Family Home Evening, Monday, April 28, 2008

Happy Monday and Family Home Evening,

What a fantastic spring day we had today! There is something so wonderful about spring green, and pink, and white . . . .

The weather also makes you want to go out and do something--not like we haven't been doing things all winter--but all the changes encourages us to make changes too.

Message: The joy of accomplishment makes most other pleasures seem empty and trivial by comparison. Anything you accomplish by your own effort is truly yours, and the delightful fulfillment it brings can never be taken from you.

Rather than worrying about what you'll get, focus on what you can create. What things of value are you creating right now?

Want to feel great about yourself? Then set a goal and accomplish it. Remember that you don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour. Mom is completing all kinds of projects at the MacKay College of Education, including a new edition of the magazine that she edits. Dad got his grades in at BYU and UVU and finished the syllabi for the new courses he teaches at both universities this week. Mom and Dad celebrated Monday by eating junk food for lunch, pictures above.

Scripture for the day: Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. (D&C 64:33)

Love, Mom and Dad
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

PS: James and Amanda! How about a visit?




Family Home Evening, Monday, April 21, 2008

Grampa Valentine adores his youngest grand child, Margaret Valentine Clark.
Grandmother Shauna loves to sing with her grand children, accompanied by Christopher Layton Clark, a superb pianist.
Shauna and the grand children play with the tone bells given to Shauna by her best friend Sheila, the queen of Yuba City.

Dear Family, wherever you are:

I had a terrific birthday. Thanks so much for the special treatment, the dinner, the gifts, the kind words. I LOVE MY FAMILY--you are terrific, you are a dear, dear blessing to me. Thanks for being so kind and taking care of each other.

Happy Birthday to Zane last Saturday, and we're going to celebrate Miles and Grandma Amy's on Saturday. And then the monster month of May when a great number of our family was born.

We really enjoyed Zane and Gigi in Broadway Kids tonight, and wish Miles the best with his Shakespeare play this week. What talent we have in this family.

Love, Mom and Dad xoxoxoxoxo


Happy Family Home Evening, and the thought . . .

"During a perilous period of war, an exchange of letters occurred between Moroni, the captain of the Nephite armies, and Pahoran, the chief judge and governor of the land. Moroni, whose army was suffering because of
inadequate support from the government, wrote to Pahoran 'by the way of condemnation' (Alma 60:2) and harshly accused him of thoughtlessness, slothfulness, and neglect. Pahoran might easily have resented Moroni and his message, but he chose not to take offense. Pahoran responded compassionately and described a rebellion against the government about which Moroni was not aware. And then he responded, 'Behold, I say unto you, Moroni, that I do not joy in your great afflictions, yea, it grieves my soul. . . . And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of yourheart' (Alma 61:2, 9).

"One of the greatest indicators of our own spiritual maturity is revealed in how we respond to the weaknesses, the inexperience, and the potentially offensive actions of others. A thing, an event, or an expression may be offensive, but you and I can choose not to be offended--and to say with Pahoran, 'it mattereth not.'"


(David A. Bednar, "And Nothing Shall Offend Them," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 91)

Family Home Evening, Monday, April 14, 2008

The blessing took place in the Clark's home ward.



Christopher and Lisa Clark in front of their home in Edgemont. Mount Timpanogas is in the background.
Margaret Valentine Clark shares the same name as her great-grandmother, Shauna's mother, Margaret Tholen Burgon, a wonderful woman. Grandmother Shauna Burgon Valentine sewed the beautiful dress, as she has done for all of her granddaughters.
Happy Monday to Everyone,

We had a wonderful day Sunday. Topher gave Margaret Valentine Clark a beautiful blessing. It was a warm, sunny day. After church and the baby's blessing, we had a delicious meal in Highland. Thanks to everyone. We were thinking of y James and Amanda and wishing you could have been with us, too. We are glad that James is home safely from the Maroon5 Asia tour, and we wish Amanda best wishes on her upcoming fashion show in Nashville.

And now for the thought for the week:

It comes back...

