My House Debra

Our Frank and Sara and their little family had some great news for us today. Sara just went to the Dr. for this months checkup and they found out they will be having a little boy... sometime in the middle of December. We are all pretty happy around here. This will be great to have our 4th little grand child and our first little grand son. Joy and Demi were so excited!!

Dad was our photographer so I don't see any pics of him. He was there though. We really had a wonderful time.











We have a place called Cherry Hill not far from our home here in Farmington. I give it a 4 star rating for enjoyment with little children. They apparently used to have a cherry orchard there and so there are lots of lofty trees that keep the area shaded. There is a whole grouping of water activities for adults and children alike. They also have a mini golf, batting cages, and a pie store. It's very cute and well put together and affordable too. Our little Joy and Demi really enjoyed the experience. Joy especially loved the big water slide - she must have gone down it at least 5x with her Dad. All of us spent the day together except for Christian and Grandma. Christian had to work so he wasn't able to come.. we really had a good time.

Mom and I worked really hard this past week organizing the storeroom. Most of the cans that have dry pack in them are not in this area, but we can now see where our canned goods are and rotate them. I've been trying to use storage everyday since we did this project. Hopefully we will do a much better job of using what we have now that we can see it. Another step in getting prepared.

Last night I was at a meeting with a Sharon Slater, a woman from AZ who came and spoke with us about "Standing for the Family." She has been actively engaged in recent years at the UN where she has used her influence along with other like minded individuals to ward off the ultra feminist agenda that is being promoted worldwide presently. Some of the things I learned are simply horrendous and should cause great concern among those who value the traditional institution of marriage. We need to be informed and aware and stand up and act in behalf of the family. The influence of one can have a tremendous impact. We can and ought to do something. In reading my little nugget today I did take some comfort in the words of our beloved President Hinckley. I know the Lord will help us in this fight... but we also must do our part as the brethren have counseled us.


I too believe that God will always make a way where there is no way. I believe that if we will walk in obedience to the commandments of God, if we will follow the counsel of the priesthood, he will open a way even where there appears to be no way."

--Gordon B. Hinckley, "If Ye Be Willing and Obedient", Ensign, Jul 1995, 2

Well today was another busy day. Glenn Beck was in town and so I was at the Energy Solutions Arena from 10:00 in the morning until around 5:00 in the afternoon. It was fun to see Kris Kimball, Dalane England and Diane from the forum. The program revolved around the three concepts of Faith Hope and Charity. Glenn does such a wonderful job of bringing us back to our American roots and understanding the role of God in our Society and His right to rule in the affairs of men. He brought as his guests David Barton, David Buckner, and Judge Napalitano. They all did a fantastic job. A favorite quote from the day's events:

Hope is born of faith.... Grounded in Truth........ and Expressed in Action.

I have had quite a full week. We practiced Tuesday night as well as Thursday night this week and then did our annual Pioneer Day Concert on Friday the 16th. I think Concerts are pretty fun. There is an adrenaline rush you get when you perform that is different than just practicing. These pictures feature some of my fellow 2nd violin partners, Marilyn, Jackie, Blair and Tiffany. To my left I quite often have a cameraman perched on the floor waiting to take a shot. Sometimes they get so close while I'm playing that I have hit them with my bow. This year's Concert celebrated 100 years of recording for the Choir. It was amazing to see how the history of the Choir pretty much parallels the history of the recording industry. It was fun to see the old pictures of the Choirs from the past and technology as it has advanced. Seth and I had a good time participating.

The words of our Prophet in commendation to the service of Choir and Orchestra members throughout the years.

“As I have listened to tonights performance one word has come to mind…wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
We are richly blessed by this magnificent Choir and Orchestra. In their dedicated service they stand shoulder to shoulder with the choirs above in singing the praises of a just God. These are men and women who say their prayers, who serve in their church, who sacrifice.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has inspired innumerable individuals throughout the world. They indeed have sent forth the message, “Hark all ye nations, hear heaven’s voice, Thru every land that all may rejoice.

I like that. I heard that hymn, “Hark All Ye Nations” first sung in Italy years ago. When I went to Germany, I told the Saints that the Italians had a good missionary hymn. They said, “Oh, yes, the Italians stole it from us!” The same hymn is also sung by the Maoris of New Zealand in a slower tempo.

When we were completing the new hymn book in 1985, I made sure that song was included. I was impressed with its missionary spirit and its call “To every land and people we’ll go.” That has been the work of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from its pioneering beginnings. As we have heard tonight, their recordings have taken the word of God into homes around the world.

