Sister Peck, the new General RS president, spoke last night about making sure that the essential things are done before the non-essential things. Also, the theme of last night’s meeting was that we as women need to be united and speak with one voice. We need to stand strong and immoveable in what is correct and proper. (Pres. Hinckley) She also quoted Pres. Hinckley when he said that we need to not do our best but "do our VERY best." There is a big difference.
The 3 areas that were stressed in which we need to do our VERY best were:
1. Faith 2. Family 3. Relief
You know, it is always easier to look to someone else, with these things in mind, and see how others could improve. I list these for MY benefit. As I’ve pondered these items today, I realized that I need a list of things to help me in each area, to help me make sure the essential things are done. I realize that most of life choices are not between good and bad, but good and better. Here are ways I need to improve or remain consistent or have testimony of.
1. I have had experience-over-experience of spiritual experiences that let me know that God is real and that He loves me and watches over me. I have to, then believe Him when he says that without consistent prayer, fasting, scripture study and covenant making (temple and sacrament), I will lose the light. Or that my light will dim. Even with all those experiences. I could improve in each of these areas.
And as I am strong in the faith, this will be evident, as Sister Peck states, "in what we say and what we wear and what we do." I WILL do my church callings the best I can, I DO have a strong testimony of Visiting Teaching...it is not something I take lightly....and I WILL always try to reflect a daughter of God in all that I do.
2. The best thing we can give our family members is the opportunity to feel the Spirit. Or share with them things of a spiritual nature. Home Evening is more important than we give it credit. I am often reminded of the story of Moses with the children of Israel. When they were dying with plague, Moses held up a serpent and said those that would look upon it would be healed. Then it says that many chose not to look because of the easiness of the way. We have been given the promise if we faithfully hold Home Evening, that the Spirit would have a greater influence in our home, we would grow in love, feel more peace and be stronger in dealing with the evils around us. I know that we tried to have home evening...but sometimes it got displaced with football practices or busy work schedules. I realize that even though my children are grown, it is important to help my children’s young families to succeed in "their" family home evenings...and I’ve been pondering the ways that I can help.
I think my family knows pretty much my testimony of the gospel, but I also feel very strongly that as I bear testimony through my journals, my great-great-greats can also be affected. I pray especially as they read my "Book of Small Plates"...a separate journal of sacred experiences of our family, their hearts will be touched, their spirits enhanced.
And, especially as I remember how exhausted I always was as a young mother, I hope that I will be sensitive to ways that I can further lighten my married kid’s responsibilities.
3. Relief- in the same vein, as parents can help "relieve" our children, I realize that I am at a stage of my life when I can do much to give "relief" to many causes. My sweet Brandi’s Stake had a huge service project this past year. Yesterday was the finale and gathering of hygeine kits and quilts. With the many Wards in their Stake, her Ward is probably the lowest income but their high councilman reported that their Ward provided the most kits. I think the entire Stake did 5100 kits plus each Ward did 12 quilts as well. What a great project. I loved hearing about it. I loved to be involved.
I will continue to pray for service opportunities and realize that I have much to do. And that HF will open avenues for me to serve. But not at the expense of Faith and Family, or faster than I have strength to run. Okay, I’m not so good at running, but faster than I can hop. Okay, I’m not great at hopping either...how about scoot. I’m good at scooting.
I'll close today sharing a favorite, old-time recipe. It is one I used all the time when I was a youmg-married, because it is a dessert made with nothing more than is usually in your kitchen. It is like a caramel pudding cake. You can add nuts or raisins but we like it just plain. David asked me to fix this today to take to a couple of families he thinks might just need the thought today. And of course, I made one for us as well.
Poor Man’s Pudding Cake
Boil for 10 minutes:
2 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
Add- 2 T. butter
1 tsp. vanilla (Don’t forget this step!
I’ve done that a lot!)
Mix separately:
1 cup flour
½ s. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup water
Add raisins and nuts if desired. (We like it without.)
Drop second mixture into the first mixture
(in a 9 x 9 baking dish.) Do not stir. Bake
at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until brown
on top. Great with vanilla ice cream
or whipped cream!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
A Snowy Saturday
It is definitely fall and winter is trying to tease us a little. Today, amidst all the rain, it started snowing. I saw some of the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen! They were so beautiful. It is if the mountains know that Ben will be home in a few days. He and Suzie took a ferry from Alaska to Bellevue, WA. It took four days. Then they traveled by bus to Vancouver, WA to spend the weekend with my folks. My nephew is taking them to his cabin overnight tonight, I think. Then they will fly home on Tuesday. Yeah!
Tanner catching giant snowflakes in his mouth.....Because of the weather, I had to buy some new warm snugglie jammies and a couple of new CDs to listen to. And have had the fire going most of the day and even taken a nap. The cds I got were Andre Bocelli (Songs of the Desert) - he sings a song with Katherine McPhee of "Can’t Help Falling in Love With You." It’s beautiful. As are the other songs. And because I liked that, I also bought Katherine’s cd as well. I've had toast and hot chocolate to celebrate the weather.
I had to shake my head as I watched David cooped inside the house on a Saturday. He couldn’t go outside and rope because the arena was sopping wet. He couldn’t go outside and work because it was either raining or snowing. He and Tanner actually went golfing early this morning but even that wasn’t enough to save his Saturday playtime. I suggested that he go to the gym. You know that place he gets up on weekdays at 5:30 to go to. "It’s the middle of the day!" Oh, I guess you don’t go to the gym in the middle of the day. He’s like a little pouty boy. Hysterical. After watching some football with the boys, FINALLY he headed off to look for a Polaris...something he has done for a year. He can’t make a quick decision and always has to barter the price. I just shake my head....
Friday I finally finished this picture of Hallee Babe that I've been working on forever. I've loved learning to do portraits but I'm not sure I have the attention span to do many more.
