Thoughts and stories, by Pal

Wayne and Blaine were born  identical twins on September 18, 1930 in Murray, Utah.  I was born October 6, 1934, in St. George, Utah.  The twins were not expected to live the night and so were given a name and a special Priesthood blessing that night.  They were blessed then to live a mature life, and fulfill their missions on this earth.  Blaine fulfilled his and has passed on to a better place.  Wayne has had open heart surgery, a hip replacement, cancer, and a 12 day stay in intensive care with respiratory failure.  But at 83, he still does two Temple shifts each week in the St. George Temple, and we both do a lot of indexing.  We'll tell more about that later.  It is late on November 14, 2013, and I want to start blogging.  I'm not sure how to do this, so we'll experiment!     This was in their high school yearbook, Blaine on the left, Wayne on the right, I believe in 1949.

  I kept a journal for many years, sometimes not writing for a year or two -- one time 5 years !  Raising 9 children can be very time consuming, and at times writing in a journal didn't seem as important as fixing meals, changing (and washing) around 100,000 diapers, etc.  But I am encouraging all of you to write now and then, because the day will come when your family will want to read about you !  Memory isn't always reliable, but a journal will jog your memory.  I do believe in writing your life story!  And if you are the happy recipient of any life stories of ancestors, they should be available for the young generations.  I have wonderful stories of Wayne's and my ancestors, and will share some stories at times. Today, my thoughts, for the next week will probably be on many things I am thankful for -- (but not really in the right order, I think.)  My prayers lately begin with a long list of what I am thankful for.  I guess that may have influenced my thoughts last w

I love this quote of President and Prophet Thomas S. Monson.  People are truly more important than things, and as I continue writing on this blog, I want to put special thoughts that mean a lot to me.  I try to incorporate them into my life, the best I can. Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, "They do not love that do not show their love." We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us. Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say "I love