The importance of "Time"

I have been thinking a lot about the value of time lately.  We all have 24 hours in a day, but what do we do with those hours?  I hear a lot these days about "living in the moment", but just exactly how is one suppose to do that, when there are so many distractions around us.

For me it has to do with the attention I am giving to a family member, friend, or complete stranger as I   actively listen to what they are saying, or the attention I am paying to a task I am doing.  I used to pride myself into think I was a great multi-tasker. But now, I don't think my the brain is capable of multi-tasking. Oh, I can talk and breathe and do a task, but when it comes to doing high level tasks, other that breathing, I have to give that task my full attention.  Now some might say it is because I am getting older.  I don't think that is necessarily so.   Studies have shown that people in the workplace who are sending emails, answering their phones, sending instant messages or being on Facebook, Twitter or My Space- all at the same time are making 50% more errors and their work takes twice as long to do. We are not supper human.  


Someone once said that" time is an illusion.  There is only a constant change and that is "NOW".  Even the words I just typed is now in the past.  But for some reason, it is so easy to put our attention to everywhere except the "NOW".  


As I think back over the past three months, I cherish these precious moments with family and friends
1.  Skiing at Alta with my son Michael and Grandson Douglas.  
2.  Having enough room in our home to have family and friends stay with us when they are in town. 
3.  Getting our Missouri home rented to Michelle and Marty Martinez on February. 
4.  Staying with Lori, Sean, Kadin and Kaia in February, where we played games together,watched Kaia in her gymnastic class..
5.  Getting my UT drivers license and car registered in UT, so now I am legal.
6.  Sitting in a hospital room with my dear friends Pat Prather while her husband John Prather tried to recover from a fall, putting him in a coma never to regain conscious again.  What a loving feeling in the room during those two weeks he was in a coma.  The morning he graduated from this life into the next, I was with Pat and John's three girls, only five minutes after he passed, and there was the sweetest feeling of peace in his room. It was a feeling of peace and tranquility which I had never experienced before.
7.Attending John Prather's funeral and there reuniting with several dear friends, I hadn't seen in many years from the "singles ward."
8. Driving to a doctors's appointment in only five or ten minutes. 
9.  Picking up my grandchildren,Emy and Gunner Wares from daycare on Tuesday afternoons and taking them to Emy's Dance class where Kim picks them up after she gets off work.
10. Having my daughter Michelle and husband Brad moving to the Salt Lake area and living only four miles from us.
11.  Babysitting my GrandDog (Sadie) when Michelle and Brad are out of town.
12.  Enjoying Sunday Dinners with family members
13.  Being able to fly back to St Louis and attend Kadin's 4th grade class program and enjoying watching her receive recognition for her academic achievements in Reading, Science and Social Studies. 
14.  Reading good books
15.  Having friends over for dinner.
16.  Playing games with friends.
17.  Enjoying my time with husband Richard.

We never know how much TIME we have allot to us.  As it says in the scriptures in Psalms 90:12 .  "Our days are numbered".  We don't know how much Time we have left on this earth.

My focus is going to be on Living my life fully, enjoying what and who is with me and appreciating every moment I have as well as everything the Lord has given me.

Reflections of 2011

This is the time of year that I look back with cherish memories and celebrate life, health, family, and good friends.  Family is a BIG part of my life all year long.  There is nothing sweeter than being with family. We seem to grow closer during the holidays.

Last Christmas we broke the tradition of staying home and spent the Christmas Holiday in the Northwest. We were able to spend with daughter Michelle & her husband Brad during the holidays, in Troutdale, OR. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was spent with son Paul and his family in Ashland, OR.  Son-in-law Brad Gerttula, was our pilot on Skywest as we flew to Medford, OR where son Paul Stone picked us up.  He drove us over to where he and Roxanne worked and then we all drove to Ashland,OR together.                                                                                                       

 We were also able to visit with long time friends Lynn and Ann Humble, who live in a suburb or Portland.

