Karen'Z Korner

Late, late, late!

2012-01-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

~~How could I be late~~ What else is new.

Happy (late) Birthday to Aaron. My first born. The child who experienced the full on ineptitude of my motherhood and lived to tell the tale. Not only survived but somehow thrived anyway. The nurse at the hospital had to remind me to burp him after I fed him. When we got home from the hospital I was almost soaked by a little fountain when I changed his diaper the first time. How did I not know little boys did that? That event dissolved me to tears. The reality hit me that despite my years as an older sister and babysitting so many children, I had never been a mother before. Never been THE ONE responsible for the life of another. If a child had a problem in the past, all I had to do what hold on till the mom got home and she would know what to do. Now I was THE MOM and I didn't know what to do. It was that moment I realized I could not do this alone. I just didn't know how to be a mom. But I did know how to love - and part of my fear was there because of the overwhelming love I had for this new little boy that was my son. The thought of making mistakes and ruining him petrified me. I'm so glad I had a wonderful husband - who also was new at this - and a loving Heavenly Father to support, guide and encourage me every step of the way.

It seems to have worked.

Because he is now eight years older than I was when he was born. Married to a wonderful woman with a delightful little girl and one more coming in March. He is bright, talented, devoted, funny, spiritual and a great dad and snowman maker. I couldn't be more proud. While I realize that I did play a part in his upbringing, when I look at the person he is today, I realize that only a small part of that was because of me.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

First Christmas in Argentina

2012-01-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

Hey family! It was soo good to talk to all of you! well almost everyone.. haha sorry I didn't really do too well talking to everyone individually.. I kinda felt bad about that after.. but oh well, all in all it was a good experience! I´m soo happy to hear that all went well with grandma´s get together, that´s really cool that you guys got to do that.

This week was really slow, we had a really hard time getting to see our investigators, it seems that they were never in their houses.. :) and its understandable with the fiestas of Christmas and new year, the streets were dead. So we ended up doing a lot, a lot of contacting, and I actually enjoyed it. We found quite a few future investigators, so we will be going around to see them, and try to get some new blood. But this week I really felt the Lord pouring out the spirit to help me understand and know how to respond to people.

Family, I love you guys, I am doing well here, my companion and I get along well, every once in a while things aren't perfect, but all in all things are good, we have a lot of goals and things to improve on, but we are striving to be the best missionaries we can be. I know the lord will bless us for our actions and desires, and he will make us into what he needs us to be.
New years was awesome. We went with the other Elders with a family in their area and ate an asado (BBQ) with lamb and chicken. It was zoo good. I´ll have to send you pictures (next week because i forgot my card reader) and again they had a ton of fireworks (its more like the fourth of July here than any other holiday) but it´s cool! Also this coming Tuesday we will be moving apartments finally! We are pretty excited for that, one of the members from the other Elder´s ward has a truck and he´s going to help us move. This week more than ever we have been feeling the heat! It has been soo hot, and it hasn´t helped that they have been cutting the water... we went two days without water (don't worry, we have water to drink which is separate..) but it has helped us in a couple instances to talk to people and get into a couple houses, they always say "what are you doing out right now! its too hot, you should be inside sleeping.." and stuff like that, but i have been amazed at how the heat really hasn't affected me all that much (don't worry i´ve been using sunscreen!)

love you guys! hope all is good, that you all had a beautiful new years, and that we can all make a little more effort this new year to dedicate ourselves a little more to the gospel and in our commitment to repenting every day! love you guys, sorry this is a little bit shorter, and maybe a little bit dry, but hopefully I have more to tell you about next week!

con amor, Elder Zimbelman

Christmas 2012

2012-01-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

I've never had a two week period go so quickly in my life!

It's almost a blur, but it was a glorious blur.

Many of those days I was privileged to hold joy in my arms.

I breathed in pure love and sweet innocence

and felt on my cheek the silky strands of hope.

I came away from this Christmas season full of faith in our future.

A brightness of hope for the upcoming new year.

I think I'm getting a little glimpse of the insight that age and experience brings.

(I must be getting old)

As I held and played with my grandchildren I understood the full circle.

I had once held my children in a similar fashion.

And then watched them grow and change, face challenges and sorrow... and joy.

I witnesses and experienced the parents of these little ones becoming adults

and watched them step into the shoes I once filled as a young parent.

Interacting with these little ones I felt of their goodness, watched them making sense of the world,

looking to those around them to be reassured that they were safe and loved.

And strangely, it was easy for me to imagine them as teenagers and adults.

Today their view of the world is so simple and basic but also so accurate.

Their parents have and are building a strong foundation for them in these formative years.

A foundation that will carry them through the rest of their lives.

It won't be long before they are spending more time in the world than at home.

While the world can be a wonderful place, there is also much out there that will test and try them and cause them to wonder if they are cool enough, smart enough or good enough... and it seems the challenges they will face are only getting more intense.

But many, many years ago a pure innocent child was born to a virgin in a stable far away.

This child was loved and nurtured and taught by his parents who he really was.

He lived a perfect life.

He was willing to submit and be obedient to Gods will.

Even though the world mocked and scourged him, he knew deep down who he was and what his mission on this Earth was, and he did not stray from it.

Because He did this there is hope for all of us.

Because of this child born in Bethlehem we can be reassured that,

"God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. Nor will he, so long as time shall last or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man or woman or child upon the face thereof to be saved"*

In this I feel immense gratitude and joy and hope.

I hope that I can always be part of that solid foundation that will help steady these children when the storms of life come... because they most surely will.

But they will be able to overcome because of the Savior.

*quote taken from Jeffery R. Holland. Read it all here

Hot and Sunny

2011-12-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

Might need a close up of this little critter...

Yep! Bed bugs....

Ha, how´s it going? Things are great here, it seems to get hotter every day, it is super dry here, and you really feel the sun. Things are good, we got some chemicals from the mission presidents wife, and took apart our beds and took them outside and sprayed them all down with chemicals, to try and kill all of the bed bugs and we have been sleeping well. My companion and I are getting along great, and have been working really hard.. ( ha ha I have to say I am having a hard time writing in English, because my companion is Latino and so I only speak in Spanish.. ha ha and i keep on wanting to say things in Spanish, then i have to stop and think of how i say it in English, it is really weird!!) My companion and I have a lot of energy and excitement to work here, and we know that we will be seeing it boom here.

Yesterday, Sunday I had my first opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting, and it went really well, I was a little nervous, but I had prayed and prepared with the spirit, and knew what i wanted to say, and so it went really well. I was amazed how the spirit guided me, and gave me the things i needed to say. (I didn't even have it written word for word, I just had notes, and scriptures... my first talk like that!) I am always amazed how the lord sustains and blesses us, as we do his will and seek his help. He really does love us. In my talk I spoke about charity, and I read a little section about the life of Jesus Christ, and he is an example for each and every one of us, in how he lived, how he was able to serve and love every person that he came in contact with, even the soldiers who were the ones to end his life, and I took some time and thought about what it would take to be able to do that, and what i have come to conclude, is that he loves us, and has experienced every one of our lives, and so he views us with the perspective of our eternal potential, our potential to become like our heavenly father, and so, when we take that into perspective, that every one of us has that potential, and that really is what we are all searching, and striving for, the ability to be eternally happy, when we see the people around us, fall and make mistakes, and maybe leave the path, we need to view them as our heavenly father views us, and do everything we can to help pick them back up, brush them off, and get them on their way. That is what the gospel is all about, repenting and changing and striving to become better, so that one day we will be able to achieve our potential, and ultimately be happy. Every single on of us will fall and make mistakes, and sin, that is part of the plan, so we need to remember that, and always strive to do what we can to repent, and help others to do the same, so we can take advantage of the atonement and be considered worthy through christ´s perfection. It is simple and beautiful, yet we could study it forever and still learn and be edified. I love the gospel family, I know it is true, I am soo happy that I have the opportunity to share this great message with the world, and get to try and build up the Lords kingdom in this little dry, hot, dirty place in the world. I love it.

Eating gnocchi for lunch, Elder Rivera across the table

Pizza that Christian made

Love,

Elder Zimbelman

Let there be LIGHT(S)!

2011-12-10T17:42:00.001-08:00

Thanks Jenn for your help and the awesome pictures!

Hmmm

2011-12-07T19:09:00.001-08:00

Trying really hard to enjoy the Christmas season and not stress out.

Does "trying really hard" mean I'm stressing out?

Reframed and reworded:

Taking the season a day at a time asking my heart:
Is this really important?
Does this invite the spirit of Christmas into our home?
Is it causing me undue stress?
with moments of: "Will the kids be upset if we don't. Will I be? Does their opinion really count? If they are not happy will I be happy anyway? Are they willing to take over and make it work? Is there some kind of formula that can give me a definitive answer" thrown in for good measure.

Three stockings looks a little bare...

Listening to lots of David Archuleta - He sure can sing, I'm beginning to understand the obsession!, Celine Dion and a touch of Donny Osmond ("Mary did you know?") Christmas music.

Need to get the house decorated ASAP so we can hurry up and enjoy it before we have to take it all down.

Do the neighbors care if we are the only ones without lights on the house? Do I care? Do I care what the neighbors think? Do they care what I think? But I want lights on the house, I like lights on the house...

Gingerbread house? Gingerbread Provo Tabernacle? Gingerbread nativity.... but how do you do the people, they're kind of important... skip gingerbread this year?

Please ignore the lego man and his car...

We are giving family members a trip for Christmas... do I still need something under the tree? Does it count if I wrap a note with said gift and put it under the tree... is it worth the effort... will they think it's something else and be disappointed? Do I care of there is nothing under the tree?

some traditions will never go away

Is it fair to our still-at-home-in-high-school-child that she get the same your-gift-is-the-trip Christmas present as our married kids when family trips are usually already part of the deal when you are 16 or should I be doing some shopping? Is she missing out on important Christmas memories because she's the only one left at home? Do I owe it to her to continue to do all the things we used to do when all the kids were home or will she be Ok being part of the transition?

Nativity scenes... lots and lots of nativity scenes. The essence of Christmas.

Especially when they provide evidence that little ones have been around.

Children always seem to understand what's most important.

More from Elder Z

2011-12-05T14:47:00.001-08:00

Hey family!

Ha, if this letter sounds like every other one, it probably is because it is.. I think i start all of them the same.. ha ha oh well..
Hey i just want to start out and say thank you for your letters, I always feel of your love, and they fill me with more love and appreciation for the lord, and this time i have to serve him. thank you for your advice, for everything! I love to hear from each of you!

This week has been a very eventful week, ha ha, first of all elder Rivera is my new companion, we are getting along great, and I really think we will be seeing this area begin to explode. We are both very excited to work and it doesn't hurt that he is Latino and speaks Spanish as his native tongue. Well the first night he was here, he couldn't sleep, and we found out that we have bedbugs in our pension.. so we are going to work just that little bit harder to find a new pension :) as well as the other day I woke up a little sick to my stomach, but it was just for a little, and I have been feeling fine ever since.

Things are going really well here, both elder rivera and I are really motivated and excited to get to work here, and I know the Lord will do his work in his own way, and in his own time.
Love you all, cant wait to talk with you this Christmas! keep on saying your prayers, and reading your scriptures! There is soo much to learn, every one of us has more to learn, and more blessings we could be recieving, so ask the lord waht you can be doing better, and listen, and he will answer. love you all! Have a good week!

love,
Elder Zimbelman

Thanksgiving Came Early This Year

2011-11-20T05:58:00.001-08:00

It came in a Mazda from California.

When Amy was expecting our first grandchild a friend told me a little of what I could expect. "Grandkids are like a part of you and when you are with them you feel so much joy and when they leave it's like a part of you is missing, a literal heart ache you miss them so much."

I feel the same way. Last night, after our early Thanksgiving feast, Ruby and I played balls in the basement and Grandpa soon joined us. Peter and I climbed up the stairs over and over and over again to his delight. I stuck out my tongue "ble blur ble blur ble blur" over and over and he would smile brightly and do the same back. He would gently tip his head onto my cheek giving me loves. Then we read books, Jenn read with Peter and I read with Ruby. Long after Peter moved on to other things Ruby and I were still going strong. Seven board books and then seven longer books. I could have read all night. As she snuggled in my lap and soaked up the stories, I soaked up the moment. The weight of her in my lap, the softness of her hair on my cheek, her sweet smell... and her comments, giggles and smiles as we read. Memorizing every detail so that after she left this morning, the memory could help fill the missing space in my heart. Soon it was time for bed. Amy read the last book to Ruby, Caps for sale! Ruby knew every word and detail. Amy read, shaking her finger,

picture credit

"You monkeys, you...give me back my caps. But the monkeys only shook their fingers back at him and said..." Then Ruby would shake her finger and say, "Tsz, tsz, tsz.".

These are such a loved children. I could see, and had seen all week, the difference that it makes to a child to have a mother who is willing to be there for them each and every day and to have a father who wants the same thing. Some of our (adult) conversation this week was about the challenges of raising children in the world we live in. Where moral values are skewed or absent and what's popular is often mistaken for what's most important. In Kindermusik this week we talked about the importance of children having a secure base and how that helps them have the courage and security to explore the world and eventually become independent.

I am so thankful for children and their spouses and so many others who are sacrificing and working hard to give their children a good foundation in life. Young adults who often live a less than glamorous life, in the trenches each day nurturing, providing and protecting this most precious resource for what ails the world, our children.

Children grow up so quickly.

These moments are fleeting.

The time and love given by their parents each day really do make all the difference.

Despite all the challenges in the world,

I can see hope in our future.

From Elder Z

2011-11-14T10:30:00.001-08:00

Hey family,

It was good to hear from most of you! I am glad to hear that everyone is doing well, and that mom had a good birthday, that amy and jordan´s trip has been good, and all these blessings! How wonderful!

It pricked my heart to hear about Grandpa Jim´s passing, but having the knowledge of the resurrection, and of the nature of God, that he loves all of his children and that brings me alot of comfort. He really will be missed though. He has been missed for the past year or two it seems.

This week it seems that I have been studying the plan of salvation a lot. As I have read about where we go after this life, and what happens, and the opportunity we have to achieve exaltation, my heart has burned within me, and it has been a testimony to me of our divine natures. It has been a beautiful experience, and it seems quite timely with the passing of Jim this week.

I have been reminded of over and over this week, that we are all spiritual children of our Heavenly Father. We lived with Him before we came to this Earth but left his presence to gain a body, learn and grow and to show our willingness to obey his will by performing ordinances and living the commandments. We did all of this, so that one day, if we are faithful, and do all that he asks us to do, we can be like him, having all that he has. Like it says in Matthew 25:23 (something like blessed are ye faithful servant, ye have been faithful over little, over much you will be. enter into the joy of your lord) sorry only have my spanish bible. How beautiful is that! And how much does this knowledge change in our lives. We know where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. So when trials or temptations come, we can weigh them in the balances of eternal life, and no matter what it is, the promise of eternal life weighs more. This also goes with whatever the Lord asks us to do (D&C 122). Bueno, there is so much that I have learned here.

Love you all Elder Zimbelman

Forty Eight

2011-11-12T17:41:00.001-08:00

...reasons I love my life:

1 - I'm married to my best friend.

2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - I have five completely amazing children.

7, 8, 9 - I have three wonderful people that are married to my children

10, 11, 12, and 13 (in eighteen weeks) - the cutest most fun grand children ever.

14 - Skype, which keeps me connected to # 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

15 - email which keeps me connected to # 5

16, 17 - wonderful parents who sacrificed much and continue to love me.

18, 19 - the wonderful people who raised my husband.

20, 21 - the spouses of my in-laws who have loved all of us.

22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 - six very fun and loved Kindermusik classes who help fill the gap in my heart because 10, 11 and 12 live far away.

28 my dear friend and neighbor who got me involved in Kindermusik.

