Thanksgiving Week Recount

It is Monday afternoon here and I have just put up our Christmas tree, tonight Stewart and I will decorate it for Family Home Evening. It is our family tradition to assemble and decorate our Christmas tree the first Monday after Thanksgiving. It has been fun to talk about different family traditions we want to establish in our home and with our future family. Stewart informed me at Halloween it is our new family tradition established just this year to watch the Michael Jackson Thriller music video. We have also decided to declare the annual constructing of graham cracker houses a family tradition. Now I bet all this talk of family traditions makes you want to join our family huh… come on over, the more the merrier!

This past week Stewart had two major tests one on Monday and the other Tuesday. I don’t know if he passed them or not. The one test for his PBL group was 6 essay questions long. Stewart said he had some major hand cramping going on after two hours. I think his test started at 8:30 am and finished at 12:00 noon. Yeah, I would think just about everyone’s hands would be cramping up by that time. Tuesday, after his last test Stewart stayed at school and did all his homework so he could have a real Thanksgiving break. By Tuesday evening I had a free husband with no homework!!! It was so nice to spend time with Stewart and not have to send him off to do homework, I have forgotten how much I have missed just chilling with Stewart like that… it was fun.

On Wednesday, we decided since the weather was nice we wanted to get out of the house and go for a hike. We went to the Greenbrier National Forest, which is about 15 mins from our house. While trying to find a trail to hike we found a Frisbee golf course and we just so happened to have our Frisbees in the trunk. We played 9 holes, and then drove down the road a ways and found a place to explore by a stream. We had a good afternoon together laughing and challenging each other to walk the logs across the steam. That night we went to our friends the Rodebacks and watched a movie with them. Thanks for having us join you guys!!!

Thursday, we had Thanksgiving dinner with a nice family in our ward, the Burdettes. They had a house full of people, some family and some other people from the ward. They also had a large table full of food! You think I am kidding I am not… the table was packed with tons of dishes of food. We both feel very blessed that the Burdettes were kind and invited us to join them. I am not sure what we would have done if they had not invited us. That evening we went to some of our other friends' (James Bishop Family) home to play games and have more dessert. Melanie made several pies… I think there were about 6 or 7 different pies plus a dessert I made and one other dessert Nativa Rodeback made. I don’t know what they ended up doing with all the leftovers. I should mention that early in the day around 9 am Stewart participated in a friendly, game of touch football with some of the ward members. He had a lot of fun and even had a few good plays.

Friday we recovered from our Thanksgiving Day feast, cleaned our home and decorated a little bit for Christmas. On Saturday, Stewart and I drove to a larger town called Beckley, about 45 minutes West of here. We went to a craft store called Hobby Lobby just to explore. There was so much stuff to explore in that store. We wandered that store for about an hour. The idea was for me to find something crafty I could do to pass the time here at home; instead Stewart came away with a craft project of his own. He wants to work on it hear and there during school in hopes to help reduce the stress that builds or just take his mind off of school for a few minutes. I can not say I know what he is doing… you will just have to wait along with me for the finished project. Note: this may not be a finished project for several months… let the suspense begin! After Hobby Lobby we drove across the street and had lunch at a unique restaurant called Delightfully Yours. The food was amazing!!! I think I know where I want to eat out next time we head over to Beckley. We finished our trip to Beckley by watching the movie “Old Dogs” at the theater. It was a three star movie in my opinion. It was not everything the movie trailer made it out to be.

Wow this blog post is getting super long! I will end by expressing our deep love to our loving Heavenly Father, who is watching out for us. We have so many blessing in our lives. We can’t help but to feel deeply grateful for all the wonderful gifts Heavenly Father blesses us with. How grateful we are, words can’t truly express.

