DINNER

I am again, tired. It's been a busy week. Surprise, surprise. I have a busy weekend to come. When it came to thinking about dinner...at 5pm mind you...it was decided to head to Wendy's instead of cooking. Wendy's was my husband's request. As the Mother of the Year I obliged to the idea of not cooking tonight.

Dinner is the bane of my existence lately. We have a house full of extremely picky eaters & my husband is the worse of them lately. He has a completely new appetite due to his diabetic medication. And it has made dinner time extremely hard. My sister-in-law made these awesome recipe books for us for Christmas. I love it!! (Thanks again Ren!) When planning meals for the week I referred to said book. I thought I'd try a couple of new things that were very basic & more than likely safe. Nothing is safe anymore at our house.

I was proud of myself for planning ahead & I've only gone to the store once so far this week. Normally I'm their at least every other day. I'm not good at planning ahead. Today, however, was not my day. As said before - we got Wendy's. After eating my husband tells me,"Thanks. That was good. That was the best thing you've cooked all week."** Yeah - he loves me!!

Maybe someday I'll be on the ball & can plan really well. Upon doing so, also be able to please my family since someone will not like whatever I make. Dinner always ends up with at least one person being upset with what I make. Or maybe I'll get really lucky & I'll be able to afford a chef. HA!! Either way would be nice. I dread dinner!!! If anyone has any grand ideas - I'm all ears. We need help.

**My husband did say that with a laugh. He dreads dinner as well since nothing ever sounds good to him anymore.

Easter Pageant FHE

Tonight was our Easter Pageant Family Home Evening. It was so fun to see everyone again. It's only been a couple of weeks since Pageant ended, but in some ways it seems like so long ago. We miss seeing our friends every night. This is a picture of us with the Jackson family...

they are AWESOME!! We just love them. Unfortunately, I wasn't very quick with my camera, so this is the only picture we got of people tonight. Hopefully, we can keep in touch better with people this year. We were so lucky to have such a wonderful family group this year. They will all be missed! We had a fun night of food & wonderful singing entertainment. We're already looking forward to next year!

NEW MOON GOSSIP

Aaron & Chanelle this is for you. (I need to keep Aaron informed on all the "Twilight" gossip because he loved the movie sooo much.) Just ran across this on the imdb website....

***THIS IS A FALSE STORY!! JUST READ THAT IT IS FAKE ON STEPHENIE'S WEBSITE! YEAH!!! STILL SILLY THOUGH & THAT IT MADE IT ALL OVER THE PLACE ON THE INTERNET IS NUTS!!***

New Moon 'Halted Over Lawsuit'
20 April 2009 5:04 AM, PDT From wenn.com See recent WENN news

Twilight sequel New Moon has been thrown into jeopardy - author Stephenie Meyer is facing a plagiarism lawsuit over the vampire franchise, according to reports.

The original 2008 movie - starring Robert Pattinson - was a major international hit and has spawned a follow-up which is currently being shot in Canada. The film franchise is based on the popular book series, written by Meyer.

But production on the second film has reportedly been halted following claims Meyer is facing legal action from her former college roommate, who is said to have accused the writer of basing the novels on her ideas.

According to I'mnotobsessed.com, Heidi Stanton - who studied alongside Meyer at Brigham Young University, Utah - claims the vampire books are similar to a short story she wrote when she was a student there.

Stanton filed her lawsuit against Meyer in Utah last Tuesday, alleging idea infringement.
She states in the papers, "Quite frankly, I was shocked when I began watching the movie with my husband last week. I immediately told him that she got that idea from me! I wrote a fictional short story with the same ideas when we were in college together."

Meyer claims the premise for the popular series came to her in a dream in June 2003 and she completed the first novel three months later.

And the legal battle has reportedly cast doubt on the highly-anticipated New Moon, with production being "put on hold" until the case is resolved, according to the website.

New Moon is scheduled for release at the end of the year.

**Ok - here's my take on this. In case anyone cares. For one - uh - REALLY?! You mean to tell me that this girl knew Stephenie in college, has heard all the hype about the series for the past 6 years & never read the book?! Instead waited for 6 years for a movie to come out & then decides it's based after a "short story" of hers. Does anyone else find this fishy? I just think that's crazy & I can almost guarantee that if her picture ever gets out she'll have some crazy, angry teenagers after her. Wow!!

