Feeling grateful

Yesterday I taught my young women a lesson on, The Importance of Temple Marriage.  I held up a picture of Paul and I on our wedding day in front of the Salt Lake temple and shared with them the Reader's Digest version of how we met, our courtship and wedding day.  I wept tears of joy and gratitude remembering the covenants I have made and knowing Paul and I are sealed for time and all eternity. 
I love my Paul with all of my heart.  He has brought such joy to my life and makes me happy each day.  We have had glorious adventures and devastating heartache.  We have driven thousands of miles together (literally) laughing, talking, planning, listening to music and audio books, singing (well me), and sometimes riding in silence.  Silence, because we are just that comfortable with one another. We have seen sunrises and sunsets, oceans and rivers, mountains and plains. I'm so glad we are on this journey together. 


After my intro to the lesson we watched a sort video with Elder Holland and Elder Packer talking about celestial marriage.  My favorite part of this video is when Elder Holland talks about heaven not being heaven without having his wife and children there with him. 


We read and discussed what True to the Faith says about marriage and relationships, dating and the temple. 


I played a song I found called Marriage for Eternity.  The lyrics talk about how our choice to be married in the temple affect not only us but our posterity. 


I brought the girls two handouts.  The first one was a quote by Bruce R. McConkie that talks about marriage and who we choose to marry is the single most important decision in our lives.  The second is a poem about choosing to be clean and pure and dating righteous young men.   I gave each of them a white satin hanger for their temple dress someday.


I bore my testimony of temple marriage and even confessed that I had been married before.  I told them he was not a member and it was not in the temple.  I told them that it was a bad choice and that I was miserable.  I told them that being married in the temple is the only way.  I knew it because I had lived it. 
I am so blessed. 

MY dad!

This great man is my father.  April 22, Richard Arthur Clifford turned 74. 

He is the most smartest man I know. 

He is passionate about botany, genealogy, and the gospel among other things.

I love this man. 

43 year anniversary!

This past weekend Paul and I ventured to Redvale, CO where his mom and dad live.  What beauty! We loved seeing the calfs, lambs, and baby goats.  We also got to celebrate Bruce and Linda's 43rd wedding anniversary with them! I asked them if they had any advice for a long happy marriage. Their answer was love each other and do things as a family.  They are such amazing people and wonderful examples for Paul and I.

 Linda and Bruce Kerr

43rd wedding anniversary!

2 happy couples!



 rebuilding the shed

Dad and Paul - 2 peas in a pod

Paul is always happiest when he is working with his daddy.





grateful.
i am grateful for the knowledge that God is there and that he loves me.
i am grateful for parents love me, that raised me to have faith, encouraged me to know for myself that I have a loving Heavenly Father, that taught me that living and obeying the commandments of God will only bring happiness and joy.
i am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.
i am grateful for the temple and eternal covenants.
i am grateful for life's experiences that have molded me, even broken me down and times and the experience of being reborn through repentance made possible by the atonement of my Savior.
i am grateful for love.
i am grateful for forgiveness.
i am grateful for Paul, for his love, his thoughtfulness, his kindness, and that he "gets me".
i am grateful for my siblings, their spouses and their children.
i am grateful for my sweet doggy, Luna, for her kisses and love.  she is the best.
i am grateful for the kindness and love of friends.
i am grateful, so grateful.

Super fun weekend - Vegas baby!

Last week was Paul's 38th birthday! (May 8th) We celebrated by going to dinner at Mo' Betta, a Hawaiian bbq joint in Bountiful.  We love their teriyaki chicken and steak that comes with rice and a salad.  I gave Paul a couple of polo style shirts and a silver pocket watch.  After dinner we ran a few errands and then headed home.  Once home I asked Paul to wait in our bedroom while I got his surprise ready.  I set up my massage table, lit some candles and then let him know he could come in.  I gave him a great massage.  We both enjoyed it thoroughly.

