Mormon Message

I LOVE those Mormon Messages!!! I found this one tonight. Wes and I watched it and I looked over at him and said, "wow! that makes me cry." This one is a tear jerker for me. I hope this works and I can get it copied here so you can watch it. (it may take a few edits-- be sure to pause my playlist so the music is not a distraction!)

A couple of years ago when we were getting ready for our annual Christmas humanitarian project in Mexico I watched my dad grab some clothes we were organizing into various bags to be distributed among the Mexican people and he began to stuff the pockets with money. This reminds me so much of him. This is my dad's character. He is my hero!

I guess we just never know what our random acts of kindness will do for others. We truly can be tools in the Lord's hands.

Who was it???

When we moved (that story to come later) I left my house needing to be cleaned. Geoff has been back a couple of times to the house and he told me that some of my darling friends cleaned my house for me!!!

Darling friends--- please confess so I can send a proper thank you! I have a big feeling that one of them was somebody who's name starts with J, has an o and a d in the middle and ends with i. I think there were more. I think the other may start with L and end with i also.

Whoever you are you just can't know how much I appreciate that!

Random thoughts and sayings

The other day Ashlyn said, "I'm getting tired of having patience"
I just thought that was funny.

I drove by a sign that read, "Thanksgiving is a word of action"

I listened to a youth speaker at church quote somebody who said something like....where there is gratitude there is humility.

You know it's bad when......

You know it's bad when you can't afford to be the tooth fairy.



Caleb keeps losing teeth and I don't have a dime! Just today he lost another tooth. Then he put it in a little paper cup filled with a little water (the tooth fairy pays more for clean teeth) and set the darn thing right next to the sink in the kitchen. So guess what I did when it was time to tidy up in the kitchen? Yep, looked at that little paper cup and knew it needed to be thrown away. I dumped the water down the kitchen drain and threw out the cup. Then I started to rinse the dishes in the sink but the sink was plugged so I ran the disposal!
You can imagine how Caleb felt when he came in, so excited and asked me where I put the little cup with his tooth in it.
So how do you fix that you wonder? You write a note to the tooth fairy explaining that you put your tooth in a cup cept your mom cleaned the kitchen and threw the cup away and don't forget the p.s. part.....the tooth was extra clean!
Anyway- a small part of me was so excited because then I wouldn't have to figure out where to find a buck. What ever happened to $.25 for a tooth? It's Geoff's fault. All his fault. He's the one who started handing out dollar bills for teeth. Well so now I have to make up for this whole thing and make it really good. Maybe I'll just stick my credit card under his pillow.

Come on guys- add your "you know it's bad when....". I'd love to hear it. Come on! There's got to be something better than mine.

A sad funeral

I went to a funeral yesterday. A very sad funeral. A 28 year old sister in our ward died of cancer September 28th. She left behind her husband and 4 small kids all under the age of 5.
Of course this family has a testimony of the gospel and the plan of happiness. They know they will see each other again. That's the happy part-- for all of us.
She was just so young! It was so very sad.

Here is a link to her blog if you'd like to know:
http://jeffandashleighfarnsworth.blogspot.com/

Sitting there listening to the memoirs of her family and their kind words of her very short life I began to think of my own loved ones. I wonder if they really know how much I love them.

It's sad to think that it seems to be much easier to say unkind things to each other than it is to acknowledge the good, compliment each other, offer praise and support, express in words and actions that we love each other.

And so I'll say now to all my family members, even those who can't stand me, that I love you all. If I died tomorrow I would want all of you to know that I admire each and every one of you and love you tons!

I'm sorry to those of you who have problems with me that I'm not who you've hoped I would be. Your judgements of me are harsh and untrue. My bad feelings for you are unfair. When will it ever stop? It'll have to begin in our own hearts. But I want you to know that I love you and always have- always will.

My dad is my hero. My mom has been a savior and exemplar. Geoff is my everything. He has brought sunshine, laughter and happiness to my life. I live everyday for him. He's my best friend. My children are my angels.

My Dear Moms

Let me write about Sunny.

I met Sunny in a funny way, kindof. I went to Geoff's homecoming talk at his ward in Mesa. I was living in Tucson. Geoff and I had become good friends through mail while he was on his mission so I decided to go to his homecoming talk. Afterwards he invited me to a little luncheon that his mom was putting on. That's the first time I met Sunny. I remember that day.

There's lots to love about Sunny. Lots and lots. I wish I knew her a little better but I know her well enough to see what a wonderful person she is.

