Favorite Christmas Tradition

Tonight we continued the tradition of going around town with Christmas light awards to present along with a few Christmas carols to selected homes. This is an idea we came up with in 2002 while living in Normal, IL and we have done it every year since then. (at least every year that we were at home for Christmas).

Two of my favorite people

Though I have not met Mitt Romney or Stephanie Nielsen in person, I feel like they are two of the people who have influenced my life the most in these past couple of years. Both are examples of determination and conviction that inspire me to be strong in the face of adversity. I am happy to find out that NieNie (Stephanie) is a Romney fan like I am. I look forward to hearing more from Mr. Romney soon as he prepares for a likely 2nd presidential campaign in 2012. Not sure if the country is ready to elect such a righteous man, but I am sure that I will be supporting him all the way! Two blogs to check out if you have not seen them before www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com and www.evangelicalsformitt.com (this was one of my favorites during the 2008 campaign cycle, and they are active again now supporting Mitt)

Charity Never Faileth

Last night I had the privilege of attending the Women's broadcast with 50+ Relief Society Sisters from the Branson 1st and 2nd wards. There are so many great women in the church here and every chance I get to know them better is such a blessing to me. We have been here almost 1 1/2 years now, and I am so pleased with how connected we feel. People here are more busy than any place I have ever lived, so we learned early on to expect to be invited to many get-togethers or not to expect for others to reach out to get to know us much. But, I have also learned that there is always a need for friendship among sisters especially, even if they act like they are way too busy to have friends. I have enjoyed the challenge of finding ways to be connected with the ladies here and becoming a friend to them in spite of their time-consuming jobs and church involvement. At the meeting last night we were reminded of the importance of not wasting time judging others, because that prohibits us from having time to love them. I really like that idea of devoting my time to loving others, and preserving the time that I might otherwise spend judging them. As we seek to love all those we come in contact with, it makes all of our associations more meaningful. Not sure if all this is making sense, but it is late and the later the time the more philosophical I attempt to be. So, I am going to bed now. I just wanted to write this quick note to remember how much I felt the Spirit at the conference yesterday and then again at church today. It has been a Spirit filled weekend. I am so thankful!

End of Summer

One week ago today we had our last outing with the Dutton Day Camp. It was a very stressful ending to a very fun summer. We went to the Track family fun park, which proved to be quite a challenge with such a large group. We had all 17 of the Duttons plus my two boys that day. Though it was chaotic, the kids seemed to have fun and behaved themselves for the most part. The summer really did go by quickly, but it does feel like time to move on to school for the boys and a less busy schedule for me. I've started a blog called "Branson Kids on the Go" (www.bransonkidsonthego.blogspot.com) to display some of the pictures and details about the day camp. I am posting one here of our visit to the Branson fire station. I am still working at the Dutton Inn three days per week, and I will be babysitting the 4 pre-schoolers on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This time they will just come to my house rather than trying to run all over town with them. I am glad I will still have some regular contact with these little cuties. I am very thankful to have been able to spend so much time doing fun things with my boys this summer because of Dutton Day Camp. They had a blast being a part of such a fun group. Wonderful Memories! I hope we can make some more memories next summer.

My Super Cousin Jerie

Note from Jeanie: We just returned from an amazing family reunion trip to Quincy and Nauvoo, IL about which I will write more later. For now, I wanted to share this post from my "super cousin" Jerie. (I think I just created a new super hero character "Super Cousin") Here is a beautiful summary from Jerie as to why these reunions must go on! Thanks Jerie for putting into words that which I feel but often don't take the time to express.

Second Cousin Once Removed

If Jozianne lived next door to me, we would be best friends. As it is, we see each other every two years. Our intermittent, bi-annual conversation picks up where we left off without awkward silences. I'm not sure when we got heart-close like this. Over the 47 year span of my life, we've spent maybe six weeks total, a mere handful of days, together. Second cousins--it sounds more distant than it feels.

2010. An even year. That means a Boyack Family reunion--my mom's side. Boyack was never my name. Before I became a Jacobs, I was a Sandholtz. But spending a few days with my extraordinary kin last week confirmed that Boyack runs deep in me. It's not just the blue eyes, exact mirrors of my own, that surround me at reunions. It's good humor and generosity, deep commitment to faith and family, the propensity to spin a yarn. Wherever we assemble, it feels like coming home.

Jozianne's daughter,Jane, played cards with us and we laughed into the wee hours of the morning. Second-cousin-once-removed hardly describes the way we fit. I met Darren and Chrissie, pretty much for the first time, and felt like I had always known them. Jeanie and Merrilyn, my first-cousins-who-feel-like-sisters, planned our three day convergence with sufficient care to create a sweet sliver of what heaven must hold in store.

