an animal but didn't feel the need for one and certainly not several in my life.

When we moved into our present home, it came with two cats. Domino and Fluffy. They were outside, country cats. (my kind of pets)
Domino was a black and white short haired cat. She was friendly and liked to be where you were. She was an explorer and went off on her own alot.
Fluffy is long haired (hence the name) and blue eyed. She is our stay close to home gal. After having her for awhile we discovered her breed. She is half ragdoll. She definitely fits the characteristics of the ragdoll. She is very affectionate, extreme talkative for a cat and a sprawler. She does the most unladylike poses while sunning on the front porch.
Both would leave us signs of their prowness as hunters by leaving mice, moles, and various body parts of unknown critters on the porch. You learn to not step out onto the porch bare footed.

You guessed it. We grew very attached and they very much became OUR cats. We dreaded the day when for whatever reason we would lose one.
And as we knew it would, that day came and we lost Domino.
We discussed getting another cat but it was winter and not a good time to acquire an outside cat. So we waited.

Recently, I saw an ad for a rescue cat. She had been abandoned and found by a woman who couldn't keep her and was trying to find a home in a country setting. So we took her, named her Whiskers and gave it a try but found her to be very wary of people and when it came time to release her from the cage after her transition time, she left and never came back.

We only had her for two weeks and even though she was not an affectionate cat, we had already begun to grow fond of her and were disappointed when she wasn't able to bond with us.

So we discussed it and decided to try again. We decided to look for a cat that had already bonded with people. I found several but they were always in pairs. We decided to go ahead and take two.
So, now we have two new younger cats. One is grey and black stripped with white feet. My husband named her Boots. The other is solid black with vivid yellow eyes that I call Topaz.
They are very friendly, let you hold and pet them. They have already passed the test of four very interested grandchildren.

So now we now have 3 cats. My husband laughs and says that Whiskers will come back and we will end up with 4 cats. Who knows.

For now, we are working on getting our resident cat Fluffy to adjust to two newcomers. So far she and Boots are not buying it. ( such rude behavior for two pretty ladies) We are only into the first two days of introduction so hopefully there is time for attitude adjustment.

So this previous non cat person is going online and reading up on introducing new cats.
I spend time on the porch talking to all three cats (the two newcomers are caged for the transition period of two weeks) I pet each one and feed them treats to help them associate each other and their new surroundings with good food and pleasant association. I take items that each of them have slept on and trade them so they will get used to each others scent.

So we will see how it goes. In the country, it is survival of the fittest and pets are no exception.

We will give it our best shot and Boots and Topaz will have to take care of the rest.

I love living in the country and actually love our country cats. Who would have thought?

little girl in a big truck

My dad traded in his car for a truck. It was a big blue GMC pickup. Oh no, not that.

If I wanted to drive to school, it was in that big truck. I am short. It was a big step to get up into that truck. Once I was in it I discovered that I could actually see better and judge distances better because of the height of the seat.

Best of all, I found out really quickly that no one messed with a little girl driving a big truck. Aah the power of it was wonderful.

There was a lot of wealthy kids who drove to school where I went to High School. They could be snooty to the average person. I must admit, I got a certain amount of pleasure when the school bell rang and everyone headed to the parking lot and they seemed to think because of their status that they were to be the first off the lot.

Well, guess what? They got out of the way of a little girl driving a big blue truck. It was great!!!!

You see trucks weren't cool then. They were for farmers or the working class. I loved to see those little sporty type cars, scatter in the wake of that low class pickup truck.

Thanks Daddy. I loved that big old truck.

Later in life when I was married and was blessed with a bunch of kids, we had a big 12 passenger blue van. One of those vans that said, go ahead hit me, make my day.

Life was good. Again, I was so empowered. People just don't mess with a little woman in a big van.

I miss those days.

People just don't show respect for a little old woman in a cute little mini SUV.

Oh well, it's OK, at least it's red.

"the car"

Things that trigger memories part 2.

In the previous post I talked about my mother’s sewing machine. This post is about my Daddy’s car.

Daddy grew up poor and worked hard all of his life. As an adult his car represented volumes to him. He took great pride in owning and taking care of a car. He put a lot into the upkeep and maintenance on his car. He never missed an oil change, tire rotation or let the gas tank get below half a tank.

He would drive all the way across town to the same service station for his gas and to have the car serviced. His cars lasted years beyond what most cars last. Anyone knowing my Dad and finding out he was going to get a newer car would let him know that they wanted first dibs on the old one because it would have been taken such good care of.

Many men like my Dad who put such store by a car would never have done what my Daddy did for two teenage girls.

My sister and I learned how to drive in my Daddy’s car. No automatic transmissions back then. We had to learn to use a clutch. Can you imagine how hard it must have been to have his car treated the way a new just learning teenagerer treated it?

