Rededicated

I just got done reading the blog of a really amazing young woman in our ward. She has great perspective in life and in all that she does. It has caused me to re evaluate some basic things in my own life that have slipped again over the last 2 weeks. I am trying every so hard to re establish the patterns of daily prayer and daily scripture study and am realizing this has to go hand in hand with daily taking care of my self. I have to be focused in what I do during the day and in what I want to accomplish. Time is short and I want to do so very many things. I am realizing (in my middle years) that I matter. I have worth and I am good enough to do everything Heavenly Father wants me to do. So in that light. I re dedicate myself to daily scripture study...Study... not racing through the scriptures just trying to get done. Also to daily prayer. And with that, I am re dedicating myself to exercise, healthy eating and the lifestyle change that comes with it. It scares me death that I will fail...again. But if I fall, I can stand up again and get right back on the path. I am going to try some new things and am looking for the right time to go back to school (am i crazy?)

No unrealistic resolutions, just resolve to know that I am worth what I put into myself.

Is anybody out there?

Do you ever wonder if everyone you know and love has fallen completely off the planet?
I am definitely having one of those months.
Let me know if you still exist by posting a comment. I am seriously missing my friends!

The power of Prayer and a really cool Holiday Miracle!

So, my 1st counselor in our YW presidency is just an amazing woman. Her name is Elizabeth Giuliacci and I love her dearly. I have to preface this little miracle.... before I was called to be YW president, Elizabeth called me to come over and do a project for her. We worked on it, got it done and as I was leaving I turned and said..."I think we need to collaborate on some music". I then proceeded to explain that Kris was writing a musical and with her amazing ability to arrange music, I thought she might be interested in the project. I usually don't step on Kris's toes and invite people to work on a project with out his thoughts and go ahead. But I did with her. I told Kris I didn't know what came over me, but he seemed OK with my invitation to her. Since that day, I was called as YW president and I knew I wanted her for my 1st counselor, she accepted and now we serve together....**move to present day**
Elizabeth asked me if I would help her with the program for the Relief Society dinner (which was Saturday night) I sent her a few songs, she told me some she wanted to use and I suggested a program we used 2 years ago called "the women who knew Jesus" She thought it would be great, but we wanted to include some men as well as two Young Women and one Primary child. So I rewrote part of the script and we were figuring out songs to go with it. We did NOT have a song for  the Mother of the girl Mary. It was a part from the point of view of Mary's mother. It was beautifully written. We had a part for Joseph's mother, we couldn't just leave out Mary's mother. So last wednesday while we were at a luncheon, I said to her "why don't we just write an original song to use"..........What? What just came out of my mouth??? Why don't we just WRITE/COMPOSE a new song in 3 DAYS??? Well, it came out of my mouth and Elizabeth said "Sure, Im game" (or something like that) She said if I could come up with lyrics she would come up with the song. So I went home and in about an hour, the lyrics were there. Caitlyn did help me rearrange the wording and get it hammered out and I was so appreciative of that. :D Elizabeth emailed back and said SHE LOVED IT! Holy Cow...really? She loved it? I was so excited...we were moving forward. We she asked me if I had a melody and I did while I wrote it out, but it would not come to my mind when I pondered on it. Obviously it was NOT the right melody. So I woke up Thursday morning, said my morning prayers, not really even praying about the song. When I got home from taking Kris to work, this very simple and beautiful melody came to my mind. I sat at the piano and plunked it out and wrote it down. I immediately sent Elizabeth an email with the words and corresponding notes and told her that if she liked it she could run with it, if she didn't then she could use what she wanted. She emailed me back and told me how she had prayed Wednesday night, all MORNING long, Thursday morning and she prepared everything to sit down and compose and still had NO melody. She prayed one more time, opened her email and there was the melody that I emailed her. She cried when she sat down with it. It was the right melody. She worked Thursday and Friday morning she woke up and had the introduction and the feel for the accompaniment. She worked Friday in between piano lessons and being mom and wife and got me the almost finished music Friday night. She and I had about 20 conversations those two days making changes, tweaks, changing the tune and bit, it took on a sort of quiet, music box, hauntingly melodic sound that was just beautiful! I cried when I played through it. It even had a part for "Mary" to sing back to her mother. Caitlyn and I were able to learn the song and perform it together Saturday night for our Relief Society dinner. It was amazing. Such a miracle occurred, I was truly humbled to be part of it.
I have to say of my dear friend, I had longed to get to know her for almost the whole time we have lived here, she just is like a magnet, you just want to know her. Truly inspired, truly talented, truly and blessed daughter of God.
Here are the original lyrics

