The Day to Day Miracles on the set of Uphill Battle: Part 2

Day 6:

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Last night's late wrap (1:29 AM) facilitated a late start time again today. Today was not an originally scheduled work day, though Rod and I both knew from the beginning working today was likely. Some of the crew took the day off. We were down a 1st AD and make-up artist. Shelby, that amazing miracle worker, scoured her contacts and friends of friends for a fill in make-up artist for the day. Less than two hours before the shoot, Tresia was hired! She did a beautiful job matching the looks Tara established. During lunch, Tresia let me know that the job had been a miracle for her and a direct result of paying tithing. She had paid it with the faith that doing so would bring blessings. She was so grateful for the work, and we were so grateful for her!

During lunch, I sent Taylor and Christian to run some errands. One of the errands was to buy three shirts for Aura for the rest of her scenes. She had run out of wardrobe. I gave Taylor the name of the store (a women's clothing boutique) and the address and these instructions "Buy something that looks, conservative, classy and cute, preferably in solid colors." He returned with a black shirt with a floral design around the neck, a red slim fit shirt, and a grey shirt with a baby doll type cut. I was astounded and impressed! He had been making the ladies on set happy all week with Dove chocolate and indulgent trail mix, but this was sensational!

The set had a peaceful feel and a lot of positive energy abounded. It was relaxed, unified, and "chill" as several people put it. It was probably just more "quiet" because the overall number of people on set was greatly reduced. We moved through scene after scene with relative ease and completed our day just after 8:00 PM. Finishing early was amazing, as it gave us time to completely break down the set and empty out the house. We'd be at a new location on Monday. When the house was empty, still and quiet, I said goodbye to it for the last time. I went in my grandmother's bedroom and slipped into the closet to offer a prayer of gratitude for all the miracles we had experienced to that point, and for the spiritual help my grandmother was providing.

Aura had a friend over when we got home that helped, along with Shawn and Taylor to completely empty the trailer and re-set the borrowed furniture and decor to its original position throughout our house. For the first night in days, we were in bed by midnight!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Though not a work day, several miracles took place today that are worth mentioning. As of noon, we still hadn't found Greg's car for the opening scene of the movie that would be shooting Monday morning. The script called for an Audi. The Audi from Stand Strong had since been sold. At church today, Shawn talked to one of his friends about his red Porsche. He agreed to let us use it in the morning for the scene that would be the opening shot of the movie. There was only one condition, that it not be raining because the convertible top was stuck in the down position. We prayed the rain would stop, at least between 8:00 AM and Noon on Monday!

The other miracle involved the home we would be shooting in the next day. The home was to be the "pre-divorce" home of the lead character. All of the pre-divorce scenes are seen as flashbacks throughout the movie. While writing the script, I could literally see in my mind's eye, the interior of the upper-end two story home where the character lived. In the opening scene, the lead character watches from a window above the driveway as her husband backs away. I saw it clearly and described it in words for the script. When looking for the home, I assumed it would be easy to find that type of set up and style of home, and that I'd know the place when I saw it. Several weeks ago, I thought of a friend whom I know to maintain her home beautifully and tried to get a hold of her. It was difficult finding her current number and when I finally got it and called it, there was no answer. I didn't feel that I keep pursuing it, and instead again started praying to find the right house. From that point, I kept thinking of a neighbor's home only a block from my own. I had seen the exterior, which is a beautiful two story home, but had never been inside. A friend of mine lived there a few years ago. To the shock of the neighborhood, my friend's husband shot her and then himself. The home was vacant for more than a year and then purchased by another neighbor. I kept thinking of the house and that it was the right one. I talked to the home owner who said we could film there. A week after scheduling it with him, Shawn ran into his wife at the park on Saturday. Shawn mentioned our coming to film on Monday. It was a miracle he ran into her because she had no idea of the plan. Her husband forgot to tell her. Shawn also asked if we could come by after church to look at the house and get acquainted with the space before showing up to film on Monday. She invited us over directly after church to look at it.

As we pulled up, I looked up at the window over the garage. I said "We need to use that room for the window. It has the perfect vantage into the driveway." Shawn said "I'm sure it's not the master bedroom, that floorplan isn't very common."