She is a woman of independence. Her love is dance. She has been dancing since she could walk. She's taken this love and talent to make a successful business. She has been teaching dance for several years and has had several hundred students probably even thousands.

She is loved by many people and has been a great influence on many. She has a great talent of making friends. She laughs at herself. She's a great story teller- she'll keep you for hours telling a story ;) She's a humanitarian.

When I think of Sunny I think of strength and faith and trust in the Lord. I love her testimony of the gospel. In fact, most times when we're talking she takes our conversation somewhere having to do with the gospel. I love that! She's often shared with me an experience she had at the temple, of visiting teaching, or something she's read or understood better in the scriptures or a chat she had with one of her church leaders or a lesson that was discussed during Relief Society or Sunday School. I LOVE this! She has a beautiful, strong testimony of the gospel. She knows who she is. She knows what she stands for. She has taught her children the gospel and for that I am eternally grateful.

She is a woman of courage. Even in such challenging times as now she is a woman of faith, hope and strength.

I love you, Sunny!


Let me now tell you a little about my mom.

I'm drawn to her priorities. First she loves the Lord. She loves my dad and she loves her family.

She has been my best friend for years. She is a source of light and strength for me. The thing that most impresses me about my mom is her devotion to the gospel and our family. She loves and loves and loves and loves deeply. I know my mom loves me without any question.

She is an example of unselfish service too. One of my favorite memories of her was when I was growing up in Tucson. She was ALWAYS making something to give away. She made scrumptious homemade bread, cookies, cakes and dinners. Many times she was cooking for somebody else. In fact everytime she was making something a member of the family would come in and ask if that was for us. Her answer was usually, "no, it's for the family down the street" or "no, it's for somebody in the ward". It seemed that she was always making something for somebody else. Sometimes when we asked who it was for she would giggle and say, "it's for our family". Now it's kindof a family joke. Whenever she's making something that smells so good we joke with each other over this memory.

She's a perfectionist! She taught me to make things right. Well.....she tried to teach me that, anyway. We laugh at each other in the kitchen because she's so perfect and I'm so NOT! She follows recipes to the T and it's far and few between that I even find a recipe. She sets the timer when she's mixing a cake! I just guess and mix until it looks good.

My mom taught me how to pray, to read the scriptures, to have faith, to hope, to serve others, to love my spouse. She tried to teach me how to keep the house clean, to keep up on the laundry, to have dinner ready for my husband every night, to make my bed everyday but these things didn't sink in. She loves me for my diversity and rebellious spirit anyway.

She's a natural teacher. It is, in my opinion, one of her greatest talents. I love to listen to her teach the gospel. I love to hear her testimony. I know she's touched many with her testimony and understanding of the gospel. That has become my greatest blessing- the teachings of the gospel from my mom.

She's also a survivor! When she was diagnosed with breast cancer about 5 years ago I prayed hard. I couldn't imagine life without her and I told the Lord that. I was living in Queen Creek at the time and she was still in Tucson. She had begun chemo therapy and her hair was falling out all over the place. I took on the job of shaving her head for her. I remember the drive down to Tucson that day was very short because my thoughts were of her the entire drive down. I told the Lord that if he needed her more to help me understand but that I thought we needed her more in our lives right here. I reasoned with the Lord asking him how her work anywhere else could be any more important than what she can do in and for her family. I pleaded with him to give us more time. Well.....we have it. I love her in my life and in my family's life. I need her. We need her and until it's time for her to go I'm going to get as much out of her as is possible!!!

These are a few of the things that most impress me about my mom.

I love you, mom!

Keys in the Toilet

Here's a long story that nobody cares about.

Yesterday was a lovely day at church. It really was. It was a beautiful day and I was surrounded by wonderful people.

I drove to church so I was responsible for the keys.

After Sacrament I made a pit stop before going into Sunday school. Geoff took my scriptures and went ahead to save me a seat. I went into the bathroom stall, looked around for a place to set my keys and found what I thought was the best place; the top of the toilet tank. What I didn't know was that this tank was slanted just ever so slightly. I put my keys there and began to get ready to use the toilet when all of a sudden the keys went kirplunck! Right into the toilet! They sank right down to the bottom, of course.

