Strong and of Good Courage

Corban's picture seemed to go with my heading, so I included it first. Sadie and Kristi felt like taking pictures of Elise and Corban this past week, so all of the pictures posted are ones they took. Pretty good work! Yesterday they kept having Elise change her clothes so they could pose her differently, out in the yard. They had a fun time.




Saturday night was the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' General Young Women Meeting. All young women ages 12-18, their mothers and young women leaders were invited to participate in the meeting. I took Cari and Sadie to the Stake Center so that we could view the broadcast. It was FABULOUS! Then again, they always are. You can always count on feeling the spirit of Christ and being uplifted. The theme of the meeting was Be Strong and of Good Courage (Joshua 1:9). The YW General Presidency spoke to us, as well as President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (of the First Presidency).

This past week, we had some "trials" in our family. Sadie braking her new violin bow, tops the list. Elise letting the hamster out of its cage (and later the dogs out of the yard), is more towards the not so bad end. Still, I had a day when I felt like I had HAD ENOUGH!



As the conference began and the YW General President stood to conduct the meeting, I thought of one of my good friends. I thought, in a few years she will probably be standing there. How great it is to have Christlike friends who are wonderful examples of everything good. Each speaker was wonderful and I had a hard time keeping my tears in. It seemed like they were talking directly to me. They spoke what I needed to hear.



Sister Ann M Dibb (Second Counselor) shared four guides to give us courage, strength and faith (taken from Joshua 1). First, pray and be patient. Second, be strictly obedient to the commandments of the Lord. Third, read the scriptures daily. Fourth, to follow our prophet.

Sister Mary N Cook (First Counselor) asked, "Have you ever felt like giving up?" I immediately said to myself, "Just this past week!" She spoke about the role of mother, to be a nurturer. She shared ways to be a valiant and virtuous daughter of God: Gain a strong testimony (one step at a time); Seek the help of others (including first our Heavenly Father); Live to be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.





Elaine S Dalton (YW President) reminded us of our superlative goal to make and keep sacred covenants and receive the blessings of exaltation. She talked about "deep beauty" and being a Queen. Deep beauty shines from the inside out and doesn't wash off! It is earned through faith, repentance, and honoring covenants.

President Uchtdorf talked about adversity. He began by sharing a few fairy-tale examples. They begin with Once Upon A Time....and end with Happily Ever After. In the middle of the story, there is usually some kind of opposition or adversity to overcome. Then, he likened these to our lives. We have a beginning. We all must overcome adversity (which is part of living; it teaches us things we can not learn in any other way), and then (depending on how we react to adversity), we CAN have our own Happily Ever After. He reminded us that God knows how to get there. We need to follow Him and trust in His plan.

He also encouraged us to learn wisdom, become stronger and experience joy. He reminded us that we are not alone. Our Savior understands and will uphold and bless us.



I was so thankful for these reminders and to be buoyed up. I found myself appreciating the adversity in my life and the growth that has come from it. I grew stronger in my faith and testimony for having been at that meeting, and Cari and Sadie did too. After the meeting I took the girls out to dinner. We went to Wendy's (Cari's choice) and the salad I had seemed to be the best I had ever tasted.

Next weekend is General Conference. I am looking forward to hearing the prophet and apostles speak. I know that I will be uplifted and inspired greatly then as well. I love the Lord and have a testimony of the truthfulness of his gospel. How thankful I am to have this blessing in my life, to help me through every challenge that comes my way.

What's That Smell?

Right after church, Trevon went to his room to change his clothes. He could smell a strong skunk odor, so went outside to investigate. There, he found a skunk walking around. We had fun watching it, until it ended up getting caught in our neighbor's bushes. We worked to free it, but it eventually died. Then, Mike and Trevon buried it deep. Poor skunk.



The weather has been beautiful and SPRING is here! Cameron helped Trevon plant some seeds in the garden. They planted lettuce, beets, carrots, corn, and onions, so far. All of us are enjoying the beautiful blossoms and warmth of the outdoors.

Preference Dance

Saturday was the "Preference" girl-ask-guy high school dance. During the day, Cari took her date (Thomas Fawcett) to Springdale where the city was having St. Patrick's Day celebrations, including a parade that she marched in with the high school band (Trevon marched in it too). They, and another couple, played at the park before the parade. Cari marched while her date watched the parade with the rest of the group. They listened to music and all the time in the sun resulted in a nice pink face for Cari!



That evening, the group (Michael Morrise, Caitlyn Newport, Cari and Thomas Fawcett), came to our house for a formal dinner. Sadie helped to serve the dinner while Mike and I prepared the food. We served them rolls, salad, parmesan chicken with rice pilaf and broccoli, and a chocolate brownie ice-cream sundae, using fine china. Mike made a strawberry-lemonade daiquiri that we served in long-stemmed crystal glasses. Included among the centerpiece, I placed little boxes of questions for them to open and discuss during dinner. Sadie played her violin, but did so out of sight. Most of the evening a classical CD played background music. After dinner, they headed to the dance where they had pictures taken and danced until about 11:30PM. Cari had fun "swing dancing" the Triple Swing with Thomas. Today (Sunday), Thomas dropped by a bouquet of flowers to say thank-you for the date. Cari was happy to receive them, saying she felt special:)

SHAKEN UP!