Everyday I go to my front porch and take pictures of the changing mountain. It never ceases to take my breath away. It fills my soul.
Tonight was the broadcast of the Women's Conference. It was nice getting to hear from the new presidency. They seem like awesome and timely women. I'm so glad to have a hispanic woman to help reach women of many cultures and another single woman, who again, can identify different needs. They had a choir from South Jordan and I saw Jill Dahlquist/Wright singing and also an old roommate from Ricks, Ilene Mecham.
Oh, and I wanted to share this picture that I took of Boston this week when I was watching him.
He's only two and he looks like a kid! I don't want them to grow up!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Happy Birthday Tomorrow, Tenill-ie
1. Tenille and Travis just lived across 10600 S. from each other when they were babies. The Welch’s were in our Stake but we didn’t know them then. We moved when Travis was about 3.
2. Tenille comes from a family of 8 kids. Check out
Tenille’s mom. I think I was that size in maybe 3rd grade. Tenille is the oldest. Then Trent. Then quadrulets- Andy, Tiffany, Ashley and Natalie. Then Heidi...she was a surprise that came a year after the quads. Then Jake. They are a fun and crazy family.
3. She and Travis have been together for 14 years. They just celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary but it seems like they’ve always been together. Jake can’t even remember a time before Travis.
4. I’ve mentioned this great story before, but Travis transferred into the seminary class Tenille was in. They had already played a getting to know you game, where you tell two truths and one lie and everyone has to guess which is which. Travis said something like, "My name is Travis and I like to snowboard...and see that cute girl over there in the yellow? (Pointing to Tenille.) I have a date with her Friday night!" Everyone roared except Tenille was embarrassed to death. That’s Travis. He goes after what he wants!
5.Tenille told Travis she loved him on their first date. Actually, this is what really happened. They went to the Planetarium which was featuring a concert with U2 music. As the show went on, Tenille leaned over to Travis and said, "I just love U2." What Travis heard was , "I just love you too!" Yikes! He was shocked! Did she mistakenly think he had told her he loved her? What was this all about! It really freaked him out!
6. I’ll never forget the day that Tenille showed up at our home. Travis had been on his mission for awhile...and she came to show us her medical papers...she was going on a mission too! She said that she loved getting Travis’s letters and Trent’s letters (her brother was out at the same time) but that she wanted her own missionary experience. We were so thrilled when she got called to serve in the Hartford Connecticut Mission. Little did we know, someday our youngest, Tanner, would get called to that same mission.
7. I love so many things about Tenille. They lived with us for 3 ½ years and never did we not have fun. Tenille loves to play, loves to laugh, loves a clean house. She’s so organized except when locating her car keys. She and Travis are pretty goofy and they’re a pretty good match. We love that she loves him.
8. Tenille has even invited me in to witness the births of their 3 kids. I think I missed one because he was so fast. But she’s a riot when she has a baby. She pretty much is laughing and smiling up to the end, pops them out, looks like a beauty queen the whole time. She’s a great little momma and we love Rylee, Boston (Bo) and Nash.
9. I love that she loves the Lord. She gets it. She serves and serves. Right now she is serving in the Young Womens. I love that she calls me often for ideas on teaching her girls.
10. She cracks me up. She and Travis had been married for several years before I learned that she used to be a "Buttons and Bows" girl...clogging. When we are at Lake Powell, she makes David’s dad (who seldom does silly things) clog with her and it was so funny, we are all laughing and on the floor! It is funny! She is where Rylee gets her belly laugh from. Tenille is always laughing and smiling. She's a joy as a daughter-in-law. Happy Birthday, Tenill-ie!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Leisurely Days
I’ve had two days without a whole list of have-tos.....and it is so great to fill in a day at will. It seems like I’ve been running for the last month....so this is what happens when I get to "choose" my day.
Wed. Well, I did have a window cleaner coming yesterday early...to, you know, clean off all the bird splats. My flock of cedar waxwings seemed to vanish as quickly as they descended. Watch, they’ve been just sitting in the background, waiting until my picture windows were spotless so they could nail them again.
Valene called just before the window guy got here and said, "What are you doing? Can you help me right now?" Of course! She ran up to my house, armed with funny cards and pictures. I am helping her write a funny script for a power point presentation that she is doing for her son, Josh’s wedding dinner in a few weeks. This is my best talent...just sitting down and brainstorming. In a half an hour, we had the first draft.
And, for your information, this is how this engaged couple came to be:
Valene is Josh’s mother. Josh is Jenni’s brother. He is 27 and handsome but has never found a girl that made him flip. Jenni is one of my daughter, Brandi’s best friends. Cassie is Brandi’s niece-in-law. She is drop dead gorgeous...a cheerleader for the Blaze (SL’s indoor football team.) She has dated a million boys, but she’s not found one gorgeous AND nice AND spiritual. Enter Jenni and Brandi. Enter the blind date. Enter me. Well, just barely. For the first date, Josh was picking up Cassi at our home (remember in August when Brandi hosted a bridal shower for her nephew-in-law?) That’s right...AUGUST! I had the kiddos, having a little Happy Meal dinner in the Whimsey garden while Brandi’s in-law family shower was being held in the backyard. Josh pulled up and walked over to talk to me and told me he was picking Cassi up there. Just then, she walked from around the house. I introduced them. They could hardly hear what I was saying because fireworks started blasting off and fairy godmothers were giggling while sprinkling magic dust and the heavens were shouting "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!".....Josh and Cassi could hardly breath...they just stood there.... looking at each other... swooning. I got to witness it all. It was like out of the movies. They were talking marriage before they made it to the car. Well, actually it took 3 days. Brandi and I were the only ones that thought that was rushing it a bit. But both families had been praying for this very miracle...and who are we to ka-bash miracles and romance?