At the end of every Boyack reunion we meet to discuss the future of these mad, glorious events. The logistics are daunting. Try finding a venue for a couple of hundred Scots who talk a lot and eat a lot and stay up all night because they don't want to sleep through a minute of their time together. "Can this possibly continue?" we ask. Honestly, it is sheer insanity.

Hurrah for my crazy cousins who decide, time and again, to go forward. Thank heaven for old-school lunacy that favors face-to-face conversation over Facebook; that drives or flies 1,500 miles to catch-up with family instead of just catching their Twitter; that doesn't settle for an extensive Contact list in lieu of actual contact. I have no fear that the sad irony of living in a hyper-connected world and yet feeling disconnected from real people will ever overtake the Boyacks. No. We'll do what it takes to find ourselves in a room together, wearing goofy Boyack t-shirts and laughing out loud, drawn by the singular delight of coming home.

My Summer Plans

For the past three weeks, the boys have been going to summer school, which they really enjoyed. It seems to be more fun than school, which is fine with me since after all, it is summer. Lots of people here enroll their kids in the 3 weeks of summer school, because it helps to shorten the summer that often seems too long to keep kids entertained. I went to Girls' Camp during the first week of Summer school, then I have have been back to my part time Front Desk job at the Dutton Inn for the past two weeks. However, next Monday life will become more busy again. I will be starting up the "Dutton Day Camp" which is a 4 hour per day enterprise that I designed to put my recreation management skills to good use. We did our first week of Dutton Day Camp the week before summer school started and it was a great success. The theme for that week was "Underwater Adventure Week". Next week will be "Discover Nature" week. Later in the Summer we will have "We love Animals Week", "History Week" and "Creative Kids Week". I really enjoy working with kids, and these particular kids are so much fun. There are 18 kids (ranging from 2-13 yrs. old) among the 5 performing Dutton siblings and their spouses. I only take up to 12 at a time, and my own boys get to go along each day as well. They love it! I took some good pictures during our first week of day camp, but of course we can't find the camera right now and I have not yet gotten them downloaded. So, for now, I will post a link to the Dutton Website to introduce you to the families I have the privilege of working with. The Duttons have a spectacular family show, which is a must see if you ever come to Branson. I've probably seen it 10 times by now, and I still really enjoy watching them every time. Go check them out on You Tube if you are not familiar with them. Anyway, I will write more later about our adventures, for now I just wanted to provide a brief update of what we are up to.

Camp Songs C.D. - I'm at it again

Those of you coming to my blog in search of words to camp songs, look in my blog archives for July and June of 2009 and you will find them there. I was excited to have so many new people request a copy of the C.D. - mostly because I know many of these camp songs will be sung this summer at girls' camps all over this great country of ours. Please comment to me here or on Facebook to let me know you recieved your C.D. and that it worked okay when you tried to play it. Also feel free to browse around my blog and get to know us better. I'm definitley not a blog-a-holic, but I have added some meaningful posts over the years.

Your Camp Ritchie friend, Jeanie Anderson

p.s. in case you are wondering about the voices on the C.D., mine is the strong alto voice which sounds quite raspy in some of the songs because I had a very sore throat one of the days we recorded. Alexis is the soprano who sang the solos on "Walk Tall" and "God created Camp Ritchie". (she was only 14 at the time we recorded) Her older sister Camille switches between singing harmony and melody depending on the song, also she played the flute for us on Walk Tall (Camille is 17 years old) My husband Garrett is the one who sings the PBJ love song. He did great!

March 17th, 2001

I wanted to post this wedding picture to commemorate our 9th wedding anniversary which took place yesterday. The time has gone quickly, yet I can hardly remember life before Garrett. It seems he has always been there with me. He has worked hard to try and learn all about the 24 years before he knew me, so he can talk with me about my memories just as if he had been a part of them. He is such a caring person who does well at remembering details. That is a great quality, to remember things people have told you so that they know you were really listening. I could use some improvement in that area. I ask people a lot of questions about themselves, but sometimes I am so busy thinking up the next question that I don't always listen to the answer as closely as I should. This is only one of many areas that Garrett has been a good example to me. He is a very loving father and friend to our little boys. He plays with them tirelessly every chance he gets, which sometimes includes staying up way past bedtime. But, I don't fault him for this because I know he just can't get enough of them and often his time at home is limited due to his busy work schedule. Garrett is also very diligent in his church calling as Young Mens' president. He really cares about those boys too, and tries to plan activities that will help them grow into responsible young men. Of course their parents do most of that work at home, but the Priesthood programs of the church are there to supplement the parents' efforts and give the boys responsibility to which they can rise. I know his experiences now in this calling will help him be prepared to be a father of teenage boys in just a few years. I didn't really know where this blog was headed when I started it, I just knew I wanted to pay tribute to my eternal best friend and sweetheart, Garrett DuAne Anderson. So, on with the tribute:

