Birthday Initials

I thought it would be fun for all of you to see each others' birthday initials.  I made 26 in all.  For Allen IV and Cynthia, there was just one initial.  It was for their first anniversary.
I think Harry the Gnome ran off with everyone's for a while - except for Golden.  He must be the "Golden Birthday Boy!"

Noah

Daisy

Rae

Mary

Lucy

Lily

More to come!

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

Correction - It was not Bright and Sunny that went to Seattle for Thanksgiving.  It was Sunny and Rae!

We had a Thanksgiving/Hanukkah Fusion meal at our house, in other words, Thanksgivukkah!
This year, the first day of Hanukkah fell on Thanksgiving daly, a coincidence that last happened in 1888 and will not occur again for 79,043 years.  There were 17 of us including these teens! Bright, James D., Noah, Jane, Daisy, Clara.  Uncle John came from Steamboat Springs.

Clara had a special dish for Thanksgivukkah!

Potato Latkes - so delicious!

We have had a big snow storm and lots of cold weather going on in Utah.  We love how our house looks in the snow!  We turned the lights on Thanksgiving night.  Cynthia and Daisy and Bright and Noah did some Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving night too.

1071 Fir in the cold and snow!

Julia showing her snow technique!

Julia and Ruth were here for Jane's Christmas concert.

One other fun happening in Provo was the "Make it With Wool" contest.  Daisy participated in it. She made a beautifully tailored pair of slacks and a hand knit woolen sweater.  There were over 20 people in her group to be judged.  They gave 7 prizes.  Daisy got prize number 7 and a special award for knitting her sweater.  Congratulations!

Daisy at "Make it with Wool"

The whole outfit - can you see the tailored pockets on the side of the pants?

Adam pointing the way...

Adam always has a happy, pro-active personality.  He is now in Pisa, Italy.  The home of the leaning tower of Pisa.

Here is a recent photo of him. You can see lots of  his personality.

Adam pointing the way...

Family Fun in Logan

Rae's corner book marks

We drove up to Logan on Friday and stayed overnight with the gang there.
We all went out to dinner at one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook right in front of you.
The best thing was when the chef took his ketchup bottle and squeezed it at me.  I jumped a foot!
The ketchup was a fat red string...it was funny!

Rae and I had fun with crocheting.  She has been doing some cool hats and I helped her learn how to read a crochet pattern.

Sunny is taking an AP Calculus class.  She says that it's not hard compared to her Physics class.  She helped me a little with my Facebook page. I am learning how to get around.

Golden is about 5' 9" - getting very tall.  We had fun playing killer UNO and Shanghai with everyone. We laughed a lot.We also got into some great Art Beaver activities, making paste paper, cards, tags, bookmarks. Golden was thinking about using some of his paste paper to decorate a school project.

Life is good in Logan.  Bright and Sunny are flying to Seattle on Friday to baby sit for their Aunt. Then Mark and Darci and Golden will drive up for Thanksgiving and then they will all drive back together.
Bright is planning to come to Provo with us.

Darci will be done with her Master's degree by the end of the school year.  She is very excited

Here are a few photos.

Golden and Rae working on a school project

Rae with "Beaver" bookmark!

Sunny with Nola and Pudge...just chillin'

My sister Gwen

My sister is 6 years older than me.  When I was growing up, I couldn't imagine a more beautiful, glamorous, popular, charming girl than my sister.  I would try on her prom dresses, when she wasn't around, and imagine myself being able to "fit" in one of them.

When I was 12 and graduating from elementary school, I was set up on a blind date for all the graduation activities.  My sister, fixed my hair!

She was the one that would make our Christmas tree look beautiful.  She was always a breath of fresh air coming and going with her friends and activities.

I was a bridesmaid at her wedding.

We have always lived far apart geographically. These last few years, we were growing closer and more involved with each other and our families.  Families have special ties.  We learn great things in our families and especially feel one another's support and encouragement.

I am missing her very much.  She died in a sudden and unexpected way.  I cherish the love that we have shared over the years. It is something you can always feel.  Here are a few pictures, I think you will enjoy.

Family Christmas Dinner around 1951
Jim, John, Ruth, Harry, Nancy, Gwen, turkey and ham

Gwen and Nancy
A snowy day in Ottawa around 1952 or 3

Gwen the Nurse
Montreal

More photos to come and stories to come.

Mary's Audition Tape

When we were in California, I had a chance to talk to Mary a bit about her hopes and dreams.  She is taking 3 AP classes this year and is also working very hard on her violin.  She has prepared an audition for the National Youth Orchestra.  This is not an easy thing to do.  She has to have an accomplished accompanist and a place to record where they will get a good sound and have all the schedules meet up, etc.

Mary playing for her audition

This is a summer program and if she is accepted into the program. She will spent several weeks rehearsing back East (New York) with other youth from around the country and then they will perform in many places in the United States.

This would be a great boost to her hopes and dreams to be a music performance major at BYU.

