Trip to Utah

Our long awaited trip to Utah began on September 29. This is the first stop we did still in North Texas... I thought it was funny/interesting to have those signs in the rest area. The kids had a lot of fun in the playground; getting out some energy; playing "Monster Meal" with Daddy. Luckily no rattlesnakes were at sight.

We'll always remember you, Grandpa Bob

This post is dedicated to my father-in-law, a wonderful man who, amidst adversities raised wonderful children who loved him and the love the Lord.

Here we are at Jenn's house, all 9 children and spouses, all 30 grandchildren, reminiscing and telling funny stories or lessons learned from this great man.

This picture, taken in May of 2006, captures his sincere smile and excitement as we ride the Thomas the Tank Engine train with many of the grandchildren.

We love you, Grandpa Bob.

Chores

Do you know of a 2-year-old boy who volunteers to do chores? Joseph enjoys doing a few chores since he's very little. At 6 months old he loved opening the blinds every morning and closing them at night... Sometimes he puts away his books and toys before bed... and now he likes to organize the silverware after the dishwasher is done.

I thought that was so cute, I had to share it with you!

Love and family are the only two things that really matter in life. Love of God, Jesus Christ, His gospel, and our 'neighbor'. And Family because it's the central part of God's plan and we can be together forever.

Last week I wrote my parents a letter:

Dear Mom and Dad:

Today I attended the funeral of a Sister in my ward who lost her fight with cancer. The cancer had been in remission for 18 years and came back in January 2009. Kezia made cards for her and we visited her often. Sister Newby wanted to teach Kezia how to knit doll's clothes.

After this introduction of Sister Newby, what I want to say is that in this funeral I heard something that I wanted to share with you. That we don't express enough our love for our parents, our children, our spouse, and other people we have around because we think they'll be there forever. So, even though I'm so far away, I would like to express my love for you:

I love you, very much, with all my heart. I thank you for having united your lives and having raised us in the truth of the Gospel. Life is not supposed to be easy, but thanks to your good example, our lives have taken good courses, and we continue this circle of life intended to take us back to our Father in Heaven.

I hope you remember that I love you and that it makes me happy being your daughter; that those 25 + years that I lived under your roof made me a good woman, who loves the children that God gave me and want them to know Him and love Him with all their hearts.

On Sunday, at the Youth Fireside, the Bishop's Counselor asked me to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I told them that interestingly last week I had been working, translating an article that defends the theory that the Book of Mormon lands are in Guatemala and Southern Mexico, so I had been studying more profoundly Moroni's comments, especially Ether 8:26, "Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have ^ano power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be ^bpersuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all ^crighteousness and be saved. And Ether 2:15And [he] repented of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren who were with him. And the Lord said unto him: I will forgive thee and thy brethren of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my ^aSpirit will not always ^bstrive with man. As well as Moroni chapter 10.

In part, the love that I have for the BoM was an example of my Sister Wendy's love for it and all the missionary work we did in our teenage years. I may have read it 15 times, but every time I find it more interesting, more direct for our day. I hope I always have this love for the BoM. I also told them that in our family we read from the Bible, and that the translation of the BoM directly from heaven to English makes it easy to understand. I hope they always have the desire to read the Book of Mormon.

I love you dearly, Mommy and Daddy. I hope your health and your spirits are up. Please send regards to aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandma Mencha, and Marta.

With love,

Analili"

What I forgot to tell them is that since we are not perfect, I would ask that they forgive me for my offenses, faults, sins, dumb things; and that in that same spirit, I would not remember theirs.

I just read this on forgiveness:

"Pray for strength to forgive those who have wronged you. Abandon feelings of anger, bitterness, or revenge. Look for the good in others rather than focusing on their faults and magnifying their weaknesses. Allow God to be the judge of others' harmful actions. It may be difficult to let go of hurt feelings, but you can do it with the Lord's help. You will find that forgiveness can heal terrible wounds, replacing the poison of contention and hatred with the peace and love that only God can give."

How true, how inspired!

Love + Family = The only things that truly matter in life

(Kezia has gone with us to many trips. She always enjoys the sights, sounds, places, and activities she gets to do while sitting in the car for hours on end. Our van does not have a DVD player, but Kezia's attitude shows me we may not even need one.)

Kezia, our lovely daughter,

Tomorrow you will be six years old, so I wanted to write something about you for you to remember:

When you were five years old, you were a very kind, helpful, sweet, faithful, and above all, happy girl. You have made us happy since we first knew we would be your parents. At five years old, you can express yourself really well in Spanish and English, and you are very interested in learning German. You can read many words and many books by yourself. This year alone we've read together more than 300 books. Some with many words, others with a few, and one with no words, remember? You write your own letters and create beautiful cards for your friends and family.

You love to sing, dance, and color, arts that you have developed really well. You're incredibly good at the piano. You've learned to play by ear and know more than 57 songs. Some hymns, some children's songs from your CDs, and some Christmas songs. If you keep at it, you'll develop this talent and become a great pianist.

Zoe, Grace, Sarah, Noelle, and Nathan are your good friends and love playing with you and sitting with your at Church. Your are Joseph's best friend; you laugh and play together a lot every day. I thank you for this.

Thank you also for praying for us when we've been sick or sad. Many times we saw you out in the back yard or in your room praying for us, and our Heavenly Father has answered each one of those heartfelt prayers. He loves you and will guide your footsteps anytime you search for Him. You love our Savior Jesus Christ and want to follow Him. You want to be true to enjoy the company of the Holy Ghost.

This six years of your life have filled our lives with light, happiness, and joy, our dear Princess! We love you with all our hearts!

This is Jeff's family:

Richie, Dave, Brett, Marc, Craig, Jeff, Margaret, Alberta, Bob, Anne, and Jenn. We got together for Lauren's wedding reception in Labor Day.

This is all the offspring! Forty-eight of us! ... and counting!

This is Kezia in White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, New Mexico. One of my childhood dreams was to see a hot air balloon festival. I got the chance this year in this wonderful setting. (This is the only picture that survived a camera-memory crash.)

Our Labor Day trip was a long drive. We almost took the chance to fly, but we wanted to drive and see places and people on the way. It was well worth it. We met with Jeff's nuclear and extended family, my brother and other friends in the Utah valley, as well as other friends and family in Southern Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

We are blessed to have had this wonderful opportunity.

Ok. This is the latest picture of the kids. They helped with the tree and wore Santa hats. We are trying to keep things simple and think of baby Jesus in the manger, later walking on dusty paths, helping the needy in every chance he had, and now in his kingdom, preparing a place for us if we just follow him. Merry Christmas to all!