Happy Birthday Ginger!

As the title may suggest, yes, it's another Birthday in the Bedwell clan! Happy Birthday Ginger!
Ginger is the middle child in or group of 5. We have had her convinced since she was old enough to comprehend English, that she was adopted. So Ginger, for your birthday present, I just wanted to let you know that "SURPRISE!!!!", you're not adopted!!!
Wow, now you finally know who your birth-parents are!!! (not that you could ever be mistaken for someone other than a Bedwell).
Of course I'm joking... we let her know a long time ago that she was not adopted... wink/wink...
Here's a picture of Ginger and a couple of her offspring:

We hope you have a great birthday and we look forward to seeing you next week for turkey day festivities @ Lake Martin!!!


By the way, I'm 36 y/o now and Ginger was born 4 years after me... so if you really want to, you can do the math and figure out how young she is.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland visits for my Birthday

Wow, what an unexpected birthday present! Well, first, let me back up. Yesterday was my birthday, somewhat uneventful, we had thought to go see a concert (Matisyahu was playing in Atlanta), but we decided that we needed to go shopping and to dinner instead, the kids had an overnight birthday party to attend, so it worked out nicely.
Melinda got some new Danskos and we both got some new Smartwools. Woooo-hoooo!!!!! Right? Yeah, I know, we really get crazy when we go out for a birthday (actually, Melinda's birthday was last week and our 12th anniversary was in between our birthdays, so we were kinda celebrating all of the above)... we had dinner @ Ted's Montana Grill ( www.tedsmontanagrill.com ) it was actually way more casual, and way more enjoyable than expected. My Bison pot roast was great, but looking back, I wish I would've tried the Bison Filet or prime rib/ribeye. Melinda had cow (beef tenderloin) for dinner and it was good too. It was an enjoyable night with exceptional company and conversation.
So, back to Elder Holland, (click on the video to hear and see Elder Holland's testimony, for more about the living Twelve Apostles, go to www.lds.org or www.mormon.org or ask an LDS friend)
Well, we were to have an "impromptu" Stake Conference of sorts this weekend... again, if you're a non-member friend, just ask, I'll fill you in... Stake (like stakes of a tent) Conference is a meeting of the congregations of many local LDS churches under a local presiding presidency, it happens twice yearly...
So anyway, our Stake (the Cartersville Stake), is relatively new and we have yet to build a Stake Center to meet in, so we have borrowed our neighboring Stake Center in Powder Springs in the past for the purpose of our Stake Conferences. We have also utilized the larger of our buildings in our stake, Mars Hill (Acworth/Dallas-ish) for this purpose as well. The funny thing about this is that coming from Cartersville, you typically drive to both buildings in the same route, on the same road, only Mars Hill is about 6 or so miles North of the Powder Springs building and it's off the main road a little. The reason this is funny today is because neither Melinda nor I could remember which building we were to meet in. We knew that Elder D. Todd Christofferson (another Apostle) was supposed to be presiding over our meeting, so we figured that it would be big, so we just drove past the turn for Mars Hill building and went on down to the larger Powder Springs building, where we saw folks filling the parking lot of the high school football stadium just up the street and figured we were there. I dropped Melinda and the boys at the church, then went and parked the car where I was picked up by the shuttle service that was being provided by the ushers.
When I got inside, I realized that I had missed the opening prayer and the opening song and Stake business. The first speaker was already speaking, then song, followed by the out-going Mission President (apparently we have a new Mission Pres.), then a song, then the "Stake President"... only it wasn't OUR Stake President... (BTW, we were now sitting in an overflow room watching on a monitor), so I'm turning to Melinda asking... "Did President Giddens get released?" She just shrugs, so we sit and listen.
It IS a very spiritual meeting at this point, but it did seem to be moving right along and not quite a typical Stake Conference, and no other affiliated meetings on Saturday and whatnot. So, the next speaker turns out to be Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and there's no sign of Christofferson, come to think of it, we had yet to see a familiar face from our Stake either.
Elder Holland's talk was awesome! He was very candid and informal to start, he made some jokes and seemed very personable. He explained that this "impromptu" visit was not to "announce the date of the coming of the Lord, or anything great and marvelous as that", but was an attempt of the General Authorities to get out and see the Saints and be seen by them... (turns out that he was traveling with Elder Chistofferson, Elder Snow-- Quorum of Seventy, and maybe some others)... So, the visiting G.A.'s met on Saturday with all of the Atlanta and surrounding area Stake Presidents and Bishops/Branch Presidents. And Each met with a different Stake or two today... (Ah,Ha!!!)... Turns out that Christofferson was, in fact, at the Mars Hill building meeting with OUR (Cartersville) Stake and WE (Bedwells) were, in fact, attending the Powder Springs' "impromptu" Stake Conference and Elder Snow would be at another Stake holding a similar meeting... They were in Canada just a couple weeks ago, and will be in New York next week, and so on and so forth, going about the country (and assumingly other GA's doing the same thing), until after General Conference in April, then they will be going out of the States doing the same...

