Welcome to 2009

On New Year's Eve all of the senior missionaries were invited to the apartment of the Temple President for snacks and a movie. President Harris welcomed all of us and told the group how he had discovered that I was the daughter of his wife's beloved Golden Gleaner teacher. (Back in the olden days that was the name of the Laurel class.) He said one of the first things he learned about his new girlfriend was her appreciation for Alice Jean Morris. She grew up in a less active home and thought my Mom had it all together with her big family. I'm not sure what brought that subject up on the eve of 2009 but I am very proud to be the daughter of my wonderful parents and I do remember my mother talking about Diane. My personal favorite was Marti because she came over to babysit one time. I don't have a specific memory of Diane (don't tell Sister Harris) but she remembers Marti and has kept in contact over the years. You teachers, remember that you have powerful influence. I doubt that my mom realized that her student Diane often thought of her example over the years when raising her own six kids.

We enjoyed good snacks and watched "Father Goose" with Cary Grant and Leslie Caron. The Harris' love old movies and we enjoyed this one. We went home and were fast asleep by the time it was midnight. Old, boring people we are. I understand that in the "great and spacious building" where the East Mission President, the Area President, the DTA (Director of Temporal Affairs) and the CES director lives it was much more lively. The Mission President has three teenage daughters living with them and one visiting from BYU and the Area President had their youngest daughter visiting as well. They were partying long past midnight we were told. This decade seems to be rushing by rather quickly I think.

We had fun going to the Botanical Gardens with the Francoms who live in our building. We should have been going ever since we got here. There is an admission fee but it is a wonderful place to walk, very beautiful and right here in Santo Domingo.

Isn't that a beautiful flower! This is outside in January! It is hot in the summer but delightful in the winter here. The photos Susan sent me of the grandkids playing in the snow in Idaho are sorted chronologically right along with these shots. Quite a contrast.

These two turtles have red stripes along their heads like Edgar's turtles but they are larger and covered with pond scum. There were many turtles and they came over to the bridge to greet us. Next time I guess we should take something to feed them. I wonder what they like to eat?

I was interested in these leaves. This a tree and the leaves look corrugated!

This is Sister Francom in a tree we wish we had for grandchildren to climb. It is huge and perfect for swings and tree houses and climbing. The next photo shows Flat Beverly in this tree. Aunt Beverly is teaching a second grade class this year and they are doing a Flat Stanley project. Each of the children made a drawing of themselves that they mailed to family or friends in another location. They are supposed to take a photo with the drawing and mail it back. One of her students drew a picture of Beverly so she emailed it to me for some adventures. I have just been "photoshopping" her into some my photos but when Susan and Alyssa and Rachel and Lydia come and visit they will each have a Flat Beverly that we will take with us during our adventures. I didn't make one for Randy. Here is Beverly in this same tree and she is scaled much larger than life sized so you can see her:

Don't you wish you had a tree like this in your backyard? Look at this other big, big, big tree we found:

This one is in the Japanese garden and shades the path, part of the pond and a huge area. You can see Elder Francom at the right.

On another subject, I wanted to tell all of our sons-in-law how much we appreciate them. We were having a conversation with Sister Cairns who had 9 children and a husband who felt that all tasks related to children were her responsibility alone. He never helped. She said that she thought she might go "loco" (She always speaks in Spanish because it is more comfortable for her and I need the practice.) before they grew up. I am so grateful that for you, both the Dads and the Moms make children a priority and share both the work and the fun. Raising a family is hard work. While you are doing the tedious, everyday work of cleaning and serving you are also creating new people with unlimited potential. Changing diapers and sharing love, cleaning the kitchen and shaping attitudes, helping with homework and building character. It is hard to realize at the time that the process of doing all the daily work is the same process of teaching, providing an example and inspiring motivation in a new generation. You are doing it all. We are so proud of what you accomplish and proud of the grandchildren we are related to.

I wanted to report that Olgan's daughter is in the hospital here in Santo Domingo and doing much better. With the proper medication she is improving. Rosanna is getting radiation treatments again and is an amazing example of courage and continuing to work and make progress in the face of difficult problems. She has faith and feels that whatever happens will be the Lord's will. I am going to try and never feel sorry for myself. I have a cold and stayed home sneezing and coughing today. She goes to work feeling far worse. But then I am contagious and she is not.

On Sunday a new baby was blessed. Her name is Sarah Lydia ---- ----. I didn't catch the two last names. She has darker skin than any of our grandchildren but is almost as cute. Lewis and I taught the Sunday School lesson. I noticed when we were first married that Dad liked to read the Doctrine and Covenants. I would choose to read the Book of Mormon. I already knew the story, I loved the familiar prophets and was comfortable in that book. I asked him why he liked to read the D&C. He said that he liked reading the Lord's answers to people's real questions and that he found answers there to questions he had too. I thought at the time that perhaps I should look beyond just comfortable and read more for answers. We are blessed to have all of the scriptures as rich sources of answers for our questions. Questions are good. Keep looking for answers. Hope you enjoy learning about the Doctrine and Covenants in Sunday School this year.

Love you all,
Mom/Grandma