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A warm and wonderful Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving - such a delightful time of the year! Jon, the kids and I are looking forward to beginning our preparations baking everything from scratch - only thing missing is my mother and Cam. However, Cam plans to spend time with grandma out West and then we are looking forward to having him with us for an entire week of fun and frolics over Christmas!

The week of Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to cozy in, hunker down, play board games, eat great food and spend time with family and friends! I wish y'all could be with us! :) I am so very blessed to be married to a man who loves creating special memories as much I do and who enjoys the many traditions our family has embraced over the years. We are so blessed to have four happy, healthy, self-motivated kids who are excelling at school and work and who each have strong testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So very blessed to have so many incredible friends and family members throughout the country who are very dear to us. We are very blessed to each be gainfully employed considering the crisis of this economy and equally blessed to live in the United States of America a land of freedom, liberty and opportunity! God bless our troops and God bless America!

May each of you enjoy a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday as you reflect on your many blessings; blessings, no doubt, as rich in depth and texture as our own. xoxo Beck

More Little Shop of Horrors photos :)

A hilariously entertaining performance!

Bringing Our Family History To Life!

The Gospel Doctrine lesson I am preparing for our ward this week focuses on temple and family history work. One of the suggestions it makes is to learn about our ancestors lives. In preparing the lesson it caused me to reflect on a Young Women’s project, “Generations of Women”, Ashley and I devised in order to bring her ancestors to life for her when she was a senior in high school; something I plan to briefly focus on this week as an example. What a blessing it was in both of our lives to work on this delightful mother-daughter project together which she will be able to share with her own children one day. And perhaps when she serves in the Young Women's program she will be able to inspire the youth to want to seek out their own history.

What does a pre-Civil War southern plantation and a Negro (African American) nanny … a one room school house and a love for playing Chinese checkers … an 80 year old ceramic mixing bowl and a 1940’s pill box hat and gloves … a depression glass tea cup and a World War II Hollywood glamour shot … a 1975 wedding veil/hat and a POW bracelet ... and a pink, size one cowboy boot and a beanie baby all have in common? Experiences and artifacts which knit heart to heart throughout the generations of time from Ashley’s 3rd generation great-great-great Latter-day Saint grandmother all the way down the line to Ashley herself!

What fun we had as mother and daughter over a period of several months; dreaming up, discussing, laughing and planning an incredible project which helped Ashley achieve her ‘Good Works’ and ‘Choice and Accountability’ values; through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Personal Progress program for teenage girls.

Ash titled her project “Generations of Women” a presentation and artifact display which was combined with hosting a Victorian Tea for the leaders and young women in our ward as well as special guests.

Displays included everything from 1800’s photographs to a late 1950’s Dick & Jane first grade reading book; A rhinestone purse used when visiting Las Vegas back when there were only three hotels on the strip to a 2002 spelling bee award; A braid of her great grandmother’s hair which her great grandpa used to dip in the ink well on his desk to tease her while sitting behind her in the one room school house where her father taught; China tea cups, a flour sack from a Utah roller mill, 1960’s cookie jar, crystal beaded bracelet, key chains from throughout the country to a baby rattle and ballet slippers. The artifact displays were a delightful addition to Ashley’s presentation.

What a blessing this was to us as we discovered charming, heart felt stories about each of our grandmothers. It brought to life for Ash the feelings, passions, humor, sacrifice, experiences of all of the remarkable women in her maternal line!

Most paramount is that Francis Jamima, Maggie Anna, Maggie Elizabeth, Maybelle, Rebecca Lynn and Ashley Bretlyn make up six generations of extraordinary Latter-day Saint women. Six generations, thus far, who have positively been affected as a result of Ashley’s 3^rd great grandparents conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ; and how their testimonies and commitment to the gospel have affected each generation thereafter. Each have enjoyed strong, happy temple marriages and continued activity and commitment to the gospel no matter where they have lived whether it be Tennessee, Utah or Pennsylvania; a testament to personal faith, courage and a desire to make each of our homes a little piece of heaven here on earth.

Penn State Presents ...

Ashley Bretlyn has been spending her evenings in "The Little Shop of Horrors"! Playing the part of Crystal she has blacked up the white girl belting the socks off of the cast while Mica has played drums in the pit for the performances. It has been a riot seeing Ash sing and dance with her friends creating a memorable musical theater experience at Penn State. Contact me for tickets for her November 13, 14, or 15th performances :)

Destiny with the desert pics

Slumming it at a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant we found in Phoenix; no switch blades allowed hahaha ... Lehi Roller Mills a family favorite since the 1800's! ... Sweet Grandma, Cameron & Emily ... Rich & Tami in whom we love to pieces ... And I have a thing for palm trees & cactus :)

Destiny with the desert

What fun Jon and I had in Phoenix for a week of business/pleasure! We were able to accomplish a lot looking at areas we are interested in relocating to in the future and diverse homes/floor plans that we like. It was a treat once again being surrounded by palm trees and cactus, sunshine and blue sky! We went slumming one evening in an attempt to find a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. We made it out alive, with our limbs intact, after dining in a seedy area but where the food, though simply served, was both authentic and delicious haha.

Our resort was lovely and it was delightful being wined and dined each evening by Jon's vendor's. In spite of dealing with several job related crisis we were able to enjoy ourselves immensely. I especially got a kick out of all of the men who continually wanted an opportunity to meet with him; it was as if he were a Mafia boss calling the shots :) As his company is the largest purchaser of the commodities he buys most everyone wanted a chance to begin a dialog with him in hope of being awarded a contract at some point in time.

The following week I spent in Utah as I wanted to spend some quality time with mom, and Cam. Cam's work and class schedule is erratic but we were able to enjoy one anothers company and fit a lot in during the time we had together. We enjoyed many long, heartfelt conversations, a girls night, movies, and clubbing (just kidding). It was such a treat being with the kids, making wedding plans, talking about Cam's upcoming interviews in Vegas for two possible positions upon graduation this spring and just being silly together!

Also, visiting mom was enjoyable; she continues to be very happy and content and remains cheerful with a fun sense of humor. I was able to take her on outings such as out to breakfast with family, on a beautiful ride up AF canyon, to see the temple as well as to many near and dear places she remembered from her childhood. While there she enjoyed a delightful Halloween party, a family who performed musical and vocal numbers one evening and sacrament meeting on site. Mother has a sweet friend and together they continually pat one anothers hands, and sit by each other during meals and while watching TV; it is heartwarming!

I didn't get to visit as many family and friends as I would have liked but time permitting I was able to accomplish most of what I set out to do while there considering that mom and the kids were my priority. As always the rugged mountains, dome of blue sky and beautiful LDS temples always take my breath away. (Photos will be posted soon)