3rd Article of Faith

We believe that through the ^aAtonement of Christ, all ^bmankind may be ^csaved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.


So what does this meant for me?


It means that I know and am grateful for Christ Atonement in my life.  I am in no way perfect.  But as I strive each day to be better, I am grateful for the Atonement that Christ did for me that helps me as I make mistakes and get over things I am full of regret over. 


I love that this Atonement is for all mankind.  Not just me.  Not just my family.  Not just my friends.  But all mankind.


But the last part.  By obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.  That is so important.  To know that we need to follow rules.  That we do need to participate in the Gospel and to be obedient so that the Atonement can work for us.


The Atonement of Christ is the only way to return to our Father in Heaven.  I am grateful to have this in our lives.  I love being happy in the Gospel and look forward each day to learning more about the world around me.

Rollercoaster Ride

Well, emotionally this has been a few weeks living on a roller coaster ride of emotions.  How grateful I am for a loving husband and a knowledge of the Gospel.


I am not sure what I would do if I didn't have the Savior to walk beside me and to know that I will see my nephew Tyler again one day.  I know that one day we will meet again and he will run up to me and say Hi, Aunt Patricia, Love you.  The joy I will feel saying the same back keeps my spirits up.


So what do I believe, Well on Week one of my adventure of saying what I believe I did the First Article of Faith.  Today is number 2.


We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.


I am so glad to know that when I see God and Jesus Christ and am judged, I am only judged for what I have done.  It is hard enough to know that, but to think that I would be judged for ancestors transgressions that go back to Adam is terrifying.


Most of my immediate ancestors were wonderful people, but who knows what lurks in our family tree that we have not discovered yet.  To even contemplate that we could be punished for things we did not know seems unfair some how. 


I like to think of a parent.  Would you punish your grand child for things your child did when he/she was little?  I bet not.  Then why would our Father in Heaven punish us for those who came before us.


For me, returning to Heavenly Father is full of hope, love and joy.  If I had to worry about all things before my life, I am not sure if I would have the hope and knowledge to expect love and joy in that meeting.


How grateful I am for a testimony that tells me of the great love and joy our Father in Heaven has for each of us.

Dedicated Blog

Well last week I said I was going to say what I believe.  Maybe some of that will come through this week, maybe not.  Little did I know the tragedy that would strike my family in the week to come.  On Wednesday February 26, our dear Tyler passed from this world.  So I am dedicating this posting to him, rather than to my original plan.


To start out let me say, Tyler had some problems and maybe some choices he made disappointed me, but I always loved him.  I ALWAYS LOVED HIM.  He was as precious to me as every other niece and nephew and I always prayed that he would find himself and all the things he could become.  So my heart aches with his loss.


As I have moved through the days since his pasting I have been on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.  But the last few days had me remembering:


How he helped Kevin one sunny afternoon hang siding on my house in Michigan.


How the first time I heard that giggle when he was just a little guy.


How he loved that part of the Toby Keith song where he says me in 3 tones.


How when he was a teenager one afternoon we sat on the coach and laughed about this story:
     So he was maybe 7 or 8 and  I was watching all 5 kids at night while Kate and Kevin were at work.  Well everyone in my family knows, I am so not a morning person.  Soooo, Tyler wore the same shirt to school every day for 3 days.  When I got there this night, Kate says, "look, he needs to wear a clean shirt tomorrow!"  I not noticing what he had been wearing said ok I am on it.  So the next morning, Tyler not a morning person either, and I butted heads.  He wanted to wear the shirt and I said no, you need a clean one.  It went on so long that I told him I was going to come up and dress him like a 2 year old if he didn't hurry down and drive him to school and tell his class how his day started.  He came down in a clean shirt! 


When he and I talked about this a couple years later he looked and me and said I could so see you coming up and doing that, you were too funny.


How about when he and Thomas spent the night.  It was like I had 3 boys in the house, Keith, Thomas and Tyler.  They played video games, talked about comic books and other boy things.


I could write books on happy memories I have of him, but for now I will say, I just miss you terribly Tyler.  I know you are in heaven and that our Savior is there.  I will always be grateful for our last conversation.


Most of my family does not know about this conversation.  I know I never shared it.  It meant to much to me.  But he is gone now.  I am hoping sharing this conversation will help my family know a little insight I had.


