Hurray! Christmas Is Over!

Dear Sisters,
My kids were all here for Christmas and I love my kids. I really do. But they were only here 24 hours, and I wanted to start yelling.."Somebody better start eating tomatoes!"
Last summer, Lacie brought out the cutest picture to sell at the auction. It had a picture of Father and Mother on it and a story about each of them, in the frame by the picture. Mothers story went something like this... We were all at the ranch for a family reunion and lunch was in progress. All the grandkids had piled their plates high with chips and sandwiches and had a coke in their other hand. Mother had bought some nice tomatoes to add to the lunch fare and when everyone had filled their plates she walked by the tomatoes  and no one had taken any. She came storming into the house and yelled, "Somebody better start eating tomatoes!" So now when ever anyone at Keith's and Lacie's ever gets frustrated, they yell, "Somebody better start eating tomatoes."
We had a great Christmas. My book was a real hit. We all sat around the living and each of the kids read the story of their birthday. Then we listened to the CD with all their darling little voices singing. So precious. We all shed some good tears.
We had a ham and all the fixin's, for Christmas dinner.  My turkey, lurkey never got done till the dinner was over, but made great leftovers. Jared and Mary and Lillie and all their kids went up to Brian Head the day after Christmas to go snow boarding. They stayed in a nice new condo and really had a good time.
I am trying to think of a way to make my New Years Resolutions stick this year, but I am very discouraged. I am really set in my ways and don't think there is any way to change me. So I am just going to love this procrastinating, tired, pack rat 60 year old that is me. I want to stop wanting and start enjoying everything about me.  To be Still and Know that God is God and everything is right with the world. That will be my New Years Resolution. Love you all so much, Jelene

Reagan's book

This is an exerpt of Reagan's book that she is working on. I got teary reading it and just had to share. It is much longer then this, but I just picked a small section. Can't give away the whole book...

I live on a farm and used to only listen to country music. I thought K-Love was weird and the songs were all worship and boring.  My youth minister was like my best friend and she gave us dance classes that involved a K-Love song. We listened to K-Love to give it a try. I went on K-Love.com and there was a 30 day challenge they wanted everyone to try where you listen to K-Love for 30 days and see how it changes your life. I kept bugging my mom every morning on the way to school to listen to K-Love and so did my sister. We heard a couple songs we liked and today, I don’t listen to anything else. It might seem dumb to you, but I encourage you to give it a chance because it really does change your life when you are surrounded by words of God that are more catchy than what teenagers listen to these days.

I used to think that Jesus never performed miracles anymore. He’s not on Earth, how can he show a miracle? Well, I have 4 dogs. 2 of them are big puppies that like to run away with their mom. We were calling for them one day and 2 out of three of them came back. We searched all night. In the morning, my dad called the Humane Society and they had a boxer but no collar. My parents went to get what was hopefully our dog. They called us to tell us that our dog Bruiser got hit on the highway last night at 4:00 p.m. and they were about to give up hope and put him down when my dad called them. We took him to our vet and they performed the surgery. His leg was broken but today, he just limps around with a few scars. That night, I thought he was dead. I asked God for a miracle, looks like he heard.  My friend from the cross country team’s dad got in a car wreck and wasn’t hurt at all. Not only that, but later, I found out he hit a semi-truck. I got to see a picture of his car and everyone including the police is surprised he’s not dead. God is performing miracles all the time. I mean, who thought they would allow us to open a prayer group at our school?

What I don’t get is why atheists celebrate Christmas. Christmas is supposed to be the celebration of Jesus being born on earth to save us from our sins. Christ-mas is a mass, or gathering, of Christ, our savior. Today, people just do it for the presents and say, “it’s not about the presents; the true meaning of Christmas is giving,” but that’s not the true meaning either. We use it as an excuse to buy ourselves things and spend more money.  When I have kids, I want to throw Jesus a birthday party every year as a tradition. I’m not going to introduce my kids to Santa Claus either. I was listening to K-Love the other day and this mom came on air and said last Christmas her daughter was 2 years old and she brought her downstairs and said “hey, it’s Christmas, Santa came, let’s go see your presents.” Her little girl said back “but mommy, it’s Jesus’ birthday.” That was touching and inspiring for a lot of people I hope. This year for Christmas, I’m not focusing on the presents. I always say it’s not about the presents but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about them.

