Family Together Again on the Mountain

Greetings.

Over a foot of new snow came to the Lodge over the last three days - and so did we. The Cloward's convened at the lodge for some heritage rejuvenation and some work to prepare for the next Dream Team and our next Executive Director Family Retreat. We surely love to work together. And after the work comes the laughter and the cooking and the singing and the joy of being together -- again.

We made four rhubarb strawberry pies to go with feasts of pot roast, corn on the cob, great salads, watermelon, oven fries and too much more to remember, without feeling guilty. We had friends and family to feast with, celebrate and make memories. We wish you all could have been here. I was grateful that the chemo did not rob me of another precious weekend of heritage making. As you can imagine, this time the joy was all the sweeter knowing that we came close to having had our last gathering, without having known it would be so.

So it is with each of us. None of us really ever know when it will be the last, or the end to things we tend to take for granted. The Clowards have come to savor even more these precious moments we are together - come snow or shine. As you look at your little ones and your big ones, take just a moment more to savor the precious moment and add a little bigger smile and a little longer hug. We have come to remember that heritage in the making is much more precious and so much more short than the heritage we then remember and celebrate.

Friends and Associates who Have Made the Difference

Last night was another of those precious times of being up and down often enough to have a little think and ponder time in waiting for sleep to find me again. I found that some of my thoughts centered on the people in my life that have had a profound influence. Some of these were significant because of who they were, some because of when they come into my life, some because of what they contributed and some because they were a gateway to experiences that have blessed my life. Regardless of why they have been important to my life, I started listing them and thinking about their contributions.

Many of these have been teachers,youth leaders and business associates. Most in recent years have been clients and business partners. None of them will likely read this blog, but I must let them know that they have contributed to my life. Although it will surely miss many here is a partial list of those who came to mind last night.

School Years

• Third Grade - LaVon Burningham, a great teacher and neighbor.
• Fourth Grade - Phil Argyle, a bit rough and tough on me, but nurtured my love of art with a mother's day project that he praised. It was a simple plywood with a rope-trimmed tray that I painted a pixie on. His admiration of the project was given at a pivotal point in my young life.
• The Clement Brothers - Steven, Gary and David, neighbors and good examples
• Tom, David and Harry Tippets and their folks, friends who shared the early adventures
  
• Eric Orton, my best Jr. High school friend
  
• Lon Sorensen, my high school brother and lifelong friend (and his wife Marie)
  
• Merrill Carter, my high school debate coach.
  
• Loren Phillips, my high school FFA adviser.

Mission Years

• Vaughn Stuart, my mission buddy and dearest friend
  
• Elder Tom Griggs, mission companion - a dedicated hard worker
  
• Elder Gary Cox, another great companion who knew how to work

After Mission and College Years

• Arlene Prows Stuart, Vaughn's wife who introduced me to Judy, my eternal sweetheart
• Michael Hess, my other "brother" who has been there for me and with me through much of our shared life challenges and joys
  
• Thayne Packer, Youth Leadership Department Chair whose trust and confidence set my feet on the path of my life mission in working with youth and children
• Rulon Skinner, professor of scouting education whose dedication to well prepared teaching of your services still effects my teaching and leadership
• Doug Nelson, Survival buddy, fellow faculty member and life-long family friend, confidant and brother
  
• Keith Hooker, the flying Doc whose heart is golden good and who has given me great adventures, experiences and service and continues to be there for me and my family

The BYU Years

• Kyle and Kitt Hooker, Keith's sons who worked with me in the Wilderness and Handcart trips and back-up support and helpers. They have grown into great men.
• Shanna Watts Ballard, my primary partner in the creation and conducting of the Pioneer and Wilderness Treks and a dear and lasting friend of the family.
• Delbert Jay, the dependable back-up man of the trips
• Herb Flower, Kevin Card, Sheldon Worthington, Dennis Chapman, Tom Tippets, Pam Budge Tippets, Kevin Marrett, James Loveless, Lori James Marrett - these and many others were key players in the early leadership of the Wilderness and Pioneer Trek Youth Conference Programs that I developed with their help while teaching at BYU

The Direct Selling Years

• Dale Lee, Kerry Asay, Kim Asay, Don Lenhoff, Gene and Kristine Hughes of my days at Nature's Sunshine.
• Mark Jacobs of Watkins products was also a key player in my early consulting career and afforded me the opportunity to serve and learn with his team in the halls of the Watkins Company, the great pioneer of our direct selling industry.
  
• Becky Wright and Lisa Brandau of At Home America, whom I learned more from and with than any other client in my Direct Selling consulting career. These sisters taught me more about entrepreneurship and commitment to a family-based business than all my other experiences in the industry combined. They live it. I am eternally grateful for their association and friendship. I only wish my dream of being in business with Becky had come to pass. I still have hopes that that dream will come true in some way with Heritage Makers.
  
