I Feel My Savior's Love in All the World Around Me!

I am remembering a line from Alice in Wonderland -  "so much to do, so little time".

That seems to be my mantra for the last couple weeks because of all that is piling up in front of me.

The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get!  (I don't know where that comes from)
;)
That's just the way things are around here lately.



With all that is going on, my time has been filled and my yard has been suffering.
Last week a friend came and helped relieve some of that stress by helping me wash plates and goblets (I am talking hundreds), and helped weed some of the yard too. (There was still much to do - I have a big yard!)


My home teacher saw a need, sprayed some weeds and called upon the Priesthood and Relief Society members of our ward.  They scheduled a work day in my yard, inviting all who could come.  And they came!  Men and women and youth of our ward and community.  It was awesome!


I was on an emotional overload that day and didn't make it outside,

but I saw people out every window or heard them on every side of the house, and I know they were here.

Thomas and Dana helped me count up how many people came and helped, and we came up with 50 people. . . 50!   They came and went right to work in any area in the yard they saw a need.  Cars were lined up the road in front of the house.  They worked and they left just as quickly as they came. And they left me with a beautifully cleaned yard, having done in 2 1/2 hours what I could not in 2 1/2 weeks.

Every where I look is a testimony of the love of the friends and family that love to serve the Lord and bless the lives of those whom they do serve.  And my life was certainly blessed!

Thank you, everyone who came or babysat for others to come.  THANK YOU!

Because of you
I FEEL MY SAVIOR'S LOVE IN ALL THE WORLD AROUND ME!




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There is Beauty All Around!

My mom and dad came to visit us the last week of July.  They had their van packed full of tools and wood and more, and their hearts filled with love.  They were anxious to begin the projects that needed to be done.  I knew they were coming and would be working on my windows - framing them in.

My dad measured the windows last time they were here.  He purchased the wood and cut it and painted it before he came.  Then put them up and touched them up.  Anthony caulked around almost every window. I helped paint the touch up on the walls, but that is the extent of my help.  (I'll be doing more of that soon.)

The window project wasn't the only thing he had on his agenda - he brought his weed eater and began to use it everywhere.  He trimmed the trees in the back and the one in the front.   The weather was hot and awful, but he was determined and was going to complete the work he set out to do.  He has always worked hard and accomplished good things and there is no stopping him now.  And my mother was beside him most every minute of the day - helping, taking him cold water, visiting, and just enjoying being together.  I love that about them.

My yard looks so clean!
It has been many years since one person has done so much on his own, in one week in my yard.  My dad is champion!

As I drove to my home after my seminary inservice meeting the day after they left, I felt so pleased and excited to see the clean yard and beautiful windows.

He was going to put up shutters, but my order arrived late and they were definitely not the quality I was hoping for.  I sent them back.  I'll decide later if I want to get another, better brand.  For now, it's lovely just the way it is.

The corner where he trimmed the trees looks so nice.  It really is delightful to see.  I didn't realize how discouraging it was to me until I now see it so clean.  I feel much "lighter" - seems like a strange way to describe it, but it's how I feel.  

  

It looks great everywhere!  Well, we do live on a farm, in a part of the country where weeds are plentiful, so we still have weeds around us, but the yard we live and play in looks great.


You'll see in the next two photos that there is some smoke rising to the south of our house.  That was last Saturday, 7:30 am.  No worries for our property, but I'm so sad for everything it destroyed where ever it was.   It just kept traveling eastward and up Saddle Mt along it's way. It seems that every summer for the past several summers, we've had fires around us to keep our air filled with smoke.  It is common now, but it wasn't always that way.  This is as close as it's ever been to us.  So much destruction taking place - wish we could control it.

No matter what else is going on around us, when I walk out on my deck, to the south, and then turn around, I see this corner that brightens my day.  The trimmed trees and shrubs, the weeded area around the border and fence.  This is the way I feel wherever I look in my yard.  There is beauty all around!

The phrase "a picture tells a thousand words" might fit here, but there is only one word that comes to mind - LOVE!  
Well maybe a few words.   MY DAD!  MY MOM!  TERRY!  HEAVENLY FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST!   GRATITUDE!  My heart is full!

I know my parents love me.  I am grateful for them and for their kindnesses to me and my children and grandchildren.  My children and grandchildren love them.  We enjoyed having them with us.


I am so grateful for Terry and for all that he did for us.  He was a good provider and father and husband.  I am grateful for this area that we homesteaded - he is here among the beauty.


I am grateful for my Heavenly Father and for my Savior.  I love Them, and I know They love me.  I could not endure without Them.  All that I have is because of Them.   "I feel my Savior's love, in all the world around me" - but especially in my little part of the world.

