1 The protection of marriage

An open letter, entitled "The Protection of Marriage: A Shared Commitment," was released on Monday, December 6, 2010, in the nation's capital. The document bore the signatures of 26 leaders representing a wide range of religions and faith communities, including Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Anglican, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Evangelical, Sikh, and Southern Baptist, among others. Presiding Bishop H. David Burton signed the document on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Marriage is the permanent and faithful union of one man and one woman. As such, marriage is the natural basis of the family. Marriage is an institution fundamental to the well-being of all society, not just religious communities.

As religious leaders across different faith communities, we join together and affirm our shared commitment to promote and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman. We honor the unique love between husbands and wives; the indispensable place of fathers and mothers; and the corresponding rights and dignity of all children.

Marriage thus defined is a great good in itself, and it also serves the good of others and society in innumerable ways. The preservation of the unique meaning of marriage is not a special or limited interest but serves the good of all. Therefore, we invite and encourage all people, both within and beyond our faith communities, to stand with us in promoting and protecting marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

This statement clearly represents the position of this family-based newsletter, and we publish it here as an introductory affirmation as we begin the new year.

2 Quote of the week

I testify you are individually loved of God, you are central to the meaning of His work, and you are cherished and prayed for by the presiding officers of His Church. The personal value, the sacred splendor of every one of you, is the very reason there is a plan for salvation and exaltation. . . .

I have struggled to find an adequate way to tell you how loved of God you are and how grateful we . . . are for you. I am trying to be voice for the very angels of heaven in thanking you for every good thing you have ever done, for every kind word you have ever said, for every sacrifice you have ever made in extending to someone—to anyone—the beauty and blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. . . .

Brothers and sisters, seeing your example, I pledge anew my determination to be better, to be more faithful—more kind and devoted, more charitable and true as our Father in Heaven is and as so many of you already are.

— Jeffrey R. Holland

(Ensign, Nov. 2010, "Because of Your Faith," 6, 8)

3 This week in our family

Our family's calendar for the next fortnight

Wed, Jan 12: Seaira Nichole Cleverly-Burdett's birthday [Lyle]
Thurs, Jan 13: Lyle's birthday [Lyle]
Thurs, Jan 13: Claudia Susan Hodson's birthday [Dean]
Thurs, Jan 13: Paul & Eliza Challis married 2004 [Dean]
Fri, Jan 14: Dale's birthday [Dale]
Fri, Jan 14: Joshua Frederick Price's birthday [Lyle]
Sun, Jan 16: Easton Higley's birthday [Kay]
Mon, Jan 17: Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Federal holiday)

Fri, Jan 21: Gail born 1937 [Gail]
Wed, Jan 26: David's birthday [Lyle]
Wed, Jan 26: Chris Taylor's birthday [Dean]
Wed, Jan 26: Next issue of the newsletter

If ever we are missing anyone's birthday or anniversary, please let us know

4 Bits and tidbits

Kay's family
Kay mentioned that Kyle and Melissa and family stopped to visit them in Hurricane on their way home from their holiday trip to southern California.

Kay will be having some surgery on his right hip and then his left knee, but the first surgery will not be until April after the tax season is over.

Dean's family
We had hoped to be reporting the birth of Paul and Eliza's third child, who was due last Friday, but as of press time she had decided not to come yet.

Relatively speaking
Any who are interested in obtaining a copy (or additional copies) of the recently revised and updated Batt & Lee Ancestors can do so by going to lulu.com. The book is a compilation of family histories of Dorothy Batt Cleverly, her parents (William B Batt and Hazel Jane Lee, hence the title of the book), and her forebears extending back into the Nineteenth Century. To go to lulu.com, simply click on this icon.



You can normally get the volume for $8.12 a copy, plus shipping and handling. Between now and Saturday night, you can get 15 percent off the book by using the coupon code RESOLUTION305 at checkout. You can only use the code once. This great offer ends on Saturday, January 15, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

5 Our family 50 years ago

Excerpts from the January 1961 diary of Dorothy Batt Cleverly (1915–1982). The full text of her diary can be found online at Dorothy's Idaho Diaries and is updated daily, exactly 50 years to the day after it was originally written. The family at the time lived on a 40-acre farm in the Deer Flat area south of Nampa, Idaho.

Thurs, Jan 12.  Dean stayed home today but he doesn't feel very bad. I spent most of morning working on books and all afternoon playing Scrabble with Ivard & Dean. I went back to work at Simplots tonite.

Fri, Jan 13.  Today is Lyles birthday & we didn't even send him a card. Ivard got me up at 6:30 & we got ready & went in to our church to Stake 70's free supper. We came home at 9: & I had such a splitting head-ache that Ivard called in & laid me off. I had it before I went.