P.S. - Ren - I love you, but I still don't feel for you!! :) :)

Gwen Lenore Mecham Carroll

This is my Grandma Gwen...

Isn't she lovely? She passed away this week. Again, this gives us all the opportunity to reflect on how lucky we are to have the gospel. I just can't say it enough how thankful I am to know that I will be able to be graced with her beautiful presence again. Here's her obituary that tells some wonderful things about her.....
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"Gwen Lenore Mecham Carroll, a loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister and cherished friend, lost a courageous and a long-lasting struggle with breast cancer and passed away peacefully on April 15, 2009 at LDS hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was born June 17, 1936 in Springville, Utah, the oldest child of Emil Lemond and Erma Fullmer Mecham. She attended school in the Springville and Provo areas, graduating from Provo High School in 1954. She worked at the Social Security Office and the BYU Employment Office to support her University experience. Gwen interrupted her BYU studies to serve an LDS mission in South Africa from 1959 to 1961. Upon returning from her mission, she began working as a flight attendant for United Airlines. She worked as a flight attendant for over 25 years, and was based in Chicago, San Francisco, and Denver. It was while she was living in the San Francisco area that she met and married the love of her life, Jimmy Lee Carroll, on March 17, 1964. Their marriage was solemnized in the Manti Temple in 1980.

Gwen’s greatest joy in life came from being a mother to her son, James Lamond Carroll. She was also a wonderful step mother to Terry Carroll and Linda Strebeck. She was a master gardener, and year after year she produced yards that were some of the most beautiful in the valley. She also enjoyed dancing, playing the piano and singing with her ward choirs. Gwen loved history, genealogy, family history work, and reading and learning about her ancestor’s lives. Gwen was a life-long member of the LDS church in which she served diligently in numerous callings. She loved and was loved by her family, her extended family, her church associates, and a myriad of wonderful friends. She was indeed one of God’s choicest daughters.

Gwen is survived by her husband of 45 years, Jimmy L. Carroll, her son, James L. (Heidi) Carroll, her step-children Terry Lee (Vi) Carroll, and Linda Joyce (Alan) Strebeck, one grandchild and fifteen step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her four sisters Shirlene (Ron) Day, Karen (Rod) Marshall, Kay (Jim) Graff, Elaine Butler, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, Emil Lemond Mecham, Erma Fullmer Mecham Nelson, her step-father, William H. Nelson and a brother, Emil Lemond Mecham.

A viewing will be held on Sunday April 19th from 6 until 8 pm at Berg Mortuary, 185 E. Center Street Provo Utah. Funeral services will be held on Monday April 20st at 11 am, at the LDS Church, at 10494 N. 4720 W, Highland Utah, with a viewing one hour prior to services. Internment will be in the Springville Evergreen Cemetery."

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Now, the part that talks about her being a master gardner is NO JOKE!! I loved going to their house in the spring & summer just to hang out in the backyard. It was just breathtaking! I was always amazed at her talent. Here's a few shots of PART of the grounds. And, I'm sad to say, that these pictures just don't do it any justice.

She would always put on quite the spread for meals whenever we would visit. She was always asking if we were hungry, if we needed more food, etc. She was just the sweetest person you'll ever meet. She also made the best "hot cakes" & I'm not even a fan of those. But, I could never pass up hers. She will be GREATLY missed!!

P.S. - I have to tell my Uncle James thank you. I took the obituary & pictures from his blog & I hope he doesn't mind. :) Our prayers are with you!

FRIENDS

Pageant is now over. It's always a bitter sweet ending. We are excited to have things, hopefully, be a little less chaotic. To have a little more time to breathe. But, we will miss being on the temple grounds everynight & we will especially miss all of our new friends. As I've said before we are placed in family groups every year. This year we were lucky enough to have the best family group ever! We truly enjoyed everyone in it. Here's a fun photo of our family group....

We will miss our friends. The girls loved playing with this guy..

His name is Bryan Crosland & he plays John the Baptist. He's even John the Baptist in the Reflections of Christ photos. He is an awesome guy. He got married this past year to Lindsay who is equally as cool. Our girls loved to go on stage with Lindsay whenever they could. Bryan was nice enough to watch Jadyn for us half the time while we were doing Kylie's scene. It was his favorite scene to watch so he was always watching us on side stage & he would lift Jadyn up so she could watch us.