No wonder we hadn't seen a familiar face yet (well, we recognized the Mission Pres, and of course, Elder Holland). I've yet to find out the message of Elder Christofferson, but let me get back to Elder Holland's Talk. As I mentioned, he started out on a light note, but soon became very serious and began to address the youth specifically. He requested the attention of young men and young women from the ages of 12 to 22 and spoke directly to them. He relayed some experiences which he had to be near Presidents Hinkley and Hunter in the latter parts of their lives and he spoke of President Monson as well. He mentioned that the Thursday before Pres. Hinkley died, he conducted meetings in a typical fashion, ALL DAY LONG (as usual) with members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of Twelve in the 4th floor of the Salt Lake Temple. He emphasized that not only was this a few days before his death, but that it was also a few months before his 98th birthday. He really drove the point that President Hinkley and the Prophets before him as well as the "young" President Monson (81 y/o) had more or less lived their lives to the fullest, and had for decades, dedicated their lives to the Lord's work and on some level had possibly/assumingly secured their places in Heaven. (He kinda apologized for saying such and stated that none of the Prophets would agree or actually feel that way, it just was the point that he was leading up to)... His point was that these men, in the twilight of their lives, were still working as hard or harder for the building up of the Lord's Kingdom on Earth. "There is no 'Palm Springs' for Prophets" he said. Speaking of President Hinkley he said that if you were to give him a Golf Club, he wouldn't know what to do with it. "He would probably think it was some kind of device to beat a missionary upside the head with... you know, motivation" ...
His point was that these leaders could've and can easily justify "retiring" at this time in there lives and that their counterparts in the world, in business and otherwise, were typically well on their way to their "Palm Springs" by this age. He asked "Why".(regarding the Prophets). Why would they feel the need to press on? His answer was: (and if you see a quote on my blog, please note that it is STRICTLY a paraphrase), his answer was: "Not for themselves, it was never about themselves, it's always been for you." (speaking to the youth, which involves us all, obviously, but specifically the youth). He continued to drive the point that they were doing a selfless work and their dedication was without measure. He called this work and dedication an "investment". And that he wished to talk to the youth about a return on this investment. He mentioned some statistics about what age people fall away from the Church and that, overwhelmingly, it has always been sons and, more recently, daughters of members who fall away in their teens and early 20's. Those who return, usually don't return until later in life.
After some expounding on things mentioned above, Elder Holland asked the youth ages 12 to 22 and those who would soon be 12 to commit to paying a return on their leaders' investments. The investments of all their leaders, the young women's president, the Sunday school teacher, the Bishops and Stake Presidents, and so on. He explained that this "return" or "interest" would be in the form of tithing. He said "not 'Tithing' tithing, you pay that to your bishop, he can deal with that", but the tithing he was talking about was 1/10th of the youth's life. "Let's say you live to 100, then 1/10th would be 10 years." That's why he said that he was talking to the 12-22 y/o's. Because that's the age of the biggest falling away. He asked the youth of Powder Springs to fully commit to living the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to commit this day, to pay the spiritual tithing for the next 10 years of their lives. "Go on a mission, uphold the standards, read and learn the scriptures, cherish virtue and morality, share the gospel..."
It was one of the more spiritual experiences that I've had in a while. I would call it inspiring and invigorating. Elder Holland went on to promise the blessings of the Lord if they(we) would but do this. He had a lot more to say, and it was very spiritual, but I'm sure that you're about tired of reading this so I'll have to tell you about it in another post.
Anyways, living in the South, it's not often that you get to attend a meeting with an ordained Apostle of the Lord, a Living Prophet. I'm pretty stoked right now and have decided that it's definitely one of my favorite Birthday Presents.
We stood in line for a while in hopes to shake hands and thank Elder Holland for the visit, but it looked to be a very long wait and we did get close enough to see him, but we figured that we'd come on home, so we did.
The messages we heard today were definitely needed, I feel like I've been fed and led. I'm sure I would feel the same way if we had attended our own Stake's meeting with Elder Christofferson and I'm anxious to hear what messages were shared in that meeting, but as of now, I'm just glad that I didn't sleep in like my body wanted me to.
BTW, I know that Elder Holland, Christofferson and the gang are truly Apostles and Prophets of the living Lord Jesus Christ. I also know that Thomas S. Monson is not only the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but he is also a Prophet, Seer and Revelator with all the keys and authority like unto Moses, Noah, Alma, Nephi, Isaiah,Joseph Smith all those mentioned in the Scriptures. That is my testimony to you, the reader, which I bare in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Oh yeah, just in case you didn't click on it, go back up and click on the embedded video of Elder Holland's Testimony of Jesus Christ. It's good.
That's all for now, and thanks for reading.
Scott

Birthday time!

Today is April's birthday! Happy Birthday April! She's a couple years younger than me and a couple years older than Ginger.... that's all I have to say about that. Oh yeah, she's about 10 years younger than Melinda which brings me to mention that Melinda's birthday is tomorrow... I'll wish her happy B-day then.

Our new(ish) computer recently crashed and we lost every photo and music file that was on it so I'm digging through online storage places to find a pic to post. Here's one of April from the July 4 weekend of '07 when we camped @ Ft. Mountain in Chatsworth, GA. She's giving someone "one of her looks"... wink/wink
picture deleted per Melinda's request. Sorry
When I get a chance, I'll scan or upload a newer/nicer picture...
Anyway, Happy Birthday April, we miss you and hope to see you and your family again soon.

Love,
Scott

(FWIW, I'm very sleep deprived and will likely re post this Birthday wish when I have my wits about me)

miscellaneous

Yep, here's that random post which combines snips of a lot of things that I've been meaning to "blog" about but haven't made time to do it yet.

1. My folks visited a while back. It was just after school started (I think). I'd been bugging them and bugging them to come up and finally they did (actually Dad had been up a couple times for bike trips or a canoe trip, Mom just hadn't been up in a while... yes, it's way past time for us to pay them a visit... we will, we will.) Well, when they got here, we hung out, ate, went to a movie, did fun "visiting" type stuff. After they acclimated for a day or two, we decided to take them "Out"... you know, to do FUN stuff... so we drove them a little more than an hour away to this real cool place called "Rock Town"... it's on top of Pigeon Mountain which is a mountain plateau that parallels (on the south side) Lookout Mountain-- Chattanooga (but still in Georgia).

It was a nice visit, here's proof:

Oh yeah, we had to hike a mile from the parking lot out to where the rocks were, it wasn't a bad hike though, here's my Mom and the gimp (Dad has a partial knee replacement, jacked up back and he can't raise his right arm due to a pending shoulder replacement... we still love him though and he's one heck of a trouper!) Oh, Yeah!!! My girl got some climbing skillz!!! Not sure why she decided not to smile though.
Here's a shot of one of the part monkey, part mountain goat, part cheetah that we've been raising for about 10 years now... He can climb just about anything.
Just like big brother right?
Funny thing about these cracks in the rocks... some of them only had 20 ft. drops, others dropped for 40, 50, or 60 feet... I'm not particularly afraid of heights, I just get a little nervous when my dad and my son jump back and forth across these things trying to scare me... ask Dad how that turned out for him the next time you see him... (he made it across one that he almost didn't get back across... yup, he almost took a fall... probably would've been his last).
This is a really cool place and no pictures could do it justice. You just have to go there.
Melinda and Mom chill a bit while Macho man flexes for the camera.
After a nice visit with the rocks, it's time to head back to the car. As you can see from this picture, everyone was energized and ready for our next adventure.
It was a good visit and I'm very thankful that my parents are game to so many of my shenanigans. I'm already planning their next visit. Dad says downhill mountain biking is out of the question ever since the incident on the Pinhoti trail (between Ellijay and Fort Mountain) last year. So,..... I guess it's going to have to be hang gliding instead!!

2. Let's see, I already told you about the Canoe trip, so I think next we went to Ginger's for Jonathan's birthday (he turned 12 and was ordained a Deacon). You can catch highlights from this on Ginger's Blog. Here's a couple pics. It was a nice visit... We took the kids on a stroll through the Bamboo Forest in Prattville, AL. (just down the road from the High School that I graduated from--- I only lived there my senior year... it was o.k.)
I learned a valuable lesson on that visit. That lesson is this: If I ever intend to play cards with Dad and Blake (Gingers Husband) again, then I must acquire a prescription for Valium or Xanax for me and/or for them. They figured out how to push my buttons that night... It had been a stressful week and I was sleep deprived as usual... 'Nuff said.

