The Inversion Continues

Grey, grey, grey was the predominant only color we saw in the sky this week.  Thankfully I haven't felt grey inside.  I used to have trouble with that, but since I've been using essential oils, and using other great tools that I have learned, I haven't felt like that.  This is a true blessing!

BIG NEWS!  Our Stake is going to add two new wards next week!  Every ward in the Stake is having its boundaries re-drawn, except for ours.  We will stay just as we are, for which I am glad!  It's going to be exciting to see all the new changes.

BIG NEWS #2!  Our friend Erik Fisher made the Alpine US Olympic Ski Team!!  Go Erik!!

I had the opportunity to go to the Temple three days in a row this week.  I went for my weekly trip on Thursday, and then Friday morning I took Peter in and he did baptisms/confirmations (with our own names from our family history) while I did initiatory.  Then on Saturday, Bruce said he wanted to go to the Temple, so I went with him too!  It was wonderful.  When I walk in the doors of the Temple, it is so beautiful, and I always think, "I am welcome in my Father's home.  I'm home".

Libby had her friend Elyse over for the afternoon and besides making delicious brownies, they made this "Mayan Village".  Libby kept asking for more plastic cups, and the miserly mom in me wanted to say "No - you're wasting good cups!"; but then I thought, "For heaven's sakes, it doesn't cost that much for a package of plastic cups at Costco.  Let your children be creative and have some fun for a few dollars!"  They added more later with paper plates and bowls.

Peter started Honor Choir this week!  He got chosen as one of two 7th grade boys to represent his Middle School in the Honor Choir.  He enjoyed the rehearsal and said there were a ton of kids from his school.

Peter also went snowboarding with the middle school team yesterday!  He used a different board this time, a bigger one (which a generous friend is letting him borrow), and he said it gave him a lot more control.  Even though he still biffed it a bunch of times, he said he had fun.



There's been a lot of talk going around our house about Joshua coming home.  What will he be like, will he do this, and this will change, and what not.  His Homecoming talk in Church is scheduled for the 23 of Feb at 9 am.  Yesterday, Jan 25th was the 2 year anniversary of when he went into the MTC!  We are so excited for him to come home we can hardly stand it!!  Meanwhile, he's down there in San Miguel not being able to sleep because he is thinking of how little time he has left.  :)  This is the sign of a dedicated missionary!

Joseph wrote us that it was so hot in his bedroom without an air conditioning, that all the Elders got dehydrated and heat stroke one night, including Joseph.  Now he sleeps on the tile floor!  He says it is much cooler and he can sleep just fine!  I'm not at all worried about him sleeping on the tile floor.  Joseph can sleep anywhere, including sitting on a chair with his head down on a desk.  Ha ha!  At least on the tile floor he is flat.

Speaking of Joseph, I had to take a picture of this the other day.  Two post-it notes stuck to Mary's door.  (She moved them onto the new door when she moved bedrooms last summer).  Classic Joseph!

Dear Mary, You are one cool noodle. You don't even know how awesome you are yet. Someday you'll find out. Love Joseph.

Auditions for next year's incoming freshmen at BYU were this weekend at BYU's School of Music.  Jesse called and said that tensions were high in the HFAC!  We reminisced about being there a year ago and all that's happened since then.  I'm so grateful that she passed that hurdle and is now in the Performance Program and doing well!

Mary asked Nicholas to Tip-off this week (a girls-choice dance at the high school).  She filled a bunch of balloons and put them in his room.  Eleven of them had one word in it like "Will", "You", etc that said, "Will you got to Tip-off with me?"  And then her name was just one letter each.  That will be a fun evening for them.

I had an interesting experience this week.  After talking with my friend Karen, she helped me figure out that I had a bout with low blood sugar that really threw me for a loop.  I had a headache, nausea, and just felt terrible.  I ran on the Zyto Compass Software I have, and I had 20 biomarkers out of range and all 20 were brought in by Australian Blue (a Young Living essential oils blend).  It is good for the pancreas.  I had lent it to my Mom, so Bruce went over and got it for me, and I put it all around my head (that's where it hurt the worst - I didn't realize at the time that it was blood sugar, or I would have put it on the pancreas points on my feet).  Anyway, it totally helped and I improved steadily and was able to go to bed and sleep.  In the morning I woke up and was fine. 

I learned more than one lesson from that experience, but the one lesson that will remain with me for a long time is the feeling I had of surprise and shock at what it felt like to feel that terrible so suddenly.  I don't get sick that often, and I haven't felt that bad for a long, long time.  The next morning I realized that, in the tiniest of ways, I felt what it was like for the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He first started to undergo the suffering that comprised the Atonement.  He was the most pure, innocent, healthy soul to walk the earth, so when he felt the pain inherent in the Atonement, what a shock and a surprise it must have been to His tender soul!  I am so grateful for what He did for me, and in awe of His courage and love.