It was a couple of years ago and I was visiting Michigan.  I went to my sister home to see her and those at her house.  Tyler was there (I think he was staying there with them for awhile).  He walked into the living room and we were alone.  As he usually did, he came over to me and gave me a big hug and said Hi, Aunt Patricia, love you.  I hugged him back and said I love you to.  He looked at me for a minute and he said probably not all the time and started to walk away.  I grabbed his arm and said: "Tyler, I may be disappointed in choices my nieces and nephews may make at times, but I WILL ALWAYS LOVE THEM, and I love YOU!  He just looked at me for a minute and said thank you. 


I will never forget the moment that day.  I did love him so.  From the moment we met to forever.


Tyler, this blog is for you.  You were well loved.  You are well loved.  You will always be well loved and I will see you again.  I can hardly wait to hug you and say once again, love you.  I know you will hug back and say love you Aunt Patricia and it will mean as much as it did every other time to me.  I can say no more, because I am beginning to cry just a little too much.


Love you, Tyler......              

Sunday post

So new goal.  Write on my blog every Sunday.  Now folks, I am not a writer so bear with jumbled thoughts and crazy wording.


So Keith and I have a good 2013 for the most part and are looking forward to a great 2014.  I have also been encouraged to regularly post my beliefs.  So the best way is to start with the Articles of Faith for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and what they mean to me.


1st Article of Faith:


We ^abelieve in ^bGod, the Eternal Father, and in His ^cSon, Jesus Christ, and in the ^dHoly Ghost.


So here we go:  I do believe in God, the Eternal Father.  I believe he lives and that he is the spirit father of all of us on earth.  I know he sent me down to goodly parents who loved and cared for me.


I also believe in His Son, Jesus Christ.  I know that he is not only the Savior of the world but he is my personal savior.  I am grateful for all that he has done for me personally.


I also believe in the Holy Ghost.  I know that as I live closer to my Savior that I can have the Holy Ghost to guide me in every hour.  In hours of ease and hours of trials.


I know that I live with these beliefs that my testimony in Jesus Christ will grow and I will grow closer to him.  But I have a LONG way to go.  I make many mistakes every day and I have to be reminded to do all the things I should do each day.

2014 A New Year

So I guess it is that time to post again.  It has been awhile.  I now have more Great Nieces and Nephews.  I can hardly wait to see Hank and Kimberly.  Keith and I are glad 2013 is done and hope for 2014.  Seems like I kept catching things in 2013.  Colds and other bugs.  2014 is already good.


We are approaching our 15 year anniversary.  I am becoming a knitting maniac.  So much fun.  Over the holidays, I made a quilt top and a skirt.  I made several cards for the year. 


Keith and I will be working more on crafting this year.  Scrapbooks, cards for him and mine will add knitting and sewing. 


We continue with re-decorating inside the house. 


We hope to do more temple trips and have much more fun this year.


This year we will be playing more games, less TV.  We have been "TV" free for almost 3 year.  We watch Netflix or videos.  It has been great.  We choose what we want, no commercials and no timelines to watch something.  The more I see the more I know that the new shows are not always appropriate for what I want to see.  There are few new shows that I will watch.  I can wait for Netflix.


So this year, I have made a goal to read 15 books.  That is a little more than one a month.  I have finished 2, but they were quick reads.  Let's see what I can achieve.  I just finished a book, but I don't think I will count it being I started it in 2013.


Keith and I will be making a trip to MI for my nieces marriage.  We also, will be going on a cruise.  So excited for this.  We have sent in our applications for a passport and once those come, we will be scheduling our cruise.  Yea.

NEW YEAR

Well this was an interesting year.  This was Keith’s first full year as a counselor in the Bishopric of our Church.  He has found he is a very busy guy.  But he has enjoyed it.  He spends time with 12-13 year old young men.  He finds them a lot of fun.  He has met many new people and learned about many things that interest him.  He has also met a lot of new dogs.  Of course this makes are 3 pooches very jealous when he comes home.

Tricia is still working as the Primary President.  She is having a wonderful time spending so much time with those precious children.  She has made many new little friends and now even has a companion to sit with most Sundays.

