The Marsden Family

The Bare Necessities

2012-02-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

The theme for Primary this year is "Choose The Right." I have had a few different opportunities to visit wards and watch faithful primary teachers try to teach little children who are as young as 3 to make correct choices. It has made me reflect upon my life and some of the experiences that stick out in my mind of learning about choosing the right. One story that I have told my children over the years and now I have grandchildren to pass this life lesson on to is the first time I remember realizing the our choices DO have consequences. So this experience I pass on to you little Hannah and Paige and hope that you can learn these "bare necessities"....

"The Jungle Book" came to theaters in October of 1967. I was the ripe old age of 6! I had seen it advertised and I had looked forward to seeing it. One beautiful Saturday morning my Aunt Win & Uncle Stu called my mom and told her that they were planning on taking Ann to see JUNGLE BOOK and called to invite ME to go along!! It is important that I explain a few things here. First of all, you must understand, that things were very different when it came to watching movies is 1967. When one wanted to see a movie you couldn't just go to a store or a "redbox" and pick up whatever you wanted to see. Or you couldn't DVR it or stream it or go to your collection of Videos/DVD's or Blue-rays. You actually had to see it in the theater!!!!! If the movie had been out for years and if you were extremely lucky it just might come on television. If you were lucky like I was, you might get to go to your grandparents house and actually see it in LIVING COLOR. Most the people I knew didn't have a color TV or even access to a color TV. However, you must know, that the these special movies also were only broadcast about once a year. How many of you remember waiting for an entire year to see "The Wizard of Oz" or "Oklahoma" only to find out it is being broadcast during your sacrament meeting time? So, as you can see it was a big deal for me to get to go to the movies. Another important part of this story is that I was the middle child of 6. I had the benefit of always having someone to play with. I also was blessed to have a family that liked to camp and go up the canyon and on different adventures...on a shoestring budget. Ann on the other hand was basically raised as an only child. The next closest sibling to her was 10 years older and her oldest brother was off serving a mission about the time she was starting kindergarten. Between the two of us, we were blessed to live the best of both worlds. When I was with Ann, I got to do things like go to the circus and have my own cotton candy, popcorn and drink. All three treats in one night, and Ann was able to camp and sleep like a sardine with all of us together. It was a perfect match. To this day my sweet Uncle Stu who is now 94 asks me if I remember going on all the Equitable Insurance Company trips with him. It was the life! I got to see the World's Fair in Spokane Washington, and visit places I have always wanted to go back to, but haven't yet like Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Arizona and Vale, Colorado. Ann was able to go skiing with our family every Saturday while my dad taught ski school and spent summers at Brighton in a tiny little cabin with 6 children, two parents a golden retriever and visits from Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, neighbors and friends. My sister Karen who was 2 1/2 years older than I was was always really envious that she didn't have an Ann in her life. To this day, I count Ann among my finest blessings!!

So, now back to Jungle Book. It was a beautiful fall Saturday when the call came from Aunt Win inviting ME to go to the Jungle Book with them. Needless to say I WAS EXCITED!! My mom told me that I could go with them if I got my jobs done and if I was helpful to her. Suzie would have just been a brand new baby and
Rich would have been 3 and between having 6 children and teaching full time, my mom was always busy. I don't remember being a difficult or disobedient child but evidently on this day I was!! I don't remember what jobs I had been assigned to do but I do remember I didn't do them. I remember thinking to myself that there was no way that my mom wouldn't let me go to Jungle Book because it was such an amazing opportunity for me. I don't even really remember reminders during the day or threats that if I didn't get things done I couldn't go. However, I do remember that I was excited and couldn't wait for my fantastic evening out on the town with Ann. It might even include stopping by the Iceberg on the way home for a shake.

The time had finally arrived. I was all ready to go. As I was waiting for the honk of the horn my mom came over and told me that she had decided that this time she was going to let Karen go with Ann. WHAT?????? COULD IT BE POSSIBLE?!! She explained that at the beginning of the day she had told me what needed to be done in order for me to go. She said that I couldn't go because I hadn't done the things she had asked me to do. I don't remember trying to change her mind. I knew she was right and I also knew there was no changing her mind. I watched Karen get into the car and wanting it to be me that was the one to get into that car. I also remember it being quite sometime later that I was finally able to see Jungle Book. I learned a very value lesson that day. The true "bare necessities" to have a happy life has to do with choosing the right.

SHE'S LEAVING ON A JET PLANE

2012-01-26T10:36:00.004-07:00

Megan's bags are packed and she was ready to go as we walked out the door at 3:00 a.m. this morning. She had pulled an all nighter trying Sean's method of staying awake and attempting to acclimatize to the time zone of where you will be going. She is going to try to sleep on the plane from DC to Moscow. I asked her how long she has been planning this adventure and she told me it has been for the last 6 years. Megan has watched both Melissa and Sean leave for their time living abroad and both times she drove back home in the car safe and sound in the back seat. This time it was just Tim and I driving back home without Megan.

Megan will be teaching English at the Captain school in Moscow, Russia. She will be with Aubree Jones and one other girl at the school. They will be teaching the youngest children at the school. Their students will range from 3 - 6 years old. They will teach every week day for about 3 hours and then have the rest of the day to explore Moscow. They will also travel to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Ukraine. They will have long weekends to travel as well. I know they will also be going to St. Petersberg, but I don't know when all of this will take place. ILP has coordinated with a native Russian that will help make all of their travel arrangements and plans. It is the same coordinated that helped when Melissa was there and she is fantastic!!! She will also be guarded at the place she will be living. There will also be other teachers that will be part of the International Language Program living in Moscow at two other schools. We meet some of the other teachers today at the airport. They all looked like really cute girls...NO BOYS are in the group. The other teachers will meet up with them in Washington DC and are scheduled to arrive in Moscow at about 1:50 a.m. Utah time and 11:50 a.m. Moscow time on Friday morning. They will be met by Gulia (the Native Coordinator) who will take them to a van that will deliver them to their school. I was so thankful to Melissa as she gave Megan a travel book all about Moscow and then took the time to put tons of post it notes throughout the book marking her favorite museums, and must see places. It will make it really nice for Megan and Aubree to have that valuable information.

According to the weather report for Moscow this week, she will arrive on Friday with a high of 7 degrees and the low is predicted to be -6. It doesn't look much better the rest of the week. The warmest it is showing is 12 degrees and coldest is reported to be -13. Burrrrrrrr!!! However, Megan is prepared and has boots that are reported to keep feet warm up to -20. We shall see!! She has packed thermals, socks, gloves, scarves, hand warmers, hats, two coats and layers and layers of clothes. She was allowed to pack two bags (she had to pay ($70.00) for one of them...arrrh...airlines these days) and was limited to 50 lbs each. One of her bags weighed in today at 50 lbs and the other weighed in at 49!! Along with all her clothes she was required to bring some teaching supplies and prizes for the students. She also packed some shorts for when the warm weather hits the last part of her trip and two bottles of green Tabasco and some lemon and pepper to help favor the bland Russia food :) She is prepared!!

I was so happy to see Megan with an appetite this morning. She was eating at 2:30 a.m. and she also ate some food one the girls brought to the airport. This is a good sign. Ever since Megan was a little girl she could never eat if she felt anxious or nervous about something. I have always been amazed by this quality because I can pretty much eat at any given time. The other thought I had as we drove to the airport was when Megan learned to ride a bike. She wasn't like many children that you could sneakily let go of the back of the bike and they would be peddling without even realizing you had let go. You could never trick Megan like this. After both Tim and Melissa tried this trick on Megan, she would never let them help her again. I spent what seemed like hours running behind Megan holding on to the seat of the bike. When she was finally ready she gave me the go that I could let go. And off she went confident in her ability to ride. I knew today that she was ready for me to let go. She has all the skills she needs to be able to peddle on her own. I am proud of her and I wish her all the best!! I send all of my love to my baby girl in Russia!! I LOVE YOU MEGS!! HAVE A BLAST!!!

January 26th 2012!! The Adventure begins :) Do Svidaniya

Goodbye 2011

2012-01-20T10:47:00.002-07:00

We are still in January (2012) so I am not too far behind the game. I am going to attempt to do a better job at journaling my life! 2011 has been a great year. The days and weeks and months seems to fly by. On Thursday of this week, Sean will have been home for one year!! The very same day Sean returned home (January 26th) we will be taking Megan to the airport
to say goodbye until she returns in June. She will be teaching English in Moscow, Russia. Along with traveling to many countries in Eastern Europe! She will be missed!

I love this picture because it is the very first time in two years that Tim were surrounded by our children. In this picture we are still missing Adam and little baby Paige was just a tiny tiny baby. We have been greatly blessed throughout the year to have Sean return and Paige join our family. Below I have included some of the significant events and favorite memories of 2011.

Taking care of Hannah when Paige was born. I wanted to buy her a pair of sandles but she was interested in boots in September :)

Paige Lily Turney was born September 2, 2011. It was so special to be there. This picture was taken 2 days before I turned 50!! Tim also turned 50 on July 1, 2011!

We were blessed to host different guest from Australia this year. This is Zach Katene who served with Sean in Darwin. He is seriously the tallest man I have ever personally spent time with. You should have seen how he fit in my car. It was a blessing having 7 missionaries from the Australia Adelaide Mission stay at our home during conference. It was also an amazing weekend for me as I watched the primary children from our stake and surrounding stakes sing in general conference. One of the highlights of my life!

It was hard taking family pictures without our entire family with us. However we decided we would capture this stage of our life and where we are at right now! Miss you Melissa, Adam, Hannah & Paige!

We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Crouch Family this year. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of all of us together. We were having so much fun that I didn't even think of capturing the moment!!

We headed to Las Vegas right after Thanksgiving to be together for Paige's baby blessing. We had a great time together :)

We all took turns loving and holding Paige all weekend. She is such a sweetheart. While Melissa talked to Megan and showed her all of her pictures from Russia...Sean spent hours watching Paige sleep in his arms.

Melissa and Hannah came to Utah in April. Adam gave Melissa (and the rest of us) a wonderful Valentine's gift for a trip with Hannah to Utah. We went to the zoo together for Hannah's first trip to the zoo. We also ate at Hires after. It was a great day. We were so sad that Tim was out of town. Tim traveled a ton the first quarter of 2011!!

In April, we took Megan and Sean to BYUI. They have the best set up!! The both lived in the Navuoo Apartments. They were seperated by a parking lot which has worked out great since they share a car. It ended up that they were even put in the same Family Home Evening group. It was a tender mercy. It has brought a lot of comfort for me throughout the year that even though we have been seperated most of the year, none of us were alone or without family.

Adrian & Janell Rutter stayed with us for two weeks in May. We totally enjoyed showing them around Utah. They quickly became part of our family.

When I see this picture I can't help but be amazed to think that my baby is having a baby. I think this is a beautiful picture and I feel humble to think of the miracle of birth!

Hannah is so loving with all of us. My arms hurt to hold them whenever I see pictures of my Hannah and Paige!

This picture was taken at General Conference last April. Aaron Hall came with us to conference. He is now serving in Taipei, Taiwan. We ended up pulling up to the conference center and we found a parking spot right accross the street. It was the easiest time I have ever had parking downtown. I figured we were getting early missionary blessings since Aaron was with us.

Loved going to hear the Tabernacle Choir on Mother's day!!

Aaron's farewell!

One of our favorite places in the world is going to Island Park. One of our favorite traditions is going to Meadow Vue Ranch for a BBQ. Truely one of the best meals of the year!

Meadow Vue Ranch

My kids were busted on facebook when one of their friends posted this picture of them getting the car stuck in the sand dunes.

I loved this fantastic beach that Alan &and Marivic took us too just North of San Franscisco. I want to go back!!

Isn't it beautiful!!

Speaking of beautiful!! Paige is so sweet!! She is also one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. She seems to burst into a big smile just for being noticed!

I love all of these pictures of Adam, Melissa, Hannah & Paige!!

Just as we started 2011 being together, we finished all together. Only this time we did have Adam and Paige with us. We had a wonderful Christmas together. Hannah and I went on this train together at the New Gate Mall. She talked about this train ride the whole week. We had a lot of fun together from seeing the lights on temple square to playing games, watching movies, talking, laughing, eating and going to parties. My favorite part of the week was Christmas Eve. It was a very special night and quite magical. When we got into bed that night, Tim turned to me and said, "I will remember this night for the rest of my life." I felt the exact same way. I don't know what 2012 will bring for each of us, but I am looking forward to finding out!

My most memborable Christmas gift!

2011-12-14T11:38:00.002-07:00

Christmas is a magical time of year. As a young child, the Christmas I remember best was when I was 7 years old. I remember being so excited as I would watch each present after it had been wrapped and placed under the tree. Coming from my family of 8 meant many many gifts under the tree. My mom would spend all year shopping and buying and preparing for Christmas. I would spend what seemed like hours sitting under the tree reading each tag hoping it would be for me. I didn't pay too much attention to the other gifts, but the gifts that had MY name on a tag I would spend hours shaking the box and examining the gift as best as I could in wonder and anticipation of what special gift awaited my greedy little hands.

About one week before Christmas, my sister Karen came home from shopping with my mom and told me that she had found the perfect gift for me. You must understand that Karen is my big sister and she is 2 years older than I am. I have always looked up to her. She was 9 and seemed to have much more wisdom and knowledge than I did. She was like the Marsha Brady and I was the Jan. She was who I looked to for fashion and know how to life's demanding questions that a 7 year old girl had. In other words, she had the "it" factor. To this day, Karen is a shopper and an incredible gift giver. I think it is safe to say she is a legend in our family when it comes to gift giving.

Anticipation filled my heart and the suspense began! Not long after she had reported on her find she brought the beautifully wrapped gift and placed it under the tree. It was the most beautiful box I had ever seen. The gift was in a very long, very skinny box. The type of box you just don't see. I don't believe I had ever in all of my 7 years experience seen such a box! The box was about 3 feet long and 12 inches wide. It was wrapped in shinny wrapping paper and tied with a beautiful bow. I was mesmerized!! I remember sitting under the colorful lights smelling the wonderful aroma of pine and examining and trying to guess what in the world was in the box!! I would make guesses and each time Karen would smile and tell me that there was no way I would ever guess what was in the box!! She was right! I never did guess.

After days of suspense, finally Christmas Eve arrived. We had a wonderful meal that my mom prepared and carried on with our Christmas traditions but all I could really think about was WHAT WAS IN THAT LONG SKINNY BOX! It was finally time to go to bed and wait through what seemed a very long night until we could go into the living room to see what Santa had left us and open gifts. I don't remember even wondering about what Santa would bring me that year.

Christmas morning actually did arrived even though I didn't think it would. We lined up from youngest to oldest and I must have been pretty happy at that moment that I would have been one of the younger children. Each of us bolted into the room to partake of the goods. I remember that the first gift I went to that morning was the beautifully shinny wrapped long skinny box that I had held in my arms for what seemed like days in suspense. My moment had arrived. I quickly tore open the paper and opened the box and much to my wondering eyes did appear...a blue snake!! It was the most unique stuffed "animal" I had ever seen.

It has now been over 40 years since this momentous event and I don't believe there has been one Christmas that has passed that this story hasn't put a smile on my face. I have told this story to my children for years. I have never run into another blue snake in my life. Until...last summer when Megan and I were shopping at Pier 39 in San Francisco we went into Rain Forest Cafe for a look around. What...could it be...A BLUE SNAKE!! We just had to take a picture...just a couple of weeks before my 50th birthday finally I found another blue snake.

I learned a lot that Christmas and I have always held that story close to my heart. It wasn't the blue snake that held my heart, it was the love of my big sister and her thoughtful act of finding what she thought would be the perfect gift for me. Merry Christmas to all of you, and may you feel the love that I felt that special Christmas. I hope each of you will have your own version of a BLUE SNAKE this year :).

August 2011 - THE BLUE SNAKE

2011-09-25T10:24:00.020-06:00

On May 5th, 2011 our Stake President received an invitation from the General Music Committee to participate in a Primary choir at the Saturday afternoon session of general conference on October 1st. Shortly after that letter was received I was in a meeting with the Pleasant View South Stake primary presidency when I heard a soft knock at the door and in walked President Brent Keller. I could tell something was up and that he was very anxious to talk. He handed me a piece of paper with the familiar letterhead from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. I was so excited as I read that our stake had been asked to be the host stake in helping to prepare 364 children to sing in General conference!!

It has been an incredible journey and one that I knew I needed to journal the details of this experience! The last few weeks I have been super emotional and I have felt an increase of the spirit in a way that I don't have the words to describe. It has been quite the process getting to this point, but everyone involved has felt the hand of our Heavenly Father every step of the way.

The choir consists of 6 Stakes from Pleasant View and North Ogden. Each stake will be represented with children ranging from 9 - 11 years old. The process of choosing the children who will participate was done on the ward level and each ward handled things under the direction of the Bishop and Primary President. Each ward was given the number of children who would be able to participate after prorating each ward and the number of children in their ward that were 9, 10 and 11 years old. The children were then called in with their parents and asked if they would be willing to accept the dedicated schedule along with the calling to participate in a General Conference Primary Choir. The bishops explained that they would need to attend several practices that involved many hours of practice and preparation. If they missed one practice, they would not be able to sing on the day of the performance. This direction was given by the church music committee and we were also told that we should not have any alternates because other Stakes had done that in the past and the alternates were not able to sing after going to all of the practices. To my knowledge we will have a full house next Saturday with all the choir seat full! The children/parents have also been responsible for following the outline given them by way of dress. The dress and grooming has been set out by the General Music Committee coordinators. Julie Henley who is the first counselor in the PV South Stake has done a fabulous job checking every single child and working to help the parents track down shirts etc...A dress coordinator has been called from each Stake to help each of the children in their stake with their wardrobe.

The girls are wearing collard jewel colored tops with black skirts and tan colored nylons, and the boys will be wearing long sleeved white shirts and missionary appropriate ties and dark slacks. The shirts that the girls are wearing must have buttons that match the color of their shirt. This has been tricky for many of the girls because most of the shirts come with white buttons. Mothers have either used fingernail polish or sharpies or they have put on new buttons to match the shirts. All of the children have gone through three different wardrobe checks to make sure that they look sharp. I have come learned that some cultures find certain clothing and even the layering of clothing offensive, and we are a world wide church and not in the business to offend! The boys have to wear their hair in a conservative manner with no spiking etc... The girls have to have their hair pulled out of their faces and their hair style should not fall over their shoulders. One pair of small non-shiny earrings and one small wrist watch is permitted. Both boys and girls must have black Sunday shoes on. Since we are the host stake, the High Counselor member Brother Denise Holiday who is assigned to the Primary, has been assigned to help us with many of the details. He has had facial hair for the past 30 years. His wife and children haven't seen a clean shaved face in all of those years. He decided he would shave his face so that he would set the example for the children and look like a missionary. We have 30 children in the choir with medical needs. All 30 children have been properly placed in isle seats and medical personal will be on hand if there are any problems. If a child has to leave for any reason during the performance, they are not allowed to come back to finish. All food allergies have been recorded because the church will be providing a snack for each child as well as buses to transport the children next Saturday. They will be leaving Pleasant View at 9:45 a.m.

Since I knew I would have to be gone for some of the practices because I would be with Melissa and family while she had Paige, our Stake Music Specialist, Karin Larsen, has been the one that has really followed through every step of the way. She has been incredible and has received inspiration that is beyond the ability of one person. I have been in awe of her inspiration and the direction she has received as well as the many many hours she has dedicated to this opportunity.

As a stake we have been privileged to work with Sister Diane Bastian of the General Music Committee along with Sister Crocket who oversees General Conference music and Sister Walkin's who will be leading the children. Sister Crocket's son is the lead singer for VoiceMale who is currently in competition in the NBC TV show "Sing-off." She has been traveling back and forth to California while the planning has been going on for General Conference. Sister Walkin's voice sounds like butter as she speaks to the children. She has a gift and has been able to teach and talk to these children in an incredible way to help them prepare for this experience.

We had been asked to submit a seating chart to Salt Lake by Thursday of last week. We decided to put a wrist band on each of the children colored coded according to their Stake. Once the appropriate wrist band was placed on a child, we wrote their names on the band and the color of their shirt. They were then placed according to height and shirt color in the pews in our chapel. An envelope was taped to the end of each pew. At the end of the practice two weeks ago, before the children were excused, we placed a number on each wrist band to know where they were sitting, and then cut off the wrist band. The picture above shows the wrist bands tape to the wall before we had to take them down and translate our chapel seating chart to that of the conference schedule. Height, shirt color, medical needs, all had to be taken into consideration as well as wiggly children and where to place them. Seven hours later and a team of woman working, the task was complete, and submitted to Salt Lake. A special thanks for Karin Larsen and Julie Henley for their hard work as well as their brains!! Another thanks for all of those that have worked on security and registration check in as well as dress and all of the other details involved!

Last Saturday, we left for the conference center at 7:15 a.m. The time we were given inside the conference center was 8:30 - 11:00. It was a beautiful scene as 364 children were dressed and ready to practice. Invited to come along were their parents, siblings, grandparents and Stake and Ward primary people. I wish I could write and express the feelings I had as I watched this site, but I can't. However, I can tell you that I couldn't stop crying.

This group of gorgeous children are my neighbors. I know and love each one of these children. The blond girl bending down in front is Sammi Minnoch. She lives across the street from me. She has always been a good friend of mine. She always greets me with a big "MARGIE". Yesterday was no different. When she said that Tim responded "What am I...chopped liver?" So yesterday afternoon she brought over some peaches from their peach tree. The card read...