While I was watching Mary play, I thought back to Elder Christofferson's talk from General Conference.  He talked about the moral force of women.  I felt that moral force in Mary.  She looked so beautiful and modest and has developed her talents so splendidly that she is a force for good.  She has incorporated "discipline and high moral standards" into her life.  I hope the link below works for you.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2DF9922gUjGNjlkajJ0LVM3elk/edit?usp=drive_web

Mary is also a youth Family History consultant in her ward.  She plays the organ and piano for stake events.

While we in California, Grandpa and I ran into a very famous "person".  We also celebrated Thanks-o-
Ween.  We had Thanksgiving on Halloween and then the kids went to parties and trick or treating.

Italia Sodas in honor of Adam for Thanks-o-Ween
Ruth, Julia and Mary

Happy Halloween from Donald!

Hopes and Dreams

I am speaking to a group of young single adults this weekend.  Ever since we were asked to speak (last Spring), I have been thinking of what my hopes and dreams were at your age and at their age.  I have even asked some of you what your hopes were.

We hope for good grades, a fun date, a loyal friend. We hope we can make the team or be chosen to participate.  We hope for a fun Christmas present or the chance to sleep late.

One of the things I hoped for as a little girl was a really cool pair of roller skates.  The "cool" roller skates had a key that went with them.  You would slip the skates on over your shoes and then using the key you would tighten the skates to hold on to your shoes and buckle the strap around your ankle. Then you would hang the key around your neck.

Roller skates from the 50's

You can see where the bottom of the skate adjusted to fit your shoe as well.  This is what I hoped for but it's not what I had.  The ones I had didn't have a key and fell off your foot easily.  The sad thing is that I don't remember asking my folks for the cool kind of skates, I just hoped it would happen.

If you hope for something, it dictates your actions and actions will lead to a fulfillment of your hopes. When a hope is realized, your confidence grows.  Hope is a noun and a verb!  To be continued...

Building Stamina - physical and spiritual

Elder Maynes talked in conference about building stamina....and how important physical and spiritual stamina are to our well-being.  Here are two examples for you:

James ordained a teacher by Kenny in the photo from L to R are Uncle Allen, Uncle Robb, Grandpa Jacobsen, Lou, James, Kenny, Melanie, Grandma Jacobsen and Aunt Amy Lou Bennett

New backyard bar for Julia prepping for the pole vault season. 

How many can she do?  What is her goal?

Beavers that have come my way....

            Caught in the headlights?

I have a little collection of beaver images.
The first one was used at the family reunion for light switches.
The beaver with a scar, did not have one when he arrived at my house.  He was on my magnetic board for a while and suffered a scratch.  Are there more beaver images out there that anyone would like to share?

A Beaver Bag

Three Cuties!

Rae's Art Beaver

Tennis Anyone?

Some action scenes of our teens that play tennis.  Sunny and Daisy played on their school teams this year.  Peter has been taking classes. James D....Are you playing too?

Sunny

Daisy

Peter

Meet the Carswells....

The Carswell Family in the Ballentine's front yard
From left to right:  James (9), Andrew, Sara, Sophia (12)

Andrew and Sara are both lawyers.  They live in Washington, D.C., but are Canadian citizens.

Andrew works for the International Red Cross and Sara has been working for a company called the Halo Trust that is helping to defuse land mines in countries that have been involved in war.

Trip to North Carolina

Grandpa and I will be traveling to North Carolina for a week.  Cousin Andrew will be baptized on September 7th.  We will also get to see Sara and Jaron's new home and have some rest and relaxation.

Your great aunt Gwen, my sister, has 2 children: Jane and Andrew.  Andrew and his wife Sara and their children Sophia and James will be coming from their home in the Washington, D.C. area to attend Andrew B's baptism. (There are lots of Sara's, Andrew's and James's in the family!!!).  I am very excited to visit with them.  I think it has been 10 years since I have seen Andrew.

We had a very nice hike and picnic with Daisy and Clara and their family on Labor day.  We went to Cascade Springs and it was beautiful.

Daisy and Clara with cascading water behind them!

Here is a question or two for each of you?  

Do you have an LDS account on-line? 

Do you know how to get one? 

Do you have a limited use temple recommend?

A Big Hug!!

At the family reunion we all sent a hug with a drawing of ourselves and good wishes to Adam.  It arrived in Italy and you can see that Adam is enjoying his big cinnamon roll hug.  Family is the best!

Are those Superman pajamas?

Grandpa's Corner

Yes, it is True!

When I went on my mission to Brazil in June of 1961, there was no MTC.  I arrived not speaking one word of Portuguese.  It was hard!  I wondered if I had made a mistake. I wondered if our church was really true. I wondered if I could really do it.

I kept working and soon realized that I did have a testimony. In fact, when I understood what a testimony was, I realized that I could not remember when I did not have a testimony.