I sat there for several minutes with a wrinkled forehead, really just stunned. I rolled my eyes a few times, even thought about swearing. I didn't though (mostly because I was at church not because I don't know any swear words!). I said several "Oh my gosh" es and decided that the only way to remedy the problem was to stick my hand down the toilet and get the keys. Well really...how else would I get them out??? Of course I would've grabbed a plastic bag had that happened at home. Well forget that! I would have bribed Tyler or yelled at Geoff to save me or anything. But no- there was nobody but me. So I did it. Yep- stuck my hand down the toilet, well by the time I got to the keys half of my arm was also in the toilet. YUCK!

I washed up- several times- and scrubbed the keys with soap. Thank goodness there was an ample supply of soap that day.

I went to Sunday school, found Geoff who had saved me a seat and told him I dropped the keys in the toilet. He leaned over and said, "it seems like you've dropped your whole life in the toilet so why not the keys". Yes, it was symbolic.

Oh Wesley!

So Wesley's cousin was playing football and Wes went to one of his games and came home and said, "mom, I can play because those guys are wimps. I can knock them down". And so we signed Wes up for tackle football. He loved it. He was the tallest on the team and one of the largest so he got to practice some intimidation tactics.
He was awesome! We loved watching his games. We got Grandma Sunny, Papa Boyd, Nanni and Poppy, Aunt Jodi and whoever else we could grab to come watch the games with us. I hope he signs up next season.

May 09

May was a busy month! After the baby blessing Geoff and I celebrated our 15th anniversary on a cruise- our first. My parents watched the kids while we left it all behind for 7 days. We went from Long Beach, CA up the coast and into Canada then back down the coast. When we got to Vancouver we got to rent a car and go see Geoff's grandparents for a quick visit and lunch out on the town. So glad we got to do that! We had a fantastic time together! Here are a few pictures for evidence. The picture of the house is the house that was used in the movie, "Goonies". We walked right up to it! The picture of the other couple were Aaron and Hilary Croft. They shared a dinner table with us every night and the two guys were our awesome waiters. Geoff was able to walk right up to some sea lions napping on the dock. They didn't like to too much and barked at him quite a bit but he got some good pictures for proof.

April 09

In April my mom was an honoree at the "Relay for Life" in Queen Creek. This is a 24 hour walking relay. Those who participate help raise money for a cure for cancer.
They start the entire night with the survivors walking together just after sun down. Geoff, Jodi and I got to join my mom as she walked with the survivors in their "survivor lap". It was really a neat experience. I was really touched to see perfect strangers interlock hands and arms as they walked together no doubt remembering their fight to survive. They had the track field lined with luminaries with names of those who lost their battle. We walked, quietly, remembering not only the struggles our family members went through but what others may have gone through as well as we passed each of those luminaries. It was amazing. Quiet. Reverent.

I love you, mom! Thank you for letting us join you that night. It's something I won't soon forget.

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Then we were off to Georgia- well, I was off to Georgia. Geoff stayed home with the kiddle E dees so I could be with my brother and sister-in-law and their new baby. Adeline's baby blessing was such a fun time! I've got some wonderful pictures and more at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lezliebrady/Atlanta09#

April 09

We grabbed the family and my parents and headed to Rocky Point for a quick trip to the beach. We had one SUPER FANTASTIC day and then came hell!

The night we got there we found a campground right on the beach and it seemed to be nice. We found a place away from everybody- we like peace and quiet.

By about 7pm the winds started to pick up and so did the partying. We had several EXTREMELY LOUD neighbors. In fact one neighbor had a party with loud Latino music blaring until 3am.

The winds picked up so much that things were blowing off the tent trailer we were camping in! Nobody slept all night. Morning came and we were gathering our belongings from clear down the road. The wind was horrendous! When I lifted my foot to take a step the wind blew off my flip flops. It was awful!

But here are some pictures of our wonderful first day. What a sunset!

Grandpa turned 90!

In February my grandpa turned 90 this year. We had a huge party with friends and family and had such a fun time.

My favorite things about grandpa:

He LOVES chocolate
He LOVES ice cream
He always has candy and soda around the house and in every corner
He's one good looking grandpa
He calls me Les
He can make a coin go from one ear, knock it around in his head and make it come out the other ear. (He wears dentures)
He's been to most of my special events- baptism, graduation, baby blessings, etc.
He gives the best hugs
He loves to tease and be teased
He's a master carpenter- actually just stopped working last year!
He gets emotional telling stories from his past
He has a soft heart
He has a strong testimony
He loves me back!

I'll have to post pictures of him later. The office is in a scramble right now!

February 2009

Alrighty! It's time to get with it. I said I'd start with February- here it goes. Since it's been so long I'm working from memory here so if dates are wrong give me a break people!