"Margie and Tim (aka chopped liver) I herd you like peches" It was adorable.

As we entered the conference center, the children's eyes were as wide as the smiles on their faces. All of the children were placed in their appropriate seats with a few adjustments that had to be made. Sister Walkin's began by doing some stretching exercises for the children. She magically had all of their attention as she directed them in every way. She introduced to the children and parents to Brother Robinson who is the director of music and cultural arts for the church. He spoke to the children and told them that over 7 million people will be watching them. He explained that of that 7 million, half of those do not speak English. That it was up to the children to be able to bear their testimonies to all of the people of the world through their smiles. and the light in their eyes. The children proceeded to practice all of their songs. The General Primary Presidency was in attendance listening and watching the children. At 10:00 a.m. each member of the General Primary Presidency briefly spoke to the children. Sister Wixom told the children that while the were singing she had her hand over her chest because she was afraid it was going to jump right out of her body if she didn't hold it in. They showed the children where they would be singing and that they would be cheering for them even though they would have to stay in their seats and act lady like. Many of these children have brothers and sisters who are serving full time missions as well as other family members throughout the world.

Sister Walkin's then told the children that she was going to practice the congregational hymn with them. In her beautiful speaking voice she said, "look at my baton, this baton is made out of the wood that has been taken from church history sites where the Prophet Joseph Smith lived". She then proceeded to lead both the children and audience members with that baton as we sang "Praise to the Man". (Watch for that baton at conference) I didn't see a dry eye in the audience. Many of the children have told me that is their favorite song. It was fantastic!! I too felt like I better grab my heart to keep it inside my chest too.

Finally on a personal note, one of the songs the children will be singing is "I hope they call me on a mission". It was so overwhelming to watch these young children sing that song. As I sat there I was remind of a story that Sean told me after he returned home from his mission. Just days before he came home, his last companion Elder Ricks, had brought a primary CD with him on his mission. Sean had not heard primary music for two years. They were driving together when Elder Rick's put in the primary CD. The song "I hope they call me on a mission" began to play. Sean said that he couldn't help himself and he burst into tears as he reflected on singing that song as a young primary boy and then realized he HAD grown a foot or two and NOW his mission was coming to a close. As those children sang that song, I knew that Olivia, my Chinese daughter that Sean baptised while in Australia would be thousands of miles away watching "my" primary children who had practice that same song in the same building that Sean sang that song professing to the Lord that he hoped he would go on a mission some day. This experience has gone full circle for me. Each week on Sean's mission Tim would close his letters with a quote that from the Prophet Joseph ..."Shall we not go on in so great of cause!!!"

I invited and hope that all of you, my close family and friends will join with me in watching general conference and cheering for these precious children. They sound like angels and I feel confident that angels will be with them as they pronounce their testimony throughout the world.

The First Month

2011-02-25T11:09:00.016-07:00

I fully intended to post and record the events of January 26th, 2011. Tomorrow marks the one month mark since Sean returned. I am a little slow, but things have been VERY BUSY. So much has happened and I just haven't taken the time to blog. I have posted the pictures we have on facebook, so most have probably seen them, but I thought I would fill in with a little more detail...

This is the first shot we got of Sean as he came down the elevator. His plane came in a few minutes early. We were blessed to have a connection at the gate :). David was right there to greet Sean as he came off the plane and he texted us to let us know he was on his way. David and Sean quickly played a treat on the other two missionaries as David posed as in investigator and Sean challenged David to baptism.

As soon as he came off the escalator we met each other for the best hug of my life. I was told afterward that the hug lasted for about three minutes. I wasn't counted. It was simply A.W.E.S.O.M.E!!!

I had to stand a little bit higher on my tip toes because I could tell immediately that he had grown. Sean went for a physical a few days later and my suspicions were confirmed. (When he went to the dentist...he had NO CAVITIES...Way to go SEAN!!)

He looked great!! He had been able to sleep for about 8 hours from Sydney, Australia to L.A. He didn't seem or look tired to me. I was surprised. I was expected he would be exhausted after such a long trip home, but he surprised me. We stayed up past 1:00 a.m talking that night :).

In all the excitement we didn't get pictures of Sean hugging his sisters but it did happen. Hannah went right to him and then had a little melt down when he tried to give her the kangaroo stuffed animal he had carried home for her. Even Hannah could feel the excitement and it was more than she could take :).

All love together :)

Grandma & Grandpa Marsden helped us drive home. Hannah drove with them. Tim and I and our three children were together on the ride home. We stopped by Kirt's drive-in so Sean could see the sign Megan (and Aaron) had put up for him.

It has been quite the month!! Sean was blessed to get a job the week after he returned. He was blessed again as he was offered another job this week that is better pay and better hours. He started that job today. The adjustment seems to be going well. He is very grateful for Skype and Facebook and email as he has been able to stay in contact with the people he has grown to love so much. I enjoyed listening to him talk last Sunday for over an hour helping answer questions and giving encouragement to one of his recent converts. He has been able to go on splits with the missionaries too.

The other day I was driving and I heard the song "You're going miss this...You're going want this back". Tears filled my eyes as I reflected on what precious time this is for us to have both Sean and Megan home for these next seven weeks. It is busy and hectic and I haven't been getting near as much sleep as I would like. But for the meantime, I am going to enjoy. Time goes so fast.

Two Years Ago Today....

2011-01-20T18:02:00.054-07:00

Yes!! That is right, it was two years ago today that we took Elder Sean Marsden to the MTC in Provo, Utah!!

January 21, 2009 we were full of anticipation and wonder as we looked ahead. I can honestly say that my experience of having a son serve a mission has been two of the best years of my life. I have loved having a missionary and I have felt happy and sustained and full of joy throughout the past two years!!This was one of the last hugs I gave Sean before we said goodbye!

Sean still has yet to meet Hannah. Melissa was just a couple months pregnant with Hannah when Sean left. Hannah will turn 18 months old the day after he returns. Recently, Melissa had a visit from a director of the Korean program. He had never meet Adam before. As he was looking at a picture of Sean that they have on their refrigerator, he asked Melissa if that was her husband. Melissa told him the picture was her brother, he was surprised because he said Hannah looks so much like him. Many people have commented on how much Hannah looks like her Uncle Sean.

Tim and I have totally enjoyed sharing in this experience together.
Megan has missed Sean A LOT!!!! She has gone from being a junior at Weber High School to a freshman at BYUI. She will be so happy to have her big brother home :). It will be great for both of them to be at BYUI TOGETHER.
I will never forget the big smile Sean gave all of us just after we sang "Called to Serve" and he turned around to say good-bye. He actually had a big smile on his face even though I am sure it wasn't easy.

Right from the start, Elder Marsden jumped into the work and has had such a positive attitude. He has been an AMAZING communicator. He has never missed one week in writing to us and has wanted to share his mission with all of us. He has sent a personal note to Tim, me, Melissa and Megan each week and we have cherished his expression of love and personal interest in our lives. He has remained positive and happy and even though I am sure he has had hard times, he has taken it like a man!

He has loved serving in Australia and has loved the beauty of the country, the sport, the culture, food etc...

He has served from the very southern tip of Australia to the most northern top. He has served with nine different companions in Australia and has served in five different areas. But most of all, Elder Marsden has loved the people of Australia and those he has taught and served.

My heart has ached for him as he has had to say goodbye to those he loves. This little excerpt is from a letter he sent as he was leaving Darwin....

Hey guys! The big news is sad/nervous/happy news. We got transfer calls last night, and I have to be on a plane today at 12:15. Where I am going I don't know, but I am assuming I am headed back to Adelaide. Saying goodbye is possibly the hardest thing I have had to do in my life. I thought it would be sad, and that I could handle it, but going around and saying goodbye to people has absolutely taken a toll on my heart. This morning when I went to go say goodbye to Roben, he was unprepared, and he wanted to give me something. He was frantically searching around and then in a last resort attempt went to his wallet. He pulled out a considerable amount of money and gave it to me. At that point I couldn't hold back anymore, and I lost all control of my tears. He is the most charitable man! Here I am, this well to do punk from the states, and here a war torn Burmese refugee wants to give me his money. It absolutely killed me. I couldn't accept it, and refused it. He persisted, and he clenched my hands so I couldn't hand it back to him. After we left I gave it to Elder Lyman and I told him to give it to him when he goes back. I absolutely love these people with all my heart!! Leaving them is probably the hardest thing I have had to do. The Nepalese fed us breakfast this morning, and wanted to take pictures with us. I was able to say farewell to many others too. I LOVE THEM ALL!! Please pray for me that the Lord will sustain me. I am kind of in shock still. I really don't want to leave. I know the Lord is in charge, and I am going to where he needs me."

Now Elder Marsden will be saying good-bye again. His heart has grown and expanded in ways we couldn't comprehend. I too have felt sustained and supported. I have truly felt deep gratitude and joy and peace. I attribute that feeling to my Heavenly Father. When Sean was set apart, our stake president asked him when he knew he wanted to go on a mission. Sean responded by saying "I have known as long as I can remember".

So now we enter into his next transfer. The next step in life that his mission has truly helped prepare him for. It has been an incredible ride!!

Sean's oldest baptism

Sean has loved teaching people from all walks of life.

Baptising Olivia on Christmas Eve 2009

Adelaide, AustraliaA tropical rainstorm and welcome relief from the heat in Darwin.

Elder Marsden & Elder Dittmore

Elder Marsden with President Poulton

Enjoying the wonders of Darwin

Sean holding the Didgeridoo that an Aboriginal family made for him. The Didgeridoo was painted using their own hair. It is really cool!! He mailed it home slow boat and we have it home waiting for him.

A group of missionaries went out one P-day to explore!

The beautiful coast of Australia!

Sean has loved meeting people from all over the world! And they have loved him.

Sean's youngest baptism

He has loved and learned from each of his companions.

Adelaide, Australia temple

This has been an incredible journey for our family. I just five days I will be able to hug and hold Sean. I am so excited!! I get butterflies in my stomach every time I think about it. I have been dreaming of this day for a long time. Even before he left I have thought about what it would be like to have him come home. My heart is full!!

I express thanks to you, our wonderful family and friends who have come along on this journey with our family. You have been a great support to all of us. Thank you for your prayers and the interest you have taken in Sean. Your support has meant a lot to all of us. A big thank you to Melissa and Megan who have been such dedicated and devoted sisters to their brother and have sent emails each week to him and have been totally into his mission. Finally to my sweet Tim!! He has put up with me shoving him out of the way so I can read the emails first. Tim has written a letter and mailed a letter to Sean every week of his mission. In every letter he has quoted Joseph Smith and concluded each letter by writing... "Shall we not go on in so great of cause". I add my AMEN to that. We shall!! I love you all!!

The Marsden Family Makeover :)

2010-10-19T21:33:00.032-06:00

In January it will be fifteen years since we moved into our home in Pleasant View. I must admit it has been the fastest fifteen years of my life.

When Sean left on his mission, I determined that by the time he got back, I wanted to make a few changes. I figured we would get started sometime after our trip to England. Last May, I started to make my list of what I wanted to do. After making my list I decided there were so many things on the list, we better get started...and I am so glad we did.

The first thing we did was we replaced our old linoleum in our bathroom and we had new tile put in. I LOVE IT!! My bathroom feels like it is new again!! We also replaced the accent tiles around our bathtub and in our shower as well as in the kids bathroom. The tile setter removed the old caulk and put in new caulk to make everything clean and new. I also found new rugs and towels!

Have you ever seen the I Love Lucy episode when she wins new furniture and then she needs to repaint and paper since the new furniture makes the old paint look bad? Well, I can relate. So, the next thing that needed to be done was to paint the kids bathroom and hall. We made the mistake of painting the hall with semi-gloss paint (I will explain later) and so I wasn't so happy. However, I loved the paint color.

I forgot to note that even though tile was put in last June, the shopping and decision making began the month earlier. I am SLOW and detailed when it comes to picking out colors, furniture, tile etc...

Since Megan was getting ready to go to college and would soon need new bedding for her college dorm, I decided we would get new bedding for home, and she could take her old bedding to BYUI. What the heck...while we were at it we bought her a new mattress and a sleigh bed!

The first time I started seriously looking for living room furniture was in May. Since it had been a long time since I had been looking for living room furniture I was surprised at what I found. To be truthful, I was having a hard time finding anything that I liked for our living room. I found some things I liked for other homes, but where our living room is a more formal space, I wanted to go with more formal furniture. What I was finding is that much of what is out there is representative of the 70's and of a more casual nature. The more formal furniture...like wing back chairs etc...cost A LOT of $$$$ and could only be found at the higher scaled furniture stores.. However, thanks to some suggestions from Lesley, I decided to recover my wing back chairs and have pillows made to match a couch that I had already found.

Our furniture was delivered in August/September! The chairs were finished in August, and the couch came in September. This picture was taken after the furniture was delivered and before we painted. I put this picture in to show you my new painting and how it brings the room together. I found this painting in August and immediately fell in love with it. It is an original painting overlooking Jerusalem. It looks to me that the artist painted this picture from the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden on the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem. Orson Hyde is my Great Great Grandpa and he dedicated the Holy Land in 1841. The Orson Hyde Memorial Garden is right next to the Garden of Gethsemane. I spent many hours sitting in that garden over looking Jerusalem and still to this day I dream of being in that spot. So, when I saw this painting immediately tears came to my eyes; I'm not kiddin! Yes, that's right...right in the store I started to cry. When I looked at the price....the tears continued... it was a lot of $$$$! However it was on sale for $$$ and so I called Tim to ask him what he thought. He said he was just going into a meeting and he couldn't talk just then. But I thought to myself...I don't care...I am buying that (are you proud of me VicVic?) I justified it saying it could be my birthday and Christmas present this year and next. Luckily Tim loves the picture just as much as I do. Different times of day make this picture light up!

We had three daunting tasks on our "things to do list".

The first was to remove two fourteen year old trees from our yard that had died. The second was to fix our garage (another story) and the third was to paint our house. All equally difficult tasks, but the painting of our entry with its nearly twenty foot ceilings was something we were not looking forward to. We ended up hiring a professional painter to paint our entry way. We are still doing the happy dance and high fiving each other over our decision!

This is a picture of our entry way before we painted!

This is what our family room looked like before we painted!

This is the beginning of the painting prep and mess!!

Week one... we painted our pantry and our laundry room and the ceilings in both of those rooms as well as in the bathroom on the main floor.

Week two...I painted just the book shelves in the family room. I painted from 7:00 a.m. and finished at 9:00 p.m. While I was painting the book shelves, Tim worked on painting the ceilings in the kitchen, family room and hall way. Oh...and how can I forget...I painted the moldings and door frames throughout the main floor through the month of September :) I had painted the doors in July!

Week 3 began with prepping the family room kitchen and entry area. To help save $$$ we did the prep work for the painter who brought his two "little giant" ladders to reach the high ceiling. Each ladder cost him $800 so as you can see we were really equipment challenged.

Week three and four we continued on with the kitchen, main floor bathroom, family and living room. BTW, the bathroom is a different color as well as the ceiling and moldings being a different color. Then last Friday, Grandpa came to help!! He painted the ceiling from the entry way down the upstairs hallway and remember when I said I didn't like the semi-gloss on the hall upstairs. You got it...he repainted our hallway for us with satin (no more paint lines) and now I am happy :) Thanks Grandpa!

Finally at last...after four weeks of major work...Every afternoon and night and every Saturday along with Tim taking some time off of "work"...The painting was complete!!

Dutdadadu.....

The jury is still out whether we should keep the stenciling in the kitchen. So far those that have seen the finished product have given me a resounding YES!!

Can you picture it with my beautiful painting hung? Do you like my new rug? I love how the rug makes my hard wood floors pop out!

We can't hang our pictures for one week (we are waiting 10 days) because the we were told by the professional painting that the paint needs one week to cure before you hang pictures. After all that work, who wants to take a chance. It feels so good. My walls are painted, my blinds are clean, my windows are washed, my shelves are polished, my leather couches have been cleaned and conditioned, my kitchen cupboards have been cleaned... even behind my fridge there isn't a crumb...yet! And now it is time to work on decorating. Does it ever end?!

FYI

2010-10-08T12:06:00.002-06:00

I just thought I would report that ever since we have been painting our house, two squares of chocolate at lunch just doesn't cut it. I have needed to up it to a minimum of three squares, and even at that, some days three doesn't satisfy. So if I keep this up...there will be more of me to love :). I just finished my third square and I am looking for more. Any suggestions?

A NEW ADVENTURE

2010-09-07T12:42:00.008-06:00

Yesterday we took Megan to BYUI!! It was a BIG day for all of us.

It was the first time that Tim has been able to come with me to help move in one of our children as they have gone off to college. It was awesome having Tim there to pack the car. He is a master packer. It is like watching someone put a puzzle together. He does a fabulous job and he was able to fit everything in to our car. Megan has been working on packing up her room since we returned from our trip. Throughout the summer we spent time buying dishes and bedding etc...then throughout the week the shopping and preparations continued.

By about 8:15 a.m. the car was all pack and we were ready to go.

We began our drive to Rexburg, Idaho! We talked, listened to music, shed a few tears, laughed and took deep breaths as we were preparing to send our baby away. Again, it was a HUGE DAY for us. When we arrived in Rexburg, Megan went to check into her dorm and pick up a key. On our end, we were lucky enough to score a parking place right in front of her dorm. We all carried in boxes, clothes, towels, sheets, her "Grandma Bea quilt", I-dock, computer, shoes, dishes, cleaning supplies, food, more shoes, books, computer, coats, make-up, flat iron, iron, a laundry basket etc... We then spent a few minutes unpacking and meeting her roommates. We didn't have much time because we needed to go on campus to pick up her books (that is an expensive trip), get her "I card" and then to the grocery store to pick up the rest of the food she needed (an attempt was made to pick her up too) and eat a late lunch at Subway... on the go. We went back to the dorm and did some more unpacking and talking to roommates before Megan and her roommates were meet by their "I team" leader to take them to a special students meeting while we went to a parents meeting at 3:30 p.m. At 5:00 p.m. we were able to meet back up with Megan so we could finish unpacking. We stopped to get an ice cream at Dairy Queen, paused at the temple for a few minutes, and we picked up an Ethernet cord and set up her computer as well as help two other roommates that were having trouble setting up their computers.

By 7:30 p.m. it was time to say goodbye.

A few tears were shed on the ride home. Okay, quite a few...and it wasn't just me. However, I know without a doubt this is the right thing for Megan to do. I am SO proud of her. She has worked HARD. She has PREPARED herself well. She has been blessed with a wonderful scholarship! She is all grown-up, but she will always be my baby. Even Melissa called today freaking out that Megan had left the nest. All I can say now is this day came really fast.

When we arrived home close to 11:00 p.m., we found two letters placed on our pillows from Megan. It was a nice treat and surprise. We smiled, hugged and held each other tight and went to sleep.

Weber Warrior...Megan Marsden 2010!

2010-05-27T08:01:00.018-06:00

Kindergarten feels like it was just a few years ago...

A very wise person (Lesley) told me years ago... "just wait until your children reach high school that is where time starts to fly". Megan was just in elementary school when she told me that and I am here to tell you; Lesley is right. The time has flown by!! The above picture was taken in May of 2008 when Sean was graduating. Megan put on his graduation robes anticipating the day it would be her turn. It seems like yesterday I took that picture and now Megan's turn has come and gone.

Megan is now a Weber High alumni as of May 25th 2010!!

It has been a fabulous spring with many incredible experiences. We were blessed to take a "senior trip" with two of her best friends and the three moms. The six of us have all been friends for many years. When we first moved to Pleasant View, Megan meet both Aubree and Heidi and it was instant friendship. All three girls will be going to different Universities but I have no doubt they will be life long friends. We have had a tradition to go to lunch together just before Christmas since the three girls were in pre-school. We have not missed once and we plan to continue the tradition. Megan and Aubree Jones are already planning on going with ILP to Russia in January of 2012.

Megan, Aubree Jones & Heidi Olsen on Alcatraz Island.

We were all excited to meet a real 60's hippie on Sausalito! It was a wonderful trip for the beginning of the end of Megan's senior year.

Some of May's activities included a party given by the bishopric for the grads in our ward, a scholarship assembly where Megan received two different scholarships. She will be using one of them to attend BYUI this fall. A spring choir concert, baccalaureate where John Bytheway spoke, a Marsden family graduation party to celebrate graduation with her two cousins Taylor and Aubree (go 2010), seminary graduation, another party with the Jones & Olsen families and last but not least graduation! Megan received great support at her graduation from Melissa and Hannah who came from Las Vegas and from her grandparents for the big event. There were 540 other Weber High graduates in attendance. It was the best graduation ceremony I have ever attended.

Thanks to her Aunt Marivic who gave me the idea, I was able to compile letters of love and advice from the significant women of Megan's life. Megan loved the gift and has poured over the letters. Thanks for all of you who helped make this possible.

It was a great day and one for the memory books!!

Megan has made many good friends throughout her years at Weber High...From the cute boys to...

Many wonderful friends and experiences. Megan arrived home at 4:20 a.m. after celebrating with the Weber High class of 2010 at a graduation party at Toad's. You can imagine how happy I was to have her home safe and sound.

It has been one heck of a ride!! I love you Megan! Congratulations!! Now....WE HAVE ENGLAND & IRELAND TO LOOK FORWARD TOO!!

Random facts you may or may not know about me!

2010-05-06T20:34:00.007-06:00

I have decided that I do certain things that see perfectly normal to me, but seem to be strange and usual to others. So here are just a few random fact that you may or may not know about me.

