Life Is Good

In my childhood (teenaged years) I was an avid journal writer. For various reasons in my young adulthood, it was a habit I struggled to maintain. As a missionary I just got tired of writing and rewriting my life. I felt that it was adequately documented in letters. My journal felt redundant. I see the fallacies of that thinking now. As a newlywed I found myself unwilling to write about the imperfections in my life. I only wanted to write about things if they were perfect.

Throughout the years I have written entries here and there. Most of all it comes in the form of blogging about my children or writing a status on Facebook.

Lately, I have been wanting to document the fact that life is good. It isn't perfect. But it is good. I am happy. My marriage is good and that brings so much joy to me. My children are wonderful people and that is such a blessing. I love the gospel. I am surrounded by great friends. Life feels like a gift and even though some days are hard as I am still in the trenches of motherhood, overall, it's a beautiful world for me.

Juneau Stake Youth Conference 2015

I had the opportunity to attend Youth Conference with eight of the youth from our branch. President Ericksen was the other leader who went.

The travel to the conference was extensive. The event we were attending was scheduled for two and a half days. The boys going will have been gone for eight days when all is said and done. The girls stayed even longer to attend girls camp the following week.

The travel:

Tuesday morning get up in time to be at the Hollis ferry terminal by 7:30 AM. For most of us that meant leaving our house before 6:30 in the morning.

Arrive in Ketchikan at 11:00. 

WAIT until around 9:00 PM when the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry docks. Load for departure scheduled at 10:45 PM.

Arrive in Juneau around 5:00 PM the next day. (Wednesday)

Conference begins at 4:00 Thursday afternoon.

In Ketchikan we were able to spend some of our extra time taking the kids to see the Lumberjack show and shopping. We spent lots of time at both Wal-Mart and the Plaza. President Ericksen brought his truck over from Prince of Wales. I called Sister Susan Merrill who was willing to lend me her car. Each vehicle held five passengers so it worked out perfectly for our group of ten. The youth who attended from our branch were: Tyson Scamahorn, Owen Chadwick, Dominic Stephens, Lewis House, and Cayden Bird with the Young Men and Cailin Bailey, Aubrilyn King and Courtney King with the Young Women. Morgan Bird opted to fly up on Thursday (on his own dime) to join us. Aubri and Courtney joined us in Ketchikan coming home from their summer in Utah/Colorado.

The sleeping arrangements on the ferry were less than ideal - we were all but in the closed bar area which provided an enclosed room for us to keep our group. We had joined the Ketchikan ward (who also had kids from Metlakatla with them) and were a group of nearly 50. We had young men on one side of the room and young women on the other side. I went to sleep after midnight, woke once around 1:30 and again around 2:30. At that point, the people next to me decided to start a movie on a laptop computer. It was loud so I decided to go sleep on one of the lounge chairs upstairs. I slept there until about 5:30 at which point I was awake for the rest of the day. The remaining ferry ride was pleasant, though. We had gorgeous weather and it was smooth sailing. I enjoyed the time to get to know the kids. Sister Mattsen even held a dance for the kids which was a great warm up for the two stake dances they attended during the conference.

Finally we arrived at our destination. My housing assignment in Juneau was with my three girls and another girl from a different unit. President Ericksen told me I had a great housing assignment and that he was jealous. We were sent to Bishop Brent Tingey's home. Apparently they know each other professionally from earlier in their careers.

President Ericksen was correct - Bishop Tingey had a beautiful home and his wife Amber was very pleasant to spend time with. I enjoyed my interactions with both of them. They were kind enough to feed us dinner that first night, breakfast the next morning, snacks in between various activities and shuttle us back and forth to the different events. Before the conference started, they also helped transport us to the Mendenhall Glacier and Fred Meyer for more shopping.

The conference itself wasn't perfect, but the memory of the experiences quickly overshadows the imperfections and the focus becomes the powerful spirit that was felt throughout those few days. It was wonderful for the youth, and I think I was at least as spiritually fed as they were.

