Beauty from Chaos

 I am going to be posting some of my writings here...for me, but to whomever else might read them, they are for you too!

Evolution

So much hate, suffering and sadness in the world. I want to gather the wounded and hurting in my arms and
Soothe their pain away;
Gently rock them back and forth as I 
whisper my love into their shattered souls.
What would this world look like if we cared more for 
Others' hearts than for our own rights and demands?
Could we do that? 
Would we do that? 
What is stopping us?
Perhaps it is the shattered that feel the need to lash out.
Perhaps it is the wounded that fear closeness to others.
Perhaps we are all suffering in some way that

Hinders our compassion.
Perhaps we must all experience brokenness so that we may have 
Empathy.
If we let our wounds, suffering, and pain evolve into understanding,
What a different world this would be. 

Facebook Affair

 I feel like I have been cheating on this blog for the last nearly 10 years. I was lured away by the false, fickle, fanatic, fake, FaceBook.  I regret it now, but I was sucked in like so many others. Don't get me wrong, FaceBook had its qualities; it was easy, accessible to others at a click, and allowed me to connect with old friends and family from far away. I thought it would be a great way to document my life, emotions, events, inspiration, etc. And I did, but the baggage that FB exposed me came at too high a price.  There is way too much negativity, hate, accusation, anger, blame, and just an overall lack of responsibility or accountability. So...goodbye FB, you were not good for me-Hello Blog, I hope you will forgive me and that we can move forward together from now on. Oh, and I also deleted Instagram.

I found this article that sort of details how I feel about social media.  

https://medium.com/@robertcooper_rc/why-i-deleted-facebook-and-instagram-a25d15b10819

Timmy's Call

This is our friend Timmy Bokinsky...he is like one of our children.  It was so great to be a part of this moment with him.

Uncle Dallin and Sister Gordon

 Dallin and Darrin got a big chunk of our drywall hung while he was here....it is coming along....SLOWLY!

 This is what "Uncle Dallin" will look like by the time I get any grandchildren....haha!  My kids think I'm nuts.

 We had a going away party for Emily on Monday night.  Here are Emily, Timmy, Darrin, and Sarah peeling the eggs for one of the numerous dishes we served.  I was nervous not knowing how many people would come....but come they did.  Our ward is awesome.  They came, they ate, they brought gifts, they hugged, and they supported her.  We are blessed to be here and I think Emily really felt the love.  Thanks Seaford Ward!

 The little kids LOVE Sarah.  This is Peter and Lorelei...our Bishops grandchildren.

 Everyone ate some of the food, but holy cow I have a lot of leftovers....anyone hungry?

 I love this little pixie.  Lorelei is in my primary and I get to be with her every Sunday!  She is a great little singer.

 Jake Whitmer is also in primary with me, but only for a little longer....sigh....love this boy.

 Emily is comforting Aidan (the boy she babysat while she was here) and this is Kelly, his mom.   She is Tom Hoffmans daughter.  Tom and Kim are our friends and neighbors.

 Captain Bo!  Timmy loaded his belt with everyone's cell phones and then he made his serious face...after a few attempts that ended in laughter.  Bo is leaving next week to start a new job in Iowa...Leah will follow after their house sells.   WE WILL MISS THEM DESPERATELY!

 These are the Bokinsky boys...Andy and Timmy.  Timmy is part Gordon too.  WE love having him at our house.

 I really was happy all night....Darrin caught me at the end of the party a little tired, but I really am happy.

 Holly and David Whitmer...we love these guys...David is our Seminary teacher and Holly teaches in Primary...there are no more important callings than those if you ask me.

 And.....off to the airport.  

 Becoming Sister Gordon

 Awwwww.

 Last family pic.....sigh.

Daddy and his little girl.   My father would be so proud of her....IS so proud of her.  Way to go Em....we love you.

Christmas 2011

 Christmas was a blur this year...Up early for church, unwrapping, dash off to church and then.....

 We took off early Monday morning for NYC!  Leah and Timmy Bokinsky went with us.  He has lived in Delaware all his life and hadn't been yet....so for Christmas his mom got him a trip...with the Gordons...cuz we are so fun.         This is in the Subway....heading south to see the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and WTC.

 Of course Dallin wanted to go to Chinatown.  There are open markets like this everywhere...and they smell of fish.  We kept trying to get him to talk to someone in Chinese...no go.

Darrin, Timmy, and Jesse went to see STOMP.  It was amazing.