Mike spent the week in Pasadena California doing some certification for work. On Tuesday morning, just after 4AM, he was awakened by an EARTHQUAKE!!! He first started to reach for the alarm clock, thinking that the "noise" he heard was something he could shut off. Then, he realized the room was shaking, and everything on the counters/tables were clattering with movement. He sat frozen on the bed as the quake vibrated to a stop. Then, he called downstairs to the front desk to confirm that he indeed had just experienced an earthquake. We were thankful that Mike was safe and felt our prayers for his protection while away, had been heard. The quake was a 4.4 magnitude, and resulted in very minimum damage to the L. A. area (Click on the EARTHQUAKE link above for more info.).

High Adventure

On Thursday night, Mike and Trevon went on a cross country skiing trip to Beaver Mountain BSA High Adventure lodge and ice fishing at Fish Lake. They went with our friend & neighbor (Joe), his dad (Dwaine), and their friend (Rob). They drove to a parking area and cross country skied to the lodge (2 1/2 miles) on a snow packed road.



There was about 6 feet of snow at the lodge. They got there about 10PM and ate chili dogs and other goodies.

They woke early and loaded a snowmobile with fishing gear, then headed back to the cars. From there, they drove to Fish Lake (about 2 hours away), where they went ice fishing.



They drove out onto the lake, on the snowmobile, and drilled about ten holes in the ice. The ice layer was about three feet thick, and they had a hard time breaking through it.



They caught a total of about 80 fish. Mostly Perch, and 17 Trout (Rainbow & Brook).



Joe, Dwaine, Mike, Rob and Trevon stopped in Richfield on their way back to the lodge, to clean and fillet all the fish. It took them at least an hour! They got back to the top of Beaver Mountain about 10PM and used the snowmobile to shuttle them back to the lodge.



They had a roast cooking all day, and unfortunately, it ended up TOO well done! It looked like a piece of coal and they couldn't eat it! They ended up eating cubed potatoes, sliced ham and eggs. Mike insisted on brownies for dessert (the lodge has a fully supplied kitchen, with a commercial stove and gas oven). That night they got to bed at about 1AM.



Saturday, they locked up the lodge for the season, and did a cross country hike on their skis. They saw a lot of beautiful area. It started snowing and so they packed up and headed down the mountain, trying to beat the storm. It was a blizzard all the way down, including thunder and lightening. On the freeway, they saw multiple slide-offs and semi jack-knives. Thankfully, they were able to make it home safely!

Snow Fun!

This morning we woke to rain - LOTS of it! Then, that rain turned to snow; Great big flakes of snow, some the size of cotton balls! The kids were filled with excitement and even made a snow hut. It was a fun surprise and entertained the kids for a couple hours. By mid afternoon the snow was gone and the kids were again asking for ideas of things to do on their "Spring Break."

Laughing Song

Papa and Grandma Beutler (Mike's parents) were here for a short visit. They delivered a new pizza oven to Uncle Eric and then came to see us. On Monday night, for Family Home Evening, we decided to have a talent show. Cameron showed us a Lego creation he built; Elise shared a picture of donuts she drew; Corban plunked at the piano; Kristi and Sadie played a duet on the piano; Sadie also accompanied Trevon on his Trumpet; Cari, Sadie, Kristi and I sang a 60's medley of songs and then our whole family sang "Love At Home." Then, Papa played the guitar and sang "The Laughing Song." He used to sing that at family gatherings when Mike was a boy. Ice cream cones for dessert made a nice ending to our evening.

Saturday Fun

Saturday is always a chore day at our house. I make a list of the usual cleaning needs and then add a few more needing to be done. Then, assignments are made and we work together until they're done! During the week the kids are assigned certain kitchen duties. Occasionally, I'll call for a TEN MINUTE TIDY in which I set the timer for ten minutes and we all pick up, working our best, until the timer rings. I figure that six people working together for ten minutes is equivalent to one working for an hour by themselves. It is amazing what can be done in such a short time when we work together!

After our work is done, THEN comes time for play. This coming week is Spring Break and we are hoping to play a lot. Secretly, I want to work a lot: cleaning out the play room and going through STUFF - Spring Cleaning:) Some work and then some play will be good.

Trevon started Track this past week and has developed a problem with one of his knees. It is painful for him to use and has swelled up as well. I'll be taking him to the doctor, but Saturday it was difficult for him to do much of anything. I gave him stationary chores to do - like unloading and loading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen. Vacuuming the stairs would have been impossible for him to do. The wind started to pick up outside, after our work was done, and so the kids pulled out a kite. They didn't have much success with it, but it was still fun to try. This coming week, I'll take them to an open field for a picnic and some kite flying. It will be nice having everyone home from school - like a week full of Saturday Fun!

Beutler's Got Talent

This past week, Trevon told me that he thought his dad and I did the right thing to move to Hurricane. He's enjoyed views of Pine Valley, cross country skiing, and just running into people you know wherever you go. I like being in a location that allows us to visit with family and friends fairly often. This past week, my mom and Doug were passing through on their way to a grandchild's baptism. They stayed for a couple of days. It was nice having them here. We attended a school choir and orchestra concert for Sadie, and a talent show at the high school that Cari and Trevon both played their instruments in. Cari was part of a flute duet and Trevon played a solo on his Trumpet. They both qualified for the Regional Solo/Ensemble competition. That will take place in about two weeks.




At the end of the week, Sadie was also in a school talent show. She played a duet on her violin with Connor Lee.