My Mother, Carlene Buchanan Harris

My mother was born 89 years ago this month.  

She was raised in Bountiful, Utah...

...and was the valedictorian for her high school. 

She met my dad at the University of Utah.

They raised their family in Concord, California.

Every summer we traveled to Utah to be with our extended family.

She dearly loved her children and grandchildren!

Every two years we had a Harris family reunion.

Six years ago in April my mother passed away.  

Being the only daughter, I inherited her jewelry.   

What to do with all of her costume jewelry from the 1950's?

You google "jewelry Christmas tree on velvet" and get to work.  

This "jewelry Christmas tree on velvet" hangs in my dining room 

and every day when i see it, I think of my mother... 

....and I am reminded daily how blessed I was to be raised by her.

"Where Can I Turn for Peace?"

"On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, one of its neighbors to the southwest, marking a major escalation to a conflict that began in 2014. Several officials and analysts called the invasion the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II."  wikipedia.org

A man walks past a building damaged following a rocket attack in the city of Kyiv

image from forbes.com 

Feb. 25, 2022

What's gone on since February 24, 2022 has been unsettling to me.  When I have unsettling feelings about what's happening in the world, I look to the Prophet of God (Amos 3:7) and my church leaders to give me direction and peace.  The other day I found this statement written by The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:  

Published Friday, Feb. 25, on Newsroom

“We are heartbroken and deeply concerned by the armed conflict now raging. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has members in each of the affected areas and throughout the world. Our minds and hearts have been turned toward them and all our brothers and sisters.

“We continue to pray for peace. We know that enduring peace can be found through Jesus Christ. He can calm and comfort our souls even in the midst of terrible conflicts. He taught us to love God and our neighbors.

“We pray that this armed conflict will end quickly, that the controversies will end peacefully and that peace will prevail among nations and within our own hearts. We plead with world leaders to seek for such resolutions and peace.” 

I remembered that a temple was dedicated in Kyiv in 2009.  I love this documentary of the Kyiv Ukraine Temple Youth Cultural Celebration and how it shows all the nations from eastern Europe coming together in peace and love of God.  

You can also see the video by clicking here.  

What a Difference 2 Years Makes

Two years ago, our twin grandbabies were in the NICU fighting for their lives.   

Click onto the arrow to see how they are doing now.......

We are very blessed.  

Seminary Memories

This post is reappearing from one of my Seminary Teachers Facebook pages dated January 15, 2016.  I think it is showing up because we are studying the book of Moses in Come Follow Me Sunday School manual this week and I think people are going to the # of Moses 7.  For whatever the reason, I'm enjoying these seminary memories.  

#Moses7:18 #ScriptureMastery Moses 7:18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

Yesterday our class was reviewing scripture mastery scriptures. They pulled the card for Moses 7:18 and without any prompting, my students grabbed each other's hands and one student snapped this picture.

This post is from January 19, 2016:  

I'm glad that these feet brought my students to seminary this morning.  My students make it a great way to start each day.  This morning we talked about how the Children of Israel had a hard time making correct choices because of wicked influence of the Canaanites and that we need to keep wicked influences out of our lives.

....a post rom February 2015:

My seminary class rocks!  D&C 87:8 Wherefore, stand ye in holy places and be not moved...

One more seminary memory that I don't want to forget.  This video is nothing official.....It's just a group of early morning seminary teachers welcoming their students back to a new seminary school year.  I enjoyed showing this on the first day of class after our summer break  (before our opening prayer, of course).  

Double click onto the arrow to watch.

Paying Attention

This morning I listened to Music and the Spoken Word.  This 3minute message by Lloyd Newell resonated with me as I watched the children react to their parent's behavior.  

The Spoken Word:  “Paying Attention” 

By Lloyd Newell

A few years ago, executives at a large theme park hired consultants to help them understand how to capture the attention of small children. The consultants spent a few hours in the park, observing the children to see what most interested them. What they learned surprised them: the children seemed to be most captivated not by the exciting rides, the costumed characters, or the colorful displays but, instead, by “their parents’ cell phones, especially when the parents were using them.”  

As one of the consultants reported, “Those kids clearly understood what held their parents’ attention—and they wanted it too.” Even small children got the message that “cell phones were enticing action centers of their world”—more interesting, apparently, than an amusement park. Worst of all, “When parents were using their phones, they were not paying complete attention to their children.” 

A story like this one might prompt us to pause and consider what captures our attention. Does the focus of our attention align with our values and goals? Some interesting or entertaining things leave us feeling empty. On the other hand, we often overlook that which is most meaningful and soul-satisfying—worthy of our closest attention. But we need not be captive to what is captivating. We can choose how we will direct our attention. 

We often use the phrase “pay attention,” and it’s an appropriate metaphor. Like money, attention is a limited resource. There’s a cost involved in our choices, and we get what we pay for. So it’s worthwhile to pay some attention to what we pay attention to. Are we making decisions that bring us the greatest value—decisions based on our values? Are the people we love getting a healthy portion of our attention or just the leftovers? We value what we pay for—not just with money but with love and attention.  

Life can be demanding and chaotic at times, with so much vying for our attention. Pausing to focus on the things—and the people—that matter most brings clarity to the mind and contentment to the heart. We can make it clear, by the way we pay attention, what is of worth to us.  

Episode aired January 23, 2022, Broadcast Number 4819.

