What a week!

Geez, those fires got close. It's an interesting exercise to pack for an evacuation. What do you take? What is important? It's comforting in a way to discover that very little is irreplaceable - very few items are that important . . . some quilts, some photos, some personal papers . . .

Conference this weekend!

Love mom

All she said in her note was that she moved, she calls it her "new address" so I just assumed that i was a "new address" .

Just to let you know our Venezuela trip is coming along well...the guy I was waiting on finally wrote me back. It is a little hard to make plans with people over there. They are very slow or I guess I should say relaxed about things and they are not very traveler savvy.

Grandma's new address:
207-w Los Angeles ave #233
Moorpark, Ca 93021

Take a look

I found this blog about secrets fascinating. The human element is really quite touching. Even though some of the secrets are heartbreaking there is something to celebrate in the essential humanity revealed. It made me feel connected.

Sunday Morning

I'm sad that we've all sort of fallen away from reading and writing on the blog. Of course a few of us never did start writing but I'm hoping we can change that. It has been such a whirlwind summer for me I can hardly believe it is coming to a close. School starts for me in a couple of weeks and while I'm excited about it, I'm going to miss the work I've been doing with Buena Vista and being involved in the day to day functioning at work. The job has been a great challenge and project and I feel like I've managed to get the systems designed but not quite implemented. And of course like anything new, there will be many modifications that will need to be made once everything really is implemented and I'm afraid I won't be there to do the fine tuning.

Today since Dad is at an RV show I'm supposed to teach his Gospel Doctrine class. And it's kind of a boring one on the succession in the presidency. Just how much can anyone say about that anyway?

The Red Cross called me yesterday. They want me to work some more downtown and I said I would. I've decided that my time is so short that even if they did call to deploy me, things have just gotten too hectic. I'll have to content myself with working with the local Chapter when I can. I sure hope that they have things better organized when I get down there than they did last time.

Vegas Baby

Nick and I are going to Las Vegas on Saturday night. We will come home late Sunday night. We know that it is only for a day, but I really want to see Alyssa and Samuel! and of course oma and my grandma and cousins. We haven't decided if we are leaving before or after the concert thing. Right now we our leaning toward after so we can support Kristi and "Ashton Zayer." Well I hope you guys are not to upset that we won't be at the house on Sunday night I know how you ALL look forward to seeing us EVERY Sunday night, but I think you will make it though it. Just put our picture on the kitchen table or on the couch and pretend that we are there. Well, hopefully we will see you at the concert! love you guys!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Chelsea's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!! Now that you are 21, maybe I can't call you that anymore.

Love, mom

Scripture Reading 1NE 1-4

I'm reading, looking for God's generosity. Right away, first chapter, verse 20: "...I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen...". This verse follows a block (v5-19) where Nephi described how God's tender mercies were given to his father, Lehi. WOW! His tender mercies have more to do with enabling us to get through life by doing what is right, evene when we screw up and deserve less, than saving us from the consequences of our decisions. Ch2:2 also showed me that these consequesnces, and God's mercy, for our actions, extend to others in our life around us. In this case, Lehi's family.I aLso saw a lot about sibling relationships. I think we can choose which sibling we want to be: nephi, Sam, Laban, Lemuel. They all had different personalities. Generous of God to show us these types of roles, right in the beginning, so we can model ourselves after whichever one we choose.This section (ch2:11-13) also shows me the danger of murmuring (complaining, looking for fault, criticizing harshly), especially in a family. I wonder why L&L murmured so much. Anger? Fear? Selfishness? Hurt? Loss of confidence in Lehi? Sense of fairness (Nephi gets birthright, no them)? I'm learing that I've murmured too much and too often about my children's choices, and that this continued murmuring has made me more stiffnecked towards them than I should be. Without thinking (or choosing) I may have become more like Laman & lemuel than I realized. Time to change.Had to do alignments Monday, so this Monday post i coming on Tues am. I know you all were waiting for this post. HA HA. Sorry.Love,Dad

Still Alive

Well, I almost forgot all about the blog, it's been so long since I've had time to read it. Jamie, I miss both you and Nick!! I'm sort of glad to hear you aren't going to Las Vegas this weekend because hopefully that means you'll be coming over. And we've got presents . . . New York was lots of fun in spite of the terrible weather. We did EVERYTHING. It's hard to say what the highlights were: Coney Islands and the Nathan's hot dogs; Wicked; shopping on Canal street buying counterfeit Prada bags and other fun stuff; the Met; the food . . . of course hanging out with Chelsea was the best of all.