29 - 33 awesome friends and neighbors who are like my family when mine are far away
34 - 38 extended family members who don't allow distance to create distance between us

39 - a healthy body

40 - a fairly sound mind

41 - a beautiful home

42 - a good education

43 - membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

44 - temples where I can receive inspiration and be sealed to 1-13, 16 & 17 and more
45 - ability to pray and talk to my Heavenly Father.

46 - the gift of the Holy Ghost to prompt, direct and comfort me.

47 - scriptures to guide, inspire me and answer my prayers.

48 - knowing I have a Father in Heaven and Savior who love me and care about the details of my life.

the rest will have to wait for another post.

Grandpa Jim

2011-11-10T06:51:00.001-08:00

Grandpa Jim and Grandma T. (picture taken shamelessly from Facebook)

"Rudolph and his wife were sitting in their home in communist Russia one evening, you see. Rudolph, a weather man, looked out the window at a clear blue sky and said to his wife, "It's going to rain". She looked out the window and scoffed, "What are you talking about, there's not a cloud in the sky". He went back to his reading and she went back to her knitting. Before long a bright flash and the loud boom of thunder startled her. She looked up from her knitting as the rain began to pour. Shocked, she turned and looked at her husband who sat with his nose still in his book. He said..."

We waited. The smile left Grandpa Jim's face and you could tell he was struggling, searching to find the punch line. We agonized with him, hoping and silently praying the words would come to him. It's not that we didn't know what came next, he had told us this joke every Christmas season for years. But this year was different. The Jim we had known and loved had been slipping away due to the effects of Alzheimer's. We had spent the afternoon together. We ate at the same Marie Calendars we always ate at when we got together in Phoenix between Christmas and New Years. Went to the same park afterward. Jim had ordered the ribs but ate only one. Pie was always ordered regardless of how full we were. It gave us more time together and Jim especially doted on his sweet tooth. But today, Jim was disoriented in the restaurant. He would quietly lean towards Grandma and ask where we were and why we were here. He was unusually quiet as we ate. At the park afterward he sat and watched the whirl of our children and his new great granddaughter play around him. Then all too soon, it was time to go. They had a good two hour drive and wanted to get back before dark. As we walked towards our cars there was a feeling of sadness in my heart. It was more than just missing them. The changes in Jim were much more pronounced this year, it was clear he was slowly slipping away. Then Jim announced that he had a joke! We stopped walking to allow him to concentrate more fully. I remember Amy had been walking next to him... I think their arms were linked. As I looked back she smiled brightly. We all gathered around to listen... and then to wait. The punch line went through my mind and I summoned all of my telepathic powers to send it to him. As I looked at the faces of the others it seemed they were doing the same thing.

Then Jim's face brightened,

"He said, "Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!"."

I don't remember exactly our outward reaction. I know we laughed and hugged him and told him how much we loved his jokes. Really how much we loved him. Inside I was cheering and jumping up and down. This was huge. Grandma smiled and as we turned to continue on to the cars she said quietly to me,

"I'm so glad he remembered it".

"Me too."

That was 2008

Jim passed from this life last night around 8:50pm Arizona time.

It has been a long and hard down hill slide.

Jim is at peace now and our hearts and prayers go out to Grandma T.,

Jim's children and to all those he left behind who have been touched by his goodness.

We look forward to a glorious meeting someday...

and a lot more jokes.

PS His sister, with whom he was always close in this life,

passed away a few hours before he did, also of Alzheimer's.

Poisoned

2011-11-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

I spent this weekend and part of last weekend getting our rental property ready for the next renters. Once everything had been moved out of the living room, Mark and I were not sure the carpet would be salvageable. Not only had it not been vacuumed with any regularity but I had doubts that spills had been even attempted to be cleaned up. Last week I did some research on the internet and found that red stains can often be removed by using a mixture of half hot water, half ammonia sprayed into the stain. The spot is then covered with a thick towel and a hot steam iron applied over the towel. The towel wicks up the red dye. A little scrubbing with the hot towel also helps. It works quite well, but requires repetition and patience. Five hours doing this and other spot cleaning as well as overall cleaning on the living room alone gave us hope that the carpet would come clean. This past weekend I personally spent eight hours on the carpets throughout the house, and a few more hours cleaning windows, walls, doors, baseboards. Maybe we should have just replaced the carpet... but it is only a few years old. I was very grateful for the two women that we hired to clean the kitchen and bathrooms as well as Jennifer and Mark who also put in many hours of work.

As I cleaned I had a lot of time in my head. I forgot my ear buds so I had no access to music. I found that as I cleaned I became more frustrated and angry with our renters. How could adults live in such squalor? Slobs! How could you function day to day in this mess? Irresponsible! What kind of people trash a house like this? Inconsiderate! Where do they go now - to trash another place? Users! I went from room to room gathering evidence as to the despicable nature of these people. I was sure they sublet the house (not allowed). Obviously they had a pet hamster or guinea pig or whatever (despite not pets being allowed). They were dishonest. Although there was no smell inside of cigarette smoke inside the house, washing the handles around the closet doors removed a layer of grime that made it necessary to wash the whole door and made me wonder. Ink (mostly) comes out with hairspray - rinsing with a vinegar and water mixture. Large spots of matted down carpet come clean with Oxiclean, a little dish soap and hot water saturated into the spot and gently (or not so gently) teased out with a soft scrub brush - allow to sit for 5 minutes while you go to another spot and then come back and suck it out with the carpet cleaner, rinse with vinegar and water and rinse and rinse again. Gum... well sometimes Oxiclean mixture, other times scissors, depends on how long is has been there.

By then end of the day the house looked sparkling clean and even smelled good. But I was upset and frustrated. Little things made me mad or brought me to tears. On the way home we began to talk about how much, if any of the deposit will be returned and I hit the wall. I felt sick inside. I had poisoned my own heart with all of my negative thoughts. "Enough with the negative, someone tell me something wonderful about some one!" the plea tumbled from my lips and my heart ached for the antidote. I needed to see the good in others, to have empathy or sympathy or love. I needed to feel kind, thankful, warm feelings about people. The three of us were silent for a few minutes... my poison had spread and infected the others. We finally talked about my sweet grandchildren for a few minutes, an instant fix when I need to feel some joy. It was a start but my heart was still hard and hurting. We couldn't come up with anything else (pretty pathetic state we were in), so we turned to music and I tried to focus my thoughts on the evidence all around me that life is good and people are good, kind and considerate and doing the best they can.

The next morning I was still amazed at how my heart has not fully healed and how thoughts, when dwelt upon and left unchecked, can change the way we view others, and life in general. How quickly I could loose my perspective and how much effort it was taking to get it back.

As we were driving home we passed through some road construction that caused all the traffic to be merged into one lane. Our car has one headlight that has a short and goes off and on while we drive. No one's been able to fix it for us. There were a few places where we would go back to two lanes with just enough time for the faster traffic to pass slower traffic before being merged into one lane again. At one of these passing places the car in front of us began to go very slowly. We passed him and he jumped behind us. For the next stretch of one lane highway he proceeded to flash his brights at us repeatedly (as I'm sure he assumed we had done to him).

The driver misjudged us. We laughed at the whole situation and I wonder how I had misjudged our renter(s). Maybe they truly don't know any better. Maybe they grew up being used and not taught to care. Maybe they had issues with their wiring that they haven't been able to resolve. I doubt I would rent to them again and they need to be responsible for the mess and damage, but who am I to condemn them as individuals? Especially when I have my own flaws I'm continually working on... like learning to watch my thoughts and learning not to judge others. A little bit of compassion began to work its way back in to my heart.

Ha ha ha... seriously

2011-11-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

A few Pinterest pins.. not all from this week... it's been a slow week as far as pinterest goes.

Probably because it's been a busy week in the real world.

(There's got to be a way to teach blogger to recognize "Pinterest" as a word

and get it to stop changing it to interest!... ideas, suggestions...anyone?)

Grandchildren loving stuff first. Been laughing at the first one for weeks now.

Order now for Christmas delivery!
Any takers?

Or anyone for that matter...

Good to remember.

That is all.

The Grinch... and David Archuleta

2011-11-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

I grew up in the olden days...

you know, way back before VCR's and VHS*.

I grew up in the day where each Christmas special
was shown on TV one evening a year...

usually at 7:00 or 8:00 on a weeknight

in December, and if you missed it...

well, Christmas just wasn't the same.

I had my favorites:

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,

Frosty the snowman,
and his cute friend Karen

The Little Drummer boy
who's name was Aaron...hmmm

- Amazing how they got those figures to move like they did.
It was technology at it's finest.

And of course How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

My love for movies with character development began early.

Times changes though, which is a good thing.

VCR's and VHS came along allowing people to watch these treasures whenever they wanted.
Even if it wasn't Christmas time.

When Christian was 2, he and his friend Celeste loved to watch

the dog pulling the Grinch down the mountain
(just watch the first few minutes)
I always knew where they were at in the movie because
they would begin laughing hysterically.

Things continued to change as my kids grew.
Soon nobody was watching the Grinch, even at Christmas time.

When it was time to decorate the tree
I had to round up people to come and do it with me,
schedule it way in advance... or just do it myself.

I discovered that it's not as fun to have a "decorator tree" as I thought it would be.
Over time getting ready for Christmas began to feel like a chore.
Like I was obligated to create something that no one really cared about.
I began to understand the the Grinch,
my heart felt a few sizes too small when it came to Christmas.

But what to do.

I was feeling guilty that I felt this way when a dear friend
posted this link on Facebook
(to say she is a HUGE David Archuleta fan would be gross understatement)

Twenty two seconds was all it took
My Grinchy heart began to grow again.

That was my answer.
HIS LOVE

Do the things that would help me
and those around me feel
HIS LOVE.

All the rest doesn't really matter.
The tree, the presents, all the fluff.
Turns out the Whoos had it right!

so Wahoo doraa, Da hoo doraa Welcome Christmas come this way.
(are you singing it in your head?)

I'm not sure what Christmas will look like at my house this year
but I hope that I and those around me will feel more clearly
His Love
If so, then Christmas will be a huge success.

(excuse me while I go sing the rest of the song)
(start it at 3:30 is you want to hear it)

*you can look it up on Wikipedia if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Getting in the mood for Halloween

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

A little Pinterest love:

So fun! Now I get in the mood for Halloween after most of my kids are grown and my grandkids live far away...

May just have to make the finger puppets though...

actually this was from Target.com

Hey!

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

It has been an interesting week. We seemed to have a really hard time finding anyone at home, or they were always about to leave, or something. Things really have started to slow down. Also this week, we went and visited a family, who live out in the boonies. On our way back, we saw Gonzalo, and he waved us down, and started talking to us. We had left Moroni 8 for him and his father to read, about baptism, and he came up to us, and had understood it soo well! He was like, "Hey, things are going well for me ever since I have been talking to you guys, and I can always feel the spirit when you guys come, then it leaves with you too. So man, I need to get baptized to get the Holy Ghost, huh?" He still has a bit to learn to be ready but it was soo cool!

Family thank you for your prayers this week. I honestly could feel it strenghtening me. I know the lord loves us, and wants soo bad for us to come back to Him. I hope that each of us can retain the big picture, and remember that this life is not about work, or school or things like that, but really this life is about learning how to show our Heavenly Father that we are willing to do what it takes to live with Him someday.

Love you all,

Elder Zimbelman

*this is just an excerpt of a much longer letter. If you are interested in reading the letter in it's entirety let me know and I can email it to you.

Squirrell!

2011-10-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

I love the Disney Pixar movie UP

It seems that I'm often easily distracted like the dogs...

Funny thing is I started this post about a year ago...

If I had money to burn

2011-10-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

Or maybe more accurately - if I wasn't so cheap

I'd get these:

source

to put above my bed once the bedroom is redone.

Wouldn't it look great on a white wall with the other walls Benjamin Moore Wythe blue*?

But I think I'd want it about 30 inches across instead of 20...

source

and one of these with the initials of my grandchildren

including baby Kate of course.

source

I'd find a place to put this.

And while I'm dreaming I'll take one of these too:

I'd be OK with either one...

not sure where I'd put it

but if I had money to burn I'm sure I could figure something out

...maybe as an entrance to my Kindermusik studio

(yes I would keep teaching and you better believe I would use it!)

Have to get the old cheap copycat brain to work on the first two anyway...

* Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue

Hey Everyone!

2011-10-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Well a story from last week that I really wanted to tell, but i didnt have time. Last week, we went and visited Gloria with a member named Adrian.It was amazing. Gloria has been taking the lessons for almost a year, and she has made a lot of progress in that time. My companion has been here for 7 months and has been working with her all that time. When he got here she couldn't understand the Book of Mormon and wasn't really receptive. She was going to kick the Elders out, but had a dream that the Elders were at her door, and someone, who she couldnt see, but could hear, said "Sister, listen to these guys, somthing amazing is going to happen". So she let them keep on coming back. Since then she has read all of the Book of Mormon, she had finished it the last week. Adrian went with us to visit her and she was really shut down to baptism. As we talked with her, she said she knows it is true, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but she felt that her baptism as a child in the catholic church was still valid, "one faith one lord one baptism" was what she said. She feels like all baptisms were the same. We talked to her about authority, Moroni 7: 7-10 where it talks about child baptism, and all sorts of things, but it just didnt seem to get through that her baptism wasn't valid. We had talked with her about it a million times before.. and so when Adrian heard her reaction about baptism, I think it got him going. We had a lesson where the spirit was amazingly strong, and we went thorough and got rid of all of her doubts, and by the end she accepted that her baptism was invalid, and that the church was true, and everything she needs! Ahhh but she is still scared, because she has been catholic all her life, and all her family is catholic, and she doesnt want to change religions, unless she is absoluetly sure. She just wants something that she understands as an answer that this is definitely where she needs to be. We shared Alma 32 the last time, and we are working with her, we are hoping that it will be this saturday, and praying, we will see.

The thing I wanted to share from that experience, was at one point, gloria was talking about how she has had some really hard things in her life, and she has a really hard time forgiving people. She doesn't want to have that in her heart when she gets baptized. When she was talking about that, I remembered an experience I had with dad and Rob, that illustrated the power of the atonement and forgiveness amazingly in my life and I knew I had to share it with her, and I want to share it with you guys now. I am sure you all remember that I hit a tree with Robs car while he was on his mission .. something i will always regret, and will be something I can't forget. So bueno, Robbie returned from his mission, and with the amazing heart that he has, forgave me, and did all that he could to forgive me completely, but every time he drove, and something squeaked or soemthing went wrong with the car, it was because I messed up his car. There was no way he could just forget, and so I was in a position where there was no way way I could pay the debt, and erase my sin. I was stuck and it was ruining our relationship. We both were unhappy, and without a solution. So one day, dad, stepped in, after seeing the deepening hole in our friendship, and sat us both down, and asked Rob, what would make this go away so we never have to remember. After some thinking and talking, we came to the conclusion that if we helped Rob get a different car, then he would be able to move on. We could go on working on our friendship, and I could be eleviated from my guilt. There was no way I could pay the money necessary to help Rob buy a new car, so dad offered to help. He asked me how much I could pay and offered to make up the difference. In this Rob and I were both freed from our burdens. Every time I tell this story I tear up, because I think of my tiny little mortal situation here with a car and a debt I owed, and the guilt and shame i felt from that. And then the joy and peace, and gratefulness I felt to dad, when i was freed from my burden. When I think of all of our situations with our sins, somehting we could never pay on our own, but the Savior stepped in and offered to pay the price, at great cost to himself. I am amazed at the amazing unimaginable gift of the atonement, and I am especially greatful for the wonderful father I have. While he is not perfect, he knows how to show his son, what the savior would do, if we were in his shoes. Words can not express my love and gratitude for my earthy family, and most definitely not for our brother Jesus Christ, who has done so much, and asks so little.

