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

Choosing Faith

A few weeks ago I visited a specialist about my left shoulder, the one that was broken in a cycling/auto accident in May. There has been pain in it ever since and my range of motion is limited. Over the months, I became aware of the fact that my clavicle on the left side was lopsided and sticking straight up into the air. What the specialist told me, that I had not even considered, was that it was not my clavicle sticking up, but my whole shoulder and arm drooping down. Apparently my ligaments were shorn through in the accident and my shoulder is no longer suspended at the attachment point on my clavicle. The only way to correct it, facilitate healing, and end the pain, is surgery.

I can't describe how much I hated hearing that. I gasped in shock as the specialist explained the problem and solution. The healing time after the surgery is six weeks of wearing a sling. I immediately thought of all that I would miss out on in wearing a sling for six weeks, activities like carrying the baby, holding my other children, cycling, snowboarding, and the small day to day things like dressing myself. The decision essentially came down to suffering along in my current condition, making do as I have been, or choosing the temporary pain and setback of surgery and the healing time associated with it in order to properly heal my shoulder.

I left the office heavily contemplating the choice. Of course it is obvious that total healing is the most desirable, but it is always hard to voluntarily give up freedom, even temporarily. By the time I got home, I decided to schedule my surgery for the dead of winter. The baby turns one year old on January 20 and hopefully will be walking. I can ride a stationary bike indoors from the end of January through March when I can start outside again. Hopefully I can get a few good snowboarding days in before the end of January as well. Shawn even suggested we take our bikes out to Red Rocks, NV to ride the weekend before the surgery.

Like all of life's experiences both good and bad, I immediately started looking for the symbolic meaning and spiritual lesson. I know that life is first spiritual, then temporal, so unraveling the temporal experience for the spiritual meaning is one of my favorite pasttimes. The thought that came to mind was the proverb Christ used in Luke 4:23, Physician, heal thyself.

I've spent some time pondering that statement and reading talks and articles discussing the many meanings and applications of that simple phrase. My mind settled on a visual image of a tangled mess I recently spent hours sorting out.

Let me preface the reason for sorting the tangle. Despite my aversion to handicrafts due to my sheer incompetence with making things with my hands, I agreed to join in a preschool activity exchange. Each participant was to make 23 identical lessons to exchange with the rest of the group. One of the activities I made was incredibly simple for those who are capable with their hands. For me, it was a nightmare. I had to shop for the craft materials and assemble "fishing poles" made of bamboo sticks, yarn, and magnets. Easy enough, right? Wrong. I procrastinated and dragged my feet at every stage of the making. Finally after several weeks of cajoling from the rest of the group, who rightfully needed the lesson I had not finished, I forced myself to take it on.

After assembling and gluing my fishing poles in place, I left them in the corner of the room to dry. Relief was sweet when I finished this project, so sweet that I forgot all about the fishing poles for a few hours. When I went to put them in their respective activity bags, what I found nearly sent me into a frenzied rage, and a whirlwind of tears all at the same time.

Yes, this was the nastiest yarn tangle I've ever seen in my life--worse than any failed yo-yo, cat's in the cradle, or knitting attempt combined. The reason it was worse was because of the magnets that all stuck to each other all throughout the tangle. My two and three year old children had a better time doing this than I think they'll ever have doing the actual preschool fishing activity.

It took me a few minutes and a few prayers to regain my composure. I was at that place, the one I recognized again at the doctor's office a few weeks later, the place I had to decide what to do. I could throw them away and start the process all over, try to cut the yarn and reattach it, or do my best to untangle it.

I forced a deep sigh to clear the negativity from my mind and sat down on my bed with my little ball of useless fishing poles. Shawn looked up from his book, gawking with morbid interest. "Why don't you just throw it away? It's too messed up," he said. "I put some serious effort into creating those poles, no way I'm just going to toss them. They are worth salvaging, to me. I'm gonna fix it," I said. Then he sighed the "whatever" sigh and shook his head.

