Monday, January 2, 2023

December 2020

December started out with a trip to the Meridian Light parade. We haven't been to this since Ainsley walked in the parade with her piano studio when about 10 years ago. And now we're back because Emmie's truck was decorated and in the parade. She loved that we cheered for her and were super obnoxious when her truck drove by!


I decided I wanted to do an advent for the kids this year that was something to do daily. So Emmie got a watercolor advent, Ainsley got a cross-stitch, and Owen got a candle to burn daily since he's really into candles lately. Here is a picture of Emmie's first painting. I'll try to remember to get pictures of the finished product at the end of the month. 


We copied Goob and made a Welch version of Guess Who. Ains and Owen did the photo shop work (which took forever) and then we cut out all the pieces and made one for each family. I think they turned out great and hopefully all of the grand-kids will have fun with it!


I recently declared a new tradition. Can you declare new traditions? Every Sunday someone is in charge of choosing the treat that we will make and the game that we will play. I've been a fan of my self-proclaimed tradition so far. And Leo is a great help with game strategy.


Completely random picture I took of a layer of fog on the field by our house earlier this month.


The Demars invited us over for gingerbread houses this year. I was impressed with the kids creativity! And Emmie and Elsie and Lacey and Ashley Grey all learned some fun songs on the bells to play for the families we dropped the houses off too. It was a really fun night. 





Emmie's 7th Grade Christmas concert. Emmie is on the middle row about 3 kids in.

Bogus Basin never has enough snow for the skiing to be good in December...but this year they actually do! So John and I went up for a great day of skiing for our anniversary. The snow was great. There was no wind. And we got to escape the inversion in the valley. It was awesome. I also realized that I'm a much better skier when I'm just skiing and not worried about the kids!




And then that night after skiing, Ainsley got home from BYU and we had our ward Christmas party. Sadly this isn't the first anniversary that we have celebrated with our ward family!


Emmie danced with the YW doing a hula for the variety show portion of the party. Every organization had to provide an act, and the YW did great!







I had to speak in church and decided to copy my talk here because it had some stories in it that I wanted to rememmber. And I'm lazy and didn't want to cut it down!



When my kids heard I would be speaking in church, Ainsley reminded me of a performance I made them watch years ago of the Tabernacle Choir. The story was told of the events leading up to the writing of the Poem, I heard the Bells on Christmas Day. So, in true Dinger fashion, I’ll start off my talk today with a little story from history.


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a poet, father, and staunch abolitionist living in Cambridge Massachusetts during the height of the Civil war. Henry was married to the love of his life, Fannie, and together they had 6 children. During the spring of 1861 the civil war began and the Longfellow’s were experiencing the hardship that accompanies war. Then, tragically, during the summer of 1861, Fannie was involved in an accidental fire that would lead to her death. Henry never fully recovered from the loss of his beloved Fannie. And during the Christmas of 1861 Henry wrote in his journal, “A merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.”


The following year tragedy struck the Longfellow home again. Henry’s oldest son Charles had joined the Union army that year. At the beginning of December Henry received notice that Charles had been wounded by gun fire in battle. Henry traveled to Washington to find his injured son to bring him home. After searching, he eventually found his son, but doctors weren’t sure he would survive.  Henry transported his son back to Cambridge and would spend the next several months nursing him back to health. Over the course of 2 years Henry had endured the death of his wife, was living amidst the turmoil of the civil war, and was now worried about the life of his son. So it should come as no surprise that on Christmas day 1863 Henry was struggling to feel the peace and goodwill toward men that we sing about at Christmastime. Henry often wrote about being able to hear the church bells ringing near his New England home, and he would eventually pen these words in response to the ringing of those Christmas bells….


And in despair I bowed my head;

“There is no peace on earth,” I said:

“For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!”


I love this song. It is a reminder to me that mankind is no stranger to trials, sadness and despair. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made it clear to us all that he knew war, and even death were not the end. Henry reminds us of what ultimately matters most……that God lives! His is a poem about finding hope in any and all circumstances. 


When I think of the birth of the Savior I think of hope. I think of the Nephites fearing for their lives and waiting for the sign of his birth to be given. I think of Mary and Joseph, full of faith and hope (and maybe even a little fear) as they contemplated the magnitude of their child’s calling in this life and what his birth would mean for every human soul. I think of the hope that turned to joy in individuals, both on earth and in the heavens, when they saw the sign of his birth in the night sky. 


Hope is what Christ has given us. Because of Christ’s birth we all have hope of things to come.  This hope always has, and always will carry us through difficult times.


President Uchtdorf shared this story about his mother during a time of trouble….


Near the end of World War II, President Uchtdorf’s father had been drafted into the German army, leaving his mother alone to care for his family. They were living in Czechoslovakia, and the battle front was moving closer. 


During the winter of 1944, his mother decided to pack up her children and flee to Germany. She knew that travel would be dangerous as they would be passing through a war zone.