This is brother & sister powerhouse Ryan & Brooke Jackson...

They are quite possibly some of the coolest people in the world. I joked with Ryan the last night that I wasn't saying good-bye to him because he's going to be my brother-in-law soon. I want him to marry my sister Stephanie because he's so dang awesome! They were so nice to our girls & keep asking to come babysit them for us. What 20 year olds want to babysit? Our girls sat by them as much as they could & they were glad to hang out with them. Poor Brooke had a hurt knee. She ended up being on crutches during performances & went on stage when she could. She used a brown cane to go on stage with. Hopefully it heals for her soon because she has a scholarship to UofA for basketball.

Then, of course, is the men who played the Savior. Tyler Maxson played the Savior on the spanish nights & he was so fun. He was always telling us how wonderful Kylie was & how she liked to help him out. This was his first year & he said Kylie would give him his cues to let him know when to do things. Silly girl! Robert Allen is the other one & he is wonderful. He just looks the part. That's probably why he gets his picture taken a lot. wink, wink He is such a nice guy & was so nice to my girls. They loved to run up to him & say hi any chance they could like little groupies. Here's some pics of them...

The last night is always an emotional night, but this one took the cake. The devotional is always a tough one. The directors & everyone on the stage sang "Love One Another" to the cast which lead to everyone in the cast eventually standing up & singing with them. Always a tear jerker. We were lucky enough to hear from Elder Mask of the Seventy on the last night. Elder Anderson that was just placed in the Seventy during the last conference spoke to us on Friday night. The hardest part, however, was Kylie's scene. We've been telling Kylie all year that this is more than likely her last year because she's just too big. So, when she jumped into Erik's arms that last time & he gave her his usual kiss for good luck - Erik started crying. Which, in turn, made me cry. So, those that were in the audience that night wondering - yes, we had real tears on this performance. Kylie did wonderful, of course. When I was walking off the stage Joe Tenney (he plays the male narrator) gave me a loving little nod. He's such a cool guy.

When we, Erik & I, walk off stage I go to pick up Jay & Erik picks up Kylie & then we meet for Triumphal Entry. When Kylie came walking up to me she was crying. She just told me that she didn't want it to be her last time. She made it through the scene & then we went back to our group. She spent the rest of the pageant sobbing in my arms. She was so sad that it was over. Right before we had to go up for finale she went to give Brooke a hug & completely lost it again in Brooke's arms. She will really miss pageant more than anyone. She just loves it! And loves all of her friends their.

I just have to quickly comment on the weather. It was a rainy day on the last day - which jsut made for a crazy day on many levels. The rain stopped a little before the pageant, but it was cold. When walking to devotional after make-up I took this picture....

If you look close you can faintly see a rainbow to the left of the tall palm trees on the left of the temple. It was brighter in real life, but I love this picture. It was a cold, cold night, but one we won't forget in a long time. Hopefully, we will be lucky enough to be cast again next year. We look forward to seeing everyone at our FHE party in a couple of weeks!!!

VOICES

Every night we love to listen to the voices in the soundtrack of people we know. Just for kicks I wanted to jot them down....

John the Beloved - Brett Hallows (Brett's my uncle. Not technically, but we love that family!!)
Accusing Woman (accuser of Peter) - Becky Burgess (Becky has been involved with the Pageant probably longer than we have. She has an amazing family. This was also the only line I've ever had in the Pageant back in 1998)
Judas - Chip Boynton (Chip played the Savior one year & became the Director the next year for one year. He cast my Dad as the Savior for the first time. He's also the Dad of my good friend Melanie!
Pilot - Lund Johnson (Lund was the Director for a few years & was a riot!! He also directed the Hill Cumorah Pageant.)

I remember as a kid after one of our Easter Pageant cast firesides going into a courtyard of the old church building on 1st St. & being asked to help with the soundtrack. The men yelled for the mob scene - which my Dad told me last night that if you listen close you can hear my Grandpa Organ pretty well. Funny! If I'm not mistaken we even recorded the Triumphal Entry background crowd noise. I just remember doing a few scenes & it was all the crowd scenes. Maybe even the Cleansing of the Temple scene. Either way - somewhere lost in the crowd is my tiny little kid voice.

