HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TODD

Today is Todd's birthday--at least it still is on the West Coast.  We are so lucky to have him as part of our family.  I really wanted a picture of him by himself.  All I could find was a graduation picture.  I guess that is who Todd really is.  He is always surrounded by family and friends (not counting when he is out of town working.)  Almost every picture I have of him, he is doing something for others. 

Todd with little Toby and Baby Ben

Here are some of the things I love about Todd:

1.  He loves my daughter and brings out the best in her. He wants her to be happy and works hard to help her be that way.

The family grows and changes

2.  He is thoroughly committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and shows it in how he lives.
3.  He is a wonderful father.  He loves to be with his sons.  Most of my pictures of Todd show him spending time with his boys.

At the top of the lighthouse.  A long climb with a son in your arms.

A snack in Central Park

Helping Toby fly a kite.

4.  He is the best kind of role model.  The boys not only want to skateboard  and surf like Dad, they will want to emulate him throughout their lives and he sets the example a mother-in-law can be proud of.

Skateboarding with Toby and Ben in Boston.

5.  Todd is so thoughtful.  If he is home, he is the one to get up when the boys wake up so Ashley can sleep in a little.  He doesn't seem to mind that he only got a few hours of sleep.  He loves being with them.

Not quite awake, but loved.

This was early morning in Outer Banks.  Where was Ashley?  Todd let her sleep.

6.  He is so patient and kind.  I have never seen him frustrated or angry, no matter how anyone else is behaving.

Helping them with computer learning games.

7.  Todd is blessed with intelligence and the wisdom to use it properly.  I guess that is easy to see since he earned his PhD in Bio Engineering from MIT and has a great job with McKinsey consulting.

8.  Todd is a very hard worker, whether it is going to school, applying himself to his career, or doing the dishes at my house.  It shows in his achievements. 

9.  Todd loves to engage me in interesting conversations about political and controversial topics (much to Ashley's consternation.)  I am an easy target.  Yet when we disagree, we both learn something and it never feels adversarial. Todd never lords his knowledge over me or puts me down.  He is humble enough to also see the other side and admit it.

10.  Todd is a great competitor, whether it is a board game, a surfing competition, or some othe sport, Todd puts a lot into it, is fun to play against, and often is the winner.  However, win or lose he is always on the same happy, even plane.  He is a good winner and a better loser.  Fun to play with him.

WE LOVE YOU, TODD!  HOPE IT IS A WONDERFUL YEAR FOR YOU.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

RETHINKING SUNDAY

Today was my first time going down to the base for the Sacrament Meeting held at SOI (School of Infantry).  Alan has spoken there several times either as a High Council assignment or when he was invited.  It is held at 2:30 pm in a multi-use little chapel there.  The marines that attend there are all the ones going through SOI who can't leave the base for church. The Marine Corps School of Infantry trains entry-level Marines in basic warrior skills. SOI's training mission ensures "Every Marine is, first and foremost, a Rifleman"  SOI also trains Marine leaders from the rank of Corporal to Lieutenant in advanced infantry and light armored vehicle skills. ( I took that off the marine website).  When they first go through boot camp they are told on Sundays "You can either go to church or sit in the barracks."  Most of them choose to go to church.  SOI is the next level above boot camp, but they have their choice whether to attend or not.  So there were only six marines instead of a possible 40-60.  We go there to see if we can identify any LDS marines who will soon be assigned to our area of Camp Pendleton. Of the six marines, one did not know yet where he was going, one was going to Missouri, one to Monterey, one to Okinawa, and two were Reserves from Portland, Oregon about to be deployed to Afganistan next week.

Because church was so late I attended Sunday School and Relief Society in our family ward.  I haven't done that since we were called to the YSA ward in September.  I have been to lots of Sacrament Meetings, but not SS and RS.  It was nice to be back with the sisters I have grown to love.

Sunday is far from a day of rest for me.  I wake up early trying to figure out how I can attend the different meetings I may need to attend and still find the time to fix the nice Sunday dinner I have planned.  Do I start the rolls and do the dessert before I go to SS & RS?  Will I have time with traveling all the way to the base to get all the other parts of the meal done?  Did I buy enough if some of the marines show up for dinner?  Will we need a leaf in the table?  Have I planned menu items that certain family members don't like or will not eat?  If Alan or Adam doesn't fix breakfast for me I seldom find time to eat other than a taste of this or that that I am preparing.  I always worry that I haven't prepared enough and then I have too much most of the time.