Moving on:
3. Kittens... I may have mentioned that we have kittens... actually we got them mid to late June, but I'm finally posting about them... We had a cat named Spike-tail that we got when Stanton was a baby... he was a cool cat... half Manx/half something else... purely and outside cat... a mouser... Well, long story-short... he got poisoned by the tainted Chinese cat food, ended up with liver failure and died last October (I think)... he's buried in the woods beside our house. Here's a picture of "Spike". Looks thrilled to be held, right?
Yeah, I know I said he was an outside cat, but every once in a while, he'd scram inside while we were fixing him some fresh water, but he lived 98% of his live "Guarding" our home. We'll miss him. So, about these new kittens, they're actually looking more likes cats now. Their names are Bootsie and Aloe. Brothers, but look like they're from different families. These cats are curious!!! They are hilarious too. They've been in/out cats lately, but as soon as we get their family jewels removed, they'll be full blown OUTSIDE cats. Ever hear the phrase "Who let the cat out of the bag?" Bootsie is the one in the bag, Aloe is just guarding the entrance. Here's a little bit of footage of what they do many times a day and every night from 10:45 to 11:45 like clockwork: (the footage is from when they were quite younger ):

No, we're not what I would call "Cat People"... you know, folks who eat, sleep, breath "Cats"... and I don't think that we smell like Cat Pee either.. you know the kind I'm talking about... Stereotypically they are single women in the 40 to 80 year age group who only go out to buy more cat food and kitty litter. Our kittens are DANG CUTE though.... gotta admit it.

4. Stanton's Birthday! Turned out to be a pretty big ordeal. I think we last counted close to 40 people (probably 2/3 kids). We were running our usual 1 1/2 hours late, but with the help of some of our early guests (thanks to the Giles, Yandows, Campbells and anyone else I may have forgotten to mention), it came together nicely. We grilled hot dogs, Conecuh sausage, chicken, and pork shoulder/Boston butt (slow cooked/pulled pork style)... with usual side items and finished it all off with Melinda's Famous Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse filling and Ganache Icing. Stanton and the rest of the kids had a good time, as did the Adults (me too)... before it was all over, I had some of the men on Melinda's and my mountain bikes roaring up and down our trails... I think Todd Campbell and Jorge Bueno even rode on the teeter-totter that we built on the trail (one of our "intermediate" rated stunts)... Maybe for my birthday in November I can have all my friends come over and ride bikes again!!! Here are a few pictures from Stanton's celebration: Yes, that is in our garage... how classy of us.
I think the cats were the only ones who didn't enjoy the evening. Thank you for everyone who came, we enjoyed it... after living here for more than 2 years, we finally had guests over and the house didn't burn down after all. We did miss our friends and relatives who were not able to join us in the festivities... maybe you folks can make the next one.

Well, I'm running out of time and thoughts. See y'all soon (hopefully).

Later,

Scott (and Melinda if she ever decides to "Blog") Bedwell

Happy Birthday Stanton and Jessica!!!

Well, this is a big Birthday Weekend. Stanton (our baby) is turning 7 y/o, and Jessica (my baby sister) is turning um, well, she's um turning ... well, ehhh um, you can ask her through the link on our blog... I can tell you this: I'm turning 36 this November and Jessie is just shy of 7 years younger than me.... ;) So, Happy Birthday Jessie!! We sure do miss you and your family. We hope to come visit sometime this winter (fair warning)... for those who don't know, Jessica and her gang live in Wal-Martland, Arkansas and we live in Euharlee, Georgia (45 minutes from Atlanta and 30 minutes from Rome, 75 minutes from Chattanooga).

It seems like forever since Jessie was my curly haired little sister who flipped Mom the bird in the bleachers at Neighborhood Park in Saraland, AL during one of Chris's little league games.... a move that led to the accidental Head-Bash against the hard shoulder of the couch... Mom was upset but not THAT upset... I'm not sure if it knocked some sense into Jessica or knocked the sense out of her.... (joking of course)... it definitely shook Mom up...

It also seems forever since she lived with us in Orange Beach, AL for a summer right after Ethan was born... this was where Jessica trained to be a master Chef in the kitchen of Mangos on the Island (a restaurant made famous by uh-um, yours truly).

