... for God looketh on the heart...

I went to a funeral today for Tim's uncle, Sam H. He passed away after battling the past 12 years with cancer. Tim's extended family isn't super close, he doesn't really even know their names and stories... so I don't know much either. We see them about once a year, usually just at the annual Christmas dinner. My favorite of the aunts and uncles on the side have always been "Sam and Doris." At the funeral all of the speakers mentioned the fact that you never said just "Sam" or "Doris." It was always "Sam and Doris." Now, while I am the first to admit that I didn't know him well, I knew there was something special about him. He just had a special feeling that he radiated. You just couldn't help but love him.

I wasn't sure I wanted to go to the trouble of finding a sitter for the kids, (or the alternative option of taking them all with me...) driving up to Sandy, attending the funeral, and then coming back home to the messy "post-weekend" house. After thinking a bit more on it this morning, I decided that if I could find a sitter, I would go. Two neighbors, both of whom were willing but had other commitments ( at opposite ends of the time I would be gone), were able to split the time and take my kids. (THANKS Heather and Jenny!) I drove up and was SO SO thankful that I did.

Now you will think me terrible, but in order to share with you the lesson I learned today, I have to reveal a DARK side of me. I am judgmental. (and not in a righteous, good, healthy way) not on purpose, I don't mean to be, and I am trying so hard to do better... but there it is, I am. Now Sam and Doris spent a lot of years not active in the church. To LOOK at them, you would likely see someone fairly uneducated and pretty "rough around the edges." Through the friendship of some good home teachers, they came back to church, but the "outward appearance" never really seemed to change all that much.

Neither of them ever served in highly visible church callings. Neither of them had much formal education. Their family never fit the "Mormon mold" in appearance. (example - many of the family there were in jeans and tank tops or t-shirts... with long hair and body tattoos and piercings) AND YET... That chapel was filled to overflowing today, and the look of loss and grief on so many people faces, was clear evidence of the impact that Sam (and Doris) have had in that ward. Stories were shared about how much LOVE Sam had - for everyone. It was shared how even though he never finished school, he was a master at building anything. They talked of how many homes in their ward had been "fixed" by Sam. - and he never wanted the money... just dinner or a hamburger would be great. He loved the temple. He and Doris went to the temple often, and on all of their travels, they tried to find a temple to attend on the way. He was a good, good man!

As I sat there, I was taught once again the message of 1 Samuel 16:7 :

for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Today I was taught (again) that while I often "look" the part ... I wear my Sunday best, my kids all wear their little Sunday best... I sing in the choir,... I have an educated husband and I feel I can hold my own... I know the "right" answers to gospel questions... I am careful to make sure I have a current temple recommend... None of that means anything if my HEART is not in the right place. It is not enough to LOOK like I'm doing what's right and good - I must be actively DOING my part - giving the Lord my VERY best. On first glance, Sam may not look that he has much to "offer" - but I tell you what - - he gave EVERYTHING he had, and the Lord magnified it 100 fold!


On this day, I express gratitude for Sam and Doris and their example to me of humility, perseverance, hard work, faithfulness, and being finishers! Sam will be missed, but his legacy of love will continue.

Thank you, SAM!

a tear-jerker classic...

On Father's day, my Grandma Fugal passed away. (a post about her may eventually come up, but I'm been such a slacker about blogging and I know if I try to "catch up," I'll never get back into it. So anyway...) at her funeral, the stake president shared some brief remarks in which he recalled a time when he was in her 4th grade class... way back when... and he remembered he reading aloud to the class, "Where the Red Fern Grows." That just happens to be one of my favorite books, and I decided I needed to read it aloud to my kids. We started it about a week or so ago, and the kids are loving it. (Aaron and Katrina especially, Caleb couldn't really care less and Bryan has a harder time following it...) Every night it is that same thing, "One more chapter mom, just ONE more???? PLEASE????"

So today I got home from walking, and instead of being productive, I just happened to open up the book to see what came next... Ya, you know what's coming eh? I re-read to the end, bawling and blubbering like usual. I've already told the kids that Tim is going to have to read the last couple chapters cause I don't think there's any way I can read them out loud... I'll be crying too hard!