Tricia had her surgery this year and recovered very quickly.  She was back to work and everything practically overnight.  This was a great blessing to her.  The greatest part of this was her parents visit during her surgery and first week of company.  She was very grateful for their comfort.

Keith continues to enjoy gaming on Wednesday and Friday nights.  He has found many new games he loves to not only play but share with others.

Tricia has really gotten into knitting.  She is half done with her afghan.  She has knitted many things as gifts this year and enjoys the relaxation.

Keith and Tricia also enjoyed the visit from their niece and her family.  They all took little Cia down to Orlando to Disney land and had a blast.

So goes another year for the Sagers.  We hope one and all have a very Merry Christmas and a Great New Year.

Visit from an Angel

So Kassie, Robert and Chelsia arrived safely on Wednesday.  Chelsia was a bit shy at first.  We went to the Farmer's Market to get the supplies for Taco fest and Robert had a good time with Keith off gaming.  Kassie, Chelsia and I came back and had goulosh.  She was sure scared of the dogs, so we kept Gimli outside or in his crate.  He seemed fine with this as Keith bought him a bone with stuff in it and he did not want Sunny or Apollo to get it.  After goulosh Chelsia and I watched a movie.  She finally fell asleep in my lap and I was one happy camper.

The next day was a big day. We went to Disney World.  She had a blast.  I think her favorite parts were the tea cups (we went around and around real fast) and meeting Mickey Mouse and Goofy.  She even got kissed and kissed Mickey Mouse.

Friday we rested.  We were all pooped.  Chelsia and I had fun playing, watching movies and just talking about silly stuff.  We also went shopping for new swimsuits for Chelsia and Kassie.

Saturday was the Fort and the beach in Saint Augustine.  Chelsia was fearless for the water.  She kept right on trucking even when the water went right over her head.  Uncle Keith and Robert kept trying to build a sand castle, but she knocked down all their efforts.  It was histarical.

Sunday we relaxed, had taco fest and went down to the park.

I can't wait to see what today brings.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Ok, so Mother's day the last few years has been kind of difficult for me.  Most people know now that I was unable to have children of my own and look forward each Sunday to spending my time with the Primary Children at church.  Each child brings me happiness and joy that know no bounds.  This Sunday I started out a little sad because of external things.  Sacrament meeting was a little difficult listening to a wonderful sister talk about raising her children.  I tried to be optomistic and see the little things I do as a teacher.  Then the Primary children get up and they all sing.  Every single one of them.  I could not keep my eyes dry through it.  It was so wonderful.  The final speaker was humorous and I left uplifted and felt better.  Then those wonderful leaders I work with, they planned a presentation for me and so many of the children came up, gave me a flower or card, and then they hugged me.  I sob so hard.  My heart overflowed with the Love those precious little ones gave to me. 

So what is Mother's day to me?  Mother's day is where women around the world, young and old, those who have children and those who don't are celebrated for all those little things that they do for the precious little ones of the world.  If I ever forget what I do for those souls, I will pull out those cards and see the love they have for me.  I will never feel as worthy of this as I should, but I will always know that I have touched these little lives for the good and it will help me to strive to do more and more each day.

This was the BEST mother's day I ever had.  I am so grateful for being able to hang out with these little ones every Sunday.  I learn more from them then I possibly give to them.  They help me remember the little things in life that are important.

To every woman, single or married, with children or without, behold your little ones around you.  Shower them with love and you will have set a pattern of love that they will share.

I am gratefully for my testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and for the love he gives to me.  I am grateful for the sacrifice he gave so that I may work on returning to live with Heavenly Father again.

OH WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE

Ok, I admit, I am not the greatest at keeping my life updated.  So here we go...

Keith and I are now going electronic and trying to get rid of the hundreds and hundreds of CDs that we seem to own.  Putting them on itunes (then backing it up, just in case) and then selling the CDs.  We feel we will have more room for food storage.

General Conference this year was awesome and I keep posting my favorite talks on Facebook.  My favorite this year was from Elder Holland.  It was so meaningfull to me.  I loved what he said about perspective and kindness.  I also loved President Uchdorf and STOP IT.

All month of April I have been on on-call Jury Duty.  This is the busiest month I have had since I started working here and has stressed me out.  But so far I think the Lord knows how much I am worried about my staff and being out so I have gotten lucky and have not had to report.