BACKSTAGE

This is a snapshot of the backstage area of the pageant. I love how organized everything is into "family groups". When I was young we didn't have groups - or even chairs like this that I can remember. Everyone brought their own stuff & mostly blankets. They had trailers lining the back area instead of a fence & most people hung out in the trailors to change if they could. Especially if it was cold. But, the backstage was just a big party. I remember just running around playing with my friends. Things are a lot different now. Sometimes different is hard, but sometimes it's good. Here's a few things I love about the backstage....

I love how Nancy requests total silence from the Last Supper scene until the end. To give respect for the seriousness of those scenes. It's not always silent, but pretty close considering there's around 400 people sitting back their. Some of which are running around for their scenes. It's obviously quite hard for my girls to be silent, but they do pretty well.

I love watching the angels make a human chain to keep people off the sidewalk after the baptism scene. Robert (or Tyler - whoever's playing the Savior that night) has to run from one side of the stage to the other in a dead sprint. In order to make sure no one gets in his way the angels all line up to remind people to stay away. It's pretty neat to see a long line of white wrapped around from one side of the stage to the other.

Last year our group was near the south side of the stage. I liked being able to watch the torches being lit & then being put out after the betrayal scenes. They have a Polynesian fire dancer in charge of the torches. This guy seems so cool. He brings his guitar every night to sing & play while he's sitting under the stage. (Before the pageant starts. He doesn't play during the pageant.)

We've had fun this year waiting for the end of the Conspiracy Scene. We've just ran back to our seats from Triumphal Entry when that scene is already ending. Then, we get to hear my Dad's bells on his costume & we love watching him walk by. He comes out one side of the stage & then has to enter at the other side of the stage.

Most importantly I love our little routine when getting ready for Kylie's scene. I wear the same capris under my costume because they have big pockets that I can place a brush & a hair wax stick in. Once the Healing & Teaching scene is over we run to our spot to get ready. While waiting for our cue I re-brush Kylie's hair & try to smooth it out. Then, shove the items back in my capris. When the Jesus & The Children song starts Erik lifts Kylie into his arms while I hold her hair out of the way. We remind her to do big arms & legs & he gives her kisses. We tell her good luck & then to go limp. I let go of her hair & kiss her forhead in time to hold little the curtain to the side to let them out. I'm sure going to miss this. I can't imagine they'll let Kylie be this again next year because she's just so big. Maybe Jadyn will be lucky next.

I know these stories may be boring to a lot of you. But, it's been important to me to document as much as I can. Especially since stories from when I was young keep getting a little mixed up & no one can remember some things. I want to remember these stories & when they happened 20 years down the road.

DEVOTIONAL

One of the many things I love about Easter Pageant is the devotionals. We have a devotional every evening before a performance. It gives the directors a time to give notes & encouragement. Someone from the Pageant Presidency or the Missionary Dept. shares their testimony as well. My favorite part, however, is that every night they have a special musical number. The other night we were priviledged enough to hear from the Roberts sisters. They were in the Pageant with us when I was a kid. Their mom was the original voice for "Mary's Lullaby". They were truly wonderful.

We also have devotional in our family groups backstage. Last night was my turn & I condensed & paraphrased this talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer. I wanted to put it on here because I want to remember this talk. ENJOY!!

FEED MY SHEEP

Imagine that our bishop has appointed you and me to plan a picnic for all of the ward members. It is to be the finest social in the history of the ward, and we are to spare no expense.
We reserve a beautiful picnic ground in the country. We are to have it all to ourselves; no outsiders will interfere with us.

The arrangements go very well, and when the day comes, the weather is perfect. All is beautifully ready. The tables are in one long row. We even have tablecloths and china. You have never seen such a feast. The Relief Society and Young Women have outdone themselves. The tables are laden with every kind of delicious food: grapes, cantaloupes, watermelon, corn on the cob, fried chicken, hamburgers, cakes, pies—you get the picture?

We are seated, and the bishop calls upon the patriarch to bless the food. Every hungry youngster secretly hopes it will be a short prayer.

Then, just at that moment there is an interruption. A noisy old car jerks into the picnic grounds and sputters to a stop close to us. We are upset. Didn’t they see the “reserved” signs?
A worried-looking man lifts the hood; a spout of steam comes out. One of our brethren, a mechanic, says, “That car isn’t going anywhere until it is fixed.”