A Celebration

Our family has a birthday today!  It is a day we have celebrated for 23 years.  We often have cake and ice cream for breakfast on this day, but I forgot to make a cake for today, so we didn't celebrate. Sometimes we even purchase a gift for the house but I didn't get that done this year either.  However, today I feel an extra special joy in my heart for the reason for this celebration because it was provided for me and my family by a loving husband/father.

Today we celebrate the birthday of our house.  We moved in 23 years ago today.   Here is our 23 year old house.  

I have always been grateful for it, but like most other things, there is a different feel to it now.  Terry provided for us in a very good way.  He worked hard and smart and he is still providing for us because of those good works in life.  

I must also say that I know that Terry was able to provide, not only because he was smart and willing and dedicated to us, but it was also with help from Heaven.  He believed in and trusted in Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father's plan.  Through that faith Terry was blessed, and so were we.  

Each night I thank the Lord for all that Terry provided for us and how he made sure we were taken care of, and I also thank the Lord for His hand in it all.

I found a few photos from our scrapbook to share - 

In this first picture Terry is working and preparing the ground, 9 October 1992, where our house now stands.  I'm not sure but I think that is probably Michael watching his dad in the foreground.  

This shows Terry (farthest left), and Kirby, Shadd, and Tim hard at work lifting the outside playroom wall on the South end of the house.  

We were "coming home" one day to see the improvements and Terry welcomed us with a wave as he saw us coming down the road.  This makes me smile - so grateful I took these pictures.

Now, skipping forward a few years to the Spring of 1998, here Terry is finishing up the building of the cupola above the garage. The making of this house was an ongoing project for him.  Truth be told, he did most of what he did for me.

Terry continued improvements with the house and yard as often as he could.  In this next photo he is building a strawberry box in our back yard, June 2003.

He tried hard to make it a comfortable and fun place for us to raise a family.  Here he is, in May 2007, helping to create a bike run for the children.  (Cement guy, Terry, Thomas, Elders Johnson and Fraum)

Anthony enjoying the ride around the cured cement.

More work on the house, putting up the can lighting, September 2008.  Terry was a talented man and could do many things.  He was always wanting to learn and do more.  He would rather do it himself than hire someone else to do it - it being anything really.

Terry continued helping with the improvements, but sometimes, the last few years of his life, the work he did was supervising, letting others do most of the manual labor.  He would do as much as he could, but many times it was not as much as he would have liked.  Here we have Thomas, Skyler, Terry, and Connor building the deck in 2010.

Terry not only worked on the house and yard, but he also helped make our house a home and we share precious memories with him here.

Chase and Terry making popcorn while others colored eggs, Easter 2010, just before we left for the first transplant in Seattle.

We all have fun memories with Terry.  We enjoyed his company like these two grandson prove in this photo, taken August 2013, just before we left to Seattle for the second transplant.  (Ethan and Auger with their Grandpa Hebdon.)

I am forever grateful for the house we've made our home and the man who made it possible.  I don't know if we'll do much celebrating on the outside today, but I am celebrating on the inside.  Heavenly Father blessed me with almost 35 years of love from Terry and though I wish it could have lasted more than 35 years longer, I am eternally grateful for the beautiful years we did have together, in this home (a few months short of 23 years) and our first home (12 years).

Happy Birthday to our house ..., our home!

Spring Time Beauty

I'm loving the look out in our front yard ... well, these two looks anyway. I have to overlook the weeds and not-so-green lawn still ... but I'm ever-so-grateful for the beautiful blossoms!

What happened?

I have plenty to blog about;

Internet issues of late / withdrawals
Monday after Terry's first chemo treatment of the week we tried to get online, but found we had a problem. The router was not working and we couldn't correct any problem. We noticed that we must have had a power outage sometime during the day because our clocks were blinking. The only thing we can think of is that it must have blown up our aged router. (A side note: I still needed to email Skyler before tomorrow so I called and asked Gregory to do that for me, and he willingly accepted the task. He's so smart - he knew exactly how to get into my account; and I use Outlook Express on my own computer thru our IP, not hotmail or other service readily available thru the internet. THANKS Gregory! I've so much to learn!)
We bought a new router Tuesday, after Terry's treatment, and that night I tried to install it, without success. Oh Bother!
So, Wednesday I called our internet provider and tried to correct the problem, again without success, and waited for someone to come out to help me. I was really wishing for immediate response, but reality did set in.
Today, Thursday, I woke with the realization that I still could not get online and had no appointment made with the IP and ... how could I go on like this?!!!! Then, just in time, we got a call from our IP and he tried some other options to help correct the problem. Today was the lucky day, we are up and running. (I have already read Skyler's email and I can blog again, Terry can check the weather and other farming reports, the kids can do home work and complete cub scout badge requirements - life goes on now :). How did we ever live without it?