I am so greatful for each of you, and your examples to me. I know our family is not perfect, and there is no reason in particular I am saying this, but I really feel, that at times our family needs to look at one another, in the way Christ would see them, and not as the world, or Satan would have us see. I love each and every one of you with all my heart. I know with all my heart that Jesus is the Christ, and only through him, and his church can we be saved. I am so greatful to share that with the people here, at times my language is a barrier, but I know that if I try my hardest the Lord will make up the difference, that I can not. Love you all.

Gonzalo is still doing well, we also had a lesson with his father Filipe, and set a baptismal date. Christina had to cancel our appointment, and so we haven't had a lesson with her. We had a lesson with Martin, but he was really upset about his kids being loud and not being able to talk to us with his full attention. I am still not sure how that lesson went, I think it will be good, and we will be going back asap. This week we found a lady named Maria, who I really feel has some sincere desires, hopefully we can do all we can to be the instruments in the Lords hands to help her into the path.

Family I am doing great, my health is great, if you could please pray for me, and specifically pray that i will have the courage, and clear mind to do all I need to to be obedient and diligent, I would love it! Sorry this is soo long, hopefully it is helpful for someone. love you all! pray for all of you every night!

until next week,
Elder Zimbelman

Midlife...

2011-10-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

~~crisis~~ contemplations.

Fall is here in full swing. This past week we exchanged our rainy cold weather for a sunny reprieve. The leaves are dazzling and the sky is so blue. The sun is warm and inviting. But I know that Winter is just around the corner. Sometimes it's hard not to dread winter. I don't hate it but it's probably my least favorite of seasons. Early winter is fine, there is still hope of a few days of reprieve here and there. The first snowfall is still magical to this California girl. But after 12 winters in Utah I know that before long the cold will set in, the streets will be icy and the beautiful white snow will become dirty and hard. So today I have a choice. Will I enjoy every moment that is mine today? Will I sit in the sun and soak up its warmth. Will I allow my dread of winter's frozen months to rob me of joy today?
Winter will come as it always does, but some winters are late, some are mild and sometimes we even get a week or two of warm (for winter) weather causing the snow to recede and my heavy coat to be abandoned in the closet.

And many winters come early, freeze hard and overstay their welcome.

This year I will be 48. If I live to be 96 which most people don't, then my life is half over. It's fact. I cannot change where I am right now and I don't know what's in my future. Even though I try to take care of myself, the second half (or third or month or whatever) is an unsure thing - no guarantees. Except that at some point I will die. I will leave this life. Death and taxes... you know.

This past Saturday my friend and her husband were the first to come upon three teenage girls who had been hit by a train. Two were killed, one is in critical condition. Somehow I don't think that they realized at age 7 or 8 that their life was half over. It was heart rending just reading about it, but I was touched by the reminder that each day is a gift. My thoughts and feelings of late seem so trivial in comparison to what their families are go through.

As I think about getting old I don't look forward to possible health problems that come to most with aging. I'm finally at the point were I need to use glasses to read smaller print and frankly I don't like it.

Events happen that change or end lives in an instant. With some people their bodies continue on after their minds and ability to function have passed. While we should do all we can to prevent disease and stay healthy, ultimately we are not in control of so very much.

So today I need to make a choice. Do I embrace the gift of this day doing what I can to ensure that tomorrow I will be strong and able to function. I will prepare for tomorrow and next month and decades from now but try not to let dread and worry dampen this moment. This moment is a beautiful one - not perfect... the air is cooler than I'd like, my back and neck are sore this morning, I could use a nap too ... but this moment is all I have. It's what my life is made of. Single moments connected together, always moving forward unretrievable.

Knowing that my experiences in this life are just part of a bigger whole comforts me and helps me to remember that I have many bright days a head... one way or another.

* pictures taken by Jennifer in American Fork Canyon

Recent Pins

2011-10-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Looking at my pinterest board I realized that the things I choose to pin say something about me and where I'm at.

Here are a few of my favorites and some feedback on some pins (recipes mostly) I have acted on.

Sisters

The first two made me think of Aaron and Celisa.

The first reminded me of Aaron as a toddler, maybe it's good they get a few more year of parenting experience under their belts before they have a boy... or at least get a few more sets of eyes.

Vegan, sugar free chocolate fudge. Very easy and very yummy... probably too yummy. Sugar free does not mean low cal... probably will not be making this again very soon but not because it's not a good recipe.

Monster cupcakes! How totally cute. I bought candy corns to make these I just need someone to give them to... I don't want them around the house. Any takers?

Butternut squash gnocchi with sage and browned butter. I have everything to make this... I was told that a food mill can be used in place of a ricer...maybe this weekend.

Roasted broccoli... it seems everything is getting roasted these days. Before you scroll down really fast I have to tell you, it was really good. We ate the first batch (ok it was mostly me but Jenn liked it too) I think Mark ate some too but I don't remember. So I bought the Costco pack of broccoli for my next batch. Turned out great again, even warmed up later... but I must tell you it is possible to eat too much broccoli in one day...

And then I will just leave you with a thought. Do our actions really show what our highest priorities are?

Grandbaby #4

2011-10-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Celisa at 18 weeks

Is a GIRL!

Katelyn Marie Zimbelman

We are so excited for Aaron, Celisa and Olivia.

Olivia will be a great big sister.

From Aaron and Celisa's blog:

"Today when we were talking about the baby, Olivia put both hands on my belly and said, "Hi Baby Kate!" then she gave baby a love. She is such a sweetheart and will be a great big sis."

Being a grandma is the best...

I can't wait till Aaron graduates (2 more years) and gets a job within driving distance of us.

(That is the plan right?)

First Date

2011-10-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Last week Jennifer was asked to homecoming by a very nice young man in band. It was her first date. We bought her a new dress and Cecily came over and did her hair. She looked stunning. I wish the lighting was better (and Amy was closer), these pictures do not do her justice (but they will have to suffice).

They had a very nice dinner with another couple at Joseph's house, went to the dance and then back to Joseph's house for dessert.

I suppose I should say something here about my baby growing up and how I can hardly believe it... while that's true my overriding feelings are ones of awe and pride... the good kind of pride, the kind that you feel when you know that she has made good choices in her life and has such a bright future. When you know that while her dad and I did have some influence on her, as did her siblings, most of all we try to stay out of her way and allow her to shine.

And shine she does.

P-Day trip

2011-10-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

Hey, we went on a trip to a place called Villa Pehuenia yesterday, and there were some things that went wrong and we got back too late to write yesterday, SORRY! I really feel bad, and there is a lot I want to write about, but I am just gonna give a short report. I just want to make sure you all know im totally fine, I can just imagine that mom was worried when i didnt write yesterday!

It truly was an awesome little trip. We went with the Cuevas family who are members here in Cutral Co. They are soo helpful and Adrian, the dad, speaks English so that is always nice. The people that went were me and my companion Elder Pack, who i have a couple pictures with, Adrian Cuevas and his family, and an investigator family that will be getting married soon so they can be baptized. it was beautiful day, and something I will never forget!

As far as the real important stuff, our investigators, we are doing well. We havent been able to teach Martin and Vanina for a little while because they went on a trip, and then he had to leave for work. We had an appointment scheduled but they weren't there, so with them we are kind of stagnating. Hopefully this Thursday we will go there and have a great lesson.

We had an amazing lesson with Gloria and with Adrian (who we went on the trip with) and she is ready for baptism. We are going over there tonight, and we are going to have a great lesson, she has a baptismal date of the 22 of this month. Also this week we found a guy named Gonzalo, who is golden! We taught him, and he really took it well. We asked him how he was feeling, and he talked about feeling warm inside, and how we had

something special, and so we commited him to baptism, and got him started reading the Book of Mormon. We will be going by there tonight. When we invited him to be baptized, he acepted and said buenisimo! Which is like saying awesome or really good. it was sweet!

We also had a lesson with another investigator that we hadn't been able to find for a while, and when we finally talked to her again, she is super ready. We are going to visit her tonight, and set a baptismal date with her, her name is Christina.

So we are finally starting to see some success. I think what has made the difference this week, is that we had a really good district meeting with our zone leaders, and they talked alot about setting baptismal dates, becasue only through baptism can people enter into the straight and narrow path.

I love each and every one of you, and dang! I want to write a ton, but we need to go and work today! love you all, I will catch you up more next week! The gospel is true, and I am loving sharing it with the people here, we are soo blessed to have everything we have, and it is a shame if we dont try and share it! Love you all, read your scriptures, say your prayers, and everything will work out great! Keep your letters coming, it is a highlight of my week to read about each of them!

Love you all and until next week. You are all in my prayers, please remember me too! I know you are because I can feel the Lord blessing me from time to time with more than I deserve, so I know it must be because of you guys! Sorry about the lame letter! It won't happen again, if I can do anything about it!

Love,

Elder Zimbelman

Meet Nina

2011-10-10T22:37:00.000-07:00

This is Nina.

Yes, we took her surfing on her first non Sunday day here

She's from a small village just outside of Meissen, Germany

link here

She is staying with us for two weeks as part of our high school's German exchange program. Christian when to Meissen two years ago last Summer and we hosted Tillman two years ago. Jennifer will go after her senior year.

.... Ok, so we didn't go surfing but we did to the closest thing we have in Provo, the Provo Beach Resort. Unfortunately the surf simulator was not working so the girls settled for a few surfing pictures and resorted to going on the ropes course. The top of it is three stories high. They were a little hesitant at first but quickly become pros.

We all tried our hand at skeeball.

Some were more.... enthusiastic than others...

We walked around Riverwoods mall as it sprinkled. The lights reflected on the ground made it look magical.... I'll have to see if I can get a picture from Nina. Funny how sometimes it takes visitors to get me out discovering Provo. We are looking forward to a fun visit.

A good day

2011-10-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time getting up this morning.
I had a hard time getting to sleep last night.
When I did get to sleep I had a dream...
I dreamt I was having a hard time getting to sleep.
It woke me up...
and then I couldn't figure out if it was real or a dream.
It bothered me...
until I looked at the clock
and realized that I must have been sleeping...
but now I was awake again.

As Jenn and Nina
(I will introduce you to our German exchange student soon)
left for school,
this view greeted me from the front window
and reassured me that it will be a good day...

Especially if I get a nap.

50 years

2011-10-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

October 6, 1961

50 years

6 children

33 grand children

8 great grandchildren (I think)

and at least one on the way

Eternity to go!

Love you mom and dad.

Happy Anniversary

Hola! (mostly unedited)

2011-10-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

Christian has limited time to write and prefers "writing lots" to "taking time to write every thing perfectly". As this is a long letter and I want to get it posted I will let you enjoy it raw, unedited and full of his enthusiasm.

Missionaries at the airport in Buenos Aries

On the bus to Neuquen

The bus to Neuquen

Hey guys! man, i love reading your letters! they make me soo happy! MAN!! wasn't conference amazing!?! I just ate it up,(i seriously had such a spiritual hunger! ahh i love it!) and was soo sad when it was over! We watched it at our capilla, where they have a satellite so it was live, I watched a couple talks in Spanish, but we took over the nursery, all of us gringos, and plugged a TV in there, and watched it in English! man, English is way better! ha, seriously i feel bad for all the people who cant speak English, because as i watched it in Spanish, it was not nearly the same, how blessed we are to speak English! It made me very excited for the day when we will all live in an exalted state and be able to communicate with each other, with perfection! That is one thing that i have been learning daily here, how important the ability to communicate, sometimes, in our lessons i get feelings of how much the gospel could bless this person´s life, and i usually can express them, but not in the same way, as if i was speaking English! count your blessings!

I had a good week! we weren't able to teach martin and vanina, because he was gone the whole week to go and work in the oil fields, and a bunch of our other appointments fell through.. so we did a lot of knocking, and visited a lot of less actives to invite them to conference. We also had a really good lesson, with an investigator named Gloria, who is catholic, and firmly believes that her baptism as a child was valid, which is her only doubt stopping her from baptism, we have talked a million times about authority, about receiving the holy ghost, about how if she knows the Book of Mormon to be true, then she knows that the true church was restored through a prophet, sooo many different things, it´s hard!! she´s starting to soften, and i think she said she would be baptized again, but it would be in her own time! ahh how i just ache to share the gospel with these people! We were talking with her one day, and she was telling us how she didn't feel that she was worthy to pray, she felt that she couldn't ask her heavenly father for blessings, because she had done so much evil in her life, and when she said that, it was amazing, something inside me jumped, and excitement just filled my body, because of how beautiful the atonement is, think about it, we are here, we can a lot of the times fix a lot of mortal illnesses and things of that nature, but how can we forgive sin? its impossible! eventually, if left to our own merits we would get so burdened down with our sins, and mistakes, that we would become a child to the devil, and be subject to his rule! how bleak, and hopeless!! but there is light! there is hope, and that is what we get to share with people! I eat it up! I love serving the lord, its hard, but alot of the time, but that´s only because we make it hard, because when we truly have faith in the lord, and that we are in his hands, no importa! what happens!

this week I read about the allegory of the wild and the tame olive trees in the master´s vineyard (in Jacob) and usually when we read that we think about all the people and the civilizations and all those things, but when i read it in Spanish, something that i learned, and i really like, is how perfect the analogy of a fruit tree is, we are like the fruit of a tree, and god is our master, he wants to have us as fruit, and will do everything he can to help us fulfill our potential, (but anyways, just a little more to help this analogy i like this in conjunction with what i shared last week about god being the creator, so he has all power to control our environments, and really the ability to control us, as well, but he wont do things that will take away our agency, because that is contrary to his plan, and is like if you give someone a million dollars, or if they earn it, there is more gained in the working, than in the result a lot of the time) anyways, we are the fruit, and god wants us as the fruit, he could pump us up,with artificial whatever, and do his thing, but we would loose something in the process, and so he works and works and prunes, and does everything to help give us the environment that will be the best for us, so we need to just trust in him, and know that he knows best, so when we visit a home of a single mother, who struggles to feed her 3 children, and she shares her food with us, and tells about some hard times they are having, i love to share this knowledge, and assure them, that our heavenly father knows us, knows us perfectly, and gives us the things that will best help us to grow.. how beautiful! what an opportunity we have!

This seemed to be a general theme i noticed throughout conference, that the whom the lord loves he tries, man, I loved general conference! another theme that i seemed to notice, especially in priesthood, but throughout the conference, was that the lord wants us to open our mouths, elder Holland put it quite frankly, in relating the experience of Joseph smith just before the first vision, he said how interesting it is that Satan has real power, and if he could only bind the tongue of Joseph, he would be successful, how interesting that is, whether that is sharing our knowledge of the gospel and our association with the church, standing up for something that is evil and not right, or if it is turning to our heavenly father in prayer, I have noticed at times that this is a problem i face, i sometimes do not want to open my mouth and loose my tongue, but in the scriptures we are promised, that if we treasure up the things of heaven, it will be given us in the very moment what we are to say, and we will not be confounded before men, also says in other scriptures, open your mouths, and they will be filled, what promises! especially for me, when i am trying to speak another language! ha! but it has been amazing to me, when i open my mouth, and begin speaking, how the lord blesses me! I believe that is why i have been able to learn the language, because the lord has blessed me, as i have opened my mouth. Family, I love you all soo much! and you all give me such strength! I was thinking about each of you throughout the conference, and what you were doing, I am soo glad to have a family that cherishes the gospel so much in their lives! what a blessing!!

to answer a few more questions

we invited a ton of investigators and less actives, but only a few showed up, and we were specifically focusing in on gloria, and promised her that if she would come, she would have answers to her questions, we called her, and did alot to get her to come, and she was very excited, and promised she would, but the devil was working on her, and she didn't come.. it breaks my heart, because as i sat there and thought about her, and her need for the gospel, there were talks in conference, that were specifically for gloria, I knew it, and I think i feel a tiny bit of what the lord feels when we reject his teachings, and bring upon ourselves unneeded pains.

family i love you soo much! I am doing so well! I feel closer to my heavenly father, and more in tune with the spirit than i ever have previously in my life! and I have been learning more and more, about what things make us happy! I love you all! Miss you all, at times, but i would not trade this experience for anything in the world! because I love my heavenly father, and the people here, and frankly, the lord can use me better here! ha, I love you all, keep reading and truly feasting in the scriptures, and wrestling with god in prayer, and I have no doubt that everything will be as the lord desires, which means perfect! love you all, have a great week, thanks for your letters, and cant wait til next week to hear from you again!

love, your son, brother, but best of all Elder, Christian Zimbelman

A wonderful morning

2011-10-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

Almost a year ago we got an early morning text from Christian telling us the Provo Tabernacle was on fire.