Several children spill from the car. They are ragged, dirty, and noisy. And then an anxious mother, leaving the car, takes a box to that extra table nearby. It is mealtime. Their children are hungry. She puts a few leftovers on the table. Then she nervously moves them about, trying to make it look like a meal for her brood. But there is not enough.

We wait impatiently for them to quiet down so we can have the blessing and enjoy our feast.
Then one of their little girls spies our table. She pulls her runny-nosed little brother over to us and pushes her head between you and me. We cringe aside, because they are very dirty. Then the little girl says, “Ummm, look at that. Ummm, ummm, I wonder what that tastes like.”
Everyone is waiting. Why did they arrive just at that moment? Such an inconvenient time. Why must we interrupt what we are doing to bother with outsiders? Why couldn’t they have stopped somewhere else? They are not clean! They are not like us. They just don’t fit in.

Three choices

Since the bishop has put us in charge, he expects us to handle these intruders. What should we do? Of course, this is only a parable. If it really happened, my young friends, what would you do?
I will give you three choices.

First, you could insist the intruders keep their children quiet while we have the blessing. Thereafter we ignore them. After all, we reserved the place.

I doubt that you would do that. Could you choke down a feast before hungry children? Surely we are better than that! That is not the answer.

The next choice. There is that extra table. And we do have too much of some things. We could take a little of this and a little of that and lure the little children back to their own table. Then we could enjoy our feast without interruption. After all, we earned what we have. Did we not obtain it by [our own] industry, as the Book of Mormon says? (see Alma 4:6).

I hope you would not do that. There is a better answer. You already know what it is.

We should go to them and invite them to come and join us. You could slide that way, and I could slide this way, and the little girl could sit between us. They could all fit in somewhere to share our feast. Afterward, we will fix their car and provide something for their journey.

Could there be more pure enjoyment than seeing how much we could get those hungry children to eat? Could there be more satisfaction than to interrupt our festivities to help our mechanic fix their car?

Is that what you would do? Surely it is what you should do. But forgive me if I have a little doubt; let me explain.

Called to be missionaries

We, as members of the Church, have the fulness of the gospel. Every conceivable manner of spiritual nourishment is ours. Every part of the spiritual menu is included. It provides an unending supply of spiritual strength. Like the widow’s cruse of oil, it is replenished as we use it and shall never fail (see 1 Kgs. 17:8–16).

And yet, there are people across the world and about us—our neighbors, our friends, some in our own families—who, spiritually speaking, are undernourished. Some of them are starving to death!

If we keep all this to ourselves, it is not unlike feasting before those who are hungry.
We are to go to them and invite them to join us. We are to be missionaries.

It does not matter if it interrupts your schooling or delays your career or your marriage—or basketball. Unless you have a serious health problem, every Latter-day Saint young man should answer the call to serve a mission. Even mistakes and transgressions must not stand in the way. You should make yourself worthy to receive a call.

The early Apostles at first did not know the gospel was for everyone, for the Gentiles. Then Peter had a vision. He saw a vessel full of all kinds of creatures and was commanded to kill and to eat. But he refused, saying they were common and unclean. Then the voice said, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common” (Acts 10:15). That vision, and the experience they had immediately following, convinced them of their duty; thus began the great missionary work of all Christianity.

Almost any returned missionary will have a question: “If they are starving spiritually, why do they not accept what we have? Why do they slam the door on us and turn us away?”
One of my sons was serving in Australia and was thrown off a porch by a man who rejected his message.

My son is big enough and strong enough that he had to be somewhat agreeable to what was happening or the man never could have done it.

Be patient if some will not eat when first invited. Remember, all who are spiritually hungry will not accept the gospel. Do you remember how reluctant you are to try any new food? Only after your mother urges you will you take a little, tiny portion on the tip of a spoon to taste it to see if you like it first.

Undernourished children must be carefully fed; so it is with the spiritually underfed. Some are so weakened by mischief and sin that to begin with they reject the rich food we offer. They must be fed carefully and gently.

Some are so near spiritual death that they must be spoon-fed on the broth of fellowship, or nourished carefully on activities and programs. As the scriptures say, they must have milk before meat (see 1 Cor. 3:2; D&C 19:22). But we must take care lest the only nourishment they receive thereafter is that broth.

But feed them we must. We are commanded to preach the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. That message, my young friends, appears more than 80 times in the scriptures.