Daughter Divine

When I was younger, I had a dream

A dream of a daughter divine

I felt of her greatness, her purity and worth

I longed for her little hand in mine

If my faith were greater perhaps I could have seen

her standing right there by my side

But her spirit touched mine and I knew that soon

In my humble home she'd reside

Chorus:

Daughter Divine, daughter of light

Do you know your worth, do you know your might?

What plans does our Father have for you?

Daughter divine, You are great in his sight

My daughter, your here, so tender and pure

It is you I felt so long ago

To raise you in faith is my mission divine

But your mission is greater, I know

You've cried in my arms, you've told me your fears

To carry the Christ child and love him so dear

You are the one, my daughter divine

To be his sweet mother to hold him so near

Daughter Divine, daughter of light

Do you know your worth, do you know your might?

This is the plan Father has for you

Daughter divine you are great in his sight

(Daughter)

Can I raise the Savior, this Holy King

Will I rejoice , lift my voice and sing?

You taught me well, right from birth

Of who I am, and of my worth

Mother divine, Mother of light

Do you know your worth, do you know your might?

Did you know the plan Father had for you?

Mother divine, you are great in his sight.

(Sing both Choruses together with parts. )

 if you want to see the final version with the music, email me at cheryl.polson@hotmail.com and I will email it to you. We are going to post it on my friends website for FREE download. I am also rewriting the lyrics so they aren't just about Mary and her mother but about mothers and daughters.

How grateful I am for prayer and for this very special Christmas MIRACLE

A season to be Thankful

Isn't is wonderful to experience this time of year?

A season, literally, to stop, pause and ponder on what we are blessed with 

And what we are THANKFUL for?

I love the song "Count your many blessings"

Think of what God hath done.

In the spirit of the season, I am Thankful for

My Heavenly Father, My Savior, Jesus Christ, My family-- my brothers and sisters who set such a great example for me, my own family-- Nate, Nick and Caitlyn who are completely amazing and who are talented, respectful, kind and who love their mom and dad, for my husband and all that he is and does, for his great respect of me, I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that allows me opportunities for growth, for stretching and understanding. I am grateful for the comfort of the Holy Ghost and for the inspiration and personal revelation that comes from prayer. I am thankful for modern technology which lets me stay in touch with my friends and family, which lets me see pictures of my sweetest little great nieces and nephews and lets me see what my family is doing. I am grateful for blogger, to let me read about the lives of my amazing friends and all the goodness they are doing. I am thankful for my husbands great job and that he is happy and that we can support our family. I am grateful for a home and a car and for the little things in life that are wonderful like fleece blankets and falling autumn leaves and hot cocoa. I am thankful to live near the ocean and to experience that vast wonders and beauties of the earth. I am grateful for the example of those around me, young and old, who teach me each day. I am thankful for my calling and for the amazing Young Women in our ward, including my own daughter. I am grateful for a wise and prayer Stake President who understands and teaches us how to invite those around us to partake of the gospel. I am thankful to a wise and prayerful Bishop who guides our ward. I am thankful for talents, both my own and those I see around me. I am thankful for silly things like chocolate and comfy sweats and fluffy warm towels and big slobbery, cuddly dogs.

In all the world around me

The harvest fields abound

Bringing forth abundance

In all the lands around

The season of work has passed

The reaping has begun

From that which we plant and sew

Richness can be found

And in this season of

great Thanksgiving

my thoughts quickly turn

to all the riches in my life

from family and friends and to all that I have learned

I stand to count my blessings

of the things God brings to me

The riches in my life

It is plain to see

In this season of remembering

And with a thankful heart

Give love to those around you 

and Thank God for the blessings he imparts.