On January 1^st we attended granddaughter Nichole Catlett’s marriage to Justin Wamsley. What a beautiful wedding and reception it was.  Nichole was a beautiful bride. 

February 1^st we experienced firsthand “The Snow and Ice Storm of the Century” as we were driving from Missouri to Tucson, AZ to visit daughter Kim and her children. We were held up in a hotel room at Shepherd Air Force Base for two days and even then we probably shouldn’t have left as the roads were extremely dangerous. 

In April, our daughter Michelle and her husband Brad gave us an early Mother’s Day gift and Father’s Day gift by inviting us to go with Michelle to see our son Michael, his wife Carrie and their three children in Germany. It was a joy to be with our family in Europe. Michael and Carrie showed us as much of the area as possible, in the short time we were there. A highlight was an activity called “Tree to Tree”, where Michael, Michelle, Richard and Douglas climbed up wooden rope ladders to different aerial obstacle courses.  There were four different courses: Green, Blue, Red, and Black Diamond.    All of them got progressively more difficult. The different elements contain as many mental challenges as physical ones.

In June we made a trip to Salt Lake City for Grandson Josh’s McIff’s high school graduation. 

In July we flew to Salt Lake City for three different family reunions. We so enjoyed seeing several family members and watching the little cousins play together. One of our grandchildren said “I didn’t know we had such a big family”.  So cute.

We also met with a Real Estate agent who spent the day showing us homes for sale, as we were thinking about moving back to the Salt Lake City area. 

After return to our home in Missouri in July, we were looking on the internet and found a condo in the same Utah condo complex that we used to live.  We made an offer on it that very day.  It was countered and we accepted the offer by Sunday. On Monday, Richard was on a plane again to take the earnest money to our agent. He had to stay a few days until the inspection was done. 

August was a BIG month for us.  Our son-in-law Sean was in a serious motorcycle accident in UT. He spent 3 weeks in the U of U hospital, but we are happy to report that he is doing better now and is back working again. We also attended Grandson Ryan Sant’s Eagle Scout Award Ceremony, as well as his Mission Farewell to Argentina. By the end of August, we had moved back to Utah. 

November  From November 2^nd to the 14^th we were given an early Christmas Gift. A trip to Dusseldorf, Germany and Paris, France.  We were gone almost two week.  It was relaxing,fun, and  educational .  Seeing the Eiffel Tower was amazing.  We were able to go all the way to the top.

December:  We will be having different family members staying in our home from December 14^th to January 6^th. My Daughter Lori and her two girls Kadin and Kaia arrived on Dec 14th.  We had fun making decorating cookies, going to see the lights at the Zoo, attending a Dance Recital for Granddaughter Emerson Wares.  Lori's husband Sean got here on Dec 18th.  My daughter Michelle arrived here on the Dec 22nd and her husband Brad arrived on the 23rd.  Michael arrived in SLC on the 22nd and Carrie and the children, Douglas, Annaliese and Ava had came in earlier and was staying with her mother. On the night of Dec 23rd, Michael, Carrie & family, Michelle & Brad and Richard and I all went to see the lights on Temple Square.  They were so beautiful. 

December 24th, was extra special this year.  Michelle and Brad had gotten each of their nieces and nephews two gifts each.  They had put a lot of time and effort thinking about each child and what gift they might want.  We arranged for everyone to meet here at noon, and let Michelle and Brad give their gifts to the children so they could watch them play with whatever they had gotten them.  Michelle said it was her best Christmas ever, watching those little children play together.  Every single gift they gave was exactly what the children wanted.  It was a thrill to watch.  

Richard had invited three of his children and their families over in the afternoon.  Tiffany came with her three children.  Her husband Jeff was still in flight from Canada.  Wendy and Lance came with Tyson, Dakota,and Payten.  Charlie came as well as a very dear friend to Richard, Jan Mayer and his friend Beverly.  So we had in our home at one time 29 people with 16 adults and 13 children.  What a joy to have them all around. 

It is our Faith, Family, and Friends that sustain us in our lives, no matter what else is happening in the world. We are so grateful for all the friends and family that support and love us.