I like to eat sandwiches. I most often have a sandwich at lunch. On any given day my sandwiches consists of anywhere between seven and ten ingredients. Recently one of Megan's friends came to our house and I made her a sandwich. She acted like she had never seen a sandwich before. You would have thought she was eating at a five star restaurant by her reaction to my sandwich.

Another unique thing about the sandwiches I eat is that 95% of the time, the top layer is lettuce not bread. This seems to be of great fascination to the students who come into class and see me finishing up my lunch. You may ask "why do you do that"...the answer is... because too much bread takes away the taste of the rest of the sandwich for me. It also leaves me feeling less guilty when I have my daily intake of two pieces of Symphony.

Now, I would guess that most of you know without a doubt that I love lemon in my water. When I go to school, I always take a plastic cup (because plastic tastes better than paper but when I am at home I think glass is the best) and I fill it with ice and two slices of lemon and water. For whatever reason, this practise causes great fascination among the students. It is very usual if I go a day without someone making a comment about my lemon ice water.

I love this time of year. I am so happy it getting close to planting flowers. I feel so happy when I am on a walk/run outside and I can hear the birds sing and I can smell the flowers as I go past. My soul feels renewed as I enjoy this beautiful world we live in.

One random fact is that I love to dig in the dirt. This has not always been the case with me. This has become an acquired passion. I have three neighbor girls that come over on a regular basis to help me in the yard. We talk to the plants and make sure they are well taken care of. We enjoy giving them "Georgia juice" (a fertilizer) and miracle grow too. I always end up getting really dirty and my neighbor girls don't. The girls don't like vegetables but they like helping me plant my garden. When I am by myself working in the yard, I often preach a sermon to myself. For instance when I am pulling weeds I may think about repentance.

I suppose we all do things that may be unusual to others but that helps make all of us unique. I like learning new things about different people. I have adapted many new things to my life because of it. Would you like to share something random you do?

100 DAY CHALLENGE

2010-04-06T10:00:00.018-06:00

At tithing settlement in December, our bishop, challenged each member of the ward to finish the Book of Mormon by April 10, 2010. As a family, we were already about half way through the Book of Mormon because we started reading out loud together on the first day of school and we figured out that we needed to read three pages every school day in order to finish by the time Megan graduated. However, we decided to take on the 100 day challenge in addition to our family reading. Tim, Meg & I decided to map out our individual plan to complete Bishop Woodfield's challenge. It wasn't too hard to decide what to do since the bishop had already given us a suggested schedule to follow according to how many chapters a day etc... Tim decided he was going to read the BOM in Portuguese. Megan decided she wanted to read just before she went to bed. I just knew I needed to keep on track so I didn't get behind. So, On January 1st, 2010, I started.

I would like to share a few experiences and things I have learned and re-learned this time while reading the Book of Mormon in 100 days. (I did finish a little early :)

My first experience happened while still in 1st Nephi. I exercise at 5:30 a.m. with five - seven other friends and many days the sister missionaries join us. Even though not all of the women I exercise with are in my ward, some of them had decided to take on the challenge. At exercise one morning, one of my friends (remember we exercise at 5:30 a.m...so often times we can be grumpy due to lack of sleep) commented on how she could really relate to Lamen and Lemuel. She said that she too would have been very annoyed if her YOUNGER brother was acting like he knew it all. The day she said that, just happened to be a day that the full time sisters had come to exercise with us, at the church too. They listened to her complaint along with the rest of us. A few days later, Sister Jordan and Sister Sutter came to exercise, and the first thing Sister Jordan said (in the very kindest voice) was "Sister Rawls (name changed) how is your attitude today?! I have been praying for you."

I have learned there is a lesson in this example. Much of what we learn is based upon where our attitude is. Are we prideful or are we humble and teachable? I have learned that when I am prideful, I don't learn very much if anything. Also when we rely upon our own strength and not the help of the Lord, we can only do so much. It is much better if we turn to the Lord for strength, for He can do all things for our good.

Another reoccurring theme and word that jumped out to me continuously throughout the entire Book of Mormon was the word contention. I don't think anyone would argue that we live in a very contentious world. One would be hard pressed to turn on the news, read the newspaper, and listen to talk radio or bring up MSN on the internet and not find a story that had some element contention. I have had to do a lot of introspection while reading. By nature, (we are taught a natural man/woman is an enemy to God) I can tend to be a feisty person. There is a difference in disagreeing and being disagreeable. As I have gotten older I have tried to remember that not every opinion needs to be shared...especially if it can hurt or injure another or even cause a wedge between a relationship. Last week, someone I know, was in a parking lot. Someone cut him off in the parking lot so he decided he needed to teach this person a lesson. He blocked the woman's car so he could show her he was mad. Then he got out of the car and kicked the side of her door while she was still sitting in the car and he was walking past. So as he proceeded to walk into the restaurant, she decided that she would drive forward going 5 mph and hit him with her car. At that point, a bystander had called the police and the police came. Then the police had to "break up" the yelling match and talk to both parties individually to get both sides of the story. What a mess!! This was all over a thoughtless act and the wasting of ten seconds. The Book of Mormon has been written for our time. Hearts have waxed cold and none of us have to go far to witness this. Pride and contention are two ugly twins that feed on each other. As in Moroni 9 we read; "they have lost their love one toward another."

Now, contrast that story with this example of charity, patience and long suffering. My sister Suzie and her husband Steve just took a dream vacation to the Virgin British Isles. They were gone for twelve days and had asked a relative and her husband along with their small children to live in their home and take care of five of their six children. The mom of the small children told Suzie that she would do all the meal planning and that she expected that Suzie's children NOT have any snacks after school. Even though Suzie thought this was an unrealistic rule to place in her own home, rather then put up a fuzz, Suzie figured since it was still her house and her children, rather than put of a fuss of this rule that belonged to this other mom she would hide some easy snacks (that don't make a mess) in a secret spot so that her children could still have access to food in their own home without making an additional mess for the other mom and causing the other mom's children to feel bad. One day, one of Suzie's children was not sneaky enough and this secret food stash was discovered by the mom that was caring for Suzie's children. This mom decided that she would take all of the food out of the stash and replace the food with dog food and left a note (that I don't think was too nice) inside with the dog food. Okay, I don't know about you, but I would have been bugged!! But not Suzie!! She took the higher road. She was generous to take into account that this mom had not yet had older children who are busy growing and get super hungry after eating school lunch at 10:50 a.m. and have a hard time waiting until 6:00 p.m. to eat anything. She did not feel angry or mad towards this person. Can you imagine what could have happened to relationships in this family if charity hadn't been applied? In Moroni 7:42 we read and charity suffereth long, and is KIND, and is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniqutiy but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. What a difference Suzie's actions made not only with her relative, but also the example she set for her children (and me).

Another reoccurring theme that seemed to jump out at me continually was the patience and love that Heavenly Father has for each of his children. Over and over again through out the BOM story after story demonstrates Heavenly Father's patience for His children.

I have often called 3 Nephi the dessert of the BOM. It is wonderful to read of the miracles and words of our Savior Jesus Christ as he appears after he was crucified. The words of comfort and hope and love rang powerfully to me.

I have really enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon. The Lord has been merciful to His children. He stands with his arms stretched out to each of us. The invitation is ours to come unto him.

As the words state in one of my favorite hymns "Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed, for I am thy God, and will still give thee aid; I'll strengthen thee, help thee and cause thee to stand, upheld my my righteous omnipotent hand.

I would like to bare my witness that the Book of Mormon is a divine witness of the Lord Jesus Christ in whom it testifies. I would also like to share one of my favorite scriptures with you. It is found in Heleman 5:12. And now, my sons (and daughters) remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when (not if) the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall!

I love you all!

Note: You don't have to be a blood relative to Grandpa Ditty to pound the pulpit!! And I admit, I am definitely a work in progress and I have a long way to go :)! Thanks for being patient with me and forgiving me along the way too!

I'd be crying right now if life wasn't eternal....

2010-03-13T18:39:00.007-07:00

This is what Tim said as Megan was getting ready for her last Prom!! The years have simply flown by and we don't know where they have gone. Our baby was just yesterday playing dress-ups and doll house.

In my opinion :) the pictures don't do justice to how beautiful Megan looked tonight.

So here's to eternity!!

Keeping up with the Marsden Family

2010-02-12T10:59:00.013-07:00

I got a scanner for Christmas. I have had a lot of fun with it and I now that I have one, I can't believe it took me so long to get one :). I have been working on a project for my family for the past several weeks. I decided that I would scan several pictures of our family, so that our children could have a copy of the pictures on a CD. We are so lucky to have the capability to share pictures with each other. I have gone through several pictures of Tim and I growing up, our wedding, and our extended family and our immediate family. I have mostly been focusing on pictures that will tell of story of our lives. I have also been taking the time to name and date each picture. Even though we live in a digital world, it was nice to be able to scan Megan's dance pictures from last Saturday to share those too.

Below are a few of the pictures that I am collecting for the CD. Any suggestions or ideas for this project are encouraged and welcomed!!

The Marsden family...was this 2003?

Tim & Megan

Tim (Isn't he hansome)

San Clemente 1991

My Mother's Day gift...they planted my garden

Israel 1981 (I am sitting down on the bottom left)

The year we got married - 1982

This was taken at a shower given to me by my Aunt Winn & Ann Jardine (Bardsley)

Where did the time go??

Heavy Heart turned Hopeful

2010-01-29T11:30:00.014-07:00

Warning...this blog contains very sad events

It has been a hard week :( I try to be happy and positive, but this week has been a heavy one. To make matters worse Tim has been gone to Atlanta all week and I have really missed him. The good news is he does get home tonight :).

My week started out with a meeting with a member of our Stake Presidency who had served his mission in Haiti. My heart has been turned to the devastation and destruction of that country. Our meeting was meant to be a fifteen minutes with the Stake Primary Presidency that turned into a two hour conversation on Haiti.

On Monday, I went to lunch with a dear friend of mine, Sharon Butterfield. I have known Sharon since high school, and I have always admired and looked up to her. She has always been a true friend to me. On December 19th, Sharon's twenty-two year old son Jordan committed suicide. It was a complete and total shock!! I didn't even know he had died until January 9th. Sharon sent me an e-mail of her husbands talk at Jordan's funeral. I quickly called Sharon to express my sympathy, but for whatever reason I could not bring myself to ask her how he died. It just didn't feel right over the phone. I had assumed it was a car accident since I knew his girlfriend had died the same day. We set up a time for lunch and so Monday we meet for lunch. My heart just broke as I listened to my dear friend talk about the circumstances surrounding Jordan's death. To make matters worse, Jordan's girlfriend Missy, found Jordan and committed suicide too. Missy's mom found both Jordan and Missy dead. Two beautiful healthy people making such a tragic choice. I have lost many hours of sleep over this sad event.

Then if that wasn't enough for one week, a forty-four year old man in the ward next to ours was playing basketball on Wed. night and he dropped dead during the game. The paramedics came, and tried to revive him for over twenty minutes, with no success. He leaves behind a beautiful wife and three beautiful children. Their oldest child is fourteen years old and is severely handicapped and too heavy for her mom to lift. Our community is mourning the loss of this man.

Last night I came home from a church meeting. Because of the time zone and our schedules Tim and I hadn't been able to talk. All I wanted to do was to hold him and never let go. I was very grateful Megan was at home and I was able to give her a big hug and talk to her. I was also grateful to know that Adam, Melissa and Hannah were all safe at home in Vegas and had each other to cling too. But I still had a BIG black cloud following me. I was feeling very anxious about not having all my family home with me. At 10:00 p.m. I e-mail the mission home and asked them to reassure me that Sean was safe and all was well. I did not want to have to wait until Sunday night to know he was safe. This is the first time I have done something like this. I told them and I am telling you, I don't want Sean to know I did this because I don't want to worry him because I know he would be concerned about me. I knew it was a moment of temporary insanity, but I just needed that comfort. At midnight I woke up to check my e-mail and thankfully I had received an e-mail from Sister Poulton (the mission President's wife) reassuring me that all was well with Elder Marsden and she described him as a "magnificent Elder who is engaged in the work and performing his duties wonderfully."

When I climb back into bed the words from John 14:27 came to my mind. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

My friend Sharon told me that two weeks after Jordan died she did a sharing time in Primary( Sharon is currently the Primary President in her ward). She sat in front of the children with a blanket wrapped around her. She told the children that she felt as though she was being wrapped in the love of the Savior. She said all of the children were silent and listened carefully to what she had to say.

So, amidst the difficult week I have had, I have thought a great deal of the importance of turning and trusting in the Lord no matter what happens to us. When we turn to the Lord we CAN find peace, joy and happiness.

I love all of you and I am grateful for all of you. We must all remember and never forget...
"that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. Helaman 5:12.

One year ago today!!!!

2010-01-21T11:19:00.018-07:00

That is right!! On January 21st 2009, Elder Sean Marsden entered the MTC!! I can't believe it has been one year. I can truly say it has gone by fast. I can also say it does feel good to be at this point. I clearly remember how my heart felt one year ago tonight. However, I wouldn't trade this last year for anything. It has been a great ride for me. I feel great joy each and every day and I thank my Heavenly Father for Sean and for his decision to serve a mission. He is happy! He has done a fantastic job at communicating with us and sharing his mission with us. There has not been one week that has gone by that we haven't received an e-mail from him. We have also been blessed with several tapes and written letters. He has done a great job at sharing his experiences with us and answering any questions I have for him.

Every Sunday night is an event at our house as we wait for his e-mail to come. You may remember that when the first e-mail from Australia came, I pushed Tim right out of the way so that I could get to it first. Tim has graciously stepped aside each week to let me at it first. Elder Marsden sends his weekly e-mail to the family (immediate & extended) and then sends a few sentences to Tim, Melissa & Megan & I each week either answering questions or commenting on our e-mail. I truly feel like I get to "talk" to him each week as I write and he writes back.

So today I am celebrating!! I'm not just celebrating that it has been one year. I am also celebrating what a great experience this has been. I look forward to this next year too...more e-mails, phone calls, pictures & letters!! I plan to cherish this time as I do look forward to January 2011!

Last year....January 21, 2009

Post inspired by Lilian!!

2010-01-13T13:51:00.006-07:00

It dawned on me that out of Tim's siblings, we will be the first family to have all of our children finished with high school. Archie and Julee will follow about one week later as Aubree will graduate. To tell you the truth, the time has gone way too fast, and I don't know if I am ready to be at this stage of life. However, because of Lilian and her post, I am starting to recognize a few things I will not miss. In the past few days I am realizing...no more SEOP's, no more Federal Survey Cards & my personal favorite...NO MORE ACT test!!!

I have gained a very unique perspective of the school system. I have now substitute taught for about eight years. The first few years it was here and there, but the last several years, I have taught an average of 3 times per week. My favorite place to teach is at Weber High School and I am there most of the time. I even made the yearbook!! However, I also sub at North Ogden Jr. High and Orion Jr. High and I enjoy the diversion and change. Jr. High is a very very unique time in life. I have labeled this time of life "caught in the middle of in between". It is almost like a human zoo watching the different ages and stages of development. I say that with the utmost of love and concern for the students and this time of life.

I take what I do seriously. I strive to watch out for the students and often times I feel like I have a "grandma roll". Let me explain. I don't have the responsibility for the students that the teacher does, but I have the opportunity to watch out for and help and lift those I come in contact with. All three of my children have been shocked at times when we have been at the store and a "druggy" comes up to say "hi" to me. I have had countless conversations with countless students about countless experiences and trials they are facing. To be very honest, many of "those students" (students that don't always fit in) have been among my favorites. A lot are ignored by the happy successful students, and they need a friend. It is amazing how many students can go throughout an entire day without one person smiling at them, let alone saying "hi". On a number of occasions Sean has encouraged me to become a psychiatrist! All three of our children have been very generous to me by not being too embarrassed at having me at their school.

Generally speaking I usually prefer having to discipline boys to girls. This is especially true for the jr. high set. The reason for this is if I have to be strict or discipline someone, boys generally "forgive" my strict discipline or reprimand. Girls however will oft times hold it against me for months...not so much in high school, but for sure in jr. high. It is a very rare occasion I have to do any disciplining in high school. If I do, I usually start by saying something like "please don't force me to treat you like you are in jr. high". That comment is enough to stop the unwanted behavior.

I love how each time I go to school my day is very different. I often time don't know what to expect that day, and so I don't get bored. The teachers at Weber know I can bluff my way through most any PowerPoint, so I do a lot of that and I enjoy learning along with the students. Sometimes the teachers send me home with homework to prepare for taking their class. One time I taught a gym class and ended up telling some of the students they were a bunch of wimps and even I could beat them. Recently I was teaching a class called Adult Roles.
The teacher had arranged for a guest lecturer to come and talk about date rape. He brought a PowerPoint presentation and I felt like he was showing something that was too graphic. I could feel and sense how uncomfortable it was making the students. I reached right over to the computer and pushed stop on his presentation. I told him it was too graphic and he needed to move on. Tim told me "you are like BATMAN" (quote from Seinfeld). I have been known on several occasions to stop in the middle of class when an appropriate occasion arises and say something like "okay its time for a life lesson now", and then proceed to tell a story or experience that I feel will benefit the students for life. I have laughed so hard at times that tears have run down my face and I have cried as I have listened to heartache and shared life experiences with the students and said my goodbye to the seniors as they move on.

I'm trying to decide if it is time for me to graduate in May or not. Right now I am just taking a day at a time and hoping that I will know when it is my time to graduate. I have a greater appreciation for teachers and administrators. The system is not perfect, but in general there is still a lot of good out there. I do feel a love for the students and they have taught me many life lessons too. I have a much greater compassion for growing up. It isn't easy out there.

POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE... (Guest Blogger: Tim Marsden)

2009-12-15T09:15:00.013-07:00

Today Melissa will graduate from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She will formally accept her diploma and forevermore be listed in the annals of UNLV as an alumnus of the University. I am so proud of Melissa and I am impressed with her tenacity and determination. I am not surprised at all by this accomplishment but I am so thankful for it. When Adam and I had a talk before their engagement (nearly four years ago) I told him that it was very important to Margie and me that Melissa finish school. He assured me that it was also very important to him. I appreciate Adam’s love and support for my daughter as she fulfills not only her dreams but mine as well.

Melissa has always been a very smart girl from the very beginning. On her first birthday Margie and I made a list of words that she knew; we wrote down over 100 words and did not complete the list. She was very bright and learned things you didn’t even know she had learned. For example, when we woke up on Christmas morning of 1986 (she was 14 months old) we walked into Melissa’s room to see if she was awake. She was standing in her crib and when she saw us she exclaimed “Tanta, ho ho.”

She has always loved books. When she was in elementary school I began reading Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to her each year. It is not an easy book for a child (even for many adults) to read. I always tried to make it fun by doing the voices of all the characters. Many times we took turns reading but I think she liked it most when I read to her. This weekend she sent me a text of a photo of her reading the book to Hannah, carrying on the tradition.

I never let an opportunity to teach Melissa go by. When she was two years old we were driving to Salt Lake on a Sunday afternoon to visit Margie’s parents. We had our friends’ daughter with us (they were out of town) and she was about 2 or 3 months older than Melissa. As we drove by the refinery in North Salt Lake flame was shooting out of one of the stacks. This little girl said “fire burn.” We said “yes that’s right.” Then she said “like Abinadi.” We looked at each other absolutely stunned. Not to be outdone by our friends, on my lunch hour the next day I walked to Deseret Book and bought the “Book of Mormon Reader.” That night Melissa and I sat down to read about Abinadi.

I love you Melissa!! What you have accomplished has required discipline, dedication, sacrifice, determination, patience, faith, perseverance, intelligence, humility, and a lot of mental toughness. Today is the formal recognition of your achievement. There will be a lot of pomp and circumstance (as well there should be). Drink it in and soak it up; today is your day to stand up and be recognized.

Don’t ever forget the very first word you learned…. “Daddy.”

CALLED TO SERVE HIM...

2009-11-15T18:47:00.004-07:00

Elder Marsden in front of the Adelaide, Australia temple...November 2009
Sean turns twenty years old today...that is if you live in Australia. It never fails that every day and of course every year when Sean's birthday comes around I can't help but thank my Heavenly Father for the blessing of Sean.

Over twenty years ago when I was pregnant with Sean, I started to develop some serious problems. The doctor told me I had a severe tear in the placenta. I was threatening to miscarry Sean. I was devastated and discouraged. Previous to Sean's birth I had suffered multiple miscarriages and things felt hopeless to me. I can very vividly remember where I was and when it was when uttered a fervent plea and started to bargain with Heavenly Father that if he would allow me to have this baby, I would do everything in my power to raise that child up to Him. I continued that prayer throughout my pregnancy and when Sean was born at 6:06 p.m. on November 16, Dr. Steele showed me the miracle of the scar tissue that had formed to strengthen and save Sean's life. I remember the Dr. being very surprised by the miracle. He was not my regular Dr. that delivered Sean because Sean had decided to make a quick entrance into this world.

We had two names picked out while I was still pregnant. The deciding factor for me to choose the name Sean was when I learned that Sean means "God is gracious." My joy is very full this day as I know God is gracious and I am thankful for Sean. I am thankful Sean is serving on a mission. I am grateful he is happy. I am grateful that he is where he is and is doing what he is doing these 20+ years later after my plea to a loving Heavenly Father who answered my prayer.

P.S. I love all of you too, and I so appreciate all the support and prayers in Elder Marsden's behalf!