Now she is mother of 2 (soon to be 3) and wife of 1 (Ryan... who has surprisingly come out of his nerd cave and seems to be developing an addiction to cycling... I knew he'd come around!!) So anyways, Happy Birthday Jessie-Mac!!

OK, moving right along. Stanton, our little Cherubim. It's hard to believe he's turning 7 already. Melinda and I have been blessed beyond comprehension with the two wonderful spirits that the Lord has entrusted us with. Both of our boys are so vibrant, smart, and energetic that it can be tiresome to be around them for extended periods of time without proper preparation and orientation. Not to leave Ethan out, but because it is Stanton's Birthday, I'll come back to Ethan in another post.
Let me just tell you about Stanton Valor Bedwell. He came into this world wide eyed and full of wonder. He hasn't changed a bit. He's excited, inquisitive, passionate, spiritual, and loving. He loves the outdoors. He loves mountain biking, bmx'ing, hiking, camping, canoeing, tubing, climbing trees, climbing rocks, climbing anything actually. He loves playing with his friends (which definitely includes his big brother, Ethan). He love his Family and misses them when he's not around them. He sometimes (just out of the blue) will express his longing to see his cousins, aunts/uncles, or Grandparents who he hasn't seen in a while. He will lovingly inquire of Melinda's parents, who died when he was too young to remember them, and express his desire to have known them. Stanton loves going to church and being in Primary (children's Sunday School). He has an impressive knowledge and understanding of scripture stories and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His favorite scripture story is from Mosiah 12 (found in the Book of Mormon). It's when Abinidi testifies before the wicked King Noah and his priests. (If you are one of my non-LDS Friends, this is not the "Noah's Ark" Noah from the Old Testament... different era, different continent, gimme a call, I'll be glad to chat with you about it... better yet, I'll let Stanton talk to you about it).
Anyways, before I let my ADD get the better of me. Let me tell you about this past Monday morning. Being that we have two vibrant, energetic lads in our home, there is usually a plethora of small toys and pieces of toys (e.g. Lego's...) to step on in the floor. Well, Monday morning was no exception. I came home from work around 8 a.m. and got ready for bed. I had not even started to dream when Melinda woke me up with one of our kittens in her hands and said: "Scott, something's wrong with the cat, look at him!" The cat kept making this yawning motion and would paw at his face. He didn't seem to be in major distress as I could tell that he was breathing and somewhat calm. Melinda was a bit more excited, as she had noticed him doing this for some time and thought that something bad was happening. (the reason why we have these 2 kittens is because we lost "Spike-tail", our 6 year old Manx to the tainted Chinese cat food which caused his liver to fail last year). So being the Nurse that I am, I continued to assess the cat by the usual nursing method, you know: Airway, Breathing, Circulation (in that order)... as I looked in his mouth I saw something lodged between his upper teeth that encompassed his whole upper pallet. With Melinda holding him, I was able to pull this thing out, the cat shook his head a couple times, smacked his lips, then ran off to play with his brother. It turned out to be a round magnet from who knows what (Ethan is in a deconstructive phase where he likes to take things apart, he just hasn't made it to a reconstructive stage yet). So, I wash my hands and go back to bed. Fast-forward to 3 p.m.: The boys come in from school, I hear Melinda telling them about the cat so I get up and go downstairs. I reinforce what Melinda has told them and Stanton says to me something to this effect: "Daddy, during the 'Moment of Silence' this morning (they're not allowed to "pray" in school, so they have a "moment of silence" after their Pledge of Allegiance every morning) during the 'Moment of Silence' this morning, I had a bad feeling in my heart about the cats. It felt like something was wrong, so I said a prayer to Heavenly Father that the cats would be O.K. when I got home from school today." I was taken for a moment because I realized that when Melinda woke me and all that went on right about the same time Stanton would have been in his Moment of Silence. I gave him a hug and thanked him. I asked him if he always prays during the Moment of Silence and he said "Yeah, usually" in a nonchalant kind of way. I then encouraged him to thank his Father in Heaven that the cats were o.k. and for hearing is prayers. It may not seem like much to some of you, but when my kids say or do something like that, it really touches my heart. Being a parent is often very humbling, and when your children prove to be embracing Gospel principles and concepts (like prayer), well that's just plain inspiring!
Please don't think that I'm bragging (which I have no problem doing) about Stanton, but I consider myself beyond fortunate to have him and Ethan as my sons and Melinda as my wife.
Anyways, that's all for "Getting to know Stanton, volume 1". Wish him a Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday Stanton, I love you buddy!