Honey, I think it's great that you and Nick want to talk scriptures, but just remember we're having a hard enough time getting SOME people to even read the blog!

Natalie started over at Buena Vista this week and I know she's had a tough week. It's hard to get new organizational systems in place and until we do, things are rather chaotic over there. But it's getting better!

Don't mind me, just feeling sorry for myself.

I miss Nick. Am I the only one? I have 31/2 days left of being alone.:(

Book of Mormon introduction

This introduction page was written by Moroni after all the other pages of the Book had been recorded. Interesting. I wonder, why? So, it summarizes the purpose of the book. It is usually taught that the purpose of the book is near the end of the second paragraph: "...the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, ...". If we read the whole paragraph we can see that there is a list of 4 reasons for the book, and that this is the Last reason. The first 3 (possibly also more important since they are listed before) are: 1) "show remnant of House of Israel (that's us, today) what great things the Lord has done for their fathers," 2) "that they may know the covenants of the Lord", and 3) "that they may know...that they are not cast off forever...". Each of these reasons is thought provoking. Personally, I like no 3. It reminds me that there is always hope for me. That I can still make it into the Celestial kingdom. I find it generous of God, and makes me want to start over each time I let him down.
I'm going to read the book this time looking for God's generosity. I'll let you know what I find.
Love
Dad

SCRIPTURE COMMENTS

Nick and I decided it would be fun & interesting to share our impressions and thoughts about our scripture reading here on the blog. Everyone is welcome to join in...read and commnet please. We are going to average reading about 4 pages per day, starting today Wednesday. At this pace Nick & I will finish reading the whole Book of Mormon by around Christmas. Pres Hinkley promised the blessings we need if we read the book and complete it by the end of the year. I believe him. We are going to post at least every Mon-Wed-Fri. Since we all love Nick's insights & understanding of the Book, let's ask tough questions and see what results! Lke the old saying goes: "no deposit, no return!"
Love, Dad

Being released

Well, Sunday was quite an emotional day. This is the toughest release from a calling I have ever had, the only time I have actually shed tears.
The day started with bishopric meeting, where privately Jim, Myron & I exchanged thoughts and feelings about the work, the members and eachother, for one last time. We have shared many up & downs in that office, a lot of fine memories.
Ward council followed next. Not a many jokes as usual, and tears started flowing from a couple fo the girls (Julie & Maren) as soon as they entered the office. Jim led a very touching prayer about God's, and his, love for the ward members. Besides a pin dropping, all I heard were sniffles all around. After Jim shared his very personal feelings/testimony, Myron & I were asked to do the same. Myron couldn't even look at anyone without tears. I was doing fine, until I had to speak.
By the time sacrament meeting started, we were cried out...no more tears. Myron & I sat together on the stand and hugged for several minutes, looking out at the congregation from that vantage point of a sentimental last time. Sitting right next to us was Pres. Pace. This was our last act of defiance, as we have sevral times been warned about too much PDA! We gave our testimonies, I had to go first. Feelings were so mixed. I had to stop myself from sermonizing, and just share feelings.
Wivws also gave heartfelt testimonies, especially Nancy about the joy and importance of having a family.
The rest of the day was very mellow. Went to Jim's for a BBQ, and later to SC for a priesthood meeting. AG1 bishopric made an appointment for Thursday, most likely to call me to a position. I was approached last week to teach seminary in Agoura, but turned it down. It is not a calling, so I don't feel too bad about it. I just didn't think I could devote the time necessary...average2+ hrs per day prep time, plus teach the class.
Love you all...
Dad

My Birthday

Nick is the best husband. He is way to good for me. Sunday night he took me to the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Stanta Monica. It is one the the most beautiful Hotels I have ever been in. I wanted to have our reception there when we got married and my mom basically laughed in my face. Anyways, it was wonderful we had room service and chocolate covered strawberries. I was very spoiled, and I loved every minute of it.