 Sarah wanted to go ice skating.  Rockefeller Center was our first choice, but it was like $65 to skate there....so here we are at Bryant Park on the east side skating for $14.  Awesome

Poor Dallin had the hiccups for 3 days....Sister Bokinsky is trying one of the MANY remedies we found.  Nothing worked for very long.  They finally just stopped.

Sarah and Jesse got these cool air swimmers for Christmas.  Jesse got the shark and Sarah got Nemo.

Thanksgiving and NEW KITCHEN/DECK

We drove to Kentucky for Thanksgiving and had a great time with Lisa and John (and kids), Callie and Randon (and kid) and Rachel and Allen.  Oddly enough, the only pics I got were of our Ultimate Frisbee game.  Callie has the other pics...so go to her blog for them.   It was a lovely 2 days of eating and playing.

These are the sweet potatoes that I dug out of my garden...they are weird looking, but I am proud.

Emily babysits Aidan (the older boy in the stripes) 4 days a week, but we watched this little group during a funeral in our ward.   It was a busy day.  They are cute kids.  Piper is on the left, then Aidan, then Jayden.  Oh yeah, and Emily.

Some of you may have heard about our little addition project.  It has been going pretty slowly ( we started in May), but we can only work on Saturdays, so.....Our friend and neighbor, Tom, comes over to help every week.  This last week we got our deck underway and Emily and I got a chunk of the insulation done.  The kitchen will eventually be in the addition and the old kitchen will be our dining room.

Next is the actual decking and drywall....Yippee!

Pinterest

Dear Pinterest,

I have spent a lot of time with you in the last few

months…unlike some people…I believe none of

that time has been wasted.  Because of you, I have…

Tried 10 new recipes, 3 new makeup techniques,

4 new nail polishes, 5 new hair styles, 2 new exercises…Put together 12 new outfits, found my new favorite boots, ordered chandeliers for my kitchen, but the most important thing I have done because of you is…made dozens of craft items found on your boards to sell at a benefit boutique for a family of 5 who just lost their mother to cancer....So…from the bottom of my heart..... THANK YOU! 

*WARNING* Long Catch-up Post. (You know you love it)

 This...is where our stake has Girls Camp...Killens Pond Primitive Youth Campsite.  No facilities...just campsites.  It was hard for me to get used to.. but next year will be my fourth year as a camp leader and I am beginning to be o.k. with it.  Below is our "Sunrise Devotional"...that is Sarah''s group all asleep on the blanket.  Hahaha.

 All the girls canoe at camp and since I am an experienced canoer (?)...I get to go with all of them...that equals about 6-8 hours on the water during the week.  Phew...I was a little fried afterward.

This is Brian (my nieces husband) and his daughter Riley...they came for a week and we loved it.

Dallin got to come home for a week before ASU started and it just worked out that Emily was going through the Temple that week...We were so grateful.  Larry Hunt and Jeannie Thatcher (Emily's good friends from AZ) also came for a few days and to go to the Temple with her.  So glad she has good friends.  We went to Historic Philadelphia and had a great time.  Not sure what Dallin is doing here, but we teased him about it the rest of the day.

  

This is the only pic I could get of the Temple and my two oldest children...looks a little like our Soprano's picture from 2007.  The Washington D.C. Temple is very large.  Four of these spires broke and crashed to the ground during our earthquake in August.  Crazy!

 It was a lovely day at the Temple.  Our good friends the Bokinsky's and the Hoffman's also joined us to support Emily.  Emily said that she just felt peace while there.  It was amazing to be in the Temple with 2 of our children.


And...of course...our week couldn't end without a trip to the beach.  This was the perfect beach day...warm, but not too, and the dolphins made an appearance.  We stayed for hours.  So much fun.

 Last week, Sarah and Emily and I went to Lancaster County in Penn to visit Amish Country!  It was AWESOME!  We rode the Strasburg Railroad and toured around the area looking at the beautiful fall leaves, Amish buggies, farms and covered bridges.

 This is Jesse's Birthday Cheesecake.  He decided against the traditional cake.  This is...White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl!  Oh..it was good.

 This is Jesse's friend Ben.  His family is in our ward and they are good friends.  Can't believe this boy is 14!

And this cheesecake is for our good friend Alicia.  She joined the church in June and we love her dearly.  Turtle cheesecake for her....YUM.  Sorry it took so long to post our summer on here...hopefully it won't take so long to post other things....no promises though.