Karen Beth's Blog

New Year's Resolutions 2012

2012-01-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

My New Year’s Resolutions-2012

I have been thinking a lot about my resolutions for this year, and as you can see it has taken me awhile to put down on paper what is going on in my head. The second Sunday in January our lesson in Relief Society was on George Albert Smith . It was titled "Teachings of George Albert Smith: Living What We Believe"

"Our religion must find expression in our everyday lives."

When he was 34 years old, George Albert Smith made a list of resolutions that he called his “personal creed”—11 ideals that he committed to live by:

“I would be a friend to the friendless and find joy in ministering to the needs of the poor.

“I would visit the sick and afflicted and inspire in them a desire for faith to be healed.

“I would teach the truth to the understanding and blessing of all mankind.

“I would seek out the erring one and try to win him back to a righteous and a happy life.

“I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals but rather love them into doing the thing that is right.

“I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be happy.

“I would avoid the publicity of high positions and discourage the flattery of thoughtless friends.

“I would not knowingly wound the feelings of any, not even one who may have wronged me, but would seek to do him good and make him my friend.

“I would overcome the tendency to selfishness and jealousy and rejoice in the successes of all the children of my Heavenly Father.

“I would not be an enemy to any living soul.

It goes on to say, " Now let us examine ourselves. Are we doing as much as we should? And if we are not, let us turn around and do better. If we are doing as we should, if we are reaching out in all directions to do good to the children of our Father, then we will bring to ourselves the blessing of an all wise Father, and we will rejoice in the good that we accomplish here. …

Let us be humble and prayerful, living near to our Heavenly Father, and evidence our belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ by living up to its principles. Let us evidence our faith in God, and in the work He has given to the earth, by a correct and consistent life, for after all that is the strongest testimony that we will be able to bear of the truth of this work."

I really want to do the things that President Smith wrote of. I want to be a better person, a better disciple of Christ.

Here are some of the personal things I have come up with to work on also:

· Adore More-love with all my heart

· Explore More- go places around me that I have never been or haven’t been for a long time

· Store More- work on our food storage and personal preparedness

· Restore More- restore or repaint things I have been wanting to for a long time

· Stress Less- Stop stressing so much

· Dress For Less- Make my clothes, I have a huge box of material and patterns just waiting

And lastly, I found this cute saying on Pinterest that I really like that I think we should all work on:

Happy New Year- 2012

2012-01-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year! I am looking forward to a wonderful year. Last year was good, but I feel this year will be better. I will make it better. I was released from my calling in the Relief Society Presidency and put in as the Ward Emergency Preparedness Specialist. I am so excited. I will be posting the things I will be putting in the Ward Newsletter, so hopefully it will be helpful to everyone.

Have a wonderful day and a great New Year.

Halloween Decorating

2011-10-04T15:35:00.000-06:00

I am so excited, I found this adorable dresser at an antique store the other day and it was only $40. I have it in my dining room and this is how I decorated it for Halloween. I think it turned out so cute. The 2 windows are from Arkansas. When Heather, my daughter, lived there, they owned a home that had an old barn in the back yard and these were in it. She brought them home to me and I have been so excited to use them but I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I love how it turned out.

I'm Back....

2011-10-04T14:47:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been nearly 6 months since I have posted anything, soooo....I'm back. A lot has happened in six months. We got another wonderful granddaughter April 18th. Katelyn Pearl Hillman is an adorable little baby that is very happy and a lot of fun.

We had pictures taken of all the grandchildren and they turned out so cute. Above is a picture of Kate. Can you tell her dad is a BYU fan?

This is our sweet little Jane. She is 7 months old and so much fun. She loves to smile and talk to everyone.

This is Ethan, he is 14 1/2 months old and is such a ham. He is adorable and loves to play with his cousins.
Next is Jacob and he is 3 1/2 years old. He is a tease and has a good time where ever he goes.

Kyle is also 3 1/2 years old and is so happy to get to run and play at grandma's house.

Now we have Payton who turned 4 in August. She is beautiful girly girl and is full of energy.