It was a heart rending time for all of us.

Since then we have driven by the hollow building supported by scaffolding,

and wondered the fate of this historic building.

This morning during general conference it was announce that the

Provo Tabernacle would be rebuilt as a second temple in Provo!

We couldn't be more excited...

Well, actually, the announcement of the Paris Temple (which was already announced by the French newspapers) and the announcement of the Democratic Republic of Congo temples were also very exciting for us as those are two places where our French missionaries at the MTC will be serving

... and now they will also have temples for they people they teach to attend.

What a tender mercy!

We feel very blessed today

Another year!

2011-09-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been 24 years. Every parent knows that each child comes with their own distinct personality and Robbie is no exception. Despite having asthma, eczema, food and airborne allergies as a very little baby, Robbie was happy most of the time. That's how Robbie is. He finds the joy in life. I love to hear him laugh, I always have. I love to watch him figure out how to overcome and work through the challenges that face him and come out smiling. Robbie knows how to work hard and have fun in the journey. I'm glad that he will have Cecily by his side for the remainder of his journey. Happy birthday Rob.

Hey Everyone!

2011-09-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

Sunrise in his city (or maybe it was sunset?)

* for some reason Christian did not get our letters before he wrote his so he didn't know of Mark's accident. He sent me a quick message telling me he didn't change much.

Hey guys!

Well from what I have heard it sounds like it has been a pretty crazy week at home. One scripture that comes to mind is in Jacob 4:8 or also in 2 Ne 28: 29-32. I dont know if it´s exactly the same in English, (I don't read in english anymore if I dont have to). I really love these scriptures, becuse it tells us more about the nature of God, and what He expects from us. It is super applicable for me as a full time dedicated servant of the lord, but it totally applicable to every one of us too. Often we rely on the arm of flesh for our support, but God is the creator of everything around us, everything!! Think about that! Whenever we have a problem we can turn to Him and He will help us! If he lets us struggle for a little bit, it isnt because he doesnt love us, it is becasue we learn through hard times, and often times we have hard times so that we can turn to the Lord, and rely on him, as well as gain experience. I love thse scriptures, because I don't know about you guys, but if I were left to my own merits, there would be very little that would turn out right. It doesnt matter what it is, with the Lord, we will come out the better! What a comfort!! So I challenge each of you to turn to the Lord whenever there is a hard time or something that doesnt work out perfectly, and see if things don't change for the better, that could be your attitude, or something else. Also remember Ether 12:6.

Oh man! I love the mission! The lord is helping me to grow and learn so much! I had no idea how imperfect I am! But with the lord, when we put absolute trust and faith in him, and do all we can to be obedient, and do our part, miracles will happen. I have a testimony of that, and am so excited to be able to see miracles in the lives of our investigators and in my life, what an amazing opportunity it is to serve a mission.

A common question is how is my Spanish, and its coming! It seems right now my ability to listen and understand people is really starting to kick in, and i love it! I still don't understand a lot, but if we are talking about important things, like the gospel, I rarely don't understand, which is such a blessing! This week we went and had a lesson with one of our investigators, who we were considering dropping, because she wasn't progressing. When we went there we addressed many doubts and had a beautiful lesson, which was only possible through the holy ghost. I know that because, first of all my companion has been kinda sick this week, and out of it, so I did pretty much all of the talking, and it was amazing how everything went. I am always amazed at what the Lord can do with me, as imperfect, and stubborn as I am. But that is what this life is about, learning how to become the tools the Lord wants, until one day, we know enough about the way He works, that we are able to try things on our own. I think it is then that we become like Him.. who knows, but I know for right now, and probably for the next 50 million years I wont be able to do things on my own.. mind boggling stuff.. but what we can do now, is work work work, and get better, like it says in Alma 37: 6-7 it is through small and simple things that come about the great and eternal plans of our creator. Improvement and progression is one of those small and simple things, where over time after changin and improving day by day, we have improved immeasurably.. how awesome!

Well guys things are great here, I tried nouquis this week and it was amazing, i also have been having mileanesa a lot, and a lot of empanadas, I love it! Always we eat bread with our meals, and the everyone is always drinking their mate (we can't) things are awesome. Martin is out of town and will get back this Thursday, so we have been calling him and seeing how he is doing (he works in an oil field and is gone for a week and has a week back, which is really hard on him and his family, I think that is one of the reasons he has been so focused on his family.. just imagine if you had that sort of schedule.. wow). We started teaching another family the parents are Dario and Selvina, and they are both super evangelico, but they are very open and receptive to our message, and it helps that the hermanas are teaching dario´s brother, so he is even more open. Those are our progressing people right now, and we have a bunch more people who are either stagnant or brand new, so I will give you updates on the important stuff.. Anyways!! love you guys! Hope things calm down, and ultimately that we turn to the Lord when we have hard times, because alot of the time that is the purpose of hard times.

Love you guys! I am doing soo well here! havent had a bad day yet! :)

Love, Elder Zimbelman

Getting better

2011-09-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was a little rough for Mark, and I was a little anxious in the morning.

He slept and rested and I taught Kindermusik and we both felt pretty good by afternoon

Wednesday Mark rested well, napping in the morning an afternoon.

Again, I taught Kindermusik, checking on him between classes.

It was a beautiful day and in the afternoon we went for a walk around the park

and then around the block, stopping to talk and visit as we went. All in all he was up and about for probably two hours or more. Then, just for fun, and because he still felt pretty good, Jennifer drove him to the High School for some parent teacher conferences. He was tempted to go meet our new missionaries at the MTC but chose not to. Mark was tired and Aaron was arriving late that night. He would be staying with us while he attended a research conference for former Accounting students who are now in PhD programs. We were up late, too late.

Thursday morning was rough for a number of reasons: up late, rough night, and it's the third day since the crash. Turns out the doctors knew what they were talking about... the pain is worse the third day. Took it easy in the morning, good nap in the afternoon and by evening he was feeling pretty good.

Friday he was up and showered early enough to go with Aaron to the meetings at the conference. He is doing really well but as they drove away I began to feel anxious. This is the first time he's been out of the house and away from me since the accident. What if he passes out, what if he over does it...he's a big boy, and Aaron's there to keep an eye on him. He'll be OK. But I still felt anxious.

Then I started to think about him riding his bike again - not that it will be in the next week - but I know that at one point he will jump on that bike again and ride away just at he did Monday - and as he has done thousands of times. I know there are risks involved, there are risks no matter where we are or what we are doing. But right now the reality that I may loose him someday is pressing on my mind. I begin to wonder when, how will it happen? Will it begin like the call I received Monday night...only what I find when I arrive at the hospital will be different...?

I suppose this has always been the case. Really it's the same when he goes to work or I go the gym or grocery store. There are no guarantees in this life. So how to I but this fear behind me?

I know that he and I are sealed forever. While we will most likely be separated in this life at some point I know it will be a temporary separation - for this life only. And then, when we have both passed on we will be together forever, never to be apart again. I know that I'm not alone. I am surrounded by so many who love and support me and my family.

Ultimately it comes to fear vs. faith. I need to remember to trust. Trust God. Trust that he will hear and answer my prayers and also trust that He knows not only what is best for me and for Mark but for all of God's children. I'm not saying God pulled some strings to cause the accident. We have our agency and sometimes we act in ways that hurt or injure others, God won't take away our agency. But we can repent and make it right through the atonement. And the atonement is also there to help and strengthen us through our pains, sorrows and challenges that come through our own weaknesses, through the mistakes of others or just come as part of the life experience.

And is all these trials we are never alone. That comforts me and helps me have faith.

Chris warned me that I might feel this way

and helped me prepare for when these feelings came.

Thanks Chris... it helped me today.

Living quarters

2011-09-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

Front Door, kitchen area. Study area behind when taking picture

Study area... back to kitchen and front door. Notice wood wall and door at the end...on the other side is...

the Bedroom... we didn't get pictures of the bathroom and yes they sleep in sleeping bags in this mission.

How is everyone doing!? this week was good for me, we found a new investigator whose name is Martin, and he is absolutely golden!! We were knocking in some apartments, after a hard day of working and having all of our appointments fall through, and no one was ever home. It was probably around eight at night, and Elder pack told me to choose somewhere to knock. So we went in this building, all the way to the top, and he said "ok, its your turn to knock" so i knocked on the door and he amazingly let us in. He always talked about how his family is the most important thing in the world to him, and was super receptive, and we had a really good lesson. I believe i already told you that much, but we have gone back, and the next time hs wife was there, so she joined us. She was just as amazing and really receptive, and when we were asking them to read, he said they were going to read the section in the Book of Mormon that we had given them that night as a family, we were soo excited! Then we had a couple days before the next lesson, and we were gonna play futbol with some investigators, so we invited him. He came and we had a lot of fun. Afterwards we were talking to him, and turns out he is married, which is a huge bonus! That practically never happens here. We went back the next day, and had a really good lesson about priesthood authority, and why our message was so important, and they took it soo well. They are super humble, and really sincere. They also had questions about baptism. They didn't believe infant baptism was good, because they didn't believe children had the ablility to choose and stuff like that. They wanted to know what we thought about that and if they were being bad parents because they hadn't baptized their children. It was a great opportunity to show how awesome the Book of Mormon is, and to show them what we believe. It was really cool, and it is amazing to see how the Lord has been preparing them, and how they are soo receptive to our message.

Well fam there is so much that goes on here, I wish I could just write a little novel and send it to you guys to tell you about everything, but the investigators are the most important thing, that is why we are here.

Family i love you so much, the lord has definitely been helping me every day, the Spanish is here some days, and not others, there are certain people that i can understand practically perfectly, and others I can't understand a word.. so it is kind of hit and miss, but I really have felt the Lord helping me. When I have the spirit in a lesson, it doesnt matter how well I can speak, all that matters is that I open my mouth, and the spirit teaches them what they need to know. I take alot of comfort in that, because it is something that I need right now soo much.

well, love you all, look forward to Mondays when I get to hear from you!

love, Elder Zimbelman

Here are a few other things he told me:

Mom, I am doing soo good! we get fed by the members every day, and we have a bunch of sisters in the branch who if we stop by they give us food, or fix our clothes, they also do our laundry for us, its really pretty nice here, we are really well taken care of by the members. Well its getting cold there, and it is just getting warm here! hahaa, I am going to be spoiled, with two summers in a row, but we are wearing t-shirts for the first time today, and it is soo nice here! Everything is super brown, and it will probably only get greener in the trees becasue the ground is all dirt everywhere, rarely do people have grass in their yards, but the people are amazing here, and we are well taken care of.

De ja vu - well sort of

2011-09-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

This is a long post.
It is more for me than for anyone else.
To help me process, to help me remember how blessed I was last night and to help me deal with all the feelings that are going through me right now.

And to answer the questions many people have asked.

Monday evening just past 6 Jenn and I were preparing for a friend who would be joining us for dinner. Our friend arrived a little early and Mark wasn't home from his bike ride yet... a little odd but I didn't think much about it. A few minutes later my phone rang. It was Timpanogos Hospital ER informing me that Mark had been in an accident and asked if I could come right down. She asked if I knew where the hospital was, I repeated back to her the nearest cross streets and we hung up. I relayed the message to Jenn and Danny, we turned off burners, put the meat in the fridge, our friend quickly left and we headed to the hospital.

The whole way there I was trying to recall the details of my conversation with the woman at the hospital and was mad that I didn't ask more question. He was on a back board. He was awake because he told them it was OK to call me - not in a coma, that's good. Jenn texted the kids while I drove to let them know what was going on and then offered a prayer.

When we arrived Mark was out of the room getting a CAT scan. A CAT scan... hmmm. I asked around to get more information. We found out that he was hit by a longboarder on the river trail and was unconscious for at least 10 minutes. I felt sick inside and angry.

Robbie and Cecily joined Jenn and I at the ER after a few minutes. Mark was soon wheeled back in awake and not in too much pain. He told us that he was almost home, riding past the parking lot by the bridge at 8th North and University. He slowed down as he approached this area because it was often crowded and kind of a dangerous area. He saw one long boarder come out of the parking area and then a few moments later another one shot out right in front of him. He saw Mark and jumped off his skate board. Mark tried to bunny hop the deserted board but didn't make it. He woke up 10 minutes later in the ambulance on his way to the hospital. His left side took the brunt of the impact cracking a rib and breaking his left radius near the elbow also bruising his hip and shoulder. He lost skin from his cheek, chin, both knees, assorted fingers and knuckles and has a scrape across his chest. They didn't discover the elbow was broken until they were helping him sit up and get into the wheelchair. He requested that they x-ray it and sure enough - a compression fracture.

When we finally got him home it was after 9:00pm. Mark hadn't had much to drink and nothing to eat since his bikeride. He sat up to the bar and was about to start eating when he told us he felt light headed, like he was going to pass out. I turned to get something more for him when Cecily said, "He IS going to pass out". Robbie stood on one side of him and I hurried to the other and just moments later he went limp. Cecily and Jenn could see all the color drain from him and he kind of twitched and began to sweat profusely. My shirt was wet where his head leaned against me. When he came to we got him something to drink and tried to get him talking when he passed out again. Cecily was very calm and suggested that we lay him on the ground and elevate his feet. I was told Jenn to get our neighbor to help lay Mark on the ground, I was afraid I would drop him while we were trying to move him. Mark came to again. Jenn came back in a few minutes, the neighbor she went to get was out of town but a different one was passing by and I'm really not sure how he ended up coming over but I'm glad he did. While we laid him on the floor I had Jenn call our good friend and Mark's doctor, Chris Wood. He used to live next door but lives in North Salt Lake. Cecily was awesome and calm, just what I needed. I described what was going on to Chris and he gave me some instructions and things to watch for. We gave him some OJ and other liquids to get his blood sugar and volume up. At some point we called our faithful home teacher to come and help give him a blessing. As Mark ate and drank his color got better and he could carry on a conversation and not slur his words. We began to breathe a little easier watching the color return to his face and he began joking and talking. Chis called back a few minutes later to let me know he was on his way. Mark was given a beautiful blessing of healing and comfort by Robbie and the other bretheren. After a 20 minutes or so laying on the floor, Mark was looking pretty good and the men helped Mark up and into the chair in the living room. We put blankets on him and got more food into his system along with some pain medication. He seemed more like his old self more and more. Our wonderful neighbor headed home and our home teacher stayed a bit longer.

Before long Chris arrived and we looked at the CD of Mark's CAT scan and xrays. Chris examined Mark and didn't find any evidence of internal bleeding. Mark and I were so touched that he would drive all this way in the middle of the night to check on him. But he came for me too. He realized how scared I was and how overwhelming all this was for me and gave me instructions too along with a prescription for anxiety which I was reluctant to get filled but glad I did.

While in the ER Robbie took a picture of Mark and posted it on facebook. The calls, prayers and well wished rolled in. We were overwhelmed by the love and support we feel. In addition to getting this out of my head and in to some tangible form that I could deal with I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to those who were there for us in a second's notice. I feel so blessed. I'm sure the next few days will be a challenge but I know we are certainly not alone.