Introducing my new BUTTON...

If you look on my sidebar, you will find a new button. Our good friends, Aaron and Holly B., have been hoping to bring children into their family for a long time now. After a long and at times frustrating process, and lots of hoop jumping, they are FINALLY approved by LDS family services and are on the ready to adopt list. The couples that are blessed with children the quickest (which is a hilarious term since "quick" is the LAST word any of them would ever describe this particular trial of life) are the ones who actively network and look for/find a birth mother.

SO - if you know a young lady who has found herself in a situation where she is ready to consider adoption, please give her Aaron and Holly's info and we will hope they "click" from there.

Here (in part) is what Holly posted on her blog tonight:

If you are willing, we would be so very grateful if you would post our button on your blog, or wherever, to get the word out! Information spreads so fast online, we're kind of hoping that will be the case. It's our hope that our little books and our blog button will help us find our birth mother. We are so excited to be adopting, and are so very grateful for the beautiful young women who are willing to say, "I can't raise this child, I want this child to have something more than what I can give it" and are willing to place their baby with families who are just waiting for a precious little spirit to come into their home and their lives.

Here is our button...

To put it on your blog, just add an html gadget and paste this:

<div class="widget-content"><a href="https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24200015/ourMessage.jsf"><img alt="Hoping To Adopt" id="Image2_img" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qyUHrXCcaEc/TCkNDy4bo2I/AAAAAAAABQg/UvvasF_AqzY/S220/Adoption_button.png" height="150" width="150"></a></div>

dang spam!

any of you who comment here - sorry to announce you'll need to do word verification, for at least a while. I've apparently be found by spammers! I just don't get it... what is their purpose??? What are they trying to accomplish????

Arizona Vacation - Day 6

I bet you were starting to wonder if I would EVER post about our last day... I was starting to wonder myself :)

I think that this day was my favorite of our vacation. (certainly the most VACATION like for me!) no setting up tents, I did NO cooking, and I got to sit up WAY WAY WAY past my bedtime and have therapeutic girl talk time. Mercy and I were friend from back in our college days, and we were nearly inseparable the summer after we both returned from our missions (back in 1994) She had come up north to stay with her sister Harmony (while Jeff was away). We both had summer jobs, but pretty much any time we weren't working - were were out PLAYING. I have some great memories from that summer. Since getting married (to Hal, who is a SUPER great guy, by the way) we haven't been able to get together much. just a couple times here and there, mostly as one or the other of us was passing through town... It was so SO great to just sit up late (I think it was 2 or 3 in the morning before we finally gave it up...) and visit about everything and nothing. Mercy is such an example to me of so many great qualities that I would do well to develop. Her kids are great... it was just fun!

In the morning, Hal saddled up their gentlest horse and the kids spent ALL MORNING being lead around the pasture by either me or Tim. After we told the kids their time was up, Hal saddled another horse and the two of us (plus Caleb, who did not want to be left alone...) took a short ride.

I hated leaving. I could have stayed there for DAYS! We are hoping to plan another trip down there SOON to go out to the red coral sand dunes with them.

We loaded up just after lunch and drove home.

And thus ends the 2010 Arizona Vacation saga! Here aer the final couple photos.

Katrina on the horse (who's name I can't remember since it took me so long to blog it...)

one of Caleb's turns

(This is a picture of Bryan looking down at us from the upstairs loft)

Bryan on the horse
Aaron (wearing Aaron S.'s hat which he NEVER took off and accidentally brought it home with him. - we had to mail it back)




This last video is Aaron on a SOLO ride. (looking like a stud-muffin cowboy. - at least that' what look I think he was going for...)

Arizona Vacation - Day 5

Almost done....

Day 5

We woke up on Day five, ate breakfast, packed up camp (I was celebrating cause this was the last "pack up camp" of the trip...) then went to play in the Page/Glen Canyon area.









We started out with a tour of the lower portion of Antelope Canyon. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!! I totally loved it! It is a little pricey, but I thought it was worth it. It is a sandstone slot canyon just a few miles outside of Page, AZ. Here are some photos. (just know that our camera isn't all that great and the pictures don't even come close... For some better pictures of the canyon just do a Google search for Antelope Canyon and you will see some AMAZING photos! (they just won't have my adorable family in them...)





