Ship of Fools

Recently, we celebrated the life of Alta Johnson Brooksby. She was and IS Derek's Grandmother. She was a good, kind woman and even though her body would not keep up, she had a work ethic that would put others to shame. She loved dancing and she loved music! I loved her and know I am a better person for knowing her. During the weekend of her funeral,I thought about how happy we were for Grandma. We (her family) know she is with those who have passed before her. She lost her father when she was 9 years-old and decided then and there, that she was going to live the gospel and do whatever it took to be with her father again. Alta had a destination and did not just float through her 92 year of life. She worked, she loved, she was upbeat, she was serving others, & she always put her the Lord first. (which balanced her life, I believe.)

On the night of her funeral, I was zooming around on Wikipedia History and I came across a Dutch Artist named Bosch. Here is one of his Paintings

The painting is so small and I could not find a larger jpg to look at or post here, but I read the meaning behind this powerful painting and now I want to get a copy of this painting.

Here is the story behind the picture:




"In The Ship of Fools Bosch is imagining that the whole of mankind is
voyaging through the seas of time on a ship, a small ship, that is
representative of humanity. Sadly, every one of the representatives is a fool.
This is how we live, says Bosch--we eat, drink, flirt, cheat, play silly games,
pursue unattainable objectives. Meanwhile our ship drifts aimlessly and we never
reach the harbour. The fools are not the irreligious, since prominent among them
are a monk and a nun, but they are all those who live ``in stupidity''. Bosch
laughs, and it is sad laugh. Which one of us does not sail in the wretched
discomfort of the ship of human folly? Eccentric and secret genius that he was,
Bosch not only moved the heart but scandalized it into full awareness. The
sinister and monstrous things that he brought forth are the hidden creatures of
our inward self-love: he externalizes the ugliness within, and so his misshapen
demons have an effect beyond curiosity. We feel a hateful kinship with them. The
Ship of Fools is not about other people, it is about us." -Nicolas Pioch

WOW!! that to me is powerful. I love that description of humanity. It talks about how there is never long term joy in floating senselessly through life. You have got to have a destination in mind. Bosch being a man who believed in god, even put himself in the painting with the "sad laugh". He was not saying others were aboard, he was implying us as in all those who dwell in moments of selfishness.

My maiden name has a ship connotation attached to it, So I am biased to liking ships and boats. After reading and studying this piece of Art work, I thought, "The lord is our lighthouse and the light is ON, beckoning us back with love. However we are the captains of our lives and we decide the course to take.

Alta Johnson Brooksby was a great example to me of what it meant when you had your destination in route. It was a life that had hope, even when times were hard. It was a life of working even when your tired. It was a life filled with love and joy of her family. And peace of mind, because she did not put things above people or the Lord. She was not on the Ship of Fools. No, not Grandma, she had a destination and if you wanted to get on board she would bring you up. But the compass was checked often and she knew to look for the lighthouse in her life to see which direction to take. What an honor to be married to such a woman's grandson.

I am going to end this post with a quote from Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckey that I have always loved:

" I do not want to drive up to the Pearly Gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long perfectly manicured nails. I want to drive up in a station wagon with mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schneck's lawn. I want to be there with smudges of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with dirt under my fingernails from helping a neighbor weed their garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and a friends tears on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived!"

Poetry in Motion

"Poetry in Motion" That is the name of that hog sculpture behind my brother-in-law, Kody. He is an up and coming Sculpter. He finally entered his first Art Show and got a Honorable Mention. That is so Huge! the sculpters who took 1st & 2nd place are well known sculptures in Utah. So we were beyond excited for him. His first peice up for sale is a hog. It is $1,500. After walking through the Art Show, we knew it was a steal because the 1st place sculpture was $240,000. (Can you say Mortgage?)


The Art Show was great. It only consisted of about 300 peices and they had a "I spy" worksheet for kids. So the kids had fun walking around looking for the pictures on the worksheet.


This is the 3 foot size papa pig at Kody's studio, that we toured after the Art Show. (This pig is dragging it's belly. It is so funny. He also is working on some other really amazing sculptures and it is so fun to see Kody doing what he was meant to do.

Our Weekend


My Sweetie and his Brothers & Sisters.

We started off the weekend at Derek's grandmother's funeral. She was 92 & a great lady. She had 8 children, 48 grandchildren, 97 great-grandchildren, & 6 great-great-grandchildren. I think about 30-40 grandchildren came & 60-70 great-grandchildren including her children with everyone's spouses. It was a nice tribute to a sweet woman. We had such a great time seeing everyone and we were so happy for Derek's grandma to be with her husband again who had died in 1980.

Then we had a great time getting together with Derek's Brothers & Sisters and their families Saturday night. It was a night of Pizza & Games!

Sunday we got together with cousins and had a big lunch at my in-laws house. We were going to head home and we were on the road when we turned around and headed for St. George. (The opposite Direction) Kody was taking some family to the Art Show in St. George and we decided we wanted to be there and show our support. We thought we would head back after the Art Show & Art Studio Tour, but we stopped by both of my brothers houses to see them and ended up spending the night.