Where to start? The line on each pole was 2 feet long and there seemed to be only an inch of wiggle room left on each fishing pole. The rest of the line was caught up in the tangle. All the magnets hugged tightly to each other, making any sorting difficult. It was close to midnight and the kids were in bed. Concentration at this level would have been nearly impossible otherwise. Determination took hold and I set about picking and pulling at numerous little knots.

An hour later Shawn said, "It almost looks like you're doing some weird Chinese puzzle." He was fascinated with the intensity on my face and the clicking of the sticks as the yarn bobbed over and under my hands. It must have been mesmerizing, because he was asleep and snoring long before the first pole came out from the tangle.

Once that first pole was freed, my determination doubled. My faith in the possibility it could be fixed doubled as well. My mind turned over the many applications of this experience. I remember thinking that I'd recall this visual whenever I was in a seemingly impossible, difficult, or hopeless situation and gain courage, faith and perspective from it. Several hours passed as my eyes became heavier. Progress was slow. I thought of my many ancestors who were better at handicrafts than I and prayed for their help. Finally another pole emerged, then another. Three hours from taking on this task, it was finally complete.
I couldn't help but feel at the time I finished that the experience was metaphorical to one or more upcoming trials or experiences I'd face. Whether my surgery is one, or any other number of problems in my life or the lives of my family, I have the faith that full recovery and an overall joyous resolution can be achieved. Faith, patience, and dogged persistence do a lot in creating positive results.

Now these stick and yarn fishing poles hold a special place in my heart. I learned an amazing lesson from them. Here's to surgery! :)

Celebrating Six Months of Cycling on SUNCREST!!!!

The thought of cycling Suncrest, which is a new housing development atop South Mountain, Draper, has loomed on the horizon of my mind since I started cycling in March. I didn't initially view it with anticipation. I associated the thought of summiting Suncrest, with dread. Reaching its peak is a sort of rite of passage from novice to semi-seasoned rider, though, so I kept the thought out there in the distance as something I'd maybe like to try, someday.

Suncrest is steep, 14% grade most of the way. To a novice cyclist, it may as well be Mount Everest. That's how I viewed it. I wondered if I'd ever be strong or fit enough to summit its peak. Last week, while on my morning ride, the thought of Suncrest rolled through my mind and I decided that I would find out. I set Saturday, September 11 as the day for my Suncrest summit because it is the six month anniversary of getting a bicycle and starting into cycling.

I couldn't have picked a better day to ride Suncrest. It was a beautiful Saturday morning; the kind that makes me grateful to be alive. Clear skies, full sun, incredible mountain and valley views and a constant, but not overpowering wind, kept me smiling the whole way.

As is common of irrational fears, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I had built it up in my mind. It was actually rather enjoyable. I realized in a huge way that preparation really does make all the difference. All those morning rides of 26-30 miles a day, prepared me for such a ride. I hadn't really realized the level of strength and fitness I'd gained over the last six months. Also over the last six months, I've ridden 3,179.49 miles as of today. The ride today was work, but it was exhilarating because I was prepared.

Had I tried to ride Suncrest sooner, as a new cyclist, when I was 45 pounds heavier and much weaker, it would have been a horrible experience. I wasn't yet prepared. I wouldn't have wanted to do it again as it would have been painful and brutal. Life is hard enough. Why compound the pain of it by being unprepared either spiritually or temporally, for the trials that come?

I thought about the spiritual aspect of preparation as I peddled toward the summit. Daily prayer, scripture study, pondering, meditation, recording inspiration and ideas in a journal, and listening to and obeying spiritual promptings really do add up to significant spiritual strength over time. Life is much more steep and daunting than Suncrest. Spiritual preparation is crucial to making it through.

It was worth all the effort it took to prepare on my daily rides. I felt great joy in persisting up the hill, ultimately experiencing the view, and resting at the top. Oh, and the descent was phenomenal! I know that daily spiritual preparation for the challenges of life, will also be well worth it at the completion of life and will bring great and eternal joy.

Riding Suncrest futher committed me to working harder at spiritual preparedness, not only for myself, but for my family. I rode Suncrest with Shawn. That made the accomplishment truly great and worthwhile. Finishing life with a close and committed family, united in obedience and devotion to God and having prepared through a life of service to our fellowmen, will be the only true joy.