Thanks for always loving me, even those days when I have not been easy to love. Thanks for encouraging me in my many pursuits, and helping me keep focused on my most important job of motherhood. Thanks for being a 21st century man who believes that household chores are a shared responsibility. Thanks for folding the laundry and doing the dishes so often without being asked. Thanks for never saying, "I wish you were more..." and always saying, "I am so thankful for who you are". Thank you for leading our family in Spiritual things from attending church, to having weekly Family Home Evenings, to paying tithing and saying our prayers together. Thanks for finishing my sentences when I can't come up with the words, and for being quick to forgive unkind words I say things should have been left unsaid. Thanks for doing CPR on my jokes when necessary and for always being willing to eat my leftovers. I love you sweetheart, and look forward to many more years of life and eternity with you and your two sons. Most importantly, thanks for helping me become a mommy!

Arizona Trip

We have really enjoyed reconnecting with family here in AZ. Today we went to the zoo, and it felt like July to me instead of March. I think we chose the right month to come, any later in the year would have been way too hot for me.

My kiddos are having a blast with their cousins. Maybe I will get ambitious and actually post some pictures on here. For some reason that task seems to take too many steps so I don't do it very often. Anyway, just wanted to write a short blog here and say how thankful I am to have married into such an awesome family.

The Andersons are a great bunch of people, and I wish I could spend more time with them all. I told Garrett, we may end up moving here if we ever need to move on from Branson. Not because I love Arizona, but because there are so many Andersons here. I would love for my boys to be close to cousins during their teenage years especially.

Tomorrow evening we get to go see the Duttons perform. It will be fun to introduce our family to our favorite family in Branson. Should be nice evening. Okay, I am tired now. Goodnight.

Fundamental Premises of Our Faith - Talk Given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks at Harvard Law School - LDS Newsroom

I thought this was very interesting so I decided to post it here. Enjoy.

Fundamental Premises of Our Faith - Talk Given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks at Harvard Law School - LDS Newsroom

Back to Normal

We spent the weekend visiting the Anderson Grandparents which was a lot of fun. I have not been back to Normal for almost a year, so it was good to get back. Garrett's parents really live in Bloomington, IL which is the neighboring city to Normal, but I still usually refer it it as Normal since that is the town we used to live in and the place where Garrett grew up before his parents moved to the house they now live in.

It was great to spend time in familiar places with family and friends. We got to visit with the Reeds, Wheelers and Escobars. Also we saw many other old friends when we attended church on Sunday. When I see the teenagers now, who used to be primary kids when we lived there, I realize how much time has passed. We moved away (for good) just after Jerry was born five years ago. Though it has been a while since we lived there, we still feel very connected to the community and to our friends there.

The boys love going back there, mostly because they love to be at Grandma Susie and Gramps' house. Also, they love visiting their friends who are like cousins to them. It is funny how they remember people's houses by what toys they have, even if they have not been there for several years. I think kids memories are more geared towards remembering toys than people. After seeing the people again they usually remember quickly enough, but when talking about going to see certain friends, they often mention the toys they remember playing with there.

It is sad to live so far away now. When we were in Centralia, the drive was only three hours. Now that we are 8 hours away, a weekend trip is very exhausting. Though we are worn out, it was still worth it to make the trip, especially since we all got to visit the dentist while we were there. Thanks Gramps for taking care of our teeth.

10 things I am thankful for right now

1. Being warm inside my house even though outside the world is frozen.
2. My sweet husband who is sitting in the boys room playing legos with them right now.
3. Garrett's job which provides a very comfortable living for our family.
4. An upcoming trip to AZ to visit lots of cousins, looking forward to it is exciting
5. Our cars and readily available gasoline
6. Heavenly Father's Plan
7. Music, especially when sung by my two little boys
8. My boxes of papers (I love looking back through old letters and school papers, somehow it brings me joy...though I am trying to minimize the amount of boxes I have)
9. Missionaries - when ever I am around missionaries it makes me feel hopeful about the future of the church and of the world. They are all such good kids!
10. My Parents -they were here over Christmas, and it was great to be with them again!

(Thanks Alena for giving me the idea to do a gratitude list)