Do you ever think about God in different ways? Like, I love church, but I don’t like Greek gods and worship and praise. But then, I think about K-Love and I love the words praise and worship. I guess I just like to keep things simple. Love God with all your heart and do things to please him. But that’s also what sounds weird to me; “do everything to please your God.” I just think about it as making my best friend happy. I also don’t like saying “your God (suggesting there is many gods you can choose from).” Because to me, there is only one God. I think of God as a name, not an object or general category.

When I pray, I talk to God like he is my friend but I’m never sure if he wants me to be serious, or if he has a sense of humor. I like the last one. I don’t think God would be mad at me for laughing in a prayer. I mean, I’m praying to him the whole time I’m writing, and I’m not always talking directly to him.

Have you ever heard the saying “when you open the bible, the Devil gets a headache and when you pray, the devil faints.” I can just picture the Devil fainting every two seconds. He would never even have time to get up.

Have you ever heard the song on K-Love “You Can Change Who You Are”? It says “You can never fall too hard, so fast, so far that you can’t get back when you’re lost. Where you are is never too late, so bad, so much that you can’t change who you are.” I was at lunch in the cafeteria one day with my friends and two of them go to the same church and were talking about a guy there. They were arguing that he had changed, no, people can’t change, no, people can change, back and forth. The whole time, all I could think about was that song and I knew who was right because people can change. If you find God, everything about you would change.

Hi, I finally finished my ALL ABOUT ME story.  You know it really is ALL ABOUT ME.  I could have gone on and on and on.
Donna, I feel your pain with flirting teenagers. Let me know when you find a stowaway teenager (not yours) in your teenagers closet. Yes fun fun years ahead. Can't wait to hear all the good stories. Hugs and Kisses    Lilly

Christmas Present

Dear Sisters,
    My Christmas present to my kids just got really expensive. I told you I did a book with all their birth day stories in it and baby pictures. Yesterday I spent another hour and a half with the lady who is transferring the tape of my kids singing songs onto the cd. I knew it was going to be expensive but when we got done and she started going over the hours they had spent working on my project the dollars signs started going by really fast, close to $500, fast. I almost started to hyperventilate. But I just had to tell myself that it was going to be okay. I know that everything will work out and I will be able to pay for it. I have a big sewing project this week that will help me pay for it.
     I am getting pretty good at loving everything that comes my way. God has been so good to me. I love my little home, where I am warm and comforted. I love my wonderful kids, who all have their struggles and most the time I never hear about them. I love the peace that I can feel, if I just choose to at any moment.
     Last weekend, Helen and Abby came up and we tied 3 quilts, went to the movie, 'Life of Pi', and went shoe shopping. On Sunday we drove out to see Pat and Jim Pederson. Then we all drove in my car to Kanab, where Vince lives with his son, Dustin and his wife and darling little girl. Vince has lymph cancer and weighs about 90 lbs. He was lying on the couch and every time he changed position, you could tell he was in pain. Pat read to us from her Sot Song book and we were reminded about how much God loves us. At 2:00 p.m., Dustin was driving Vince to Cedar to catch a flight to Salt Lake City and the Huntsman Cancer Institute there. I sure hope the trip was not to hard on him and that they can help him. Pat was understandably heart broken, having to watch her son go through this. God be with them and love them.
     Donna, I loved your last blog. You better hold on tight, girl, because you are in for a wild ride with that cute girl of yours! I love it.
   Everyone have a wonderful Christmas Season. What a wonderful time we live in.   Hugs and kisses. Jelene

Bottled my first batch of Petite Syrah

Well, well, well.....
Today, I finally got the chance to put up my tree. I had planned on doing it yesterady, but I ran in the Reindeer Ramble with Reagan, then rushed home to help Troy bottle our very first batch or Petite Syrah. That went smoothly and we were done by 2:00. That is just about when I realized that I had a very intense head ache. I started a load of laundry and then said, "I have to lay down and stop doing anything." So, that is what I did. Nothing for the rest of the day. Argh....

So, today, I felt better, but after church I just knew that if I didn't attach the Christmas Tree that it would never get done, so Reagan and I put it up and decorated it and it looks great.