Happy Birthday Carly!!

2009-11-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

I am not trying to make Carly feel uncomfortable or putting any pressure on her, because she is Sean's "friend", but hey, Carly is my friend too. I don't know what is ahead in the future and I realize that this could potentially be an awkward post, but I hope by now Carly knows me well enough and knows my heart is trying to be in the right place.

I just wanted to tell you a little more about this wonderful friend that has not only been a good influence on Sean, but has also been a good example to me.

The first time I remember meeting Carly was in a class at Weber High. I was subbing her class and I had heard about her from a friend of mine (Suzanne M) that knew her dad when they were in high school. My first impression of Carly was how friendly she was. I noticed her around school and noticed how kind and friendly she was to everyone. Then at the beginning of Sean's senior year, he had a short list of girls he wanted to ask to Homecoming. Carly was on his list. He ended up asking someone else, but by the time Homecoming came around, I think he was wishing Carly was the one he was taking. Carly was a senior class officer at Weber. At the homecoming assembly she involved the assembly and was on the gym floor and Sean was up in the audience and I had the opportunity of being a fly on the wall. I watched the two of them flirt with each other as though they were the only two in a room of 2,000. Neither of them were aware I was looking on. From that moment she had caught my attention, because I knew she had caught Sean's attention. By Halloween, Carly had asked Sean to the Halloween girls dance. I was now paying close attention. But then somehow, I felt like I started to develop a friendship with Carly. She was always very friendly with me at school and I knew she had a good reputation among not just the students but the teachers.

Carly is a good example of the scripture in 1 Timothy 4:12... "but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." Carly is the type of person that always sees the good in others. She is kind in her conversation and carefully chose her words. When Sean and Carly were seniors, it was obvious to me that Weber High had elected the right person to be an officer. It was not a popularity contest, but she was someone to serve and represent. It was at that point I noticed how charitable Carly was. She was good to reach out to help and be kind. As I write this post, she is in Mexico (like our Ammanda in China and our Melissa in Russia) serving young school children and teaching them. When Sean took Carly to Prom their Senior Year, I was so grateful to see her in her beautiful modest Prom dress. She looked like a Princess.

But I have to tell you, I personally have so appreciated her example and support of being just the type of young woman to encourage Elder Marsden in his decision to serve a mission and be a missionary. I have not taken this lightly. She has kept a smile on her face and has given Sean great encouragement with his mission. It is what she has wanted for him too.

I was talking with an old (she is my age lol) friend of mine yesterday and she was telling me about her son that just left for the MTC. She went on and on about how glad she was that her son didn't have a girl writing to him and how awful that would be. She didn't know about Sean and Carly. I just listened to her and then she was embarrassed and tried to back pedal as she remembered that I wrote to Tim when he was on his mission. I am the first to admit, that girls can be a big distraction to boys!! However, Carly has tried to do her part in helping keep Sean focused. She has been supportive of Sean in every way. I appreciate how anxious she is for Sean to keep all the mission rules and doesn't try to distract or tempt him to break rules.

A few other things that impress me about Carly is she is a very smart girl. She is on an academic scholarship at BYU-I. She is a hard worker and is not afraid to work. She is thoughtful of others and she is not afraid to have her own opinion. She is not afraid to try new things. She has high goals and aspirations. Carly...I think you are great and I hope you have a very Happy Birthday!!

I am overwhelmed with gratitude!!

2009-10-27T13:03:00.011-06:00

Thank you all so much for your love and support in writing Christmas letters to Elder Sean Marsden!! I have assembled the package and I will be sending it in the morning. I counted up the letters that he will receive from all of us and it came to a grand total of 38!! What a special Christmas this will make for him. All four of Sean's grandparents and all ten of Sean's Aunts & Uncles FAMILIES (Mike & Lesley, Archie & Julee, Alan & Marivic, Lilian & Cory, David & Chris, Kathy, Stephen & Colleen, Karen & Jeff, Rich & Margaret and Suzie & Steve) participated in sending love. Not one family was left unrepresented. To me that is amazing!! As the years pass, my appreciation increases as I become more and more aware of how supportive our family is.

In Sean's package I included 92 printed pages of "Family Feature Friday" that Lesley has so generously given to our family for the past seven months. What a family builder that has been for all of us to learn more about each other and strengthen our family. Way to go Les!!

I can not imagine a more memorable Christmas than this will be for Sean. You will all be a part of that memory for him.

My most memorable holiday was a Thanksgiving that I spent on a train in Egypt. Meanwhile, all those miles away, my future mother-in-law, was running all over town looking for pickled onions because she knew I would be thinking about them having pickled onions while I was away.

I want all of you to know at this time of Thanksgiving (almost) how much I love each of you. You do inspire me to be a better person. I am so glad that I have the blessing to go through life and the eternities with each of you!! I love you all!!

All those hours of watching James Bond finally paid off...

2009-10-23T12:59:00.007-06:00

I don't know if you know this about me, but I can be a very impatient person. I have been dying to know where in the world Elder Marsden is since he was transferred on Sunday/Monday. So what do you do when you don't want to wait? Follow the money trail!! I figured he might have to get money out since he was in a new area. So, I looked in his bank account, and sure enough...he is in Sefton Park. It is about 4 miles North of Adelaide. When I sent a text to Tim to let him know...he responded...very good Money Penny.

I hope you all will still come to visit!

2009-10-23T11:31:00.004-06:00

I hope I did this correctly. I have sent the "invitations" out to view my blog. I know it is a little bit harder to go to a private blog, but I hope you will come. I'm not sure if I will appear on Melissa's or Marivic blog roll when I post or not. Does anyone know if it will? When I first started to blog, I wasn't as blog savvy as the rest of you and I posted our last name, I talked about Pleasant View and Weber High etc... So instead of deleting posts, trying to be careful not to name names etc... I just feel more comfortable being private. I am going to try to be a little bit more consistent in posting too. I love to visit all of your blogs and get updated on what is going on in your life. What a talented family we have. You amaze me!! I love you all!!

Because I am officially creeped out....

2009-10-09T09:16:00.004-06:00

I have decided to go to a private blog. Recently someone I love very much was featured on a blog. A comment was left (not a rude comment) but a comment by someone half way across the world. I was creeped out. Because of this reason, I will soon go private and I will send an invitation to those of you who are on my side bar. If I know you and you would like an invitation please let me know and I will send you one. I blog to connect to family and friends, not to be peeped at by people I don't even know.

Are you planning on having Megan home by 9:30?

2009-09-26T21:41:00.019-06:00

These are the words that Tim said to Megan's date as he picked her up!! Poor boy!!

Megan's dates words were "You look amazing!!"

And I agreed!!

Photo opportunity before he came...

I will have to post pictures after he came. We took pictures of the two together in the family room, the lighting wasn't so good!! I will try to fix them...later. But he did do one smart thing I haven't seen before. He brought his own small pocket camera so we could take pictures for his mom. He also told me he took pictures of the day activity (they went to the top of the tram at Snowbasin for a picnic and hike) and he said he would e-mail them to me. Having been a mom of a son...sometimes we miss out...unless we are as lucky at Lilian and have her abilities and talent to take pictures!! Go Lilian!!

"See that girl, watch that scene, yesterday she was seventeen"

2009-09-15T09:24:00.014-06:00

I can't believe that Megan is turning 18 years old today!! The years have flown by and now my baby is 18!! There is just something about 18 that sounds grown up to me. Last night we danced to "Dancing Queen" to say goodbye to seventeen! Yes, I rocked out, but the whole time I was dancing, I was trying to hold back my tears. Megan is an amazing daughter. She was born with an mature spirit...and has basically raised herself. My life has been greatly blessed because of her. Megan reminds me of that saying "still waters that run deep." She doesn't strive to bring attention to herself, she just strives to be her best self. Here are eighteen things I love about Megan.

1. Megan is kind and is very thoughtful!! I can not remember one time in her life that she has ever raised her voice or talked back to me. She is very sensitive to my feelings and has always been respectful of me.

2. She is a peacemaker! When our children were all in the home and growing up, I would always try to put Megan in between Melissa and Sean in the car and at meal times. For whatever reason just having Megan in the middle brought peace in the family.

3. She is gracious and full of gratitude - Megan has the best manners! She always thanks me for everything I do from making dinner to driving her somewhere. It doesn't matter what it is she is fantastic at showing appreciation. She is also great at saying please too!!

4. Megan is obedient - I can always trust that Megan will be home when she says she will. She is very good to follow through on what she says she will do. She has earned my trust. Whenever I make a job list (which is often) I know I can just leave it for Megan and she will complete it without me having to remind her.

5. She is a very diligent student!! I never have to worry about Megan doing her personal best. She is a hard working student and I don't ever have to remind her to do her homework or study for a test...in fact sometimes I have to tell her to just relax!

6. She has a great sense of humor!! When we were driving home from Las Vegas after Hannah was born I suggested that we stopped by Kolob canyon on the way home for a little extended drive. I knew Tim had always wanted to go, but I also know Megan had plans with her friends when we got home. I brought it up to both of them, and not wanted to disappoint her dad, but yet wanting to get home, she said "If we can hie to Kolob in a twinkling of an eye...I'm in." Her humor paid off and we went home, but we are planning to "hie to Kolob" canyon on the way down to Hannah's blessing!

7. She has passion for life!! She loves good books, travel, going places, music and the list could go on and on!!

8. She always smiles at me and tells me she loves me and she makes me feel loved!!

9. She is picky when it comes boys and she has to be pretty impressed with them to give the her attention...but she doesn't come off as a snob...she just doesn't lead them on.

10. She is great at organizing her time.

11. She is quick to respond and obey. I don't even know if Megan realizes this but ever since she was a little girl, whenever I call her, she would RUN to come see what I need. This still happens a lot of the time. When I am downstairs and she is up, I call "Megan" and I wait to hear her footsteps running...not walking to see what I need.

12. She is adventurous!! She loves to go!! Even when she was little she would rather be on the go than stay home. She never minded even going to the grocery store or whatever the errand was. I remember taking her to things most moms would leave their children home for because they wouldn't be able to sit through it, but not Megan, she wanted to go. When she was really little (I'm thinking about 5 years old) she went to go see "Gone with the Wind" with Melissa and I in the theater because she didn't want to miss out. She cried at the end...not because she was fussy or sad, it was because she was touched by the movie.

13. She is creative. Megan is a fantastic writer. She writes for the Weber High School newspaper and she is extremely talented.

14. Megan is a good friend. She has been blessed to be surrounded by many friends her entire life.

15. Megan is not a critical person. She talks kind about others and looks for the best in others.

16. She is a devoted sister to both Melissa and Sean. She is lucky to have them because they have always taken really good care of her, and they are lucky to have her as their sister. She is very thoughtful and loving to them. She is also so happy to be an aunt to Hannah.

17. She is a valiant young women. She strives to maintain high standards in word and deed.

18. She is emotionally even, She is not a moody or difficult girl. I don't have to worry about what I will find when Megan comes home from school.

I could go on and on, but I will be grateful that for now Megan isn't older than 18!! Megan is a treasure to me. Being my baby, she is my dessert in life. Anyone who knows me knows that I love dessert. And I love Megan!! Happy Birthday Megs!!

Please feel free to share any memories of Megan too!!

Happy Birthday Margie Ann Marsden!!!

2009-09-03T22:58:00.005-06:00

Blog by Timothy Marsden

I often tell the story that when I was getting ready to ask Margie to marry me I did not go to the Lord in prayer. In spite of the counsel from seminary teachers and young men leaders alike, I did not pray about whether or not Margie was the right one for me. There was no way I was going to give Heavenly Father a chance to tell me no. Now all of these years later she was the best answer to a prayer that was never uttered.

I love Margie with all of my heart and soul. In fact, she is my soul mate. Someone once joked and said “Man without woman is incomplete; then he gets married and he is finished.” I always thought that saying was a bit funny. But the reality is that Margie does indeed make me complete. I would not be the person I am today without her. She has always encouraged me and always believed in me. Her influence in my life cannot be measured; I will be forever grateful for her faith in me and her kindness towards me.

Margie is an incredible mom to our three great children. She has always sacrificed so much of herself and her time and her needs in order to nurture and care for our kids. Margie rarely took the time to read fascinating novels or the latest best seller. She has spent as much time as possible reading and it was usually a parenting book or a self-improvement book or the Ensign or the scriptures.

Margie is a woman of great faith and devotion to her Savior. She is diligent in the execution of her church callings and is always looking to lift and help others. She is a well organized homemaker and spends most of her free time doing something for the benefit of somebody other than herself. She spent hours and hours researching schools and scholarships and in other pursuits in order to be a good counselor for our college bound kids; she even did that for me back when I was contemplating college in 1979.

Here are a few of the reasons that I love Margie so much:

She has a fun sense of humor
Her laugh is infectious
She screams in movies (at home or at the theater) when she gets scared
She builds me up constantly
Her trademark foreign accents leave me in stitches
She forgives me
She inspires me
She is a fantastic cook
Let’s face it, she’s gorgeous
Her selflessness
Her fierce devotion to her children
She is very playful
I love how she listens to me
Her dedication to relationships
Her sense of adventure
Her humility

I love you Margie Ann!!! Have a great Birthday.

Love,

Tim xoxoxox

Can I still be in the family if I don't blog regularly???

2009-08-17T16:28:00.030-06:00

This summer has been a busy one!! The picture above was taken on the last day of school.

The next day, I gave a wedding shower for my wonderful adopted niece Dani Crouch.

Then the trips began. Tim and I were gone for 37 days between June 4th and August 4th!! We went on five different trips. Our trips together were California, Atlanta, Snowbird (Tim was in Wisconsin during Snowbird), Island Park and Las Vegas. Megan has been gone 50 days!! Besides the trips she went on with us she went on a Road Trip to Boise, Youth Conference, Girls Camp and Bear Lake!!

So, I thought maybe I could do a quick summary of our families summer and make up for lost blog time. Included are a few of our family highlights this summer...

California was wonderful!! What more can I say...that hasn't already been blogged about??!!

Road Trip to Boise (remember my phone call..."Could I speak to either the mother or father of Megan Marsden?"

Megan on the porch of a Southern Plantation in Roswell, Georgia!!

Megan at the worlds largest aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Forth of July party in Pleasant View, Utah

Tim was the M.C. at our Stake Patriotic Program...

Harry Potter midnight showing....

Caitlin married Richard on July 18, 2009...

Meanwhile in Darwin Australia....things are hopping for Elder Marsden!!

And back at the Ranch...in Island Park...we spent a week playing and anxiously anticipating the biggest event of the summer!!

The crowning event for our family occured on July 27th at 10:28 p.m. when Hannah Elizabeth Turney came to join the fun!!

My baby girl had her baby girl!!

And we became Grandparents!!

After spending 8 days with Hannah...

Megan continued her summer at Bear Lake with one group of friends, and then spent two days in Provo with another group of friends...

And then hiked to the top of Ben Lomond with Tim...a total of 16 miles!!

So that pretty much brings you up to date. The last big event of the summer will be my nephew Rich's wedding to Natalie on Friday August 21st. School starts on Monday the 24th!! It has been a wonderful and busy summer, and I wish I could do it all over again.

I'm in LOVE!!!

2009-07-30T17:04:00.005-06:00

Melissa is always faster than I am!! I realize she has already posted pictures and blogged about the big event!! However, I am the grandma, and I need to have my own post...from my perspective. So read on if you don't mind hearing me gush.

On Monday morning Melissa called me to let me know that she had started having some contractions. I hurry and packed the car. I had a lot to do because Tim and Megan and I had arrived home on Sunday night after being at the cabin for the week. Tim had a flight to Atlanta on Monday and I was planning on one day to do laundry, and prepare to leave. So after talking to Melissa I kicked it into fast gear to get prepared. Just after 3:00 p.m. I talked to Melissa and she said that her contractions were getting so she could time them. I was exhausted and worried about making the seven hour drive without resting first. I told her I would run to the bank and then lay down for 30 minutes and we would leave by 4:00 p.m. if things were still progressing. I figured with Hannah being her first baby, we would have at least a 12 hour window of time By the time we walked out the door it was 4:19 and we had one stop to make, so we were on the road by 4:24. Melissa and Adam hadn't gone to the hospital yet, so we didn't know if we had jumped the gun or not. By the time we were at about Draper, they were headed for the hospital. Our drive to Vegas went by really fast!! Megan and I didn't dare stop. We kept receiving updates from Adam and things were progressing along. We talked to Melissa a couple of times too and she sounded great. Each time we talked to them, my speed increased. I know I caught myself going around 95 mph a few times, even though I tried to stay around 83 mph. I was also a little worried about finding the hospital and was a little worried that it was on the south part of Las Vegas. As we drove into Vegas, Tim was on the phone and computer in Atlanta at 1:00 a.m. (Atlanta time) guiding us to the hospital. Melissa had let us know it was getting really close. She told us we needed to go into the emergency entrance and have them buzz us into the elevator to head to the second floor. We went running into the emergency entrance and I told them that my daughter was giving birth and I needed to get to the room immediately. They quickly showed me the way to the delivery room. I walked into the room at 10:15 p.m. (Las Vegas time) and Hannah was born at 10:28. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life to watch my daughter bring her daughter into this world. It was HEAVENLY!!

Hannah is a beautiful girl. She is so sweet and I can feel of her spirit in an incredible way. It is a miracle and I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to witness this miracle.

I found out one reason why everyone tells me it is great being a grandma. Last night before I went to bed I told Melissa and Adam to wake me up for the "night shift" with Hannah. When I woke up eight hours later, I thought to myself "Wow, Hannah must of slept really well last night and they didn't need my help." About 20 minutes later Adam and Melissa woke up said that they had slept about three hours. So today, I got to be on the day shift and I was able to hold and love Hannah while they took a nap. I LOVE the day shift. I guess day shifts are for GRANDMA'S. Megan and I took turns holding Hannah for three hours and played dress-up with Hannah. It was fun!! I think Hannah liked it too. She didn't fuss once!!

Tonight I think we might do a photo shoot with Hannah. I would recommend being a grandma!!
Stay turn for more pictures...I don't have my cord for my camera so my pictures will have to come later.

VAMPIRES SUCK: a blog by Megan

2009-07-07T10:19:00.006-06:00

Over the years, Literature has had a huge impact on the American Tradition. From Margaret Mitchell's 'Scarlett O'Hara' to Louisa May Alcott's 'Jo March', women have looked up to these strong female characters. Now, in the twenty first century, mothers wonder "Who can my daughter look to for a role model in books these days?!" Well, have no fear ladies. Bella Swan is here. There's nothing more heroic than droning on for pages and pages about Edward's "shimmering stony chest" or how she is "completely and utterly, totally and magnificently, wholly, IRREVOCABLY in love with him!" Now, I'm not saying we can't enjoy a little bit of romance now and again, but how romantic is it really? From what I understand (and yes, I have read all four books), is that Bella fell in love with Edward for his irresistible looks, and Edward simply thought Bella smelled tasty. Hmmm......that's...cute? Then again, I guess, Edward DOES sparkle! I forgot about that manly characteristic of his. It's a wonder to me that Stephenie Meyer could write four whole books on all of this. I mean, I guess all those fancy adjectives and descriptions of shallow attributes WOULD take up a lot of space, and she had to fit in the actual storyline. Personally this is what I would have preferred. "Once upon a time there was a clumsy girl who smelled good named Bella. She moved in with her dad, and met a hot guy she fell irrevocably in love with in a short amount of time. Later on she found out he was a vampire, and barely escaped death by his evil nemesis. He left her for awhile so she could be "safe", but his plan failed seeing as she tried committing suicide without him. They were later married after she escaped the "Vulturi", the most evil vamps, and Victoria, whom had tried seeking revenge for her lover after Edward had killed him. They were married, had a child who tried to destroy Bella from the inside, and whom was the victim of a pedophile by Bella's best friend/werewolf Jacob. After pages and pages of plan for attack, they gained victory on the Vulturi with no major character deaths, and with really no emotional impact on the reader of the series. THE END" Okay, so I exaggerated a bit, but I really think this sums up the entire series, give or take a few stony chests. I guess the part about Edward being a vampire was a big shocker, especially when Meyer plastered "First Edward was a vampire" on the back cover of the book. Go Figure. And last but CERTAINLY not least, is Edward really that great? He may be good looking (and don't forget that stony chest!) but he's one hundred and eight and hasn't had ANY relationships. You'd think he'd at least have dated a few girls before finding his true "soul" mate. Or do vampires have souls? I mean, it's pretty obvious he has no personality. I think us girls need to give the guys a break. Do we really want our perfect Edward? Pale, pale white, copper eyes that turn red when their hungry, sparkling in the sun and that 'crooked' smile? I'd rather take Aunt Lilian's advice and dream of David Beckham.;) Now, don't take offense to this post. Yes, I know it's a popular series and Stephenie Meyer made a lot of money from millions of fans. I mean, I admit, I HAVE read them. (although I do not own any) But next time you pick it up for a bit of light reading, remember, you are about to venture into a creepy, and poorly written version of a thirteen year old girls Diary. :)

The BEST decision I have ever made...

2009-07-01T11:26:00.004-06:00

Last night I had a little High School reunion with a group friends I went to High School with. We were all catching up over our lives the past 30 years and when it came to my turn to tell about what had happened to me since High School, I started by saying the best decision I have made in my life was to marry Tim. It is so true!! To be able to marry the right person, in the right place, at the right time has blessed my life tremendously!!