We were allowed to take his car to school and on errands. In order for us to drive to school, meant that he was without a car for work. We would take him to work, drive to and from school and go pick him up from work.

One time I took that car for a spin, downtown on the drag one night without permission and rear-ended another car. I thought I was doomed. I thought I had done the unforgivable, I had damaged “the car”.

I had to call my Daddy and tell him where I was and what had happened. He didn’t yell, he just came and got me and my friends and took us home. He had the car fixed and I was still allowed to drive it.

He never brought it up again. Listen up parents of teenagers, I would have rather he had beat me with a whip, I knew how much he loved that car and I had damaged it and he did more by not saying anything than if he had ranted and raved at me. I never wanted to cause him hurt over that car again. (and didn’t until I was grown, and married with a baby but that is another story)

Again, knowing how much his car meant to him, two teenaged girls were made to feel that they were of equal and/or greater value to their father than even his beloved car.

He could be a cantankerous old fart, but there was never a doubt in the mind of two little girls and later as teenagers where we stood with our Daddy.

Even in his declining years on earth and with dementia, not always knowing who we were, there were the times when he was mentally alert and would tell us how much he appreciated and loved his girls.

Even to this day, and both of us Grandmothers, we miss him and where ever he may be, we are still Daddy's girls.

Things that trigger memories part 1.

I took an old sewing machine into be oiled, cleaned and checked out. As I was getting ready to leave the shop, special memories came flooding back. To most people it is just a heavy piece of metal. To me it is a classic Singer 401. In its day and still today it is one of the best sewing machines Singer made.

When I was growing up, my parents worked hard for everything they had. They tried to buy the best that they could afford of whatever they bought and they took good care of them to see that they lasted.

My mother had a Singer 401. She loved and took great pride in that sewing machine and took special care of it. She sewed lots of pretty dresses for two little girls.

The thing that makes it really special is that for all of the love and care she gave that sewing machine, she allowed two little girls to sit for hours and sew doll clothes and blankets on it. I have wonderful memories of making all kinds of things on that machine.

I was in a thrift store a few years ago and came across an immaculate Singer 401 in a wooden cabinet. I scarfed it up. I couldn’t wait to call my Mother and tell her about my wonderful find. She still has hers that she used for years and that I sewed on as a child.

Then I moved and my sewing things were put on hold for awhile until recently when I was able to set up a sewing room. I am so excited to get that sewing machine up and running again and to be able to sew wonderful things again. I can’t wait to get it back from the shop and renew those wonderful memories of sewing.

Even though that sewing machine was my Mothers pride and joy. Two little girls were made to feel that they were equally important and were given cherished memories that even to this day come flooding back whenever they see and sew on a Singer 401.

thankful for helping hands

As one gets older and less able to do the things that used to come easy, you learn to appreciate the helping hands of others.

Last weekend we were on the receiving end of many pairs of helping hands.

We have many trees around our home and earlier had two fall in a storm, one on the house one day and another through a section of fence the following day. The one that fell on the house did minor damage but blocked the driveway. Within a short period of time with the helping hands of friends and family the tree on the driveway was cut and removed.
The other tree was cut and removed by the helping hands of a group of leaders and young men from church. What a wonderful blessing.

Needless to say, we were a little nervous of other old trees possibly doing the same thing so we decided to try to do some preventive measures. So last weekend we rented a lift or cherry picker to get up in the trees to cut overhanging limbs and top trees that could hit the house if they were to fall in a storm.

So family members young and old were enlisted in the project. Again, younger, stronger, and frankly braver helping hands came to our aid.

Before the day was out, the job was done. How very grateful we are for those willing helping hands who did so much in our behalf.

all because two people fell in love

So what does happen because 2 people fell in love?
In my case, it went this way.
2 people fell in love.
from that love came 8 wonderful kids who grew up to be some pretty great people.
one of those 8 was a nanny to 3 families giving me 8 special kids who call me Granni.
7 of those 8 wonderful people fell in love, married and gave me 2 sons-in-law and 5 daughters-in-law.
those 14 people gave me 18 grandchildren.
so, all because these two people fell in love, there are now 43 people in our family.
Life is good.

thanks thanks thanks

My blog consultant and helper came to my rescue and gave me a new look to my blog. It is me. Plain and simple. Thanks so much daughter.

Also I now have a digital camera and hopefully will learn to use it soon and can actually document some of my country adventures.

still another tail to tell

Soooo, obviously possums travel with company. One medium possum has been evicted from the premises.

Next night, water dispenser again scattered here and yon. How rude.
Hmmm could it be. Yes, it seems we have more than one culprit.

So out goes the trusty trap and walla, we now have a rather biiiig possum on the front porch.

