Of course there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.
-Thomas. S. Monson
The following YouTube Mormon Message and talk given by Elder Holland correspond so well and have reminded me how I want to start 2011 and how I want to live my life, looking forward. Enjoy.
This year, for the first time ever, the Castletons enjoyed Christmas in Arizona at the lovely estate of Rachel and Dean Delap :) It was a splendid time had by all, beginning with a Castleton Family Christmas Concert for Rachel and Dean's friends in Rio Rico and Nogales. Featured numbers included favorites like Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming, Past Three O'Clock, and Coventry Carol, as well as some newer additions including Rogers High School Jazz Choir's version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was so nice to sing together.
December 24th
On Christmas Eve, some of us took a Trip to the Boarder to find something fun and different for the White Elephant Exchange. Needless to say, there were some really great finds!
Bethlehem Dinner
Besides Christmas Caroling, for which without, our Castleton Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas :), Bethlehem Dinner is a special, looked forward to part of celebrating our dear Savior's birth. Since we were kids, mom and dad would put white sheets over everything, lay out a long piece of wood, and light candles throughout the downstairs basement living room... Well, they'd invite others to participate as we turned off the lights, sang Christmas carols to candle light, and enacted the Christmas story in Luke while Dad read it for us. Dinner consisted of a great assortement of dates, cheese, crackers, figs, olives, nuts, tabouli in pita bread, grape juice, water...hopefully close to what they might have eaten. Dad would always remind us that Mary and Joseph were very tired and hungry as they came to the stable where Mary would birth the Lamb of God, the Savior of the World. So, we could do with waiting a bit to eat as we remembered the Holy story. We would imagine the shepherds, the wise men, the beautiful bright star leading their way, and all those who came to see and worship the Christ child. Someone was usually a donkey, at least one angel, and others played the rest of the parts. During some years, neighboring children would play the parts as we got a little big for the roles. But, now it has come full circle and our children will play the parts that taught us to love the story of the first Christmas.
After dinner and caroling, we had a bit of recorded fun...enjoy :)
A little Trumpet mixing with the Ivory Keys~ Below is a YouTube link to a great piece played by Abbs, Joel, and Joe. I hope you can access them this way. For some reason I couldn't upload them properly to the blog.
Christmas morning gave me a beautiful gift with Abbs, the Christmas Elf, taking me on a lovely run in the morning sun. She really got me through the that. Thanks Abbs! And she never complained through all my out-of-shape panting!
We came back for a morning full of fun times with the fam as Lena and Caleb gave us our stockings and gifts...with the assistance of course from a special red and white capped elf, and his other helpers :)
Hope you enjoy the pictures...it was so fun, I had to include a bunch. I love the pictures of Elena and Caleb with their BYU t-shirts on down below. They are such beautiful kids with great parents. They really took their job seriously...well both jobs really...the one of giving out gifts and the other of opening gifts! :)
Now, of course, Christmas doesn't need tons of presents under the tree to be wonderful...no, the time together, laughing while we opened gifts or watching the kids open theirs and play, or even listening to each other talk of this and that...the combination of all that is enough to make the day wonderful, with warm feelings to accompany the memories in years to come...but there were gifts given this Christmas and truly, the fact, that opening gifts got us together in one room, joking with each other, teasing and laughing at one another, interested in what wordage
Dad would use on his tagged gift that he and mom gave each of us...that really made the morning meaningful and fun. It seems to be like that every year...and that's why I love the tradition of presents under the tree. Mom's and AA Laura's well stacked stockings with oranges, dried bananas, almonds, and of course some hot chocolate from dad...that doesn't hurt my experience either :) There were some pretty wonderful gifts, soft gifts, hard gifts, incredibly creative and meaningful gifts, and then some darn right practical and funny gifts, ahem, the batteries, one in every accompanying present to that lucky receiver!
Awesome Aunt Laura made little glass place holders with pictures of us as kids way back when, for Rachel and Dean (she was their Secret Santa this year :) ...and well, as I said, there were so many gifts, great, fun, wonderful gifts that I can't name them all. I will mention a special gift I received from my Secret Santa, Abby. It is the picture below of a wooden frame she painted and decorated with pictures of Christ from an old calendar that mom had given her. She is so creative! There couldn't have been a better gift for me, thanks :)
And thank you to all my family for the fun love you all share with each other and me. Being able to Skype with those not in Arizona and singing and playing games with each other really blessed my Christmas this year.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
We had another very special event, on Christmas Day afternoon... we managed to get 10 of us gathered together and off to Nogales to see Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And, having arrived there 37 minutes early [we should all pat AA Laura on the back for that one!] we had time to sing carols to some of the moviegoers! The movie was incredible, and afters, some of the local moviegoers thought we should sing again. Here are two YouTube clips a lovely listener took:
...Well, sort of. It has been so very long since I've posted anything here...though there has been so much to celebrate about the last many months...My goal after Saturday, is to actually complete the posts I started and never finished :)
The thought below is something that has been on my mind a lot recently, it is something I need and want to remember, and so when I saw this quote today, I wanted to share it with anyone who may possible take a glance at this page.