She managed to get them on one of the last refugee trains heading west. Along the way the train stopped occasionally to get supplies. One night during one of these stops, his mother got off the train to find food for her four children. However, when she returned to the train it was gone!


I can only imagine the panic and worry that she felt at the moment. She frantically searched the massive train station, and all of the criss-crossing tracks hoping that the train had not already departed.


President Uchtdorf said. “Perhaps I will never know all that went through my mother’s heart and mind on that black night as she searched through a grim railroad station for her lost children. That she was terrified, I have no doubt. I am certain it crossed her mind that if she did not find this train, she might never see her children again. I know with certainty: her faith overcame her fear, and her hope overcame her despair. She was not a woman who would sit and bemoan tragedy. She moved. She put her faith and hope into action. She ran from track to track and from train to train until she finally found our train. It had been moved to a remote area of the station. There, at last, she found her children again.”


Hope is a verb. It is more than just wishful thinking. It drives us away from despair, and inspires us to act. Hope is what allows us to push forward, one step at a time. Hope is what President Uchtdorf’s mother felt that drove her to search for her children, when she could have just sat down and cried in despair. 


Satan uses doubt and despair to stop us in our tracks and keep us from progressing and moving forward. 


President Uchtdorf goes on to say that, “Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered.”


So how do we increase our hope?


Last week our YW lesson was about putting the things of God first in our lives. I think that is exactly how we increase our hope…. we focus on the things that matter most. In a conference talk by President Uchtdor (clearly I’m on an Uchtdorf kick this week) he talked about the 4 relationships that matter most. Our relationship with our heavenly father, our relationship with our family, our relationship with ourselves, and our relationship with our fellowman. When we strengthen these four relationships, are we not going to be filled with hope?


When we invest time into our relationship with our Heavenly father in prayer, in the scriptures, and in the temple we are promised peace. During our class we discussed how we spend our time and the importance of spending time daily with our Heavenly father. President Nelson said, 


My brothers and sisters, I plead with you to make time for the Lord! Make your own spiritual foundation firm and able to stand the test of time by doing those things that allow the Holy Ghost to be with you always.


I know that when I make time for my father in heaven he is always quick to reassure, bless, and direct me.


The next key relationship is our relationship with our family. Our ties to our family are eternal, so it makes sense that those relationships are incredibly important. In primary we sing, 


“God gave us families to help us become what he wants us to be–

This is how he shares his love, for the family is of god.” 


The stories that my dad shares about Christmas time in his childhood home are a good reminder to me of the importance of family. 


My dad grew up in the 60’s and lived in a small farmhouse in Heyburn Idaho. For several years of his childhood, his house was FULL. In addition to his parents and 3 siblings, they had a cousin living with them, his aging widowed grandpa, and his Aunt and Uncle lived in an RV parked on the side of the house and spent a lot of their time with the rest of the family inside. They were literally bursting at the seams. My dad shared a room with his younger brother and his grandfather. Interestingly, he never talks about his lack of personal space. Instead he talks about how special that time was. And like many of us, he has especially fond memories of his childhood Christmases. At Christmas time my grandma would make her popcorn balls, my grandpa’s love of music would ensure the record player was always playing christmas music, and everyone in the family would make a homemade gift for their family gift exchange. But the highlight of the year was when their unfinished basement was converted into a theater. They would build a make-shift stage and perform a family play complete with a script to memorize and homemade costumes for Christmas. My dad talks about the laughter and the joy that filled their home. 


Now as you might imagine, my extended family probably weren’t living together because they planned to. Life’s circumstances had made it such that they all had to come together. I love hearing my dad talk about these memories because I know that even though things might have been difficult they were together as a family and just being together gave them hope in their futures. I wonder if my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and great grandpa knew that their traditions would have an effect on generations? They were creating memories and feelings of love that would transcend into future homes and families. During my childhood those Christmas traditions evolved, we didn’t build a stage and put on a play, but we did have to perform in the Welch Family Band. And my dad came up with multiple schemes over the years to encourage us to be together as a family. You will never regret time spent developing relationships with members of your family, because those familial ties will last into the eternities.


Our relationship with ourselves is also key. This requires slowing down and spending time in thought….. time developing our talents…..and time working to become the best version of ourselves. The way that we do this will be personal and unique, just as we are. We might spend time reading, in nature, creating, talking with others, listening, or pondering. As we take time to come to know ourselves, we will begin to understand what it is that God wants us to become and in turn we will have feelings of hope and peace.


The final key relationship that Uchtorf talks about is our relationship with our fellow man.  I feel like this is the way that we are able to share our hope with others. 


Last week during that same YW class I was reminded of an experience that brought me hope, and I apologize to the YW that have to hear this story again. 


