Thankful Me

John takes a selfie with a statue of an alligator, which is on a brick wall in Baker City, Oregon I love to laugh. Humor has always provided relief from stressful times. During my 3rd pregnancy, I spent the six weeks prior to my son's birth in the hospital, in an effort to prevent an extremely early delivery. (He managed to wait until 30 weeks--still very early, but much better than 24.)  Every night, I would be hooked up to a fetal monitor to see how he was doing. I would use that time to watch sit-coms on TV. More than one time, the nurse would come into my room to make sure everything was OK, because my laughter was causing the monitor to read strangely. I tried to sit still and behave, but I also welcomed the emotional relief that laughter brought to my situation. Collectively, we are experiencing some stressful times right now, but there are many individuals who are helping--in lots of ways, including comic relief. I thought it might be fun for this week's Ten Thing

Photo: Clouds turn pink, orange, and yellow as the sun sets behind mountains S oft words, spoken with a sweet smile, silence my racing thoughts, A nd I know that I need not  F ear. E xternal forces outside my control can storm and rage, but T his--our family, our faith--remain firm and unshakable. With Y ou by my side, we can live by the refrain: "Come what may, and love it."* *from a talk by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Linking up a Six Sentence Story this week with Denise over at Girlie on the Edge .  Disclaimer: Just to be clear, we are following the state recommendations during this pandemic, and are doing our best to do our part to control its spread. 

A bright yellow daffodil blooms next to a tree trunk How are you? If you are like me, you are feeling a little unsettled, trying to adapt to a new routine as what used to be OK is now forbidden or impossible. However, even in the uncertainty of how many more changes there might be or how long they might last, there are things that I am firmly certain of--things that I am thankful for--and no one can take that away from me!  Come review my week with me, and I'll explain what I mean. Last Sunday John and I attended church--and it was just the two of us, in our family room. In an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced on March 12 that worship services have been temporarily suspended worldwide. Local leaders have been given the responsibility to determine how to make the sacrament available to members at least monthly. Our bishop authorized priesthood holders to administer the sacrament in their homes, (and arrangeme

Yellow dandelions bloom in a yard.  ( Photo by  Walter Sturn  on  Unsplash ) Spring had arrived, and soon the homeowner's association committee would be making their rounds, assuring that the neighborhood lawns were neatly mowed, edged, and weed-free. The pre-emergent weed-and-feed had been applied too late, or maybe not at all, because the bright yellow dandelion blossoms were opening up all over the yard. Their low-to-the-ground flowers escaped the blades of the mower and mocked eradication efforts. They demanded attention. But just as the woman of the house was deep in thought about how to get rid of the pesky things, her preschool-aged daughter approached, shoved a fist-full of the yellow enemy at her as a gift, and innocently asked, "Mommy, why did God put dandelions on weeds?" Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. *********************************** Linking up with the Six Sentence Story blog hop . Today's a perfect day to go read short stor

I joined a small group of lucky individuals who had a chance to meet with Dan J. Debenham, co-creator, executive director, and host of Relative Race; Rebecca Dalton (and husband, Kyler), unit production manager and Season 3 winner; and Tristan Tolman, lead genealogist for Relative Race. We spent an enjoyable half-hour or so together at #RootsTech, and I wanted to share this video with you.  If you are looking for a great television show that the whole family can enjoy anytime, go to BYUtv.org and watch past seasons of Relative Race. Especially since so many of us are now isolated at home, being able to vicariously travel across the country and meet family members is a great distraction! If you watch one episode, you'll be hooked! Check it out and let me know what you think!

Photo: Empty shelves in Walmart Are things as crazy in your area as they are in mine? "A run on stores and tempers flaring is not the Utah way," said Governor Herbert today during a press conference. While I have not witnessed mad shoppers, I have definitely seen empty shelves in stores.  What to do when large gatherings, including church, are canceled, and all the news seems to be bad? Well, one suggestion is to take a deep breath and count to ten: Ten Things of Thankful, that is! Even in such crazy times, there are reasons to be thankful. Here are some I've noticed this past week: Safe, running water. Indoor plumbing. Convenient transportation. Laundry facilities. Quick access to news. Grocery stores (even when some shelves are bare.) Cell phones. The internet. Spring is coming, no matter what, as evidenced by budding flowers. John. Fortunately, we get along great, so self-isolating won't be hard if we need to do so. A few days ago, I was lookin

A black-and-white oval-shaped graphic of a boy and girl outside in the wind. Bunnies and birds frolic and fly. The text above the graphic reads, "March" ( source ) March arrived on Sunday with a snowstorm. By Friday, the high temperature was 70 degrees. Today (Saturday), the clouds are rolling in and rain and snow are in the forecast for tomorrow. Welcome, March, where we get hints of springtime in between snowstorms! With the unpredictable weather and the concern about the corona virus, it's been a strange week. But, as always, there are still things to be thankful for, so let's start counting! 1. I'm thankful for toilet paper. Knowing that I had extra rolls in the basement,  I didn't get panicked when the store shelves were empty this week.  I overheard one Costco employee tell another that the store sold 40 pallets of toilet paper in 20 minutes!  2. I'm thankful for John's work-at-home job. Some companies are telling employees to telec

Photo: The Salt Palace Convention Center with a rootstech logo wrapped around part of the building Last week, I attended RootsTech again. Each year I go, I get more and more out of the world's largest genealogy conference. Ten years ago, three thousand people showed up for the first RootsTech. I don't know the official count this year, but it was closer to ten times that. Not only has RootsTech expanded in participants, it has grown in other ways. Last September, RootsTech met in London, England, for the first time, and it was recently announced that there will be another conference across the pond this November.  If you live in the UK, or need an excuse to visit, mark your calendars for November 5-7!  If a trip to England isn't in the cards this year, maybe a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, next February would be more likely. Next year's RootsTech will be held February 3-6, 2021.  If you haven't been to RootsTech before, you might be wondering what all the h