Guest Author

Becky informed me today that I was in charge of doing the blog post this week. I grumbled, and frowned, but she held her ground. It’s not that I don’t like the blog, I love it. Becky does such a good job with it and nearly every time we talk with family they tell us how much they appreciate it. It’s just that I don’t know what I would say. I guess I’ll just tell you about my life. Tomorrow is a big test for me. It covers material for almost the last 2 months, and believe me, it’s a lot of material. I’m in a special track at med school called Problem Based Learning (PBL). If you’ve ever watched House, that doctor show on one of the cable channels, it’s similar to House. Instead of sitting in lectures all day we are put in small groups to learn the material on our own to “solve” the cases that the faculty gives us. It’s a little bit more than that, but that’s the jist. Anyway, each of our test questions is written by a different faculty member with a different field of expertise, and they are all essay questions. That means that we might have to go on for a page or more about each topic. This test will be unlike any I’ve ever taken. For the last week I’ve been waking up to study at 4:30 just to get ready for the test. It’s been hard, but I think it has really helped me.

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I teach a class of 8-11 yr. old boys in church. I have to prepare a lesson for them each Sunday that lasts between 40 and 50 minutes. Sometimes it’s a challenge, sometimes it’s a joy. Today we had a really great lesson. The main topic was the Mormon Pioneers who crossed the Great Plains to the Salt Lake Valley back in the 1840s-60s. They sacrificed so much because of their faith in God. It is an inspiration to anyone who studies their stories. Near the end of the lesson I asked the boys if all the pioneers were dead. They were smarter than I thought and said no, some people today are pioneers. I told them that a pioneer is anyone who prepares the way for others to follow. Then I had an elderly gentleman in the ward, the grandfather of 2 of the boys, come in and talk about what the Church was like when he was young. When he was young there was no meetinghouse in this area and they met in people’s homes. He was baptized in a creek up in the hills outside of town. He helped dig the footings for the first LDS chapel in White Sulfur Springs. It is still standing, but the LDS church sold it to another church when we outgrew it. He talked about the members donating labor and money to build the meetinghouse. He talked about what it was like to be one of just a handful of members of the church at a time before satellite broadcasts connected us all. At the end of his talk he told the boys to always trust in Heavenly Father because no matter how difficult life was He would help them. There is something different when an older person says that. An older person has lived it, and knows it’s true. When I say the same thing I believe it, and I intend to live it, but I haven’t lived it. The spirit in the room was strong as he admonished those boys to be faithful. The boys were mostly quiet, and mostly paid attention (hey, I’ll take what I can get).

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Becky also taught a lesson in church today. She teaches the nursery class (15 mo. – 3 years old). She made a turkey out of construction paper (I named him Toby the Turkey). She prepared little pictures of toys, clothes, families, Jesus, the temple etc. and used them to show the children what Toby the Turkey was grateful for. She said that the children kept scooting closer and closer to her as she talked and she took that as a sign that they were paying attention. She does such a good job with the little kids. When we see any of them outside of the normal church schedule they always get excited and say hi to her and hug her leg.

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We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’ll be giving thanks that these tests are over. We hope you have plenty of things to be grateful for as well.

For Corinne & Anyone Else

Ok so here is the Apple Butter recipe that I used to make my apple butter. I halved this recipe and it made about 2 cups. I think the best part of the recipe is that it made my home smell amazing! I got this recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book; I just re-typed it here word for word.

Apple Butter

Prep: 3 hours Process: 5 mins Makes: 8 half-pints

4 ½ Pounds- tart cooking apples, cored and quartered (about 14)
3 Cups- apple cider or apple juice
2 Cups- sugar
1 ½ teaspoons- ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon- ground cloves
½ teaspoon- ground allspice

1. In an 8- to 10-quart heavy kettle combine apples and cider. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Press through a food mill or sieve until you have 8 ½ cups pulp. Return pulp to kettle.

2. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, uncovered, over very low heat1 ½ hours or until very thick and mixture mounds on a spoon, stirring often.

Boiling: Water Canning: Ladle hot apple butter into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a ¼ -inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids. Process in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool on racks.