From wedding dinner script writer duties, Cathy picked me up (FINALLY her life is going to settle down) and we headed out for lunch and errands. I wanted to go to an upholstery fabric store by Quilted Bear, looking for fabric swatches for a project I’m helping a friend with, so Cathy and I went to Quilted Bear for lunch. She had never been there for lunch and I actually only go to Quilted Bear about once or twice a year...usually when Pretty Patty Petty comes to town. It was great because they actually had a new CD playing! I couldn’t believe it! PPPetty was always nervous about going there with me because they ALWAYS had the same CD on....and it just about drove me nuts! Really, I am a nice person but that CD...the sameness of it just for some reason set me off. She must have written them an anonymous note. I behaved myself quite nicely, I might add. It was so nice to just be with my friend...without any "have-tos" or "gotta-do-s." I love days like that.
Then David came home early so we could head over to one of Parker’s soccer games. It is clear across town, but it was fun playing with the girls (Brandi had a hair appointment so she wasn’t there) during the game and then we took them all out for pizza afterwards so I think that helped Ryan’s evening as well.
This morning I hurried and did a Costco shop for wedding shower food (next weekend for Cassi-rella), then met Brandi and the girls and we headed to this funky shop in American Fork, Finder’s Keepers, for her to see this cool desk I thought she might need. She had never been in the shop before...and the desk was gone but we had fun anyway.
I headed from there to my friend, Carolyn’s...I’m helping her re-decorate her home. She’s one of my writing friends and a couple of months ago, when we went to Linda’s (you know, of the "fear of tigers in the garage" fame), I rearranged her furniture and now they think I’m somewhat of a decorating guru. So I took Carolyn to the upholstery shop, then to Home Depot for more paint chips, then back to the house for decision time. She has painters coming this weekend. I think her husband was very worried....I think husbands should just say what my husband says to me. "Whatever makes you happy, dear." Yep, that’s what he says!
Spent several hours with Carolyn, then rushed home since I had dinner cooking in the oven and crock pot all day, to take dinner to one of David’s home teaching families. Of course I took them dinner, leaving dessert at home on the counter so I had to go back home and back to their house, then back home again. I can’t just make one trip anywhere. I drive myself crazy. (Oh, I might add I directed Brandi to American Fork, to the store, back to the freeway and home without getting lost, not once!) David was roping for the evening elsewhere, and Tanner was running out the door to a softball game....so I thought, "Hmmm...I see a warm bath and comfy jammies in my near future." Soaking in the tub...dreaming of an early bed....I suddenly remembered that David and I have an appointment with the Stake President at 9:30 tonight! Yikes! So, I’ve shared my "leisurely" days....and now I’m off again. I’m sure David is getting released from the High Council which he has done for 5 or 6 years....two years longer than normal. He’s been the senior HC for quite awhile. I was figuring that if he has served there for 5 years, then 5 years as bishop, then 2 ½ years as a counselor before that...and except for a couple of months in-between bishop and the last call, it has been over 12 years since I’ve had a husband to sit with me at church! Since Tanner was 10! I won’t know how to act! I won’t know what to do! Wow.....Maybe he’ll even hold my hand.....
Wed. Well, I did have a window cleaner coming yesterday early...to, you know, clean off all the bird splats. My flock of cedar waxwings seemed to vanish as quickly as they descended. Watch, they’ve been just sitting in the background, waiting until my picture windows were spotless so they could nail them again.
Valene called just before the window guy got here and said, "What are you doing? Can you help me right now?" Of course! She ran up to my house, armed with funny cards and pictures. I am helping her write a funny script for a power point presentation that she is doing for her son, Josh’s wedding dinner in a few weeks. This is my best talent...just sitting down and brainstorming. In a half an hour, we had the first draft.
And, for your information, this is how this engaged couple came to be:
Valene is Josh’s mother. Josh is Jenni’s brother. He is 27 and handsome but has never found a girl that made him flip. Jenni is one of my daughter, Brandi’s best friends. Cassie is Brandi’s niece-in-law. She is drop dead gorgeous...a cheerleader for the Blaze (SL’s indoor football team.) She has dated a million boys, but she’s not found one gorgeous AND nice AND spiritual. Enter Jenni and Brandi. Enter the blind date. Enter me. Well, just barely. For the first date, Josh was picking up Cassi at our home (remember in August when Brandi hosted a bridal shower for her nephew-in-law?) That’s right...AUGUST! I had the kiddos, having a little Happy Meal dinner in the Whimsey garden while Brandi’s in-law family shower was being held in the backyard. Josh pulled up and walked over to talk to me and told me he was picking Cassi up there. Just then, she walked from around the house. I introduced them. They could hardly hear what I was saying because fireworks started blasting off and fairy godmothers were giggling while sprinkling magic dust and the heavens were shouting "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!".....Josh and Cassi could hardly breath...they just stood there.... looking at each other... swooning. I got to witness it all. It was like out of the movies. They were talking marriage before they made it to the car. Well, actually it took 3 days. Brandi and I were the only ones that thought that was rushing it a bit. But both families had been praying for this very miracle...and who are we to ka-bash miracles and romance?
From wedding dinner script writer duties, Cathy picked me up (FINALLY her life is going to settle down) and we headed out for lunch and errands. I wanted to go to an upholstery fabric store by Quilted Bear, looking for fabric swatches for a project I’m helping a friend with, so Cathy and I went to Quilted Bear for lunch. She had never been there for lunch and I actually only go to Quilted Bear about once or twice a year...usually when Pretty Patty Petty comes to town. It was great because they actually had a new CD playing! I couldn’t believe it! PPPetty was always nervous about going there with me because they ALWAYS had the same CD on....and it just about drove me nuts! Really, I am a nice person but that CD...the sameness of it just for some reason set me off. She must have written them an anonymous note. I behaved myself quite nicely, I might add. It was so nice to just be with my friend...without any "have-tos" or "gotta-do-s." I love days like that.