And last but not least we have Sydney, who turned 8 in June and is a wonderful to help to her new baby sister. She is in the 3rd grade and as cute as can be.

There is the update on my grandchildren. I will post more later.

Out of the MOUTH of Babe's

2011-04-07T10:51:00.000-06:00

I am writing this more as a journal, so I can remember it, but I also want to share it. Yesterday I was at my mom's, she lives in a retirement community. My sister, Barbara was there along with one of her daughters, Jessica and her three children, Emily, Caleb and newborn, Nathan. Barbara and I took Emily and Caleb upstairs, they wanted to go on the elevator. We walked down the hall and back and I noticed one of the apartments had a plaque by the name that said the man was a WWII Vet. I noticed his first name was Howard, I remembered that because my grandparents last name is Howard. Anyway, we went past the theater where some folks were that we know so we went in. They had just finished having Family Home Afternoon and so we were talking to them and I noticed a kind looking man sitting in a chair observing what was going on. He didn't say anything, just watched. I also noted that he had no wrinkles for a man his age. Odd that I would have noticed that. I am weird that way. As we were talking, one of the ladies introduced me to the gentleman and said this is Howard, he just lost his wife, Melisa. Ah ha, I remember his name plate down the hall and I also remembered my mother telling me that a Melissa had passed and that she was a lovely woman. Right then, my great nephew, Caleb just walked over to Howard and put his arms up, Howard bent over and Caleb kissed him. It was such a sweet moment. I felt so close to Heaven because of that sweet little child and that sweet elderly man. It is so amazing what children perseve.Caleb is only 3 years old, but I feel he sensed that Howard was feeling sad even though he didn't look sad on the outsid. I thanked Howard before we left for the service he rendered our country and he said he would do it again in a minute. I want to thank sweet Caleb for allowing me to feel a bit of Heaven that afternoon. I needed it so bad. Maybe he knew I needed to feel a touch of Heaven. Thank you Caleb.

Blessings from Heaven!

2011-03-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a day yesterday. Our daughter, Heather had her sweet baby Jane and our niece, Jessica had her sweet baby Nathan, same hospital, 40 minutes apart. I will post more later. We are so excited.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T11:47:00.001-07:00

This will be a short post, but one none the less. I haven't posted for almost 3 months. I want to start it up again and I will, I just have a lot to do today. Glad to be back on. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Ironing

2010-10-05T18:04:00.000-06:00

My husband was in the military...he likes his clothes ironed...he likes them done the right way...hense, I do a lot of ironing. I also had a father who was in the military...he liked his clothes ironed...he liked them done right...hense, I did a lot of ironing growing up. When I would iron my dad's fireman shirts (He was on the fire department) and if I didn't get them just right, I would have to do them over until I got them right. Doug is not that picky, but he does like them to look nice. I like him to look nice. I hadn't been able to keep up on the ironing lately and I decided on Saturday I would start to get caught up. Today, Tuesday, I finally finished. I think it was 34 shirts and 5 pants. In the middle of it this morning my iron died, so I ran to the store and got a new one. It was so nice. I didn't realize how bad the old one had gotten. Anyway, enough of my rambling. I just wanted to toot my horn that I got the ironing done and I am going to try to keep up with it.
Also, I am decorating for Halloween and I will soon post some pictures. It is so fun. Off to my Tuesday night meetings. TaTa.

October 2010 General Conference

2010-10-03T17:07:00.002-06:00

Well, it is October already and General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints just got done. Wow, it was amazing. I loved all the talks and I am going to strive to change a few things in my life to become a better person and be closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. As I was listening to President Monson's closing talk today I started thinking of a picture I have of him. My Grandparents went on a mission to Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada in the 1960 to help build a church there. President Monson, then Elder Monson made a visit there and this picture was taken. My Grandpa Howard is the man in the tan shirt and pants, third from the left and Elder Monson is second from the right. How grateful I am to have been able to listen to a prophets voice today and to have had the wonderful Grandfather that I had.