Freezing: Place kettle of apple butter in a sink filled with ice water; stir mixture to cool. Ladle into wide-top freezer containers, leaving a ½ -inch headspace. Seal, label, and freeze up to 10 months. Apple butter may darken slightly on freezing.

The Grand Affair Saga

It was the best of times it was the worst of times (this is Stewart’s introduction… I think he is borrowing it from somewhere ~wink~)... Stewart did his usual go to class and study routine and since I am out of a job at the moment I went back to my search for a job, clean the house routine. I did however make a batch of homemade apple butter. We bought a bushel of fresh-from-the-orchard Pink Lady apples, so I have been trying to make different dishes using apples. Stewart seems to love the apple butter a lot and since I love it a lot as well I may be making more. What I need to do is borrow someone’s hot water bath canning pot so I can can some of my delicious apple creations. Of course if I did that I would then have to buy the jars. It is a win lose battle I tell you.


Last night (November 14) Stewart and I were supposed to go to a very nice banquet/dance put on by the WVSOM School. Stewart was expected to go and help out since the WVSOM Senate was in charge of the event (he is the 1st year PBL senator). Because of that I did not want to go (at first) since Stewart would be helping out the whole evening and in my head I envisioned me sitting in the corner watching the clock waiting for the time to pass alone. After sometime thinking about it I did decide that it would be fun to go dancing again with Stewart (we took a class in Pocatello but have not had many opportunities to use it… this was our chance) and I was sure he would not have to spend the whole night running around helping out.

So last night while I was getting ready, about 20 minutes before we were to leave, Stewart informs me that he has become very dizzy and feels like he may throw-up. I was just finishing my hair and asked if I should go get in my dress. He said yes thinking he would be okay in about 10mins. So I got all dressed and ready. Long story short I was all dressed up with no where to go by 7:15pm. Oh well I probably would have been way underdressed there anyway, since I was only going in my Sunday best… it was a black tie optional kind of event.

Stewart is doing much better today; he stayed home from church and seems to have things back in check. He should be fine to go to school tomorrow. I am very happy about that, he does not need the pressures of playing catch up a week from his very first Problem Based Learning (PBL) test. The stress of the test will be thickening up by itself as the week progresses. Today we have just been playing things low key, nothing much. I guess this concludes my weekly update on our lives, over and out.

Another Week Gone By

So this past week has just flown by for me… I am not sure why it has, it just has. I am suppose to me working on our budget right now, I need to tally up our total expenditures and then make sure everything has cleared for this month. Stewart says I have over-organized our budget way to much… to that I say, how does one do that? Just because I have several Excel documents that have: addresses of where bills need to be paid, dates we have paid our bills, the method we paid them (check or credit card), and much more, you probably don’t care to know about, does not mean I have over-organized our budget. Honestly if I were to disappear and leave him to figure out what I have done with our money… he should have no problem picking up where I left off. Anyway… sorry about that tangent, don’t know where it came from.

Stewart is at school (where else would he be), it is getting too cold for him to ride his bike to school down the hill. So I take him to school and then go to the gym. He calls me if he wants a ride home for lunch or at the end of the day. Sometimes I meet him for lunch and we eat at the school, and other times he just walks home because he enjoys the walk. This coming Sunday is our ward primary program. Stewart teaches the senior boys in primary, so he gets to get up and sing with the boys. He has done great things with that group of boys; the bishop here thinks the world of Stewart when it comes to teaching primary. The boys have all gone home and told their parents that Stewart has the best visual aids and examples with every lesson. Stewart tells me that he just takes everything out of the lesson manual. He does a great job and I am proud of him.

I am working in the nursery, last Sunday there were 5 kids and the other nursery worker never came. I had a lot of fun telling the kidos to share and not climb on the table. By the end of those two hours I was ready for a nap, and that is what I did first thing when I got home. It was nice! I do miss the adult sunday school class and relief society. I feel like I don’t get much gospel doctrine discussions with the 2 year olds. I guess I need to step up my personal studies to fill the void.

