Photo Shoot with Family and Friends Orchestra...lol!

We are not always serious!!! ♫♫♪♥♪♫♫

East Valley Fiddlers 2014

A retold Story I want to save

Pushups and Donuts and the Savior

I may have shared this before...but it really touched my heart.

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending school in Utah. In this school Seminary classes are held during school hours. Brother Christianson taught Seminary at this particular school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother Christianson's Seminary class.

Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over.

One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother
Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" again asked Brother Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother
Christianson said. Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited - it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"

Cynthia said, "Yes."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk.

Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut.

And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott.

Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"

Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"

Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No."

Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get
red because of the physical effort involved.

Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely. Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"

Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You can do them any way that you want."

And Bro. Christianson went on. A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was
about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!"

Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."

Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

"Yes."

"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda. Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Christianson, can I help him?"

Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten.

Gilbert Arizona Temple Open House Family Musicians plus one.

Pictures taken by Jamie D Johnson at the Gilbert Temple Open House... 3 generations of Family members
Grandma (Me- violin) Son-Bryan (bass) Grandchildren: Landon (cello) and Layna (violin) Smith and Kaitlyn (violin) and Connor (cello) Hooper, plus a friend & sister in the church (Jan Swain) piano.

 plus Scott Swain - Jan's husband

 The men plus by picture of the Savior

Special Spiritual experiences felt that night!

An Evening of Menu Tasting

 The Diners .... Mike and Eva Brother and Sister having a fun evening....

Free soda and a very nice waiter, and host and restaurant manager served and communicated with us.

Mike Invited me to and evening of tasting New Menu items for Carrabba's Italian Restaurant.

A fun new journey in my life story.....

 Here is the menu of new items on their menu with a discription of what the item is and then they wanted us to taste and write our comments about each dish on the square provided on the menu.

. I felt like one of those people judging on a food network show..... lol..

Appetizer: Apancini... It was a crispy crusty ball with a filling of risotto, Italian fennel sausage and cheeses, hand breaded and served with a marinara type sauce.

                                                           Pollo La Scala       I loved this chicken dish...........................................................
roasted chicken breast with a sauce with mascaponi and red pepper 

Mahi Wolfe : A fish that is grilled and has a little bit of artichoke and sundried tomatoes and a basil lemon butter sauce.   This dish was nice!

Rigatoni   This was my least favorite dish.
pasta was still to hard. It had a tough small piece of chicken and the sauce had mushrooms
and sundried tomatoes and it had a tomato type of sauce

My Favorite and everyone else as a matter of fact...
Pork Tenderloin wrapped with bacon... grilled and topped with a port wine fig sauce

On the side is the last dish... Shell shaped pasta tossed with  homemade Alfredo sauce ,
Mozzarella, Fontina, Romano, Parmesan and goat cheeses.

desert ... mini cannole
crunchie pawtry shell stuffed with sweet ricotta and chocolate chip filling
topped with pistachio nuts and powdered sugar..
Not my favorite or the best taste... not the first cannole I haven't  liked...

I had fun this evening and  on our table we met 3 other people and it was interesting..... we compared phones basically ...liked and disliked almost all the same dishes, but even if we did not like it too much we still ate it. With each dish the serving was rather small, but your pallet was always getting ready for a new taste.
One thing I think they should have is a bit of sherbert between each course ,,,,, LOL!

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

March 2, 2014

Gilbert Arizona Temple Dedication

Leslie and I were privileged to go inside the temple for the dedication today. It was awesome and so reverent feeling.This hymn just came flooding through my mind.

♫♫♥  Oh What Song of the Heart  ♥♫♫

Oh, what songs of the heart 

we shall sing all the day

When again we assemble at home,

When we meet ne'er to part 

With the blest o'er the way

There no more from our loved ones to roam!

When we meet ne'er to part, 

Oh, what songs of the heart

We shall sing in our beautiful home.

Tho our rapture and bliss 

There's no song can express

We will shout, we will sing o'er and o'er,

As we greet with a kiss, 

And with joy we caress

 All our loved ones that passed on before;

As we greet with a kiss, 

In our rapture and bliss

All our loved ones that passed on before.

Oh, the visions we'll see in the home of the blest,

There's no word, there's no thought can impart,

But our rapture will be all the soul can attest,

In the heavenly songs of the heart;

But our rapture will be in the visions we'll see

Best expressed in the songs of the heart.

Oh, what songs we'll employ! 

Oh, what welcome we'll hear!

While our transports of love are complete,

AS the heart swells with joy 

In embraces most dear

When our Heavenly parents we meet!

As the heart swells with joy, 

Oh,what songs we'll employ,

When our heavenly parents we meet!

Gettting to the temple at 6:45 

and standing basically in line for 

1 to 1-1/2 hours was worth it all. 

I used the new white cane I bought 

and Kirk resized for me

 to use inside the beautiful temple...

Again I felt like I was in a heaven on earth. 

I always feel close to heaven when 

I am in a beautiful sacred 

House of the Lord.

Especially this new Gilbert Temple.

 

Savior, Redeemer of My Soul

The video doesn't seem to be working....

 Teresa Service, Eva Hooper & Alyssa Aston

 Alyssa Aston daughter of Renae Roberts and Blair Aston is going on a mission to Pittsburgh, PA. she is leaving February 13, 2014 for 18 months. She will be an excellent missionary. Her cheerful, happy smiley disposition will convert people to the love the Savior has for us. Hopefully the video works, but if not we are performing Rob Gardners arrangement of "Savior, Redeemer of My Sou." We didn't get it recorded on Sunday so we got togehter this everning before she was set apart and recorded this beautiful piece of music.

Lyrics.....by Orson F. Whitney

Savior, Redeemer of my soul, 

Whose mighty hand hath made me whole.

Whose wondrous pow'r hath raised me up

And filled with sweet my bitter cup.

What tongue my gratitude can tell

O gracious God of Israel.

Never can I repay thee, Lord,

But I can love thee.

Thy pure word, hath been my delight

My joy by day, my dream by ?

Then let my lips proclaim it still,

and all my life reflect Thy will.

O'er rule mine acts to serve thine ends.

Change frowning foes to smiling friends.

Chasten my soul till I shall be

In perfect harmony with Thee.

Make me more worthy of Thy love.

And fit me for the life above.