We were full of anticipation as we mounted the front stairs and rang the doorbell. When the door opened and I stepped inside, a phenomenal amount of "deja vu" overwhelmed me. I started to tear up. I followed the home owner up the stairs toward the master bedroom. Each step caused my excitement to rise. She opened the master bedroom door and I nearly fell over in surprise. The room was exactly as I'd mentally seen it when I described it for the script. The window overlooking the driveway indeed was in the master bedroom! Everything about it was perfect and was exactly what I'd seen right down to the decor! I was in complete awe of the literal vision I had seen of the home. I loved the realization of having had a literal vision of the home. I was so grateful to have experienced such an amazing miracle. I couldn't help but feel my good friend who had died there several years prior was helping me with the movie. Also at that time I was inspired to make the movie in her remembrance.

Day 7:

Monday, May 16, 2011

The clouds gathered in the sky and the wind increasingly picked up, threatening a storm. We prayed it would wait until after the opening scene with the Porsche. Shawn picked up the car and and brought it to set. It became quite a popular prop as many of us were photographed next to or inside of it!

I offered the thought this morning after the cast and crew prayer. I shared of the experience I had yesterday and how I know that many are working on the project not only here in body, but also by those in spirit. I've felt the influence and support of angels and ancestors on set every day. The inspiration received by cast and crew alike, and the ongoing help from beyond, has kept us engaged in the literal Uphill Battle.

Shooting the pre-divorce scenes was intense. We prayed over every scene and how to accurately portray the heartache of infidelity and addiction. One scene called for a display of anger that led to violence. The rehearsed violence was in one lead character grabbing the other by the wrist. By about the 4th take, the scene had escalated in intensity with each time. Instead of grabbing her wrist and pulling her to her feet as had been done in prior takes, he grabbed her hair without even thinking, just being in the spirit of the scene. It was intense and very real. When I called "Cut!" the first thing I heard was Shelby yelling "Unrehearsed! Unrehearsed!" as she clutched at the side of her head where clumps of hair were falling between her fingers. Everyone rushed in to see if she was okay and the other lead character fell all over her with apologies. He hadn't intended to grab her in such a way and was really sorry. The three of us had our own prayer for the scene right before we shot it, to be as true and realistic as possible. I know that prayer was answered.

One of the lead characters was catching a plane to LA at 8:00 PM and needed to be wrapped for the day by 6:00. We wrapped at 5:30! We were scheduled to use a local bike shop for scenes from 6:00-10:00, however, when we arrived, we discovered that our contact at the shop had gone home early due to an emergency and there were no arrangements made to have employees stay to keep the shop open. Disappointing, but I don't believe in accidents. We were able to reschedule the bike shop for Thursday night. Wrapping early let everyone catch up on much needed family life and sleep!

Day 8:

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The rain, which gratefully and respectfully held off yesterday while we used a borrowed convertible Porsche with a broken top, poured with a fury all day today. The rain even turned to snow mid-afternoon! Miraculously, all our scenes were indoors. Even better, was the fact that we shot Erica's bedroom scenes in my home, in Aura's bedroom. Michael's bedroom was also shot in my home, in the master bedroom. This allowed me to be close to my little children whom I've only gotten to see briefly, late at night and in lots of pics and texts from Shawn for the past week, and whom I have missed dearly.

Shelby's truck wouldn't start this morning. She needed a jumpstart and to let it run for awhile when she first arrived on set. We scheduled Nathan's scenes and Shelby was given the day off. Out of the kindness of her heart, she stayed anyway and read lines with Nathan.

Because of the tremendous downpour of rain and snow, all the outdoor driveway and yard scenes of Michael as a landscaper, which was scripted as his profession along with photographer, were scrapped. The decision was made to eliminate "landscaper/photographer" and have Michael just be a photographer. His outdoor scenes were changed to indoor with the profession change. It turned out to perfectly suit the Michael character better!

During one of the first scenes of the day, Michael's office scene, as I looked into the monitor, watching the action, I was inspired suddenly with the scripture on which the next movie will be based. A very strong impression of Isaiah 1:18 "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" entered my mind during the scene. In between takes, I turned to Taylor, who was standing next to me to share the inspiration. The next take resumed and I found myself doubting the impression. I thought over the scripture and decided it was too overt a message. After I called "Cut!" I again turned to Taylor and told him that perhaps it was too overt a message and that I wasn't sure I'd use it. The take resumed again. This time, the prompting returned more powerfully. Again I heard the words of Isaiah 1:18 powerfully in my mind. When the take was over, I told Taylor that Isaiah 1:18 was the scripture the Lord wanted as the message of the next movie.

