I started this post on Mother's Day.  I want to share how much I love and appreciate my Mom.  She is an amazing woman.  There is no more difficult or important job than that of a mother and My Mom is the best.  She raised 8 children and now has 21 grandchildren that she stays very involved with.
My Mom has taught me many important lessons in my life.  She taught me to be respectful through example and insisting that her children treat everyone with respect, even each other.  She taught me to work hard.  I know few people who work as hard and accomplish as much as my Mom.  All of her children are very hard workers.  Mom taught me to have a positive attitude even when faced with challenges and difficult times.  She doesn't let things get her down very often.  She taught me that it doesn't do much good to complain.  When our family was going through a difficult time my Mom said "When you have to, you just do."
I admire my Mother very much.  I am the oldest child in my family.  When I was born I would cry.  I don't mean a little bit for a little while, I would really cry for hours.  I don't know how my Mother dealt with it except her attitude of when you have to you just do.  What really amazed me is that my sister, Heather was born 15 months after I was.

I included this four generation picture because as a family historian I've come to learn that we are influenced by those that came before us even if we never knew them or don't remember them.  I know that my Mother and Grandmother have had a great influence in my life and their mothers and grandmothers had a great influence in their lives.  That is how my Grandma Forsyth pictured here has had an influence in my life even though I don't remember her.

Sing me a Story

One of the reasons I moved from Logan, Utah to Cardston, Alberta almost two years ago is so that I would be close to family and I could be involved with my nieces and nephews.  This last week Todd's oldest daughter, Leah was in production called "Sing Me a Story".  It puts many of our favorite children's stories to music.  The members of the Cardston Carriage House Jr Theater or the children's theater sang and acted out these stories.  Leah has loved being a part of this group and it has been a great experience for her.  She did a great job being the mouse in the story of Thumblina and then being a dancing princess.
I am glad that I did move here and that I am able to support my nieces and nephews in their activities.  I wish I lived close to all of my nieces and nephews but I'm grateful to be as involved as I am with those that live close.

Update on Grandpa Purnell

I feel bad that I haven't posted in a while.  I have been really busy with work and helping my grandparents.  My Grandpa is still in the hospital and I have been spending as much time with him as I can.  He is improving but still has a long way to go.  Sometimes it's really hard to see how hard he is having to struggle.
It is such a blessing that my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Kevin came up for an extended visit just days before Grandpa went into the hospital.  I don't know what we would have done without them here.  The Lord knows what we need and puts things in place to fit those needs.  Uncle Kevin told my Dad last night that the timing of this trip was not their timing.
Two of my Mom's sisters, Margie and Sue came up this weekend to help move Grandpa and Grandma to an assisted living residence so that they can both get the care that they need now.  It has been a neat experience to see my Mom and three of her sisters together.  What a blessing family is at a time like this.
While Grandpa has been in the hospital I have been working on a history of my Grandparents.  It's neat how many stories and memories people are willing to share as they come and visit Grandpa.  It's also neat to see all the family and friends that come by to encourage and support my Grandparents through this challenge.  It is nice to know that none of us have to be alone through this struggle.
If everything goes as planned Grandpa will be able to get out of the hospital on Tuesday.  He is really looking forward to getting out.  He has been in the hospital for about a month and is getting really tired of it.  I don't blame him.  The hospital is not a fun place to be.

Childhood Neighborhood: Triads in Logan, Utah

The first real neighborhood I remember when I was growing up was the married student house we lived in in Logan, Utah while my Dad was going to school at Utah State University.  The Triads, or Agi Villiage as it is also called was an apartment complex close to campus.  They were red, rectangular, two story buildings.  Three of the buildings would form a triangle.  Inside this triangle was a large lawn and a playground.  I remember spending a lot in the playground.
I'm not sure how many of these buildings there were.  In this apartment complex was a laundry mat.  The was also a part of a building that people in complex could use.  I remember going to tumbling and ballet in this building. 
Our church building was not very far away from the apartment complex so when the weather was good we would walk to church.  The apartment was also across the street from the cemetery and deer would move in their during the winter.  Sometimes after church would drive through the cemetery and look at the deer.
The school I went to wasn't very far either and I would walk to school.  I went to my second year of kindergarten and to first grade there.

Stake Conference with Elder Holland

Today was the Cardston, Alberta Stake's Stake Conference and Elder Holland was in attendance.  My Mom and Dad, My brother, Todd and his wife Hanna were all in the special choir that was put together for this conference.  I got to tend Todd's three girls for an hour and a half before the meeting started and for just over two hours during the meeting.  I am very happy to report that all three of them did very well.
I got a surprise as soon as the prelude music started.  The first song began with my brother, Todd singing a solo.  How cool is that?
All of the speakers did a great job.  Of course the highlight was Elder Holland's talk.  What a powerful, motivational talk.  We are so blessed and have no reason not to reach out to others.  The gospel is so important in my life and I need to let others see the evidence of that.  The evidence of the gospel is what will bring others to Christ and his church.

Childhood Heroes

I've been working on writing a personal history for a long time.  I have several books and searched several websites about writing personal histories.  As you can imagine, by now I've got quite a collection a ideas and questions to help write my personal history.  I've decided to use some of them to help me write these blog posts.  The first one is going to be about childhood heroes.
I can't really think of any particular heroes.  I guess the people that meant the most in my life while I was growing up would be my heroes.  My parents are the first people who come to mind.  They have always been there for me.  They have been a huge part of my life and have been great examples to me.  Their, values, ethics, faith and love have been a stabilizing influence in my life.  I would not be the person I am without this influence.
My parents are both very hard working and very talented.  They are both intelligent and well educated.  I am definitely blessed to have such great examples and support in my life. 
As I mentioned before I grew up very close to my Grandpa and Grandma Purnell.  They have also been a big part of my life.  They have had a big influence on me and as you have seen from my other posts they have been great examples to me as well.
There has also been other family members, friends, church members, and teachers, who have been examples and influenced my life.  I will have to think more about this and may write more later.
As long as I can remember I have had heroes from the scriptures.  I remember beginning to read the Book of Mormon when I was about 9 years old.  I remember reading about Nephi and Lehi.  They became my heroes because they were so strong and faithful.  I wanted to be like them and always follow the Lord and keep his commandments.
In Primary I learned from the examples of Moses, David and Daniel, and of course Queen Esther.  I grew up knowing of the great lives this people lived and knowing that I should try to follow their examples.  What greater examples can a girl have.  I still try to live my life based on the values I learned from my childhood scripture heroes.  

Indexing calling

I have been into family history since I was a teenager.  I have served as a family history consultant in many wards for many years.  This year I was called to be the Indexing Coordinator in my ward.  Some people think that if you are good at family history you are good at indexing.  I can tell you that is not the case.  I do a lot of family history but I haven't done much in the way of indexing.
For those of you who don't know what indexing is I will explain.  The LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake has Billions of family history records such as census records, military records, parish records, land and probate records, ect.  A few years ago the church decided to digitize all the records they could and make them available online.  They also wanted to make sure these records were searchable so that's where the indexing came in.  Volunteers all over the word get on line and index the information on all of these records.  This is an on going project and they are always looking for volunteers.  My calling is to help and keep track of the people in my ward that are indexing.  
The people in the ward that have callings that had to do with family history had a meeting with the bishop last night.  They included my indexing calling in that group.  It was a very good meeting.  I'm glad that my bishop is so excited about indexing and family history.  I am now more committed than ever to learn more about indexing and get more involved in that project.