Easter Memories!

We had some fun Easter celebrations with the Lawson family! One year (1983) the bishops from our two wards were both there. They posed for us in an "eggs"tra special way!!

Here's what the kids thought about it:

One year (1984?) we actually got a picture before we left for Church!

(I wonder what was so funny?!)

Happy Easter!

The Best Easter Lesson!

I have a favorite Easter memory from when I was a teenager. My Dad owned a drugstore and one year he decided to purchase some filled Easter baskets to sell at the store. He was not sure how many he should purchase and there was no returning any that didn't sell. So he made a guess and sent in his order. As I remember, unfortunately he guessed wrong and there were quite a few that didn't sell.

My Dad decided to donate them to the local County Hospital (before the current health care mess this is where people went who could not afford to pay). So after getting permission from the hospital, on Easter Sunday he took us along to deliver Easter baskets to the children there.

It was an enlightening and meaningful experience for me.

It was a good lesson on sharing your bounty with others, remembering those that

are suffering or less fortunate, and just plain doing what the Savior would do!

What a great Easter lesson!

Thanks, Dad!!

March Madness Brings Eternal Happiness!

Did I get your attention basketball fans?

March 18, 1972 was one of THE most important days of my life! And I have March Madness to thank for it!! Dan had tickets to games that were being played on Saturday at the Marriott Center, and he asked me to go with him. It was a dream come true for me! We had such a good time that when he took me home he asked me if I wanted to go to dinner and a movie with him that night! We talked for a long time over dinner at Heaps A Pizza (now Brick Oven), and he stared at me instead of watching the movie. As far as I was concerned, it was a done deal--6 weeks later we were engaged!

Here are our pictures from the BYU 67th Ward Directory that year:

Well Deserved Spring Break!

The latest pix from John:

BYU does not have a Spring Break so the students can finish the semester in April.

But this year, John got a special treat--a Spring Break trip! (Although he had to miss classes to do it!)
Here are photos he has sent from his camera phone
(keep checking back as I hope he'll send more):

New Orleans where he presented research at a Physics Conference

Washington D.C. where he will visit the Georgetown University Graduate Physics Department
He got a good shot of the Capitol!

Happy Birthday, MaryAnn!

Friday the 13th, 1981 was one of the luckiest and best days of my life!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful daughter, wife, mother and friend!

Enjoy some photos of MaryAnn through the years!

January 1982: 10 months

April 1984: 2 years

Fall 1986: Kindergarten 5 years old

1991: 10 years old

???

9th Grade

1999: Senior Year

Service In Auction!

Our Relief Society birthday celebration included a dinner and a service auction. For several weeks prior to the event we were asked to submit a service we would be willing to offer another sister in our ward. As usual, I take things very seriously and I had a hard time thinking of something that I do well enough that someone else would want me to do for them. My good friend, Beth, was offering her decorating skills, others were offering piano lessons, ethnic dinners--Italian, German and Mexican, voice lessons, and swim parties. They also said we could bring something we had made, such as brownies or cakes, etc. We didn't know how the auction would work until we arrived that night, but we were told it would not involve money and was not a fundraiser. At each place was a list of the 55 auction items and a questionnaire which we were told to fill out. We received points for our answers. The points were used in bidding as each item or service was offered. I am pretty sure I had the most points of anyone there that night. You received points if you had read your scriptures that day, been to the temple in the last 3 months, did your visiting teaching last month, and quite a few others of the basics. Here are some of the more unusual things for which I received points: been married for more than 25 years, if you have ever owned an 8-track tape player, used cloth diapers on your baby, ever been a Seminary teacher, have had a vegetable garden, and I got 5 pts for every child and 2 pts for every grandchild. But I came home from the auction empty-handed. I just couldn't bid against anyone who seemed to really want something. I know it was just supposed to be in fun, but everytime something came up and someone bid for it, I assumed they wanted it, so how could I deprive them of that? And people at our table mentioned what they were hoping to get, so of course I wouldn't bid against them. I can see if I ever go to an auction again, I need to make sure none of my friends are there!

P.S. I finally came up with something to donate. Recently I bought a kit to make a tissue paper flower bouquet. It looked like something I could do and if it turned out anything like the picture, it would be very pretty. So I decided that would be my offering since I had no real flowers for a bouquet this time of year. I was very happy that someone won it and am glad to have the stress of that evening behind me! I really take things too seriously and couldn't just relax and have fun.

Here's a photo of the bouquet. I think it looked better in person and from a distance, it looked like real flowers.

Count Your "Mini" Blessings!

I've been thinking a lot about President Eyring's talk in the last General Conference. He told us to write down how we have seen the hand of God blessing our family. Recently, I was driving past the elementary school in our neighborhood and couldn't believe all the mini vans parked up and down the street for blocks. (There were some SUVs but mini vans ruled the day!) I was going to take a picture of it, but decided against it because it might not look good with a stranger taking pictures near a school! But I'm sure you've seen this sort of thing at your local schools and in the church parking lot as well. This all came about, I am sure, because the hand of God was blessing our family!

Back in the late 1980's, the 6 children in our family were growing up. We owned a station wagon, affectionately known as "the Brown Bomber." It was getting harder and harder to fit everyone into the car let alone try to take a trip together. Also at this same time, a law had been passed and would take effect soon that required everyone riding in a vehicle to wear a seat belt. The Brown Bomber only had 6 seat belts.

This situation caused me great anxiety. The only thing available to keep us within the law was to purchase a large van or a Suburban. They were bulky and very expensive. And they were expensive to drive--quite the gas guzzlers. I also did a lot of running around with just one or two kids in the car and didn't want a big old van to take on all these short errands. What to do?

For me, it became a matter of prayer: We're trying to do all the right things, we need to be safe and obey the law, we want to go on vacations together, we don't have a lot of money, please help us! For weeks and probably months this was a top priority in my thoughts and prayers. And then one day Dan came home and said he had heard about a new smaller van they were coming out with! It was still in the early stages but would be some sort of "mini" van which would be much less bulky and expensive than a large van. After further research we discovered that these mini vans would hold 7 people in 7 seat belts. The prayers continued but we were more hopeful! Then the day came when Dan learned that the Plymouth Voyager had an option for a front bench seat giving the car 8 seat belts! My prayers were answered!

Now I'm sure I'm not the only Mormon Mom who was praying about this situation, but every time I see a parking lot full of mini vans (as "uncool" as some people think they are), I am reminded that the hand of God blessed our family (and many other families!) in a very practical and remarkable way!