I left my group early - on Sunday morning - the fly back to Ketchikan in time to catch the Sunday evening ferry. I learned that I would be on the same flight as Sister Lana Youngberg who is the wife of the Stake President. I asked if she would be willing to give me a ride from the airport to the church. She said she would and, in fact, I ended up spending my entire day with her both between our arrival in Ketchikan until church began and then after church until I needed to catch the ferry.

In the morning she was busy preparing for teaching her Relief Society lesson and with practicing a song she was playing for a special musical number. As I sat in her home listening to her play, and pondering the things the spirit had been teaching me in the previous days I was overcome with a great sense of peace. It took me a few moments, but I began to recognize the familiarity of that feeling. It was as if I were in the chapel at the temple, waiting to attend an endowment session. Although I have heard the concept of making our homes likes temples, this was probably the most tangible experience I have ever had of really feeling that. I felt like the cleanliness of her home, combined with the righteousness of those who lived there, and the power of the music she was playing were all factors in such an atmosphere. It also reminded me of the cleanliness of Amber Tingey's home and I resolved to work to improve the order of my home and also of my body. These were thoughts that were on my mind during the conference but they seemed to be confirmed in that moment.

Church was wonderful with lots of friendly faces. Afterwards, Sister Youngberg invited me back to her home. She fed me a quesadilla for lunch and we chatted about a variety of things. I learned more about her background, different experiences and counsel about raising children, random thoughts about various family dynamics etc. At one point I found myself nearly in tears simply from the feeling of the spirit that was there. She is a good decade younger than my mom, but she felt like a motherly figure, teaching me and being an example of someone I could follow. Our time together was a perfect capstone to an already wonderful week. I enjoyed the time with the kids, I enjoyed the time with the Tingey's. I enjoyed the time with the Ketchikan ward, and I enjoyed the time with Sister Youngberg.

Soon it was time to get on the ferry and head home. The three hour ride was a bit more gray than I would have preferred, but it was calm and peaceful. And pretty soon I was back home with my family, whom I missed immensely while I was gone!

December Pictures 2014

Rock Paper Scissors to determine who get to open the tree.

We had to buy a new tree this year since the lights on our old one weren't working.

After several years of intending to, I finally got bells to go on our tree.

This is such a beautiful smile!

Ammon got a customized shirt for Battle of the Books.

We had an awesome fondu part to celebrate me getting home from my trip.

While I was gone, the boys (and Andrew) learned some things about archery.

Andy always helps with the laundry.

Laurie is not always in the basket, however.

Putting up lights.

I sang in the POWER Christmas concert community choir.

Seriously - this smile never gets old!

Christmas in plain sight.

We had to order all of our presents, but since we had just moved in,

we decided to just stack the boxes as if they were unpacked moving boxes.

It totally worked.

Funeral Trip South December 2014

Laurie and I went to Utah and then to California for Grandpa's funeral.

We took a 12 passenger prop plane from POW to Ketchikan,

Then we had a flight from Ketchikan to Seattle and another flight from Seattle to Salt Lake.

Awww. Laurie got to snuggle with Grandpa Joe.

I was so happy to get the chance to meet and hold baby Harlow!

My Dad wrote this for his ward newsletter after sharing it at a empty nesters FHE.

So cute to see Laurie and Noah together!

We had a super fun visit with Aunt Jen!

It was fun to chat, just like old times.

While some people went out looking at Christmas lights, 

Dad, David's family and I went out for dinner at Red Robbin.

We snuck in a birthday celebration at Tucanos during my trip.

My parents, Katy, Peggy and Derrick, Laurie and I all had lunch together.

My visit was so short - it was sad to say goodbye to the Hansen family!

Laurie decided to party it up in Vegas.

She pulled this stunt at 1:00 AM!

It was nice to spend time with a couple of my siblings.

Uncle Joey did a great job helping with Laurie while we travelled.

The graveside service for Grandpa Fred was in a beautifully decorated building.

While we were in CA, we had the chance to visit Grandpa Rosemann.

Laurie first met Santa Clause in Ramona, CA at a ward Christmas party.

Back in Ketchikan!

On the ferry home.