Early this fall I was driving down Fairview, crossing Eagle road and I saw what looked like a large metal box laying on the side of the road. As I got closer I was horrified to see that it was actually a motorized wheelchair that had gone off the curb and fallen into the turning lane. The sprinklers were going and there laid someone in distress, strapped into their wheelchair on the side of the road with the sprinklers blasting on them. I was driving in the middle lane and couldn’t stop immediately, so I hurried and changed lanes and quickly turned into the parking lot to help. Less than a minute had passed, but by the time I got there, there were already 5 people helping this man. One woman happened to have a towel in her car and was holding it to shield him from the sprinklers, 3 others were gently lifting him back to an upright position and out of harm’s way. Someone else was drying his glasses so he could see. A bag of his groceries had spilled out on the road and we were all gathering up his food and putting it back in his basket. Then the sweet woman with the towel dried this man and his chair off as best she could. What had started out as merely a heartbreaking scene, quickly turned into one where my heart was touched by all of the caring people trying to help this stranger. I witnessed people reaching out to help someone and it gave me hope and reminded me of the goodness of people. There is so much kindness and love in this world. As we follow the example of our Savior and “go about doing good” our hope increases along with those we serve. For me, on that day when I saw others ‘going about doing good’ my hope was strengthened. 


Our relationships with our fellow man is strengthened when we take the time to reach out and make connections. When we offer help to a stranger. When we say a kind word. When we volunteer to help those in need. When we perform the service for others that our heavenly father is relying on us to do. 


Ether 12:4 says, “ Wherefore, whoso believeth in God, might with surety, hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

This Christmas season as we reflect on the birth of our Savior I pray that we will all feel hope, and then allow that hope to lead us to action. I know that as we take the time to strengthen our relationships with God, our families, ourselves, and our fellow man we will feel the spirit of hope grow within us.


For a few years now I have been thinking about going back to school to get a master's degree in counseling. I looked into it seriously last year, but when I learned that classes were only offered during the evenings I decided it wasn't a good fit for me. But then, in an interesting turn of events, John went to lunch with our bishop who had recently applied to ISU's counseling program and he mentioned that they now offered a daytime program. So I decided to go for it. Goob helped me with my letter of intent, and Natalie Ball, Kara Stevens, and Darlene Dowdle were all kind enough to write me a letter of recommendation. And now I wait. If they like my application I'll have and interview in February and then should know by March whether or not I was accepted. I'm still panicked about the thought of going back to school, so we'll see how this all plays out. 

With my talk over, and my application turned in, and Ainsley home, it was time to focus on Christmas. 

I made my carmel again this year. I'm a self proclaimed master of carmel. 
We made peppermint cookies to take to the neighbors.
And we had a fight over the peppermint sandwich cookies when one child ate more than what another child deemed as his fair share. 

The kids all finished their advent calendars. I'm so impressed with how they all turned out. I think next year I'm going to make Owen and John and I all paint along with Emmie.




And finally Christmas eve was here. After a day of food prep we were ready to feast. Ains made the cute name tags.

I set the cute table. 


I also made the sub-par food...but no one complained out loud. I guess all meals can't be winners. 


We had a fun "program". Owen Made us a Jeopardy game with super hard facts. His categories were Christmas, Kenya, calculus, random, and something else I can't remember. We failed miserably!

I got a new game and some $1 bills to play Left, Center, Right. Owen was the winner and walked away with $25!

And Emmie and Grandpa played a saxophone duet. Sadly their practice time was limited to 3o minutes before the performance due to illness...but they managed to play! Hopefully we get a repeat performance next year. (It sounded awful...so there's nowhere to go but up!)


We ended the night with pj's and the movie Elf. 



And then Santa came! This year was the year of the record player, cross country spikes, and clothes for Owen. 

The year of art supplies, a mini printer and a desk chair for Emmie. 


And the year of the ice maker and hydroponic garden for Ainsley. 


For John it was the year of the blackstone and week of delicious. He made us fried rice, mongolian bbq, smash burgers, fancy tacos, and over-the-top breakfast burritos. We were well fed the week after Christmas. 
And my parents got us and Oculus for Christmas...so there has been a lot of time playing ping pong and Beat Saber. 

There is a new Top Golf in town that we got a gift card too, so we went to check it out. We had fun, but we got put in the worst location. Bottom level, farthest right. But I'd like to go again when we are in a better spot.






The remainder of our Christmas break week was full of mostly relaxation and food, but I did try to get us out of the house a little. We went and helped assemble hygiene kits for the Agency for New Americans. We visited Susie Ball in the hospital after her appendectomy. We met John for lunch at tin roof tacos. We went and swam laps at the YMCA. And the kids went to the record exchange. 

For New Years we stuck to our new-ish tradition of dinner, games, and watching the new Little Women. And we added some milkshakes in the mix this year. Owen joined us for dinner, but then went to play games with his friend Logan. Apparently Little Women didn't sound appealing to them. Crazy. 



And that's a wrap. The end of 2022. Hopefully 2023 has some great things in store for our family.