Speaking of that, I got my Christmas present, which is a painting of the Savior, back from the framers, and hung it up in our house.  It is stunning!  I love it so much!  I was going to take a picture of it, but I want it to be a surprise for Joshua, Joseph and Jesse when they come home, to find it in the house and see what they think!

Bruce has been struggling with coughing and breathing with the poor air quality during this inversion.  Thank goodness I have been able to use the diffuser with oils every night in our room and that helps a lot.

With whatever else I will report on next week, I hope one is that we have seen some sun!

Foggy January, But We're Still Happy

I started a new Foot Zone Class this week!

That is always so fun for me.  I had three students on Tuesday, but one more signed up on Thursday.  I LOVE teaching this class.  This will be the 11th Foot Zone Class that I've taught in the last 2 1/2 years.  I use Foot Zone often.  I find that in my work with people, a Foot Zone will come up quite often.  In balances hormones, effects lymph and blood circulation, elimination, digestion, and autonomic nerve function.

One of the big things affecting this week was the weather.  Although this picture was taken by Joseph last January, it's a good depiction of what it has looked almost every day this week.

If it looks like the sun has had a hard time peeking through, you're right.  No sun in our town this week, but a lot of fog.  A LOT!  But the frost on the trees has been gorgeous.

Oh - here, I did find a picture of what it looks like right now around here.  Frost covers every leaf, twig and fence!

Last night I looked at the humidity report on my iPhone for our town, and it said 100% humidity!  Bruce said, "That means we are IN a cloud."  And that's about what it was.  I thought it would be hard to be more humid than where Josh is, but he was only at 64%.  And a balmy 75 degrees.

Speaking of Josh, we got his travel plans this week!  He is flying home on the 20th of February.  He will fly from San Salvador to Miami, then to Denver, and then to home.  I was so happy that I started to cry when I saw the actual flight plans on the screen!  He really is going to come home!!

Bruce tried a couple of weeks of working a day or two at home and the rest at work, but his boss told him that wouldn't do.  So now he has to go in every day.  That's tough!

Peter went to a Merit Badge Clinic this week and got three more Merit badges.  He only has two more Merit Badges to complete before he starts working on his Eagle Project!

Libby composed a song on the piano for her friend Elyse for a birthday present.  She put lyrics to the song, and it is called "True Friends".  Libby wrote it out on the Manuscript Paper that Jesse gave Libby for Christmas.  Libby has joined an Orchestra after school, playing the violin.  It's her first attempt at the instrument, but she is picking it up quickly!

I got a grounding pad this week from earthing.com.  I love putting my bare feet on it when I work on the computer.  I can really feel the energy coming in through my feet.  It almost feels like running on the Compass software that I have, which puts a low level electrical signal in through the hand.  Reports from the grounding pad are that it is a major anti-oxidant treatment and greatly reduces inflammation in the body.  I also got a half-sheet that we put on the bottom half of our bed.  The result from that which can already be seen is that Bruce does not snore anymore!  Seriously!  It is great.  His snoring didn't bother me before, as in making it so I couldn't sleep, but I am happy for Bruce that he can breathe better.

This afternoon Peter was playing the Tennessee Waltz on his fiddle, and of course my Mom and Dad have to waltz to this.  Even at 76 and 82, they can still waltz to one of their favorite songs!

And I want to add one last picture here, of Libby and I.  Libby did my hair to look "just like hers".

Happy Birthday Joseph!

Mary made this a little while ago.  I love this!

I had a great week this week as far as my business helping people with tools for natural healing.  I had a paying client, or more than one, every day this week.  This has been a dream of mine for a long time, and to see it coming to fruition is deeply satisfying.  One client texted me later in the afternoon and said, "I feel 30 lbs. lighter!"  Another said, "My heart was grey, and now it is sunny and happy.  I woke up the next morning and though, 'Wow!'"  Another one said, "I can't even begin to tell you how much better I felt after our last visit, and even the days after."  It is such comments that give me pause to thank Heavenly Father for His goodness in allowing me to be a small part of setting up the conditions so people can heal through the light of Christ.  Jesus Christ is the Master Healer, and light and healing comes from Him.

When I was cutting Peter's hair just now, he said, "It's gonna stink to get old."  I said, "Why? It's the best time of your life.  I've never been happier."  He was genuinely surprised when I said that.  But it is true, at least for me.  I've never been in such a happy place as I am now.