Meantime, Bailey asked if she could invite a friend over. I said sure, if you clear off the table, do the dishes and practice your piano. Much to my surprise, she did all three items without one word of complaint...   So, this friend shows up and it's A BOY... Oh my goodness.....

They want to go jump on the trampoline, so I say, "Sure.". But as I'm still decorating the tree, I am watching out the window and I'm in panic mode, He is tackling her and she is liking it... Oh, My What do I do.,... about then Troy comes down the stairs and says, "If you don't go out there and get that boy off my daughter, I'm going to. " So, I quickly go out and surprise them and tell them that they should come inside.  Well, I thought that maybe that would be it, but then Troy said that they were in her room and they needed to come out of there.

Well, since then, Brandon had caught wiff of the conversation and he said, " Let them go to the tree house Mom, I'll follow them and shoot him with my air soft if he tries anything." What a crazy life we lead...So, as Bailey is getting better shoes on, I tell the boy at the back door, "Don't be trying to kiss on my girl, You understand???" Yes, I actually did.  Bailey is mortified...But the boy is still here and maybe if he survives this day, he could be a nice boy. But he will have to back off on the tackling...lol.

Challenges of life are many. Blessings of life are even more. I am so greatful for my challenges and my blessings.

Speaking of which...I can't take off in January to come see Beth. Sure wish I could, but as you all know January is my killer month and I litterally work every moment of the day that I can. This year will be unusually challenging becuase I have a few new demanding clients, but it will be ok.
I hope that you all have a blast even though I won't be there.

Love you all,
Donna

All About Me

Every other Friday morning, I get to go have breakfast with my Defining Women's Chapter group. They are beautiful women like my sisters, that want to share love and good energy with others and help make our world a better place. We get to take turns sharing our business and life story. This last Friday it was my turn to share.
I started out sharing about my business "doTERRA essential oils".
I had used essential oils from an other company on and off for the past 20 years. A friend of mine ask if she could share doTERRA essential oils with me. As soon as I smelled them I could tell the difference. DoTERRA oils are CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade. The plants that they harvest the oils from are grown in there natural habitat. For instance, Frankincense comes from Oman. Each liter of oil under goes  3rd party laboratory testing. DoTERRA oils are free of fillers, pesticides and contaminants. They are 50 to 70 times more powerful than herbs. There are three ways to use Essential Oils. Aromatically, Topically, and our CPTG oils can be used Internally. (Please don't go somewhere else and buy essential oils and think they are safe to use internally). Essential oils work to help bring the body into balance thus helping the body's natural defenses to restore homeostasis. For more information call Lilly Reid 702-596-2025 or go to my web site www.mydoterra.com/essentiallysassy 
I am number 12 of 13 children born to Wayne and Ilene Pearson on April 9th. I had one of the ladies read my birth story that my sweet sister Jelene wrote. I told of how both of my parents came from strong Mormon families. My Father was excommunicated before I was born. Shortly after my birth we moved to Colorado City Arizona, a polygamist community. We were all very musical. Our parents taught us to sing and play instruments. We won first place in the Ted Mack Talent show. Music was a big part of our lives. When I was five my sister Fara died.  She was riding her bike home from school. It had rained earlier in the day. She hit a chuck hole in the road, fell off her bike and hit her head. I remember her lying on the coach that evening, holding her head and crying that her head hurt. Three days after her funeral Sweet Donna was born into our family. She was an angel from God. Some might say that Fara's sweet spirit came back to us in Donna's body. She brought happiness back to our family.
When I was six, our father moved us far far away from everyone to hide us. The end of the world was near, and he wanted us to be safe. The Pearson's Singing Valley Ranch, in the mountains of northern Nevada is where I lived for the next ten years. We had many adventures on the ranch. Us last 5 girls and Mother took care of the ranch. On the weekends the brothers would come home and check on us. Father would show up now and then and make us do some off the wall project or heard all the cattle up a stupid canyon.  It seemed like he made us do things just to make our lifes misserable. Life was peaceful when he was gone. As soon as I saw his car come up the road I would get diarrhea. I tryed to hide alot from him.  He was not my favorite person. One time us girls found beer caps in the cab of his truck. We argued back and forth who's they could be. Surely Father didn't drink. No, he wouldn't do something like that. Mother always defended him, not that we dared tell her about the beer caps. I don't remember having discussions about life with our mother.  If I wanted to know something, I would ask my sisters. My sisters were my best friends, actually they were my only friends.
Us girls sang a couple barbershop songs at  the High School Christmas program.  The choir teacher was so impressed with us, He told us with a few vocal lessons we could sing in Vegas at lounge shows or sing back up for famous people. We found us a vocal teacher in Las Vegas, and started driving down every other weekend for lessons. Pretty soon that got old so we talked Mother into moving to Las Vegas.  Father was totally against it. He didn't want us down in that wicked city. We found a house to rent and we all had to get jobs to help pay for everything. Donna and I were the only ones left in school. I was 16 and in the 11th grade and Donna was 11 and in the 6th grade. Talk about a culture shock. Live out in the boonies for 10 years away from people, then move smack dab in the middle of Vegas. I changed my name from Lillith to Lilly. No one could every say Lillith right, so I took my new life and took on my new name.  My angels sure were busy watching out for me.  I was like a wild animal let out of a cage. No boys at the ranch, lots of boys in Vegas. Thank you God for keeping me safe.  Our sweet Momma wanted us girls to go to the Mormon church so we could meet Good friends.  Well it just so happened that the very first Mormon building we went to had this super hot boy, Brad Reid, up on the stand.  It was lust at first sight. Wow I just new I wanted to get to know him. Long story short, we were married in the             St. George, Temple 5 years later.  During those five years, we both graduated from high school. I went away to Beauty school in Idaho and he went to Ohio on a mission.  We have 5 Beautiful children and one grandbaby boy. Life has been good to us. Im not the sweet inoccent girl that Brad married 26 years ago. I am very  grateful for my life, and I thank God for all that I have. My sister and I have stayed close, and I have added many more to my sister list. You have All enriched my life. Thank you God for my sisters.
GOBEAMAZINGSISTERS.         Love Lilly