You have no way of knowing how or when all the things you do will come back to you. What you can know is that they will.
Some obscure and seemingly useless fact you learn today could end up playing a major role in your life next week, or five years from now. Some small favor that you do tomorrow may come back to you in a few months as a grand opportunity. You never know exactly how life will reflect back the face you present to it. Yet eventually, and quite faithfully, it does come back to you.

The value that you put into life becomes the value that you experience from life. The more love you give, the more love you are able to know.

Your words do not end when you speak them, and your actions do not stop when you've completed them. They go out into life and begin connecting you with the people, circumstances and things that resonate with those words and actions of yours.

Live as though the things you do, in one way or another, will come back to you. For you can be certain that they will.

Scripture for the day:

Let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. (1 Jn. 4:7)

Have a fantastic week-we love you,

Mom and Dad, Robert and Shauna Valentine
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Christopher Burgon Valentine, MD goes snowboarding!

Dad and oldest son Chris invaded Brighton in Big Cottonwood Canyon again last Saturday. Dad continued (second time on skis) to learn to turn on the "Explorer" hill (sounds better than kiddy hill) with a great instructor while Chris took off on the big runs. Dad's last run was down a grownup hill. Brighton closes for the season on April 20, so we may have a couple more chances. It continues to snow in the Wasatch mountains and a couple of times this week in the valley. It has been a long and very cold winter with lots of snowpack in the mountains for plenty of water this summer. Let's pray it doesn't melt too fast!

Jonathan James challenges Bob Valentine

Jonathan and his pals Ben Walker, Doug Anderson, Rick Sunderlage and Mike McBride met last Saturday at Tibble Fork Reservoir in nearby American Fork Canyon and hiked up to an un-named chute off of Box Elder Peak in the Wasatch back country just below the 11,100 summit and skied all the way down in new powder! Jon tells Grandpa Valentine that he can ski the back country wilderness with the guys after mastering the baby bunny hill for beginners at Brighton.

Jonathan James is a real skier!

The rest of us ski a little bit, and Grampa Valentine is trying to graduate from the beginner's hill at Brighton resort. Meanwhile, take a look at recent pictures of Gina's husband Jonathan in deep powder up Days Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon taken by Jon's buddy Joe Sepulveda. Yes, Jonathan has emergency equipment with him in the back country in case of an avalanche! Gina and Jonathan's daughter are great skiers, too, but Gina will have to wait until next winter (and the birth of their baby boy in July) to hit the trails again.

Family Home Evening, Monday, March 31, 2008

Happy Family Home Evening,

How is everyone doing?

We are such a family of movie goers, so a few thoughts about the REEL Life Lessons.

Someone wrote, "Good movies make you care, make you believe in possibilities again."

It doesn't matter whether its a NetFlicks , bargain matinee, or Friday night date, truth can be pleasurably discerned one frame at a time.

"Studying movies for their mystical message empowers us. We gain insight and greater self-awarness," Marsha Sinetar (author) suggests.

"Life can be hard and involved and we get lost in working out our problems and going through our trials. Movies elevate our sights, enlarge imagination."

Film, like poetry, is one of our heart's most subtle agents. It reminds us of what we know, helps us stretch and change, provides us with a sensory catalyst for creative, cutting edge. change. Reel power is "the ability to dig out, and use, whatever is spiritually valuable in a movie."

Films are celluloid fairy tales for a culture that no longer sits around the campfire listening to the wisdom of its elders.

I love the period pieces, the costumes, the lush sets. I love black and white mysteries, and colorful musicals. I always love lavish costumes in any time period.

Meditatively matching your mood to a movie is very restorative and rewarding.

"Movies mirror us and invite us to go beyond the obvious. Their themes and images can powerfully equip us to see ourselves as we are at our worst, and at our best, or to help us invent new scripts about who we hope to be," Marsha Sinetar believes.

We have enjoy the Jane Austen series of movies on PBS the last few weeks. Monday afternoon we took some of our grandkids to the Larry Miller theater at Thanksgiving Point to see "Horton hears a Who!" It was wild! Go enjoy a good, uplifting movie.

Oh, and we love the movie popcorn. . . .

Love,

Mom and Dad, Shauna and Robert Valentine
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox