"Have Faith"

"Worry looks around, Sorrow looks back, Faith looks up."

**** Life - Slow Down ****

by anonymous

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain" And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to...not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? ;And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

"Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"

Fall Fun!!

My Nephew Gage Williams

Here are some great seneior pictures of my
nephew Gage Williams.

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From Rowe Photography:

Gage came to us from Midview High School in Ohio. He totally could be a model. He was so comfortable in front of the camera and posed very naturally. Walter took him over to Midview's stadium for poses with his jersey and school jacket. They are so good! I also love the one with the train going by behind him! Too cool! Great job, Gage! See you soon!

http://rowephotography.blogspot.com/2008/10/gage.html

More than one side

The love of the game of softball, my five oldest girls have played on softball teams. It's just not all about dance in this family. These girls play hard and they are not afraid to get dirty!

Katie plays 3rd

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Sierra play's shortstop

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The Williams Family Funny - Sustained

Okay, now it's the Williams Family's turn to have family inspired funny cartoon

From the beckstrombuzz Blog;

Sustained

Remember Lisa Owens? Apparently she has a sister, Christi. She suggested drawing this incident from her life.

Thank you for the thought. Do y'all have any other crazy sibs? (yes, we do!!)

Post script: Since this incident, Christi has added two more children, bringing the total to nine!

From Christi;

Thank you Kevin - I Love It!! You captured the craziness I went through week after week and the look on her/my face is perfect.

I realized after I wrote you that I actually had 8 kids at that point, Donny served in the Bishopric for 5 1/2 years then he was called to the High Council just weeks after number 9 came along. Dejvue.
We have to give it up to all those mothers who are going through the same situation. Hang in there sisters! :-)

And as for more ideas we have plenty. LOL

My Mom & Dad - The Missionaires

Bro and Sis Tanner have served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the last three years. They have served in the Temple Department in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City. They have had some amazing experiences. They have worked on pilot projects and they have audited all the small temples for errors.

They have had weekly devotionals, luncheons with the Seventy and meetings with all the Temple Presidents from all over the world with The First Presidency. The commute has not been easy on them, with a few close calls, but the Lord has always protected them. I am so proud of them; they're true examples of love and service. I know their lives have been blessed for serving in turn my life has been blessed also. I Love You so much. “Well done, thou good and faithful servants” Matt. 25: 21

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Lois & Michael Tanner

(This is the picture the Elder L. Tom Perry took)

Elder & Sister Tanner
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Temple Square Tulips - in the Spring

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The walk each morning from the parking garage to the Church Office Building
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At their desks in the Temple Department, just had to leave the part on top in Michael's picture so you could see their fridge and microwave. All the comforts of home.

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Temple department front desk

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Elder and Sister Layton and Dad & Mom in their office. Their companion couple.

Michael and Elder L. Tom Perry (in street clothes)

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Cute story: My parents were standing near the Church Office Building and were posing separately to take some pictures of each other, when they heard a man say, "Here, you stand together and let me take a picture of you both". They turned and saw a friendly, white-haired gentleman in his unusually casual attire, and didn't take but a second to realize it was Elder L. Tom Perry.

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A different office in the Temple Department

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Dad & Mom with Elder Larry Lawrence

(Our past Stake President from the Fresno North Stake

He is an Area Seventy now)

Yes, I am a Stoner, a Rhinestoner

I help design, rhinestone and decorate the girls ballroom dresses/costumes and jewelry. It is fun to take an idea of a design, type of fabric, color possibilities, and stones to create a costume.

Most of your ballroom dancers use Swarovski Austrian Crystal rhinestones, they are the best for color and sparkle. Yes, each stone goes on one at a time. But the end result is amazing. I love doing it.

The tools of my work

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20ss Crystal AB stones

I paint the jewelry first the color we want them, then stone them

(I use model paint from a hobby store to get the great colors)

The BYU Tour Teams Latin Medley Shoes

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Alissa's white dress with pink jewelry and
original design for her necklace
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Katie's Standard Gown, with flower motif

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Mary Poppins Dresses for the Standard Medley for Provo High

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Donny & Kristen

The dress, brooch & buttons

This is a piece of very old vintage lace I dyed
and stoned completely with three different stone
colors in three different sizes
(this is her neck piece and it has matching arm bands)

Alissa's standard gown

Sometimes we choose bracelets and sometimes we do bands
- each have their own look

Alissa's signature "Fire Dress" for Latin
Those are strands of glass beads, strung by hand

(what was I thinking, I have to replace about 250 - 300 strands each time she dances in it)

(This is just a sample of some of the things I have done)

Mad Women - Christi

Here's the deal. Although this picture was taken years ago, this was me last night. They have been changing my medications and I am going through an internal detox. I wanted some candy, sugar or chocolate, I "needed" it so bad. I searched high and low, in drawers and closets, in every nook and cranny. I even looked in the bottom of my purse, you know the lone piece with stuff stuck all over it - Yes I was going to wash it off and eat it. But I found NOTHING. Maybe it was for the better, but it wasn't pretty.

Lisa's Funny Family Inspired Cartoon

From Lisa's Blog (Lisa is my sister);

Our funny family inspired a funny cartoon, so check it out at BeckstromBuzz. He also has some other "comical" websites, inspired by LDS culture. (Because of this, I'm now re-thinking the idea of going private--I mean, I'm the last person who would want to inhibit our chances at fame.)

From BeckstromBuzz Blog;

I was skimming through the blogosphere the other day, and I came across "Ode to the Owens", and there was one entry that caught my eye: one of her sons said that his ambition as a grownup was to wear a suit. That got me thinking, and I took it to another level. So, props to lisaowens and her progeny for the inspiration!