Spring Break
It started with a sick child, continued with picking rocks and finding bombs (or whatever they are called) that I previously blogged about, mourned the loss of a loved one and attended his funeral (Charlie Bridges, our sister-in-law's father), traveled to Longview to see my parents and traveled home again.
Honestly, I have a list of things I would like to have done, like gardening, shopping, my hair, the whole family needs hair cuts, etc. There's always tomorrow, right! I needed a two week spring break!!!

Visiting family
Our trip to Longview was great. We knew we would miss a couple siblings and their families, but we didn't want to try to postpone the trip, because when we do that we never get there. So, we missed some, but enjoyed others. It was worth it! We visited and ate and watched general conference. We spent so much time with conference and making meals (and of course eating them) that we didn't have a lot of time to visit, so Saturday night Terry and I stayed up visiting with my parents until 2:00am; and we still felt like visiting, but knew that we would have a big day ahead with more conference and then driving home, and we needed to be awake for both of those.

My dad started a neat tradition of taking his sons and grandsons (his mail descendants who hold the priesthood and attend that meeting) out for icecream after the Saturday night Priesthood session, so our family (those who fit that category) were all able to go with my dad and my brother (Brian) for that special treat. So FUN! Anthony looks forward to being able to go with them in a year and a half. I didn't get enough photos during our visit (again!).

Conference
I always enjoy conference. I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing those two days. It is top priority. During those meetings the Spirit is strong, and my heart is warmed. I feel uplifted and edified and feel encouraged to do better and be a better me. I look forward to the Ensign/Conference edition so I can re-read all the messages and enjoy them again and again. I thought about re-capping some of the favorite messages, but they were all so good and I couldn't choose just one or two, so I'll skip the mile long list of wonderful and inspiring things I learned. I love this Gospel! Great blessings come to us as we strive to improve and to live the Gospel. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am grateful for their teachings and for the Spirit they send to comfort and direct us.

One year older

We celebrated Connor's birthday Saturday with the traditional cake and icecream, but with a new twist - we were at his Grandma and Grandpa Rodeback's home in Longview.

Chemo
Terry's treatments started again this week and the mid-line went in almost perfectly this time! Treatments are going just fine!

All in the family!
Wednesday was filled with fun surprises -
1. We were driving thru the big city of Royal City and saw a PUD truck pull over to read a meter just ahead, and noticed that the driver of the truck was my brother, Thaoe. We honked and waved! No visit, but still fun. Thaoe lives in ML, so we should see him more often than we do. Side note: we think that the passenger was maybe Jeff Spencer. Could that be right?
2. I went into Maurice's after Terry's treatment, for a quick look, since BrittanyJo is in need of more clothes, and I saw my niece, Amber (Thaoe's daughter) and her daughter, Adyson. I didn't know they were in ML for a quick visit, but was pleasantly surprised. And, I got to give her a hug, and see her baby - Adyson is so adorable!!!
3. We decided to shop at Safeway because they had a sale on their ham, and yes, we want one for Easter. We checked out and began walking to the door, and we saw my nephew, Tristan (Thaoe's son). I got to give him a hug too! I hurried so that the people he was helping didn't have to wait for us to expound on our adventures of late. We didn't know he worked at Safeway, actually we thought he was going to be at college somewhere else. Obviously we must not visit enough with this family. We will repent!
4. We missed Crystal (Thaoe's daughter) and her family, cause they live in Spokane (last we heard) and they were not here to visit (that we are aware of), and we missed Estella (Thaoe's wife). She works at the PUD office and we thought about stopping in to say hi because we had seen three of the five of them that very day, but we had deadlines to keep and kids waiting on us, so we were pulled home. Next time maybe we'll see her.

Spring is here - Easter is coming

The wind has been blowing, so spring must be here. In this photo you'll see proof of the wind that's been blowing because of the tumble weeds that have accumulated. I know I should have cleaned it before the photo was taken, but I have to hurry and get ready for another chemo trip. The beauty in the photo is the daffodils in bloom, and I'm enjoying each one. There is so much beauty in the world around us!
Easter Greetings to all! Jesus is the reason for this season too!

Our plan to clean the yard after lunch was frustrated. We cleaned some leaves and weeds out of the front yard and then decided it was not worth it because the wind made it rather miserable. We felt more like we were in Winnie the Pooh's blustery day, so we came back inside, grateful for a wonderful place to escape the elements. Even though it's not completely cleaned and beautiful, these photos bring hope for what is to come.

We are ready for spring to come and stay. We had a small, but hard snow storm Thursday night for a short time (enough to stay on the ground until Friday afternoon). Maybe even some hail by the way it looked. (We were at Pack Mtg through part of it, and there was no snow in town.)

These flowers are braving the weather. I can hardly wait till they bloom.