September Morn

2010-09-01T14:20:00.000-06:00

Wow, September already. This morning the air is cool, strong wind and clear sky. But September 1st is to soon in my opinion to feel like fall. We should have at least 3 or 4 weeks of nice weather. It is supposed to be better later this week. I hope so, Doug is taking the next 12 days off so we can get stuff done outside before Winter. This might sound strange, but I went Christmas shopping this morning. It feels good to get a few gifts out of the way and I will continue to do so each week until I am done. I am determined to be done with shopping and everything wrapped by November. Doug and I are going to the Temple in the morning than we are taking Payton to lunch and tending her while her mom goes to the Temple. That will start Doug's vacation off good. Then work, work work with some play in there. We want to go to Salt Lake to get some fruit and go for a nice drive through Logan canyon. Well, happy September, let's make it a good one.

What happened to the week

2010-08-11T20:37:00.000-06:00

I am not sure what happens to my time. I know I have just as much as everyone else, but I can't seem to get things done like I would like to. Doug has been in Atlanta since Sunday on business and I had such lofty plans of getting a ton of things accomplished this week. Well, Monday I had a DUP meeting that I was at for about 3 hours, then I am not sure what happened to the rest of the day. I was taking care of Michelle since last Thursday when she had nose surgery, so I kind of helped her on Monday. Tuesday I got a lot done, I picked raspberries, mowed the lawn front and back, did several loads of laundry and hung them on the line, worked in my herb garden, had a presidency meeting at 6:30, talked to Doug when I got home. I feel I acconplished things but didn't. I still have a huge basket of ironing I need to do before Doug's work week starts on Monday. Wednesday is the day I spend with my sister and my mom. We usually go to lunch and run errands, shop, doctor appointments or what ever. Today we went to a new resturant called Buddies Italian Food. It was so yummy. After I left mom's at 5 I went and held our new grandson Ethan for a while, it's a grandma thing ;o)
Tomorrow I am hoping all the grandkids will come over and play in the pool. I won't get anything done in the house, but I will enjoy the day. I will post some pictures. As for the week, oh well. I always have next week, I hope.

Ethan Jimmy Hall

2010-08-09T15:30:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the world Ethan Jimmy Hall!

Life has been so crazy here, I didn't get around to

Welcoming our little Ethan to the world.

He was born Friday, July 23rd weighing 6 lbs. 14 ounces

and is 20 1/2 inches long. He is such a good baby.

Laura and Jerry are such great parents. We love

this little guy so much already.

Welcome to our world Ethan, We love you.

The Boys

2010-06-21T18:31:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday, my girls came over to finish up plans on a baby shower we did for Laura. It was so cold outside that the kids couldn't go out and play, so we brought the table and chairs inside and they had a picnic in the kitchen. This is a picture of Kyle and Jacob, both almost 2 1/2 years old. They are so cute and bring us a lot of joy.

Happy Birthday Douglas!

2010-06-17T16:24:00.000-06:00

Tuesday was my sweet hubby's birthday. He makes my life so complete. Here is a picture of Doug with our son, Brian. My two favorite men. Happy Birthday Douglas, you aren't getting older, you are getting better. I love you.

Sunday

2010-06-13T21:04:00.001-06:00

Doug got home from Gettysburg Friday and had a great time. It is always so good to have him home. It was a beautiful Sabbath day and it was even kindof warm. Supposed to be better tomorrow. The sun is setting and it is so calm and peaceful. Doug is making popcorn and life is good.

My Garden

2010-06-09T20:38:00.002-06:00

I am so happy, my garden is planted. I am so late this year, but I got it done. Now I am going to shower, pop some popcorn and watch Sleepless in Seattle. Night all.

Yeah for June!

2010-06-02T15:56:00.001-06:00

Well, I made it through May. Yippee!! I can't believe it. We got mom packed and moved into her new place and we all survived. It was a very long, emotional month, but I think she is fairly happy. I hope that she will get out and meet people and have fun. I mowed the lawn this morning and it felt so good to be out doing things in my yard. I have so much to do, but I am determined to get it done. I will return with pictures at some point. Yeah for June!!!