(a "real" photographer - or his backside at least... I just put it in here because I loved the stripes (would you call them striations???) on the walls, and this was the best shot of those...)



The upper portion of the canyon (a separate tour that we did NOT do) does not have stairs. it is just flat walking, in case you want to go but don't want stairs...)



This was Jason, our Navajo tour guide. My kids (especially Bryan) LOVED him! He played his guitar pretty much the whole time as we walked through the canyon and my kids couldn't get enough of him...







Here are two short video clips of us in the canyon. (and the kids playing "air guitar" along with Jason.) Hope they don't make you motion sick...





After Antelope Canyon, we went to go on a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam. We got there, only to find out that the next tour opening was in 2 1/2 hours. we booked our spot on that one, then went back to Lake Powell near where we had camped the night before, ate lunch, and let the kids play in the FREEZING cold water. They loved it.













this is a short clip of Aaron getting into the COLD water... crazy kid! (egged on by his crazy father!)



The kids would have happily kept playing in the water MUCH longer, but we needed to get back to our tour, so off we went again. (in hindsight, I probably should have just skipped the tour and let them play, since the tour was pretty boring for them, but I thought it was interesting.

This Dam is just MASSIVE! I don't remember all of the specifics, and I'm too lazy to look them up, but it was something like, if they took the amount of concrete that was used to build this dam, it is enough to build a 4 lane highway, 4 inches thick all the way from Phoenix to Chicago! THAT is A LOT of concrete!

For reference points, the circular building in the back is the Glen Canyon Dam visitors center. That's where you start the tour, and the bridge is the road that crosses the canyon.



picture above is canyon/river side, picture below is the "lake side"



Bryan next to a HUGE (retired) turbine


Now you can see the bridge again from even further down....



This thing was HUGE - just bolted right into the canyon walls... just incredible engineering!



After the tour of the Dam, we headed to Glendale to stay with my dear friend Mercy. More about that in my next (and final) post. (but you will probably have to wait until tomorrow, cause today is shaping up to be a really BUSY BUSY BUSY day!)

Arizona Vacation - Day 5

DAY 5 -

We woke up to a chilly morning, ate HOT cereal and HOT cocoa for breakfast, packed up camp, then off to explore more of the Grand Canyon. Took a few hikes, listened to a ranger tour, and the kids fulfilled their requirements to earn their "junior ranger" badges. We also went to the Grand Canyon IMAX theater to see the "Grand Canyon Movie." It was pretty cool. (I only had to close my eyes a couple times to avert motion sickness.) We had originally planned to have Aaron and Tim go on a helicopter ride into the canyon, but we ended up changing that part of the trip, and this movie was almost like we got to experience both FLYING through the canyon and boating through the rapids.





This cute little Mountain Bluebird was just hopping around our camp all morning, just a singing' away. He was just a delightful little thing!




Park entrance sign. (we were actually on our way OUT of the park at this time...)



We took the short hike on the Bright Angel trial, only down to the first archway/tunnel









Here are the kids receiving their jr. ranger badges...





We drove out of the park via the east entrance, so we could check some ancient ruins and visit the "watchtower." The tower was undergoing some remodeling, but we could still climb the stairs up to the top level and look out over the canyon.



The watchtower from a distance -











After leaving the Grand Canyon, we drove up to Page Arizona and set up camp at the Wahweap campground at Lake Powell. As usual, we were running later than I thought we would, and we didn't get there until after 6pm might have even been close to 7... and the camp store was closed. We unloaded the stuff they needed to set up camp and then I ran back into town to buy firewood. (we had the camp stove with us of course, bu that night was our "roast hot dogs over the fire night" - so we kinda needed a FIRE!) Tim and the kids set up the tent while I was gone and then walked down to the lake. We had another late dinner that night then off to bed! (one good thing about this BUSY BUSY trip - is that the kids we so tired every night that they were anxious to go to bed and fell asleep almost instantly!)