Wednesday September 3, 2014 Dear Family, Greetings to each and every member of this wonderful family. Grant and I have celebrated the event of our 65th wedding anniversary with joy and happiness. We are so very thankful for each other and the fact that we are still here on this earth together. Each day is to be cherished and is cherished. We thank you for any part you played in making this such a memorable occasion for us. We especially thank you for the lovely memory quilt. This will be cherished forever. Today we will go to the Temple in Provo and feel the peaceful sweet feeling of our Savior and His love for us and remember the great day we had of being all together there in that wonderful place. Ooh! how blessed we are. Thank you all for making this great time for us such a joy. The feeling of joy and happiness we experienced in the Temple last Saturday, being there in that wonderful spot on earth with so many of our family members was wonderful. As we sat in the chapel waiting for others to come the feeling of waiting on the other side for each of you to come became a very prominent thought. The exhilarating feeling as you came into the chapel and the happiness of receiving a hug, a smile or a greeting of some kind was beyond description. What a wonderful day we experienced. Our only wish and lament of course is that everyone could have been there with us. Our earthly responsibilities and livelihoods and circumstances prohibit us from doing things we would dearly love to do I know that from my own experience. But know that you are all loved, cherished and thought of continually and we missed you being with us. We pray each day that you will be blessed in all your doings. To those of you who are young and growing under the great influence of the Gospel in your homes, be thankful that you have the great parents and family to teach you the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints for this is the only way, and I mean the only way, that we will be able to be together as a family and with our Heavenly Father in peace and love and happiness. The love we feel for each new spouse and family created is joyful and happy. Each new baby brought in to these families is a wonderful blessing that you all will benefit by. We certainly are thrilled with these new little ones. They are very special spirits. We feel privileged to have them come to our family. The Gospel is true and we love the Lord our Savior Jesus Christ for His Atoning sacrifice for each of us. May this day and always be dominated by the spirit of our Heavenly Father and His love for us. We love you all Maxine and Grant

Update from Kansas

We have lived in Kansas for over three months now, so I thought it was time for an update. We do not get to see everyone there in Utah/Idaho/surrounding areas as often as we would like, but it is nice to maintain some connection through this blog. I'm grateful to be able to read your comments here. I am grateful for my extended family and the great people that you are.

I had a beautiful dream , not too long ago, and it is rare for me to remember my dreams. It would take me a long time to explain the dream, but the important part was that it was a small preview for me of what the Celestial Kingdom will be like. I was at a gathering of people and the most wonderful feeling was present. We all enjoyed each other's company very much. There was beautiful weather in a lovely setting with some wonderful music playing in the background. We weren't too busy for each other and no one gave or took offense. Everyone could share talents freely without any feelings of jealousy or embarassment. We all just knew how much we loved each other and how much we enjoyed being together. And somehow, all of my loved ones were there. I'm sure all of you were there. It was a glorious dream. I am excited for Zion to increase in strength and am working to build it.

Life is Kansas is great for us. There is a little branch of the Church here in Burlington with about 50 active members. Marie has been called as the Relief Society president, and I am a counselor in the young mens presidency. There are some wonderful members in our branch and we love them dearly. My new job as a Systems Engineer at Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station is great. I work with good people and stay busy doing interesting things. The town of Burlington is nice and there are some great things about living in a small town. People are so nice. There are a lot of great people who aren't members of the Church yet. We bought a nice house here and are enjoying that. We also bought a new minivan. And we have a third girl coming at the end of March. We are so very blessed.

I'm grateful for all of you and keep you in my thoughts and prayers. We have plenty of room for visitors so if anyone feels like a trip to Kansas or happens to be traveling through, please stop by.

Love,
Kellen (and Marie, Eliza, Jarah, and soon-to-be-born baby girl)

Aloha from the Biesingers!

For those of you who don't know.  Geoff was accepted to the PhD program (for Japanese teaching) at the University of Hawaii so we moved here right after Christmas!  If you want to read the details and see some pictures from our adventure, we started a blog & I'll be adding new posts every Sunday.  Here is the link: http://simplehomeinparadise.blogspot.com/

I would love it if everyone else listed their blogs too so we can keep up on everyone!

Love & miss you all!  Come and visit us on Oahu!

Happy New Year

Dear Family, we are now well on our way into a new year and an opportunity at a fresh start.  I have been thinking a lot about things I need to do and want to change this coming year.  I have not been great with communicating with my siblings in the past and I am realizing more and more the importance of communication with each other on a regular basis (there is strength in numbers).  I have heard lots of stories from people that I work with and others friends about families that have completely quit talking with each other when their parents passed or because of being offended by something another family member said or did in the past and I don't want to see our family fall into this same "trap".