Singles Ward

What I'm going to miss most about the Singles' Ward in no particular order:

(1) Having singles over to our house to just hang out, eat, and relax;
(2) Not having a calling;
(3) No noisy kids during sacrament (I really appreciated that when I went to the Calabasas/Woodland Hills ward this Sunday);
(4) Matchmaking (real or imagined);
(5) Associating with the Doolans on a regular basis;
(6) 1:00 p.m. Sacrament meetings;
(7) Break the Fast dinners; and
(8) Being in church with my kids.

It's going to be a drag going back to a ward where no one knows who you are.

In the meantime, I'll getting ready to go to Palm Springs on Thursday with Natalie. I will return on Sunday in time for church and then it will be off to New York the next day. I'm excited!!

And oddly, I'm excited to go back to work tomorrow . . . I like my new job and I am really excited that Natalie is going to be there soon . . .

Love,
mom

Newport Beach Temple Trip

The temple is beautiful...who would expect less. Several things impressed me:1. The building exterior blends in with the neighboring buildings in color and archetectural style, except for the tower & Moroni statue. At first I was a little disappointed, as I always imagine temples to be the most striking in the area, symbolic of all people looking toward & focusing on the temple. But as I walked through the inside and saw the beauty therein, I realized that the symbolism of this temple is that many things are plain, or ugly on the outside, but beautiful on the inside. The outside also symbolising the temporal world, and the inside representing the spiritual world of the gospel. Reminds me about the scripture of how looks upon our heart more than our outside.2. The inside was beautiful and rich in quality. It felt "solid" and clean in there. of course, other than people talking, it was peaceful and mostly quiet. There was order to the floorplan. However, it definitely felt different than any other temple I ahve been in. I realized this difference was because this building had not be "dedicated". I realized that there is something very different about a building that has been dedicated. And so for people. Those that dedicate their lives to some purpose bigger than their own interests seem to have a special aura or feel about them. It is comforting, and reassuring, in many ways. Those that dedicate themselves to only themselves manytimes have an uneasy feel about them, or maybe no particular feel at all. They are just there, probably very nice, but just there.3. Either way, going through a rtemple, walking the grounds, can be a Life Improving Experience (LIE). It was for me, on Saturday. Glad I shared it with nancy, Jim & Skyler.I hope you all make it a priority to go and be there for a short while.Love,Dad

Family Ties

Well, so far I've got Natalie, Skyler and the Awesomes all signed up at the new blog for extended family. I've sent out invites but who knows if anyone else even knows what a blog is about. So please do your part to encourage everyone to join. I think there will be a learning curve :)

Skyler, maybe you can give Samuel a call and get him started and he can get the rest of the Joneses signed up. Remember that the new blog is linked at the bottom of our links here, but Blonken will remain private. The url is familiestied.blogspot.com because familyties was not available.

What are the chances of getting Skyler and Chelsea posting anywhere at all???

Petriscak / MacDougall blog

Question....

What do you all think about starting a Petriscak / MacDougall blog? This can help us all keep up on what is happening with the extended family. I think this is important.

Anyone want to set it up?

Love,
Dad

Mom's the Hospice God!!!

Tina Scotto just dropped by the lot. She is the RN from AG1 ward who works with mom as a hospice nurse, and also owns a motor home in our program.

She went on and on about how she loved working with mom, and was impressed by how much mom knew, and how confident mom was.

"She is an answer to prayer" Tina said, and proudly shouted "Around the office, she's know as the Hospice God!" as she returned to her car.

Not bad for being the new kid on the block.

We're all proud of you, Sweetheart, Mom, Debi, Sister Onken, Hospice God! (whoever you are!)

FHE this sunday

FHE this sunday night at our house, 7:30pm.
Everyone welcome.
Topic suggestions? Otherwise we will watch the famous CES Oakes talk on dating/hanging out.......there are 3 or 4 MORE important things he taught in that talk besides the freeloader section. We will look for them, and discuss them, ans skip the "it's marriage time" section unless someone wants to get into that topic also. I think you will find it enlightening and thought provoking. I hope also discussion provoking!!
See ya there,