Amos 7:10-17 & 8:1, 9-11

("Amos" by Gustave Dore)
Amos was a shepherd from a small town named Tekoa, and I would assume he was a hardworking individual of little status among the political and social elites of his day. He lived in a time of great wickedness among the people of Israel and was called to preach repentance to them. Amos' name, which means "bearer" or "burden" is illustrative of his calling, for he was required to bear the message of the Lord to the people, and was burdened with watching them reject it. People got so sick and tired of listening to his call of "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion," and "Hear ye this word which I take up against you," that a priest named Amaziah complained to King Jereboam about the pesky prophet. "Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel:" he whined, "the land is not able to bear all his words." Then, Amaziah went to Amos and said, "O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophesy there: But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el..."

Amos' response was humble and dignified. "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." And so he did. He lifted up his voice and spoke of the summer fruit which was ripe for the harvest, and of the sun going down at noon or the destruction of a nation in its prime. Then he prophesied of a time of great mourning and what was to be the cause of that mourning? It was famine, "...not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." Amaziah would get his wish, the people would become so corrupt, that the voices of the prophets would be silenced for hundreds of years until John the Baptist became "the voice of one crying in the wilderness saying, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." And, as this prophecy was dual in nature, the dark night of apostasy would fall again, and lay upon the world until a soft spring day in 1820 when God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith.

There is a Prophet on earth today and Twelve Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they will speak this weekend in General Conference. Their words will not touch on popular themes or encourage easy living, but they will teach us God's will. I want to be like Amos, please Father keep Amaziah's attitude far from my heart. I want go when I am called, respond to the message that is spoken, and hear the word of the Lord.

General Conference Sessions:
Saturday 10am - 12pm & 2pm - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 12pm & 2pm - 4pm

Watch on KSL, KBYU, or BYUTV
Listen Live on 1160AM or at lds.org

Grace In Motion

This is Grace...
and she likes to move!
Shake it!

What I've Been Up To...

This was my table...it was full of tomatoes.

One of them looked like a red-faced man...and I wasn't sure if I should eat him or not.

In the end, I felt it was okay...
and he and his friends became spaghetti sauce (and canned tomatoes too!).

It was a lovely end.

I Was Blind But...well, I'm still blind but now I see REALLY well!

Once every three years, or thereabouts, I buy new glasses. Glasses are expensive. What? you ask. Didn't I just see a Standard Optical commercial touting 2 pairs of glasses for $95? Yes, you did, but those glasses are for recreational glasses wearers. People who take them off whenever they feel like it or use them only to read. Girls with eyes blind to the power of 7 don't get cheapie deals like that...oh no! We pay through the nose or with our life's blood for glasses because the stupid optometrist knows we can't live without them. Grrr. Anyhoo, forgive the rant...moving on! My old lenses were badly scratched. I had them coated with anti-reflective junk and the stuff was peeling off and/or wearing out rather marvelously. The process, however, didn't occur overnight and so I didn't really notice how bad things were. Sure I was starting to get headaches from concentrating so much just to see, but it wasn't that bad. Then, Grant and I were wrestling and he kicked my glasses, just a glancing blow but enough to bend one of the stems. We jerry-rigged it fixed, but knew it wouldn't last. At this point I finally began contemplating the big purchase. Then, Merritt head-butted me when I was tickling him (there's a lot of violence going on in our house) and the bent stem snapped. I called Chad to pick up some duct tape on his way home and once again everything was patched and functioning. My headaches became more persistent though, because now my glasses were not only scratched and messed up, but they wobbled on my face. I made the decision, new glasses were a must. As soon as I decided on that one thing, I all of a sudden noticed that my current pair of lenses were TERRIBLE! It was like looking through a perpetual fog. How had things come to this point without my notice? I was seriously impaired and barely aware of it. Sure, I knew that the lenses were scratched, but they were bad! When I went to Costco (lovely, inexpensive glasses heaven) to pick up my new pair of glasses, I had the weirdest experience. My vision was so clear, so crystal, that for about 30 seconds, I couldn't see a thing. My eyes and brain had to reset themselves from working incredibly hard to see, to just hanging out and enjoying the view. That gave me serious food for thought. How easy it is to go through life and think that everything is fine, to believe that you are "seeing" things as they really are, and yet you are blind. Then, life hands you an experience that clears your view and you see things honestly and openly for the first time in a long time, maybe ever. It's a paradigm shift, a reality check, a change of heart. I have been blind in my life, and not just in the fact that my eyes don't really work, and I know the difference between the fog and the light. I pray I can always hold to the things that help me to truly see.

Want Some Cheese With That Whine?

I can't explain this picture. Something must have been in the water that day, but Grace and Grant both had a major meltdown at the same time over who knows what. It was so ludicrous that Chad and I ended up laughing hysterically while they wailed and then took this picture because their little faces were so sad and pathetic and funny. We fixed Grant's crying jag by giving him his bear. Grace was made better with a cuddle. We then proceeded with dinner where Merritt announced, "Guess what, Mom? I'm shedding!" What a weird night!

A First And A Second

Grace had her first day of preschool this week. She loved it. They played with play-doh, sang and danced, and went out to the sand box to dig. What's not to like about all that? (And yes, I did stage this photo after the fact, since I'm bad and forgot to take pictures. Please don't tell me you really thought I sent my daughter off to school with spaghetti stains on her shorts!)

Also on the same day was Grant's second birthday. He is now officially a big kid whose age is no longer counted in months. No more "Baby Grant"! Wah!

He liked ripping the paper, especially since everyone was encouraging him to do it and not intervening with a quick "No, no! Let's find something else to do!"

Grant wanted to play with each toy after it was opened. He rolled this one back and forth while calling out, "Choo-choo!"