Other news this week- I lost my job… I don’t know what happened, something with the politics of the museum board members and the way I was hired. It has been a bummer deal for me, but oh well life goes on and there is something even better out there for me. I am not excited to go out looking again, working at the museum was a perfect fit for me in my mind. So here is to being jobless (again) and luck be on my side with the job hunt! Also this week Stewart has caved in and said we can buy ourselves a chest freezer! I have been telling him we need one since we got married. I think he finally understands all the money we could be saving by having one. I am stinken excited about this new breakthrough; I will let you know which one we decided to give ourselves for Christmas. Oh happy day! Other than that, I don’t think we have any other news to share, all is well here in WV, we are enjoying ourselves and learning lots. Hope you have a great week! Ciao



P.S. Thanks to everyone who left comments on our previous post or contacted us by other means. We appreciate your love and support!

Thoughts and Lessons Learned

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Through It All We’ll Hold Hands
My Thoughts, Feelings, Insights, and Lessons

Learned Thus Far Through Infertility

I remember when Stewart and I first started dating, he tried to hold my hand and I pulled it away, scared and worried that our relationship was progressing to fast. It was at that point that I realized I had to make a choice, to take his hand and move forward with our relationship or to let his hand go and move on with my life as I had planned it. I regret to say that I let his hand go and learned very quickly that by not holding Stewart’s hand I had created a hole in my heart that would never be complete with out him. I realized shortly thereafter that by not holding Stewart’s hand, I was moving away from the plan that Heavenly Father had for me. So after a few weeks of me coming to an understanding of what I wanted and what Heavenly Father wanted for me, I called Stewart up and we went for a walk, it was during that walk that I asked him to take my hand and not let it go. How grateful I am to say, that Stewart has kept his promise made to me that day and has kept my hand firmly in his, no matter where life has taken us.

Stewart and I have always wanted a family of our own. Even before we were married we were talking about when we wanted to start having children. Once we were married we decided that we would put our trust in Heavenly Fathers plan for us and have children when He deemed it was time. After about a year and a half of no children Stewart and I decided that it was time to visit a doctor and find out what was going on. We learned after a series of visits that it will be more difficult for us to conceive than for most people. From there it has been a battle of emotions, and several lessons learned.

Over the past month or more, I have felt the need to record some of the lessons that I have learned coming to an understanding of my infertility. My goal in sharing this (purely sensitive) information is not for everyone who reads this to feel sorry for us, but to help me break free from the emotions I have been bottling up, by keeping my thoughts and feelings to myself for so long. The other part of my goal is to take these experiences and lessons I have learned and share them with others, who may be in similar situations so that they know they are not alone, and that someone understands what they are going thru.

Hands have been a significant part of Stewart’s and my relationship, marriage, and life. I have always been fascinated with people’s hands and all that can be accomplished with one’s hands. I remember that soon after we started holding hands, Stewart would often catch me staring at our hands, interlocked. I knew we would be married one day and I sensed Stewart’s hands to be pure and clean, his hands would be worthy to give me priesthood blessings if and when needed. His hands would be worthy to lead our family in righteousness and most importantly his hands would be there to help catch me as I stumbled or fell during this time on earth.

When we were married in the Boise Temple, President Wayne L. Coleman, who sealed us together for time and all eternity made reference to our hands. He mentioned that Stewart’s hands are the priesthood bearers, the providers, the hands that will be a support to me; they are the hands that will bless our family, hold our children, and lead us down the path of righteous. My hands are the ones that will be the help to Stewart, a nurturing mother to our children, the hands that are going to make our home a delightful place, a home Stewart will want to come to home to, a place where the sprit can reside. Along with all the thoughts shared with us that day about our hands, I would like to include another set of hands that we should remember, the hands of our Father in Heaven. His hands are the hands that will be (and have been) there to carry me during the hard times. His hands are the hands that can make me whole, that can perform the miracles I seek for in my life. His hands are the hands that help me grow, so that one day I can be like him. His hands are the hands that embrace me and fill me with peace when I feel all alone. His hands are the hands that I should cling to and never let go, no matter how hard I think life is.

