FAVORITES

I love autumn.
I love the soft, warm sunshine
I love the crisp cool air in the mornings.
The fiery sunsets and misty rainbows coloring the skies.
The sunflowers waving in the breeze.
I love the leaves turning red and golden
The geese flying noisily to their winter home
Apples and pumpkins ripening sweetly.
I love the peaceful sounds of the year
Slowly growing older. And
I love you too.

Thank You

In October General conference, President Monson said something that caught my attention.
He said, “The English author Aldous Huxley wrote, “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.”
“We often take for granted the very people who most deserve our gratitude. Let us not wait until it is too late for us to express that gratitude. Speaking of loved ones he had lost, one man declared his regret this way: “I remember those happy days, and often wish I could speak into the ears of the dead the gratitude which was due them in life, and so ill returned.”
After conference finished I sat down and wrote a letter to my dad who was in failing health.

Dear Dad
I’m sorry to hear that you are in the hospital. I hope they are making you comfortable.
I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate having you as a father.
Thank you for taking care of me, during the wild ride up to Salt Lake when I was two,
And standing by me while I was in the hospital.
Thank you for teaching me to enjoy learning; learning to work hard, and study well.
Thank you for all the adventures we went on as a family, the Grand Canyon, Estes Park, Yellowstone, Disneyland and many more.
Thank you for loving Mom and taking care of her; for showing us how a loving family should behave .
Thank you for going to church, taking us with you, and making us get up for Seminary.

I appreciate the times you had to take in me and my boys; the times you came up to the house at all hours to fix things that broke; the time you drove all the way to Santa Fe because I locked the keys in the car.
I appreciate you teaching me to drive, and change the oil and a tire.
Thank you for letting me help fix the roof, work in the garden, lay tile, and paint the rooms.
Thank you for putting your arms around me when Bruce died and then Michael, and let me know that I was loved.
Thank you for being a good father and a great example.
I love you very much.
Thank you for loving me.

President Monson continued, “The loss of loved ones almost inevitably brings some regrets to our hearts. Let’s minimize such feelings as much as humanly possible by frequently expressing our love and gratitude to them. We never know how soon it will be too late.

A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

My dad died Friday, Oct. 15, 2010, fifteen days short of his ninety sixth birthday. My brothers, sister and I, as well as several of his grandchildren were able to say good bye.

Have a blessed and grateful month

Chemistry anyone?

I’ve been thinking about Nitrogen this week. Did you know that many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, organic nitrates (propellants and explosives), and cyanides, contain nitrogen?
Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford discovered the element nitrogen in 1772. Nitrogen occurs in all living organisms. It is a constituent element of amino acids and thus of proteins, and of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). It is used for many things, for example--
* As a modified atmosphere, to preserve the freshness of packaged or bulk foods
* In ordinary incandescent light bulbs as an inexpensive alternative to argon.
* The manufacturing of stainless steel.
* Use as a propellant for draught wine, and as an alternative to or together with carbon dioxide for other beverages. (Wikipedia)
And you thought Nitrogen was boring – an odorless, tasteless, colorless gas. Well I’m here to tell you that not only did it brighten my life recently; it even led into a spiritual lesson.
First of all Nitrogen composes 78% of the atmosphere of our favorite planet – Earth. It also has the very helpful ability to freeze at a temperature that is not too much colder than our good old freezer.
Why have I given you this mini lesson in chemistry? Well, I spent a couple of weeks last month with my favorite chemist—my dad. While I was there a friend brought over to my dads house a chemical experiment to show us. He mixed milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla in a stainless steel bowl. Then while mixing with an electric beater, he added liquid nitrogen. WOW! Ice cream! Really good Ice cream! It’s hard to imagine that something which can be used to drive a race car, light up light bulbs, and make our DNA in another form freezes ice cream.
Not only did I enjoy the ice cream – it made me think:
Some days we feel like we are Nitrogen. We don’t think we make much of an impact on other people's lives. Have you ever felt colorless and unwanted? I have.
And second, some things are both good and not so good, depending how we use them.
With the same efforts we can create explosive feelings, or sweet loving ones. We can create explosive heat, or ice cream.
In his book The Remarkable Soul of a Woman (2008), Dieter F. Uchtdorf urges us to remember that we are treasured daughters of our Heavenly Father with infinite worth.
“To me it appears that our splendid sisters sometimes undervalue their abilities—they focus on what is lacking or imperfect rather than what has been accomplished and who they are…. This can lead to frustration, exhaustion and unhappiness.“
“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.”
I was talking to my daughter last night. She has graduated from college. She quit her job to give herself a couple of weeks to get ready to go to graduate school. Finished with classes and workdays, she had an urge to create something, anything.
My friend in Los Alamos has retired from the laboratory and has started making Nitrogenized ice cream.
My dad, though 95 and getting weaker, still likes to plant tomatoes in his garden.
I hope you have a creative and satisfying month.

Now I wish I had some ice cream!

AUTUMN THOUGHTS

Summer is fleeing. far, far too quickly!
Autumn, a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness"
Comes gently, slowly--
I love the cool, crisp air in the evenings and early mornings!
I love the changing of the seasons; changing of the leaves, going back to school, Football season, wearing sweaters.
...It’s not too hot to turn on the oven and make fresh baked chocolate chip cookies!
September comes
Bring on the fall!!!!

Are You Ready?