My Boy

As you know, Brandon doesn't take piano lessons, but he heard this song and thought that he wanted to learn it. So he got it on his Ipad and started practicing. A few
 weeks later he had it down (mostly from listening and learning from ear). So, I asked him to play it at church for me. And here it is. I think he did a good job considering he is petrified of performing in front of people. Of course, I try not to take all of the credit for my talented children, but where else would they have gotten it if not from me??? Haha.

http://youtu.be/gBHNf4SJHwI

The girls' recital is next weekend, so I'll post them soon.

Reagan has decided that every 5th of the month is Happy Day. She remembers it every month and requests that I wear her favorite purple shirt each Happy Day. She is such a goof, but I love her so much I can't stand it.

Bailey is a big 8th grader this year and not having a great year. Hope she likes High School next year. I'm nervous about her moving up, but I'm sure it will be ok. I still struggle to get her to practice, but I know that she does like playing as she gets better.


Love you guys.
Donna

P.S. Its getting bad around here. I can't hardly do crafting or reading without my dang reading glasses on. Good thing my Husband bought me a three pack. I have them everywhere (still fighting the urge to keep them around my neck).

Books

Dear Sisters, Somebody needs to write on this blog. I am tired of going here everyday and being disappointed that one of you cute girls hasn't written to me.
    I sent 3 of my stories and Helen's, "Cattle Drive from Hell and Back"  to Dustin, my English professor. Or I should say Misty's English professor. He is going to read and edit them over the Christmas Holidays.  I will keep you posted.
     LeAnna and I finished my Christmas present for my children. It is the book I was telling you about, telling them the story of their births. It turned out so sweet and precious. I can hardly wait to give them to them on Christmas day. Now I am working with a lady who transfers tapes to CD's. I have lots of old tapes of my kids singing songs when they were little. We are going through the horrible process of putting all of them on a CD, so I can put them in a jacket in the back of their books. I went over to hear what the lady had done so far, and we both sat there and cried. They were so precious. Their tiny little voices brought back so many sweet memories.
     Helen is coming up this weekend to make some more quilts and go out to Cane Beds to see Pat Pederson, because her son Vince is dying from cancer. Sad.  So we will drive out to see her. It will be fun to spend time with Helen. She is so wonderful.  Can't wait to see Beth in January.  Love and miss you all, Jelene