It was a great weekend, until we came home and realized we were sick. Especially Derek & Austin. There were about 15 people at the funeral who had the flu or bronchitis. Ryan has got such a deep cough, Austin is miserable, Derek came home from work tonight,I suggested he go upstairs and got to bed, he said OK! I knew at this point he has got to be feeling horrible. He never does that. I sure hope we all get over this before we head to Cancun.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day to Everyone and Happy Birthday to my Dad!


I am doing this questionaire that was given to me by another fellow mommy blogger.


60 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
Five other seats, crumbs, a glove, luckily I just cleaned it out or this could have been a 800 page novel.

2. When was the last time you threw up?
Do you really want to know that?

3. What's your favorite curse word?
I don't have one. Who wrote this list? DId some 15 year old start this?

4. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
Better question, bad number.
Derek, just thinking about him makes me smile. Ryan (He played hide & Seek tonight with his bros, sis, & Daddy. Ryan counts so cute!) Megan, (She wanted me to help her paint a Valentine bucket for school.) Kason (Because he is animated!) Austin, (He got his fist zit today & let me get his picture, but he covered his tiny zit on his nose.) Jaxon, He is so lovey with me.

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
SLEEPING

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Trying to go to sleep. No Luck.

7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now?
My Fianl answer is, Sleeping. (I hope, I get that one right.)

8. Have you ever been to a strip club?
Thankfully No. When mothers see clothes thrown on the floor all we think is, "Hey put that in a hamper. Oh Crap! More Laundry!

9. What is the last thing you said aloud?
"I love you" to Derek

10. What is the best ice cream flavor?
My Favorite Flavor is: ALL OF THEM!

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
sprite

12. What are you wearing right now?
Purple PJs & dark circles under my eyes

13. What was the last thing you ate?
a valentine cookie.

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
I was just about to say no to this but realized last Saturday I bought a Swimsuit at Costco. (I know WHAT??? We are going to Cancun in three weeks.)

15. When was the last time you ran?
The last time the Ice Cream Truck rolled on by our house.

16. What's the last sporting event you watched?
Jazz game tonight, although not by choice.

18. Who is the last person you emailed?
My Uncle & Aunt

19. Ever go camping?
unfortunately yes

20. Do you have a tan?
ROFL!!! Not even a decent White!

24. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
sometimes, I think this is starting to me to sleep.

25. What did your last IM say?
Me no IM.

26. Are you someone's best friend?
Yep, he's snoring loudly right next to me. (Don't worry babe, Even when you snore, your hot!

27. What are you doing tomorrow?
Cleaning the house, Packing for a family member's funeral.

28. Where is your mom right now?
In Heaven, I hope!
29. Look to your left, what do you see?
the door to my bathroom

30. What color is your watch?
What Watch? The one I lost? I don't remeber if you find it, let me know.

31. What do you think of when you think of Australia ?
my tongue
32. Would you consider plastic surgery?
Yes, OK, affirmative, all right, amen, aye, certainly, definitely, exactly, fine, gladly, good, granted, indubitably, most assuredly, naturally, of course, okay, positively, precisely, sure thing, surely, true, undoubtedly, unquestionably, very well, willingly, without fail, yea*, yep. SO do you no know how I feel about Plastic Surgery? (Thankyou Google thesaurus)

33. What is your birthstone?
peridot

34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit thedrive thru?
WHy go in? That's why they call it fast food.


35.How many kids do you want?
3 but I have 5. Just Kidding, I really just wanted one.

36. Do you have a dog?
Like 5 kids is not enough to take care of?

37. Last person you talked to on the phone?
A neighbor

38. Have you met anyone famous?
Yes, but it was not the thrill of my life.

39. Any plans today?
See Answer for #7

40. How many states have you lived in?
3 states, California, Iowa & Utah.
41. Ever go to college?
Yes

42. Where are you right now?
Here. Where are you?

43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
Again, that NOT SLEEPING thing keeps coming to mind.

44. Last song listened to?
Little Wonders -Rob Thomas

46. Are you allergic to anything?
Oh, that list is just too long. Ask me what I'm not allergic too.

47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
Sneakers, I love them, I want to be barried in My Grumpy t-shirt, Jeans and comfy worn out sneakers

48. Are you jealous of anyone?
Yes, of everyone who is ASLEEP right now. I am awake doing this.

50. Is anyone jealous of you?
ROFL!! I highly doubt it.


51. What time is it?
I told you I lost my Watch.

52. Do any of your friends have children?
Yes, very, very,very many of them do.

53. Do you eat healthy?
Yes I have veggies with my butter and salt, sometimes.

54. What do you usually do during the day?
Try not to lose my mind. But I really believe that is a lost cause. I really need to come up with a new goal for the day.

55. Do you hate anyone right now?
I don't think so

56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
Only if I am in contact with another human, which pretty much happens in a familly of 7.


58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
34

59. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
yes

60. How did you get one of your scars?
By giving Birth to my children!

Run Noah, Run!!

I feel so thankful tonight. I am in a warm bed with my Valentine, knowing all my kids are safe and tucked into their beds. We had a big wind/snow storm here and luckily we were clear of things.

We also got great news that our nephew is walking again. He had not been walking for 4 days and it turned out to be a virus that is on the mend. We got word that he is jumping off the couch and running around again. So Run Noah, Run!!