Have you ever seen one of these things up close other than bumps or smears on the road? They are really uggggllllyyyy. At least it wasn't a skunk.

By the way, who says animals don't have a sense of humor or a vengeful streak. Fluffy the cat comes prancing up on the porch this morning and walks around the cage as if to flaunt the fact that she is free and said possum who has been bullying and making messes on her turf is now in a small cage awaiting his fate. I kept waiting for her to stick her tongue out at him but i guess she is too much of a lady.

Now where is my very brave and helpful dispencer of the critters?
Yep, gone fishing and said possum is left to wait out his sentence of expulsion.

Still no sympathy on my part.

Living in the country can be entertaining.

Hummm

from the looks of things, I guess I need to get my blog decorator to come and redo my blog. I love talented family. If you don't have talent, mooch off of those who do. Works for me.

newest critter episode

Ok, first it was horses running down my driveway, then it was raccoons on the back porch, then it was skunks under the house, what next?
So you think possums are really stupid timid little creatures that go around becoming road kill right?
Well the ones we get are nasty little buggers that come out after dark and eat the cats food if you make the mistake of leaving it out. They turn over the water dispenser and scatter the parts here and yon. They dig holes all over the yard and flower beds.
To top it off, one had the nerve to climb up on the porch and when I went to see what was scaring my cats it beared its teeth and hissed at me.
That did it. I went for my gun. Yeah my great big powerful b b gun. By the time I found the gun and got it cocked and ready to give that hissy little bugger a good what for, it took off. Good thing too, I might have acctually hit it.
Sooo I called in the reenforcements. I borrowed a trap from my very sweet and accommidating son-in-law and my very helpful husband set it out.
Of course the first thing we caught was one of my cats. Sigh. I figure since they are supposed to be smarter than possums it would only happen once and then they would learn to leave it alone.
So sure enough the next morning we have one very unhappy possum. Like I really cared it was unhappy. Did it care that it made me unhappy digging all over the place and moving in on my cats turf?
Sooo, sweet hubby hauls it off to the wild woods far far away. His reward, a Hardee's biscuit for his hard work and heroic efforts.
Peace is restored until the next critter comes along. So until next time.....

ten things

1. I have been blessed with a wonderful heritage and have done a pretty good job of living up to the examples set my grandmother and mother.
2. I love my husband unconditionally and am so blessed that he loves me.
3. I love gardening and working in the yard and have done some good things around my yard that I am proud of.
4. I hate housework. When I was growing up things were made to feel more important than people at times. I let my kids sit on the furniture, our house was lived in, I tried to spend more time with my kids than cleaning house.
5. I love to read and have learned about some cool books from my kids and grandkids. I have been blessed by good books and enjoy sharing with my grandkids.
6. I am a good person. Not a perfect one but a good one. I like myself. I try not to take myself too seriously and can enjoy life.
7. I like to quilt and will actually make one now and then just to prove that I can and am not just collecting fabric.
8. I am a good mother-in-law. I had a great example in my husband's mother. She has always been good to me. Of course it helps when you have great daughters-in-law and sons-in-law. Not sure why I have been blessed with such great people in my life but am so glad that I am.
9. I am a good Granny. Again, not perfect but good. I have every size, age, personality and temperment of grandchild there is and they are all great.
10. I am a good mother. I (with the help of a good man) raised some great individuals. I made lots of mistakes but I also did alot of good things. I am proud of how they have all turned out. They are making good choices, doing their share of dumb things but nothing worse than what I did growing up, raising some darn good kids, are hard workers, and still associate with me so I must have done more good than bad. I love each of them and wouldn't have wanted to be anything else than just their Mom.

Wonderful mothers

The purpose of the previous post was not to knock moms. It was to point out that mothers in nature raise some great offspring.

We human moms do the same and yet tend to beat themselves up over everything.

A great mom is one who does the best she can under whatever circumstances are hers.

A great kid is one who does likewise.

No mom is perfect and no child is perfect. They each come with faults and talents and struggle to do the best with what they each have.

It must make Heavenly Father a little sad when His wonderful daughters are working so hard and doing such a great job at what He gave them to do and yet they seem to only see what is perceived and perpetuated by the world as their or their offspring's supposed failures or mistakes.

We should celebrate. We need to find the joy in ourselves and our offspring. Look at all of the great people walking the earth becasue of truly great mothers. You moms are doing wonderful things.

I would love to see truly great moms toot their own horns once in awhile and relish their successes and those of their offspring.
You turned out great and so will your offspring.

Motherhood is great!!!!!!! Here's to all of you wonderful, truly great moms and your equally wonderful offspring.

I challenge any mom out there to post at least ten of their successes and those of their offspring.