Problems with my Blog

I am having some major problems with my blog!  I don't understand what is happening, but on older posts all of the pictures are going away, and there are just minus signs where the pictures used to be.

Then this morning I was randomly emailed a post from last November.  My husband asked me if I knew any blog-experts, but I don't, I wish I did.  So I am going to try to see if I can figure out why this is happening.  So in the meantime, please be patient if you get a few random emails with posts out of order.

Thanks,

Michele

Potato Chips and...

I know many of  the youth and adult are part of Insta Gram.  Well, I recently began to follow a group called, #365BofM.  They give you certain verses in the BofM to read every day and then they ask a daily 
question pertaining to the reading.  People then comment and share their feelings about what they are learning from the BofM and how it is changing their lives. 

One day as we were discussing developing Christlike characteristics, there was a comment that touched me so deeply that I wanted to share it with you.  It made me question myself and made me wonder if I would have the courage to do what this woman did.  This is from a sister in the insta-gram group who wrote the following comment.

"I feel as I study about Jesus Christ, that he is changing me.  I am seeing ALL things more clearly. I am feeling ALL things with more feeling and compassion.  To better explain, please indulge me as I share a portion of my day yesterday. Yesterday was supposed to be a fun filled day.  It was my husband’s birthday and he took the whole day off so that we could spend the day together.  We had it all planned out.  We got up early, read our scriptures and my husband helped me with my laborious daily morning routine to get my handicapped daughter ready for the day.  We dropped her off at school and headed to the Temple.  We arrived at the temple to find an empty parking lot and a sign explaining that it would be closed for a few days.  The disappointment was quickly replaced with awe as we walked around the beautiful gardens and then headed to have brunch.  

After brunch, we decided to go see the movie “Heaven is For Real”.  The movie was wonderful and as parents, who have suffered the loss of children, we were both very touched by the message of the movie and we were more than a bit misty eyed throughout.

Here is where the day takes a real twist….During the last half hour of the movie, a woman entered our theater.  At 11:00 a.m. our theater was almost entirely empty except for my husband and I and one other man, a few rows away from us.  With all the seat choices in the theater open, I was surprised that this latecomer chooses to sit two seats away from my husband on our same row.  

We were deeply wrapped up in the final climatic moments of the movie, when the woman began to open up a bag of potato chips.  Now whether this was the noisiest bag of chips ever manufactured or the fact that it was the quietest theater remains to be determined.  Suffice it to say that this woman was obnoxiously noisy in the opening of her potato chips (which by the way, they do NOT sell in the theater). Then the loud crunching began.  

All three of us turned and looked in her direction, in hopes that our visible disapproval would remind her to be quieter.  No such luck, as an act of defiance she purposely began rattling her bag and munching her chips with obvious open mouthed, noise producing, crunching.  My husband couldn’t take it any longer and as he was the closest to her, he felt it was his duty to reprimand her a bit.  He was not mean but he was obviously ticked off and his words came off curt and blunt.  She did not take it well and deliberately pulled out a chip and leaned over, looking right at him and crunched it in his face.  I reached out and grabbed his leg, holding him back….”Let it go!” I whispered.  

We went back to watching the moving, trying to ignore the continued, magnified crunching and rattling.  I could almost feel the angry steam seeping through my husband’s body, but my thoughts surprised even me.  I was not angry.  My efforts of the morning and this tender movie had filled my heart with a different spirit.  I could see the woman differently. It was as if I was seeing her through the eyes of the Savior.  I began to wonder about her life.  Why was she here in the middle of the day all by herself?  Why was she purposefully drawing this negative attention to herself?  Why was she so unhappy and choosing to cause animosity?  Maybe this was not about her but was yet another test for us today?

The anger now between my husband and this noisy newcomer was tangible.  In days gone by I would have just ignored it.  We would have just finished out the movie and discussed it on the way home, but not today.  Not with all that I have learned about how Christ would have responded.  

I got up out of my seat, stepped over my surprised, seething husband and sat down next to the lady and with genuine concern, put my arm around her shoulders and apologized that we had not acted more Christ like to her.  I explained that this tender movie had brought out some raw emotions in my husband and I, as watching it reminded us of the loss of our son and could she please forgive us for not making her feel more welcome in joining us for the movie. I was close enough to her face to see that initially she truly looked shell shocked, but her facial expression softened and she nodded her acceptance of my apology. I smiled at her and returned to my seat.  She made not a crunch for the rest of the movie.  We stayed until the credits ended and our lady friend also did not move.  As we stood to cross in front of her, she reached out and squeezed my hand.  I squeezed it back.  I knew from past experience that if I walked away without doing anything this day to make things right, a difference for good, I would regret it always.  Today I did not walk away with regret.  I left with a prayer of gratitude in my heart for the ever growing knowledge I am obtaining on how to love as He loves and for the courage to Stand FOR Him, IN HIS name at All times (11:00 a.m. on a Friday morning) and in All things (an uncomfortable situation between a noisy movie patron and my justifiably angry husband) and in All places (the Magestic Movie Theater)."

This story deeply touched me and every time I re-read it, it makes me cry.  It was such a small thing that this dear sister did to diffuse the situation, yet it changed the whole outcome and it makes me want to try to be a better person.

I can't help but think of the poem that Pres. Monson quoted this last General Conference.