Elder Holland's Devotional Speech

Youtube describes this BYU devotional speech given on January 18, 2022 in these words:   Elder Jeffrey R. Holland explains how, throughout life’s adversities, we can keep the faith and become “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.” 

Elder Holland is one of my favorite speakers, and this devotional talk really touched my heart.  It is well worth your time to listen to it.  

You Better Belize We Had a Great Time.....

Soon after we arrived in Belize in 2017,  we were able to meet Margaret and Rodrick Cardinez.  We became friends and enjoyed visiting with each other.  Below, we are at Rodrick's retirement celebration as he retired from being a high school principal.  Just before we left California to come to Belize, Scott also retired from being a high school principal.  

We were privileged to teach Margaret the Gospel of Jesus Christ and participate in her baptism. Her family was a great support on that special day.  

Rodrick and Margaret have family in the United States.  So, we invited them to come see us in Utah any time they came to visit their family.  In 2019, they took us up on our offer. We had a wonderful time showing off all the beautiful sites in the Salt Lake area.  

We were so excited when they told us they wanted to visit us again this January.  Little did they know how different life would be in Utah in the winter.  Margaret had never seen or touched snow before... 

Every day, we compared our weather with what it was in Belize.  Check out the weather forecast on January 10th! 

Each day we bundled up as we went out on our daily adventures.  This view of the Salt Lake Temple is a lot different than it was two years ago as it is going through renovation.

The sister missionaries who served as our tour guides were awesome!

Although we are BYU alumni, we enjoyed a tour of the University of Utah campus.  It was fun for me to think of my parents as we walked the campus.  They met at the "U" while they were students there 70 years ago.

As we left the Costco parking lot, how could we not take a picture of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains in the background?   

It was fun introducing the Cardinez's to some of our favorite games-Blokus, Qwirkle, and Pass the Pigs.  

We walked along a canal trail above our home in South Jordan and enjoyed the view of the valley across the highway.   Don't let the sun fool you--it was a little chilly.  

On Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed reminiscing over dinner with Forrest and Jolynne Flake of our days together in Belize.    

One of the highlights was attending the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with Margaret.  

The view of the valley below was spectacular as we exited the temple that night, warmed by the spirit of the Lord's House. 

Goodbye Cardinez's.  We look forward to seeing you next time you come.  

Some Things Have Really Changed....

Merry Christmas from the MagPad! 

2021

You can see the other MagPad Christmas cards through the years by clicking here.

For the Beauty of the Earth

Welcome to our world here in Utah and see what we've seen this fall...

The colors

 The beauty

God's creations 

The brightness

The sunrises

The sunsets

Cuteness  

Oquirrh Mountain Temple   

Come to God's own temple, come; Raise the song of harvest home.  

All things denote there is a God; even the earth and all things that are upon the face of it....do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.  Alma 30:44

Come Ye Thankful People Come

Henry Alford

1 Come, ye thankful people, come, 

raise the song of harvest home; 

all is safely gathered in, 

ere the winter storms begin. 

God our Maker doth provide 

for our wants to be supplied; 

come to God's own temple, come, 

raise the song of harvest home. 

2 All the world is God's own field, 

fruit unto His praise to yield; 

wheat and tares together sown 

unto joy or sorrow grown; 

first the blade and then the ear, 

then the full corn shall appear; 

Lord of harvest, grant that we 

wholesome grain and pure may be. 

3 For the Lord our God shall come,

and shall take His harvest home; 

from His field shall in that day 

all offenses purge away, 

give His angels charge at last 

in the fire the tares to cast; 

but the fruitful ears to store 

in His garner evermore. 

4 Even so, Lord, quickly come

to thy final harvest home; 

gather thou thy people in, 

free from sorrow, free from sin, 

there, forever purified, 

in thy presence to abide; 

come, with all thine angels, come, 

raise the glorious harvest home.

Road Trip - Fall 2021

Where did we go?  

1.  Boise, Idaho
2.  Wenatchee, Washington
3.  Snohomish, Washington
4.  Olympia. Washington

Paper maps?  Google Maps?  

We used both.  Scott preferred paper maps.  Kathleen preferred Google Maps.

Who did we visit?

1.  Kathleen's childhood friend since kindergarten.  (That means we've been friends for 60 years!) 

Janna, Kathleen, Scott

2.  Kathleen's brothers and sisters-in-law.

Lynn, Craig, Douglas, Kerri, Kathleen, Scott

3.  Douglas' chickens

We enjoyed some of their eggs for breakfast.  

4.  Scott's sister and brother-in-law

Scott, Kathleen, Karen, Stan

5.  Scott's BYU roommate

Dave and his wife, Sue, Kathleen, Scott

What did we do?

1.  Picked and ate homegrown tomatoes

2.  Visited and learned about a pre-historic geological wonder.

Dry Falls State Park

3.  Toured Aplets and Cotlets candy factory.

Please pass the, "deliciously soft fruit & nut candy".  

4.  Practiced our shooting skills

5.  Toured Douglas and Kerri's physical therapy practice  (The best in Wenatchee) 

6.  Picked out the cutest pumpkin in Snohomish  

7.  Spent some time at the Columbia River

Some of our road views

1.  Driving through Idaho

2.  On our way to Snohomish

3.  Bypassing Portland, Oregon 

4.  We followed along the historic Oregon Trail on the way home. 

 See you next trip!