In addition to having all that fun with the clients I had last week, I also got to go with the Spanish Elders to teach a family that lives about 3 miles from us.  To teach the about what happened in the First Vision, we actually sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer.  It was so great - I loved that way of teaching!  Then this same family came on Saturday night and we talked about oils and how they could help them, and then they also said they would come to Church on Sunday (today.).  Well, when they left I danced around the house, and - need I say it again - I think I've never been happier in my life.  ha ha  The lady didn't end up coming to Church, but the husband did.  He has been to Church 3 weeks in a row.  I am very humbled by his honest commitment to wanting to know what is true.  Except by parents, I'm sure that there are no more sincere and pleading prayers offered to the Lord, than those offered by missionaries for their investigators.  I surely felt that today when I sat by Heriberto in Sacrament Meeting today.

Libby has been reading like mad.  She read 7 books over Christmas break.  At the moment she is reading Slathbog's Gold, and is really enjoying it.








 Peter went to the Scout Merit Badge Clinic yesterday.  When he got home, he joined us in taking down the Christmas tree and all the decorations.  Whew - that is a big job.  I'm glad it's taken care of!






Jesse called on FaceTime and told us she has been called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society.  She said they don't really have evening RS meetings, so it will be interesting to see what her calling entails.  She is doing great this semester.  She said she feels like she is much more prepared for this semester than last.  It's like getting through the first few months on your mission - you are glad when you are through that!  She also said, "This semester is different than last semester.  I've learned to love the piano even more than I did before.  Whenever I'm playing I forget all my other cares."

Joseph got bit by a dog.  We didn't get much more information, other than that he has a moon shaped scar on his leg.  Yikes!

Joseph as a baby

This week Joseph turns 20 years old!  He has turned into an amazing young adult, and I'm proud beyond what I can express to be his mother.

Last hug before he went into the MTC

Happy Birthday Joseph!!

Joshua was able to return to his area on Tuesday.  He said it was not affected so much by the Chaparrastique ash plume because it mostly blew the other way, but he said that there are areas in his Zone that were affected, and badly.  The Elders that were in that area are still serving in other areas.  Joshua has left than 5 weeks left!  It is getting close enough that I am starting to have dreams about it.

Mary found out some SUPER fun news this week.  Madrigals are going to sing Loch Lomond!

I love, love, love this song!  But what it is even more fun, is that Josh knows this song, since Madrigals sang this song in 2010.  So when he gets home, he can go over once in awhile and sing with the Madrigals and show those basses how it's done!  And they are singing Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho too.  This makes me want to dance around and sing, too.  I do a lot of dancing around and singing.  Ha ha!

Life is good!  Life is good because God is Good!

Chaparrastique Rings in the New Year!

We started out the week with a bang!  Last Monday morning I got up at 5 am to get this blog written in time for Joseph to see it, and I found a message in my Inbox from Sis. Glazier, Joshua's mission president's wife.

Dear Parents,

No need for alarm, but many of you will have heard about the eruption of the San Miguel volcano today.  All of our missionaries are accounted for and safe. We have evacuated San Miguel, Usulutan, and San Vicente to the capital for safety. All are well and safe. We felt the hand of the Lord in all that occurred today. The President felt that he should attend church in a city near the volcano. We saw it explode. We were able to reach San Miguel so quickly.  All of the missionaries (54 of them) we were able to contact. (that is a miracle alone, because only 3 have cell phones, but because it was during church, we reached them all.) Our missionaries in Berlin (who were very close to the volcano) just “happened” to have the counselor in the mission presidency visiting. He had them in his car and on the way to San Salvador in a matter of 10 minutes. It was all such a miracle.

We are so thankful for your continued prayers. Please pray for the saints who remain in those affected areas. Pray that the missionary work will be blessed because of this disaster—that hearts will be softened and opened.

We are so thankful for you faithful sons and daughters. They were courageous, uncomplaining, and very obedient today. We are so grateful for their wonderful examples.  They will all be writing you tomorrow of their adventures, but we wanted you all to know that they are safe and well and that God has truly blessed our mission this day, so that you, too, could offer Him a prayer of thanksgiving. How blessed we are! He is so magnificent. We are so grateful. God bless all of you.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Glazier

 

The Chaparrastique volcano is 30 miles from the city of San Miguel, where Joshua is serving.

I immediately wrote this back to her:

Thank you for the message this morning!

It struck me (after the initial shock - ha ha) what a miracle it is that Elder ___ asked to extend his mission a few months ago, and that his request was granted.  This means that he is now in a position of leadership in the Zone most affected by this explosion, instead of going home in 3 days.  As you said, so many miracles!  Thank you again for your quick response in letting us know what is going on.  We love you and will continue our fervent prayers for you and the missionaries!

Within minutes, she wrote back the following:

Sister _______,

I just had to write you. It is NO ACCIDENT that E _____ was there. I told him that is one of the reasons he was called to serve there. He was fabulous. He whisked those missionaries into position, rented a bus to transport them, gathered them together (38 is no small feat, especially when only 3 have a cell phone), bought waters for the bus, and kept everyone calm and happy.  It actually was very miraculous. He is such a great young man--full of faith, and very diligent.  We LOVE having him in our mission. What a great example he is.  Thanks for raising such a wonderful son. May God continue to bless your family always. 

love, 

Hna Glazier

 And she sent these pictures.