Today we are celebrating Tim's 48th birthday!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone since it feels like yesterday it was his 16th birthday and I dropped a cake off at his house :). We have now been married for 26 1/2 years. I'm so grateful to have Tim as my husband. He means the world to me!! He is also the ultimate family man. He is adored and respected our children. I'm am so grateful for all of his hard work and the effort he puts forth for our family.

Tim has always done a wonderful job to preside over our family in love and righteousness and does he does great job to provide and protect our family. He strives to do whatever is best for each of us. Many years ago, when Sean was a young boy, we were on a trip to St. George. We stopped to get some food and Tim was getting ready to order and turned to the kids to ask what they wanted. Sean decided he was going to order the exact same thing that his dad ordered. A Double Cheeseburger, large fries, and a Dr. Pepper. Tim was surprised to hear Sean say he wanted a Dr. Pepper. Tim said to Sean, "Dr. Pepper isn't good for you Sean." Then Sean replied, "why can you drink it dad?" Tim replied, "It is not good for me either Sean, and from now on, I promise you I will not drink Dr. Pepper." That has been about thirteen years ago, and Tim has not had a Dr. Pepper since. Keeping a promise to his son, and setting an example for him was more important to Tim then his favorite drink. This is just one of many examples of how Tim strives to do what is best for his family.

I hope it is a very Happy Birthday Tim!!! I'm so glad I am blessed to have you as my husband.

I have finally stopped shaking!!

2009-06-19T15:48:00.005-06:00

Just a quick post to tell you about an experience I had earlier this week. After much prayer and deliberation, Tim and I said "yes" to Megan to go with some friends on a "road trip" to Caldwell, Idaho. Caldwell is about a 5 1/2 hour drive and is past Boise!! One of Megan's good friends just graduated and the girls cooked up this idea for five girls to drive to Caldwell for three days for a little summer fun...BY THEMSELVES!!!! We even got together a couple of months ago at our house to have dinner and a little parents meeting to talk about it. One of the parents refused from the get go to let her daughter go, and there was no changing her mind. The other four parents decided it would be a good opportunity for these girls to have a little experience on their own. Hailey (the girl who just graduated) grew up in Caldwell and moved to Pleasant View 3 years ago. She wanted to take her Pleasant View friends to hang out with her Caldwell friends. Megan had her own motivation. Last year she met a boy at EFY that she has been keeping in touch with all year that lives in Eagle, Idaho. She thought it would be fun to see him again. He had come by to see Megan last month, and so she thought it would be fun to see him in Eagle, Id too.

So on Monday morning the three girls got into the car and took off. One of the girls had gotten sick the day before and didn't go. Needless to say, I was dreading this trip. However, Megan is almost 18, and I have to face the fact she is growing up. I received a few texts and a few phone calls from Megan on Monday and was glad to hear they were safe. On Tuesday morning, my phone rang about 9:00 a.m. I had yet to hear from Megan. The voice on the other end said "Could I please speak to either the mother or father of Megan Marsden". My heart stopped, I began to shake, I feared it was either the hospital or the Highway Patrol calling. I believe you would too!! Who calls and says that???!!! I said this is her mother. Then the male voice on the other end said "This is the ACT prep course calling to see if you are interested in buying our service". What????!!!!! A sales call?????!!! My precious baby girl is over 300 miles away ON HER OWN basically, and you choose of all days in her lifetime to call on one of the three days she is away ON HER OWN. POOR TIMING. If I was Lesley, I would have told him what to do with his freckles, but instead I just said, this is not a good time for me right now, and I hung up the phone, fell to my knees and prayed for the next two days to go quickly and for Megan to return home safe. She did return home Wednesday night as originally planned. Safe, happy and she had a blast. Being a parent is not for wimps!!

Summer can now start!!

2009-05-26T14:25:00.006-06:00

For the past several years Tim has made a "SUMMER CD" for our family. It is like a journal CD culminating the events of our family for that year. For instance, in 2006, many of the songs were about Melissa & Adam's wedding, Grandma & Grandpa's 50th anniversary, our trip with Alan & Marivic and family to Northern California etc... Last year the CD was filled with songs about London, England, New York, High School graduation etc... So yesterday he completed (with the help of Megan and some input from me) the TIM MARSDEN SUMMER 2009 CD. The CD is usually about 20 songs all having to do with that year. The first song on the CD is one Tim found called "Heads California, Tails Carolina" because we will be going to both. The CD also includes some Beach Boys, representing our California trip, and a great new song called "Disney Girl" dedicated to Megan. "Our House" in honor of Melissa & Adam getting into a new home. "Isn't She Lovely" for our new granddaughter , Viva La Vida that talks about missionaries in a foreign field & "I still call Australia Home" in honor of both Adam and Sean. There is also a song about Dixie (for our Atlanta trip) and one of our favorite country songs that represents our time in Island Park. Tim has also included his favorite from the top two American Idol winners, Adam & Kris. He also has a song to represent our 30 year High School reunion.

This has become a really fun tradition for our family. Tim always makes a copy for each of us to enjoy and we really love listening to it together when we are in the car together and on trips together. I still frequently listen to the past years CD's as I drive around. It brings back great memories of years gone by!!

THE Phone call!!

2009-05-12T10:09:00.004-06:00

For years I have heard about THE phone call. I have enjoyed talking to nephews occasionally on Christmas day when I happened to be at Grandma & Grandpa's house when they called. I even talked to Tim a couple of different times while he was on his mission. And Grandma & Grandpa while they were on their mission. But this time it was my son, and it felt like my call. After all it was Mother's Day.

I was disappointed earlier in the week when Elder Marsden told us the rules for his mission were to talk for 40 minutes. I felt a little ripped off, after all everyone else I knew got to talk a lot longer. But how could I argue with Sean's comment " I know that as we are obedient and talk for 40 minutes it will be more meaningful, more fun, more spiritual, and all around better then any hour long, or two hour long conversation we could ever have. I know this to be true because Heavenly Father has made it known to me by the power of the Holy Ghost. Great blessings are in store for us as we are obedient."

But still I must admit, I kept thinking, only 40 minutes!! Several missionary moms had told me that their sons were allowed an earlier call to set up the call on Mother's day. All week long I wasn't too far from the phone, and when I was away, I had my cell phone close by. But there was never a call. But after waiting all week long, at 2:53 p.m. on Mother's day the phone rang. Even though the caller I.D. said "unavailable"; I knew Elder Marsden was available. It was great to hear his voice, and it felt like I had talked to him earlier that day. He started by saying that several missionaries had told him that the first phone call home was hard. He asked if we could say a prayer together as a family. We were all on different phones including Melissa and Adam on a cell phone and Carly got to our house about five minutes into the call. After Elder Marsden said the prayer we asked questions and told stories and shared experiences with each other. Elder Marsden then testified and bore testimony to all of us. He then asked to talk to each of us individually for a minute. We all expressed our love and then closed with a family prayer together. As we were saying goodbye, Sean said, "I will talk to you on Thursday," at first a didn't know what he meant, but soon realized he would be e-mailing us on his P-day. I felt CONTENT and BLESSED. When we said goodbye, I wasn't left unsatisfied. I felt HAPPY and an overwhelming sense of JOY!! He was right. I did feel blessed!!

Same dress ~ different guy!

2009-04-27T17:19:00.004-06:00

Megan was asked to Woods Cross High School's Senior Ball last Saturday night. She was asked by a young man that she didn't know very well. But she was excited to go and had a great time( dinner at Market Street Grill and the dance was at the Capitol).

It was fun because her cousin Carlie and close friend Aubree Jones were going too. Megan has known Carlie her entire life and Aubree since she was four years old. Aubree and Megan spent many many hours as young girls playing dress ups. This time it was for real. Megan went to Aubree's house and had their hair and makeup done. Thanks for Emily Bean and Tonya Jones. Tim and I hung around Bountiful so we could be there when her date picked her up. We also happened to be there when Aubree's date came too. So, here is what happened....

In Pleasant View, we have never had an issue with curfew. So when John came to pick up Megan it didn't even occur to us to mention a curfew. She was being dropped off at the Bean's house (her Aunt and Uncle) after the dance and she was in the same group as Carlie. But when Aubree's date came (about fifteen minutes later) he asked Tonya and Glade (Aubree's m & d) what time Aubree needed to be home. With Aubree being their first child, Tonya looked at me for advice. I told her that our children always had a midnight curfew. They then asked the boy what his curfew was. He said he didn't have one. They told him that he should have Aubree home by midnight. It wasn't until Sunday morning, I found out Megan was out until 1:30 a.m. I guess we are getting irresponsible in our old age!!

FROM COAST TO COAST & DOWN UNDER

2009-04-11T22:49:00.002-06:00

Last week every member of our family was gone having some sort of adventure...except for me. I was HOME ALONE (and it was Melissa & Adam in New York)!!! Tim was off to Atlanta for work, and all of our children were off enjoying oceans around the world. Melissa & Adam were able to take a ferry on the Atlantic Ocean, Sean took a bike ride along the coast somewhere in between the Indian & South Pacific Ocean, and Megan was finding joy (see picture) in the water and along the coast of the Pacific Ocean!! To quote a person I know and love (Melissa), I was having fun watching other people have fun. I do delight in these experiences for our children. I'm so grateful for these wonderful opportunities!!

By Thursday night, Tim was home with me and on Friday we went off for an adventure ourselves. We spent the day driving from Pleasant View and took the long way to Park City and Deer Valley and down to Salt Lake. We ate a picnic, went out to dinner, went to a movie, and walked down memory lane by getting a shake at Iceberg in Salt Lake and ended up walking around the U of U campus for over an hour. We were gone for twelve hours, with no agenda. It was a really fun day!!

Megan got back from California on Saturday night. Here are some of her pictures just to get those of you excited for Southern California this summer!!!

Pretty soon it will be our turn to be in Neverland!!

I BOUGHT A BIKINI!!!

2009-03-27T10:21:00.008-06:00

Now that I have your attention, please let me explain. Megan is going to Southern California with the Weber High School Choir next week. In preparations for this trip, a few days ago, Megan and I went swimsuit shopping. Not our favorite shopping outing!! This was after time was spent online looking at modest swimsuit sites. We were in search for the perfect tankini. Stylish yet modest. I subscribe to the philosophy that a modest swimsuit is the goal rather than a one piece swimsuit. Both modest tankinis and one piece suits are hard to find. After 3 hours of NOTHING but swimsuit shopping, we finally found a tankini. However, this "perfect" swimsuit was too low, and it barely passed the "bend over the let me look down your shirt" test. It might have worked if Megan stayed upright the entire time she was at the beach or swimming, but lets get real! The other challenging factor, is trying to find cute board shorts (Megan did not want a skirt) to match and enhance the style and help with the modesty factor. The first pair of board shorts we found at Dillards and were lots of $, but at that point, if they fit, I was willing to spend. However, they weren't comfortable. After going to SIX more stores, wala, we found some at Target...and they were almost $30 dollars less than the ones she had originally liked, and they were comfortable!! I was so happy, I wanted to buy two pair for her, because they are white, but unfortunately the Riverdale Target only had one extra-small and the small was too big. A problem I wish I had. Anyway, today I am going to the Centerville Target after I pick up Tim from the airport to see if that Target has an extra small.

Okay, I hope you are still following this ramble!! However, we still needed to figure out a solution to the plunging neck problem. So I went out and bought a bikini (just the bottom half of the bikini; size 20 so that I could have plenty of swimsuit fabric to work with) so that I could take the finished edge of the fabric and sew it into the swimsuit to help cover more skin. I had to spend more $, but it was worth it to me to cover Megan's plunging neck line. I haven't fixed it yet, but lets hope it works!! Fortunately being modest is a priority to Megan too.

About now I can picture Lilian with a smile on her face being very thankful for all boys after reading about PROM and SWIMSUIT SHOPPING. Am I right??? Perhaps others of you too who don't have to worry about this either!!

So please feel free to express any thought or feelings on shopping for a swimsuit. As for me; the more fabric I have on my body, the better I look and feel.

Getting ready...Prom 2009

2009-03-23T21:58:00.010-06:00

Jr. Prom is the biggest dance at Weber High School!! And when you are a Jr. and it is Jr. Prom, it is the biggest dance of your High School experience. Don't ask me why...it just is!! One of Megan's favorite things of going to dances is getting dressed up. Ever since Megan was a little girl she has always enjoyed getting dressed up!!

The preparation started by shopping for the dress. Usually when it comes to shopping, Megan likes to look at all her options. It can take a long time to find the perfect item. I must admit, I am the same way, so it works out quite nicely since both of us enjoy the hunt; (except when it comes to swimsuit shopping, neither of us like that!!). However this time it was different. At the first store we went to, she started to pour through the racks of dresses when one of the sales clerks pulled a dress from out of now where and THERE IT WAS. She did not find the dress, the dress found her. It was a perfect fit!!! When she put it on, it felt like a dramatic Gone With the Wind moment when Scarlet appears on the big screen.

The excitement mounted as Megan and her friends got together Friday night to have a pre-prom get together where they painted nails and watched movies, ate low fat snacks haha, and talked boys (or at least that is what I imagine they did).

Then after going to play laser tag for her day date activity, Lindsey Howell who is a friend of Sean's and is currently attending the ATC hair school came over to do Megan's hair. Megan had found a style she liked out of a magazine, and Lindsey went to work. Shortly after Haylee, Katie and Madi (three of Megan's friends) showed up to do their makeup and to be together getting ready. Then our own Emily Leger came up from to do Megan's makeup. Megan really liked the way Emily did her makeup at our Marsden girl party, so Emily was so nice to come pamper Megan for her big night.

While Emily was busy at work, Madi was doing touch ups on Megan's nails!!

Two and half hours later...Megan was ready!! This is one time, that pictures DON'T do justice!! But I know you all have a great imagination and can picture it.

Caleb Walker (Megan's date) was five minutes early to pick her up, but she was ready!! When he put on her wrist corsage, he was shaking (poor boy). Tim and I tried not to be too scary. Later in the night when they were asked if they were hot...Caleb said, Megan is!! They had a great time, going to the Union Grill where Megan had Salmon (one of her favorites) then to the dance that was held at Weber State University and then out for ice cream.

Cinderella was home just before midnight.

Sunday morning we had a 7:30 a.m.meeting for ward conference that Megan had to attend. Normally we don't endorse the girls wearing their Prom dresses to church the next day. We have already heard about that from Melissa...(thanks for taking another one for the team Meliss). But for the first time that I know of...every Jr. girl had been asked to Prom this year, so their Young Women's leader encouraged them to wear their MODEST dresses to church to set an example of wearing modest dresses to the pre-sixteen girls in Young Women's.

Even after sleeping in her hair and makeup and throwing her dress on minutes before we had to leave, one of the Stake leaders turned to Megan, and said "I just want to pinch you to make sure you are real".

P.S. I believe it took Sean twenty minutes to get ready for Prom. Can you relate those of you with boys!!

Ties that bind us

2009-03-16T09:38:00.001-06:00

For Christmas this year, my cousin Ann gave Tim, Sean and Adam each a matching tie. With this gift, she suggested that the three of them pick one Sunday a month to wear their ties. So Tim, Sean and Adam decided that the first Sunday of each month would be the day that they would wear their ties. Even though our family is spread out across the world, and the first Sunday doesn't even land on the same day because Australia is 16.5 hours a head so when Elder Marsden is going to bed on the first Sunday, Tim and Adam haven't woken up yet, I feel the "tie" that binds us together.

Another tie I have is the phone!! I am so grateful that even though I live in another state from my daughter, we are able to talk on the phone!! It is a rare day that Melissa and I don't get to talk to each other. We talk everyday, and sometimes several times a day. She doesn't talk to Tim everyday, but what she might not know, is that everyday Tim asks me "have you talked to Melissa yet today". He doesn't get to talk everyday, but everyday he is checking with me making sure all is well.

Other forms of communication that I am grateful for that helps tie me to people I love beside the phone are emails and blogs. I love reading your blogs!! I helps me keep track of your comings and going. Even though other members of my family aren't blogging, they still love to hear about blog entries and what is going on with others. I love getting my weekly email from AUSTRALIA every Wednesday night. WHAT A WORLD WE LIVE IN!!!

One of my favorite ties that bind are FAMILY VACATIONS!!! I subscribe to the philosophy that you may not remember the new couch your parents bought (and of course over time it wears out) but you will remember the time (and the feeling) you spend together as a family. I believe that vacationing with immediate and extended family really straightens family ties!!

Who's excited for the beach?

This year in Primary the theme is "My Eternal Family". I'm grateful that we have the opportunity of the ultimate blessing of the ties that bind us as a family for eternity. I love each of you and I am so grateful that I am so blessed to be part of such a wonderful family.

You will never know if you don't try!

2009-03-02T12:55:00.006-07:00

Megan is really interested in attending either BYUI or BYU. After watching two other children go through the competitive application process of these school, I suggested that she do what she can to prepare herself to be ready to apply next fall. In a nutshell, the application is broken up in different areas. 1. GPA and ACT 2. Extra curricular activities/awards/ leadership/service etc. 3. The final piece of the pie is an endorsement from your Bishop and Stake President. Each year it is becoming more and more competitive. In the area of extra curricular/awards/leadership many different areas are covered. Only what you have done since 9th grade counts towards this area.

Megan's resume is impressive however, she didn't have anything to show in the area of art. So, last fall I suggested she enter into the Weber High reflections contest because that would allow her to at least check the box that she had entered an organized art contest. Last November she entered. Weeks later, Megan was notified that she won at Weber High. A couple weeks later we learned that she had won at the district level. Last week she was honored at the region level. I was so proud of her!! She can now check off three more things on the application when it comes time next fall.

This is a good lesson for all of us. Besides her three checks, she has a beautiful picture that we have framed for her room. Her picture is called Black and Purple Petunias and is inspired by Georgia O'Keefe.

The Airport...credit goes to "James David Bond"

2009-02-25T08:43:00.006-07:00

When I checked the mail yesterday, we had received a letter from Universal Imports of West Bountiful. I was so excited to opening it up and find this DVD that our own James David Bond had made for me. The DVD was too big to fit onto the computer, so at Melissa's suggestion, I filmed it from my camera while it was playing on our TV. Because of this, the quality isn't great. It is short, but to me very SWEET!

YESTERDAY IT SNOWED AND SNOWED!!

2009-02-18T06:07:00.006-07:00

Yesterday I woke up and headed out to go to exercise at 5:30 a.m. I drove about half way down our street and then turned around to go home. The snow was coming down FAST & HEAVY!! Even though the roads weren't bad, I figured if I went down the hill I wouldn't be able to get back up even after one hour and before the snow plows had a chance to get to our street.
It ended up being a good decision because only two other friends ended up going to the church for exercise and one of the two that lives up by me...did not make it home. I was teaching at Weber High (3 blocks from home) and it was difficult getting to and from school. I had to have four boys push me out of my parking space just to get home. Then came the shoveling. Both Tim and I worked for about 1 1/2 hours just to get the driveway cleared. I ended up I didn't feel back about missing out on exercise, because I did get my workout in. News reports said that Huntsville and Eden received about 30 inches. We had about 20 inches at our home.

But after all was said and done...Tim, Megan and I had chili (with salad) and a fire inside with our cozy sweats and warm slippers on. Then we wrapped up in blankets and watched American Idol together because Tim's church meetings were cancelled because of the snow. It was a GREAT evening. And today, everything is so WHITE and BEAUTIFUL!!

Thirty-one hours...Thirty-three minutes - Elder Marsden has arrived!

2009-02-10T21:30:00.015-07:00

Sean left the MTC on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. He called us from the Salt Lake airport and we were able to talk to him for about fifteen minutes. I took this picture at 5:00 p.m. the time his flight was scheduled to leave.

Last summer when Megan and I went to New York. Tim discovered that he could get online and track the plane on a map. I know to some we could be considered total geeks, but we tracked Sean's plane all the way to Australia. Go Cory!!! (Gunnison)

Sean was scheduled to arrive in LAX at 6:08 p.m. LA time. Go San Clemente!! He called again at 8:15 p.m. and told us to run down to Tim's office so he could call us on Tim's 1-800 number. He said "I will call you in seven minutes, I have to board the plane in 30 minutes. We HURRIED down to his office ( I was in my pajama pants and didn't take any time to change). We were able to talk for twenty more minutes with Melissa on speaker phone too. I think I could be a candidate for fire department now for making record time.

I woke up several times during the night thinking "Sean is over the ocean". I also thought about LOST. When up finally woke up for the day, I still was saying "Sean is still over the ocean."
Tim was able to track his Qantas flight traveling over the ocean. We watched until just before 10:00 a.m. our time we could see Sean had landed in Auckland New Zealand. Go Archie!!

From New Zealand, Sean changed planes and headed for Melbourne, Australia.
As Tim was checking all of this out, he discovered that there was a live web cam at the Adelaide Airport. So you guessed it. We watched Sean's plan arrive at 8:33 p.m. last night. It was 1:03 p.m. in Adelaide, even though the clock on the computer screen was saying 2:02. Sean's plane is the second plane that is approaching the gate.

In this picture you can see Sean's plane safe and sound at the gate (the second plane at the gate). We were relieved and thrilled!! Safe on the ground after spending 95% of his flight over the ocean.

The mission office told me that we could email a letter Tuesday afternoon and they would print it off and put it in an envelope for Sean to read when he sat down in the office just a few hours later. All I can say is what an incredible world we live it today. We were able to watch Sean's plane land all the way across and down under the world. I know we might sound like huge nerds and geeks to watch Sean's travel, but I can think of at least a few Marsden's that will think this is cool.