May10th
We started our weekend early by attending the wedding of my nephew Jeffrey and his cute bride Mary Ann.    They were married in the Salt Lake temple.  What a beautiful day!  I love being in the temple with Paul, and being reminded that we get to be together for all eternity.  What a blessing! Jeff was so handsome and sweet to Mary Ann.  I love the look of love...you know, the way a man looks at a woman when he truly loves her.  I loved being there to witness their sealing.  I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's plan and for the love he has for us that he let's us be together forever and husband and wife.  That there is no, "until death do us part" in the temple.  After some picture on the temple grounds, we headed to a luncheon at my parents ward house.  Yummy chicken salad sandwiches, salads, chips and a fabulous dessert. My brother Gordon and his wife Kristine are such great parents.  They have and are doing such a great job raising their family.  You can tell by the gratitude and love their children have for them.

May 11th-13th
This past weekend Paul and I took a little get away, motorcycle trip to Fabulous Las Vegas.  Paul's birthday was on the 8th and we wanted to celebrate by doing one of our favorite things - tour on the bike.  We are still deciding on what kind of tour bike to get so Paul rented a Harley for the weekend.  A silver and dark blue with little flecks that made it sparkle motorcycle was our transportation.  We stopped in Sandy at the Harley shop to get the rear shocks filled and Paul told me to go pick out a jacket.  So I am the proud owner of my very own riding jacket.  It is black and has a cool design and a really great red liner that is removable too.  I love it! We took our time riding and the weather was nice.  As we entered Hurricane, Washington and St. George holy cow...talk about a heat wave.  We stopped took the liners out of our jackets, drank some water and had ice cream. We took some deep breaths and got back on the bike.  Our ride into Vegas was beautiful, but I won't lie, it was hot!

By the time we got to the Excalibur, the bike was so hot.  We checked in and took cool showers.  Becky and the kids were as excited to see us as I was to see them so we headed over to Beck's house shortly thereafter.  She made us a yummy pasta and salad dinner.  I love Rebecca!  The kids were so cute and hugged both Paul and I as we came through the door. We had fun talking, eating, watching, The Princess Bride and making plans for the next day.  Becky cut Paul's hair too.  We were a bit tired so we didn't stay long.  We rode back to our hotel and went right to sleep.

 The next morning Paul and I went to breakfast and then went over to the Luxor to go to the Titanic exhibit.  It was really amazing.  There were all kinds of artifacts that had been pulled from the ocean depths.  Dishes, silverware, playing cards, leather bags, jewelry, metal vent grates, floor tiles, a tiny pair of glasses, tweezers, and a huge piece of the ship. The exhibit was set up in a way that I felt such a quiet reverence.  They showed 1st, 2nd and 3rd class cabins and replicated the grand stairwell.  They even had a chilly balcony with a starry night sky.  There was a huge piece of ice to feel the temp. of the water that At the beginning they gave us all a ticket with an actual Titanic passenger's name on it, what class their ticket was for and a short bio.  At the end of the exhibit there is huge wall that lists each class and who survived and who died.  Both mine and Paul's tickets had people who died.  It was kind of a sad and a huge realization of how many really did not survive that fatal night.  I am so glad we went.

After our dramatic exhibit visit, we met Rebecca and the kids up at our room to get ready to go to the pool. We changed and walked down.  The pool area was huge.  There were 4 different pools, one with a water slide, one that was like a foot deep for little little kids and one that was basically a huge jacuzzi and one adult only pool (where they let the partyers can take their drinks in the pool).  They had a DJ playing music.  It was pretty packed when we got there and it took a few minutes to find a home base with some chairs but, knowing Becky she did it.  The kids loved swimming and loved the water slide.  Carter is hilarious and loved jumping into the water to Paul. Marin is so cute and had fun helping watch the kids and taking Carter on the water slide.  Janet is sweet and swam for a while then would go cuddle with her mama.  We spent about 3 hours at the pool and had a ball.  Paul even took a short nap on a lounge chair.

That evening we went to the Tournament of Kings with Rebecca and the kiddos.  We sat in the Russia section.  We were served a small chicken, a few potatoes, some broccoli, and a biscuit. They did not give us  silverware, we got to eat with our hands.  Paul and I got pina coladas in the cool, take home, silver goblets.  Merlin welcomed us as Ladies and Lords.  The show was great!  Horses, sword play, kings, knights, jousting, death, fire, dragons. It was so fun to especially watch Janet and Carter's faces. We ended the evening by going to the Belagio and to the Paris for a yummy dessert.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Becky's and then hit the road.  Just before we left Vegas we stopped by a Harley shop.  Paul bought the device for the rear shocks and a denim Harley vest.  We looked pretty hard core in our gear.