I take strength in the scriptures and have often found the comfort in the words recorded both in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. One scripture that has blessed me is found in Isaiah 41:13, “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” I have come to know from first hand experience that this verse it true. I know that Heavenly Father is keenly aware of Stewart’s and my circumstances and although I wish He would bless us with our righteous desires now, I have learned that it is better to wait on the Lord’s timing rather than my own. And while I wait He will hold my hand and help me find peace and understanding.

I was reading in the book of Mormon the other week in Ether chapter 3 and I came across verse 5, when I read it things just started coming together and I understood a little more of the plan Heavenly Father has for me. At this particular time in the Book of Mormon, the Brother of Jared is praying to Heavenly Father asking Him to touch the stones so that they can have light in their ships as they cross the ocean. Ether 3:5 reads “… we know thou are able to show forth great power, which looks small unto the understanding of men.” When I read this the light clicked on, Heavenly Father has manifested his great powers in my life, but to my human eyes they have seemed small and insignificant. Everything that He has done for me has been a manifestation of His great powers. As I look back over the past few years I can see directly how Heavenly Father has guided Stewart and I along, He helped Stewart and I find an amazing doctor who was able to answer most all our infertility questions, He directed us to a school that has proven to be a school that is best for Stewart and his learning strategies, and by helping us secure an apartment in West Virginia while still living in Idaho that has proven to be ideal to our needs. All of these things seem to be small and insignificant during the time we prayed and received direction, but honestly, after taking some time to ponder them in my mind and heart … they truly are examples of the great power Heavenly Father manifests in our lives daily, which at the time seem so small and unimportant to us. How grateful I am to have learned this great lesson from one small verse in the scriptures. It has changed how I look at the small and simple things in my day to day life. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me, and he is reaching out his hand to me. I am his child and as much as I hate that my prayers are not answered the way I would like at this time I have learned that “we are the clay, and thou (Heavenly Father) our potter, and we… are the work of thy hands.” (Isaiah 64:8)

I would like to share three lessons I have learned during this time of infertility in my life. The first lesson is something that I hear all the time: The Lord has a plan and knows what is best for us, and His timing is perfect.

Not to long ago I went through a phase where I got mad when someone would tell me “it is going to be okay”, I was tired of hearing that phrase, I wanted someone to finish it, “it is going to be okay in ______ hours, days, years, etc”. I was tired of not having a complete answer; I wanted to know when everything was going to be okay? In all reality the completed answer to that question was and still is up to me. I have the ability to make things okay right now in my life… it is a matter of my attitude and how I want to look at things. Heavenly Father knows that it is hard for me not to be able to see the whole picture, but at the same time He knows that by helping me gain faith in Him and His plan I can and will be a better person.

I think the Prophet Mormon, says it best in Mormon 5:23 (Book of Mormon), “Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power?” I know this scripture is true, my Heavenly Father has all power and I am in His hands. When I stop and think about that I feel His love, and I feel His reassurance that everything will work out far better then I can even imagine at this point, and it will be okay. As for when it will be okay… I can decide to make it okay now. When will we be blessed with children? That is up to Heavenly Father, all we can do is everything that is in our ability to make that happen. And yet as hard as this is to say: I am in the hands of God and His will not my will be done.

The second lesson I have learned comes from the opportunity I was given to give a talk on the topic of reverence in church not to long ago. At times in my life I get so caught up in everything around me. There are days when I am so busy there is no way I could hear Heavenly Father speak to me (through the Holy Ghost). Realizing that has helped me to learn that I need to slow down, and by doing so I will be able to feel the presence of Heavenly Father comforting me, and receive direction that is desperately needed.

