Lynn's tears!

My last day at work, one of my dear students Terri Stromberg came up to me and showed me a Quilting Magazine. Actually it was April/ May 2015 Quilting Arts Magazine  
She then explained to me about the contest that she entered. It was to design or create a Breast Pocket for the Reader Challenge, all in honor of Breast Cancers Survivors.
This dear friend told me that the top pink pocket was one that she created and designed. She said in one of my classes, that I had mentioned that it was my anniversary for my Mastectomy. She then designed and created this pocket , which she called Lynn's tears! And she got her pocket chosen to be published in the magazine! How beautiful, she is one talented lady and I felt very honored that she thought of me!
She seemed to understand that there were a lot of tears involved with my battle with Cancer.
So thankful for her thoughtfulness.
Good Night dear friends1

 

America The Beautiful!

Thanks Lauren for the photo today, to see more of her photos go to:

America the Beautiful
Written by: Katherine Lee Bates

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thorough fare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

 

And thanks Kai ( our All American Grandson )for showing everyone how to do the Happy 4th of July Dance!!!

“Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defence and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it.” Andrew Jackson quotes

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! I wish I had the money or time to personally say that to each of you!
Today in church there were of course talks about Mothers. I would like to read some of the quotes that I took today.

All I Am I Owe to You

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."
~ George Washington "My mother was the making of me. She was so true and so sure of me, I felt that I had someone to live for - someone I must not disappoint. The memory of my mother will always be a blessing to me."
~ Thomas Edison
"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."
~ Abraham Lincoln
 

" But one thing, she said, keeps her going: “Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that in my motherhood I am in an eternal partnership with Him. I am deeply moved that God finds His ultimate purpose and meaning in being a parent, even if some of His children make Him weep"  ~  Jeffrey R. Holland

"During my professional career as a doctor of medicine, I was occasionally asked why I chose to do that difficult work. I responded with my opinion that the highest and noblest work in this life is that of a mother. Since that option was not available to me, I thought that caring for the sick might come close. I tried to care for my patients as compassionately and competently as Mother cared for me."  ~ Russell M. Nelson

This was a great video with one girl giving her Mom a tribute ( after her Mom passed away with Cancer )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr8CGydPB5g 

Yes, Motherhood, is hard but how grateful I am for my family and to be the Mother of 4 incredible kids ( who some are already starting their own families). I hope all of you women out there know that your job is important and sooooooooooooooo worth it!
Good night dear friends and Happy Mother's Day!

Always watching

I had an interesting experience this week and it was a great reminder to me that what you do and say is always being watched by others. Not in a bad way, but actually in a very good way. ( Now this photo I just liked, it is not that I think people watch us that closely. This photo of our Lauren makes me smile, I love how she sees and captures the beautiful things and moments of this world, through her lens.)

Anyway, back to my experience. I was in doctor appointment and as I was leaving, one of the workers said rather loud..."I was really disappointed". I looked back to see who he was talking to, and realized he was talking to me. I must have had a very confused look on my face because he then, clarified what he was saying. "I was really disappointed at BYU, or I should say at the player on their basketball team."
Many of you might have seen on the news that this BYU player he was talking about, is being suspended from playing on the team because he broke the Honor Code of the school. To say the least, I was shocked to hear him start a conversation like that. We went on to to talk about the Code of Honor that BYU has for all of their students, and the chance that the team might miss going to the championship tournament in March, because of this key player's choices. He asked more about the Honor Code and what all that really meant. I was grateful to share my opinion on the purpose of the Honor Code, I also told him that Jeff and I have that same type of Honor Code in our home by which we live and teach to our kids. I shared with him our ability to make any choices that we want in life, but how we can not chose the consequences from those choices. Some time the consequences seem to far out weigh the original choice or sin, although that may be true, that is not up to us. But we do have the ability to make the right choice and many times that might be hard to do. At the end of our conversation he said, " I am actually very impressed that a school would have such an Honor Code, and that there are people who live up to that." I am sorry to say that my son Lee hasn't had the same positive response at school. Many of the kids have teased or shared their opinion, on how stupid such rules are and why it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I was sorry to hear that so many people were making such a big deal of it to Lee. Yes, sometimes being a Mormon is hard for just that reason.

It just made me realize that even though I don't wear a sign on me saying that "I AM A MORMON!", I realize people watch me, just like I watch others. I have many friends from many different religious beliefs, and yet we respect each others differences and opinions, and still we are the best of friends. Someone may have been reading this blog and thought, why hasn't Lynn ever said that she is a Mormon? Does she have something to hide? Is she ashamed of her religion? It is not that I am trying to hide or be ashamed of anything, quite the opposite. I just share with you each day ...my life, my thoughts, my experiences. I hope you judge me by the life I lead, and not judge me for the fact that all you know is that I am a Mormon. I was raised in West Virginia, there were only a few kids in our whole school were Mormons, there was a lot of misconceptions about what we believed.I know first hand how mistreated and judged you can be for being different.

Actually everything I am is because of what I believe, I am not ashamed of that. My beliefs make my life better, the truths that I have, give me peace and hope.  I am truly grateful for that. I hope that I am a better person because of my beliefs. If you want to know more about what I believe, feel free to ask me or just go to to this link...    LDS.org

So the bottom line is this...we are watch each other, we have great examples in front of us daily. If you want to know why a person is happy,different or content, then just ask them. If you want to know what a person is really like, you can ask them, but you also need to watch how they live, how they treat others, how they treat their family, just watch what they do. Our examples will always speak louder than our words.
Good night dear friends!

"No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person's enemies say about him"  ~ Napoleon Hill

"I have always thought the actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts."  ~John Locke

"Respect is what we owe; love, what we give"  ~ Philip James Bailey

 

Fathers!

The History of Fathers Day

In 1909, in Spokane, Washington, Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother's Day sermon. The lecture inspired her to have a special day dedicated to her father, William Jackson Smart, who had brought her up and her siblings single-handedly after their mother died. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day on the petition sent to him by Dodd. In 1926, a National Father's Day Committee was formed in New York City. However, it was thirty years later that a Joint Resolution of Congress gave recognition to Father's Day. Another 16 years passed before President Richard Nixon established the third Sunday of June as a permanent national observance day of Father's Day in 1972 .

“Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad.”    ~ Anne Geddes

A date to remember

Today as I opened up the news on my computer, I was surprised to see that it had been 15 years since the Oklahoma City bombing. I was impressed with what the mayor Mick Cornett said at the ceremony today...

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said the day of the bombing is recalled with reverence, "not because we can't forget but because we choose to remember.

"We have chosen strength, we have chosen optimism, we have chosen freedom, we have chosen to move forward together with a level of unity that is unmatched in any American city,"

By TIM TALLEY 

I loved their mission statement, how powerful!  Yes, the human spirit is amazing. Hope this was inspiring to you as it was to me today. Remember we always have a CHOICE!

"It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated...it is finished when it surrenders."  ~ Ben Stein

"Time is not measured by the passing of the years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves."  ~ Jawahalal Nehru

"Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit."  ~ Ben Williams

May we always remember them

I received this poem and photo today on my email. What an incredible reminder it was for me. My oldest brother was in the service and I can still remember how that impacted our family. So tonight I will dedicate my post to all those wonderful, dedicated men, women and their families who are serving our Country and protecting our freedoms. Because of them, we are able to celebrate the Christmas Season .They are our heroes. Merry Christmas to all of you and THANK YOU!

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.."

"  So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

 

"How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy."  ~Paul Sweeney

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."  ~Elmer Davis