Then David came home early so we could head over to one of Parker’s soccer games. It is clear across town, but it was fun playing with the girls (Brandi had a hair appointment so she wasn’t there) during the game and then we took them all out for pizza afterwards so I think that helped Ryan’s evening as well.
This morning I hurried and did a Costco shop for wedding shower food (next weekend for Cassi-rella), then met Brandi and the girls and we headed to this funky shop in American Fork, Finder’s Keepers, for her to see this cool desk I thought she might need. She had never been in the shop before...and the desk was gone but we had fun anyway.
I headed from there to my friend, Carolyn’s...I’m helping her re-decorate her home. She’s one of my writing friends and a couple of months ago, when we went to Linda’s (you know, of the "fear of tigers in the garage" fame), I rearranged her furniture and now they think I’m somewhat of a decorating guru. So I took Carolyn to the upholstery shop, then to Home Depot for more paint chips, then back to the house for decision time. She has painters coming this weekend. I think her husband was very worried....I think husbands should just say what my husband says to me. "Whatever makes you happy, dear." Yep, that’s what he says!
Spent several hours with Carolyn, then rushed home since I had dinner cooking in the oven and crock pot all day, to take dinner to one of David’s home teaching families. Of course I took them dinner, leaving dessert at home on the counter so I had to go back home and back to their house, then back home again. I can’t just make one trip anywhere. I drive myself crazy. (Oh, I might add I directed Brandi to American Fork, to the store, back to the freeway and home without getting lost, not once!) David was roping for the evening elsewhere, and Tanner was running out the door to a softball game....so I thought, "Hmmm...I see a warm bath and comfy jammies in my near future." Soaking in the tub...dreaming of an early bed....I suddenly remembered that David and I have an appointment with the Stake President at 9:30 tonight! Yikes! So, I’ve shared my "leisurely" days....and now I’m off again. I’m sure David is getting released from the High Council which he has done for 5 or 6 years....two years longer than normal. He’s been the senior HC for quite awhile. I was figuring that if he has served there for 5 years, then 5 years as bishop, then 2 ½ years as a counselor before that...and except for a couple of months in-between bishop and the last call, it has been over 12 years since I’ve had a husband to sit with me at church! Since Tanner was 10! I won’t know how to act! I won’t know what to do! Wow.....Maybe he’ll even hold my hand.....
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Girlfriend Tribute- Penny
When we moved into our main family home, the place where we raised our little kids and still had two kids, it was next door to the Gwilliams. As we would go to see the progress on our home under construction, we would see Tom and Penny, out in their yard, putting up a fence. A fence that would separate our homes. I remember Penny wore blue overalls and a white t-shirt. Overalls were big then. Her’s needed to be bigger since she was about 4 months pregnant but didn’t know it. You see, she had lost two babies, born a year apart on the same day, died a year apart on the same day after living a few weeks. She and Tom didn’t think they’d be able to have children but were lucky to be able, through various means, to adopt 3 kids. Being pregnant wasn’t something Penny even imagined. And when I would see the Gwilliams working on the fence, little did I know that in just a few years, when a few slats in the backyard got broken (we both had boys that year!), rather than repair it, we left it open for easier access to each other’s homes. Tom and Penny are like family to us. We’ve raised our babies together, cried buckets of tears, experienced a million memories as only close friends can do. Penny is a sister I never had. We went to so many new Ward activities together, and David was in the Bishopric so not always by my side, that after a year, we had someone tell us that they thought Tom and I were married and Penny and David were married. We thought that was pretty funny! We would take all our little kids to Lake Powell or lakes around Utah and boat and camp. Camping? What were we thinking? See what a bad influence the Gwilliams were on us! After the kids would go to sleep or would be off playing, we’d sit around and sing songs. Kind of a "name that tune" game. Tom and David would always sing old songs/old artists like Roger Miller ( CHORUS: Dang me, dang me. They oughta take a rope and hang me. High from the highest tree...Woman would you weep for me. ) or the Mills Brothers. Our friendship has always been comfortable. Tom was always the man of our house when David was out of town. I’ve mentioned the bat flying around the house. Tom had to get rid of it for me. And when David was out of town and the main water line broke in the front yard...under several feet of icy snow, Tom got to dig it out. When I locked myself out of the house countless times, Tom always would climb up on the roof and find a window unlocked. When Tanner decided to be born early, and quickly, Penny raced me and my mother to the hospital since my mom is from out of town and didn’t know where to go and I was in no condition to drive. And she stayed until Tanner was born. And prayed until he and I was better (several weeks.)
My favorite trip with them was to Cancun. It was a riot. First of all, we all made a list of the things each of us "had" to do. On Penny’s and my list was traveling to Isla Mujere’s...the island of women....on a ferry because we heard they had best shopping. On the boy’s list was attending the bull fights in Cancun. Well, we took the ferry , and when we got there, we looked at the return trips for the ferry that would make the bull fights and found out that the only one went back in about 45 minutes! We were so bummed. But the guys reassured us that they would "hire" a boat to take us back. We had a great time exploring and shopping. While Penny and I shopped, David and Tom took off to find our boat rental. When we got to the boat dock, we saw all these luxury boats tied to the dock. We were excited. We looked for our boat called "The Kingfish."
Okay, imagine the most beat-up boat, mismatched, nailed-together wonder you’ve ever seen. It wasn’t very big. It didn’t look trustworthy or sea worthy. Remember, we are on a island so far from Cancun that you can’t see it off into the distance. But the guys reassured us that the owner didn’t want to lose his boat and there was an experienced "captain" to guide it. The experienced captain turned out to be a boy...a little boy looking all of maybe ten-years old! And he didn’t speak any English. We couldn’t believe it. But the men were full of faith...and besides, it was cheap!
