58 years - Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

This cute little girl,

This thoughtful young woman,

This beautiful mature woman...

has become a loving, faithful companion,

a loving, profoundly effective mother,

a devoted, doting grandmother,

and a glowing example to us all.

Happy Birthday Debby/Mom!

We love you very much.

We owe you everything, and we are so glad

we have the balance of eternity with you to repay.

Happy Birthday!

Dear Debby~

The request you sent on Sept 1 to do something for someone else on your birthday, today, was just beautiful. What a beautiful heart you have. What a willing soul, you are. I guess it was my good luck that our family had just decided to adopt Bria (I blogged about her here), my sweet friend from Charlottesville, as she studies at BYU.

Bria is 25 and has a heart for service herself. She is one of the few people who always remembers my birthday, every year and calls me. She helped pay for our Thanksgiving last year, and gave us our Christmas dinner as well. She also took Valerie and I to get a manicure and pedicure for Christmas. My first pedicure, ever, and second manicure. Then, she took us out to eat. In April, she gave us a new flat-screen TV and in August, she gave me all her amazing MAC makeup and brushes collection + a giftcard to Ulta and some amazing loofa/goat’s milk soap. She spent her last pay check on me. How… humbling doesn’t even touch it.

Bria is living in the heart of Mormon culture, with several roommates who get phone calls from home, letters from home and care packages often. She never once has complained, I am sure she felt lonely though. She is a biology major, taking hard math, chem, and bio courses. This is such a hard, rigorous major.

Anyway, we chose to show Bria she was loved and missed and adored by sending her things in the mail . Bria got her first box (sent Parcel Post), after 2 weeks, she got it last Thursday. Bria is vegetarian and vegan, and has had a really tough time finding anything to eat in Provo. Sooooo, I went to the Friendly City Food Co-Op and found lots of packaged organic fruits. Veggies and snacks for her, along with some things she left because she ran out of boxes to ship to Utah.

Thursday, Bria got home and called me and said “So THIS is what it feels like to be loved?” It was such a sweet feeling.

During conference, we also had 3 service projects we worked on through out the weekend. During the 2^nd session on Saturday, I made dinner for our missionaries, and a lady from our ward who has very little family support here. She is on a pretty rough diet- so I made a chicken pot pie with homemade noodles (WOW!), fresh bread, and pumpkin cake. Nancy and her family were happy and the missionaries were too.

THEN, we put together an October package for Bria- lots of Halloween candy (even if it is not vegan, she will make friends with that candy!), magic wands, glow sticks, cozy socks, a kitty cat purse, pictures of all of us, and letters from each of us except Asher.

I mailed that Monday and it was delivered today. I am sure Bria will call tonight or tomorrow. A surprise for her, was that Eco-Emi also opened Monday, so I finally go to subscribe to that for Bria with a gift subscription, I know she will love it, I look up the E-E box contents and drool every month!

Anyway, this was a REALLY WONDERFUL group effort for us- we have been working on and thinking about projects since you asked us to a month ago. We will me making a Bri-Box every month. It really is a wonderful family activity. Thank you for the nudge forward. It really is a great gift to be do things for other people.

As for another birthday- what a blessing your birth has been to us all. We love you and hope your birthday is filled with love, appreciation, kindness and goodness. We are all so grateful for you and sooooo wish we could make you dinner and dessert for your birthday dinner! Thank you for the patience, love, kindness and goodness you have brought to the world since day one. We LOVE you.

UPDATE! Bria posted about box #2. I love that she always says thank you!

Temple by Moonlight

Leaving the temple Tuesday night 

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Conference Weekend = Hoot Owl

Just to keep up the tradition and provide a little nostalgia for those of you who grew up in Pocatello as members of the Croshaw family , Mom, Grandma, and I took the semiannual ride up to Hoot Owl after conference.  Here are the results:

Colors are changing in spite of our late summer

In search of the perfect backdrop - some random rock wall on the side of the road.  Mount

the camera on the pickup fender, push the timer button, and run.  We're set to pop honey!