I've had the wonderful opportunity to work in Relief Society on a stake level for the past year. I've been able to serve with some wonderful, beautiful women. We went together (minus Tiffany- we missed you!) to Salt Lake City for some training and had so much fun together.

Cristi Martin, Mindy Hall and Tiffany Johnson

Thanks for the fun memories. It was so much fun to work with you ladies. You're awesome! I love your testimonies and spiritual strength. You've all been wonderful examples to me and I love you!

Too busy!

I don't even know where to start! Life has been full, rich, exciting, challenging and new along with crazy, ridiculous, nerve wracking, exhausting, stressful, sad, tiring and maddening.

I plan to start with February. And then move on to March, April, May, etc. etc. etc.
..............One of these days.

If you're here to get information to use against me (AGAIN) please stop reading my blog. I intend this to be for those who care about me and my family.

Progress

I have been training for....uh hmmm (clearing my throat- and letting my head get a little big) a 178 mile relay race that takes place in June! Logan to Park City, Utah.

I have decided to chart my progress on this blog because I love progress.
I AM making progress. I run easier. A little lighter. A little longer.
Guys- I think my buns are shrinking!

Here's a before picture. Check them out and see for yourself....(about 6 months ago)














Here's now! Look at the difference! -may even be a slight fudge to say they are shrinking.











oh- darn! I'm having issues loading the pics.
(Like I'd EVER publish pictures of my big back end! Had you, didn't I!)

Happiness

mmmmm- One of my favorite things is Dove Desserts Collection, silky smooth chocolate promises. You know- the little candy pieces that have a heart-warming message on the wrapper. Well, I was eating one today, ok-- 5, 6, maybe 7- shut up! (that's a swear word in my house, by the way)

Who would know such a nice message would be inside???

"Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances"

I'm thinking of my family and friends. The circumstances we find ourselves in. I've been helping one of my friends pack up her house so she can move- not because she wants to. One of my other friends' husband is without a job and has been for about 6 months and lost their house, another friend will be moving out of state for work because that's where they could find a job, not because she wants to. One of my friends down the road just had a baby, got deathly sick and had a hysterectomy. One of my friends recently got divorced. I'm thinking of family members who have had feelings hurt by other family members. I'm thinking of family members who's lives have been completely changed by decisions of a loved one.

I'm thinking of all these circumstances that are, for the most part, out of our control, which have brought on so much sadness.

Is it really possible to look beyond our circumstances and be happy? Is it?

I believe so. It's just such a huge challenge! Some days I really wonder!

Not good. Not good at all, if you ask me!

Yesterday I had the day to myself. sigh. It was good. sigh. Not to rub it in, friends but... wow! So I know what you're thinking.....what does a girl do with a day to herself. Well, laundry, laundry, laundry, dishes, a little more laundry and a lot of reading. I loved all of it except for the laundry and dishes.

Geoff was gone (again. He works so stinkin' hard; too stinkin' hard). He was all over the state yesterday, in fact. So I had the day alone.

After laundry and dishes (well to be truthful I mostly didn't do laundry and dishes because let's face it; you put a load of laundry in and have to wait an hour before you can do more) I read. And read. And read. I love reading. I love reading your blogs, I love reading books, short essays, General Conference archives, magazines, blogs of writers, recipes, journals, electric bills, street signs, menus, etc. etc. etc.

I'm getting to the point here. Give me a minute to muse already!
So I spent most of the day reading friends' blogs. Of course they were mostly all about the Easter holiday and how darling your kids were in new clothing and stories of the Easter bunny, what you made as special treats for the kids, Easter egg hunts, candy, candy, candy, the scrumptious dinner you prepared. It was fantastic and I was jealous!

Why, you wonder? Because Saturday night Geoff dear announced to the whole family that the Easter bunny had died. Now... I read one of my friends' blog about how she sunk the entire Easter bunny thingy too but that she was honest with her young kids. She just right out told them that those Easter baskets they see in the grocery stores were for parents to buy to pretend to be the Easter bunny.

And again, I know what you are thinking..... wow! Doesn't she (Lezlie) have older kids? Yes, I do. Oldest is almost 14; youngest is almost 7. But I grew up always believing (or was so told by my parents) that as long as you believe... they will come; the Easter bunny, Santa Clause, the tooth fairy, etc. etc.

Geoff dear and I disagree with the death of the Easter bunny and I wonder if it can be fixed. hmmm- maybe next year we can say that the Easter bunny had a cousin??? I don't know. Death is pretty final.