The blocks were a big hit with Grant. (Merritt also thought they were neat and ended up sneaking off with them to build a robot.)

I was frosting this cake when the Scouts arrived. They were all terribly impressed with a cake six layers high. They were also very happy to get a spoonful of cream cheese frosting.

Grant wasn't diverted from his business by all our singing...he still wanted to play Choo-choo! When I set the cake down in front of him, though, he knew just what to do and blew the candle out like he'd had 30 birthdays instead of just 2. (That was rather poetic, eh?)

This cake was so tall I had to serve it on plates. The bright colors came courtesy of Wilton food coloring...that stuff is amazing. The cake was super tasty because each layer was flavored with real fruit (from the top: raspberry, orange, lemon, lime, blueberry, and blackberry). Yum!

The ultimate conundrum...eat cake or play with new toys? How about both!
Happy Birthday Grant! You are the sunshine in my day.

Labor Day Fun and Panic

We decided to get out of the house and do something fun on Labor Day. Chad was looking through his Church History guidebooks and found that there were pioneer markers up Emigration Canyon. We planned to go up the canyon, stopping at markers along the way, have a picnic, hike a bit, and then come back down and go to Temple Square. We found historical markers for the Donner Party (they passed through the canyon on their way to eating each other in Nevada) and for the Last Encampment of the pioneers before they made their way into the Salt Lake Valley. We went to the top of Emigration Canyon, through switch backs and hair pin turns, and found a large parking lot at the top, another marker, a spectacular view, and several hiking trails heading off in different directions. We ate lunch in the car, as it was pretty breezy in the canyon and we decided we didn't want dirt blown into our sandwiches, and then headed down a trail.

View to the west from the first rise of the trail. That is Emigration Canyon and a bunch of fancy pants houses on the mountain's slope.

View to the north: I think this reservoir is called Wasatch National Forest Ponds, but that is a really weird name.

View to the east: The amazing green you see is the Mountain Dell golf course...definitely NOT naturally occurring! The ribbon of road far to the east is I-80 through Parley's Canyon. I watched the cars whiz by for a while and finally commented to Chad that this particular site would either make the pioneers marvel or gnash their teeth, considering the difficulty they had passing through the same terrain.

This was our trail of choice.

Here we are trooping up the hill. Well, Grace isn't trooping...Chad is trooping double time and Grace is enjoying the ride.

Chad and the kids are enjoying the view from the top! The trail went on, of course, but we saved that for another day.

We headed back into Salt Lake City, and after running a quick errand it was off to Temple Square!The children are contemplating eternal things...hopefully! Actually, they are probably wondering why we won't let them swim in that awesome pool!

This is where the "panic" part of our story comes in. After Chad snapped this picture, I went to help the children hop down. Merritt got down on his own, I swung Grace to the ground and then snagged Grant. I turned to where I thought Grace was, but when I'd turned a full circle I realized she was nowhere to be seen. I quickly asked Chad where she was and we scanned a wider area...still no Grace. Now we were going into panic mode. Where could she have gone? We left Merritt in charge of Grant with strict instructions NOT TO MOVE, and then took off in search of Grace. Some lady told me her mother had seen Grace heading toward South Temple Street and I took off at a dead run. When I reached the gates, again- no Grace. I felt the blood draining from my head, where could she be? I headed back toward the reflecting pool and saw Chad with Grace and two sweet sister missionaries. They had been standing at the gates when Grace came running and skipping their way. Seeing no adult nearby they stopped her and asked where her mom and dad were. "In the temple!" Grace chirped. Well, that just sounded weird, of course, so they walked her back into the main area stopping to ask people if anyone was missing a child. They pointed Chad out and we were reunited. I sat down with Grace and just hugged her and shook. Chad gave her a good talking to, we all calmed down, and then, not wanting the day to end on a sour note, continued with our tour.

"Let me in!" he says! Note the fantastically wet pants from splashing in the reflecting pool while Chad and I looked for Grace.

Hey, a normal face! Merritt has entered that lovely phase of childhood where pulling out a camera means pulling out a hideous facial expression. Once again, note that he is styling fantastically wet clothing.

I can't get over how relieved and happy I am that she's safe! I kept grabbing her up in bear hugs today to reassure myself that she's the real deal.

There they are...the little loves of my life. Can't do without a single one!

And finally, just for laughs...
Grant running with his pants falling down!

Who Doesn't Enjoy Reading In Bed?

These darling children can't POSSIBLY be related to me...wink, wink! I guess curling up with a good book is in our genes. Grace loves to get that blanket out of my closet and make a little nest for herself on my bed. I found her curled up there and she asked for some books to read. Grant decided that Grace had a good thing going on and joined the fun. They occupied themselves in this fashion for quite some time and I have high hopes that they will enjoy good literature all their lives.

Food is Fun!

I love to cook and bake and eat food. I love to read recipe books, they are like novels to me, full of suspense and surprise and mystery. I love to see pictures of yummy recipes and plot and plan the making of them. I love running into my backyard and pulling tomatoes off the vine or clipping basil from my herb garden to use in my latest concoction. Food is fun, and comfort, hospitality, family togetherness, and a big adventure. Here are some things I have made this week:

Vegetable Pasta a la Sandra!

Bruschetta courtesy of Whitney the Rookie Cookie.

Gingerbread Waffles with Lemon Whipped Cream - Rookie Cookie again...she's good!


Chocolate Oreo Cake via Ingrid at the 3 B's.

This last was made in honor of Chad's birthday. I would love to write a post all about Chad and how wonderful he is, but that would embarrass him horribly so all I'll say is that I am the luckiest girl on earth to be married to him, and that's the truth! Love you Chad!

Happy Birthday!