MIRACLES

Sunday the Counselor in Westwood 1st Ward Bishopric started the Fast & Testimony Meeting with a neat thought and the theme which continued throughout the meeting. He bore testimony of "Miracles" and how we are blessed with so many miracles today. We have the miracle of revelation from a living prophet on the earth today and we also have personal revelation, for ourselves and for our family, as we go to our Heavenly Father in prayer and read the scriptures.

Then Sister Eyre spoke of the miracle of Family History and the New Family Search program referring to Malachi 4:6, Doctrine & Covenants 2 and 62. A sweet sister by the name of Ann Wallace who works in the temple much like Anna in Luke 2:37, bore testimony about the miracle of family and being sealed in the temple for eternity. Another spoke about the miracle of missionary work and how the gospel of Jesus Christ is being spread throughout the world...and it is our responsiblity to serve. Brother Howard Anderson spoke about the miracle of the Savior and are relationship with the Savior.

The thought came to my mind....yes we do have so many miracles...just walk outside and see the hand of the Lord everywhere. Whenever we get down or discouraged, maybe we should make a list of the miracles and blessings in our lives...that alone would cheer us up. I am so grateful for the scriptures which contain testimony of so many through word and example...and also grateful for those today who have affected and continue to affect my own life and testimony. HAVE A GLORIOUS DAY and LOOK for the Miracles All Around You.

Rrrrrriiiiiiiiiigggggggg Hello - Hello, Grandma?

Whenever our land phone rings we are sure it is a sales call, but to our pleasant surprise there was a familiar voice......Hello, Grandma? Yes, Hi Ben-jamin, how are you? Good, is Grandpa there? Yes, just a minute....
He told grandpa all about his rubber snake he has in his bedroom, about his blanket that keeps him safe at night, how he loves donuts with sprinkles on them, about how he went with his daddy today to take Megan to school, on and on..... After a lengthy conversation he wanted to talk to Grandma. Hi grandma, I'm watching Princess show on TV. He then told me his favorite was Superman and Batman, singing songs about them. He told me how they keep people safe and kill the bad guys. Where are you grandma? I told him I was in California at the temple. My cousin, Christian, lives in Calfornia and when we are big we will come see you. He then told me about the top he was trying to spin, about his messy room his mommie was going to help him clean so he could find his superman toy. On and on....very fun to hear all his news.
A little later he said, Hey, Grandma, hang on. He then proceded to talk to his mom who had just come home from picking up school children. I'm talking to Grandma! When Heather came to the phone I told her we were babysitting Ben on the phone so Joe could get his work done. Thanks, Ben, for a fun afternoon!

March...What are the Grandkids are up to?

YOU MUST GO TO MEG'S BLOG to see her prom invite and her answer. Good to see they still have the creativity going...very cute!

Steven learning to climb stairs...way to go buddy!

Ashley learning to walk in the snow.....brrrrrr cold, but she loves the white stuff.

When Annika found out that they were going to see the BYU Folk Dancers Saturday, she HAD to wear her princess dress. After the show, many of the dancers came to see Annika and tell her how pretty she was. They saw her right away as she was sitting in the front row on daddy's lap. She was memorized the whole afternoon.
Christa received a special award at her school assembly this past week..."Communication" award. She told us it was because she likes to write and because she is nice to people.
Marrianne and Brooke cut their hair to donate it to Locks of Love. Brooke and Madison have done it twice and Marrianne's first time.

Miranda cut 9 inches of her hair off, also for the Locks of Love. She also called this afternoon to tell us she lost two more teeth...and she pulled them out all by herself...again.
Chelsea loves babies.....as does our Jenna.

Jenna is patiently waiting for her two REAL babies....twins any day now. If one is a boy, Nate wants to call him Jared so he an be the 'brother of Jared'. Christa likes the name "Rachel"

Spencer and Chelsea both love Mel's birthday gift....her very own LIVE dorf rabbit

Look for more 'grandkid' news in coming editions....

We got tagged....YOU'RE next

Since we have been tagged twice, we'd better answer the questions....
What is their full name Sharon Lee and Marvin Verdell
How long have you been married? 44 years in December
How long did you date? 4 years [2 years waiting while Marv on mission] married 3 months after returning.
How many dates before the first kiss? A few, but whenever I would flip his suspenders [yes, guys wore them back in those days] he would kiss me.
Who eats more sweets? About even on that one.
Who said I love you first? Marv, the night of our prom in the parking lot before we went into the Coconut Grove. Then he would squeeze my hand three times under the table...that started the "3" meaning I love you.
How old is he? 10 months older than me.
Who is taller? He is by about 2 inches
Who is smarter? He probably is, but with age you get lots wiser
Who sings better? He says I do....or use to.
Who does the laundry? Both. We run up and down the stairs to our apt laundry each week.
Where and when was your last date? Two last week: Wed out with friends for spanish food. And Saturday night out with friends to see BYU Young Ambassadors and dinner at Famous Dave's Barbeque
Who pays the bills? Marv
Who do you tag? Marrianne or Anyone who takes the time to read this????
That was fun... Thanks Ruth, Heather and Lisa!