Later that afternoon several miracles took place. We finished with all the Michael scenes earlier than expected and had time to move downstairs to Erica's scenes. Shelby was already on set despite her day off, so we were able to transition seamlessly to her scenes, though they were previously unscheduled. The inspiration of Isaiah 1:18 was miraculously underscored in an experience I had directing one of Shelby's scenes. In the scene, Erica was to question God about what He wanted her to do, pick up her scriptures, hold them out and drop them on the bed. There were to fall open to Proverbs 3:5 which she would read as the answer to her question. As we rehearsed the scene, Shelby asked me to show her what my vision for how the action was to play out. I picked up the scriptures, closed my eyes and plopped the scriptures out in front of me. They fell open to Isaiah 1:18! I had shared with Shelby the inspiration about the scripture at lunch, so we both gasped in awe as we saw where the scriptures opened to in the drop! We looked at each other, amazed, and laughed with delight!

Once we were ready to shoot the scene, a reverent and peaceful calm canvassed the room. The presence of the Spirit was strong as Shelby performed the action of the scene. She closed her eyes, held out the scriptures and dropped them before her on the bed just as we'd planned. They fell open to Proverbs 3:5, the very place they were "supposed" to!

Day 9:

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Cold and raining again today. We were able to get a good start on the Erica scenes yesterday afternoon. Because we could technically finish with Erica's scenes early, I started seeking out a location for the Sunday school scene since the scheduled location fell through. It was surely a miracle that I was able to find a location willing to get us in later in the afternoon during a brief window of time the church had between activities. I solidified our reservation and then prayed we could make it.

We started out the day with our cast and crew prayer and thought. Tara, our very talented make-up artist, offered the thought. She shared a beautiful metaphor that she had realized on her drive to set. She had been feeling off about some problems in her life and was tempted to feel discouraged. Just as the dark gloom of sadness threatened to block her joy, the same as the dark storm clouds had been darkening the sky, a strong beam of light broke through the clouds, revealing the sun. In that moment, she realized that though the cold feeling of disappointment and pain had crowded her life like the storm clouds covering the sky, the sun had never left. It remained constant behind the clouds and it broke through bringing a brilliant radiance and warmth with it. I was very touched to hear her observation and grateful for that thought, especially since there were problems on set this morning. There had been some tension between several crew members that disrupted the unity on set and a subsequent coldness followed. This beautifully shared, and definitely inspired thought, cleared the way for the bright sun of unity and friendship to burn through the storm clouds of discontent that had been present. We needed that unifying and healing thought to make it through the otherwise hectic day.

The time allotted for the Sunday school scene meant that we would leave Erica's bedroom scenes mid-day to get to our appointed location. We decided that it was to make only a partial company move to maintain continuity in filming Erica's bedroom scenes. Only a few lights were to be transported and the dolly and track would stay assembled in Erica's bedroom awaiting our return. We prayed we would be able to get the shots we needed with minimal equipment.

The first scene we shot in the church location was the recovery group for a montage sequence. Since we had no dolly, Rod asked Taylor to scout out the building for some kind of cart on which to wheel the camera. Taylor returned with a rubbermaid garbage cart from the church kitchen that worked beautifully. We were glad he found a cart, as we had considered part jokingly, that we could use a piano in the room as a dolly!

The recovery group scene, though a silent montage, was beautiful. Nathan shared a heartfelt testimony with the group of men who assembled in the circle. The extras for the recovery group circle was comprised of all the men on the crew. I was very grateful that they agreed to sit in front of the camera, especially on such short notice. I think my crews are learning that they will be actors at some point in the movie every time!

Scaled down equipment and a time dealine for use of the location were not our only concerns. Because of the short notice of same day scheduling of the location, there had been no previous scheduling of extras for the scene. We were in need of 6-8 teens to fill the Sunday school class. I had Aura begin calling and texting her friends the moment school let out at 2:45 PM. We were to be at the location from 3:30-5:00 PM. I also began calling Christian, who was at school and who was to play Jake, the long haired boy in Sunday school. Aura had some success in making contact with a couple of friends. Taylor also got on the phone trying to enlist the help of his cousins who lived nearby. I got a hold of Christian, who was with several friends. He asked them to come take part in the movie, to which they scornfully denied his request and told him what a "loser" he was for being in it. He no longer wanted to be in it. I begged him to get to the church and prayed he would come.