Half the time, someone I am planning on attending dinner with us doesn't come after all.  Lucky for us Mao and Cathy came for dinner.  They have been on a little getaway, staying at a nice hotel in Rancho Palos Verdes.  Her sister came all the way from Boston to stay with the kids so they could have a couple of days alone before #3 arrives. It was her Christmas present to them.  Wasn't that nice?  We got to have a few hours with them.  They very much appreciated the dinner and made it all worthwhile.

But I think I probably am breaking the Sabbath to spend so much time and worry some days.  We may just cut down to one family Sunday dinner and one Marine Sunday a month.  I guess as a mother you want to gather your family around you as much as possible and Sunday dinner is my excuse to do that.  All my life my mother did such nice Sunday dinners.  We always had company and I loved it.  I don't remember it being so much work for my mother, but a child never knows how much their mothers really do.

Sunday Dinner with Mao, Cathy, Adam, Bailey, and Jennifer. Alan was camera shy, I guess.

You would never guess Cathy is six months pregnant.  In fact you probably wouldn't guess she was pregnant at all.  She is very lucky.  She is afraid, though, that people will just think she is putting on weight.  She doesn't even look like that either. Fun to have them, even briefly.  Hope to see them agian soon. 

WHAT TO DO WITH SATURDAY?

Boy, blogging every day means I really have to stretch to have something of value to say.  My "catch-up" posts take a long time to put together.  Alan says just to do a sentence or two like Ashley sometimes does.  I am not only not as clever as Ashley, I don't have funny little subjects to highlight.  So today's is a stretch.  What do you think?

Lake Forest was a beautiful place to raise my children.  The trees unified the area.  The kids had the greenbelt and the creek close by to play in.  We were surrounded by wonderful people.  But sometimes I wish we had moved to this house in San Clemente to raise my family.  There are so many activities close at hand.  I could just imagine all the exploring and creative things children could do being so close to all that nature. Luckily, we have Bailey to enjoy the area as well as some of the kids on this street.

For the last few days, if you want to find Bailey, Morgan and Homar who also lives down the street, just look up--way, way up.  See them at the top of the hill.

What are they doing up there?

What kids do, making a better place to play. 

The way down is the cement water channel.

It is not that easy to remain upright and walk down.

But eventually you are there...

Tiring of playing in the wild, the kids were off to a carnival not too far away where the city of San Clemente was putting on a carnival to celebrate the new sports park they are building on the sight.

Meanwhile, it was about time for me to bring a little beautiful nature to my almost barren gardens.  As usual I buy more than I have daylight left to plant.

At least the most visible front garden got done.

The rest must wait for another day.  In Lake Forest I always waited for Alan to turn into my dad and spend all his spare time making our yard and gardens beautiful.  Alan kept the front yard neat and the bushes trimmed.  Sometimes he planted flowers.  But it just wasn't his passion.  Besides, in Lake Forest the awful eucalytus trees poisoned the soil and kept things from flourishing.  When we moved to SC, I decided I would be more like my dad myself and like my sister Rosemary and spend some time in the gardens.  I don't have as much time as I used to and our gardens often are sparsely planted.  But when the season changes, it is fun to see how beautiful the yard becomes with a little color.

REVA AND HER DOLLS

Reva with our new doll, Olivia, saying good-by.

When we first moved to San Clemente, Alan was immediately assigned to be High Priest Group leader.  One of the best things he did during the short time he served there, before being called to the High Council, was to assign himself to home teach George and Reva Yetton. (She is the only one he retained when we were moved to the Singles Ward.) I almost always  went with him and we soon came to love these people. George worked in the temple and played golf at least once a week. He still earned a little money by working as a janitor at a high school, though he was in his 70's.  He was not in good health and had chronic pain in his legs, but stayed very active and did not complain.  He spent a lot of time helping others. 

Reva spent much of her time making beautiful dolls and their clothes and teaching classes to others on how to do it.  She also was in poor health.  Eventually, she was diagnosed with a non-cancerous tumor in her upper abdomen.  The City of Hope in Pasadena was the only place that would dare do surgery to remove it.  She had a very difficult time recuperating from the surgery, including having a heart attack.  George could not drive, but wanted to see Reva daily at a hospital that was at least an hour away.  He had many friends in and out the church and managed to get someone to take him daily.  We made the drive with him several times ourselves.  She ended being there about 2  months.  Her recovery at home was slow and George waited on her with great affection.  But after she had been home a few months he had a terrible stroke and died.  Reva has been alone now for 4 years with varying degrees of bad health.  She continues to make her dolls when she feels well enough and they have truly filled her small home.  Right now she is not doing too well and for some reason the doctors can't figure out, her vision is poor and she can't do the fine work on the dolls. Alan suggested to her that if she had a doll she wanted to sell he felt he would find a buyer for them among family and friends. The first one that we placed was with Marge.  She had a friend that collected this type of doll and was eager to buy one for herself and later a second.  She also had a couple of friends that bought one each. 