Date Night

We went out with some of our OW friends to Long Beach to attend Young Ambassadors "The New American Songbook". It was great...what talent! After we went to "Famous Dave's" for dinner at the Pike. We definitely need to go down there during the day sometime...lots to do. Anyway, we had a very nice evening-date night.

Kickin' back with Grandma

Just had to take this picture...isn't he just way cute? John and Marrianne came to do some temple work with Marv while I played with Ashlyn and Christian. Madison and Brooke were at their first Track practice. Christian was enjoying "Bambi" movie while eating his dinner & homemade bread...when I looked over at him this is what I saw.

Was a little worried about spaghetti, but she did a good job at eating it 'all-gone'. As I opened up the trunk with toys...she was excited to see the baby dolls and books. Christian spent his time with the cars.
After playing with toys and reading stories, Christian decided he wanted to take a WALK in the DARK to see the temple lights. So off we went! It was a lovely evening outside with clear sky's and just a little breeze, perfect California evening weather. And John, Marrianne were able to spend a special evening with their dad in the temple...it being the first opportunity Marv had to be involved with his children during this ordinance. Emotional evening for all.

Very Pleasant-Restful Weekend

We started the weekend attending Newbury Park 2nd Ward where Dan gave a great talk in Sacrament Meeting. Dan's parents, John's family and Carnell came over later for dinner and celebrate Mel's Birthday. Look carefully at this amazing cake...cupcakes with a frosted top.

Brooke and Ashlyn were busy helping Mel decide which gift to open first. Mel had told the family all she wanted this year were GAMES. There are some amazing games out there for children 3 to 8 which teach the importance of sharing, not always winning, recognizing words, numbers and just plain fun. We spent Monday playing games from 6:30 a.m. until noon. Zingo is one of the favorites so far, as even Chelsea can play that one and yet geared for older ones as well.
Grandpa and Grandma Clinger made sure Mel was up on all the new styles. Mel does like clothes and she received a bundle. She will be the best dressed girls in pre-school. Right away she had to put on her new nightgown...very cute.
As stated earlier, we spent a good part of Monday and also Tuesday morning playing many of these new games for children: Uno, Clue, Monopoly, Princess, Zingo, on and on. Spencer would get up early each morning, get dressed, clean his room, eat his breakfast and we ready to play by 7 a.m. Christian came over Monday and enjoyed playing with Mel too.

Around noon on Monday Marv and I headed over to Carnell's house to clean, get bills paid, and found out Carnell had broken a tooth and a cap on another tooth. We were not able to get him in to the dentist until early Tuesday morning, so we ended up spending the night with Lisa's family. ENJOYED totally a nice dip in the spa before dinner. We wanted to go to a movie that evening, but nothing of interest was playing...so Lisa prepared a lovely Samon dinner, provided a movie and pop corn for us. The next morning I played games and got ready for the temple as had to be there by 11, while Marv took Carnell to the dentist. Had a very nice day at the temple and was able to get caught up on several Volunteer responsibilities. Marv was on the later shift this day, so I went over to a friends apartment for some homemade soup, corn bread and our oranges for dessert [her husband was also on the later shift]

Tonight we meet up with some other friends to go out to dinner and just socialize. Thursday John and Marrianne are coming to the temple to do a session with Marv and I get to play with the grandchildren. We will most likely stay in Santa Monica this coming weekend...waiting for exciting news from Colorado as the twins are due any day now. Maybe they will be born on Heather's birthday next week....happy birthday mom....hahahaha

Pictures from Arlee

The Bjorn's made a trip from Texas for the weekend...with Inger coming to do family haircuts. Isn't Annika a little doll with her new bangs...all grown up. Get a load of Marylyn's pregnancy food desires. This is her friend Tanna who is expecting twins just two weeks before Marylyn is due. How do you like Marylyn's new haircut? Very Cute!

Thanks, Arlee, for sharing your photo'

President's Day Journaling

Hope you all enjoy our slide show [Thanks Megan for the idea and Lisa for ALL your help in setting it up]. Lisa and the children came to our Santa Monica apartment in time for breakfast as they drove their daddy to work Monday morning. The children played with our toys while Lisa helped me with our blog. About 10:00 we drove to Olveria Street visiting the fire station first...then on our way to get a taquitto and just look around. As we were about to leave their were some Aztec Indians performing which we all totally enjoyed. After reaching our car we headed down the 10 Freeway to the Santa Monica Pier to spend the rest of the day. Walked [children had their scooters] along the pier, watched fishermen/women, saw some great artists, went on the merry-go-round, had lunch, and enjoyed all the monkey bars and swings on the beach. It was amazing to us all the things the children could do on the monkey bars and climbing the ropes. Too cold for the water, but a beautiful sunny clear day. About 3:30 we headed back and stopped at "Diddy Riese" ice cream which was just around the corner from Dan's work. The children were excited to see their daddy and Grandpa Clinger. We then went back to our apartment until Dan was finished with work. It was a very fun day [Thought about Matt's Heather...she would have loved this day, so we'll have to do this when you guys come next time].

President's Day in LA