When he arrived, there were still no other teens in attendance for the scene. He was skeptical, doubtful, and upset that I wanted him to play the part. He adamantly stated that he just did not want to do it. He kept saying that nobody was even going to come and that we couldn't shoot it anyway. With no time to re-cast the part, nor the spiritual confirmation that I needed to, I silently retreated to a desserted corner for a fervent prayer. My mother, Frances, arrived to play her part as the Sunday school teacher. She suggested we call my sister to see if her daughter Kya, Christian's close friend and cousin, could come. It just so happened that Kya was riding with three friends just a few blocks away. She asked if they wanted to be a part of a movie and they did. They showed up, along with several of Aura's friends and Taylor's cousin, for a total of 10 teens in under an hour of searching and literally 10 minutes before we filmed the scene! This miracle, along with Kya's encouragement, changed Christian's mind about the part and he agreed to do it!

We were able to finish at the church right on time and get back to my house and shoot out the rest of the scenes in Erica's bedroom. While watching the monitor in the closet of the bedroom on the final scene of the day, a sudden and powerful impression came to me that Shelby was to play a teen pregnancy counselor in the next movie. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of truth and tears came to my eyes as I felt the Spirit. I told Shelby about her part as soon as I called "Cut!" She too felt the same spiritual confirmation.

Upon completion of the scene, we were ready for a company move. Everything was loaded up in anticipation of the move for tomorrow's shoot at the bike shop. Because we don't have access to the bike shop until closing, we will have the day to rest. We'll need it. Tomorrow's shoot is an overnighter, scheduled from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM because our locations are businesses that keep regular business hours.

The Day to Day Miracles on the set of Uphill Battle

Just a few days prior to the first day of filming, we still didn't have a location to serve as the lead character's home. I had a vision in my mind of a red brick home since the time I started writing the script. Though several homes had been offered as a prospective option, none were right. The stress of not having a location was beginning to mount. In desperation, I prayed fervently to know where to film. While working on other aspects of the project, a whispering so clear that I practically heard her voice, the inspiration "Grandma's house" came to me. I halted all activity in the moment and pondered the idea. It was brilliant! My grandmother Karen passed away last February. Her home was still owned by her children and was currently vacant in preparation for sale. A vacant house that we would not displace anyone for six days of filming, was ideal, along with the fact that it was red brick! I jumped up and ran to Shawn to tell him about the inspiration. His only concern was the fact that it was vacant because we would have to stage furniture in it. The benefits far outweighed that inconvenience and we agreed that the idea was inspired. We prayed about it and felt that my grandmother wanted us to film there and that she was anxiously helping our cause. My uncle, who is the trustee to her estate, agreed to let us use the house. After it was set up inside, it was just as I had envisioned.

Day 1:

May 9, 2011

It was so exciting to be back on a movie set again. All the night before, I felt as though I were ascending the world's biggest roller coaster. That anxious exhilaration that forms in the pit of my stomach and the thrill that follows, was just the same! I brought a journal on set to capture the miracles that we experienced as cast and crew on "Uphill Battle."

Day 2:

May 10, 2011

Aura, Taylor and Sierra drove the Nissan pickup to the set that morning, a 35 minute drive on the freeway from Draper to south Provo. They noticed a strange bumpiness about the ride. The steering seemed to be shaky, though they could not tell what the problem was. Later that morning, Taylor went to get food and ice. He backed attempted to back out of the parking stall at a gas station. Suddenly, the front driver's side tire completely fell off! In his words:

"Aura and I noticed steering bumps from home to set, but we ignored it. Later, I was running errands, and the bumps just got worse--the wheel would wobble even at slow speeds. Pulling out of a gas station parking space, the right front wheel fell off the axle! I wasn't even out of the parking space. If that had happened at 70 mph, the tire would've flown off. The tire people (at the fix it shop) said that the car would have flipped seriously injuring or even killing me! Even at 40, 30, or 20 mph I would've been seriously bounced around and hurt, possibly hurting the car pretty bad too. Couldn't have been a better time to lose that wheel. Guardian angels. -- Taylor P."

Apparently, when the tires had last been rotated and balanced a month prior, the tire shop inadvertently tightened the lug nuts too tight. The friction caused by driving caused the lug nuts to become completely shorn off. There was literally nothing holding the tire in place. What a blessing no one was injured or killed. Taylor gave the thought after cast prayer this morning. His thought was about using your talents to bless the lives of others and doing God's will, and of the power of joining with others who are doing the same. By the avoidance of a near fatal accident, it is obvious his life mission is not yet fulfilled.