Remember the avalanche hill across from the old cabin?  It's now a very colorful gravel pit,

beautified even more by the posing human.

And the old cabin has been replaced with a steel sided horse stable

and a large home higher up the hill.  Sad.  Not such a great backdrop now,

but at least we have preserved history with our old photos.

Another perfect backdrop - a random horse pasture - beautiful horses and beautiful humans.

Conference was very thought-provoking and profound this year...

as was Hoot Owl.  Wish you all could have been there.

Nedra Kirkland

Remember Bob and Nedra Kirkland, our next-door neighbors on Rainier Dr.?  Bob passed away about 8 years ago, and Nedra hung in until earlier this week.  They were very good people, and we loved both of them.  They were part of our lives for a long time, particularly Nedra, as she had diabetic foot issues that I dealt with for many years.  But through all that, she was never a complainer -she was a smiler.  She chose to be a happy person in spite of a difficult life.  Click here to read more.

My Wonderful Mother and Father, Your Sweet Grandmother and Grandfather

Hi Everyone,

I was thinking about my Mom and Dad, and wanted to tell all of you a few things.  First of all, a couple of weeks ago Grandma and Grandpa really wanted to go to the temple.  They had not been able to go most of the summer because Grandpa was in the hospital and rehab.  Both Gerald and I talked to them about possibly going with us, but they just really wanted to go, and so, one afternoon they went to the Idaho Falls Temple.  They each had a walker that they had to get out of the car, and the ramp up to the temple is not a short distance.  They got up the ramp, also carrying Grandpa's cane for inside the temple.  They both got ready, and did a session.  When it was over they took both of their walkers back to the car, put them in the trunk and went home.  That is the kind of people they are.  Was it easy?  convenient? comfortable?  None of the above.  But they were compelled because of their faith to go to the temple and show Heavenly Father and us that that is where their hearts are.  That is what they want to be doing in the sunset hours of their lives.

 Pretty remarkable.  

Then, this week, they had some plumbing problems.  This was the third time the plumber came this month, in fact.  Kind of expensive, but doable.  Mom was telling me about it, and then she said, "I am not expecting a Golden Ticket".  Does that sound familiar to any of you?  It should.  To know what she was talking about, you need to listen to the Relief Society broadcast, Pres. Uchtdorf's talk in particular.  I love her so much for that.  She couldn't go with me to the broadcast that night, but she sat in her TV room and watched the broadcast all the way through.  Not only did she watch it, she is applying it in her life.  She is 82 years old, and she is still trying to be faithful and obedient.  

Not many people in this life have a Grandma and Mother like that.  

Every fast Sunday, Grandpa bears his testimony, either on his own, or with a walker or cane.  He is 84 years old.  They still go to church every Sunday.  They still read their scriptures and have family prayer, and pray for EVERY ONE of us.  I have knelt a few times with them and heard their prayers.  It is a sweet experience.  They have lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and they pray for each of us individually.  I hope all of you can have the experience of hearing them pray once before they go to their eternal reward.  We are so blessed to have them in our lives, and can still learn so much for their example.  

I love both of them so much.

Debby

A Sad Turn of Events

OK, it's not really all that sad, but I mainly applied that title just to get your attention.  It's like- "Who died??"  Anyway, thanks to Maggie VanderLouw's keen perceptibility, I think I've figured out why you all seldom post on this or your own blogs any more -- Smart phones!

To quote Maggie's lament on being bored with no one to talk to among a crowd of texting/surfing/facebooking adults...

"They all talking to theyselves."

Oh, the wisdom of a child!

Academic Thoughts on Church Growth/decline

http://svu.edu/speeches/forums/2011/frederick-gedicks


This is really interesting. I found this after a curious student asked me about it- her friend goes to SVU, which is one town down from Staunton. I am not real sure what to think, but it is very interesting.

Jason, I think this is the hair Matt was talking about.

Colin was going into the MTC.  Remember the old white Caravan?

I'm famous today

So this one time, I got to be in the Washington Post...

Pretty fun, huh?

Update: Digital version came out today in the Metro Express. :) Scroll down to page 21.