In over three decades of our married life it has been me that has given birth, had my appendix out, had other health challenges... including getting taken out by a longboarder. I can't remember a time when my wonderful husband has been the one lying there while I felt helpless. This is new and I don't like it. Tonight I feel exhaused, vunerable, and very very aware of how fragile life is. But I do not feel alone. I feel so loved, so supported and carried - and I'm not the one hurt. The efforts made today to support our family were such kind acts, so needed and given because others knew what we needed and were willing to drop what they were doing to help us. That was a whole huge group of tender mercies and love. Thank you! I am reminded each moment that God knows each of us personally and attends to our needs often through our friends and neighbors - the angels who surround us all the time.

Proof is in the picture

2011-09-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Doesn't he look great! Especially after being on the road for soooo many hours.

PS the writing is normal... not effected by exhaustion.

Love from Argentina

2011-09-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

* Elder Zimbelman's first letter from the field,

we discovered more of the story of his arrival in Argentina as he answered questions in personal emails and from a phone call from the mission office... after the letter*

Hola familia,

¿como estan? Yo soy aqui en aero puerto una area k tiene casi no arbols and muchas tierra..

Anyway, the name of the city I am in is Cutral Co it is West of Neuquen. Our house is pretty small, but the toilet works, the shower is warm, and we have running water, and the place stays warm, so it is all good. It is definitely a different experience here than in the states, but it has not been nearly as hard as i thought it was going to be. The language is super difficult to understand, and if it´s someone that speaks clearly and we are talking about the gospel I can

understand close to 80 percent of what they say. But there are some people, like our president´s wife.. haha, that I can't understand at all. But everyone here has been saying I am really good at Spanish. Usually missionaries come and cant speak at all, but I have been able to contribute a lot in all of our lessons and it has been a good experience so far.

We have about 10 investigators right now, and I haven't got to meet all of them yet, but I look forward to be able to meet them. Sorry this is kind of jumbled, but there is just soo much to tell, and I am kind of tired. It seems that I am tired here all the time! But its OK, the Lord strenghtens me when I need to be strengthened. My companion Elder Pack is from Holliday, Utah, (a suburb of SLC for those not familiar with Holliday) and only has about 14 weeks left in the mission. He is a good guy, and I enjoy being here with him.

As some of you mentioned, the field is definitely different than what you think it is.. Sometimes I feel that we could be doing more, or using our time better, but its all right, I will get accustomed to being here, and being on a mission, and then I will work more on what is the best way to do things, for now I mostly just trust that he knows what he is doing.. he has been in this area for 4 transfers or something ridiculous like that, so he pretty much knows the area back and forth, and knows a lot of the people. It isnt nearly as beautiful here as it is in Utah, there isnt really anything green... mostly just dirt. But I really have come to love the people, and the food, we have empinadas and pasta alot, and I am loving it here.

We have one new investigator, and it was an amazing experience for me. His name is Martin, and it was late in the night, como 8 and we were having a hard time finding places to go, because we had visited all our investigators and knocked some doors, but no one was home. So we went and were knocking an apartment. The first door I knocked, I gave a really broken introduction and this guy let us in. He was super open and told us how important his family is to him, and so we talkd with him for a while, and he was super receptive. I feel really good about it, that was probably the highlight of my time here, just being able to see the light in someones eyes and to be able to testify with all my soul that I knew that what we have to share will change his life forever. It is such an amazing opportunity.

Another investigator I found, my first night in Neuquen, was when I was with one of the Elders from Peru, Elder Leon, he was soo amazing. We found this kid named Christian, and at first glance he was super rough looking, had multiple gnarly pearcings in his ears and in his nose I think, and lived in the most humble circumstances. But when we went in there he just had such an open heart and was very receptive. We gave him a Book of Mormon. He had questions about how could there be a God with so many bad things happening in the world, and we were able to help him, and turn him to the Book of Mormon. It was really special for me, and I really have started to love the people here. They are so nice to me, and try soo hard to listen to what I say, I love it.

Well fam, there is soo much I could write, but this is what is important: I am healthy, happy, and in the service of the Lord, so for the moment, I don't know how things could be much better. I love it, thanks for all you do.

Love from Argentina,

Elder Zimbelman

Travel saga below if you haven't had enough to read yet...

Christian left the MTC in Provo around 10:00 am Monday morning (Sept 5) He and his traveling group flew to Atlanta and then overnight to Buenos Aires arriving Tuesday morning around 8 AM. Tuesday afternoon those continuing on caught a flight to Neuquen. A two hour flight I believe. About 7 minutes from Neuquen the plane turned around and headed back to Buenos Aires. We are not sure the reason. The woman from the mission office speculated that it may have been because of the volcano in Chile although there was no ash in the air... she just didn't know. They arrived back in Buenos Aires, around 9:30 pm and went straight to the bus station and caught a bus to Neuquen leaving at 10:30 pm. The 710 mile bus ride took them 18 hours. It pains me just thinking about it... no wonder he's tired! They were fed at the mission home and got a good's night rest before a day of training in Neuquen and then off to his area, Cutral Co.

Feast and Famine...

2011-09-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

This morning I spent 45 minutes in a room full of energetic two-year-olds.

Even though I've taught this same lesson twice already this week, this particular group wanted to be up and moving... all the time...so that's what we did, we had most of our class on our feet. It was fun and challenging and caused me to think deeply and creatively to adapt the lesson plan to the needs of these little ones in the moment.

And then, the last tiny pair of sandals was filled and gone and my house was calm.

Completely quiet.

Silent and very still.

I took a breath and looked around.

It felt good.

I love my life.

I have lists of things that need doing but not sure what I wanted to do.

Check out pinterest, check my email, make lunch, finish the laundry...

Really what I wanted to do was to play with my grandchildren, have lunch with their parents, especially their mothers - telling them again how amazing they are and to remind them that while it may seem that the things they do day after day after day are mundane and repetitive... they are doing the most important things they could be doing... ever. All those little things count, the spilled cheerios, the smears on mom's shirt, the endless laundry, all the little hassles and issues that seem as though life would be so much easier to just give in, just this morning... but you don't. What you are doing is building people,

one moment at a time. And before you know it these moments will have added up to years and decades and you will marvel

that the child once laying on the floor kicking and screaming now has a child of their own... doing exactly the same thing. And what you desire now... a clean house and 15 minutes of quiet calm that you can choose to do anything you like... will be yours.

And there may be days when you long for someone to come over and fill your home with noise, spill cheerios on the floor, get your shirt a little soiled and put their sweet chubby arms around your neck.

Funny how that goes.

Feast and famine... but really it's all feasting.

Life is good.

and it's time to get back to my list.

Always lists

Thank goodness.

Pinterest... Love hate relationship

2011-09-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaa Pinterest! I love you! You give me great ideas quickly and easily for my laundry room, bathroom and for future projects. You also give me great recipe ideas like these, oreo cupcakes from bakerella. These pictures are not from her website... Jennifer took them of the ones we made.

mini oreo

and just for fun... we made half with grasshopper cookies

chocolate and mint... mmmmmmmmm

The frosting recipe was divine... we used butter instead of shortening as suggested... white enough and melts in your mouth.

I was making them for the YW and since the recipe said it only made 12 large cupcakes I doubled it, planning to make 12 large ones for our neighbor who just had a baby (what! you don't think she NEEDS these?) and 48 mini ones for the YW. I'm not sure what happened but we ended up with 24 large ones AND 57 mini ones... maybe I put too many cookies in the little ones?... I didn't get any complaints. I may have to try it again without doubling it just to see how it comes out ;).

Pinterest...great ideas, yummy recipes...

not so great for my bottom line

(if you know what I mean)

Found them!

2011-09-04T08:56:00.000-07:00

The laundry room before, during and after pictures:

These pictures reflect the way the room felt.

(in addition to my poor photography skills using my new dslr on manual setting -

which I didn't realize I had done until the room was ripped apart)

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

My Summer Vacation cont...The Bathroom

2011-09-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

The basement bathroom has been an ongoing project that began shortly after we redid the main part of the basement for Kindermusik a year ago. This is actually the largest bathroom in the house but since it was in the basement it was neglected until the domino theory kicked in. Main room looked great, bike room looking amazing, bedroom already looked pretty good and now this really looked like a pit.This was compounded by the fact that it was not being used regularly and became the dumping ground for basement "stuff". Note - we never actually lift weights IN the bathroom. The pale blue-green counters and the vinyl floor with the matching blue-green squares that had pulled away from wall long before we moved in, had outlasted their stay. Not to mention the light strip. The towel racks came down, which was much easier than keeping them up (we are towel rack challenged) and the work began. The photos below already have the wall behind the door partially textured.

Late in the spring we found a great handyman, John. He quickly put two and two together and discovered that he was one of Mark's students. He helped with a lot of projects and is one reason we did so many this summer... he recently moved to Boston to start his first job. We will miss him

To fix up this room we textured, painted almost every surface, stenciled one wall using this stencil. This room was the experimental room with the Giani countertop paint. It turned out OK, way better than the blue-green laminate and I got better at it as I went. The cabinets got a fresh coat of white paint, I used this tutorial to frame the huge mirror that is permanently attached to the wall. It was so easy, I will be doing it again. John put in new light fixtures in addition to a new tile floor. Mark and Christian installed new towel racks into studs next to the shower/tub where you can actually reach them when you need them!

It's a bright happy bathroom that I'm no longer to embarrassed to allow people to use. It comes in really handy for Kindermusik too.

Argentina, Here I Come!

2011-09-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

This week has been awesome, we got two new teachers, and we were worried that they were going to be super lame and no fun this last week of the MTC, but they have turned out to be pretty awesome! I know the lord is watching out for us!

Last night was our last chance to hear from a quorum of the Twelve in our firesides and we definitely got lucky. Elder Holland came, and it was an amazing spiritual feast as one might expect from him, ask dad or Jen or mom for notes from it! It was awesome! He does seem to be getting old though!

Oh man, I am somewhat sad to be leaving the MTC. It has been such a place of spiritual growth and development for me, more than I could ever have imagined. It really has been a humbling, but at the same time a very uplifting experience. I love the MTC and I will always look back to my time here, as a cherished time in my life. One of the biggest blessings I have had has been to be able to be the District Leader for the Elders in my district. It has taught me so much, and the Lord truly has magnified me in my calling far beyond my own potential. My love for the elders in my district has grown immensely. It is always amazing to me, the way the Lord likes to humble me, and then give me success. An example of this is that every Sunday we have a district meeting that I am in charge of and we assign two elders a topic that they get to teach. Of course I usually forget to remind people, or assign them, until it is practically the day of, but it always amazes me, what power comes when we invite the spirit, and then follow it in our meetings. This last week, I was pondering what I could share with my elders in our meeting, and I thought i should teach about charity. It seemed a little random, but I followed it, and it was amazing how the spirit led, and I was able to see the message really sinking into the hearts of the elders in my district, and I was able to see a change of heart. I guess that is what has been my favorite thing about the MTC, is the chance to be an instrument in the Lords hands, to help bring about a change of heart in the elders in my district. I truly have felt that as I shared these experiences with the elders, as my thoughts were solely about them, a change came in me, where I was able to be bettered in the process as well. The lord loves us, and wants us to rely on him!

I am so excited to be able to go and be the Lords tool in bringing the people of Argentina unto him. I can not think of a better way to spend my life, and it truly is a lifestyle, we need to be trying constantly to bring the people around us unto Christ, and as we do that we, ourselves come unto him.

Family I love you, so much! I know the lord loves you! I always can feel of your love through your letters, I felt it last night, and it brought me to tears of joy, to think of the love that you have for me! Thank you so much for your good spirits! Keep doing what is right, and don't worry about the rest! for the lord will take care of you!!

Love, Elder Zimbelman

My Summer Vacation cont...The Laundry Room

2011-08-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

Do you have a room that causes a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach and every time you open the door you just want to run and hide? I have felt this way about our laundry room since we moved in.

It measures all of 5 1/2 x 6 and has two doors, one going to the family room and one going to the garage. From the garage it gets shoes and boots, hats, jackets, gloves, dirt and lint from the garage, occasionally saw dust, backpacks and more. From the family room it gets dirty rags thrown on the floor and all the stuff that no one knows what to do with. I this room we store light bulbs, wrapping paper and gift bags, Costco packs of toilet paper, kleenex, paper towels, three cowboy hats, the hot plate we take to hotels so we can make our own breakfast, cloth grocery bags, the high chair I keep for the grandkids, stamps that I use occasionally and of course the usual laundry stuff.

We got a shoe organizer, put up hooks and shelves above the cupboards and across the other wall. Mark put up a bar for hanging up wet clothes. I organized and reorganized and rearranged the stuff in the cupboards trying to find something that works but in the end I could never really reach any of the upper shelves without getting a chair from the kitchen and the pile on the dryer just grew until it would all fall down.

Just inside the family room I created a place for back packs and school books and relocating that stuff helped some, but in between major cleaning efforts and reorganizing the laundry room looked like this...

(I can't find my before picture)

After I joined Pinterest I began to see all kinds of ways to decorate and organize a laundry room and I began to dream and plan...

Someday...

in the far distant future...

when our washer and/or dryer died

my laundry room would no longer be the armpit of the house.

And then one day I was washing a load of tennis shoes to help with an eagle project and it happened...
a size 14 tennis shoe wedged itself between the agitator and the inside of the washer
(even though I did all I could to prevent it) and, well...
may my old washer rest in peace...

Having paved the way from my new laundry room:
still so small it was hard to get a picture where you could see most of it all in one shot.

Ikea cupboard I love you!

View from family room - garage to right

View from garage

New from top
(How many packs of Costco TP? the world may never know.)
to bottom
(John, who did my tile got into the decorating and painted my drain cover black!)

storage for brooms, mops and folding step stool

Funny how excited I was to have a step stool so I could reach everything in seconds, now that I have a space to store it.

There is no divider in the bottom of the cupboard so I can fit the high chair, my large cutting mat for sewing and my laundry basket ... you can actually open the door to the garage WHILE I'm doing laundry...
who'da thought that was possible?!

I want to go out and buy more toilet paper just because I have a great place to store it!

While I will not say that I suddenly I LOVE to do laundry and this probably is not my FAVORITE room in the house, I have to admit that when I open the door, this room makes me happy. I don't mind being in here, in fact I kind of like it. I don't cringe at the possibility that someone will enter my home through this room.

My laundry room is still very small but it's functioning so wonderfully!

labeled and accessible storage with towel bar for hanging

Need a light bulb or wrapping paper?

I can have it for you in two seconds, without causing an avalanche!

precision spacing so that all doors open without hitting anything

I like this room enough that I will put hanging things away quickly,
and even iron rather than let them hang there and block my "window".

And the stackable washer and dryer... GENIUS.
I guess there are all kinds of blessings that come from helping others.

What I did over my summer vacation

2011-08-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

I've been in denial about school starting again. Not that I don't like school and having a schedule again but it seems like Summer just got here. It was a cold Spring and I was busy with this

and this

and I'm not really ready for this

followed by this..

BUT in an effort to embrace carpools, packing lunches, and getting up at 6:15 AM.

I will share with you a few things I have done to my house this Summer.

Starting with something small:

Not the greatest picture I know but it's all I have.

Notice the countertops, 24 year old formica, scratched, cracked in places with wood trimmed edges. What you can't see is the 24 year old porcelain sink which has long lost it's luster and stain fighting abilities, rimmed with a stainless steel crown, equally aged and tarnished...

Mark has offered to replace these with granite but I'm holding out...

At some point I would like to reconfigure the kitchen a little and replace the tile floor.

So I'll be patient... but still there has to be some way to fix it up without spending $$$.

A google search turned up Giani Countertop paint.
It was reasonable and worth a try. I experimented first in the bathroom in the basement with mixed reviews and decided to try a different color in the kitchen. I also discovered that putting the paint on a little thicker allowed the colors to blend and make a really cool "stone like" texture.
(I realize that any geologist would quickly know it is a faux finish but to the layman it looks pretty good)

I also got a new sink and faucet...