How do you explain to someone who has never been to the temple, what an impact it can have on their lives? It seems like the events that have been the most frightening in my life have led me to the temples. For example, last month I finally got up the courage to go to the doctor to discuss some symptoms that have been bothering me for the last couple of years. She suggested that I have some tests and a biopsy. The weekend before the biopsy I went to the temple with some friends, hoping for some peace and comfort. As I sat in the Celestial room, in a moment of quiet prayer, I didn’t ask for a miracle, I just asked for a calm feeling. Whatever was going to happen, I wanted to be able to accept it with peace. And I received that blessing. I was calm waiting for the biopsy. I was peaceful waiting for the results. I was filled with gratitude for the friends that stood by me waiting and rejoiced with me when the negative results came in.

I remember a song we learned while my children were going to Primary.

I Love To See the Temple

I love to see the temple,
I’m going there some day.
To feel the Holy Spirit
To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young.
This is my sacred duty
Janice Kapp Perry

I’ve sung this song many times as my children grew up, However, I never thought about the last line. “I’ll prepare myself while I am young. It is my sacred duty.”
Even if we can’t go to the temple, we should prepare ourselves by living righteously.
It is what a loving father wants us to do so that we can live with Him again.

I remember when the church’s policy was not to encourage single women to go through the temple unless they were getting married or going on a mission. They also didn’t encourage women married to non- members to go through the temple. I could sense my mother-in-law’s sorrow at not being able to go to the weddings of her children, or going through the temple with her grandsons before their missions. But, when the time came that policies changed—she was ready.

I heard a television evangelist once say,
“ARE YOU READY TO MEET GOD?”
I’d have to say no. I want to spend more time with my family. But, preparing to go through the temple is a step on the road that I’m glad I have taken.

In the meantime I’m off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (also known as a retired chemist in New Mexico) I’m going to visit my dad, who is my wizard.

SUMMER HEAT

August, a month filled with meteor showers
Grasshoppers jumping around in the flowers
Birds winging west in anticipation
Of autumn vacations in off the wall stations.

August a month filled with sunshine and heat
When rubber heeled shoes all stick to the streets.
Lets go to the beach, swim in water so green
Enjoying the summer with hats and sun screen

July Already

Well, the year is half over! I have at least started the last of my goals I set for 2010. That is a first for me. How are you doing? My last two goals were to read Bleak House by Charles Dickens and to start writing my personal history.

I chose Dickens because I read a BBC list of one hundred books of which most people would only read six. I have read thirty-nine of them Most of them are Classics, and I decided I needed to upgrade my reading habits.

My second goal was harder. How do you sit down and start writing about your life? I’ve been to several funerals over the past few years where children have read out of their parent’s journals. What will my children know of my life? Not much from my journal. So many times since my mother’s passing I have wished I had asked questions when I still had time. My sister and some of my nieces have been trying to interview my ninety five year old dad to find out about his life.

One story that he told about his first job was amazing and interesting to me. A neighbor lady came over to see if anyone could climb up in her cherry tree to harvest the cherries. Every one else was off in the fields and neighboring farms gathering crops. My dad said that he could do it, so she hired him. He was five.

Looking around on the Internet I discovered a list of fifty questions that can be used to interview a family member to help them gather their history. I have started answering one question a day for my own history. The questions are below in case you want to start writing your own history.

Last time I was back in New Mexico, my sister gave me a set of photographs, which she had found at my Dad’s and copied for me. Some were to frame and make a five-generation picture of the important women in my life. It starts with my daughter, then me, my mother, grandmother and my great grandmother. There was also a brief history of my great grandmother, printed in the Provo Herald as she approached her hundredth birthday. How I wish I knew more about her.
Other photos were of my dad’s parents, and brother’s, which I will either put into a scrapbook or a collage frame.

I have also enjoyed over the last two years connecting again with my cousins. There are still more who I have never interacted with and I am looking forward to getting to know them too.

I can feel the promise of Malachi 4:6 “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

As we think this month about strengthening our families and homes, what better way is there than to get to know them better?



1. What is your full name? Why were you named this? Did you have a nickname?
2. When and where were you born?
3. How did your family come to live there?
4. Were there other family members in the area? Who?
5. What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?
6. Were there any special items in the house that you remember?
7. What is your earliest childhood memory?
8. Describe the personalities of your family members.
9. What kind of games did you play growing up?
10. What was your favorite toy and why?
11. What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?
12. Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite?
13. Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it?
14. What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College?
15. What school activities and sports did you participate in?
16. Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
17. Who were your childhood heroes?
18. What were your favorite songs and music?
19. Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?
20. What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend?
21. Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?
22. Who were your friends when you were growing up?
23. What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family?
24. Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods?
25. How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?
26. How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
27. Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
28. What do you know about your family surname?
29. Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather?
30. What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors?
31. Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?
32. Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?
33. Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?
34. Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?
35. What was the full name of your spouse? Siblings? Parents?
36. When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
37. What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?
38. Where and when did you get married?
39. What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?
40. How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?
41. What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
42. How did you find out your were going to be a parent for the first time?
43. Why did you choose your children's names?
44. What was your proudest moment as a parent?
45. What did your family enjoy doing together?
46. What was your profession and how did you choose it?
47. If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasn't it your first choice?
48. Of all the things you learned from your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?
49. What accomplishments were you the most proud of?
50. What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?