Day by day, minute by minute, second by second we went from where we were to where we are now. The lives of all of us, of course, go through similar alterations and changes. The difference between the changes in my life and the changes in yours is only in the details. Time never stands still; it must steadily march on, and with the marching come the changes…
I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey---now.
Monique White was born to Veronique and Roger White August 30th, 2000. Last Sunday, March 21st, 2010, she returned to her Heavenly home. As Veronique and Roger describe her, she was a miracle child, and a perfect little angel, born with so many physical disabilities and difficulties. Monique has been completely dependent upon her parents for everything. She has not been able to communicate in the way that each of us make sounds, talk and move. This said, you can't be with her and not feel of her strong, beautiful spirit. Through the experience of being with sweet Monique, especially when I returned home from my mission, I learned that we each absolutely do have a spirit inside us.
It was beautiful to be at Monique's memorial service Friday and to listen to her parents, two of my heros, speak about what they learned from Monique, that providing for all her needs taught them of our dependence on our Heavenly Father, how necessary He is in our lives. And then the focus on the Resurrection and of Easter. The spirit was so sweet in the room during the service and also afterwards as people met in the cultural hall filled with lovely pictures of the White family and especially of Monique. Veronique and Roger included Monique in everything, including dressing her up for Halloween. They loved her unconditionally. It's difficult for me to describe what I gained this weekend, when I try to verbalize it, I begin to cry.
I love what the Whites said about this difficult experience, "During this difficult time our family testifies of the reality of the resurrection which is a gift from our Savior Jesus Christ and we are filled with an overwhelming sense of love and hope. We take strength in a sure and peaceful witness that our Father in Heaven loves us and has prepared a way for our family to be together no and throughout all eternity."
I miss you Monique. I'm grateful you are free, finally able to move and dance as you'd like. Thank you for what you have given each of us who met you, thank you for sharing your beautiful spirit with us.
I heard mom's voice for a moment on the phone today and was able to comprehend for a second the great gift the Lord gave me in giving me a place to truly call Home...a place where I belong, where I fit in - a place where I'm accepted, wanted, where I don't have to be understood and yet feel that I am more than anywhere else - a place of goodness, warmth, busy-ness, happiness, and where love is a work in progress...always improving and increasing.
How grateful I am to be able to go there, to return home. What a blessing that I can.
So...many many moons ago, I ran the St. George Marathon. I wanted so much to blog about it but never found the time to describe that experience. It was unlike any race I've ever participated in. No race has left me on at least a 2 week high like that one did :) and no race has made me love and believe in running like that one did. It still makes me excited when I think about that cool experience. There were so many times during the race when I felt tangible support from Heavenly Father or my family and my friends.
I was more scared before the race began than I've been doing almost anything...but right after I crossed the Start line, I felt peace and knew this was my race, that I would be able to do it, and that God was with me. The course was better than I could have imagined. It was gorgeous and the rolling hills accompanying the downhill trend was perfect for a first timer...perfect for anyone, but definitely encouraging for this little runner. At mile 17, I started to cry. Anyone whose run something like that knows there are emotions that come, specific to the experience, which are hard to really explain. I knew I would finish the race and couldn't believe I was going to be able to really run and finish a marathon. It was so encouraging seeing all the posters and signs for folks. Each one seemed to be for me, cheering me on...even the ones encouraging parents. I'd look to the sky each time I saw one and would think, "thanks kids, I know you're up there! We're going to talk about this someday!"
My friend Bret came to cheer me on at the end. He had family running the race, but he ran the last part with me...it was perfect...right when I really needed the encouragement!
Hope you enjoy this video Bret took of me at the end. I had a mile left...definitely ready to finish, but really happy to have run the race. So glad to have this memory!
These are two of my favorite pictures of Ben and Emily's family this year. The bottom picture is earlier this last February at Em's sister's wedding, and the top picture was this last month when Ben and Em and company came to Utah to visit. Thanks for being such a