May you have a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving Day

 

Ella Marie

I just had to make a quick post because I am feeling such gratitude for the safe, albeit, early arrival of my newest great niece, Miss Ella Marie Gunn. Ella arrives 2 months early and weighs in at 4 lb 8 oz. Her lucky and proud parents are Ali and Erik Gunn. Ali is my niece and I introduced her to Erik. They are amazing and will be such fabulous parents. So far Ella is doing really well. She is breathing on her own. She is in the NICU and there is not a time frame on how long she will be there, but she is loved and being taken care of. She has tons of black hair and beautiful eyes. She is so tiny and sweet!

Welcome to the world Ella!!

Personal Revelation

We had ward conference Sunday and as a result had the Stake YW leaders come in and teach our girls about personal revelation. I was so grateful for this lesson and that they were prompted to teach this.
When I was called to be the 1st councilor in the YW presidency in July I was so happy. A week or two later I had the impression that I would not work with our YW president for a long time. I was concerned as to why because she had been having some health issues. I also had felt the promptings that I this calling was preparatory to a future calling. I had a feeling that at some time I would be called as the YW pres of our ward. I was grateful for these promptings because when I was in Utah for my moms funeral I got a text from Celeste, our YW pres saying she had been called as 1st counselor in the Stake YW presidency. She was sad to leave her YW and her current calling. She said a new YW pres had not been called yet and that she thought it might be me. I knew at that point that it would be and the thoughts of counselors and such began to run through my mind.  I prayed many times while in utah to know whether or not this was going to be my calling and I had peace about it each time. As I returned home, no phone calls came from the Bishop. No "hey can I meet with you and your husband" etc...It wasn't until a week and a half ago that I got home from YW's and Kris said "oh, the Bishop called, he wants you to call him back" So I did and he asked if he could come meet with us.
At this point, I KNEW that the calling was coming. I was so excited and had many names going through my mind, some of the names were just the same name going through my mind over and over and over. Bishop did extend the calling to me and after asking him if he had any suggestions of who I could choose from he told me...you can have anyone except the Relief Society Pres. :D I was so happy because it confirmed a few names I had thought about.
This past Sunday (yesterday) I was sustained a the Young Women's Pres of the Hidden Lake Ward. My two counselors were called as well as a new Beehive advisor. I am so humbled and blessed to have strong women working with me. I am thrilled and am grateful for the mantle placed upon me as well and am excited to work with these beautiful, amazing girls. There are challenges and concerns and feelings of joy and appreciation for each of them. They will teach me so much. I hope that I can prepare myself each day to teach them, and to be prepared to listen to the spirit in their behalves. What a blessing.
I just wish my mom were still here so I could tell her about it. I think she would be pleased and excited. Let this new journey begin!

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,
      I have with held posting much about your illness or your bravery for that matter, on my blog. I think it was because I didn't want you to worry about how I was holding up. It would have been very hard for me to think you were reading my words of sadness or anxiety about your cancer. As I reflect now, I think I could have written and posted everything and you would have understood.
      I had the opportunity to talk to you the Sunday before you left us, before you were reunited with dad. You sounded tired and your voice was raspy but we talked for 30 minutes about everything. I wish I had had the kids talk to you as well, but you seemed so tired. I am sorry I didn't call the week before. I was having an emotional meltdown and was crying most of the day, everyday. I didn't know how to call you and just cry on the phone. It didn't seem like a burden I wanted to put on you.
     Diane called me Thursday Sept 15th, Alan's birthday  to tell me you could not talk to us anymore. She told me that she was with you and that Kathy was with you too. She told me of your conversations with those allowed to greet you on the other side of the veil. She said dad had been with you but you could not go with him yet. We all just wanted you to be able to peacefully finish your earthly mission without pain or discomfort. It seems very surreal now that you have finished your mission here. That you are reunited with dad and many other loved ones.I am grateful that you were not alone during this transition from earthly life to spirit life again. I am grateful to my sisters who held your hand and whispered in your ear that it was ok to move on. I am grateful to dad for comforting you and letting you know your time was close to join him.
Diane called me around 11 pm, right after you passed and told me she had just witnessed one of the most spiritual experiences of her life. Handing you off to those waiting to greet you. She said you looked like a princesses as those from the mortuary came to take you from your home.
I wanted to thank you for the sacred and spiritual events that took place for me personally after your death. I have written them down and will do my best to live up to what you want of me.
I wanted to share with you some of the pictures from the services we had for you. We all were hoping you were pleased and felt honored. We love you and I am so grateful to have a mother such as you, gracious, loving, full or charity and wanting only the best for your children. You would have LOVED seeing Nate in a suit! As well as Nick. Beautiful grandchildren!!