Day 3:

May 11, 2011

We ended shooting down by five scenes on Day 2. We were falling behind and the stress was mounting. The morning cast and crew prayer was a plea for efficiency, organization and order. Levity on set was huge yesterday and all our silliness was taking its toll. Saturday was not originally scheduled as a work day, but I knew we'd use it. It was obvious we'd need it. Yesterday, Shelby's cycling helmet was missing. She didn't have it for a scene. I was bothered about the fact that I remembered packing it but it was nowhere to be found. I went on a bike ride early this morning before our 8:00 AM call time. I made another scan of the garage for the helmet as I got my bike out. No luck. I prayed I could find it and asked to know where to look. Not but two minutes later, as I mounted my bike in the driveway, I happened to have a bird's eye vantage into the back of the moving trailer we'd been using. It was empty, except for a plastic tote that was lying on it's side, open side facing me. Down in the corner of that tote was the missing helmet! What a miracle! Three times on set today, someone was asked to change their wardrobe choice just prior to shooting a scene because the actors kept inadvertently picking matching outfits! It was funny! The matching for this scene was intentional!

Day 4:

May 12, 2011

Aura gave the thought after the prayer today. The thought she shared was about nothing being impossible with God. She quoted Phillipians 4:13 which states "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." Exterior shots today. One great miracle is that the weather cooperated. It has been raining non stop for the past three days and that has been okay since all our filming was interior. Today needed to be sunny, even dry would work, but miraculously, we got both! On the first shot of the day, Shelby (Erica) was to clip into her bike and ride away. She did it beautifully. On the way back to do it again, she had a bit of a struggle unclipping and tipped over. Miraculously she landed on Will, the sound technician while she was simultaneously steadied and righted by Jon, the 2nd AD. At lunch today (and this is significant, since disruptions on set can ruin the scene while the camera is rolling) several women stopped by and I met them on the front porch. They turned out to be a realtor, a home buyer and her friend. They had just put my grandmother's house under contract. Tears welled in my eyes as I remembered back to a conversation I had with my uncle when I asked him if we could use the house for filming. He was worried that we'd tie up the house and make it unavailable for showings and thereby hold up the sales process. I was inspired to tell him that I knew that my grandmother had inspired the idea to use her home and that I was sure that if we used it, she would help to get it sold. It was true. She had indeed done just that. The buyer had experienced many miracles in finding the home and securing financing. I walked them through the house during our lunch break. As I talked with them, I felt very strongly, and told them so, that my grandmother had hand picked her as the new home owner. My grandmother took meticulous care of her home inside and out. lt had been her mother's home before that. She purchased it from her family's estate at her mother's passing some twenty years ago. I couldn't help but feel that she really wanted the home captured and immortalized on film for the family's sake before it changed hands to a new owner. The buyer and realtor and I shared a tear welling moment before lunch was up.

After lunch, the sound technician, Will, found out that his father had just had a stroke. A group of us had a prayer for his father. The weather was perfect for the water fight scene. Not only was the weather perfect, but the take itself. It was our first "one take" miracle. All we had was one take because once Aura and Taylor (Stacie and Lance) were wet, there would be no "retakes." It was tricky also in the sense that the water fight action outside was being filmed on a 7D camera, while the scene of Shelby (Erica) watching the water fight from inside the front window. We had a prayer just before the scene started that the water fight would be perfect. It was beautiful! That seems like a strange word to describe a water fight, but it was! It worked out perfectly in one take and the height of the action occurred when Aura dumped the bucket of sudsy water on Taylor's head, exactly as Shelby drew the curtain and peered outside! Late in the afternoon, extras started arriving for the party scene. Kelly Steele did a beautiful job staging the party scene and set up the food and fed the cast of extras. She even got the BBQ going for the scene.

Though several neighbors seemed to be purposefully causing problems throughout the week as they were annoyed with the extra cars in the neighborhood belonging to cast and crew, several neighbors kindly ceased lawn mowing during the dialogue portions of the party scene. That was much appreciated as we were scrambling to beat the setting sun to catch the takes before the light was gone. As a bonus, we were able to fit in a family picnic montage scene just as the sun went down.

Just like the inspiration for another movie came while filming "Stand Strong," the inspiration for another movie came today on set. It will have a pro-life message. I'm praying about the scripture it will be based on.

