November 2007

Wisconsin was beautiful! I got to be in two states which I hadn’t been to before. When we drove over the river intro Minnesota. The song “America the Beautiful” kept running through my mind as we went through the fruited plains. I couldn’t leave Wisconsin till I had some cheese and apples. Have you ever heard of Honey crisp apples, or Apple Jack Cheese? I missed out on the cranberries.

The leaves hadn’t reached their peak yet, but I was able to see many more colors than I’ve seen before. Autumn on the East Coast and the North Central US are really worth seeing. It was nice to see where my son is going to be living. I enjoy being able to visualize where my children are when I don’t see or talk to them every day.
It made me think about my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I know He can visualize where I am and what I am doing, but it would be even better if I were to talk to Him more regularly and more specifically. I am determined this month to be more consistent in the quality of my prayers.

One of the things we did on this trip was to stop in Erie Pa. My husband was born there and his mother was born and grew up there. However, he knew very little about his extended family. He didn’t even know the year of his mother’s birth. With help from the Heritage Center in the Erie Library, we found her high school year book with photos and other information. We found both his parents and their siblings in different census records and cemetery records.. We stood at his grandparents gravesite. We bought chocolates at his mother’s favorite chocolate shop. It was an emotional experience my husband wasn’t expecting.

I have such a large and close family that it’s hard for me to understand why people don’t know much about theirs. I’m grateful that we were led to places to find the things we did. I know and truly believe that Heavenly Father will help us receive the righteous desires of our hearts, if we but ask.

And now as you make plans for Thanksgiving and the Holidays, you can visualize me back in New Mexico for my Father’s 93rd birthday, and hopefully checking out his 25th great grand-child.

Wendy

LOVE"Put love first. Entertain thoughts that give life and when a thought or resentment, or hurt, or fear comes your way, have another thought that is more powerful -- a thought that is love." -- Mary Manin Morrissey

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." -- Mother Teresa

"Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age." -- Jeanne Moreau