And painted the basement door RED... just for fun.

Love the MTC

2011-08-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

Dear family,

I can not even express how much I love your letters! Thank you, they are always such a blessing to me! Well my time at the MTC is coming to a close, we signed our visas yesterday, and we will be getting our travel plans tomorrow! I am very excited, but also quite nervous, my Spanish is pretty good, but it is soo hard to understand native speakers when they are just talking. I can understand most of it, but like with the consulate yesterday it was hard to understand him about 25 percent of the time, because he just talks so fast, and slurred, but its all good, I know I´ll pick it up quickly!

This week has been amazing, I really have been able to feel the Lord working through me. One experience that was very humbling for me. On Friday, I had the opportunity to take one of the elders who was struggling aside, and just talk to him. It was amazing. We had been talking a lot about listening, and the power in just listening. This elder has been struggling to love his companion. As we talked his attitude was not really changing and at one point he told me that if i continued to try and help him and if i told our branch presidency that he was struggling, that he was not going to talk to me at all, and was just going to ignore me. I don't know why, but when he said this it really struck me to the core and I started becoming teary. I think it was because of the love I felt for him, and I realized how difficult at times my calling is. There are times where I have to sacrifice of myself, so that I can serve others, and that is what a calling is really about, serving others. At this point, I proceeded to follow the spirit, and I used mom´s age old question, and said "Elder who are you listening to?". We talked and I started to understand his attitude. We just kept on talking, and i was crying, which was weird for me, but I feel the lord blessed me to be able to do that, to show the elder of my love for him. Well we talked, and his attitude didn't really seem to be changing all that much, but I tried my hardest to follow the spirit, and eventually I really just felt the need to listen, and let the spirit work on him. As I listened, he opened up, and shared with me some really hard experiences from his life. It was amazing that after we talked about that for a little,I realized how inadequate I was on my own, but with the spirit, I was able to help this elder change his attitude. He has has been really improving, there is still a lot to be done, but they are progressing, and that is all that really matters.

This week my teacher decided to stop having us teach the difficult investigator who couldn't read, because he felt that that was way too specific of an investigator. So we started teaching my teacher, and try to bring him closer to Christ, as himself, a rm going to BYU, it has proved to be very interesting, and we are going to teach him tonight.

Our other investigator Ramon, we have set a baptismal date with, and we are working with him, it is amazing the power that comes from having a testimony of the Book of Mormon which he has. We prayed with him, and we all felt the spirit witness to him, and everything else has been soo easy!

I know the lord has blessed me in numberless ways, I know that! I count my family among my most precious blessings, I know that pretty much everything that I cherish in my life, is because of you guys, and you striving to follow Christ. I love each of you so much! I love the Lord,vHe can make us stronger than we could ever imagine, all he asks is that we show forth our faith through our actions, think about that.

I love you all, have a great week!

love, Elder Zimbelman

Hey ya´ll only 2.5 weeks left!! crazy!

2011-08-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hola mi familia! como estan? First of all I feel impressed to share an experience I had last night, with all of your. Last night after an amazing fireside, our district was talking about prayer and one of the counsellors in my branch presidency asked us if we knew the longest we had ever prayed? He suggested that we try and actually spend some time praying, so last night as I went to bed I started my prayers and I prayed for each one of you and for all the elders in my district as I do every night, and I did something that I don't know if I have ever really done before, and that was I asked to know the will of the Lord in my life (all in Spanish of course :) then I just listened with an open mind, and a pencil and some paper, and things just started coming to me, so by a little light I have I started writing my impressions down, and it was amazing how much the Lord blessed me with inspiration. There was not enough speed in my hand to write down the things the Lord was trying to tell me. One of the things I felt, was to share this with you. I challenge each one of you to pray, and then listen for the lord to speak to you, and make sure you have something to write on, because he will! He wants us to talk to him! I have a testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost, I am striving for its guidance constantly in my life, because I know without the Lord we are nothing. No matter how smart or brave or good looking we are, the lord can make us better. We only need to make sure we are in tune to the spirit, so we can be an effective tool in the hands of the Lord. I really love that analogy and I am striving for that in my life.

Things with my district are going very well, we had a companionship that was not getting along very well, and so one of the members of my branch presidency sat down with both of them and talked with them, and since then their attitudes have changed, and things have been much better.

On Sunday I had such an amazing day, first of all we had the district president (President Hacking) attending all of our meetings. It was awesome to feel his love and his spirit. We are so lucky with the leaders that are here in the mtc. A common theme throughout that day, as dictated by the spirit to me at least, was the lesson taught in 2 Ne 34:32-34, which is that we need to be the person we want to be in the future, today! If we say, well when I get out in the mission field, it will be easier then, and I'll be a better missionary, we will be disappointed. The same missionary we are here, will be the same missionary we are there, and the person we are on our mission, will be the same person we are for the rest of our life, so I am making the changes in my life so that I am the best missionary i can be TODAY! Now is the time to change, and it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass (Alma 37:6-7). So we need to start doing something now, no matter how small it is, to become the person we want to be. I know that through these principles we will all be able to be the person we want to be in the future, and the person we want to be throughout the eternities!

One of the biggest strengths I have had in my service, is from 2 Ne 32:9 "consecrate all thy doings unto the Lord". I have been striving to start and finish everything that I do, with a prayer so I can be blessed with the Lord's guidance.

Family! I love you soo much, and I am so grateful that I am able to spend eternity with you! Start now to become the people we want to be there! I have such a strong testimony. This week we had one lesson with our progressive investigator, where we were trying to listen to the spirit, but we were imperfect in that, and kept on asking him to pray, and it seemed no matter how we asked, or what we taught, he would not agree to read, and eventually he got frustrated and kicked us out. Then the spirit spoke to me, and told me that he did not know how to read. I felt pretty foolish, the spirit is key in everything we do!

We had another lesson, with our other progressive investigator, where we followed the spirit and it bore witness to him and to us, right then and there that the Book of Mormon was true, it was tangible! We had him recognize it, and even thought it was a "fake" situation, the spirit bore witness and to the point that our investigator was crying. The spirit is key in everything that we do in our lives! It will never lead us astray!!

Well this letter is extra long, so I apologize if your personal letters aren't as long as usual, just know I am striving to follow the spirit in everything that I do, and that I feel this is what will bless you the most! I love each and every one of you, and pray for you individually and for you needs! I love you, and know our Father in Heaven loves you, more than anyone else! Even me, which means, probably more than we could ever understand!!

Love you all, read and pray! do it!

Elder Zimbelman

Strings Attached

2011-08-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

photo courtesy of Amy

Tuesday morning Jenn and I went running with our neighbor, Karen. Mark would be leaving soon to fly to New Jersey for a business trip and would be home Friday evening. Amy's Jordan had been out of town the week before and had left again on Monday for another business trip. Last week was a rough one for Amy and this week would be her birthday. We had looked into airplane tickets to fly her and the kids out here but they were too expensive. Still... my heart ached at the thought of her being alone with two little ones on her birthday. There had to be something we could do. I began to assemble a package to send to her with some new fun things for Ruby to do and a little something for her too. As we were running I lamented to Karen about wanting to be with Amy, and Karen said, "Well, drive out there!". Duhhhh! why didn't I think of that! Jenn and I got back from our run around 7:45, talked to Mark as he was heading out the door and arranged to take the Mazda. We quickly packed, I taught Kindermusik from 10:00 to 10:45 and we were on the road by 11:15. We called Amy about two hours into our drive and told her to break out her air mattress. We were all very excited! We arrived that evening and got to see Ruby for a few minutes before Amy tucked her into bed. Two glorious days of giggling, chasing, baby kisses, imaginary play, coloring, snuggling and bliss. It seemed like more of a gift to me than to Amy in a lot of ways. It was really fun to make her some birthday cupcakes, get her some balloons, dinner and cool candles, as if she was 16 instead of 26. Jordan came home that night (Thursday - her birthday) and they went out and saw Harry Potter. Yesterday Jenn and I went running with Amy and the crew and then packed up again and headed home.

I know about cutting apron strings and the importance of allowing children to grow up and become independent. I know they need to be able to live their own lives and right now Sacramento is where Amy, Jordan and their family are supposed to be. But what about the heart strings. No one seems to talk much about those. The aching I feel when I leave that sweet family... being able to still feel the sweet little hugs and hear laughter in my head and know it will be a while before my cheek is able to rest on their silky hair again. What about that tugging on my heart when, like Ruby and Olivia, I too want to be able to go through the screen when we skype and be wrapped in their arms. Then there's the pull I feel that makes me so willing to spend two days driving to see them for two days. So totally worth it. In many ways this trip was empowering. It was easy to throw a few thing in my bag and just go. Aaron and Celisa better settle within a one day drive too, because even thought the apron strings have been cut, the heartstrings are still firmly attached.

I just hope...

2011-08-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

...that when I'm 52

( way way down the road ;)

I'll be as awesome as you are today!

Happy Birthday!

I love you.

Looking Back

2011-07-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

Twenty nine years = Five pregnancies, five children, three weddings, three missionaries, two broken legs, four sets of stitches in foreheads, one bike accident, one ambulance ride, one appendectomy and a few other surgeries, 5 cases of chicken pox and more cases of colds, flus, vomiting, carsickness and airsickness than I can count. Thousands of family dinners, lunches packed, gallons of milk, boxes of cereal, loads of laundry, floors swept and vacuumed, children tucked in, songs sung, kisses given and bandaids applied. Lots of family vacations, a few trips to Hawaii, church history trips individually with each child, a trip to London. Children away in Mexico, Romania, Germany, Brazil, and soon Argentina plus Mark gone for 2 weeks in Argentina too. Eight moves, three states, eight years of school, four BA degrees, one masters and 1 3/5 PhD's. Nine years with Mom in school. Three beautiful, fun, charming, adorable, heart-stealing grandchildren. Running, rappelling, climbing, hiking and exploring Southern Utah, tennis, aerobics, lots of biking including a few state championships, one Lotoja championship and hundreds of other bike race. Five children with drivers licenses, numerous cars, spiraling insurance rates, six cell phones on one plan.

29 years of tears, challenges, triumphs, worries, making ends meet, prayers, blessings, celebrating and pure joy than I ever thought possible...

and I'd do it all over again as long as I could do it with my best friend!

I love you Mark, thanks for 29 wonderful years.

Karen

Girls Camp 2011

2011-07-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

Warning: Lots and lots of pictures in this post

For Girls camp we usually go as a stake to Camp Mia Shalom in the mountains above Fairfield and west of Scofield lake; but because Mia Shalom is in high demand, and every 10 years or so we do girls camp on our own as wards. This was one of those years and our ward decided to go to Moab.

The timing turned out to be a blessing as Mia Shalom still had 12 feet of snow in June and many stakes had their girls camp canceled and were left scrambling to find something to do.

I will begin by saying that while Moab is a great place

Moab in July is just HOT!

But since July was the only time we could make it work

we just made it work!

Some of the leaders: Becky, Karen and Karen

Some of the girls: Jen, Kris, Michelle and Hannah

We camped at Big Bend campground on the Colorado River in hopes that being close to water would help everyone stay cooler and be more comfortable. Our particular camp site was across the road from the river in our own little canyon.

To our campsite - river at our back

Looking towards the road and beyond that is the river.

We never actually swam in the river here because we found out that just the day before, a 21 year old woman was swimming at the beach at the campground without a life jacket and had drowned. They had not yet found her body. We did not bring life jackets and would not be swimming there. We did not share this information with the girls... we just kept busy and didn't go down there.

On our first evening we planned to hike to Delicate Arch. I was kind of hoping for a moonlight hike after it cooled off a bit, but our YW president felt like we should go sooner so we left right after dinner. During dinner the wind began to whip up and a few clouds moved in blocking the sun. It cooled things down a bit. The drive into Arches was scenic and the air conditioning in the car was wonderful. The girls were in good spirits as we began to hike and the wind and clouds provided a little break from the heat.

We made it to Delicate Arch with no problems and all the girls seemed to be having fun.

As we hiked back down we enjoyed watching the sun as it set; filling the sky with beautiful colors and silhouettes from the surrounding rocks and vegetation.

Driving out of Arches it became dark quickly and began to rain. We could see lots of lightning in the distance and hear the thunder. The timing of our hike was perfect. We found out later that the storm that passed through, not only broke one of our tents but also set records for rainfall in one area of Moab and caused flash flooding in Arches near Delicate Arch stranding 73 people for more than 8 hours.

Upon discovering that our largest tent was broken (and as it was sprinkling rain off and on) those of us that were supposed to sleep in the tent opted to sleep in the large empty trailer instead. Which worked out fine once the wind settled down.

The next day we went river rafting!

The river was relatively calm though fast moving with a few "rapids". We had water wars to stay cool and entertained. It was a fun day. Jennifer started out in the boat with me (the fun - let's soak em good boat) until she jumped in the river after a bucket that went astray and was picked up by the other boat (the I don't really want to get wet but would be happy to just float down the river boat, (Ok just the back half of the boat felt that way)). Later she was able to rejoin our boat - and everyone got wet.

That's not my best side on the far left and Jenn is on the far right.

We came home tired, a little sunburned despite our multiple reapplications of sunscreen, and as soon as we dried off we were hot. We made ice cream (thanks to the men who kept us supplied with plenty of ice), hunted for lizards, had devotionals, dinner, did skits, sang in the canyon and saw lots of falling stars. Some of the girls even had a campfire and roasted starbursts and made s'mores. It was another windy night, actually windier than the night before which made the large "drop down" door of the trailer blow open and then slam closed all through the night. We had the side door open but didn't know what else to do because of the heat. The wind finally died down about 3:30 am and I was able to go to sleep.

Then last day we had breakfast and broke camp. By 9:30 we were all packed up and headed for our last adventure, a hike to Morning Glory Bridge in Negro Bill Canyon just down the road and river from were we were camping. As we passed a campsite right before Negro Bill Canyon one of the girls noticed an ambulance parked there. I found out later that earlier that morning they found the body of the woman who drowned.

Negro Bill Canyon is a narrow canyon with a stream flowing through the middle year round (Named after one of the original settlers of Moab). It was nice to have some shade and ten stream crossings made it a fun hike too.

At the end of the trail was the spring that fed the stream and also Morning Glory Bridge.

We played and got water, cooled off and had a testimony meeting before heading back - to the cars and then to Moab for pizza. All in all a good experience. The next morning I slept in until 9:30... which is unheard of for me. I felt thankful that we were safe and had a wonderful experience. We have the BEST group of young women and I feel blessed to be able to associate with their amazing leaders.

Week 3 in the MTC

2011-07-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

Elder Zimbelman and good friend Elder Campbell

NOTE: Christian did write to us last week but it was a hand written letter. I was at girls camp when it came and I have not yet typed it up (and may not at this point) Enjoy his letter from this week:

Hola mi familia! que tal? esta semana fue muy bien, esta semana fue un poquito interesante, primero, ultimo jueves, en Inglais.. (note: If you want to translate this feel free, I have no idea what it says)

One of our elders went home, it was rough for all of us for about a day, but we're now all doing well. What made the difference, was one of the district presidents came to our room and talked to us for a second, and suggested that we give a blessing for the companion of the Elder who went home, and suggested in that blessing we ask the Lord to bless us not to have a spirit of discouragement. So once he left, and the missionary who we were giving the blessing to, asked me to give the blessing, we proceeded, with all of us placing our hands on his head, it was a really cool experience. and ever since then, we have all been doing great. And since Elder ***** went home, our district has actually been doing better than we were doing before, in respect to our district working better together, and staying more focused, and the spirit has been more constant. It has been a blessing in disguise.