Easter was good.  Jason and David are in Texas leaving Kelley here alone, so her and Jake came over for a simple Easter meal and we had very good conversations.  It was nice to have dinner together and have good conversations.  Of course, they both think I am nuts as I still like the Rocky and Bullwinkle show and turned that on to watch.

I also during the last couple of months got to use my new sewing machine with the embroidery arm and yes I used the embroidery.  I can hardly wait to see all the wonderful things I can make for my family with this machine.

I have one Christmas present done and bunches to go, so I know I need to get a move on or the fall will be stressful.

Kassie, Robert and Chelsia will be visiting woon and I can hardly wait.  Chelsia will be 2 and that is such a fun age (for the aunt that is).

BEING HUMBLE

So I observed a valubable leson while at my sewing convention on being humble.

The first instructor talked about how her husband spent time cutting the materials and everything for our class.  She talked about how supportive he is of her artistic craft and how grateful she was for him. 

The other instructors talked about how they had done all this work for us over and over.

So what I learned was the humbleness of the 1st instructor.  What a great example to me.  I would not know what to do without my wonderful husband who supports me to do with my talent.

ORIGINAL SEWING CONVENTION

Well I am back from my sewing convention.  I had 3 wonderful classes and 1 class I liked the actual item we made, but was not happy about the instructor.

I made a cool scarf, I mean mostly made, I was not able to finish any of the projects.  I also made a placemat and a cover for my sewing machine.  I was able to take a class on learning about measurements.  The last was an interesting class but way above my level.

I also bought a new quilting/embroider machine.  I will now be able to machine quilt.  I am so excited.  I am already working on my Christmas presents and this will be so helpful.

I am hoping to go next year, but I will need someone to go with.  Though going was a great adventure, I was really lonely with no one to talk to in between the classes and at night.

I cannot wait to finish my 3 projects and wear the scarf.  My goal is to be done this week.

FEBRUARY 2012

So.... I am finally over my cough.  Lingered forever.  So excited to be going to the sewing convention in Lakeland next week.  I look forward to learning so many new things and being able to create wonderful gifts this year.

Yesterday, we had a wonderful Primary Activity.  The kids loved it and they were so happy.  They all told me they learned so much and we had such a great time.

Keith and I are doing so much better with our food storage.  We are trying new things and have been working on eating at home more.

Work is very interesting lately.  We have been getting so much work and we are all doing great as a team.

I look forward to March and cannot believe we are half way through February already.

The Dinner Saga

So we are trying to pay closer attention to not only our finances but our meals also.  So we are making weekly meal plans and then staying in budget for the materials.

So far we have the first week made and have made 2 meals from our plan.  The first was on Saturday night and it was Cod with mushroom sauce.  We had this with fried potatos with basil and a tomato and onion salad.

Tonight was american pot roast, smashed potatos and veggies.  I made it from a recipe using tomato paste, something I never have done before.

I am going to try to keep up with this thread.  I want to try to stay on the meal plan and hope this helps me stay on target.

We are still doing good eating in.  Last night was clams and noodles.  Yum yum.

Goal 1 for the New Year

One of my goals for the new year is to listen closely to the Spirit as it talks to me.  Not just listen, but follow those promptings.  Sometimes this means doing one thing over something else I would rather do.  I know that if I follow these promptings I will be a better person and will have more blessings in my life.

One of my other goals for this year is to attend the Temple more often.  Last year I did this once a quarter.  This year I am going for twice a quarter. 

I have a dream of retiring and serving a Temple Mission.  How wonderful would it be to be in the Lord's Temple every day?  It would be a joy beyond my dreams.  Keith and I would love to do this together.

NEW YEAR NEW ME

So, I have decided to blog.  It took me a year to make this decision, but I always think about things for a long time.  I am looking forward to 2012.  I think this will be a great year.

The end of 2011 I re-organized and painted my craft room.  I hope to craft a lot more often.  I am knitting, scrapbooking, quilting and making my own clothes. 

I am also going to prepare for the next holidays way in advance.  I really want to make gifts, but I need to start earlier in the year.  I have lots of idea and plan on posting my progress as I go.