I was glaring at Geoff dear all day Sunday. Kill joy! Scrooge! Fun taker awayer!
No new dresses, no egg hunts, no Easter bunny.

DID HE HAVE TO DIE? Couldn't he just have needed some time off this year? Couldn't he have just run out of eggs and candy? Or even wounded his poor little thumper leg. Or been delayed with bad weather in Alaska? Or been short on the baskets what with these economic times and all?

We did have a lovely dinner and scrumptious dessert, wonderful FHE on the meaning of Easter, wonderful church meetings and talks. It was a good day.

Would've been better with the Easter bunny.

Sir Easter bunny----WHEREVER YOU ARE----I BELIEVE!!!

A moment of bliss...

Last night as Geoff and I lay in bed after putting the kids to bed we were just chatting with each other when we heard singing. We stopped to listen and what I heard did my heart well. I smile just thinking about it.

We heard Wesley singing the words to the hymn, "Called to Serve Him" while he lay in bed with the lights out. It was as though he were putting himself to sleep singing sweet lullaby's. After a verse of that hymn he moved on to, "Ye Elders of Israel". After that, "I Am A Child of God" and a few other Primary songs.

It didn't even matter that his voice was cracking under the strains of puberty or that he didn't know some of the words to one of the hymns or that he was way off tune. What mattered was that he was singing them. Softly. To the best of his ability and it was good. Powerful, even.

Pinewood Derby

I just love that time of year! The time of year that Geoff gets to make a pinewood derby car for the cub scout activity. Oh! Did I say Geoff? I meant Tyler. Right. Tyler worked to get the car ready for Geoff. Actually- they both worked together to make a great car. Tyler won several races and had a great time.



His car is the "Green Machine"

Katie's Birthday!

Remember in one of my last posts I told you about my crazy friends kidnapping me for my birthday? Well, Katie was one of those crazy friends (I should say IS one of those crazy friends). I did get a little revenge. My other best friend, Stacey and I told Katie we wanted to take her out for her birthday but we didn't tell her that more of her best friends would be at the restaurant to celebrate with us.
We had a GREAT time! We went to Cheesecake Factory. I'm going to try to name everybody:
from the right side of the picture (cut off) is my mom, then Jodi, Lindsay Johnson, Katie, Shelley Wilson, Leilani Alger, Megan Tew.
From the left side of the table:
Susan Cook, Stacey Noel, Jessica Moss, Gayla Mead, Lisanne Steele and Melissa Masitis.

Arizona Sunset

Showlow, Arizona

I was kidnapped!

These are some of my goofy friends. Hey- the goofier the better, I say.
On my birthday (yeah- way back in Feb) they kidnapped me. Here's the story:
Geoff made a plan with me the night before. "Hey dear, let's go bowling tomorrow" he said.
I just looked at him with one eyebrow raised trying to think of the most sarcastic thing to say but only came up with, "are you feeling ok?" It was a Saturday and he NEVER instigates fun on Saturdays; it's for work and catch-up. I can't remember the last time he wanted to go do something fun on a Saturday other than when we're out of town and that does happen frequently. My sarcasm didn't work. He only dug in deeper, "yeah, let's go bowling. We'll take the kids too so don't plan anything for tomorrow around noonish".
Wow! A little reluctant but excited I agreed not to plan anything. I began worrying that his work load had really begun to get at him. I began to worry about his stress level. I just thought something was really "off" with him.


So the next day around noonish I was up lying on my bed waiting for Geoff to finish getting ready for the day when all of a sudden I hear people burst through my front door. I hear, "get down on your knees, this is a hold-up. Everybody down!"
I'm thinking what in the world when all of a sudden these crazy women with nylons on their heads are in my bedroom! They even held guns. It was my crazy friends coming to kidnap me.

I heard later from Ashlyn that Caleb was downstairs when they entered the house unannounced and he was so scared he was trembling!
They took me to lunch, a movie and shopping and we had a blast!
Here are the kidnappers in order from left to right:
Susan Cook, me, my sister Jodi, Paula White, Stacey Noel and Katie Clarke. Melissa Masitis met us later.
Thanks girls! I love you, too!


See, I knew something was wrong with him! He was in on the whole thing trying to make me stay home so my friends could make their plans a success.
A note to Geoff: If you're trying to surprise me you must act NORMAL. Things that you do and say out of the ordinary put up a red flag.
Way to go, dear. Thanks for helping my friends make my day so fun!