So, off we went...with our lives in the hands of a ten-year old and a rickety motor boat that had seen better days. I remember I was wearing this cute white t-shirt and a cotton-knit blue and white striped skirt. We hadn’t been out but a minute when the first wave hit. Up and over all of us in the boat. My sunglasses promptly slid off my drenched head. My camera swooshed from one end of the boat to the other in water. Penny and I held on for dear life! We got into a rhythm...breath, crash, drench. Breath, crash, drench. It was terrifying. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, we saw the pier of Cancun. We again saw all the luxury boats and ferry at the end of the pier. But our "captain" wasn’t heading for the dock at the end of the pier. No, it seemed he didn’t have a license to park there....instead, he pulled up to the rock cliffs that brace the pier. My totally soaked knit skirt now weighed 50 pounds and since it had an elastic waist, kept slipping down. Here we are, looking like we had just been through a typhoon, and now we get to climb up a 40-foot embankment of giant, sharp boulders! And in a hurry because the bull fights were almost ready to start! It was the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen. It was the most ridiculous thing we’ve ever done. It was a memory worth keeping.
I can’t remember if we had time to change for the bullfight or headed straight there. I remember having my nose bent out of shape because a "bull-fight" seemed like the most barbaric thing I could imagine. And after we bought our tickets, they wouldn’t let us go in because all the seats were filled (and there were hundreds waiting to go in.) The guards at the door told us not to worry...that after the first bull, half of the people would leave. They were right. That should have been a warning to us. We "heard" the slaughter of the bull, hundreds of people left sick and grossed out and we trampled in like the stupid tourists that we were. I forgot to mention that we were there during spring break. College spring break. That’s when I realized I could write a hit song called "Mama’s..Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be College Students...." This was in the 80's and it was so bad then, I can’t even imagine what it is like today. I asked David how our kids (little at the time) could possibly survive someday in that environment. He answered, "They couldn't. They just shouldn't be here." The bull fight was ridiculous. The bull was drugged, and stabbed with spears and it was totally horrible. Even all the drunken college students could see how unjust it was. Pretty soon they all got involved. "Gimme a B....B! Gimme a U! U! Gimme me an L! L! Gimme me another L!"
One bull was enough for us as well. I didn’t even make it to the end.
Back to Penny. I learned something wonderful about her that trip. What a sport. She got so sunburned either that day or another that her eyes literally swelled shut. I would have whined and pled to be left alone for a day in my misery. But not Penny. She put on her sun-glasses and laughed at herself and didn’t want to put a damper in anyone’s fun. That really impressed me. That is how Penny is.
We ended up going to a cantina one night for dinner that had live music. It was PACKED with college students partying like I had never seen before. And I didn’t grow up in an LDS atmosphere so it takes a lot to shock me. But we were shocked. The tables had 2-3-inch wooden table tops. They were worn and all the corners had shot glass indention's. The waiters would run around...pour a shot of tequila and slam it on the table and it would foam and the patron would chug it down. You could hear shot glasses slamming all over above the noise of a very poor Mexican band. The waiters were incredulous when they would run to our table to share their tequila and we’d shake our heads no. Penny and I used the ladies room (imagine college girls barfing) and after we returned, we were shocked out of our minds when a waiter ran up to our table, slammed the tequila and our husbands looked at each other and said, "What the heck!" and downed the drinks! Penny and I were freaking out! Of course they had the waiter smack down some Sprite in a glass just to scare us! Funny! The best part of that night was when the Mexican band took a break. We could see the college boys wrangling with them...and the next thing we knew, the college boys were on stage singing. And playing. "Twist and Shout" that would have made Ferris Bueller proud! Everybody sang. Everybody danced (well, not Tom and David!). It was wild and crazy. Just one more great memory in our Gwilliams/Williams memory bank.
I could go on and on with Penny stories. She once had a surprise birthday party for me...and she invited everyone to clean out their change from their purses for my present which was an all-expense paid trip to Pic N' Sav. She threw the biggest baby shower for me for Tanner...I bet there were 40 people there. Our families enjoyed with two other families that lived by us, an Easter egg hunt and gourmet breakfast the Sat. before Easter each year that we lived there. She used to watch Ben for me so I could take piano lessons. Ben and their son, AJ, were best little friends and AJ and Ben would hide in the bathroom with a chair jammed under the knob so he wouldn't have to come home. One day, Nikki, their daughter, probably just about 5, came down their stairs ker-plunking a dresser drawer behind her...she was running away to our house. Just memory after memory. Penny, I love you! Happy-belated birthday. Let's share dozens more!
My favorite trip with them was to Cancun. It was a riot. First of all, we all made a list of the things each of us "had" to do. On Penny’s and my list was traveling to Isla Mujere’s...the island of women....on a ferry because we heard they had best shopping. On the boy’s list was attending the bull fights in Cancun. Well, we took the ferry , and when we got there, we looked at the return trips for the ferry that would make the bull fights and found out that the only one went back in about 45 minutes! We were so bummed. But the guys reassured us that they would "hire" a boat to take us back. We had a great time exploring and shopping. While Penny and I shopped, David and Tom took off to find our boat rental. When we got to the boat dock, we saw all these luxury boats tied to the dock. We were excited. We looked for our boat called "The Kingfish."
Okay, imagine the most beat-up boat, mismatched, nailed-together wonder you’ve ever seen. It wasn’t very big. It didn’t look trustworthy or sea worthy. Remember, we are on a island so far from Cancun that you can’t see it off into the distance. But the guys reassured us that the owner didn’t want to lose his boat and there was an experienced "captain" to guide it. The experienced captain turned out to be a boy...a little boy looking all of maybe ten-years old! And he didn’t speak any English. We couldn’t believe it. But the men were full of faith...and besides, it was cheap!