Heavenly Father communicates to most people by the power of the Holy Ghost, at least, that is how he communicates to me. There is a quote by President Boyd K. Packer (President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) that has helped me. It says “The spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers, it caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all.” (August 2009 Ensign, pg 45) when I read that I had to ask myself: is my life style to loud? Would I be able to hear answers to my prayers being sent by the sill small voice? After my answer to the last question was a NO I knew I needed to turn things off and listen for the still small voice. There is another great scripture that helped me understand more about how I can expect the Holy Ghost to communicate with me it is found in Helaman 5:30 (Book of Mormon), it says “And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper…” by reading this I knew that I needed to take time in my daily schedule to turn off the music, TV, computer, etc. and sit and listen. I need to be reverent in my daily life so that I can hear, and feel that I am receiving answers to my prayers and comfort when I need it. I have been observing this practice since the time I gave this talk and have been richly blessed because of it. I know that Heavenly Father sends the Holy Ghost with our answers, and if not an immediate answer then peace to calm the troubled soul, but if I am caught up in my busy life, I may not be able to hear the still small voice.

The third lesson that I have learned, as well as the final thought I wish to share on this topic is, to serve. Since I have learned about my infertility problems, it has been a huge blessing in my life to truly serve others, especially mothers with small children. I have often sought out opportunities to serve, as a way for me to stop thinking about myself, my problems and to focus on what I can do to help those around me. By doing this I have a learned that I can love others, especially those women who have children.

I regret to say I did go through a stage in my life where I could not bring myself to talk, or associate with new mothers or women who were pregnant, let alone serve them. It seemed like such a hard task, and I thought it was so unfair that Heavenly Father would bless them and not me. I came to a fork in the road one day when my nephew was born; that day which should have been filled with excitement for the family, was one of the hardest days in my life. I did not want anything to do with my nephew, and I really did not want to visit with his parents. That same day, Stewart and I got in to a small argument where he proceeded to tell me I was selfish and acting like a spoiled child. Those words stung deep, but they also helped me realize that I was going down the wrong path and I needed to make a change. This change did not come easy to me; I could not bring myself to hold my nephew for about a month after he was born. In my mind if I held him it would only make me want to have children even more. But in reality when I did allow myself to hold him, I had a significant and powerful spiritual experience. Shortly after that experience I had a scripture come to mind, it is found in Mosiah 2:17 (Book of Mormon) “… I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are in the service of your God.” That was the answer I had been praying for that has helped me many times.

While learning to understand my infertility I have found it very helpful to find opportunities weekly to help others around me. I have even gone as far as to search out other women in the area with children and ask them if I could watch their kids so they can go and do something they want for a few hours. I have learned that by doing this I am opening my heart up and learning to love these children and their parents with a love only service can create. I am very grateful to a loving husband, who realized what I was becoming, who seized the opportunity to take my hand, and help me start the needed changes. I have learned so much from serving others, I know that service is part of Heavenly Father’s plan to help us overcome hard times and trials.

I cannot believe that I am about to say this, but I am grateful for my infertility complications, because of this I have been blessed beyond measure. I have learned so much from this experience and expect to learn more as time goes on. I still hope that I can one day be a mother, and I know that opportunity will present itself to me in the future. I have changed my prayers from please bless us to get pregnant to please bless us with children whether they are adopted into our family or conceived it matters not. I hope that by writing this and sharing my thoughts, I am able to help someone else who is in a similar situation through my experiences thus far.

I know I have a Father in Heaven who is very aware of me, and if I will reach up and take His hand He will help me grow and overcome the trials and hard ships I face. I know that this journey is not over, and at times may seem to hard to endure, but with Stewart and Heavenly Father by my side I can do anything. And no matter where life takes us through it all we’ll hold hands.

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LDS General Confrence and CES Fireside Talks That Have Helped Me Find Comfort and Peace.

The Lord Thy God Will Hold Thy Hand- Elder W. Craig Zwick, of the Seventy, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Lessons from Liberty Jail- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

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If you would like to know more about what I and other LDS people believe, please visit our church website: Mormon.org