I have wept in the night
For the shortness of sight
That to somebody’s need made me blind;
But I never have yet
Felt a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind.

Making Memories...

Because I have been feeling so good, I was blessed to be able to share a wonderful week and pack it full of memories with my older sister, Tami.  She is the closest in age to me, and together we celebrated her belated 60th birthday!  

It seems like mom's don't hardly ever get to do what WE want to do, because we often put the needs of others above our own.  So I made a list of all the things I thought might be of particular interest to HER and had her chose what she wanted to do.  Here is what we did.

I picked her up from the airport and we went straight to the Salt Lake Temple.  Tami had never been able to do a "live" session in this beautiful temple.  

Even though it was cold and rainy we took the time to take some pictures on temple square.


We tried to take a "selfie" like our kids do, but I think I am lacking the skill.  All you can see is our 2 big heads. It looks like I could use some lessons in this fine art!

We went into the Tabernacle to get warm and were able to listen to the "Bells" rehearse.  It was beautiful!  Then we made sure to take time to visit the beautiful statue of Christ!

One of Tami's greatest loves is ART.  So we went to the "Sacred Gifts" exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art.  It was fabulous!

Tami could have spent all day here!

  She loved listening and reading from the app 

we downloaded onto our I-pads

One of her other main priority was going to the BYU Harold B. Lee Library and scanning her Journals.  As you can see in the picture on the left, she brought a suitcase full of  her 13 volumes of Journals!

The two of us together spent over 30 hours there at the library, scanning her journals and talking.  Oh what fun we had! 

Our kids thought we were crazy when they heard our definition of "fun", but needless to say, we were very pleased with our efforts! 

 We made sure we stopped by the Cougar Eat 

and took a picture with Cosmo!

Life is too short to not take moments like these to create lasting memories!  Happy Birthday Tami, I love you!

I'm RICH because....

I have so many COUSINS to love!!!

My Aunt Marion Romney recently passed away at the age of 94.

We were able to gather to honor her at her funeral in Orem, Utah.  Here are a few of my Romney first cousins who attended. 

It seems like the older we get, 

the only time we see our cousins is at someones funeral.  

So several months ago, we decided to honor my mother while she was still ALIVE!  

Here is a picture of a bunch of my Tenney first cousins that gathered for her 90th Birthday celebration in Mesa, Arizona.

Cousin to cousin we'll always be,
Special friends from the same family tree.

 Author: Unknown

Feelin blessed and still going strong!

I thought I would give a quick update on how my health is going. It's been 3 weeks since I started my new healthy protocol.  I have to say that it has not been easy!  I didn't realize how much of a "head game" it would be in trying to eat healthy foods!

It is so crazy the way practically everything is tied to "food".  Our society doesn't get together unless there is food there, and it is usually the kind of food that is not good for you.  Even going to the grocery store, I realize how much of the food there is processed too.

Now after having said all of the bad about what I'm doing....I must say that I am feeling fabulous!  I was prepared to feel nauseated and not have any energy, but it is just the opposite.  I'm enjoying feeling healthy and happy and spending time with my family. 

I am trying to eat "whole" foods, the way the Lord has sent them here, without any processing or changing or adding to them.  That is so hard!!!!

I also eat Asparagus twice a day and have 3 berry smoothies (loaded with anti-oxidents) a day.  

I just learned how to sprout seeds this week and I'm so excited about it! I was taught that you can use your oven to have a warm place for the seeds to sprout faster.  

You are supposed to rinse it with warm water, twice a day and cover it with a warm damp cloth. The other trick I learned was that you put a jar of hot water in the oven each time you rinse.  It was amazing how it worked!

These are alfalfa seeds that I sprouted in the oven.  When seeds are sprouted in the dark, they look yellow like the picture on the left.  All you have to do is set them on the counter for a couple of hours and the photosynthesis from the light will turn them green.  So cool!

A blast from the past!

I am so grateful for my wonderful Mother and Father!

We recently acquired some old photos from our Romney cousins that we have never seen before. 

 Here is a picture of my mom and dad, Pearl and Lee Romney, taken in our living room in Flagstaff, Arizona.

I'm the youngest of five kids and so by then, they had stopped taking a lot of pictures.  So when I find a new picture that I am in - I'm thrilled!

Here are 2 pictures of our family in Flagstaff, with my Grandma
Vilate Lee Romney and my cousin Jill Romney.

And here's a classic picture with my mom and sisters in curlers! 

Do our kids even know what curlers are?

And now here we are, all grown up!

Mother's Day

What a blessing to be a Mother and a Grandmother!

 Here are some pictures we took on Mother's Day here in Utah. 

Here I am with a picture of my "baby" Tauna.

 Amy is so good to remind us to take as many pictures as possible.  Here we are with her four kids.Natalie, Brooke, Mya and Ryan.

Byron and Tracy and Carston also came over to celebrate with us.  You would never know by looking, but Tracy is pregnant with our 12th grandchild.  It's a little girl who is due in 4 weeks!

It was so rewarding getting to be with 3 of our 5 children.  

We missed being with our other 2 children though.  Dan and Kyrstin were out of town for a family reunion and 

Charlene and Paul Johnson and kiddos live in Las Vegas. 

I love this quote!  

I have gained so much and learned to love in a new dimension 

from having each of my 5 children!

A special thanks goes out to this wonderful guy 

who made it possible for me to be a Mom!