Deklan James Garyson

Grandson #5!

Deklan James Garyson grandson number 5 arrived at 7:59 am on Wednesday October 27, 2010, weighing 7lbs 5oz 20 inches long. Mom and baby are doing geat. Big brothers Avery and Kaeden are very excited that baby "duckling" is finally out of mommies belly.

Sunday Joy

We have been attending church in Amanda's ward which is a young single adult ward. Yesterday was my last chance to be there. Two young men gave talks. One of them is an avid snowboarder and related his talk to snowboarding. He talked about the need to master the fundamentals of snowboarding prior to trying anything advanced. The four basic fundamentals for snowboarding are:

1. Maintaining balance and control
2. Pivoting and changing direction
3. Maintaining pressure
4. Following through

He then related each of these fundamentals to life and to the gospel. He talked about the importance of finding balance in our lives. He talked about knowing when we need to change direction to get to where we want to be, about peer pressure and being careful that we don't allow others to pressure us to lower our standards or give up our goals, and about following through on our plans and goals. As we master the fundamentals everything else will come. It was a really great talk. The next young man talked about being raised in the church but never really taking it seriously and eventually quitting all together. He spoke about his journey back and the difficulty of the return path. He said that he realized one day that attending church was a privilege not a burden, and how that realization changed everything in his life. What a powerful message! I loved this meeting and these talks. I am grateful to have been here long enough to hear them.

Lessons from Colorado

You know how you have some experiences over and over until you learn what you are supposed to learn from them? As we prepare to travel at the end of the month I wonder if I have learned all I needed to learn here in Colorado. I am starting into week seven and I find myself looking over the last six weeks and on to the next two wondering if I have taken advantage of all that was available during this time. The solitude of the first week while she was in the hospital and sleeping most of the day. The escape from the alarm clock that rules my daily life. The lack of a schedule or any structure to the day. Losing track of what day it was. These are not the normal descriptions of my life. The first month was a quiet one as Amanda worked on regaining strength and balance. We read scriptures together, watched way too much TV together, ate together, walked together, went to appointments together, worked on crafts together, and did lots of talking and sharing together. I am grateful for the closeness of our relationship. We have been together almost 24 hours a day since August 29th and have gotten along amazingly well. What will it feel like to let other people into our space? Life here has been very insulated with few visitors and few intrusions from the outside world. A sanctuary from the stresses of my usual routine. What will it feel like to leave this sanctuary and be back around lots of people? What will it feel like to send her back here without me a few weeks later? Perhaps Kevin being here is a prepatory step back into the real world that awaits me in California. Can I hang onto the internal peace that has been with me in the quiet of Colorado?