• John Tefft, formerly of Shaklee, business associate and dear friend who has become a brother.
  
• And there are many more good direct selling associates, too many to try to mention, who have contributed to my understanding of the art and science of direct selling.
• Special mention must go to the DSA staff and friends who I had the privilege of working with over many years in in seminars and conferences, committees and workshops.

The Heritage Makers years

• Now in the culmination of my life work, I look to my association with my Heritage Makers Associates for their roles and contributions - they include, Sharon Murdoch and daughter Candy May, the founders of the storybooking movement; to Chris Crandall and Heidi Arave, for their dedication and persistence to make sure storybooking was birthed and cared for until we found each other. Then to Brytt, my son, whose focus on creating a direct selling business that served families pushed me to formulate Heritage Home Studio, just at the convergence of meeting the My Family Tales team. Then to Randall Harward for his belief in the vision and for the financial contribution that allowed us to plant the seeds and begin the journey to where we are today. And next, to Justin Biggs, our partner and technology anchor who saw the vision and whose continued dedication and service is so vital a part of our progress and stability. He was instrumental in bringing another key player, Karl Hale whose leadership in building a world-class team of programmers who have given us the great Studio tool. Next came Marshyl, then Bryndi family members who have been dedicated and have contributed much. There have been several other key employees who have made contributions and moved on. But the most important worker bee in the early days may well be my sweetheart Judy who was and is always there to help with whatever was needed. Records, shipping, printing, you name it, she has and always will be a quiet helpful presence in our business. Then came my partner Chris Lee from the My Family.com connection. He engineered both the purchase and the buyout of Heritage Makers to and from MFC and came with the deal as we left. And now he plays the critical role of CEO to manage the business of the adventure. His partnership and role in the growing success of the company and his commitment to the business and me, make him a very key and favored player in this phase of my life and work. I am grateful for his association, strength and partnership.

There are also those absolutely key players in our field organization that make up the most recent significant associates of my life. These are the women and men wh0 saw the vision and opportunity of the HM business and then jumped in with their hearts and their feet and have breathed life into the vision, service and business with their storybooks and their sharing of the message and cause of heritage. They now take up the bulk of my focus, thinking, association and time. They are the all-star team of my life work and purpose.

They are a small group who represent a larger and growing group of consultants who are following their leadership and faith in the business and the home team's commitment to the vision, mission and the direct selling method for long term success and stability.
Generally, these stalwart associates are now the Directors and Sr. Directors of the
business. They have largely come from two key members of the organization who
have become dear, dear friends and partners in the vision and future of our Heritage Making business. Wendy McGee and Virginia Dixon and their Sr. Director teams' continue to partner in the development and expansion of the HM dream. For their partnership and dedication I am so very grateful.

But, of all the human beings who had had impact on my life none have had the singular contribution and partnership as my brother Paul and my sweetheart Judy. Paul and I were a little older than our sister Amy and because we were into boy stuff we did not have as much time nor experience together. Yet we were close because both parents worked much of the time we tended each other and had many great adventures of work and play. One of our high priorities was to make our parents proud of us. It brought joy and a sense of "adultness" to us to make certain the chores were done, plus a little extra. In retrospect, the toughness of growing up with a father who was away most of the time, a mother who worked and ran the farm and the need for our sibling interdependence all combined for a significant contribution to our character. And it certainly was the stuff of strong bonding for Paul and I.

This blog has rambled a bit too long about those who have contributed to my life work and joy in living. So, I will hold for my comments about my sweetheart till tomorrow's post. Who knows? I may give you some of the really juicy fun stuff of our less-than 24-hour engagement.

I am certain that there are many others, not mentioned, who have made major contributions to my life. Teachers in church, youth Leaders and neighbors, coworkers and friends. To each of you who have been the source of enrichment and contribution to my learning, faith and testimony, my work and my life, I extend grateful appreciation.

Relatively speaking, the list is short, probably for each of us, which makes the names on our lists significant and precious. We have shared moments of our ever-so-short lives. The older I get, the more I come to believe that these associations are not by chance or coincidence. I fully believe that the day will come when we see the greater pattern of the Father's blueprints to be much more detailed than we assume in our day-to-day associations. I believe that we are blessed by and bless each other in a circle of close associations that come and go as we move through life. And that hereafter we will see and appreciate those contributions and the majesty that orchestrated our proximity and time together.

That is it for the thoughts of the day about those who have been the spice and joy of my life and work. I go to bed now knowing full well that there are more wonderful, incredible people I will meet and who will contribute to my life and work, and for who just maybe I may make a contribution to theirs as we move onward and upward in the cause of truth and Heritage. I so, so look forward to our meeting and working together!

Love,

Doug