Arriving in San Salvador after a 3 1/2 hour bus trip.  (Notice Josh on the right of the picture turning around to help the Hermanas.)

 (And then you can see him in this picture carrying one of their bags.)

 The temple missionaries cooked and served them all dinner (they hadn't eaten all day) at the Temple cafeteria.

Here's what Josh had to say about it.

So, volcano story.

We were halfway through the second class (on Sunday), and we saw everyone running for the entrance of the church. That's when we first saw a bunch of smoke, dust, and ash just flowing out of the top of the volcano. Super crazy! The stake president was there and he told everyone to calm down, and that we were in the most protected place in all of San Miguel at that moment.

It was true. A few members got scared and left, but many stayed and continued the meetings. True faith and obedience It was interesting to see that many of the less strong members were the ones that were really scared and not in the classes.

So, we waited and called the bishops of the different wards, telling them to let the missionaries know not to leave.

Miracle, President just happened to be in an area really close, so then they showed up. We got the message that they wanted everyone to leave san miguel, and usulutan, so we started calling them and we got everyone together, rented a bus, and left. It was a blessing that we were there in the stake, because the other zone leaders couldn't get a hold of some missionaries, but we were there with the stake president, so we could get the numbers quickly for them.

The good thing, it wasn't a huuuuge panic. Just a ton of dust. But it will definitely be a chance for people to think and consider their blessing and come unto the church.

I am so grateful that Joshua is there for another six weeks to lead his zone through this time of upheaval.  This all happened on Sunday, and I heard on the news that there was another ash plume on Monday.  So it will be interesting to see what kind of week Josh had!  I know that Heavenly Father has everything planned, in intricate detail, but it is still amazing to me that Josh's request to extend was granted several months ago (and Josh told me that Pres. Glazier rarely lets people extend), and that Josh is there to help instead of having to come home and wondering what was going on down there!  It is truly a miracle!


This week brought a new little person to my extended family!  Risa was born to Chris and Elena.  Yeah! 

I love that her name comes from "sonrisa", which means "smile" in Spanish.  We're so excited to have her in our family! Isn't she beautiful?




We went over to Gil and Avis' house for New Year's Eve.  They moved here in August, and they live in back of us, and across the street.  You can see their house from our back window in between the other houses.  The party was originally at another house, but the lady got sick, so she cancelled on Tuesday morning.  Of course my first thought was, "Well, we can have it here!"  But Bruce came back with, "Can't you let someone else host the party for once?"  Ha ha ha.  Well, OK.  So thankfully Avis stepped up.  Michael and Amy, who also just moved into the ward, also came with their 7 children.  Gil and Avis have 4.  So we were surrounded by children the whole night.  After we got home Bruce said, "I forgot what it was like to have so many children running around."  haha  Yes - we are getting older.  Here is a picture of Ryan and I.  Ryan made this cake by himself for the party, which was impressive in and of itself, but what was more, he added licorice rope to the cake!  This made me laugh so hard - I had to have a picture of it!  Very creative!

Mary got to go with Nicholas to see the first "Potato Drop" on New Year's Eve!

Jesse had to go back to school on Friday.  :(  We miss her already, but we loved the time she was home with us!

Bruce had to go back to work too!  As in, really back to work.  He began commuting into town again for work, which he hasn't done for years.  He is into work by 7:00 am, and then comes home around 3:30 pm.  This is a lot different than what he's been doing for the last 3-4 years, and comes because of a corporate decision that changed the definition of what a telecommuter is.  They now define it as someone who lives over an hour away from work.  We don't live that far, so he has to go in.  Ahhhh.  Hopefully some good will come of it - he can listen to scriptures and books on tape back and forth from work.

Saturday, Peter had his first snowboarding race with his school team.  He borrowed a friend's snowboard, and used his new jacket that he got for Christmas and had a blast snowboarding all day.  He said he didn't do too well on the race, but no big deal - it was his first one!

This Fast Sunday we are fasting as a stake for moisture in our area.  We are behind in the water stores for this year, so we are praying for more water.

Mary, Jesse, Bruce and I have been reading the whole Book of Mormon over the break.  Mary finished yesterday!  She read the whole thing in 12 days.  I am so very proud of her!  Bruce is ahead of me, and we are still reading...  I don't know if Jesse finished yet or not.  It's a great tradition!

I am excited for 2014!  I have firm goals set in place and I'm excited to go out and achieve them!  One fun thing already happened - I had 581 views on my blog last week (not this one - my essential oils blog), so that was a new milestone.  The most I've had before was in the low 100's.

Happy New Year Everyone!