Isn't this doll Marge bought beautiful?

We sold a few at first, but Reva has not been well enough to complete any new ones and has such a hard time giving up her beautiful dolls.  They are like her children. Each one is made with love and care.  She is one  of the most amazing craftsman.  She pours the head and limbs, fires them, sews and stuffs the bodies, paints the faces with intricate care, and sews the tiny clothing with enormous skill.  Each doll is a work of art.

Here are some of the children that literally fill Reva's house.  They all have names and stories.

Today I drove Reva to the doctor because she is not well enough to drive herself.  The tumor has returned a while ago and she lives in fear her only option will be more surgery.  This week she had had to repair her car, an expense that is not in her small budget.  When we arrived home, I purchased one of the dolls she had decided to sell.  She hugged and kissed the doll named  Olivia good-by and told her to be a good girl.  We already purchased a gorgeous baby doll years ago that Alan had asked her to make  Now we have added Olivia also. (I think she also reminds him of Halle as a toddler.) 

Alan fell in love with one like this just after Halle was born.  He asked Reva to make him one because it reminded him of Halle.  It took her a couple of years to get to it.  She is a treasure now.

This is another doll she has decided she will sell.  (They sell for $125.00 for this size.  The time, skill and materials in these dolls are worth much more, I am sure.)

She will also part with these little "stuffies" she calls them for $30 each.

Three other dolls Reva will sell. They are each unique.

We love Reva and try to help her and make her difficult life easier.  Luckily, we are not the only ones who love her. She has many friends in her trailer park and many others she has worked with in this  dollmaking world.  Her children do not live close and she refuses to live with them, even if they would ask her.  The church is set up to fill in the gaps of people just like Reva.  She has been giving herself for lots of years and now people want to help her in return.

WE LOVE THE MARINES!

Warning, warning this blog is more journal than warm, fuzzy family things.  You are in danger of being bored.  I want to remember these young people and their impact on our lives.

We have been called to serve in the San Clemente 5th Ward with a special assignment to work with the single marines stationed at Camp Pendleton and living in the barracks at the northern end of the base.  Alan had been asked to teach the Base Family Home Evening lessons there for almost a year, so he already had some familiarity with it and with some of the young men.  But this is a newly made up calling and we are learning to navigate in new territory.  For a few years there has already been a committee of Young Adults called to be in charge of these Base FHE meetings and to coordinate all the other activities that have to do with the Young Single Marines.  Others from the ward join in for Base FHE, bonfire activities at the beach on base, free service car washes, welcome home dinners, farewell dinners, goody bags for deployed marines and other activities.  This mostly started when a wonderful senior missionary couple was assigned to this part of the base and they were so involved and pro-active a good group got started.  The YS marines meet on Sundays at the SC 5th ward with us in Aliso Viejo.  However, that is about 25 miles from where they live and is not always possible for them to come.  Regular YSA family home evenings held at the bishops home are also hard for them to attend, so Base FHE was started so they could have a weekday spiritual opportunity and  a chance to socialize with other member young adults.  We have varying levels of success and disappointment with this calling. Some weeks almost no marines come or come to church.  Some weeks very few of our committee or others from the ward come to support us and the marines.  Some nights no one has done their assignments and there are no refreshments, songs, games or enthusiasm. Then we have a wonderful evening like last night and are renewed again.  Last night we had four great marines show up--one new, one newly returned from deployment--many YS adults came both from our committee and from the ward in general.  We had extra refreshments and lots of fellowship.  We have had some opportunites to counsel and encourage lately.  Alan has been asked to give a couple of young men blessings to strengthen them in their resolve to live the gospel under the challenging situations they live in.  We love to have them over to dinner and get to know them a little.  Here are a few pictures from last night:

This is Spencer Brown.  He is truly a blessing to us.  He is from Payson, UT and is just turning 19.  He has only been here a couple of months, but attends every single thing having to do with the church that he can get to.  He has even spoken already in Sacrament Meeting and did a wonderful job.  We couldn't figure out why he didn't go on a mission.  He had some time away from the church and signed up to join the Marines.  But before he left he came back into activity strongly and was ordained an Elder before he left home.  He has been a missionary at this base.  He identifies those who are LDS (something we are unable to do unless they or their families contact us) and keeps on them to attend meetings.  He always brings another marine with him to everything.  Another young man told us that "Brown is annoying."  However, that young man has not only started coming regularly because of Spencer but when he went home for Easter he got a new suit so he would not stand out in his jeans, tennis shoes and sweatshirt. 