The Reality of Dreams

I've been thinking a lot lately on the nature of personal revelation, and the way I mainly receive it; through dreams. Even as a child, my dreams were very vivid. Whether my dream was peaceful and fun, or scary and unsettling, it was lucid, vivid, clear, and full of meaning. I can recall those early childhood dreams as easily as those I had last night. I have always been grateful for the knowledge, instruction, insight, understanding, peace, joy, comfort, visuals of the future, and detailed premonitions I have received through dreams.

Over the years, and through many provident experiences, I realized that dreams are a powerful way I receive and interpret God's will for me. The information I've received in dreams has literally saved lives on several occasions. I keep a "dream journal" to write down my dreams when I wake up. As I come to consciousness, my mind is often filled with the interpretation of the dream. I write down the interpretations as well, knowing that the dream is important and impactful in the work of my conscious life. I have been humbled on many occasions to re-read old passages and realize that what I had dreamed several years prior, was fulfilled in near perfect detail in reality. I know that by being a good steward of the information I receive by recording and trusting it, I am further blessed with additional experiences and understanding. This principle is true for all. When we acknowledge, regard and appreciate our blessings, we are further blessed.

I have learned by experience never to underestimate dreams as a source for personal revelation. In fact, I have come to trust and count on the information I receive and I find myself praying for dreams that further my understanding as I study gospel principles.

Scripture also states that dreams, visions, and an increase in the Lord's spirit will be poured out on men, women and children in the last days. I know this is true.

Joel 2:
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

“In all ages and dispensations God has revealed many important instructions and warnings to men by means of dreams. When the conscious mind and physical senses are released from their activity, the nerves relaxed, and mankind lies asleep, it is then that the spiritual senses are at liberty in a certain degree to assume their functions, to recall some faint outline, some confused and half-defined recollections of that heavenly world, and those endearing scenes of their former estate. Their kindred spirits then hover about them with the fondest affection, the most anxious solicitude. Spirit communes with spirit, thought meets thought, soul blends with soul, in all the raptures of mutual, pure, and eternal love. In this situation the spiritual organs (and if we could see our spirits, we would know that they have eyes to see, ears to hear, tongues to speak, and so on) may converse with deity, or have communion with angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect.” If we will learn not to be so sophisticated that we disregard that possibility of impressions from those who are beyond sight, then we too may have a dream that may direct us as a revelation.

The revelations of God are the standards by which we measure all learning, and if anything does not agree with the revelations, then we may be certain that it is not truth." --Parley P. Pratt

I can think of numerous times I know that I communed with angels and "kindred spirits" in dreams. Several weeks ago, I dreamed that Aura was getting married and I was at her wedding party. I was taking photos with my phone. When they drove away, I put my phone down on a table while I talked with other guests. A few minutes passed and I went to get my phone from off of the table. It was gone. I got on my hands and knees and crawled under the table, looking on the ground and in random purses and bags. I looked on and under all the tables, in flower arrangements, in the kitchen, asked people if they'd seen it, and became more and more distressed. I couldn't find it anywhere. I was heartsick that the photos of the wedding party, which were irreplaceable, were gone. I started to cry. For some reason, I called out for my grandma. This would not be unusual, except she died in February. In my dream, I seemed to be aware of that as well.

Within an instant, she walked toward me, looking her same beautiful self as I saw her before her illness. She asked me what was wrong. I told her I'd lost my phone and all the photos I'd taken. "Did you look in your pocket?" she asked. I told her I had. "Check again," she said. I put my hand in my right pocket and felt my phone. As I was taking it out to look at it, she said "Don't worry. I'm right here watching and helping when you need me." I understood the big picture of what she was saying. She meant that she was watching and helping with the problems and perplexities of the lives of our family, that she was mindful and proactive in providing assistance. I was comforted when I awoke moments later, knowing that she had in fact, visited me and affirmed her position as a spiritual ally for me and my family.

That dream served in strengthening my faith, especially of the future and in all the problems and projects I am working on now. I know that I am not working on them alone and that all will work out as it should so long as I am obedient and do all in my power, and trust God with the rest.