Last Friday was our first time in the TRC (teaching resource center), where we go and teach volunteers, who pose as investigators, and we gave our first full 40 minute lesson in 100 percent Espanol. It was a little rough at times, but it was an overall good experience.

I have been singing in the choir, and it has been an awesome experience, I love the spirit that comes when we sing. This Tuesday we were practicing for the fireside that night, and they were doing last minute preparations, and they were checking everywhere, like under chairs, and in walls for bombs and stuff, and so we thought it was for sure going to be one of the twelve and we were super excited. But as the meeting started, it was an emeritus 70, Dennis E. Simmons. At first we were somewhat disappointed, but as he started to speak, we felt silly that we were disappointed. The spirit came, and that was all that matters. He talked about the sanctification process, and how it is during the doing of stuff, the hard stuff, that we grow and become better. He also talked about how when we are baptized we are given the gift of the holy ghost, but it is our choice to receive it. So it is really up to us to receive the gift, because what good is a gift given, if it is not received?

This week has been great, I've been growing, and learning a lot. I"m loving the MTC, it is such a great place! I love you all, thank you so much for your letters! tomorrow I have my first day of SYL (speak your language), where I can only speak Spanish for the whole day, so pray for me! :) Hey I'll try to write personal letters, but right now we've got class. sorry! There is never enough time to write everything I want!

Love you guys so much! thanks for your prayers!

love, Elder Zimbelman

A Little Slice of Heaven

2011-07-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

Amy and Aaron and their families were able to come for Robbie's wedding and for Christian's farewell. It was wonderful having everyone together for a little bit. While I didn't take pictures (too busy playing) I'm thankful others did.

The kids loved the trampoline and Ruby and Livi really had fun bouncing together. Livi really learned how to bounce and Ruby could even bounce on one foot. The girls really had fun together. Even Peter got some bouncing in.

Ruby and Livi are getting so big as evidenced by some of their comments.

Ruby and I were sitting on the front porch when we saw a bee. I commented about how it was buzzing in and out of the flowers. I asked Ruby, "Do you know what that bee is doing?" I was about to tell her about how it was gathering nectar to make honey when she said, "Yes, that bee is pollinating!"

Celisa put a headband on Livi as we were going to church on Sunday. A few minutes after we got there she took it off, handed it to her mom and said, "I just want regular ponytails".

We told Livi that she was a cute girl to which she responded, I'm just a regular girl!

Mark and Christian took Ruby to the Princess Festival. The first thing they went to was Cinderella. The stepsisters yelled at Cinderella scaring Ruby. She wanted to leave. They played in the sand for a bit until they spotted a frog - a talking frog no less. For years Ruby has been doing math problems for Grandpa. They went over to the frog and talked to it for a minute. Ruby was still a little nervous... till Grandpa gave the frog a math problem, one he often gives Ruby. The frog got it right and Ruby knew it! She was thrilled and the festival just got better from there on out. Ruby was thrilled when Rapunzel told her that she was her favorite princess. She even got the courage to go in the water and ask Ariel to sign her book.

Capitol Reef Classic

2011-07-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

On July 14th Jenn, Mark and I headed south for the fourth annual Capitol Reef Classic Stage Race.

This is one of Mark's favorite races for a number of reasons.

It's one of the few stage races he is able to finish because

all the stages are on Friday and Saturday.

It includes a great time trial course, a circuit race - NO CRIT

And an 80 mile road race with a tough climb up to Fish Lake

and then back to town.

This year Mark's teammate Cris Williams came. Mark rode in the Masters 35+ category and Cris rode in the Masters 45+ category... they like to spread the love (or pain as the case may be). Two days before the race Mark got a stomach bug and wasn't sure if he would be able to race but after a call to Dr. Wood and some excellent advice Mark was feeling better and decided to race.

Every time we go we stay at the Sandstone Inn in a little town called Torrey. It's kind of an artsy town with one tiny grocery store, art shops, a cool book store, lots of little restaurants including the Diablo Cafe which is one of my all time favorite restaurants. The food there is fresh, different, so tasty and beautiful (and a bit pricey) but worth it (probably a good thing we don't live closer).

Mark rode a little cautiously in the time trial because he was uncertain as to how he would feel and he had the circuit race in the afternoon. He ended up 4th overall, about 40 seconds behind the leader and 10 and 12 seconds behind second and third place (I think... ).

Every year we have done this race it has been very hot but this year it was about 15 degrees cooler which was a welcome change.

The circuit race begins in Teasdale, goes through Torrey and around some beautiful countryside and back to Teasdale for a second lap. It has some good hills to climb as well as some fun downhill. The group usually drops the weakest riders on the hills and the strongest riders finish together. Jenn and I drove wheel support for this race and Jenn took some great pictures.

Mark came in second a few seconds ahead of the rest of the group so there was not much change in the GC from this race as was expected.

After the race Mark was encouraged at how good he felt. We went back to the hotel, ate at the hotel restaurant, watched a movie (John Adams - really good) read (Shannon Hale, Forest Born - second time - loved it again) and got ready for the next day.

Saturday morning was cool and beautiful. Every one was feeling good - except me, I got Mark's bug - ugh! Luckily I knew how to handle it. Jenn and I followed the race taking pictures and giving time splits. On the first climb Mark, old teammate Zan (currently 5th place) and Mark Schaffer (currently first) dropped everyone else on the climb up to Fish Lake. Jenn and I pretty much missed the first feed because we were giving splits but as we were trying to get there Mark said he didn't need the bottle - it wasn't as hot as usual... whew! We gave them a few more splits and then went up the the feed zone at Fish Lake. They were steadily increasing their lead.

When they came through they were over a minute ahead of one of Mark Schaffer's teammates (second place guy) who was trying to bridge. Mark Z and Zan worked while Mark S sat in.

In the end the three finished 10 mintues ahead of the others who had regrouped and were now riding together. Mark Shaffer was first, Mark Z was second and Zan was third. Our Mark also won King of the Hill... a $25 gift certificate to Cafe Diablo!!!!! I think we will go again next year!

(the race and Cafe Diablo)

Coming and Going

2011-07-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

It seems this summer has been driven by the calendar but after this week my calendar will be open for a little bit.

Last week Mark, Jennifer and I went to Capitol Reef to support Mark as he rode in the Capitol Reef Classic. The weather was unusually cool... well, cooler than usual and it was a breath of fresh air. Mark rode well, we ate out, watched movies, read books in between races, and got a good amount of sleep. Mark did well, getting second overall and winning King of the Mountain.

Today I am getting ready for Girls camp. Moab. We are hoping for cool weather there too but doubt we will get lucky two weeks in a row. No movies or eating out... more like hiking, cooking, setting up tents, river rafting and then cleaning it all up... but I do look forward to a spiritual week as girls camp always ends up being. I love girls camp. Lots of work... great rewards!

Here is Christian's address in the MTC if you want to write to him.
The best way to do that is on http://www.dearelder.com. You have to set up an account but it's easy and free. They will print out the letter and give it to him that day. In the MTC he only gets 30 minutes on the computer which is just enough to write to the family so it's helpful to be able to read our letters beforehand... he also likes to be able to receive them spread out a little and be able to reread them also.

Here is the information you need:

Elder Christian Zimbelman
MTC Box 375
Arg-Neu Departure date Sept 5

He is also accepting care packages, pictures... etc. ;)

I'll post pictures of the bike race soon.

For A Friend

2011-07-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

Want to see something cute?
Want to help out a friend?

Go here http://www.rockymountainpower.net/env/ws/awvc/awve/awve31.html

Watch their video and vote for them...

You could win a gift card to Lowes too...

That is all.

First Letter

2011-07-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

I have some catching up to do after I catch my breath but in the mean time here is the first letter from Elder Christian Zimbelman:

Hey Family!

Man, I love you guys! the MTC has been amazing, I love my companion elder Ross, he is such a stud, and is a perfect first companion. He's from Vernal, and we are practically best friends. My district is also pretty awesome, we have quite a few elders who struggle with various things, but I really have felt the lord bless me with the spirit, and an increase in my capacities, so that I have been able to befriend the other elders, and help keep them motivated, and realize why they are on a mission, and that it is OK that they are having a really hard time, that's all part of the plan. I have the best teachers ever, Hermana Ortega is from Bariloche Argentina, and is soo excited that we will be going to Argentina. We always look forward to her lessons. Our second teacher, Hermano Harvey went on his mission to Chile, and is also a great teacher, he is definitely harder on us than hermana, but that's good, that is how we learn the best, even though it can be discouraging at times. The Spirit is soo strong here, and it really has been fun to feel its influence. On Tuesday we were having a lesson from Hermana Ortega, and we talked about the difference between being a sacrifice missionary, and a missionary of consecration, we talked about how a missionary who worries about the sacrifices he made to be on a mission, and thinks only about the things that he could be doing otherwise, is not being the best missionary he could be. Where a missionary who puts his heart and mind into the work and truly consecrates everything to the lord. That missionary is able to be a much better tool in the hands of the lord. While i don't wish to say that I haven't been missing you, because i most definitely have had my moments, I have been feeling the power of the spirit in increasing my capacity, so that i have been able to focus on the work, and my studies, and the people around me and their needs, and my mind has not wandered too often to things that might distract or get me down, In this way i already have started to feel as though i have consecrated myself completely, and there truly is such a power in that. I have come to realize the power of obedience, I have definitely noticed a difference in the days where I wasn't completely obedient, and the days where I have been , the difference is amazing! the lord really has been blessing me, and increasing my capacity as I've worked, and tried to be obedient.

I love you guys, know that I am loving every second of my time here! your letters were such a highlight of my week, I really loved it! I'm definitely in good hands, the language is coming, and my testimony is growing, but most importantly I am feeling the spirit very strongly, and more constantly than i have ever felt before! I love It!

Love you all so much! thank you for your prayers and your help in getting me to where i am today! I love everyone of you, and I pray for you every day! it seems that there is not enough time in the day for all the things we have to do, and i love it! know I'm doing great and am loving every second! cant wait to hear back!

Much love

Elder Zimbelman

Stepping forward

2011-06-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening the air was cool and quiet as Mark and I began to walk to the park. Over the last few hours the house had quieted down. The food was put away and we had played a few hands of "Up and Down the River". As things settled down I could feel emotions building inside of me. The events of the past few days had been busy and glorious. A building of family and friends into an intensity of joy and love I have seldom felt. Now that the events were over, loved ones began to leave as regular life called us all back into our routines. But the reality began to sink deep inside me that the events of the weekend had redefined my "regular life". Rob and Cecily's wedding not only marked the start of their new life together but Christian's farewell on Sunday also marked only 10 days until Christian entered the MTC.

As dear family and friends gathered for the wedding breakfast I was touched by the love and support of so many people that had enabled Robbie to get to this day, to be sealed in the temple to a beautiful, strong and worthy young lady. I was touched by the love and support her family offered too and felt confident that with this many people behind them they would be successful. I'm not sure when we had all the grandparents in one place before and don't know when we will have them all together again. It was a true delight. The sealing was such a sacred event and the council my dad gave them before he sealed them suited them perfectly. The reception again was filled with an outpouring of love and support from a wider circle of friends and family.

On Sunday morning we all gathered at church to hear this young man speak in Sacrament Meeting...to share his testimony with family and friends before he goes to the MTC on July 6th. I sat in awe next to my sweetheart and marveled at the goodness and strength of this young man. I feel so very blessed to be his mother. Once again our house was filled with food, family and friends.

As Mark and I walked that evening we talked about how much we will miss our missionary and shared tears of joy and sadness. We marveled at how our family had been blessed over the years and wondered how we have been given such amazing children. Each step seemed to ease the weight I felt. The cool breeze washed away the mournings of relationships that would be changed forever. I felt connected to one who knew best exactly what I was feeling and having a hand in mine comforted me. We returned to the house refreshed and exhausted. Tomorrow would bring a new day... one more step away from the life we had only a few days earlier and one step closer to a new and bright future for all of us.

*All pictures taken by The Wright Lens

Here and There

2011-06-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

I got up at 4:45 this morning, threw on whatever I could find in the dark and quietly slipped downstairs to make an egg burrito. I noticed that Jen's room was dark. When I opened the door she sat up suddenly and mumbled something about her alarm not going off. She sat there and stared blankly into the dark trying to shake off the sleep still clinging to her. About the time the burrito was done Jenn came down in a long calico skirt, cotton blouse, bonnet, apron and old running shoes to look in her bucket for her bloomers. I filled her water bottle, finished packing her lunch, wrapped up her burrito and we were out the door into the black of the morning. We picked up two more trekers and the excitement grew as we headed to the stake center. The roads near our house were empty, but as we approached the stake center headlights lit the area as other pioneers moved toward the busses. I wished I had brought my camera.

I would not be joining them this year. No room and it seems I have a few other things on my plate right now... still, part of me wished I was going. Eight years ago our ward did our own trek from Wallsburg to Daniel's Summit. It was long and hard and an absolutely wonderful, incredible experience. I had a sense of what these kids and leaders would be experiencing... and was a little sad that I was missing it... but I was excited for them. I reveled in their anticipation as I watched them load the busses in the accelerating light of morning. As the last bus pulled out (freeing my car at last) it was light and beautiful. I was home in a matter of minutes, ate a delicious breakfast, studied my scriptures and met my neighbor for a morning run.

I think of them often and wonder what they are doing right now... well, actually they are on the bus still headed for Martin's cove in Wyoming.

After my shower I think I will go take a nap. Maybe being home's not so bad after all...

Breaking Through

2011-06-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

Today as I left the chiropractor I felt emotional.

As I drove out of the parking lot I realized that I had felt the same way when I left last week too.

This was my third appointment.

Upon arriving home after my first appointment I cried.

As I was talking to Mark, I realized that Dr. Brady was the first
in a long list of doctors I've seen since my bike crash that gave me hope.
Hope that I would feel "way, way, way better" than I had been feeling

... and I believed him.

My second appointment was a week ago.

Saturday morning when I woke up I had no pain in my neck

and not because I was moving carefully...

I could move my head in any direction I wanted, even quickly without pain.

Mornings are usually my worst time of the day.

At my first appointment I was told not to massage, stretch or pop my neck AT ALL.

AT ALL

This is a big deal. Popping and stretching my neck and back have provided
me with relief, not just since the accident but since I was in high school.

Give me exercises or stretches or something

but NO popping or stretching... that was HARD.

But I've been good, very good.

Although today I also discovered I had been cheating a little bit.

I had kind of suspected it, but today it was affirmed.

No more.

My tender feelings were more than a desire
or hope to be completely well again, but I felt baffled.

He takes my head in one hand and with the other he feels along the side of my neck and shoulder until he finds a sore spot. I never tell him where they are, maybe he can tell because I wince a little when he presses there, but it seems more like he knows where to look and can feel it there. He massages it a little while he moves my head around. Then he pops my neck (or back) and sweet relief follows. Then it's time for biopuncture. Small needles with vitamins and herbs in my neck and back. It's not painful but does involve a small prick, sometimes a little sting and in the afternoon my neck and shoulder feel a little achy and sore.

When he first comes in the room I have already had a somewhat painful massage and I'm laying on a heating pad. He greets me while looking at my chart, sits down where I can easily see him, closes my chart and says, "talk to me". I tell him about my new freedom of movement, lack of pain in my neck, my new aches and pains, what seems to bring them on and how I deal with them (no popping involved). As he begins to work I tell him what I've done during the week that may help or hurt my progress. He asks questions and the conversation continues while he works on me. At times when I have a hard time talking through the pain he reminds me to breathe and relax. It seems he can often tell how well I've followed his instructions by my progress and how my body responds.

Today I told him about a way I kind of stretch my middle back... which often brings a popping sound...(but not in my neck). He was not happy and explained more clearly why it's important not to stretching or pop my WHOLE back. I would have to give this up too. Then he said, "Sounds like you have control issues" It took me by surprise and I immediately began to dispute his statement, but stopped. "Maybe I do have control issues" I replied. He laughed a little and said, "I think we all do".