 These flowers, from friends, were so beautiful

 This particular arrangement is from your children. A little bit of classic with the roses, a little bit of organic with the greenery and the "twigs", I think you would have enjoyed this

 

 And what a tribute to have your grandsons and sons carry you to your final resting place. Until we are reunited again, this ground is dedicated for you.

 Simply sweet and humbling to watch these men take off their flowers and lay them on top with your other flowers. I cried during this.

 I think all in all, you would approve and would think this was beautiful

 Another classic and stunning floral tribute to you.

I love you mom. I love all the things you taught me from being a mother to being a leader and to remember when things get crazy, get out there and give service. I am grateful for you teaching me to cook and clean, to pray and read my scriptures. I am grateful for your support as I told you and dad I was going to serve a mission. I am grateful for all you did to give me the wedding of my dreams. I am grateful that you never wavered from being the most amazing grandma around. Thank you for allowing me to be born on your birthday so that we could share that throughout our lives. I love you mom. Til we meet again

Ninja

So.... We finally bit the bullet and got the blender supreme. I have looked long and hard at the Vitamix, the Blendtec, etc and when the Ninja came out, I really looked at all the reviews etc.

 Every one I know that owns one LOVES IT!

So, with my trusty 20%off coupon, I marched into Bed, Bath and Beyond and got the blender.

So in the past week, I have lost 3.5 lbs and have more energy. Some of the great drinks I am making are the "green drink" which consists of grapes, orange, banana, apple, spinach and kale

the beet and berry smoothie, which is part of a beet (fresh) blueberries, strawberries, organic honey, and lots of ice

but it is blending EVERYTHING. 

I made homemade peanut butter the other day and it was fabulous. I am going to try a vegi drink later today.

I have learned how to do carrot juice and almond milk as well.

I think the biggest thing is that I am getting MORE than my 5 servings of vegies and fruits every day and I FEEL better....more energized which is GREATLY needed right now. 

So...it may not be running a marathon, or doing yoga or conquering the world,

BUT

it is changing my life...a day at a time!!

HIIIIYAAAA!!!!! 

Fathers Blessings

I love the Sunday before school starts because it is the time for Kris to give a Fathers Blessing to our kids before their school year starts. I am always in awe of how much Heavenly Father knows my children and the things they need to hear that your so unique to them. I am also in awe of how different each blessing is. What a blessed opportunity to give a blessing of comfort, strength, inspiration, counsel and wisdom. And what a cherished memory for our kids to know of the great love of their dad for them.
Each blessing was amazing and powerful.
I am grateful for the power of the Priesthood in my home and that my husband honors his priesthood to give our children blessings when they need them and ask for them. I am grateful for his insight and his ability to listen and understand what Heavenly Father is communication through him to our kids. I am always very humbled on these day.
I am the scribe and get to write down as much as I can so our kids can have something to reference and look at.
I am not ready in most ways for the kids to go back to school. I will miss them during the day. I have enjoyed our lazy summer, our busy summer, our crazy summer. Now it is back to routine,homework, graduation preparations, a year of Caitlyn turning 16, Nick turning 18 and Nate turning 20. I am sure this year will provide many interesting, challenging and amazing times.