So, off we went...with our lives in the hands of a ten-year old and a rickety motor boat that had seen better days. I remember I was wearing this cute white t-shirt and a cotton-knit blue and white striped skirt. We hadn’t been out but a minute when the first wave hit. Up and over all of us in the boat. My sunglasses promptly slid off my drenched head. My camera swooshed from one end of the boat to the other in water. Penny and I held on for dear life! We got into a rhythm...breath, crash, drench. Breath, crash, drench. It was terrifying. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, we saw the pier of Cancun. We again saw all the luxury boats and ferry at the end of the pier. But our "captain" wasn’t heading for the dock at the end of the pier. No, it seemed he didn’t have a license to park there....instead, he pulled up to the rock cliffs that brace the pier. My totally soaked knit skirt now weighed 50 pounds and since it had an elastic waist, kept slipping down. Here we are, looking like we had just been through a typhoon, and now we get to climb up a 40-foot embankment of giant, sharp boulders! And in a hurry because the bull fights were almost ready to start! It was the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen. It was the most ridiculous thing we’ve ever done. It was a memory worth keeping.
I can’t remember if we had time to change for the bullfight or headed straight there. I remember having my nose bent out of shape because a "bull-fight" seemed like the most barbaric thing I could imagine. And after we bought our tickets, they wouldn’t let us go in because all the seats were filled (and there were hundreds waiting to go in.) The guards at the door told us not to worry...that after the first bull, half of the people would leave. They were right. That should have been a warning to us. We "heard" the slaughter of the bull, hundreds of people left sick and grossed out and we trampled in like the stupid tourists that we were. I forgot to mention that we were there during spring break. College spring break. That’s when I realized I could write a hit song called "Mama’s..Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be College Students...." This was in the 80's and it was so bad then, I can’t even imagine what it is like today. I asked David how our kids (little at the time) could possibly survive someday in that environment. He answered, "They couldn't. They just shouldn't be here." The bull fight was ridiculous. The bull was drugged, and stabbed with spears and it was totally horrible. Even all the drunken college students could see how unjust it was. Pretty soon they all got involved. "Gimme a B....B! Gimme a U! U! Gimme me an L! L! Gimme me another L!"
One bull was enough for us as well. I didn’t even make it to the end.
Back to Penny. I learned something wonderful about her that trip. What a sport. She got so sunburned either that day or another that her eyes literally swelled shut. I would have whined and pled to be left alone for a day in my misery. But not Penny. She put on her sun-glasses and laughed at herself and didn’t want to put a damper in anyone’s fun. That really impressed me. That is how Penny is.
We ended up going to a cantina one night for dinner that had live music. It was PACKED with college students partying like I had never seen before. And I didn’t grow up in an LDS atmosphere so it takes a lot to shock me. But we were shocked. The tables had 2-3-inch wooden table tops. They were worn and all the corners had shot glass indention's. The waiters would run around...pour a shot of tequila and slam it on the table and it would foam and the patron would chug it down. You could hear shot glasses slamming all over above the noise of a very poor Mexican band. The waiters were incredulous when they would run to our table to share their tequila and we’d shake our heads no. Penny and I used the ladies room (imagine college girls barfing) and after we returned, we were shocked out of our minds when a waiter ran up to our table, slammed the tequila and our husbands looked at each other and said, "What the heck!" and downed the drinks! Penny and I were freaking out! Of course they had the waiter smack down some Sprite in a glass just to scare us! Funny! The best part of that night was when the Mexican band took a break. We could see the college boys wrangling with them...and the next thing we knew, the college boys were on stage singing. And playing. "Twist and Shout" that would have made Ferris Bueller proud! Everybody sang. Everybody danced (well, not Tom and David!). It was wild and crazy. Just one more great memory in our Gwilliams/Williams memory bank.
I could go on and on with Penny stories. She once had a surprise birthday party for me...and she invited everyone to clean out their change from their purses for my present which was an all-expense paid trip to Pic N' Sav. She threw the biggest baby shower for me for Tanner...I bet there were 40 people there. Our families enjoyed with two other families that lived by us, an Easter egg hunt and gourmet breakfast the Sat. before Easter each year that we lived there. She used to watch Ben for me so I could take piano lessons. Ben and their son, AJ, were best little friends and AJ and Ben would hide in the bathroom with a chair jammed under the knob so he wouldn't have to come home. One day, Nikki, their daughter, probably just about 5, came down their stairs ker-plunking a dresser drawer behind her...she was running away to our house. Just memory after memory. Penny, I love you! Happy-belated birthday. Let's share dozens more!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Josh Groban - You Raise Me Up
I thought I would post a few of my favorite songs through the years. Music that has mattered to me.
Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma
This is one of my favorite classical numbers. Sung by Pavarotti at the closing ceremony of the Torino Olympics. Also in many movies. How can you not feel this emotion?!!!
My Mom and I
I got this meme from "Mum" but changed it a little. A good journaling technique.
1. She was born in Kansas, moved to Rupert, Idaho when she was in high school. I was born in Rupert, Id. but moved to Washington State when I was 5.
2. Her mother and father were both married before. Both lost their spouses in the flu epidemic in the 20's, married each other combining 9 children, plus adding four more. My mom is in the last bunch. Neither of my parents were married before- and they’ve been happily married for 60 years.
3. She’s really smart. She came from a very poor family and would have loved to go to college, but she went to work for the telephone company while in high school, and continued to work for them until after I was married with children.
I’m really creative. I came from a comfortable middle-class family, went to college to pursue boys, not necessarily an education. I worked the first couple of years we were married until after my husband graduated from BYU then 1 year of law school. By then we had two kids and still two more years to go. But it is fine to be poor at BYU. It was a great time!