Day 5:

Friday, May 13, 2011

Today was a scheduled late start so that we could get the true exterior night scenes. Call time was 1:00 for actors with 1:30 PM being the time for the first scene in front of camera. Today was also a big day for important and demanding scenes. Because of this, opposition was strong. Before the cast prayer, I felt oppositional about the scheduled order of the scenes as they seemed to have been arranged inefficiently and it already looked like we'd be using Saturday to catch up on the five or so scenes we were down so far. If it weren't for the cast and crew prayer, and the thought offered by Taylor on doing God's will to lift and strengthen others, I may have stayed in an oppositional mood. I was able to re-focus on praying for the Spirit to be on set. Shelby prepared well for those scenes and brought a strong feeling of reverence to the set. She asked that the set be cleared so that she could fully immerse herself in the emotion of the scene and be more receptive to feeling the spiritual guidance necessary to carry the powerful impact of the scene. The set was silent, peaceful, and the Spirit abounded. I found myself saying "Amen" to the prayer at the end of the first take and I was moved to tears. Many eyes watered by the time the perfect take and coverage were complete.

We had several miracles during the filming of the Shelby and Keegan's scenes. Keegan's coverage was perfection on the first take. Just as I called "Cut!," the 4 x 8 that was darkening the window came crashing to the floor. There was loud knocking on the front door too by a neighbor who wanted a crew member to move their vehicle from the street in front of their home. Also on "cut," the set filled again naturally as Keegan's family arrived as well as several others who were arriving on set for the first time that day. The timing was nothing short of miraculous as the reverence and Spirit present as well as the actual takes themselves would have been thwarted had we not finished exactly when we did.

The mood lightened after those scenes. When Taylor arrived from running the morning errands, he mentioned that he narrowly escaped a car accident--twice!

The afternoon wore on and soon it was night. We prepared exterior lighting for the many front door and front yard scenes that were scheduled. At 9:55 PM, opposition struck. A neighbor had called the police to complain about the bright light streaming into their front window. The police asked to talk to me. I was polite, at first. The policeman became threatening despite the fact the filming was occurring on private property. I affirmed "You can't make me shut down." He threatened to arrest me. Other cast and crew were more compliant and were quick to assure him that we'd dispense of the lights and handle it another way. 30 minutes later, we were again on track and Rod was inspired with how to light up the yard by flooding the house with light. It worked beautifully and we continued with no more problems. We were again racing the clock to completion. Our wrap for the day needed to occur by 1:30 AM, twelve hours from call time. We wrapped at 1:29 AM!

A Life of Capability Celebrated and Remembered

Last fall, a friend stopped by and brought me a fridge magnet that she said caught her attention and made her think of me. In bold white letters on a black background is the quote:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, steer a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new project, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly." -- Robert Heinlein.

The friend who gave me this great fridge magnet was complimenting my capability. I was humbled and honored, and I immediately thought of a role model who exhibited capabilities and capacities far beyond my own, in whom I look to as a mentor and guide.

My maternal grandmother, Karen Louise Rasmussen Lundell Steele was the epitome of capability. She was 5 ft. 1 inches of pure power. Though in the physical sense, most every family member over the age of ten towered over her, in the spiritual sense, she was boundless. Day in and day out, she rose at 4:00 AM to greet the morning with a five mile power walk. Walking her pace made the blood pool in my fingers, as I had to swing my arms too hard to keep the pace. I went with her a few times and practically jogged to keep up.

Her day flowed from one activity to the next. She accomplished more by 9:00 AM than most people achieve in a 24 hour period. I watched in awe as she scrubbed dishes, walls and baseboards, vacuumed, made telephone calls, fixed meals to take to sick friends and neighbors, weeded her yard, planned a primary lesson, organized a closet, finished a quilt, and prepared to leave to run errands. Did I mention she could do all that by 9:00 AM?! She could never sit still. Even in her down time, which consisted of watching the 10:00 PM news while brushing her teeth and writing in her journal, she was exquisitely productive. She hit her pillow each night exhausted from the thrill of hard work and real living and rose again with the same renewed and tireless vigor she carried throughout her life.

An afternoon in her presence was inspiring. She filled volumes and volumes of journals, left a legacy of six children, twenty seven grandchildren, and who knows how many great grandchildren. Well, she did. She had every one of them scheduled into her calendar and each received a birthday card, religiously. Each grandchild received a handmade quilt upon their high school graduation. Each new grandbaby and great grandbaby received a handmade quilt. Every Christmas and Easter she put on the biggest parties imaginable in her small and welcoming house. These events could be counted on as surely as the sun rising each day. She was faithful and consistent in every aspect of her life. Nothing got in her way, nothing held her back, not even cancer, and only death itself could stop her.