When we got to Cedar City, we headed West. It was fun to be on a country road and see something other than highway.  We stopped in small towns, saw a few antelope, and enjoyed the scenery.  We rode through Delta, where Paul went high school.  He even drove past the high school :0 We headed to Lemington to where Paul's Aunt Marsha lives.  Uncle Dan had already gone work so we didn't get to see him.  Marsha made us dinner of ham, potato salad and rolls.  She loves to talk and is so energetic.  I really like her.  I also met Paul's cousin Dawn (Marsha's daughter).  After our visit we headed home via Tooele.  The last two and a half hours were dark and cold.  Finally at 12:15am we arrived home.

Hooray!!! What a wonderful trip!!  We loved the time we spent together and with Beck and the kids!! Yay!!

Yesterday, there was some amazing, beautiful 80 something degree weather when I got finished with work. So I sped home, changed, got the Luna and headed to Tanner Park for an off leash walk/hike. We had so much fun and the sun felt SOOOOOO GOOOOD!   There were so many dogs and so many different breeds. Weimeraners, golden retrievers, labs, pugs, poodles, Australian shepherds, beagles, ect.  All so excited to be outside in the sunshine, in the water, playing fetch with sticks and balls and to be off their leashes :) I love observing people and the type of dog they choose to have.   People were so funny when they saw Luny.  They loved how small she was and that she was just plugging along.

After our hike, we drove up to the Sons of the Utah Pioneers building where Mountain Jubilee Chorus was doing their competition preview performance.  They will compete in Colorado this weekend.  Mom has sung with the chorus on and off for 40 years.  She says that singing with the chorus is and was cheaper than therapy.  Mom's chorus sings music in 4 part harmony.  Mom sings the bass part. The parts can sound funky by themselves, but when sung together, the harmonies are amazing.  I still get chills when I hear mom's chorus sing.   I even got a little teary.  I think because of the nostalgic factor.  I remember at a little girl hearing mom practice with her practice tape.  And Tuesday nights have always been chorus rehearsal night for mom.  When the chorus sings, I swear I can hear my mother's voice.  I love to hear my momma sing.  In fact for Mother's Day this year, I am taking my mom to a recording studio to record all of the songs that she used to sing to us when we were younger.  My earliest childhood memory is of my mother singing me to sleep.  I am so excited.  I don't know if this is more for her or me :)

Her Hands

This past Saturday morning, I got to do one of my most favorite things. . .give a massage. Yes it is work, but fun work. I especially love working on people I love or care about. Why you may ask. Here's a story to tell you. . .

So my lucky client this time was my sister-in-law Kristine. Kristine is married to my oldest brother Gordon and therefor has known me most of my life. She is the mother of 4 boys and 2 girls. I sometimes like to call her super mom. Kristine is a great cook, plays the piano, has had many callings in her wards and stakes, does scouting with her boys, likes to garden, participates in the PTA at her children's schools, is always helping out a friend or a neighbor and much much more (this is all I can think of at the moment). Anyway, last week her mother mobile broke down and it took a few days to get fixed. By week's end she had, had one tough week and asked if I could give her a massage. We agreed on a time and it was on. I had no idea what I had in store for me.

I started the massage as usual, working on her back and neck and then to her arms and hands. As I started massaging her hands, Rosie her youngest (a fabulous, curious 5 year old) asked, "why are you massaging mommy?" I told her that her mommy works hard and needed an hour for just her, to rest and relax. My eyes welled up with tears as I continued working. Why? Because my mind started to wander as I thought about all of the things these precious hands have done and do.

The tears they've dried.

The noses they've wiped.

The meals they have cooked.

The hands they've held:

my brother's hand across the alter in the temple, babies hands as they learned to walk,

walking children to school, comforting a friend in need.

Her hands reached out in fellowship, love and service to family, friends and the community.

(she is always willing)

The piano and organ keys they have touched to make beautiful music.

Her waving hand, inviting others to sing and directing voices in choirs.
Getting her hands dirty

to plant in the garden, pull weeds, chop down trees

and to play in the sand.

Kind of crazy - these were my thoughts as I massaged her precious hands. It was the least, the very least I could do to relieve, aliviate and hopefully revive her hands, after all they do. I felt blessed to do so.

Kristine is not merely my sister-in-law, she is my trusted friend and I love her.