The Month of May

2010-05-16T14:20:00.003-06:00

Well, I was going to be so prepared for a very busy month, and still try to keep up on my blogging, but that isn't going to happen. I will try to blog every week, not that anyone really reads it, it is just a good thing for me to do for ME. Last Tuesday night my mother fell and ended up in the urgent care. I thought she needed stitches, but the wound on her head was just very bloody. She hurt her arm pretty badly also. They wrapped her up like a mummy, so I told her I was going to call her mummy instead of mommy from now on. We were driving home at about 12:30 a.m. and I started to laugh and said, I'll bet we could scare someone this late at night if they looked in the car and saw you with your mummy wrap and blood all over your shirt. Here are some pictures of her injuries.

She is doing much better now, thank Heavens.

When my father passed away 25 years ago, the cemetary where he is buried had a rule where his plot is that the headstones had to be flat in the ground, and I mean IN the ground. If the grass was long at all, you couldn't see his headstone. Every spring my mom would complain about it, because other graves around it had upright headstones. So this spring, when she complained, Barbara and I took her to the monument store. We ordered a new headstone and they got it in last week. We had gone up the week before to take pictures of the old headstone, then Doug and I went up Friday to take pictures of the new one. What a difference.

This is the old one that was down in the ground. It is a beautiful stone, it just couldn't really be redone.

This is the new one. The front.

And the back.

I feel like we are finally honoring our dad the way he should be honored. It will be so nice to see it all decorated on Memorial Day. Love you and miss you dad.

Make-It Monday

2010-05-10T20:16:00.000-06:00

For my make-it Monday, I am in the process of making a compost bin out of a garbage can. I have been reading up on it and it is so easy. So my first step is done. I went to Walmart and bought a black heavy plastic garbage can for $7.97. My next step is to drill holes in it for ventilation and then start making compost. How easy is that? Later this week, the drill comes out....I will post pictures.

Table Top Tuesday

2010-05-04T10:30:00.000-06:00

Today is table top Tuesday. I am having fun with a theme every day. It helps me get things done too. Today I am showing to top of my piano. It might not be to exciting to other people but I love it. I need to appoligize to Laura and Jerry and Heather and Ricky, the reflection was just right and I couldn't get it off your pictures. I painted the candle sticks several years ago and of course I love the pictures of all my children.

Make-it Monday

2010-05-03T18:38:00.001-06:00

Well, today for make-it Monday I am going to share my recipe for homemade daily shower cleaner. It is so easy and cheap to make and I love it. And, it smells good too.
You need:
6 /12 cups of water
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1/2 cup household cleaner (I use Mrs. Bonner's magic soap, my sister introduced me to it and I love it. You can get it at health food stores)
Stir all together and spray daily after you shower.

It makes 8 cups.

The final product fits perfectly into a 40 oz. spray bottle with a quart left for later.

The Joy of Grandchildren

2010-05-03T15:57:00.001-06:00

Our two granddaughters spent Saturday night with us. We had so much fun. We watched a movie, had popcorn and read books. They were so good. They went to bed at bed time and only got up once to go potty. Sydney is 6 and Payton is 2 1/2 and they are so cute. My two grandsons are adorable too, but they weren't here for the sleepover. I took some candid pictures of them that I want to show.They are so cute. I loved having them stay the night.

More May Day

2010-05-01T15:59:00.000-06:00

You can probably tell that I love May. I am so glad it is here, although I about froze at my granddaughters soccer game this morning. The wind chill had to be in the 20's. Here is a cute picture I found on another one of my favorite blogs, twocrazycrafters.blogspot.com.

And here is a picture of my violets in my yard.

I hope you have a wonderful May Day!!!

May Day

2010-05-01T00:42:00.000-06:00

Wow, it is May 1st already. The year is almost half gone. I love the month of May, but I already know this is going to be a busy one. I have some beautiful violets I planted last year by my front door. They were in bloom when the winter snow melted from them and they are just going wild. I love it. I will post pictures of them in the morning when the sun is out. But for now I want to post some things I found on one of my favorite blogs: bannerhaus.blogspot.com.

When April steps aside for May,

Like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten;

Fresh violets open every day:

To some new bird each hour we listen.

~ Lucy Larcom