She was all a grandma should be, fun loving, creative, family focused, full of faith and love. She loved the Lord and used her considerable and varied talents, skills, gifts and abilities to serve others. The capability at which she could perform these skills was superhuman in life, and perfect in death. I feel her presence often and know that she is assisting and intervening in my behalf and especially in important family matters. Her influence is now completely unstoppable and eternal and the impact she has is just as broad.

Happy Birthday, Grandma! I love you and miss you and look forward to seeing you again!

Kenney Family News

Kenney Family News

2010 was a pretty exciting year for the Kenney Family. January started off with the birth of our ninth child, Matthew, who is better known as “Mamu.” He was nicknamed by Jada who was just over a year old at the time of his birth and who couldn’t say “Matthew.” The name just stuck. In May, Amy was hit by a car while cycling and lived. :) Thank goodness for helmets and angels! We had a crazy fun summer in July and August seeing nearly every local attraction from Snowbird to Burston Ponds rope swings with a family friend that was visiting. In September, the family, minus Aura and Christian, who had school, spent a week in Kauai. It was beautiful! Jada falls asleep many nights looking at a photo book of our trip. Shawn especially longs to return. By inspiration, we moved out of our house in October of 2009 and rented another home nearby. After remodeling our vacant house and preparing it for sale, we were inspired to move back into it in October of 2010. It seems we are still getting settled. We had a great holiday season as we were able to carry out a long planned and big surprise for Aura’s 18th birthday this year. Her best friend came for a visit and we again had a great local vacation sledding, skiing, snowmobiling and relaxing at Crystal Hot Springs.

Current News:

“Stand Strong,” the movie we made in 2009 was just picked up for distribution and will be released in Septemer 2011! We are preparing to film another movie in May. We are also working diligently to pay off our house in preparation to serve a mission as a family in three years.


Shawn is still working hard as the broker/owner of North Star Realty and is working on launching several other new businesses. He has been enjoying outdoor winter activities with the family and enjoys taking us on all the outdoor adventures he loves. He and Christian are currently working on mastering kite boarding. Up until Amy’s surgery, he was winter cycling outside with her. He loves setting goals and working toward achieving them. He was also just asked to be the presenting speaker at a Blue and Gold Banquet for scouting on an outdoor adventure and goal setting topic.

Amy just had a shoulder surgery to correct ligament and bone damage caused in the bike/car accident and will be wearing a sling through the end of April. All her cycling is now indoors on a winter trainer. Perhaps Shawn will set up the trainer on the deck a few times for some outdoor rides. :) She is working on the writing and details of the next movie during early morning and late night hours and is busy with the kids and their activities and schooling the rest of the time. Well, she does sleep too. She enjoys preparing and teaching the New Testament Sunday School lessons for the 15 yr.old class along with Shawn. She also loves studying the Book of Mormon, temple trips, and date night with Shawn.



Kenney Kids

Aura (18) is a full time student at Salt Lake Community College working on her general studies. She is taking 17 credit hours this semester. She just applied to transfer to BYU. We are waiting to hear if she was accepted. Please keep her in your prayers! She is in the second year of a business she started, teaching ballet and jazz dance to girls age 4-10. She is still dancing, singing, and enjoying all sorts of outdoor sports. She is a huge help with her younger siblings and a great example to them. She is very wise, loving and compassionate and consequently has many friends of all ages. She loves the gospel and sharing her testimony. She plans to serve a mission as soon as she is old enough. She has grown into a beautiful lady inside and out. She will be sorely missed when she goes away for school! We hope she gets into BYU Provo so she can come home lots!

Christian (16) is attending Juan Diego Catholic High School this year. He particularly loves his TV Production, Website Design, and Weight Lifting classes. He hates American Civilizations and Math! He also recently bought a 9.5 meter kite for kite boarding. He has a season pass at Brighton and snowboards every chance he gets. He just got his driver’s license and will be helping with lots of errands and some work through our real estate brokerage. He’s also interviewing along with some friends for a job at a local grocery store. He seemed to have grown about a foot in the past year and is quite a handsome young man. He is very fun, witty, and has many brilliant and inventive ideas for businesses and inventions. He is skilled at cinematography, everything outdoors, and working with his hands (definitely got this from his dad, and not from his mother.) One fun past time he enjoys is providing funny and witty responses to “yahoo questions” which is a public forum where people pose questions of all sorts and choose the best answer for their topic. He uses an alias and loves responding. His responses are often voted “best.” He is hilarious!