This is Julie Monroe who is one of the very faithful on our committee.  Her family lived in our ward when she was born and her older sister was one of Lindsey's best friends.  Her dad was Alan's counselor in the Elders Quorum presidency and is the subject of some of Alan's favorite funny stories.  We love quirky Julie and depend on her to liven things up and always be there.

This is Meghan, Natasha and Andrew.  Andrew Best is a marine that just started coming to church this week.  He is from Hurricane, UT and says he always goes to church when he is home and is an elder, but hasn't been so active while he has been in the marines.  He is getting out of the marines in a few months and has decided he needs to be involved again.  He has been deployed at least 4 times, the last two to Iraq.  He wants to go to Afganistan because he loves to be deployed, but that would mean signing up for 4 more years.  He is considering joining the Reserves.

Megan and Natasha are on our committee and very faithful.  Some of the marines are a little more involved because these two girls participate.  Unfortunately, the girls high standards eventually make some of  the young men stay away, because they are uncomfortable with where they tried to take the relationship and got turned down. 

This is Brian Bullock, Emily Leavitt and Mike.  Brian is the priesthood committee chairman and is there most weeks.  He is relatively new and still learning the marines and stuff.  Emily used to be the sister chairman and knows a great deal about the marines.  She was very diligent in her calling and we miss her.  She comes now when she can but her new calling occupies her quite a bit.  She brought Mike from the ward with her because I suggested that we needed more priesthood representation on Wednesday.  I don't know Mike well.  He is waiting to find out next month if he has passed the bar.

These are two of the three sister missionaries in our ward.  They come out about twice a month if they can get someone to drive them.  Sister F.  (hard name, can't remember it) is going home to New Zealand in a week.  She has been a totally awesome missionary.  Since these two were assigned to our ward we have had a baptism almost every week.  The other missionary Sister T (also a difficult polynesian name) is from Sandy, Utah. The marine in camies is Dennis Brown,  The other marine is Brian.  He has been back from deployment less than 24 hours and left just before I was called. 

This is Averie Morgan and Dillon McKuhn.  This is Dillon's first time at Base FHE and I don't know anything about him.  Averie has been coming to Base FHE since she moved in the ward in the fall.  She is very faithful in attending.  Her job on the committee is assigning and directing the Base FHE activities, assignments, etc.  She was sick a while ago and called me early one morning to take her to the hospital.  We got to be even better friends going through that together.  She is the only person that calls me by my first name and I appreciate that.

Here are the trio of sister missionaries.  Sometimes they come to church and things dressed just alike.  Pretty crazy.  I guess they will be down to a normal duo when Sister F leaves.  We will miss her enthusiasm and personality.  The other two had been companions in the MTC, so it is a rematch.

Dennis Brown is from Draper or Sandy or someplace like that.  He is a returned missionary who served in South Africa.  He has some interesting stories to share about his experiences there.  Dennis is a good guy and we like having him at Base FHE.  I don't remember seeing him at church,though.  He has a hard time getting there so attends church on the base called SOI for marines who are temporarily assigned to Pendleton and can't leave for church.

Another picture of Brian.  He likes to hunt, so he and Alan have some things in common.  He works for Union Bank of CA, but is going to go back to school for an MBA or something in the fall.

All so macho. Brian (in front) told me all about his deployment.  He was on a miew (which is out on a ship going to many different places).  He said they did most of their training in Kuwait.  But that was only one of the many places they went.  I could not believe he would be at Base FHE when he was so newly home.

This is Karisa Brinckerhoff.  She is a convert of about 6 weeks.  She is the Sisters transportation to Base FHE.  She is also thrilled with the church and involved in many phases of it. She is not shy and loves to participate in any class she attends.  We love her new testimony.

We know it is a successful night when they all want to visit and visit and socialize and don't need a game to break the ice.  It was a good evening.  We feel we are making headway and helping some that are in need right now.  I really love these young men and of course those that help us as well.