My "new" calling!

2009-02-06T14:03:00.003-07:00

Just before Christmas I received a call from our Stake executive secretary. He wanted me to come down to the Stake offices and meet with one of the the members of the Stake Presidency. Long story short, I was called to be the second counselor in the Stake Primary Presidency for the Pleasant View South Stake. Our new Stake was formed in October, and it has been a busy couple of months getting everything in place. I had very mixed feeling leaving the Young Women's organization, and I will miss "my girls" however my heart melted at the first ward conference I attended. There was a brand new little sunbeam who was very worried to be in class. She was in tears! Her teacher was trying to consul her and take care of the other new little sunbeams that were getting more upset as this little girls was crying. I went up and asked the little girl if she wanted to come back and sit on my lap. This trusting little three year old girl reached her arms out to me and wrapped them around my neck and we walked to the back of the room. She just hugged me as though we had known each other for years. We then sat together and she calmed down as we sang the songs and quietly exchanged names. After a few minutes I asked her if she wanted to sit with me or go back and sit with her class. She quietly replied "sit with me". She continued to hug me until singing and sharing time was over, then she watched as her class got up to walk away. At that point she confidently jumped off my lap and held her teachers hand and walked away smiling and waving at me.

It will be a blessing in my life to be able to associate with these beautiful children and watch the amazing primary teachers and leaders that love and teach the children. My main responsibility is that I have been assigned to be over the Stake baptisms. Last week I was able to go meet four of the five children who are going to be baptized on Saturday. They were so sweet. I took around this little activity that we have for all of our new candidates that are being baptized. The first activity for them to do is to pray about their decision to be baptized. When I gave this activity to the first little girl and she read, "PRAY ABOUT BEING BAPTIZED". She jumped up and said "I haven't done that yet, I better go do it.

What an amazing church we belong to. In fact it is His church. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. I am excited to be among the children.

Waiting for my first letter...

2009-01-22T08:11:00.011-07:00

What an incredible week we have had!!! As difficult as it has been saying goodbye, it has been a week I will always treasure in my heart. As you can see from they photo I was hanging on to Sean as long as I could!!

First off, I was really lucky to have an incredible week with Sean before the farewell. We were able to spend a lot of quantity and quality time together. Our week started out going to Temple Square and Joseph Smith memorial building to watch the Joseph Smith movie. It was a very sweet experience and something I would recommend to anyone who is getting ready to serve a mission and send a of a son (or daughter) for two years. The rest of the week was spent talking, going out to lunch, going to the temple, going to the U of U parade and finishing up missionary preparations etc. Thanks so much for all of you who helped so much with the open house I was able to really focus on time with Sean.

Next came the farewell. It was a wonderful day for our family. Thanks so much for all of the love and support!!! We were overwhelmed by your support and goodness. Sean did a wonderful job speaking and he sounded like a missionary. I was so grateful for the strong spirit felt in the meeting. Tim turned to me at the end of the meeting and asked me if we were prepared to feed half of the congregation. I said a prayer and mentioned the fishes and the loaves in hopes we had plenty of food. We are blessed to have such support. We are so blessed to both have big families that are so supportive and Sean is blessed with so many wonderful friends. We counted around 150 people that came to our home. That night we just enjoyed talking and watching family movies together. Carly Hirst was with us too. She is a wonderful girl and I love her. I couldn't ask for a more supportive girlfriend. She has been so sweet and sensitive not wanting to take Sean away from family time. She is great, and we love when she is with us.

On Tuesday night, Sean was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints!!! It was a powerful experience for me. Sean is the fifth missionary to be sent from the Pleasant View South Stake. Our new Stake was created last October. Our Stake President is a very wonderful man. He gave those that were there an opportunity to express their love for Sean. He said Sean was the first of those five missionaries that had both sets of grandparents there. Out of all the experiences I have had in my life, this experience was in the top five of tender experiences. The spirit was so strong in that meeting!!!! It was wonderful to hear from everyone in attendance express their love for Sean and share their testimony with him. Both Melissa and Megan bawled!!! President Keller told them that their crying was an indication of what kind of brother he had been. At the end of everyone expressing their feelings, Sean asked President Keller if he could say a few words. He then borrowed scriptures from President Ward and shared a scripture from 2 Nephi 8:12; I am he; yea, I am he that comforteth you... It was beautiful and powerful. There was Sean teaching us about where to go for comfort. He is so prepared. It was 11:00 p.m. before the last person came over to say goodbye.

Then came the MTC. I have thought about this day for nineteen years. When we pulled up to the MTC, Melissa said, I guess you have now grown a foot or two. We had to drive two different cars to the MTC. Melissa did not want to miss out on any Sean time, so Adam had to drive down all by himself while Sean sat in the middle of his two sisters holding on to him in the back of the car and his mom turned sideways in the car with her hand on his knee. We were taking advantage of each moment. We ate at Cafe Rio in Provo before he had to report at 12:30 p.m. Sean had a hearty appetite. Me on the other hand had a hard time eating 1/2 of a salad!!

We arrived at the MTC and took pictures. His roommate Ben (who lives in Provo) was there too. We went into "the room" for the video and short meeting. The MTC handled everything with class and sensitivity. No bandage speeches were given. We had already said everything that needed to be said before that "moment". I got the first hug and the last hug from Sean. They were both wonderful hugs!! He walked away then just before he got to the door, he turned around and gave a big smile and a big wave. He was ready and prepared. Last night President Keller called to check up on us. He said we had been in his prayers all day. He said he had especially prayed for Melissa and Megan, and he wanted to know how everyone was doing. I testify I have felt all of those prayers. I am excited to have a missionary. I plan to enjoy this journey. And by the way, where did the years go, wasn't I the girlfriend sending Tim off just a few years ago?? Now I am the mom of a missionary and soon to be grandma!!

What color are you????

2009-01-13T13:54:00.010-07:00

The color code is a big deal in the Ensign family. I know Melissa posted about it a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to make sure the Marsden family was familiar with it too. There are a couple of personality profiles out there, but the one I am most familiar with and like the most is the Color Code by Dr. Taylor Hartman. My dad has been very interested in the philosophy of it and has introduced all of his children and grand children to it. About two years ago, Lan England, my brother-in-law???(too much to explain) bought the color code company. Many Human Resource departments hire people to come into their company to do the personality profile so that their employee's can develop a better understanding of themselves and others and how to approach different people in different situations. It is a great tool as a husband, wife, mother, father, child, friend, employee to help understand what makes you and others tick. All of the four colors (red, blue, white and yellow) have great abilities and limitations. I have learned a lot about myself and my family and it I think it helps tremendously in relationships. I have had the opportunity to teach about the color code in four different health classes, an adult roles class, Relief Society and Young Women's. I would love to introduce you to it too, if you aren't familiar with it. I also have a CD for each color personality that is really entertaining to listen to. If you are interested in taking the test, I would be happy to e-mail you the test and the key. It is a better indication of what color/colors you actually are then the one online. Even if you have taken the test before, this is a more specific test. It is a really fun family night activity (as Melissa mentioned). It doesn't take too much time. Sean and I have been talking a lot about it too in preparing to be a companion. Please let me know if you would like me to e-mail you a test.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

2009-01-06T14:18:00.002-07:00

I have been out of the blog world for about 3 weeks now. I'm just glad I have been able to see all of you (except for our California Marsden's) to catch up. We are looking forward to 2009 with great anticipation as we are looking at some new changes in our family. We were so happy to hear Melissa and Adam's news. We are going to be GRANDPARENTS. We are very excited. I hope Melissa will start feeling better soon. This last week has been filled with mission preparations as Sean is now two weeks and one day from reporting to the MTC. We had some specific mission questions and I sent an e-mail to Adelaide Australia, and within 30 minutes had a response from Adelaide. Don't we live in an amazing world. It was however the next day in Adelaide. The mission secretary expressed her excitement to meet Sean. She said that they have the missionaries pictures posted in their office and they already love them even though they haven't met them. She said that as a mission staff, they pray for all the missionaries including those who haven't yet arrived. I will post more later, but just wanted to let you know, I haven't gone away.

Happy Anniversary Tim

2008-12-16T11:50:00.004-07:00

Today is our 26th wedding anniversary. It doesn't seem possible to me that we have been married for 26 years because the time has flown by. In someways I can hardly remember a time I didn't know Tim because we met when we were only fifteen years old. All of our children are now older than fifteen. We are also now closer to our 50th wedding anniversary than we are to our wedding day. Now those that know me well, know that I don't like to directly bring attention to the fact that I am getting "older". However, Tim on the other hand loves to put things into perspective and is all the time bringing analogies into situations. We joke about a time when we were in High School and Tim had a date with other girl. He told me about the date and explained to me that it was like going to a movie theater. He said he loved going to the theater and he loved always sitting in the same seat at the theater. This is the point that I figured out that I was the "same seat". Then he said, sometimes, you just want to sit in another seat to enjoy the movie and get a different point of view. But on December 16th, 1982, Tim picked his seat and we have both been enjoying the movie together ever since.

Here is a list of twenty-six reasons of why I love Tim!! They are not in any particular order, just a few things that I love about him.

1. He loves the Lord.
2. He loves our family (immediate & extended).
3. He is smart .
4. He works hard and provides for our family.
5. His sense of humor!! He makes me laugh all the time.
6. He always strives to better himself and develop his skills, education and talents.
7. His unwavering integrity.
8. He always let me eat the last of the popcorn, chocolate or whatever it is.
9. He lets me be me...100% of the time, and he supports me.
10. He has several passions and interests in life.
11. He has become a good listener :).
12. He is fun to listen too (he tells great stories).
13. He is a great teacher by example and by word and deed.
14. He is a wonderful father (just ask any of our children).
15. He loves all kinds of music.
16. He is a gentleman (he learned that from watching his dad :)).
17. He is a sexy dancer ( I know TMI about TIM) but it is true.
18. He is very fun to be around.
17. He is sensitive to me.
18. I am always proud to say he is my husband.
19. He is always looking to make me happy.
20. He doesn't complain about life, work, sickness or whatever...he takes it like a MAN.
21. He tucks me into bed and if I'm really lucky, rubs my feet.
22. He doesn't complain that my alarm goes off at 5:20 a.m. and wakes him up every day.
23. He is very patient with me.
24. He is my very best friend.
25. He is a wonderful husband.
26. I'm looking forward to the next twenty-six years as well as eternity.

I love you!!

I've been sick :(

2008-12-08T18:32:00.005-07:00

For the past week, I have felt sick. Not SICK, but sick. I have been in charge of several big activities and projects and have been pushing really hard. Last Wednesday, I was in charge of a YM/YW combined activity that involved refreshment. On Saturday I was in charge of a breakfast for 50 people for the YM/YW, and this Wednesday, I am in charge of a combined YW's activity that involves dinner for 35. I am also the neighborhood coordinator for our sub-for Santa that provides Christmas for a family of six children that needs to be completed by Friday, and on Saturday, I drive to Idaho to pick up Sean. And did I mention, Tim is out of town for the next six days? Sooooo...today I finally got sick of being sick, and I went to the doctor and was given a prescription for a Z-PACK (for bronchitis). So I am planning in feeling much better by tomorrow...or perhaps Wednesday. I just needed to whine for a minute.

I was talking to my dad on the phone a couple of weeks ago, when I had a phone call come through. It was a neighbor telling me that her husband's surgery had not gone well. I couldn't very well cut her off, so my poor dad had to wait several minutes on hold. I was hoping he had just hung up. When I went back to the conversation with my dad, he was still on hold. He told me that it was okay, he had spent the time unloading the dishwasher. I told him that he was multi -tasking like a woman. He said, "Oh I could never be that good, nor would I want to be". Women work too hard!!

So tonight, I am getting in a HOT bath by 8:00, and curling up with a good book, and lights out be 9:00 p.m.

I love pictures!!

2008-11-25T21:36:00.006-07:00

We had a fabulous weekend with everyone! Melissa and Adam came for Megan's play and Sean is home for Thanksgiving. We had some family pictures taken!! Here are some of my favorite ones.

2008-11-16T07:00:00.007-07:00

On November 16th, 1989 I was given a precious gift. Sean was born!! For the previous twenty months I had plead with the Lord for a baby. During that time I had suffered three long-term miscarriages. After I found out I was pregnant with Sean, Tim and I went to our bishop to receive a Priesthood blessing. We were both so discouraged! I was told in that blessing that I would give birth to a healthy baby. Our bishop and his wife had never been able to conceive children. The bishop later told me that he knew it was the Lord's will that I would have that baby. After suffering much disappointment himself, he didn't want to say that. Early on in the pregnancy I was put on bed rest for one month. I remember a member of our Stake Presidency who I didn't know personally, called me at 7:00 a.m. one morning to tell me that he had put my name in the temple. I have always been so grateful for the faith and prayers in my behalf to have Sean.

Ten weeks prior to Sean's birth, I was put on bed rest again. While on bed rest, I spent hours watching videos with Melissa. One of her favorites to watch over and over again was Mary Poppins. The night he was born, I wanted so badly to climb out my hospital window and run around singing "Let's go fly a kite". I had never felt such JOY in all my life. I knew that Heavenly Father had blessed me. Sean has brought me so much joy and happiness the past 19 years.

When Sean was just three years old we went shopping at Dick's Market. He wanted me to buy some Nacho Cheese Doritos chips. I started explaining to Sean that buying Nacho Cheese Doritos chips wasn't a good decision because they weren't on sale. I kept on shopping and after a few minutes, Sean said to me "I bet Laman and Lemuel would buy those chips because they make bad choices." Sean has always had a clear sense of right and wrong. And he strives to make good choices.

Even though Sean is the middle child, he is also the only boy which gives him a special place in our family. He has had the benefits to go to Jazz games, soccer trips, U of U games etc. He even adopted the same clap at Tim when they are cheering for their favorite team. Last weekend when Sean was home, he and Tim woke up at 5:45 a.m. on Saturday morning to watch Arsenal play Man United on the Internet.

He has also had the benefit of being in the middle of two sisters so he has a good understanding of girls and how they work. This knowledge has benefited him in his dating life!

Both of his sister adore him!! The day after he received his mission call, I probably received no less than twenty phone calls from Melissa telling me things about Australia that she had either learned from Adam or the Internet.

It has been really fun the past few years having Sean and Megan in school together. Both Megan and I miss having Sean at Weber High. I have often referred to Megan and Sean as "partners" since they have grown up so close to each other.

Friends have always been a big part of Sean's life too. He has many wonderful friends that I love. His friends are really important to him, and he has always been a good friend to others.
We laugh because it seems like he is on the phone with either "hey dude" or "yea man" a lot.

Sean has worked really hard in life to get him to the point he is at. When he was a baby, Tim used to call him "Sean the wee man" (with an Irish accent). As a baby he looked like he had wisdom beyond his years. He has always been really smart and wise with money. He strives to be obedient and when he has fallen short, he sincerely asks for forgiveness, or readily admits he is wrong. He is charming with me and is so good to express his love. He is a kind son.

Sean has a wonderful testimony that he is not afraid to share. When he was seminary President at Weber High he had many opportunities to share is testimony both in word and in deed. I have been lucky to be at the high school and see the way he treated others and stood up for what was right, even when it wasn't popular. Sean is well respected. I love to feel of his spirit as he shares his testimony. I'm so excited for him to serve a mission. We will all miss you terribly Sean, but we wouldn't have it any other way. I love you and will always consider you a gift from a loving Heavenly Father. You have greatly blessed my life.

Dedicated to Melissa....

2008-11-12T09:36:00.010-07:00

During this week of November, my cousin Ann, my sister Kathy, my mom, Sean, my niece Laura and my friend Tonya all have their birthdays between the 9th and 16th of November. That doesn't include the other November birthdays of people I love. It just so happens that six of them are this week. So yesterday I drove to Salt Lake to celebrate lunch with Kathy and my mom, and dinner with Ann. As I made the hour drive to Salt Lake I put in the Les Mis CD. I turned up the music and enjoyed every minute of the drive. I even found myself with tears in my eyes driving down I-15, but in my mind I was in a theater in London sitting next to Melissa
waiting for Les Mis to begin.

The Les Mis experience really began with Melissa in 1991 when Tim and I went to London together for the first time. My sister Karen had arrange for tickets for us to go to Les Mis. I knew nothing about it. I had heard it was good, but that was about it. Remember that was over seventeen years ago, and nothing like that had come to Salt Lake. I will never forgot that first time seeing it in London. It was powerful!! Both Tim and I became instant fans of the music and story. When we came home from England, I can remember we bought the CD and started listening to it. Melissa was fascinated by the music. She was only 5 1/2 at the time. I remember sitting down with her and telling her the story of Les Mis. She was hooked. She would listen to the music and sing along. Now fast forward to 2004, 13 1/2 years later, I was in the same theater with Melissa waiting for the production to begin as we listened to the orchestra play. Melissa burst into tears. She couldn't hold it back. She had waited 13 1/2 years for this moment.
Melissa has a passion for beauty. She is driven by music, art, theater, literature and all things beautiful. I love her passion for life and for beauty. She reverences beauty. I love that about you Melissa. There is too many "things" of this world that are not worth our time and energies.
I love the beauty you have shown me in this world. "You raise me up".

I will be driving to Bountiful two more times this week for birthday celebrations, any suggestions for more 45 minute concerts? I does make the time go faster!!

Turning our hearts

2008-11-06T10:46:00.011-07:00

About 6 weeks ago, Tim received a call inviting us to join a family history class during Sunday school. I won't lie, I did not want to go. I love our gospel doctrine class. Bishop Wride, our former bishop, and his wife teach the class. It is a wonderful class. However, Tim was very obedient and told the SS President that he would go and invite me as to go too. I was reluctant, but I went mainly so I could be with Tim. I admit, I had a bad attitude about it.

Right from the beginning of the class I really liked both of our teachers. They are an "older" retired couple that I really didn't know. It is a small class with only 9 people attending. Slowly but surly my heart has begun to be turned. After the first couple of weeks, Tim and I pulled out the family history journal that mom and dad gave all of their children a few years ago. We started to pour through the precious gift. The journal is AMAZING, FANTASTIC & WONDERFUL. THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU. Tim took the journal for a "show and tell" to our class. Everyone was so impressed and very jealous of the book.

One of the first things we needed to do was download PAF 5 to our computer. It is a free download from the church. They have been very generous to offer to come help, so this week I took them up on it. They have been telling us that sometime in the near future, the old DOS system that contains much of the church family history information will be taken off of the computers. The reason being is that the old system is jamming up the new system and at some point will need to be removed. At the Ogden family history (I didn't realize it is the 2nd largest in the world..first being Salt Lake) out of the approximately 60 computers, the old DOS information is on 5 of them. I was able to download to a flash drive all of the information on both the Marden and Ditty families that are on record at the church. I was surprised to learn that there weren't a ton of names on record. Especially on Lily Ann Mullen's side. It drops off quickly. There were only around 300 names which may sound like a lot, but I found 7,800 on the Ensign side of the family. So, here is my question. Does anyone out there have the Marsden/Ditty genealogy information besides those 300 names? It was interesting because they showed me how to do a search for information on families, and posted was a plea from Auntie Bea looking for information.

I would love to get any more information if anyone has it. I would be happy to share the information I got from the family history center with anyone who is interested.

I love how Grandma blogs about family history. I have had fun learning more. Keep up the good work Grandma.

"You made my day"

2008-10-30T13:15:00.005-06:00

On Tuesday of this week I went up to Ogden Regional Hospital to visit a neighbor who had just had surgery. As I was leaving the hospital I thought to myself that I should take the time to visit my great Aunt Betty who is living in an assisted living center right across the street from the hospital. For a few minutes I had an eternal struggle. I knew that I should go see her, but I had so much to do. After a few minutes I talked myself into going for a visit.

Aunt Betty has only been in the assisted living center for about 10 months. I have visited her before, but it had been a while. When I went into her room, her face lit up. It was almost as visable as turning on a light. She looked beautiful. Her hair was perfectly done and she had lipstick on as though she was waiting for someone to come see her. I remember her telling me once that she would rather go without food then her weekly hair appointment. She is absolutely a refined lady. I think that being a refined lady is becoming a dying breed in our society.

We had a wonderful visit together. Her mind is completely sharp but her body is weak. She asked me about each member of my family. It was obvious that she had been keeping up on things through my mom, as she knew all about Sean's mission call and other details that were recent in our family. My mind filled with memories of this sweet Aunt. Christmas parties, family picnics, wedding showers, receptions, baby showers and when she came to see me with my Aunt Janet after each one of our children were born. She and my Aunt Janet were also so thrilled that we lived in Bountiful. She has always been so dedicated and devoted to family ever since I remember. When I married Tim, she made me feel like I had won the lottery. She has always loved Tim. She always has made me feel that no matter what I did, she loved me. We had a wonderful uplifting visit. When I told her how much I loved her and loved her positive attitude, she told me that every morning her mom (my Grandma Bench's mom too) would wake up and say, "isn't is a beautiful day and aren't we lucky to be alive". She said her mom continued to say this until she passed away well into her 90's. As I was leaving, she said to me 'thank-you for coming, you have made my day". As I walked out of the care center, the lady at the front desk noticed I had tears in my eyes. She said to me "getting old is the pits". I told her that I had been to visit my Aunt Betty Tingey, and I thanked her for the wonderful care she is receiving. The nurse preceded to tell me what a pleasure it is to have Aunt Betty as a resident. "She is always so kind, appreciative and positive." I left feeling that this experience had actually made MY day. I couldn't let another day pass without expressing my love for each of you. It is a beautiful day and I feel lucky to be alive!!