There was something about that insight and honesty; raw real honesty from someone who is concerned about my long term benefit, that is both painful and freeing. Someone who desires my best outcome. And when I also desire it enough to be willing to take a sometimes painful look at myself and be willing to make some hard changes, I have good reason to hope... hope for a brighter future. One with less pain and more freedom.

That's a big deal.

From the imagination of a 3 year old

2011-06-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is from Amy's blog dated May 6, 2011

"Meet Ruby's imaginary friends: Milla, Jula, & Greena. They have been around for a while and I am surprised I haven't done a post about them yet.

The only experience I have had with imaginary friends before this is when my older brother had a couple he was little: Gaggio and Gloria. He even let me play with them. So, I was pretty tickled to hear that Ruby had some a few months ago. She knows they are pretend, but they are very present in her day-to-day life.

Let me give you some information about them: they are all girls, all sisters (except Greena, who apparently is a brother but is magic and can turn into a sister). Milla is the main friend, the one she talks about the most, so we know the most about her. She also was the original friend--Jula and Greena have all showed up later and come and go. Milla is about Ruby's age, although sometimes that changes. They often go to school or come over to play with Ruby or Ruby goes to their house. Ruby asks Jordan to look for them at night before she goes to bed, but she tells him that, "since they don't get home until fourteen o'clock, you should just watch the hockey game." She has had to put Milla in timeout a few times, but not for anything major.

This is what they look like (with their names written to the left):"

Milla on top, Jula on bottom, not pictured: Greena

Amy also included Ruby's description of Milla - Brown hair, blue eyes...

The other day I was going through our "Valu Pack Coupons" (which I never do) and came across this image on a flyer for the Thanksgiving Point Princess Festival:

I about fell off my chair.

I wanted to call Amy that very second but decided to wait

there is an one hour time difference and she does have a baby...

While I waited I went to the website to check it out.

Three-year-olds and a parent (or grandpa in this case)

can attend the festival which includes:

"Over 50 fully costumed actors are in character acting out a deliciously scripted adventure at all times. They playfully and personally interact with every one of our guests through the entirety of the Festival. For example, after checking in at their ticketed time our “Guest Princesses” are whisked away in a small group by Alice and the Mad Hatter for a 15 minute adventure. Once they’ve concluded their foray in Wonderland, they discover Beauty and Beast waiting to immerse them in the next journey….. and for 2 hours the adventures continue. In addition to these guided treks, the grounds are filled with delightful performances including exhibitions such as “The Magic Flute”, Story time with Snow White, and Twelve Princesses dancing their hearts out."

Sounds PERFECT

What about dates and availability?

Amy, Ruby and Peter will only be here for a few days before the wedding..

DATES: June 15-18, 2011 and June 22-25, 2011

I found an opening on the 22nd!

Wahooooooooooooo!

Somewhere in my searching Amy texted me, we made arrangements

emailed Mark who was thrilled at the prospect,

we arranged for Christian to go with them to take pictures

and enjoy a day with Ruby before he leaves for his mission.

So... what do you call this?

Luck.... Serendipity..... Fate...?

Probably all three, but most of all a tender mercy.

Proof that God is aware of the detail of our lives.

PS I could post this because Ruby doesn't read blogs

but it's a secret, we'll tell her when she get's here...

but that's another post.

More information about

Princess Mila and the Princess festival.

One Good Kid

2011-06-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

Strike that... One amazing young man

He's fun....

Bright...

Creative

Happy

Hard working

Loving

sensitive to others needs...

the people of Argentina will LOVE him.................and I will miss him.

But I wouldn't want it any other day.

Happy 19th birthday Christian. I love you.

Today

2011-05-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today it's raining AGAIN

And it's cold STILL

My tomato plants are sitting by the window in the family room

wishing for a warm sunny day

and room to spread their roots beyond the confines of their plastic pots.

Me too - at least about the sunny warm day.

I love warm sunny days.

My morning was filled with music and giggles and dancing...

hugs and "tank yous" from little ones I've had the privilege

of watching grow over the last year or so.

My first year of Kindermusik is over.

How I love it when my home is filled with little people.

and now I sit in my quiet home

I love it when my house it quiet.

by myself

left to ponder life's complexities...

Why is the grass longer under the trampoline than elsewhere?

Do I have any drywall mud that's still usable?

Should I paint when Mark and I go to St. George tomorrow

or just take a good book?

I really ought to do laundry and iron...

Next week is Jenn's last week of school

I love summer time

then EFY, then to Nauvoo with Mark, then Trek,

then the wedding.

My life seems to be measured more by events than days or weeks.

The wedding - lots of family coming.

I love it when my house if full of the people I love.

What to fix for dinner for everyone?

Where will they all sleep?

What can I get done around here before they come?

Christian's non farewell farewell on the 26th.

He needs some good shoes for his mission...

and shirts, ties and a sleeping bag.

I love that he is so excited to serve a mission.

Into the MTC on July 6th.

Surely it will be warm by then.

Probably HOT

but then again, I thought it would be warm by now...

But right now it's snowing in the mountians!

We'll probably miss Spring completely.

Straight from the heater to the AC

and flooding

and mudslides...

At least in the summer

at least we can open the house at night.

Utah has lovely summer evenings...

I love Utah Summers

I need to get an outfit for the wedding...

I wonder if that sweater I liked will go on sale

or if I should get it before it sells out...

hmmmmmmmm

I love my life.

Even when it's cold and rainy.

Looking a little pasty?

2011-05-09T16:50:00.000-07:00

For all the sixteenish (or twentysixish) people in my life....

A few years back a sweet woman in our ward lost her battle with skin cancer

caused, she said, by frequenting a tanning bed.

She missed her daughters senior year of high school and everything after that.

Maybe looking a little pasty isn't so bad after all.

Meet Modeine...

2011-04-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

From the archives of Amy Zimbelman Wright.

Circa 2005

“Let me tell you where it all began...a few months earlier I was driving to work with my friend, Tiff. She was brushing her hair and pulled the hair out of her brush, only to throw the wad of hair out the window. Well, as I was walking to church the next Sunday, Amy (roommate with same name) and I found the massive hairball, and decided that we had to do something with it! So, we picked it up and started brainstorming--good thing April Fool's was right around the corner!

We ended up writing an "official letter" from BYU explaining how the hairball had undergone research and was proven to be her DNA....and further states that this is a direct violation of the Honor Code, and a fine would have to be attached. To read the full letter, click on the picture below...

Notice the letter was signed by Modeine Therba Gunch

Amy and I with the hairball and letter

Tiff fell for the letter at first, but then figured out it was me (since I was the only one who knew about the hairball) and tried to get a neighbor to call, as if from the Honor Code. We figured that one out quickly and disregarded the phone call.”

End of story by Amy but Modeine Therba Gunch is legend in our family since this fateful April fools joke.

Roger Harrison is a Real Person

2011-04-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

learn more about Roger Harrison here

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that when the letter came I was a bit skeptical.

But, the April 27th date on the letter was almost a month past April Fools day

and it turns out that Roger Harrison truly is a chemistry professor at BYU

AND associated with the Central Utah Section of the American Chemical Society.

(And not at all related to Modine Therbagunch*

as far as we can tell)

So it looks like it is indeed true that Jennifer has been selected as the

Top First Year Chemistry Student

at Timpview High School.

Just like that, no warning or prior notice!

She was just as surprised as we were...

while she is very bright, works very hard and enjoys chemistry

it just never stuck out as something she had a passion for.

And she seemed to think that there were others

who were much better at chemistry than she was...

silly girl.

So we will be calling Roger Harrison soon to RSVP to

the chemistry demonstrations and awards dinner in May...

Way after April Fools day

Congratulations Jennifer!

we love you!

*I'm trying to find a link where you can learn more about Modine

Help Amy?

Joy

2011-04-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

March 30 - April 2 2011

Need I say more?

Consider the Lillies

2011-04-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

picture from The Wright Lens

The other day I was feeling overwhelmed by all the changes occurring in my life.

I had been busy all day with essential things, yet my "to do" list of additional necessary and important things lay almost untouched. By evening I was distraught. Mark suggested I go for a much needed and very delayed run. Even though it was dinner time, I went.

The evening air was cool and clean and freeing.

As I began to run, feelings welled up and began to bubble over.
I walked until I stopped crying, began to run again only to find the cycle repeating itself.

As I was running I was suddenly aware of a white canopy above me.

I looked up to see three beautiful trees so thick with white blossoms
I could hardly see the branches.

I reached up to a low branch and as I looked closely at the individual flowers their sweet fragrance filled me. At that moment the message of this song filled my heart and I felt God's love for me.

I was not alone, I could not do everything I wanted but

I would be guided so that I could accomplish the most important things
and that was all that mattered.

I stood for a minute taking it all in,
then allowed the wind to dry my face as I and ran home.

Reflections

2011-04-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

My life ebbs and flows like everyones but it seems lately it's been in large waves rather than a soft surf on a shallow beach. Wonderful exciting things as well as challenges and just as the the trees are leafing out and filling with pink and white blossoms my life will also change in big ways very soon. Someone recently related that the kanji symbol for challenge is the same or similar to that of change. Amy and Jordan came to Utah over conference with their two sweet children to bless Peter. Aaron, Celisa and Olivia were able to get a flight out and join us. Christian got special permission to go to the temple that week also. I began to move with more speed to get the basement bathroom in usable condition (ie. walls painted, towels and more than a plastic drop cloth for a shower curtain... among other things.) That same week Robbie called me on a Monday afternoon to tell me he'd been in an accident.

Picture from his ipod

Another driver didn't see him and hit him

We were blessed that he was protected but it bent the frame and his car was totaled.

Later that week he lost his job.

By Wednesday family was arriving and our home became wonderfully full.

Thursday morning Kindermusik class with my granddaughters and their Uncles was heaven.

Each day was so wonderful.

Robbie's trials have turned out to be blessings in many ways although not everything is resolved yet.

But we do feel confident that all will work out.

I will leave you with the family picture we took while everyone was here and post more pictures of specific events in the coming days.

Healthier desserts

2011-03-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

Those who know me well know that I love desserts, especially chocolate.

Eating a lot of sweets definitely does not help me maintain my weight but the thought of giving them up forever often feels daunting and impossible.

Ever since Amy shared with me her awesome recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I have been experimenting with lots of other recipes/combinations to make desserts (or snacks) healthier.

I wouldn't exactly call them health food but healthier food.

Time for me to get back to Weight Watchers, but if I can have these when I'm back where I want to be and a few pumpkin cookies on the way success will be that much sweeter!

Brownie recipe here.

The whole wide world

2011-03-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

It seems today that the count down begins...

...suddenly my time with this young lady is limited.

Time with her living under my roof, needing me in a daily pack your lunch,

help with school projects, take me to the store kind of way that is.

I suppose it always has been limited from the day she was born

but somehow turning 16 begins the countdown.

Being 16 means new freedoms and privileges

as well as greater responsibilities...

although it seems that she's been so very responsible for a long time already.

I truly hope we will always be close friends.

She has worked so hard, learned so much and come so far.

I am confident that she will continue in the same path and in doing so

will discover a whole wide world opened up to her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIFER

I love you!

This video was supposed to post with this... oops

The rest of the story...

2011-03-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

I can't tell you exactly how long Mark has had this philosophy on where Christian was going to be called on his mission but it seems like it's been a very long time.

This is how it goes:

Mark was living in Minnesota when he got his mission call.

Straight down the US as south as you get from Minnesota - Louisiana, Baton Rouge.

Aaron went the the next country down, Mexico

as far South as you can go, Tuxtla Gutierrez.

Robbie when to Southern Brazil,

to Santa Maria...

So Christian would of course be heading to Southern Argentina,

or possibly southern Chile.

He totally hit the nail on the head!

The mission map is on the right.

We're not sure what to make of it all

except that maybe Heavenly Father is logical too...

or just has a great sense of humor

actually we are sure that both are right.

His mission is quite large and diverse. A transfer by bus can take up to 24 hours.

Some transfers are done by plane. It includes very nice areas as well as very poor areas.

Wind and mud are fairly constant throughout the mission, although the desert of Patagonia only gets 5" of rain annualy. He needs to bring a sleeping bag with a liner for his bedding and will likely stay in apartments as nice as our home to a 6x8 foot hut. Patagonia has animals not found anywhere else on the earth. Charles Darwin spent some time in Patagonia and said it was one of his favorite places. Temperatures in his mission range from 110f to 10 below. The Southern areas have a lot of snow, little sun in winter (our summer) and almost constant sun in the summer (our winter). There are beaches, mountains and desert, big cities and tiny villages. He will be speaking Spanish. He leaves July 6th.

Last night was fun, loud, joyful and completely amazing.

I feel incredibly happy and blessed

and a little hungover today.

I think I am going to take a nap.

Life is oh so good!

The call has arrived!

2011-03-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

I can see it...

It's sitting on the countertop...

waiting

waiting for family and friends to gather tonight

waiting for it's recipient,

Elder Christian Burton Zimbelman to arrive.

So that's what I'm doing too....

waiting

and that's what you'll have to do too...

Until tonight!

Neuquen, Argentina

reports to the MTC July 6th

Mark had it pegged... I'll post the story tomorrow.

WOW!

Not smiling so much today

2011-02-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

Robbie crashed on his snowboard yesterday.

On his last run of the day.

(intended or not)

He was going down a pipe backwards and caught the back edge of his snowboard.

He fell on the pipe, perpendicular to it and landed on his lower back.

(and you thought you'd never use geometry)

It doesn't look like anything is broken but he's in quite a bit of pain and his back is spasming.

He's home to recooperate.

He slept well last night thanks to ibuprofen, muscle relaxants and pain medicine.

Hopefully he will heal quickly.

I'm glad he's nearby so I can mother him a bit.

We feel very blessed that it wasn't any worse.

I'm thankful that his friend was able to drive him home from Park City

and that the doctor's office was able to get us in yesterday evening.

Many things to be thankful for.

Karen'Z Korner

Late, late, late!

First Christmas in Argentina

Christmas 2012

Hot and Sunny

Let there be LIGHT(S)!

Hmmm

More from Elder Z

Thanksgiving Came Early This Year

From Elder Z

Forty Eight

Grandpa Jim

Poisoned

Ha ha ha... seriously

The Grinch... and David Archuleta

Getting in the mood for Halloween

Hey!

Squirrell!

If I had money to burn

Hey Everyone!

Midlife...

Recent Pins

Grandbaby #4

First Date

P-Day trip

Meet Nina

A good day

50 years

Hola! (mostly unedited)

A wonderful morning

Another year!

Hey Everyone!

Getting better

Living quarters

De ja vu - well sort of

Proof is in the picture

Love from Argentina

Feast and Famine...

Pinterest... Love hate relationship

Found them!

My Summer Vacation cont...The Bathroom

Argentina, Here I Come!

My Summer Vacation cont...The Laundry Room

What I did over my summer vacation

Love the MTC

Hey ya´ll only 2.5 weeks left!! crazy!

Strings Attached

I just hope...

Looking Back

Girls Camp 2011

Week 3 in the MTC

A Little Slice of Heaven

Capitol Reef Classic

Coming and Going

For A Friend

First Letter

Stepping forward

Here and There

Breaking Through

From the imagination of a 3 year old

DATES: June 15-18, 2011 and June 22-25, 2011

I found an opening on the 22nd!

Wahooooooooooooo!

One Good Kid

Today

Looking a little pasty?

Meet Modeine...

Roger Harrison is a Real Person

Joy

Consider the Lillies

Reflections

Healthier desserts

The whole wide world

The rest of the story...

The call has arrived!

*Neuquen, Argentina*

reports to the MTC July 6th

Mark had it pegged... I'll post the story tomorrow.

WOW!

Not smiling so much today

Neuquen, Argentina