One of the most wonderful parts of Heavenly Father's plan is that each of can know for ourselves that His plan is real.  That knowledge, which we call a testimony does not come from books, scientific proof or intellectual means.  It comes through our thoughts and feelings from the Holy Ghost.

Here are some helpful thoughts about a testimony:

• a testimony does not usually come in a flash
• it is not a single event like buying something at a store
• sometimes we have special experiences that confirm or strengthen testimony
• sometimes people cry when they bear testimony. Strong emotion or crying is not required for a testimony
• your testimony is whatever you feel about God, the atonement, the Church, prophets, etc.
• Bearing your testimony can include words like:
• I know
• I believe
• I think
• I feel in my heart
• to get or increase your testimony you can:
• learn by reading, participating in Sunday School, Seminary, home evening, etc
• pray, ask God to give you a testimony
• obey the commandments
• bear your testimony and listen to the testimony of others.

I know there is a God and that we belong to His true Church and I know that  you can know too.

College Bound

Grandpa and I pick up Bright in Salt Lake City on Thursday.  We transferred her gear into our car and started on a little adventure.  First we went to Trader Joe's and bought some fresh groceries for her apartment, then we headed back to Provo.  Erica was in Provo for a student job interview at BYU and she joined us for lunch.  We then took Bright and Erica and drove to Price, Utah.

Bright got all check in to USU - Eastern and is very excited.  Her roommate is from the DR Congo and her name is Blandine.  She is a French speak and is still working on her English.  We only had to make one trip from the car to Bright's room as there were a multitude of "ambassadors" to help carry up all her belongings to the 3rd floor.  The campus is really nice and very compact.  The LDS Institute is about a 5 minute walk from her dorm.

Erica is coming on Wednesday to check into her dorm at BYU.  These are exciting times!  Jane will then be back a few days later. Can you believe she is a Senior!

Bright and Erica in front of Carroll Hall where Erica will live at BYU

Erica and Bright in front of Jones Hall where Bright will live at USU-E

Corner Book Marks

We had some cousin fun in the Dungeon yesterday!  School starts in Utah today.

Lou and Clara with their creations

Llamas and Pyjamas

The California Ostergars had an adventurous backpacking trip in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming.  It was strenuous but made more doable with the use of Llamas, Sonny and Aspen, as pack animals.  (Aspen is the spotted one.)

They spent 5 days in the mountains, hiking, fishing, jumping into freezing lakes and enjoying time around the campfire in the evenings.

Enjoy some of their photos:

Julia connecting with Sonny, the llama

Ruth with her first ever catch of fish!

Liquid Chalk - How about that?

I had the opportunity to bend my back in an awkward position for 10 1/2 hours making signs for a local bakery.  The two one word signs were a pleasure to do.  The four multi-word signs were somewhat challenging to do!  Fortunately we spent the next few days at Bear Lake which was a great place to recover.  Here are a sample of my signs.

How would you spend $500 in 3 hours...

Erica - Books
Rae - Books
Bright - Food, Clothes and Music
Mary - J. Crew for 2 hours and make a difference in someone's life
Daisy - Tennis clothes
James D.  - Book a trip to Disneyland with Lily
James A. - Feathers
Ruth - Plane tickets
Golden - $400 into savings, $50 on food, the rest on Pokemon Cards
Sunny - Plane ticket to anywhere adventurous
Lou - Round trip from Utah to North Carolina and back to California
Peter - Video game
Julia - Plane ticket
Clara - Buy an awesome metal detector
Noah - Plane ticket
Jane - Disney pass with no block out dates

Buying a plane ticket was the most popular answer.  I am sure it was to visit your grandparents, that's really adventurous!

Laketown Activities

Grandpa and I spent a few days In Laketown, Utah. You know our neighbors, the Calls.
They have a fun home they have fixed up for their family, plus a bunk house and a shed for their kayaks, bikes, scooters, canoes, etc.  They have a raspberry patch that we spent a little time enjoying.

Grandpa and I stayed in the little apartment that is part of the bunk house.

Our favorite things at Bear Lake were:
Seeing Bright
Seeing James A.
Seeing my cousin Ken Kyle and his family (32 people)
Eating raspberries...yum
Floating on the lake and Bananagrams!

James A. and friends with Bear Lake in the backgroud

Bright took this photo

Bright's summer job is at La Beau's, right next to Bear Lake

This photo is from Grandpa's interview for the Church web site.  I hope you have all seen it. Here is the link if you haven't:
http://www.lds.org/church/news/what-the-scriptures-mean-to-me-video-invites-reflection

The Interview

I asked Adam what his favorite color is and this is what he said, 

"Hmmm my favorite color is difficult to explain.. it is more of an experience :) My favorite color occurs when I am surfing while the sun is setting or rising. It is the color of the sun and ocean combined as a wave covers the sun and I can see the sun through the wave. Does that make sense? haha. I like all colors! Earthy colors. Maybe green and blue. There are so many beautiful colors!"