j . a . m . k . m . b: August 2011

Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2008

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.

... Professor Harold Hill, one of the principal characters in [The Music Man], voices a caution that I share with you. Says he, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”

f you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”³ We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.

Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”

In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: “These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”

Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.”¹⁰ May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.

Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey."

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Summer of Visits

When we moved to Utah we thought we might still have a good chance of seeing many of our friends because lots of them come through at some point. We had no idea our summer would be this fruitful with visits. We've caught up with old friends we haven't seen in years, spent time with friends we still see often, and everything in between. We've been so blessed with great friends everywhere we've gone.

So here's a list of all the friends we have seen this summer, whether they visited us or we visited them. These are all the friends that we have seen (or will see still) all or part of the family (his doesn't include Angela's trip back to CA with the kids).

- Baughs
- Fairbanks
- Hursts
- Trammells
- Werners
- Packards
- Lyons
- Williamsons
- Cutlers
- Maddie Healy
- Madi Wheatley
- Tangs
- Mortensens
- Claphams
- Greg & DaNel Jones
- Mike & Shauna Smith
- Jeremy & Amy Allen
- McNamaras
- Lohners
- Mabeys
- Fullers
- Sharps
- (hope I didn't forget anyone)

That list spans friends from CA and TX, with some old BYU friends mixed in. It's been amazing to see everyone and find that all are doing well. And yes, it's been a busy summer.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Yard update

Our house is growing up...

... and lots more still to do.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

This week starts the Tour of Utah professional cycling race. We've never been in Utah before when this was happening, but I've been to the Tour of California when we were there. The cool thing is that they take the race through many of the cities and communities, and one of the stages happens to finish right around the corner from my office building. Not only that, but someone from work just handed me a VIP finish line ticket, so I guess that means I'll have a decent view of the action when they come across the line in what should be a sprint finish. Very psyched!

I rode 61 miles on my bike Saturday, and loved every mile (well, the second to last mile was a little painful...). I rode from our house up to Thanksgiving Point, jumped into the ULCER century ride for about the first 30 miles or the course, and then rode home from south Provo. It was great to get good solid time in the saddle without killing myself on big climbs, and it was fun to ride with a few small packs, although I got to the start a little late and was really only left with mostly stragglers to pass when I started. Made me really remember how much I love riding my bike! Only thing that would've made it better would've been riding with Dave.

The family's all good - just soaking up the last couple weeks of summer. We all went to Seven Peaks Saturday morning and had a fun time until all the crowds came and it got hot. Luckily we have season passes so we felt great about leaving and coming back another day once we'd gotten our fill. Other things we're planning are a hike to the Y, hopefully a cabin trip, and if our yard gets done soon enough, a BBQ or two in the back yard.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Adios!

After lots of preparation and a million "last" events, Dad and Mom officially left for Santiago, Chile yesterday. We've known this was coming for a long time, but it's always seemed off in the future and it's very strange that they're now gone. As you can see from the picture, they shouldn't run out of supplies... I'm pretty sure that's a record for number of large suitcases taken on a flight.

The great thing about their time away is that they get to come back a few times a year. As we've explained to many of you, they will return each October and April for LDS General Conference (about a two week stay each time), and then they'll return home each July for a month. So it's not like a mission where they can't come home at all. And the hope is that at least Angela and I will be able to travel down to see them while they're there. May be too expensive to take the whole family...

And to leave you with one final thought, does anyone else crack up at the thought of my mom speaking Spanish???

Monday, August 1, 2011

"That guy..."

You've all seen that guy - the one at the gym who just can't take his eyes off himself in the mirrors. Sometimes he's somewhat surreptitious about it, other times he's enamored and doesn't care who knows it. I became that guy on Saturday, if only for a brief moment... Angela and I went for a run together in Deer Valley despite the fact that our hotel was sitting at the top of a gnarly hill. We ran a loop that took us down and then back up, and then we were chagrined to find out we'd only run 1.5 miles. We opted to finish the run on the treadmills in the fitness center, so we started running, and I have to tell you, I was downright flattered with my own legs while I was running! I yanked my shorts up sumo style and marveled at how I could see all kinds of cool lines in my quad muscle... yeah, I know, I didn't think I had it in me either! So there I was, checking out my Jan Ullrich legs as I ran, and I'll be darned if I didn't catch Angela stealing a few glances as well :)

OK, so we had a great weekend. This was our 17 year anniversary trip, and we stayed at the Chateaux at Silver Lake in Deer Valley for two nights, no kids. We ate really good food, watched a movie, ran, played tennis, shopped at the outlets, ran into some old friends, and went to a great outdoor concert featuring Idina Menzel and the Utah Symphony. So much fun, and very relaxing, although we would've liked to sleep in Sunday morning instead of getting up to make it back to church on Sunday. Oh well, the 3 hour naps on Sunday afternoon caught us all back up...

j . a . m . k . m . b