4. She loves to read. I don’t think a day goes by that she isn’t reading some book. When she and my dad moved from Moses Lake, WA. To Battleground, WA. About 2 ½ years ago, moving her books about put us under. She had 10 (TEN!) giant boxes of cookbooks, at least that many of “self-help” books (medicine, home remedies, gardening, fix-it, etc.). We encouraged her to give away AT LEAST that many boxes of novels and every copy of the Reader’s Digest Condensed books. She also subscribes to a dozen magazines. She loves to read. If you pick up a novel that she owns, you can open it to the inside page and see her critique of the book. She gives them “stars” for how good she thought it was. Once she gave me a cookbook when I was doing Weight Watchers. She went through the entire book, and figured the points on each recipe. For me. Amazing, huh? She’s a detail person. I love to read. I am not a detail person.
5. My mother is a beautiful seamstress. She unpicked about everything I ever sewed. If I have to take out a zipper, I’ve lost interest. My mother constantly said, “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.”
I don’t sew.
6. My mother loves to cook. She and I can both read cookbooks for hours. Because she was a working mom, I learned to cook at a young age. I shared before, “If it’s meatloaf, it must be Tuesday.” Tuesday night was mom’s bowling night and I cooked dinner.
7. My mom always bowled on a league while I was growing up, as well as my dad. I did too, all during Jr. high through my sophomore year in high school. We would be in mother/daughter tournaments and have many trophies from that. Sigh. Doesn’t everyone aspire to have a bowling trophy?! She was a cool mom.
8. My mom and I wear the same size of shoe...and we have since I was in 5th grade. We started out at a 7, but we have both grown to an 8. My mom still has a pair of white oxfords I had in 5th grade, that she wore for years after that. They were hideous. My mom is a packrat in the nicest sense of the word. So am I.
9. My mom is allergic to flour. Just raw flour. She can eat it, she just can’t cook with it. If she were to bake cookies (which she seldom did), her nose would start running and her eyes would well up with tears and she would sneeze and sneeze. I’m not allergic to anything except we both have a little hayfever. That runs in the fam.
10. My mom always tells me she got the most wonderful daughter in the world.
She was wrong. I did.
1. She was born in Kansas, moved to Rupert, Idaho when she was in high school. I was born in Rupert, Id. but moved to Washington State when I was 5.
2. Her mother and father were both married before. Both lost their spouses in the flu epidemic in the 20's, married each other combining 9 children, plus adding four more. My mom is in the last bunch. Neither of my parents were married before- and they’ve been happily married for 60 years.
3. She’s really smart. She came from a very poor family and would have loved to go to college, but she went to work for the telephone company while in high school, and continued to work for them until after I was married with children.
I’m really creative. I came from a comfortable middle-class family, went to college to pursue boys, not necessarily an education. I worked the first couple of years we were married until after my husband graduated from BYU then 1 year of law school. By then we had two kids and still two more years to go. But it is fine to be poor at BYU. It was a great time!
4. She loves to read. I don’t think a day goes by that she isn’t reading some book. When she and my dad moved from Moses Lake, WA. To Battleground, WA. About 2 ½ years ago, moving her books about put us under. She had 10 (TEN!) giant boxes of cookbooks, at least that many of “self-help” books (medicine, home remedies, gardening, fix-it, etc.). We encouraged her to give away AT LEAST that many boxes of novels and every copy of the Reader’s Digest Condensed books. She also subscribes to a dozen magazines. She loves to read. If you pick up a novel that she owns, you can open it to the inside page and see her critique of the book. She gives them “stars” for how good she thought it was. Once she gave me a cookbook when I was doing Weight Watchers. She went through the entire book, and figured the points on each recipe. For me. Amazing, huh? She’s a detail person. I love to read. I am not a detail person.
5. My mother is a beautiful seamstress. She unpicked about everything I ever sewed. If I have to take out a zipper, I’ve lost interest. My mother constantly said, “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.”
I don’t sew.
6. My mother loves to cook. She and I can both read cookbooks for hours. Because she was a working mom, I learned to cook at a young age. I shared before, “If it’s meatloaf, it must be Tuesday.” Tuesday night was mom’s bowling night and I cooked dinner.
7. My mom always bowled on a league while I was growing up, as well as my dad. I did too, all during Jr. high through my sophomore year in high school. We would be in mother/daughter tournaments and have many trophies from that. Sigh. Doesn’t everyone aspire to have a bowling trophy?! She was a cool mom.
8. My mom and I wear the same size of shoe...and we have since I was in 5th grade. We started out at a 7, but we have both grown to an 8. My mom still has a pair of white oxfords I had in 5th grade, that she wore for years after that. They were hideous. My mom is a packrat in the nicest sense of the word. So am I.
9. My mom is allergic to flour. Just raw flour. She can eat it, she just can’t cook with it. If she were to bake cookies (which she seldom did), her nose would start running and her eyes would well up with tears and she would sneeze and sneeze. I’m not allergic to anything except we both have a little hayfever. That runs in the fam.
10. My mom always tells me she got the most wonderful daughter in the world.
She was wrong. I did.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Love Is In The Air! And Snow!
Thought I would take a little break from my favorites list to record some thoughts of the past week. First of all, starting after Ericka’s wedding a week ago Sat., I had a wedding reception on Wed., Fri, and this Sat. All were beautiful brides...so beautiful in modest dresses. Glowing with goodness. Here are some pictures of brides, flowers, and their cakes.