Young Women's Camp

Welcome Back from Young Women's Camp!!!  I LOVE Young Women's Camp. This is the first year I've been in a while...about 4 years. I missed it. Our Stake does a Stake camp every year and it is very successful. The divide the girls up by age group/camp level and they stay with those groups the whole time at camp. They do not meet together for ward time except for Friday night when the Bishops come up to meet with their young women. It is really nice because the girls get to meet friends their ages and they get to work on their levels together the whole week. When you are asked to serve at camp, it is a calling issued from the Stake. I was called this year to be a cook. It was a TON of work. Posted below are a few pix of the camp and the kitchen.
This is the cooks cabin. We were one of the few groups that got to sleep in a cabin...and might I add....it had its perks and its downfalls. :D

Wildflowers brought up just to beautify our cabin

So this is the inside of our cabin..one room slept 5 and the other room slept 3. My bunk mates were fabulous women who all seems to snore a great deal. I do not deal with snoring very well and had no place to escape to so as a result, I spent most nights not falling asleep until after midnight..which may not seem late but it was after the long days of cooking. 3 meals and 1 snack for 220 people...we kept busy.

Caitlyn found a leader that was willing to braid her hair daily. Yeah! She looked fabulous. She was a YCL 1 (youth camp leader 1) this year and so she worked with a group of 2nd year campers. She and her friend Kayla had to do devotionals every night and help them with their camp skills and such every day. They did a fantastic job.

This is a picture of the MASSIVE potato salad we made to serve 200+. It took 2 grown men to lift it down to the eating area and it was yummy

This is a shot of the amazing kitchen we got to work in. It had tons of prep space, tons of cooking space and in the other room was a walk in pantry, a walk in fridge and freezer. They had a separate dishwashing space as well.

Another cute shot of Caitlyn at night...such a beautiful girl!

The scenery was breathtaking. There are bears in the area so they are diligent about no food in the campers cabins and they are diligent about burning the trash and even have a huge cement building for the wet trash to be stored until the garbage pick up just so the bears cannot get into it.

 

This river was about 2 or 3 miles down from the camp but was also spectacular. Just had to include it.

All in all it was a wonderful camp. The theme this year was "Construction Zone, a testimony in the making" and there were things geared to the theme every day and night. Lots of work for such a worthwhile cause of building up Young Women to become leaders, mothers and to strengthen them to withstand this world we live in

Lessons in Life

I want to share a favorite quote that I have posted on Facebook, but it has once again come up this past week. My sister shared with me the fact that she had read this and shared this,this past week.

"May I share some suggestions with you who face...the testing that a wise Heavenly Father determines is needed even when you are living a worthy, righteous life and are obedient to His commandments. Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Proverbs 3:11-12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain" (in CR, Oct. 1995, 18;).
- Elder Richard G. Scott

We all share this common thread in mortality of trials. Some trials are large and some seemingly small. Why does one family lose a husband and father far to early? Why does another struggle with infertility, when all they want is a baby in their home? Why do some struggle financially and some face the trial of infidelity? Why,when we are doing all that is required and asked of us do we still face trials and are caused to be humbled further? When we have eternal perspective we begin to understand Heavenly Fathers hand in our lives. I have heard of all the struggles I listed in just the past 2 months. So what do we do in the midst of the lowest part of the trail? I believe we have to keep remembering the fundamentals of the gospel of Christ. We must PRAY daily, communicating with our Father. We must STUDY his word and how blessed are we as Latter Day Saints to have both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We must exercise our FAITH and sometimes just put it out their first and couple it with HOPE. We must SERVE one another and LOVE one another. Realizing that Heavenly Father will hold us closely as we go through the necessary stretching and growth, or as I like to say : as we "level up" in this mortal station.

Now, I have NOT been going through any big trial, but had a couple of wonderful experiences lately. Last Thursday night, a member of the Bishopric met with Kris and I and the first thing he said to me was "I would like to honorable release you from your calling as teacher in the Relief Society". He did not ask if I wanted to be released, he just did it and I felt my heart twinge a bit. I was taken aback and I was SAD! He let me tell him why I loved Relief Society and what I had learned in my calling and then he said "I don't think you will be sad for very long" and then he called me to be the 1st councilor in the YW Presidency. I was so emotional and have been all weekend. When I was released from YW's a few years ago, my heart broke and with each move I have secretly hoped and LONGED for the opportunity to serve in there again. When I was called to be in the Relief Society presidency in Maine, again, I was sad, but was willing to serve and learn and grow. When I was set apart for that calling, I was told in a blessing that although my heart was with the Young Women, my time was to be used in teaching their mothers. Well, OK, that sounds good. So when this calling came, I began to realize just how much I had missed the young women and how much I love them. We have an amazing group of YW and of leaders, cream of the crop!!!! It was a testimony builder to me that my Heavenly Father loves me and knows that I am prepared again to serve in this capacity. I have felt very strongly this weekend where I need to help and teach and how I can serve and sustain. So, although the trial of NOT being in YW's may seem miniscule, it was something I struggled with and am grateful for the stretching I have been able to go through to prepare to serve them again. :)

MMMMMMMMMMM CHERRIES

Can you tell what time of year we are hitting? Yep, time to get our canning on! And yesterdays task

CHERRIES!!!!