It would be great to hear from each of you about what is going on with each of your families.  I feel like I missed that this year over Christmas as we had illness in our home on Christmas Day and didn't get to see or talk to any of you.

I want to apologize to any and all of you who I have offended or wronged this past year and hope that you will forgive me.  I love each and every one of you and want you to know that I am truly sorry.

Last weekend Shane and I were able to attend the Temple with Tricia when she received her own endowments and it was wonderful to see the support she had with her on this special day.  While at the Temple I felt a strong prompting regarding some things that I need to do in my own life and I am so thankful for the opportunity to attend the Temple as often as I would like.  I am so happy for Tricia and her decision to do this and know that she will be blessed because of her decision.

Sorry for rambling, I love you all.

DeAnn

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was the best ever this year. Got to see many family members at the family gathering. Way to go Rhonda for planning such a great meal. As usual it was a good time for me to really count my blessings...I have so many.
As Maureen and Matt mentioned we are all thankful for Dr. Reichman. My neck surgery went well and I am getting better every day. I was able to go back to work on Nov 26 and will work part time until the end of the year. It takes about 3 months for the neck fusion to be solid so I need to take it easy for a few more weeks. It is tough for me to not be able to do everything myself but i have had such good help. Alison has checked on me every day. Janae stayed with me for a few days when I first got home from the hospital. Meredith came over and did some cleaning and took me shopping for groceries. My neighbors have been really helpful every time I need some help. Like I said I have many blessings.
I hope everyone in the family had a great holiday too. Love to all.
Ginny

Reason for Optimism in America

This is an article forwarded to me by Mom who asked me to post it on the blog.

It's easy to become overwhelmed as we listen to the news about America. Everywhere we tum, we hear stories of murder, crime, and corruptions. There are seemingly endless reports of rising taxes, political assaults, national debt, embezzlements, pollutions, immoralities, military actions, and attacks on family life. When I fmd myself feeling overwhelmed by the problems, I turn to a very simple and direct quote from Dr. Cleon Skousen that brings things back into perspective:

"I am not pessimistic about the future. I think the soul of America is going to be cleansed by events which will humble the whole nation and put us back on our knees where we can talk with God and recommit ourselves to lives of virtue and morality. I am a great believer in the promise of God which appears in 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says:

"my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. "
"Of course, I know the skeptics, the immoral, the political sophisticates and the cynics might laugh at this scripture, but I believe it.  And I further believe that God will not be mocked and that if this nation does not seek God and turn from their wicked ways - their crimes, drugs, abortions and political corruption - there will be a crisis and a cleansing that will turn the people from their wicked ways and put them on their knees. I have lived long enough to see this happen several times before.

"But we need not be pessimists, just realists. Every family needs to do whatever it can to put its house in order. A home can become a refuge against the coming storm. The love developed between parents and among children for their parents is God's supreme formula for his kind of social security. Wherever I find families struggling to build these bonds of trust and love I know they are paying the dividends for a kind of insurance that will hold them together through the pressures and trials that may reach their peak one of these days.

"Now I know you may have heard me say this before, but sometimes people say, 'Dr. Skousen, you have studied the problems of our country most of your adult life, and yet you remain optimistic. How can you be optimistic when you know from your own experience how serious things are?'

"My answer is rather simple. I tell them, 'I have read the book, and in the end we win!'"

                                                                                         (God's Hand in the building of America, Volume 1, 

                                                                          Forward, by Glenn J. Kimber PHD & Julianne S. Kimber MA)

God will bless America; whether or not we enjoy the process is pretty much up to us!

News about the Bar

Hello!

We have news from Texas.  Some of you may know that I took the Texas bar exam back in July.  Well, the results came out this week...

If you check this website out: http://www.ble.state.tx.us/Results/pass_0712.htm#g
and scroll down a little bit, you can see my name!  I can officially practice in Texas.  That is good news because the firm I work for has never had anyone that they hired not pass on the first try.  Such a relief.

Living in Texas provides some hassle in being away from family, mountains, clean/dry air, etc. but overall Tiffany and Emery and I really living here.  The church has a good presence in the northwest part of Houston; that is where the temple is located.  So our stake here is pretty strong.

The church is true.  I am so happy to know that our Savior talks with prophets today.

Love, Gavin

Thanksgiving.

Hello Family,  I hope everyone is as excited for Thanksgiving as I am...here is the info for the dinner:

I am planning on 70 people. 