2008-10-29T21:38:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Marivic I got an award!! I now know what Lesley is talking about...It is a pleasure to be nominated!! I don't feel very deserving, but I will take what I can get. Thanks VIC VIC

Pondering...

2008-10-24T14:01:00.006-06:00

I heard a comment recently that I have been thinking about a lot. Someone mentioned at conference last April a similar theme was mentioned a few different times. That theme was that we have become too tolerant of sin and too tolerant of the philosophies of the world and life.

I substituted a government class two different times this week. It was the same class and both times. Part of the assignment of the day was to talk about current events. All of the students in this class are seniors in High School. They are bright students with many ideas and they are for all intense purposes our future!! As we talked about some of the issues facing our country, I couldn't help but wonder if some of the issues we were talking about would have not even been something that would be discussed out loud when I was that age, let alone in school. The two main topics I am referring to are abortion and same sex marriage. I was absolutely shocked at the number of students that supported abortion. We live in a very conservative, upper middle class area. About 1/3 of the class voice their opinion in support. Some of the kids I knew had been raised to believe differently. One student argued that it was important for a man and a women to "get together" (his words) "so that they could draw closer together. It didn't matter if they were married or not!! And, if the horrible outcome was pregnancy, why should they be punished for their actions for the rest of their life." The discussion got rather heated and I found it interesting because those who agreed with him agreed LOUDLY as they voiced their opinions. My blood was boiling!! Teachers are told to be careful to be one sided. Then patiently I noticed a young lady, raising her hand while the banter was going back and forth. I quieted the class and called on her. She very eloquently spoke on her views opposing abortion and same sex marriage. Her tone was clam, gentle and very intelligent. A calm came on the classroom as she spoke. This one young women was choosing not to be tolerant of sin while being tolerant of others...if that makes sense. At this point others voiced their support agreeing with this young women. They had been given some safety ground to speak. I think example is HUGE!!! I would love to hear from you on ways to be less tolerant of sin and showing forth an example during these times. Tell me what you think....

Sean has a girlfriend...

2008-10-24T12:34:00.015-06:00

Okay, I finally admit it!! For whatever reason, I haven't been able to until recently admit that Sean does have a girlfriend. He has been dating Carly Hirst for one year now. Their first date was last October to the Weber High Halloween dance. Even though they have both dated others throughout the year, they both seem to really like each other. Carly is absolutely ADORABLE!! There is not one thing I don't like about this girl!!! She is smart (she is on a full tuition scholarship at BYUI) hard working, beautiful and has the greatest personality. In fact, I think I told her I loved her before Sean did :)!! She is a wonderful influence on Sean. And just the type of girl you would want your son to date.

But aren't young men preparing to go on their missions not supposed to have just one special girlfriend?? I know, I can hear each one of you right now saying WHAT ABOUT YOU AND TIM!!! Isn't it funny how your past comes back to haunt you? I know there are of few of you out there that are in this category too!!

We went up to the cabin over UEA. It was a fabulous weekend and we enjoyed great weather. We stopped in Rexburg on our way up to watch Sean play soccer. Sean is on two different soccer teams inter murals & competitive. He has also been nominated to be on the All Star competitive soccer team. Carly is on the inter mural team, so we got to see her play too. Then the five of us went out to dinner. Thursday we stayed around the cabin & Friday we went into Yellowstone. We had to leave early to make it down to Sean's competitive soccer game in Rexburg. After his game, we went to the temple in Rexburg with Sean, while Megan hung out with her cousin David Conley. On Saturday David, Sean & Carly came up the the cabin. We had a wonderful day together and they didn't leave until almost 11:00pm. because we were in a heated game of loaded questions (thanks Jeff & Melissa) and the boys wanted to win. But it ended in a tie. We had twenty-two people at the cabin!! You put the characteristics of the Marsden family and Ensign family and it looks a lot like "Dan in Real Life."

Sean has also had a lot of fun hanging out with his cousin David Conley. David has gotten to be good friends with Carly too. Hopefully not too good of friends :)!!

Perhaps Sean will bring Carly to Lesley's Christmas party so you can all get to meet her too. I have already told Carly how wonderful each of you are. So there you have it. I admit it Sean does have a girlfriend. But I also must say...I love her.

THE WONDER THAT IS YOU

2008-10-10T06:15:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to my beautiful girl....
In many ways I have come to divide my life into two different segments. Life before having Melissa and life after having Melissa. One would think it would make more sense to have marriage being the biggest changing point of life; for me I think it

has to be the day Melissa entered into my life.

Melissa has blessed and enriched my life in so many ways. I cannot even come close trying to describe how my world was changed. Melissa was born with a giant spirit.

Melissa was born four weeks premature. She gave us a big scare when she attempted to come when I was 28 weeks pregnant. At that point, I was put on strict bed rest. On the evening of October 9th, about 10:30 p.m., we headed for the hospital. This time there was no stopping my labor. Just after 3:30 a.m. Melissa was born. Shortly after she was born it was evident that there were problems. The doctors couldn't tell if her lungs were not quite developed, or if she had aspirated and was having trouble breathing on her own. She was placed in newborn ICU and received care around the clock. The next couple of days were very scary ones for us. We were told that she had something wrong with her heart. A heart surgeon from Primary Children's hospital was on his way to do an ultrasound of her heart. Meanwhile, Grandpa Alan and Tim administered to her tiny little weak body. After the heart surgeon had examined her, he couldn't find anything seriously wrong with her heart. From the time she received that blessing Melissa started to improve. When she was only six days old she was able to come home from the hospital with us. She came home on oxygen and a heart monitor, and Tim and I were required to take a CPR class before we could leave. She remained on oxygen for the first three weeks, and the heart monitor for two months. She quickly began to thrive.

By the time Melissa was 9 months old she was walking/running. By the time she was 12 months old she could clearly say over 100 words. There was no stopping her. She was a true party animal. I remember going over to Mike and Lesley's and she would cry when we had to leave. She had so much fun with her cousins, and she loved being around others. By the time she was two, she would go up to complete strangers at the park or store and say "Hi I'm Melissa, would you like to be my friend?". She loved going places and experiencing adventures. She loved make believe and playing Disney characters and Winnie the Pooh.

For over four years, it was just the three of us. However, no one was happier than Melissa to welcome Sean into our family. She was crazy about him. They had so much fun together and she loved being a big sister. She still does. She is so dedicated and devoted to him in all ways. She watches out for him too.

Just 22 months after Sean was born, Megan came along. Melissa is a wonderful sister. She is fiercely

devoted to family. Melissa has a great capacity to love; she adores Megan.

When she was in elementary school I remember a mother telling me that Melissa was one of the only students who was kind to her autistic son. This mother shared with me what a difference Melissa had made in his life.

Melissa has a love of learning. Ever since she was young she had a hunger to read and learn. I am so proud of how hard she has been working to acomplish her goal to graduate with her Bachelors degree. It isn't easy and it is so much work; but she is doing it!! Even though she is so busy in school, each semester she has also taken the time to take an institute class. She strives for balance in her life.

Melissa has a love for beauty. She has always been more classic then trendy. She has a passion for the arts and for music. When she was in Paris and went to the Louvre, she wore a dress to show respect for the artists. She loves many types of music and has introduced me to country; I have gone from dislike (of country music) to love because of Melissa. When she was growing up I loved to watch her dance. She has taught me to love so many beautiful things.

She was gifted with a wonderful sense of humor. One thing about Melissa is what you see is what you get. She is the real deal. Sometimes to my shock and amazment she tells you how it is.

She is a wonderful, powerful, spiritual, beautiful, gifted and an amazing daughter. She is so good to me. She is so gracious and kind and thoughtful to me. She is so much like her dad it is sometimes unbelieveable. Once when she was younger and driving him crazy, I just looked at Tim with a smile on my face. He said "what are you smiling about". I asked him what it was like dealing with a female version of himself. From that day forward, Tim had a new appreciation for Melissa.

Melissa has a love for life and for others. She has a pure and good heart. She is a happy person. Full of joy, fun and passion. She has changed my world for the better. Melissa I love you immensely!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Love,

Mom

I have had some sleep

2008-10-08T21:27:00.003-06:00

Now that I have had some sleep and more time to process Sean's night, I am feeling so grateful that he is okay. I can honestly say that I feel his safety is a direct blessing from prayer. Please forgive my ranting in the previous post. The fact that that 21 year old young man had the sense to drive into the deer instead of swerve to avoid the deer at that hour of the night is nothing short of a miracle. I would feel very ungrateful if I didn't recognize Heavenly Father's hand in this miracle.

Sean where the HE## have you been...

2008-10-08T12:29:00.009-06:00

Some of you might remember that experience I had with Sean when he was a young boy. Well, last night I had a repeat. On Monday, Sean called me and started our conversation like this.

"Hi mom, guess what?...I just aced my test!!!" After telling him congratulations, he said, "Oh and by the way, I may be doing something really crazy tomorrow night." Then he proceeded to TELL me that his favorite group was coming to Salt Lake and he had always promised himself that if they ever came, he was going to go. He had arrange with his roommate who has a car and is a fan too, that they would leave Rexburg at 2:00p.m., get to Salt Lake by 6:00p.m. enjoy the concert and then get back on the road by about 11:00p.m. and arrive back in Rexburg by 3:00a.m. and he said he would be able to make it to his 9:00a.m. class with no problem. You can only imagine I wasn't thrilled with the idea, but what can I do. For those of you who may or may not know. Sean is very careful with his money and has been all his life. Thus Sean is fiscally sound. I couldn't use the line, "that would be a waste of money", because Sean has never wasted money. As I tried to share my concerns with him, he kept reassuring me that everything was going to be alright. I did feel a little better when I found out that four students would be driving down, and thought they could all help each other stay awake. So, I went to bed early knowing I would wake up during the night and I could call him to help ease my mind. The first time I woke up was 11:38p.m. I called his phone and asked him where they were. He told me that they hadn't left SALT LAKE, but would be leaving soon. When I woke up next at 2:00a.m. and tried him, he didn't answer but I thought that he had turned off his phone because it went right to the message. At 5:15 a.m. I called Tim (7:15a.m. for him) because he is in New York and I knew he would be leaving for meetings soon. He said he had tried calling too, but had not received an answer. I figured he was sleeping so I didn't want to call Sean until 8:30a.m when he should be up and getting ready for school. So, at 8:30a.m. I called his phone and he still didn't answer. I figured he must be in the shower, and I would try back in a few minutes. At 8:45a.m. I called KNOWING that he would be walking out the door any minute to make it to his 9:00 a.m. class and he had reassured me he was going to. When he didn't answer. I promptly started looking through the BYUI Cenntenial Apartment contract to find his apartment phone number. One of his roomates answered and said that Sean was asleep. I asked the roommate to wake him up that I needed to talk to him. I heard the roommate go into Sean's room and say, "Seannnnn, you are in trouble....your mom is on the phone." My charming son answered and said " Oh, I am so glad you called so I can make it to my class (doesn't that sound a little bit like charming Jeremy), I must have slept through my alarm clock." I said "what time did you get in" in replied 7:00 AM." He then said, "let me call you right back and I will tell you the entire story, I will get dressed and call you on my way to class." A few minutes later, he called me back to tell me that while driving through Incom, Idaho, they hit a DEER!!! The driver was fortunatly thinking straight and knew that if he had tried to miss the deer, they would have flipped over and landed in a ditch. I think he said that was around 2:00 a.m. All of the passengers were uninjured. The car was inoperable. One of the passengers of the car had family in Pocatello, ID so they called and they came and got the four of them. I know the police came too. I know they slept there in Pocatello for a while then someone took them to Idaho Falls, and then someone else drove them from Idaho Falls to Rexburg, thus they arrived at 7:00a.m. I have not talk to him since. He has class until 2:00p.m. today. I am getting ready to have a NAP. I am exhausted, I didn't get much sleep last night as you can imagine. However, I am feeling very grateful that my prayers were heard and answered and that Sean (along with the other three students) are fine. Please excuse me if this doesn't make complete sense, I am SOOOOOO tired right now!!

Heaven on Earth

2008-10-06T09:13:00.011-06:00

We have had a wonderful long weekend. It was fabulous to have Melissa and Sean home with us. It has been over four months since we have all been together and it felt great!! Luckily, next time we will have Adam with us too. Melissa is so on the ball and quickly blogs about all our coming and goings I won't go into detail, but just to say IT HAS BEEN A GREAT FIVE DAYS.

We loved Russell & Jessica's wedding!! It was so nice to see everyone. Even though Alan and Marivic weren't with us, we all enjoyed the DVD presentation and I felt like they were right there too. It was great to be in the temple with Melissa since the only other sealing we have been to together was on August 5th, 2006 when Melissa and Adam were married. There was a beautiful feeling throughout the day.

It was great to have Sean come home. He arrived Thursday night just in time to eat dinner (and sing "all love together in our garage") and drive to the reception. I was glad he was able to come to the reception with us.

Friday morning Sean and I went to his Dr. appointment so that he could get the last of his information gathered so he could apply for a visa to Australia. We were surprised that we had to spent 2 hours with the doctor so he could fill out the fourteen pages required by the Australian government. The doctor was surprised too. He said he had never seen a visa application requiring so much detail. I did feel badly for all of those people scheduled after us. I am happy to report that he appears to have finished all he needs to do for the visa since his deadline date is Oct 8th!!

We left for the temple Friday afternoon about 3:30. Tim and Sean needed to be there by 4:30 and so Melissa and I dropped them off and took a couple of pictures...

Words cannot express what a special experience it was for me to be in the temple with Sean. It was AWESOME!! I am savoring the experience over and over in my mind and heart.

We all enjoyed watching conference together with a quick trip to the mall in between sessions. We had a girls party night while Sean and Tim were at the Priesthood session. After Tim and I went to bed on Saturday, the three kids stayed up until 1:00 a.m. talking and laughing together. Megan told me that Sean said he was feeling like a man now. She told him he was only a MA...you don't become a MAN until after your mission. Nothing like a sister to put you in your place.

But by Sunday night that sinking feeling hit. Suzie was having a family party at her house and Sean's ride back to Idaho made it so we had to say goodbye after conference even though his ride wasn't coming until 6:00p.m. Melissa had to be to the airport by 6:30p.m. We are just glad that that we will be able to be together for a weekend in November.
We will take what we can get. I am grateful that families can be together forever.

I am also grateful for those tall Marsden genes. Oh my heck...I am the shortest one in my family.

Okay confession time...

2008-09-30T21:21:00.002-06:00

I got Marivic's tag today and thought I would quickly respond. I can't believe I am the first to get to the blog. It is a first since I am not as vigilant at blogging!! I had to really think about seven things that each of you may not know about me. I was so surprised to learn about some of the things of Marivic. I never knew about the milk allergy. I can't believe I didn't know that. What a picture too. That is a big deal!! No ice cream?? I wasn't surprised to learn about the proposals, even though I didn't know that. I'm glad that you didn't marry the B-R-A- guy or as we call it here...the big red apple guy. His behavior sounds like he was a bit of a perv (as they say in high school). Any way here is a list of things you may or may not know about me.

1. I had a crush on one of my professors at the University of Utah (before I was married). He was single and an Economics professor who was about 15 years older than I was. He was soooo HOT. It was while I was living on campus and I had a class that we had to invite one of our professors to a brunch at the place I was living at. I invited him to go with me. I was either brave or stupid, or perhaps both but it was great fun. About a year ago, I met a man who is now a professor at the U of U in the Econ department. I asked if he knew this particular professor. He said he didn't know him, but he knew of him. I told him my little story. He laughed and said that I was one of many young college co-eds that was more interested in the professor than the subject. I was told is now teaching somewhere in Texas.

2. My interest in civic and world affairs began when I was in 6th grade. I can remember that the song "Cherokee People" was a big hit on the radio. My friend Chris R and I were so incensed by the words of that song, and we felt a real sadness for the plight of the Indian nation being put on a reservation that we spent a full Saturday making posters and signs to go to the Utah State capitol building so that we could start a protest for the Indian people. The only problem was that we couldn't get a ride up there to do it. The next summer, I went with my family on a four week road trip all the way to New York. I noted that all of the States had these cool welcome signs. Utah had the worst sign of all. It was a simple black and white sign that said UTAH. I decided I needed to write to Govenor Rampton and tell him that Utah needed to change the signs. So I did. The next summer we took another trip to Wisconsin and I was so pleased to see that Utah had changed their signs. I have always secretly taken credit for the signs because of my letter. I also served for three years as the director of the Pleasant View City Youth Council. I stopped serving last year.

3. I have only owned one piece of orange clothing in my wardrobe, my entire life. It was in elementary school, and it was an orange skirt and an orange top. I have never bought anything orange since. However, I do wear salmon.

4. I really like to garden. I get a little frustrated because I don't always have the time that I would like but it is very satifying to me. On numerous occasions, I have had complete strangers stop and tell me they like my yard. For whatever reason I tend to preach a sermon to myself everytime I am planting or even weeding. I have two neighbor girls, Taylor who is ten and McKensie who is eight who spend most of their Saturdays in the Spring helping me plant flowers and plant my garden. They beg their parents to come work with me. Their parents have a hard time getting them to work in their yard, but they will spend hours and hours helping me. McKensie was baptized in August and we were invited to her baptism and a dinner afterward. Just before dinner, her mom said "let me make introductions". Tim and I were so surprised that we were the only ones there that weren't family. All her G & G's and aunts and uncles and cousins were there along with Tim and I. Last Saturday I was out working in the yard. McKensie came out to help just as I was going in. I told her I would need help in two Saturdays. She asked me twice to make sure to tell her mom so she wouldn't miss out on helping me in the yard. We are little buddies.

5. I have a wide variety of friends. My good friends range in age from seven to seventy-six. I'm not kidding. I also have several people who I consider my friends who are very different than I am. My kids laugh at me because some of the drug addicts at Weber High enjoy to come and hang out with me. I have the most random conversations where people come up and tell me the most personal things. The other day I was at the grocery store and even the clerk gave me an ear full. I have been told by my children that I should be a psychiatrist.

6. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease about three years ago. It sounds worse than it is. Basically my thyroid doesn't work anymore. I will be on meds for life. I go to the doctor about every 3 to 4 months for an ultrasound on my thyroid and blood work, so they can keep their eye on me.

7. I ignore beach house rules :)!! Tim wanted me to put that one in.

My advice...listen to your body...

2008-09-25T10:58:00.006-06:00

I sluffed Young Women's last night!!! It has been an extremely busy month. I finally decided to listen to my body that was telling me...YOU ARE TIRED AND STRESSED...STAY HOME. I have to admit it felt GREAT.

I have 14 Beehives. I love each one of them. For the past four months I have only had one advisor. I have not had the luxury to miss an activity. With that many girls, we have had to have at least two of us there to drive the girls home!! However, last Sunday, a new advisor was sustained. No one was raising their hand higher and faster than me. When I called to find out that both advisors were planning on going, I made my plan on staying home.

It has been a huge month!! On the first Tim & Sean returned from Enlgand, then I spent the next two days helping Sean get ready for BYUI. Then by the 4th, I took him off to school, even though that was very exciting, that has been stressful too. Since then, I have taught twelve days, painted two room with Tim's help, made window coverings for both rooms, shopped for a new bedspread, matress & sheets, pictures and everything else that goes along with redecorating. Meanwhile we ran up to BYUI to be with Sean while he opened his mission call. Last weekend Sean came home and I spent the morning finishing the 47 quarts of salsa that I have also canned this month, then spent the afternoon working on Sean's FBI clearance papers that we received two days before that said APPLY TODAY, or else you will risk delaying your MTC date by six weeks. Arranging for a police officer to come to work on a Saturday so that Sean could have fingerprints and a letter of good conduct from the PV police department, off to Costco for more passport photos and filling out pages and pages of forms.

Last week my body started hurting between the right side of my neck to my shoulder. Then my stomach started getting upset. I even called to get a prescription from my doctor for acid reflux!! Did you know chocolate isn't good for acid reflux? I woke up with a sore throat!! All of these are clear signs of STRESS. I'm sure I'm not different or unique when it comes to having a busy life with too much to do. I'm sure the rest of you feel the same way at times. My dad showed me a cartoon once that said "MEN AT WORK". The caption underneath said "the reason why there aren't WOMEN AT WORK signs is because women are always working. There is never a need for such a sign."

So if any of you are feeling a bit like I am, I would highly recommend you take some time off. I feel much better today!!

YOU ARE 16 G0ING ON 17...

2008-09-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!!

My beautiful little baby girl is turning seventeen today. Megan has been such a joy in my life. She is my baby and will always be my baby, no matter what age. She was welcomed into our home when Melissa was 6 years old and Sean was twenty two months old. Melissa wanted a sister!! Sean was too young to comprehend that a new baby would be joining our family. He was more then happy to give up his spot as the baby and fell right into being the big brother. Even though he was in a car seat too, he would reach over and hold her hand while we drove down the street. I was so happy the night she was born and was so filled with such a sense of joy and relief. She was my biggest baby weighing in at 7lbs 13 oz and 21 inches. Just before she was born, the nurse asked me if we had a name for our new baby. When I told her that he name was Megan, the nurse kept talking to Megan say things like "come on Megan, you can do it". Just minutes after she was born, I remember Dr. Bryner commenting on what a beautiful baby she was. She was a very easy baby for me. I can remember calling the pediatrician because she was sleeping so much. He told me to just count myself lucky!!