Due to a life threatening circumstance involving the birth of my ninth baby this January, I had to have major surgery. I was taken to the operating room and given a local anesthetic through a mask over my mouth and nose. I remember only seeing the room briefly before my consciousness ended. Once I was completely out, I was intubated and my surgery lasted four and a half hours. The first thing I remember as my breathing tube was being removed was a cough, and then I said "You're waking me up from a really good dream." I don't remember any of what was happening during that time I was out, or who was there, only that it was immensely enjoyable. Considering I prayed every available angel and ancestor in attendance, I have a feeling I was at an amazing family reunion. I fell asleep again after stating that I had a good dream. I think it no accident that I remembered that.

Several days later, I talked to one of the surgeons. There were four who performed my surgery. With all the nurses and interns, there were seventeen people present at the surgery, besides myself. I asked her about the surgery and if she was nervous about how complicated it would be. She told me that she had been perplexed about it. She knew it was very risky. She said that the night before the surgery, she had a dream about it. She saw how and what to do and followed through with it perfectly in her dream. When it came time to do it for real, she was calm because she said it was exactly like what she had seen in her dream. I knew it was an answer to the many prayers offered in my behalf.

Dreams and revelation are as real as the images we see, and the sounds we hear in our temporal reality. This film is an excellent clip on personal revelation and how to better tune in to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPbDZnrxBLM

I've never liked sleeping, but always loved to dream. I guess there has to be some balance so that I wouldn't want to be sleeping all the time just to have the opportunity to dream.

So Long, Summer!

My favorite time of the year is slipping away. I love all the seasons and have favorite parts about each, but summer is the best!

I gained my love for it as a child. From sun up to sun down, my sisters and friends and I roamed the wide world of Payson, UT, engaging in such activities as catching worms for my road-side worm sale business. We hunted night crawlers, barefoot, in the mud of the neighbor's garden after 10 PM each night by the light of cheap flashlights. Nothing says summer like fat, wriggling worms between my fingers and mud between my toes. We especially loved floating, and racing sticks, and better yet, our jelly shoes, in the ditch to see if they would come out of the culvert on the other side of the road. My mom stopped buying those amazing plastic shoes because we lost too many. We had rotten tomato fights, threw eggs at cars (bad idea, I know), made neighbor kids eat or drink strange "concoctions" composed of all sorts of random organic materials, made up dances, chased the ice cream truck for blocks, walked downtown to go to the park or the movie and played truth or dare. Days and days were spent collecting and selling golf balls, spending our quarters at Mendenhall's Market on the table-top Pacman game, swimming at Payson Pool, riding bikes, playing every variation of tag, having massive water fights, sleeping out on the trampoline so we could go toilet-papering the neighbors and the homes of the boys we liked.

My childhood was really good. In fact, it was great! I really didn't start to hate living in Payson until high school when it suddenly seemed so distant from any real action. Life in Payson as a teen wasn't nearly as cool as in the happening town of Provo, thirty miles north. As a teen, I always complained that there was nothing to do in that small town. But, that's another story.

Because of those lax and playful summers of my youth, nostalgia has surely guided my parenting decisions about summertime fun as a mom. I live and love the summer the same way as I did as a child, with the exception of childish vandalisms. I have never allowed nor encouraged, and certainly, ever taken my kids to do any toilet-papering. As a parent, I have taken a more mature approach to summertime fun, but I still engage in it whole-heartely. This time I get to enjoy it with Shawn and nine amazing kids! We've had lots of fun without doing any toilet-papering!

Since childhood summers come only once, I vowed to make them count. Here are some highlights from this summer:


Triathlon season.

Sierra jumping from a 40 foot diving platform at Lava Hot Springs, ID.


Fishing at Flaming Gorge.

Cooperative play in a great mud hole at our weekly homeschool park day.

Ice cream while wearing bright colored clothes and pink flip flops.

Cycling a morning ride on a highway in Idaho.

Playing with friends.

Jet skiing at Jordanelle Reservoir for Christian's birthday.

Rope swings at Burston Ponds.

Swimming!

Floating the river at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.

Christian jumping his dirt bike.

Goodbye summer! See you next year!