• Ginny - Fresh Fruit Cup
• Evelyn - Relish Tray, Ice Cream
• Maureen - Yams and Fresh Fruit w/Ginny
• Jared - Mashed Potatoes
• Tad - Relish Tray 
• Brenda - Turkey, Dressing (I have a frozen Turkey in my freezer for you to cook)
• DeAnn - Rolls, butter, jelly
• Suzanne - Green Bean Cass or Corn
• Mom - Turkey, Gravy, Dressing, Carrot Pudding

• ALL FAMILIES ARE TO BRING AT LEAST ONE  PIE  OR TWO TO SHARE

We will eat at 1:00pm at our church again the address is:  860 East 200 North Springville

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Sure love you all and can't wait to visit with you!  For niece's and nephew's that don't have parents coming to our dinner, we would love to have you come anyway just bring a pie and your family.  Let me know....We will miss all the family members who can't be with us.  Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

(Aunt) Rhonda

Conference lessons learned

I loved watching conference last weekend and caught some of the re broadcast today. Some of the things we do at conference. We eat conference stew... everyone comes over to watch together on Sunday and i make stew which we eat at noon between the conference sessions. This year i got some candy treats (our tradition is red licorice and M&M's) and put them in bags labeled with each of the kids names and a few words the kids were to listen for. Whenever they hear a word on their list they get to eat a piece of candy. Somehow, all the candy is gone at the end of the session. LOL

Some things I personally learned... I'm sure i needed to hear.
1. Keeping families strong is absolutely critical in today's world. The devil is working hard to destroy families... especially strong ones like ours.
2. Everything we own comes from the Lord. Nothing goes into the next world with you.
3. Take care of problems you have with any individual family member.

To that end I am writing here. Please don't be offended by anything you "think" I am saying, here. If I have written something that offends you please pick up the phone so we can take care of it. I do love all of you and have decided that the air needs to be cleared... here goes.
In recent weeks there has been a lot of discussion about the ranch and the letter that was sent asking for funds. Some of that discussion has been precipitated by me. I do have strong emotions about the ranch and I feel that everyone is entitled to their own feelings. Where I have had problems is being prideful about what I should do about those feelings. I realize that the letter was written with the best of intentions, namely that we should all put our resources together and make improvements to the ranch property so that it could be used by everyone. Our brothers have been given the stewardship of managing the ranch. They have also been very wiling to have anyone go there and enjoy it at anytime. The ranch situation is not an easy one, as far as ownership goes. Problems have been in existence practically since the property was homesteaded. It is what it is.
My conference take away is that -  I should NEVER let any THING come between me and other family members. No property or possession is worth having the family be divided. Please don't be one of the ones who is divided... take care of the issues that separate you from other family members.
I had a nice visit with Jared and Val the other night and though we may not agree on everything, we do agree that we love and appreciate each other. We each decided that we need to do all in our power to unite this family by putting petty differences behind us. We all need to make a great effort to come to the reunion next summer so we can work on those uniting bonds. Don't let the devil win.
I have written this humbly with the hope that my writing can be clear and easy to understand. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns about what i have written here.
Much love to all of you,
Ginny

General Conference

We like to sit down and listen to General Conference.  I say we like to sit down and listen to General Conference, because that is not usually what happens exactly. We are usually busy entertaining kids and doing dishes or crafts or, and yes, I admit it, catching a few Zzzzsss. Good thing it is posted online and comes to us in print in the November Ensign.
I like to start  conference a few weeks in advance thinking about some personal questions or things I want to strengthen about my testimony. I usually write them down in my journal and think about them during conference and after as I listen to the talks online. I've always been amazed at how my questions are answered. I write those answers down.
This time some of my questions has to do with all of you. I want to know more about the role of the extended family. Why exactly is it important to keep ties with each other? If this is important to Heavenly Father, then what does that look like for me? What does that scripture mean "that same sociality will exist in Heaven only coupled with Eternal glory." How do I do this? What does Heavenly Father expect of me in this regard? How can I be more forgiving and more tolerant of people in my extended family?  Does it matter that I don't take the time to get to know all of my extended family? Do they really know me and is that okay if they don't? Is it okay if I just focus on my immediate family because my extended family is so overwhelmingly large? What do I do when I am offended and hurt by someone in my family? What do I do if I have offended someone? What will Zion be like? What does it mean to be one? How does this involve my extended family?
I'm excited to see what the Lord, through His prophets, has to say about these things. I have a few other questions for Him and I know that in time all of my questions will be answered. It amazes me every time an answer comes. I am amazed and humbled at the love God has for me. I can't hardly comprehend it, but it is real nevertheless.
I hope you all enjoy conference whatever you do and wherever you are. I'm over feeling guilty about falling asleep. I think the Lord understands why I'm so tired. I'm glad he's merciful. I hope to be more that way.