There would be no way to measure all whose lives have been touched, whose hearts have been lifted by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. No missionary effort of the Church has brought greater spirit to the work of the Lord than the singing of theses saints behind me and the tens of thousands who filled the Choir seats before them. Tonight we praise our music pioneers.”

From time to time I receive in my inbox a little item called "LDS Nuggets". I open them up and discover some wonderful little gem of wisdom that can give a little umph to my day and help me stay positive and joyful amidst the challenges of life. All of us deal with some obstacle. I think even the rich and famous no matter how we might perceive their lives, are dealing with problems and situations that cause them discomfort, frustration or unhappiness. Today as i opened up my little nugget I found these words by Elder Uchtdorf.

Christ did not just speak about love; He showed it each day of His life. He did not remove Himself from the crowd. Being amidst the people, Jesus reached out to the one. He rescued the lost. He didn’t just teach a class about reaching out in love and then delegate the actual work to others. He not only taught but also showed us how to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees."

--Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "You Are My Hands", Ensign, May 2010, 68–70, 75

None of us are as good at showing love as our dear Savior... but each day we live, we can practice with a sincere heart. Our little attempts at showing love are really the big things that help us all keep moving on. I've already been lifted today many times by family and friends doing little things for me. A phone call from audrey, Christian helping me out in the yard. James making fun of me. Chris Snyder calling me and telling me about some coupons for a fun day with my grand kids. And Dorothy sending an e-mail with a big hello. Life is good!! Loving makes life livable.

Many of my siblings have asked to see pictures of our home since we moved to Farmington. It was sad to leave our nice home on the hill where we enjoyed the beauty of nature all around us, but we are trying to create a cozy feeling of home here. The Lord was so kind to us in helping us get our asking price for the home on the hill and so we were able to make a few improvements to this house as well. We are clean out of money now and so we are going to sit back and enjoy. Most of the furniture is the same as i had in our other home so I just tried to make things work. The downstairs basement area is the present "bear den" for my two sons who are here for the summer. I give them full rein over the space down there and haven't done much to the area at all. When I finish decorating the bedrooms upstairs I'll post them as well. They are my "bed and breakfast" rooms. I have always loved the feeling of a Bed and Breakfast and so it is a fun creative outlet for me to put together these rooms. Pictures have a way of making space look bigger than it is. Our home is Bountiful was 5000 sq ft. which is massive for an AZ girl, but the home here is right at 3000 sq ft, (still massive) but much smaller and typical of Utah. If they didn't have the sq footage spread between 3 levels it would give a greater sense of space. What we are creating therefore is a sense of cozy.

Just as you enter our home you will see a stairway leading up to the 2nd level. At the top of the stairs is our newest family picture taken by my sister-in-law JoAn Poulsen when james returned home from his mission. We were in transition at that time and staying at my mom's home. It was fun to have our son back home and be together as a family.

The past few months have been so busy for me... especially physically. Just trying to get moved, the house in order, clear out (most of the boxes, not all) start the job of helping my husband with all the secretarial work, getting my garden done... it's just been crazy. This past weekend Mom and I had a yard sale and sold a bunch of things and then took the rest to DI. It was fun to work with her and sit and chat while we greeted the people as they came by on Saturday. I still have some sorting out to do but it will all get done in due time... I just need to be more patient. The goal for me now is to establish a better routine and progress along with a little more balance.

The furniture is possibly a little big for the space but I wasn't about to go out and completely buy new furniture so everything would be in perfect scale, so i did the best i could. I think it looks nice. There is a lot of things I had to get rid of but it was all good.

I really enjoy the way Elder Holland views things. He seems to capture the essence of the everyday ordinary things we do and lifts them to an Eternal Perspective.

It's been quite a while since I have posted on my Blog and so a lot has happened since Thanksgiving. Without going back as far as Christmas... I'll just show a few shots since the first of the year. Suffice it to say. I really want to get the Blogging going again so here goes... scroll down to view older to newer posts.

The top pic shows the re-model and the bottom shows what the front of our house looked like when we bought it. Quite a difference! Next post I'll show the finished look in our family room with new bookshelves.

With the help of my friend Barbara Nish from Centerville, (by the way we were going to buy their home), I am creating a flower garden of my own. I didn't like the landscaping of the flower borders in the front of our home so I re-designed it and put this garden together. It has been a lot of work, but it is starting to take shape. My little grand daughters Joy and Demi have been my little helpers. Demi wanted to try out her new suit that Audrey gave her, so she told me it was alright to get wet. She took a few sprinkles herself as Joy and i were watering the flowers.

Seth and I finally took a two day break, after months of moving, helping others move, re-modeling, fixing up a home to flip, landscaping the front etc. etc. We are still tired but it was fun to getaway and enjoy the beauty of Bear Lake