Weekend Trip to SLC & Beyond. . .

Sure had a fun time this weekend seeing so many of the family. . .

Dan & Janet and family in Mapleton,
Matt & Nancy, Mason & Bridger in Springville
Brandon, Tannya and Nikki in Ogden,
Nat and Wyatt in Logan
Dad and Mom Barton in Clinton
Denz & Anna and Bridger in Riverton

(sorry Hans & Mil...I'll work on Rexburg another trip!)

From Nikki & Grandma Trice

Nikki and I enjoyed lunch together!



And we loved the short time we had to play!!

From Nikki & Grandma Trice

Being with Nat in Logan was great...need more time there! She sure makes a cute hospitality gal! And it was fun spending the night at my dad's and mom's place!

Say GOOD-BYE!

Just in case you were the last to know. . .

we sold the BLUICK two weeks ago

and we sold the BURB last weekend . .

.

parting is such sweet sorrow, but now we have more room to park cars when you all come to visit!! HOORAY!

Traveling Companions. . .

"Plague" was traveling with two friends, "Doubt" and "Fear" when a man ran into them and asked, "Is it true, Plague, that you are going to kill 10's of thousands of people when you go to England?"

Plague shook his head and said, "No, I will only kill a few hundred. . . Doubt and Fear will do the rest."

How many times do WE let "doubt" and "fear" into our lives, giving them access to hurt us, whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally, or socially? I think it's important for us to recognize this possibility when we are struggling with something. Recognize doubt and fear for what they are -- undesirable traveling companions -- and SEND THEM PACKING!!!

Our Heavenly Father is not a God of fear!! His son, our Savior, is not a God of fear!! Trust Him. Believe Him. Get rid of bad traveling companions and you will travel light!!

Love,

Mom

Cultural Experience???

Min Tai has had lots of different experiences in the past month of living at our house.

He experienced the HOME BARBER!! He said I didn't do too badly!

One of the more "challenging" was the night he helped me bottle meat! He was SUCH a good sport, but he

DEFINITELY DOES NOT WANT TO BE A BUTCHER!!

1St Bath. . .

Can you believe it? We finally gave Hank his first bath!!

And we both survived it!

Communication Tip #2

To improve family relationships, you might want to try one simple little thing:

When discussing problems, hurt feelings, irritations, etc., eliminate "YOU" from the vocabulary. For example: "YOU make me so mad! Every time I turn around you have left me another mess to clean up!" would become, "It makes me so mad when I clean something up and turn around and find another mess made."

The "you" language comes across as an attack...and maybe we feel like attacking right at the moment. However, DON'T do it!! If we can exercise self-control with this one little word, I promise you will see great improvements in your relationships.

Set a goal now to NEVER use the word "YOU" when discussing difficult things. It may take awhile to get used to, but you will be surprised at the results if you keep it up.

Love,
Mom

Personal Revelation. . .

Saturday, I attended a Music Workshop put on by the Bloomington Stake. It was kind of like education week in that there were classes offered at the same time and we had to pick and choose which we would attend. I was torn between my choices, and wished I had a clone!

I learned a lot, but the thing that registered most with me didn't have anything to do with music!! The opening speaker (Merilee Webb) related how she had been called as the Activities Committee Chairman after returning from teaching at BYU-Hawaii for a few years with her Masters of Music degree. She was a bit surprised at the calling and asked, "REALLY! Are you kidding?!?!" She then told the bishop she would have to "get back with him," that she needed to get her own answer.

Well, she went home and prayed, saying, "REALLY?!?! Are you kidding!!!" And she received the answer that this WAS what she was supposed to do. So she accepted the calling. And then she prayed for inspiration to know what to do in her calling. On the surface it would seem her job was to plan four activities for the ward that year. However, she prayed to the Lord to find out what HE wanted her to do.

Merilee then went on to relate many remarkable experiences she had as she LISTENED to what the Lord wanted her to do. We were reminded that no matter WHAT our calling in our ward is, we should be praying to know what the Lord wants us to do in that calling.

And so what I learned -- what I was reminded of, and want to share with each of you kids -- is that we should INQUIRE OF THE LORD what HE would like us to do!! This applies to our callings, but it also applies to each day of our life. Do we start out each day telling the Lord what WE are going to do, or do we ASK what He would like?

Just this morning I prayed to know what He would like me to do as the Ward music chairman. I was given insight very quickly about implementing one thing I've never thought of doing before. It should be relatively easy to start, and has great potential for blessing many lives!! And all I had to do was ASK and then LISTEN!!

Wow! I hope we will each remember this simple, yet VITALLY important thing to do in our lives.

Dad and I miss seeing each of you every day!! We are so glad that Dal and Kristy are here, and we look forward to the times we get to spend with the rest of you. We pray for you, for your success, for your happiness, for your well-being, and for your testimonies to be strengthened.

Have a great week!!

Love,
Mom

MIN TAI LEARNS TO RIDE!!

Min Tai did GREAT! By the time we were heading back he was much more relaxed and had fun. He told me later that he thought we were just going to go somewhere and ride around in a circle a few times...boy, was he ever surprised!! And he loved Snow Canyon, too!! This was the first time I've ever been up there with SNOW on the ground!

Kristy's Art Portrayal

Kristy was asked to choreograph and perform a dance solo representing a contemporary piece of art exhibited at the Sears Art Gallery at Dixie State College. Beautiful dance, Kristy!!

Kim, Min Tai

Sooooo, you kids may or may not know that we have a Korean young man living with us for a couple of months! You guessed it...Kristy is SO pleased to have someone to speak Korean with!! However, we had to pull a trick on him first!!

We did not let Min Tai know that Kristy spoke any Korean, which was VERY hard for Kristy to do. But she was gone most of the day on Monday, so it worked out. At dinner we were visiting and, of course, I got the camera out to "document" our first dinner together. Little did Min Tai know I had gotten the camera out to capture his reaction on video!!!

So, Min Tai was teaching us how to say "hello" etc., and then I got him to teach Kristy a short sentence, to see if she could say it back correctly. With a lot of "work" she managed to repeat his sentence. Then, she decided to "just see" if she could string a bunch of words together...and voile!! She totally AMAZED Min Tai!!! He couldn't believe what he heard!!

It was pretty funny!! Thank goodness Min Tai was such a good sport!! We are enjoying having him here!!!