Melissa loved having a new doll. I have always loved this picture of the two of them. You can see the love that Melissa has always had for Megan. She always loved to wrap her up like she was one of her own dolls and play house. When Megan was still very young, they shared a room together. Melissa watched out for her, and still does.

Megan was a big mommy's girl. She only took one bottle in her life...for Tim. We tried many times, but she would have nothing to do with it, and acted very insulted that we would try. She would rather starve!! Tim was very patient, but needless to say, Megan and I were always together. She was very easy for me, but probably hard for others because of the bottle issue. I could take her any where with me and count on her being good. I always loved having her with me...and I still do. I don't really have to "parent" Megan. She does just great "parenting" herself. I never have to remind her to do homework, or work hard in school etc... She wants to do well for herself. She pushes herself and works hard. She chooses to take challenging classes and has great balance in her life between church, school, friends, tv, computer, boys the phone etc... She was the youngest girl in our ward to recieve her YW recognition award. It was because SHE wanted it.

We moved to our "new home" when Megan was four years old. She quickly made friend with Aubree & Heidi. They have been close friends ever since. She was usually the peacemaking between the friends. I have always said that "Megan doesn't have a mean bone on her body." She has so many friends and many people that seek to be her friend. She is a very kind person. She looks for good in others in her own quiet way.

She talks kindly of others and sees the best in people. She gives people the benefit of the doubt.

It was great to have Sean and Megan in High School together. They have always been good friends. When Sean went off to school, he told me that he was really sad that he wouldn't be around to watch out and protect Megan. They really enjoy being around each other and have a lot of fun together.

I don't look forward to saying goodbye to Sean at the MTC. I will not only miss him, but I will feel Megan's pain too. Both Sean and Melissa had called Megan by 7:15 a.m. this morning. It is so great as a mother to experience your children being so thoughtful of each other.

I am so glad that my girls have a sister. I have always loved having sisters, so I am so glad for them. They have always really adored each other.

When we were saying our family prayer this morning, Tim gave thanks for having the honor and privledge to have Megan as a daughter. I feel the exact same way. It has been a delight!! We all love you Megan and we are so grateful you are in our family!!

I love life..and I love all of you!!

2008-09-04T06:22:00.003-06:00

I've often had a difficult time being able to wrapped around my brain how blessed I have been in life. How could one person be blessed enough to have been born and married into two such wonderful families. My life is rich with all that really matters.

This picture was taken on the day I was blessed. I was greatly blessed to have been born of goodly parents who taught and loved me. I have always felt treasured and loved by them.I have always been very blessed to have three sisters and two brothers who have always been very good to me. They have always watched out for me. I also grew up knowing four wonderful grandparents who loved and adored me. They really made me feel special as an individual as they had me sleep over, stay up late to watch Perry Mason and took me to Arby's. I have ALWAYS had an incredible support system.

I was also extremely blessed have been born into the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I knew from a young age that I belonged to the true church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. This picture was taken just after I was baptized. If you can't tell, I am in the middle on the front row. I was also baptized the same day as my friend Jenny Coolam (the girl on the far left). My primary teacher was our bishop's wife, and I don't really remember anything specific that she taught me, but I do remember how loved she made me feel. She was always so kind, and made me feel so happy to be around her. I have been blessed with many great examples, teachers, bishops, visiting teachers, and ward members. I am so grateful for my testimony, and the gospel. It truly is the plan of happiness and I am grateful for the teaching of Jesus Christ each and every day of my life.

Another great blessing in my life has been my cousin Ann. This picture was taken on a trip that I took with Aunt Win & Uncle Stu and Ann. Between our two families, we were able to give each other different experiences. She wanted to have siblings that were always around. Her brother closest in age (Mark) was thirteen years older. She loved the chaos of a large family. Camping was a new experience for her. She loved coming over. I loved being invited to go to the circus and have cotton candy, my own french fries and staying in hotels. We watched out for each other every step of the way. We have laughed and cried with each other. The day she was married we were in a crowded sealing room and she was asked by Marion D. Hanks if everyone was there. Ann quickly stood up and said "where is Margie." I felt like a million bucks. I was stuck in a corner and she couldn't see me. We have been through a lot together. What a blessing she has been to me. She has greatly impacted my life.

When I was 15, (to young to admit to my Young Women), I found the love of my life. I fell in love with Tim right from the start. We hadn't gone out too many times, when Tim told me that I was special to him. I blurted out "I love you too." I was so embarrassed that I couldn't contain my feelings. It just came out. We always had so much fun together and we have grown up together. This picture was taken when we were seventeen. Megan will be seventeen in just a couple of weeks. Why is it that I thougth it was great to have a boyfriend when I was that age, and I am so grateful that Megan doesn't. She is so much more sensible then I was. I love your goodness Megan!!

Tim and I grew up together. You don't meet at that young age without having a huge impact on each other and your life. I have many happy memories of this time in my life. It is so much fun to watch Megan right now and be at the High School with her during this time in her life. Last year was so sweet having both Sean and Megan in High School together. It was a great blessing to me to be there with both of them. It was a gift to me to spend so much time with the two of you at Weber.

This picture was taken the day I started school at the University of Utah. My parents had always instilled in my the desire to gain a formal education. Today, I take Sean to begin his first days at BYUI. It is a very tender time and full of emotion. The day I took Melissa to BYUI was one of the most memorable and tender days of my life. We had just come back from England and it was just the two of us driving up to school. Tim was unble to come having taken so much time off for England When we reached Brigham City, she told me she had been saving a song to play for me. She put in "I'm moving on" by Rascall Flatts. We cried all the way from Brigham City to Idaho Falls. When we reached Idaho Falls we cleaned our faces and faced her future. My first baby was leaving home. My heart was so full of love for Melissa, I thought it might burst through my chest!
Today my second baby leaves for college & in a few short months a mission. Life is changing, but it does go on, and it is still good and exciting. I'm proud of you Sean. I must admit, my heart hurts right now.

My mom always encouraged me to have a variety of opportunites and experiences. I too have grown to really value opportunities. Having experience are way more important to me then things. I don't have a lot of "things." Experiences are much more meaningful to me. I turned twenty in Israel. To this day I still dream of being in the Garden Tomb. I think often about that time in my life and I am so grateful for my mom who encouraged me to take that time for myself. I knew who I was when I got married. There is only a window of oppportunity in ones life that these types of things can happen. I'm grateful Tim had his mission too. Even though it was hard to be apart, I would not have changed anything about it.

I have always been blessed with wonderful friendships. I have many friends and I love them dearly. They enrich my life continually.

This picture was taken when I graduated from the University of Utah. This is about where Melissa is in her life. I was wanting to find a picture of myself at each age of my children. However, even though I am a little younger then Melissa is now, we must not have had a camera for a few years because I can't find any pictures of myself when I was almost 23. I have always been grateful for the opportunity that I did have to go to school and have been glad that I did graduate. Even though I only worked in my field for 3 short years, they were three very important years helping Tim get through school. I have always been grateful for my education and grateful for my opportunity to be a stay at home mom. I desire for all three of my children to gain a formal education. I also desire that my girls have choices and that Sean will be able to give his wife choices too. If that make sense. Keep up the good work Melissa. No one can ever take your education away from you. I am proud of your efforts, and I love you very much!!

I do love life. I have been so richly blessed in every aspect of life. I love to be able to wake up early every morning and workout and sweat really hard. I feel so blessed I can do that. I love coming home to a cool/warm comfortable home that I can get into the shower and get ready for the day and all of its many challenges and opportunites.

I cling on to my Tim. He is my rock and the love of my life. I'm so glad I married you!!

I love that there is not one relationship in my family...husband, children (Adam included), siblings & parents (including the family I married into) that is strained or uncomfortable. We freely tell each other we love each other...and mean it. I love all of you.

I am so grateful that I have been blessed with three such wonderful children.***Especially Melissa who brings the most joy in my life*** You bring so much joy to me.

Each of you have taught me more about life then I can even express. You make me so happy. I am so proud of you. You are in my thoughts and prayers continually.

I feel the love of the Lord in my life each day and I feel of His tender mercies. I thank each of you for being my gift this day!!

***Edited by Melissa Turney***

The Boys' Are Back In Town!!!!!!

2008-09-02T11:19:00.011-06:00

It is great to have Sean & Tim back!!
I don't have time to blog now, but I just wanted everyone to know they are back safe and sound!! They even brought chocolate with them!! I just put their pictures on the computer, and between both of them, there is over 1000 pictures. It will be fun for Tim to tell you about their trip in person on Saturday. Sean leaves for BYUI on Thursday, so we have a busy couple of days to get ready.

This is the picture with Liam Brady!! Pretty cool!!

If a pictures says a 1000 words, I think this one is it!! They had a blast!!

Tim experienced a Coke commercial today....

2008-08-30T17:35:00.011-06:00

I don't have the vocabulary to describe Tim and Sean's excitement when I talked to them today.

I was actually able to talk to them a couple of times today because they called me around 7:00 a.m. my time to let me know they were about three minutes away from Abbey Road and I could get on the computer to the Abbey Road web cam and see them. Sean wanted me to call his friend :) Carly Hirst and have her get on the computer too. They waited on the phone until I called Carly on my cell phone so they both knew we were watching. Tim told me that Sean had on his long sleeve Arsenal shirt and he had on his short sleeve England shirt. I waited for just a minute and then I watched them walk down the street and start to cross the famous Abbey Road crosswalk. They walked in front of the web cam and stood there waving at us. It was really nice that Sean had his red Arsenal shirt because you couldn't miss them. The other thing that was funny about it was that I could tell they were quite a bit taller then anyone else around them. Sean then took off his shoes and crossed the street while Tim took pictures. Both Carly and I watched for about 20 minutes, and it was fun to listen to Carly giggle as we watched the two of them. They had spent the morning at the British Museum and had really enjoyed that together.

Disclaimer: Tim tells this story much better then I could even attempt to tell.

The big football event was after Abbey Road. They were both so excited and I knew this was huge for both of them. Out of the four games they have been able to go to, this was the one that they were looking forward to the most. The game on Wed. was Arsenal too, but because of who they were playing (New Castle) and for what other reasons that are too complicated for me to really understand...this game was IT. The game started at 5:30 p.m. and they wanted to be there like two hours early so they could go to the gift shop and drink in the entire experience. The game was wonderful for them and Arsenal won 3-0 (or at least I think that was the score) I just know they won. After the game was over neither Sean or Tim wanted to leave the stadium. They didn't want the night to end. They just sat there for a long time...like 45 minutes to one hour, just savoring the experience. By the time they left not very many people were around. They were walking down the street when a young boy about 10 caught Tim's attention. The boy said something about Liam Brady. Now if you don't know who Liam Brady is...he is a legend soccer player for Arsenal. He is Tim's all time very favorite player. He is now retired, but Tim has books, DVDs etc...about Liam Brady. Sean is also a big fan. So after Tim heard this boy, he looked up and saw someone from behind that looked like Liam Brady. He told Sean and they decided they would pick up their pace to see. The man was on a cell phone and they couldn't really see his face. They finally got close enough and Tim recognized his voice. It was Liam Brady. You just have to picture Tim telling this story...or better yet hear him. Anyway, at about that point he got off the cell phone. Tim wasn't going to say anything, but Sean out the blue said, "Mr. Brady, could we have a picture with you?" He turned around and Tim said he was the perfect gentleman. He asked them where they were from, and seemed so surprised that two guys from Utah were such big Arsenal fans. He told them they were both big blokes. It was great for both of them. I can't wait for all of you to hear them tell the story. Sean said that today was definitely one of the top five days of his LIFE!!

Tomorrow they will go to church with Ray and June, and then they are taking them to see Joseph Smith's ancestral home. They will also drive around and see the outskirts of London. They leave to come home Monday morning, London time, and will arrive home Monday evening
Utah time. I can't wait to see them. The only bad news, is I asked Tim if he had bought a lot of chocolate. Get this...he hasn't bought ANY. I'm sure hoping he can get it at the airport. But chocolate or not...I'm ready for them to come home. I miss them both!!

High School Days...

2008-08-29T20:27:00.010-06:00

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yes, but I had the best of both worlds. I dated boys from my school, but I had a boyfriend from another school...TIM. Of course he had the same luxury too.

2. What kind of car did you drive? The family car...I didn't have my own car until after I was married.

3. Were you a party animal? No.

4. Were you considered a flirt? I considered myself more reserved. However, Tim says he thought I was a flirt. I wasn't overly flirty.

5. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir

6. Were you a nerd? I don't think I was.

7. Were you on any varsity teams? No

8. Did you get suspended/expelled? NO!! I hate to get into trouble.

9. Can you still sing the fight song? No, but my family still teases me because I have always been really loyal to my High School. While I was in High School we took State in just about everything. Go Skyline!!

10. Who were your favorite teachers? My most memorable teacher was Mr. Westerguard and Mrs. Sullivan. They were both English teachers. Mr. Westerguard my sophomore year and Mrs. Sullivan my senior year. I also really liked Brother Mayer who was my favorite seminary teacher.

11. Where did you sit during lunch? Usually in the lunchroom, and I had a salad bar on most days. They had a really good one at Skyline with iceberg & romaine lettuce, ham and cheese, tomatoes, croutons, beets & olives. But my favorite days were when we went to McDonald's. When I was a senior Doug Bailey took me to McDonald's and we ended up getting back to seminary with just a few minutes left of class. That was one time it was worth being a little naughty. Tim was so jealous of Doug and then they ended up serving in Brasil as missionary companions, and Tim really grew to love him.

12. What was your school's full name? Skyline High School

13. School mascot? Eagle

14. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No...however I love being at the High School now...knowing what I know.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? Elsha...I still remember the boys name that was sitting next to me with about 1/2 bottle on him.

16. Where did you go for your senior skip day? Lagoon

17. Were you in any clubs? I was in pep club, and I was an officer in Choir. I was also on the seminary council in 9th grade.

18. Have you gained some weight since then? Yes...:( Check out my picture...

19. Who was your prom date? Tim Marsden was my favorite prom date!!

20. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? I was pregnant and on bed rest at my 10 year reunion, but I did go to my 20 year reunion, and I had a great time. The funniest part was when this guy came up to me and acted like we were best friends and I didn't even recognize him. I didn't dare look at his name tag because by the way he was acting I figured I better not make it any more awkward. After two or three minutes, I finally recognized his voice, and it was "Mr Elsha" who was a really great guy at Skyline, and a huge football star who went on to play for BYU, who was now bald and all that muscle....turned to fat. He still had has great personality.

2008-08-28T20:49:00.010-06:00

Tim and Sean traveled from Yorkshire to London on Tuesday just before lunch. Before they left they went with Uncle Derek to see Uncle Jack. It was Tim & Sean's first time to meet him. It was a very powerful experience for Tim because he said for the first time he felt he could perhaps imagine what his Grandpa was like. Grandpa Archie Marsden felt very real to him. He said it was a wonderful experience and will tell us all more later. Uncle Jack couldn't get over how much Tim reminded him of our Grandpa Alan. To put it in perspective, Uncle Jack to Tim is like Uncle Derek to Sean. It was awesome.

Tim and Sean were very sad to leave Uncle Derek and Auntie Dorothy, but also felt very happy that their goodbye would be a short one and it was nice to say, "see you next week", instead of see you next time. The fact that they were heading to London to get ready to go to the ARSENAL game helped too. After they arrived at Kings Cross, they made their way to meet Ray at the station by his house. He was wonderful and helped them settled in. June had made them a delicious dinner and they ate with Ray, then Ray took them back to the station and they headed into London. Even though their ARSENAL football game wasn't until Wednesday night, first things first, they headed for ARSENAL'S stadium. They had fun checking it out and doing some shopping too. They stayed in London checking out the sites and sounds until about 10:00p.m. They were tired from their traveling and wanted to be ready for the next day.

They started Wednesday at Picadilliy Circus and then went over to to Buckingham Place to be there for the changing of the guards. They both said it was very crowded but enjoyed staying for about one hour and then headed to West Minster Abbey. Tim said he especially enjoyed the Abbey because now included in the price of the admission is an audio tour. This is either new, or we didn't know about it four years ago when we were with Melissa. They loved it. Just before they left they watched the movie DaVinci Code and after going to West Minster they want to watch it again to check it out even further. They also went to the National Art Gallery for me. I knew before they left that this was meant to be a English Football trip for both of them, but it was important for me to expose Sean to some additional culture beside Football. A few of my requests included National Art Gallery, the Tower of London (priority to Tim too), British Museum, West Minster Abbey & St. Paul's Cathedral. They spent 1 1/2 hours at the National Art Gallery so I was very pleased. Tim has gained some maturity over the past seventeen years, because when we went to England in 1991, he sat down at Trafalgar Square and wouldn't go into the National Art Gallery because it wasn't on our "agenda". We laugh about it now. I think they may have done a little shopping too after :). Then they headed for the game. They were very happy that ARSENAL won 4 - 0, and it was a wonderful experience for both of them. It sounded like it was everything they had dreamed of and more. They got back to Ray & June's after midnight after a huge day and even though Tim kept saying I better go to bed, I think we talked about 30 minutes because he couldn't stop telling me about how great their day was. Sean however, dropped right into bed and fell asleep.

Today they went to the Tower of London. They spent about 5 hours totally enjoying themselves at the Tower. They also went over to Tower Bridge and from the sounds of things all over London. I know they went to Harrods'sand I think Hyde Park today, but that could have been yesterday, I'm not sure. They did more shopping and ate at a wonderful Italian place that we had eaten at when we went four years ago. At 9:00 p.m. they found themselves sitting along the Themes listening to Big Ben chime. When I talked to them at 11:30 p.m. England time, they sounded happy and tired. Tim said that their feet were feeling the affects of being on them all day. They have been blessed with wonderful weather.

Tomorrow they have a double decker bus tour planned and the ride on the Themes. They will go to St. Paul too. They will either go to Abbey Road first thing in the morning or perhaps wait until Saturday, so we can see them on the web cam, they weren't sure. They are also going to try to go to the Britsh Museum either tomorrow or Saturday. So much to do, so little time. I am really starting to feel the affects of having them gone. I can no longer limit myself to my two squares of symphony. For comfort I believe I ate ....well too many to count...or who wants to count...not me. Today is the ninth day, but it feels like a lot longer then that. but thank goodness for phone cards.

For you it's free...

2008-08-25T20:54:00.002-06:00

I felt so happy on Saturday when I called my thirteen year old neighbor boy and asked how much he charged to mow lawns. He asked me who needed their lawn mowed. I told him that both Tim and Sean were out of town for two weeks, and I was wondering if he would mow my lawn the first part of the week. His response was quick "for you Margie, it's free." I knew he didn't have a mother standing over him prompting him what to say. I thought that was very nice of him, but I certainly didn't expect him to mow my lawn for free. So, today just before dinner, I looked outside and there was Jordan mowing my lawn. Luckily I had made some chocolate cookies earlier in the day so I got the money and a plate of cookies and when he was done, I walked over to pay him. When I tried to give him the money, he insisted that he wouldn't take the money. I tried three different times to pay him, but he insisted that he wanted to do that for me. Luckily he did take the cookies. He made my day. It took him over one hour to mow my lawn and he did a fantastic job!! When you come across young teenagers like that, it just gives me great hope for our future!! Thanks Jordan!!

YORKSHIRE PUDDING & ANCIENT RUINS...NOT BAD FOR A MONDAY

2008-08-25T16:28:00.013-06:00

Tim and Sean have had a great couple of days. On Sunday morning they went with Uncle Derek to his ward/branch. He was teaching the lesson, so it was nice for both Sean & Tim to be there to hear him teach. They went to all three meetings and Sean said it was really fun for him to hear the English accent using the familiar words he is used to hearing back home. He was able to talk to one of the missionaries who is from Idaho and will be attending BYUI when he returns from his mission. After church they picked up Aunt Dorothy, stopped to have lunch & headed for York.

I talked with Uncle Derek, Tim, and Sean and they all told me about a performance of an Italian Tenor who was singing outside York Minster. They said it was so beautiful and enjoyed listening for quite sometime. I think both Uncle Derek and Tim put in some requests. Tim and Sean climbed to the top of York Minster. Then they walked through the "shambles". Tim said I would have loved it because they were having a Sunday market with fresh flowers, food and jewelry. Sound fun...doesn't it? They decided they would go over over to Peter's Gate for fish n' chips, but they were too late :( the dining room was closed. They were able to get some chips to go. I think I was more disappointed for them then they were. They didn't seem to mind a bit. Sean says that he thinks he has finally found someone who can out eat him.

The "Shambles" in YORK!!!

On Monday morning the four f them left to go for Whitby. I have been so excited for them to do this because this is one of my most favorite memories of when we went with Melissa four years ago. Lesley had told me about Whitby and I wasn't prepared for such an amazing experience. Sean loved it!! He said so far this was probably his favorite day. They were able to spend quite a bit of time exploring the ancient ruins, they went into the Abbey and loved the beautiful stained glass. Both Tim & Sean love to explore, and this was the perfect place. I also requested that Sean have a soft ice cream cone with a flake (Lesley had told me to do that too) and he said he enjoyed it for both of us. They loved the cobble stone path way to the top of the Abby and overlooking the North Sea. They enjoyed more Yorkshire Pudding at a pub and this time it was the big Yorkshire Puddings, so Sean was glad he was able to try both. They were both feeling a little melancholy thinking about leaving Yorkshire tomorrow, but are looking forward to London. I remember the first time Tim & I went to Yorkshire in 1991, Tim said he felt homesick for Yorkshire as the train pulled away. However, I'm sure this wont be the last time.

***The Marsden Family***