We got all these Cherries for FREE! A man in our ward has a cherry orchard and they had already sold all the cherries they could, so before the trees were stripped, he let any ward members come over and pick the cherries. The trees were still LOADED, but if a cherry has a blemish, a split or is not the right size, it can't be picked to be sold. So we picked an apple box FULL of cherries. I did 16 quarts of cherries, 6 batches of various cherry freezer jams and froze a bunch as well. Our fingernails are still stained a lovely bing cherry color, but we are done. And the blessing? Spending the day canning with my daughter. Even though it was hard work and tiring, we accomplished something fantastic.

So I know this is on my Face book, but not all of you Facebook, so I am posting a video here as well of Caitlyns last Choir Concert. This is Shenandoah. Mr Renner, their Choir teacher had the Seniors perform the first part in parts and then added in the rest of the concert. It is beautiful. The second one is Ave Verum by Imant Raminsh. It is beautiful as well. Enjoy. You may have to turn off my playlist on the right hand side so it does not play while you are listening. :)

Can we have a wing with our name on it?

Those of you who have gone through a catastrophic illness with a loved one might ask the same question after spending so much time in the hospital. We we arrived Friday evening from California, we hit Wendover and my sister and brother called informing me that my mom was once again in the ER. She had severe abdominal pain that brought her to her knees and they rushed her into the ER. They did a CT Scan and found fluid and air in the abdominal cavity so they knew she had perforated something in her abdomen but they didn't know what it was. We talked with the surgeon and she agreed to have them use a scope to see what was going on. Around 1 am, the surgeon came out and informed us that she had an ulcer rupture in her stomach and perforate through. He was able to repair that and now she is on the road to recovery once again

This picture was taken on Easter Sunday. My brother had brought my mom a HUGE stuffed easter bunny and we placed the bunny by her. Sorry mom, but it is too cute a picture not to share
While we were in Utah, we also went to the State Capitol Building as Nick needed that for a merit badge he is working on and the kids enjoyed it. It is a magnificent building.

This is a great shot looking up in the rotunda.

This is a shot looking into the House of Representatives

Next we went down to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It was getting COLD!!!!

Caitlyn in front of the beautiful Christus Statue

Another shot of the temple. I think I may frame this one

Some of the beautiful flowers just blooming

Amazing vintage hat display at the Joseph Smith building. If you know Nick, Caitlyn and I, you might not know that we LOVE vintage hats. We went to an estate sale last year and scored a box full of hats from the 30's and 40's which now hang on Caitlyns wall. Nick particularly loved the top hat in the top right part of the hat display.

Right after we took this picture, we crossed back on to temple square and SNOW....SNOW....SNOW!! I was wearing capri's and a sweater...Toto..we are NOT in California any more :)

It was a great trip in which we were able to see many friends, spend time with family and focus on the things of eternity

Antelope Island

One of the fun things we did while in Utah was to go to Antelope Island. We haven't been for a few years and my great nephew Caleb had not been at all. We loaded up and proceeded across the causeway and out to the Island. The pictures are from my phone camera so i couldn't get close ups, but we did see Buffalo from afar, and a great Antelope :)

My sisters grandson (my great nephew) Caleb. He was so happy and was having such a blast!

I think Nick was trying to fit in with the local wild life :)

Some of the horses at Fielding Garr Ranch. Caleb enjoyed petting them. We fed them grass and loved on them for quite a while.

The beauties of this Island are amazing. From the blue waters of the Great Salt Lake to the rugged rocks and sage brush and grassy areas. From the sandy beaches to the beautiful wildlife we saw. What a great day at Antelope Island