Sierra (14) is an amazing artist with a flair for interior design. She painted three of her bedroom walls different solid colors, and the fourth wall a tedious and complicated horizontal stripe pattern. She even had to “fix” the pattern when Noah took to the wall with a paintbrush. It looks great and fun with the clear beads she has hanging from the ceiling too! She loves to draw, sing, ride her dirt bike, play with her brothers and sisters, listen to music, do word puzzles, make things, and stay up all night. She is sensitive, funny, happy, smart, and very beautiful. She loves animals and has been begging for a dog or a horse. Aura is allergic to both, so the answer has always been “no.” She was very glad to move back to our house and be close to her best friend, Ashley again. She is looking forward to attending girls’ camp, Trek, which is a pioneer simulation, and EFY, which is a weeklong church youth activity, this summer.


Ethan (12) is a hard worker and is helpful from everything from babysitting to house and yard work. He enjoys Knights of Freedom which is a boys’ book club, scouting, playing with his brothers and sisters and friends, and going to work with Shawn. He is very wise and likes thinking and talking about gospel subjects. He has a quirky sense of humor and is constantly entertaining us with his impressions and zany dance moves. He was just ordained a Deacon and will begin passing the Sacrament this Sunday! He is very excited about that and to finally be old enough to attend the temple with his elder siblings.

Elijah (8) was so excited to be baptized in June. He attends Knights of Freedom with Ethan and also enjoys scouting, dirt biking, swimming, hiking, nature, outdoor adventures, playgrounds and waterslides. He is a nature lover with a very gentle heart. He loves having fun and will suffer through chores and school quickly to get to play. He has a fun and easygoing personality that is very enjoyable to be around. The little kids love him! He has a ton of energy and loves running, jumping and chasing. He is looking forward to starting soccer in March.

Dara (7) loves to draw, read, write, attend church, and do math. She loves learning and is an eager student. She attends a girls’ book and activity club called Liberty Girls where she learns many handicraft skills. She loves playing with her brothers and sisters. She takes good care of Noah, Jada and Matthew and is a great helper from babysitting to doing chores in the home and yard. She, like Sierra, Aura, Jada, and her mother is a late nighter who just thinks and works better after 9 PM!

Noah (4) loves coloring, playing with legos, drawing, listening to stories, playing in the sink with Jada, destroying things to see how they work, teaching Matthew, playing in his sisters’ makeup and nail polish, and asking questions all day long. He is definitely inquisitive and is always asking “why” and “what about…” He is fun and friendly, but also has a very serious and brooding side. He thinks a lot and makes some really interesting and wise observations. He has asked to learn to play the piano. We only have keyboards, so it looks like we are getting a piano soon. It can’t be emphasized enough how much he enjoys playing in nail polish and has a knack for finding it wherever it is hidden!

Jada (2) is the spitting image resemblance of Amy as a toddler. Her big blonde curls are the same “fraz-ma-taz” mop Amy’s were at that age. She is very independent and smart. She, Noah and Matthew spend their days exploring and playing together. She is very expressive and makes the best faces when explaining things, or just to get a laugh. She is essentially Noah’s conscience. We often hear her saying “No Noah!” throughout the day. Too bad her warnings are often too late. There is currently a nail polish mess on Noah’s hands and in the master bedroom closet that will take a miracle to get off.

Matthew (1) Mamu is the happiest baby ever. Not only does he follow all the kids around laughing at their antics, he belly laughs in his sleep. He is very sweet and cute and adored by everyone. He loves mashed potatoes and gravy, yogurt and oatmeal. He went through an applesauce stage where that was nearly all he would eat. He must have overdosed on it because now he won’t have anything to do with it. He is very small, wiry and agile and capable overall. He climbs shelves and chairs and it is common to find him up on the table. He loves dancing to music and has great rhythm. He follows Noah and Jada wherever they go. He can't walk yet, but he's got great climbing and jumping skills!

We’d love to hear what you are doing! Call, write, or stop by anytime!

We love you!

Love,
Shawn
Amy
Aura
Christian
Sierra
Ethan
Elijah
Noah
Jada
Matthew