Sat, Jan 14.  Jerry came home from California. Dale is 9 today. I didn't work tonite. I feel awful this morning. I took Dale & bought him a pr. sunday shoes, pants, & 3 pr. shorts for his birthday. Jerry made Dale a birthday cake & mixed up a freezer of icecream & Gene froze it.

Sun, Jan 15.  Ivard Jerry - Gene & Ray went to Priesthood & sunday school. I feel better today. Me & little Kids went to sunday school. Came home & Jerry fixed dinner & Gene froze a freezer of ice cream. I made a chart to keep track of our church attendance.

Mon, Jan 16.  It was real foggy comeing home & all day. I went to bed at 10: I was half froze. Jerry woke me up at 3: & I took him in to Sugar Factory to see about a job. He goes to work in morning. Ivard went to rules examination this morning.

Tues, Jan 17.  sent Lyle a late birthday card & note. I didn't go to relief society, too tired. Jerry didn't go to work at Sugar Factory, he got sick last nite & vomited, stomache flue.

Wed, Jan 18.  I came home from work & Ivard had taken Kids to school & gone to Nampa to take his rules test.

Thurs, Jan 19.  I came home from work at 9: I had a flat tire when I got to work & when I went to change it the spare was flat, the nite watchman took it & put air in it. Ray didn't come home from school, went to road show practice. Ivard & Gene went to ball practice & brought Ray home.

Fri, Jan 20.  I came home from work. I went to bed at 11:30. They woke me up at 3:45 the Relief Society teachers were here. After they left I watched Roy Rogers & read N.T. Jerry got supper & we ate & Gene did chores. After supper we mixed up a freezer of icecream & Ivard froze it & we ate it after Gene did chores. We were just dishing it up when Gail - Lynda & Kids came.

Sat, Jan 21.  Jerry got supper & Ray & Dean cleaned house. Gene had nap & Ivard watched ball game. Ray got ready & Ivard took him in to Kellogs to go on his first day, to Gold & Green ball. He took Judy Wilson. It was 1:40 AM when Ray got home. My nite off.

Sun, Jan 22.  Ivard Jerry - Gene -& Ray went to priesthood & sunday school. I read paper, bathed & took little Kids to sunday school. Gene gave 2 1/2 min. talk & did good. Ivard & I left sunday s. early & went over to Simplots to Annual Credit Union meeting. We got home at 4: Kids had Steak supper ready & a freezer of icecream & a cake. We all went to church, got home at 9:15. I laid down until time to go to work.

Mon, Jan 23.  Sent birthday card to David. I came home from work & Jerry took Kids to school. I ate & read paper & made a batch of no-bake cookies & went to bed at 10:30. Ivard, Gene, Ray, Jerry & Dale went to Mutual to musical festival, Dale was in it then at 9: they went to Stake House & Kids played ball, beat Nampa 4th Ward 47 to 34. Gene made 27 points.

Tues, Jan 24.  Came home from work & ate & read paper & watched T.V. then went to relief society & took Jackie. We got groc. & came home & I watched Loretta Young Show & the Millionaire & went to bed. Jerry got supper tamalee pie & a freezer of icecream. Ivard - Jerry - Gene & Ray went to Stake house & Ivard played ball & beat Kuna.

Wed, Jan 25.  roads were real slippery comeing home from work. I went to bed at 11:50 & Jerry woke me up at 4:30 to make gravy. We played a game of Scrabble after supper. I read in New Testament & went to bed until time to go to work.

6 What in the world

Whatever happened to global warming?
Snowing again in Atlanta. Up the East Coast. In the Midwest. Not to mention here in the mountain states. And in the Pacific Northwest. And cold, cold, cold. Brrrrrr!

Tucson tragedy
Last Saturday's senseless shooting in a Safeway parking lot in Tucson left 6 people dead and 14 others wounded. Among those killed were a U.S. district judge, three people who were in their late 70s, a 30-year-old man who was engaged to be married, and a 9-year-old girl. U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, was the apparent target. Representative Giffords was severely wounded from a gunshot to the back of her head.

7 A final word

In an address he gave at a BYU devotional in 2009, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "The start of a new year is the traditional time to take stock of our lives and see where we are going, measured against the backdrop of where we have been" (Ensign, Jan. 2010, "The Best Is Yet to Be," 22).

"As a new year begins," he continued, "I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives."

" . . . God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go. . . . This is an important matter to consider at the start of a new year—and every day ought to be the start of a new year and a new life. Such is the wonder of faith, repentance, and the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

And then this Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ marvelously concludes: "Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the 'high priest of good things to come' (Hebrews 9:11).

"Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant and far away. Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, of trust and divine love that will transform your life today, tomorrow, and forever."

Some good food for thought here. We serve it up as our New Year's wish to each of you.