Sat. night was Linda Madsen’s daughter’s wedding. Her daughter is the one above in front of the brick wall. Linda is probably the most over-the-top with whatever she does person I know. They have spent weeks and weeks preparing their yard, preparing food, taking pictures...you name it. They have done it. She and her daughters and a couple of friends made all the food for the wedding. And it wasn’t your ordinary wedding food. It was a buffet like you wouldn’t believe. A million appetizers...meatballs in teriyaki, franks in bbq, several stuffed thing-a-ma-gigs. But that is where ordinary stopped. There was an assortment of crackers and specialty chips and vegetables with about a dozen dips. Really, a dozen! All different and incredible. And a fruit bowl and several dips for that....like “Banana Split Dip.” Then they had about 15 kinds of specialty cupcakes. Not ordinary cupcakes but gourmet. Like heart strawberries with whipped cream, oreo cupcakes with a little oreo stuck in the frosting, Bubble Gum cupcakes, Lemonade cupcakes with a straw coming out of them. Whatever the topping was, the cupcake underneath was that flavor as well. I took just a few pictures. My favorite, that I didn’t get a picture of, was the Cinnamon Toast cupcake. The yummy frosting was in a cool design on top, then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
All the decorations were amazing as well. Unfortunately, there was a gigantic rain storm, a cloud burst if you will, but luckily, they rented a huge tent. The band played elsewhere and they just re-routed the receiving line through the house...and cute boys ran you out to the tent and buffet under giant umbrellas. A good time had by all.
Last Thursday was Penny's birthday (and Linda Madsens) and I took Penny out on Friday to celebrate. We had the best time. I came right home and started writing my tribute to her but it looks like it will be a two-part series as well. We just share so many memories together. I love her like a sister.
Then Sat. night, we had Elijah for a sleepover. My son, Ryan, has been in Guatemala AGAIN and Marci has been holding down the home fort with four kiddos. It was their Stake Conference and Elder Bedner was speaking. Oh....I wanted to go. I love everything that comes out of his mouth. Elijah is two...and adorable and as busy as any two-year old. He was darling and we had a great time. Marci and the rest of the kids came for dinner after conference yesterday and spent the day. Travis and Tenille popped in with their kids. Always busy, always fun, always noisy. We got Brandi on the phone to schedule our Girl's Super Saturday. We are getting together in October and doing mass neighborhood gifts. They are really cute (and inexpensive) and I can’t wait to share them.
One note. Marci and I were talking and she said what a great helper Josh is. Josh is 7 years old and the oldest child in their family. In describing him, she said, “He has eyes that see.”
I was touched by that. Especially that a young child would have “eyes that see.” Each day I pray that I will "know" or "hear" what Heavenly Father would have me do....but I realized that “seeing eyes” are needed. I appreciate a child or anyone that doesn’t ask, “What can I do to help?” but rather, looks and sees what needs to be done and does it. I bet HF feels that way with each of us as well. So I've been taught a good lesson by my grandchild....I guess that's why scripture says, “Become as a little child......”
One note. Marci and I were talking and she said what a great helper Josh is. Josh is 7 years old and the oldest child in their family. In describing him, she said, “He has eyes that see.”
I was touched by that. Especially that a young child would have “eyes that see.” Each day I pray that I will "know" or "hear" what Heavenly Father would have me do....but I realized that “seeing eyes” are needed. I appreciate a child or anyone that doesn’t ask, “What can I do to help?” but rather, looks and sees what needs to be done and does it. I bet HF feels that way with each of us as well. So I've been taught a good lesson by my grandchild....I guess that's why scripture says, “Become as a little child......”
Then, on a final note this morning, talking about eyes that see! This is out my front door! Ben will be so happy when he comes home next week!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Five-At-A-Time 16-20 of my hundred favorite things
16. The musical cards on the market today. My favorite one is the Airplane one ("don’t call me Shirley") or the Lassie one..."What is it, girl? Is somebody in trouble? Is there a kitten in a ditch? Did Grandma roll down a hill? Seriously, I don’t understand what you’re saying. (Open it up and you hear Lassie barking.) Lassie says "Happy Birthday," for all I know. Have you seen Grandma?"
17. Milk chocolate- the darker, healthier stuff isn’t my favorite. No Godiva chocolates for me. In a candy store, I’d choose a Rum Victoria. Chocolate and caramel, yum. I once had a love affair with cherry chocolates. I could eat the whole box. Not even good cherry chocolates. I would cut off a finger for the chocolate gummie bears from Chocolate Covered Wagon. (Oh wait, Brandi DID about cut off a finger on their taffy machine when she worked at Trolley Square!) They (chocolate gummies) are imported from Germany. The bulk bin stuff at Macy’s or wherever doesn’t work. Love those M & M’s. For more critical information on chocolate, please review In The Beginning, the Lord created Chocolate
17. Milk chocolate- the darker, healthier stuff isn’t my favorite. No Godiva chocolates for me. In a candy store, I’d choose a Rum Victoria. Chocolate and caramel, yum. I once had a love affair with cherry chocolates. I could eat the whole box. Not even good cherry chocolates. I would cut off a finger for the chocolate gummie bears from Chocolate Covered Wagon. (Oh wait, Brandi DID about cut off a finger on their taffy machine when she worked at Trolley Square!) They (chocolate gummies) are imported from Germany. The bulk bin stuff at Macy’s or wherever doesn’t work. Love those M & M’s. For more critical information on chocolate, please review In The Beginning, the Lord created Chocolate
18. Cheese pizza from Little Caesar’s. I know that seems weird but it is very comforting. I hardly ever have it and I love great pizzas from good pizza places but there is just something about cheese pizza from Little Caesar’s. The square pan kind. Just simple and gooey. And "Caesar" is spelled "Caesar", not "Ceasar." Rules of English do not apply in Rome. In Rome, do as the Romans do and spell Caesar correctly. Same with dessert. I don’t want to eat desert. Which is so funny because I really am a grammar ignoramus and usually write so fast, what I write is full of error, but I want my great-great-greats to know, I know how to spell Caesar. I don’t know when to lay or lie but I know my pizza. And dessert.
19. Lasik surgery-I know I’ve mentioned this before but I love, love, love my corrected eyeball. I got glasses in 5th grade...cool ones. You know, black cat-eyes. I looked like an earwig in them. Then I got contacts which were great. And I wore contacts for over 30 years. Hard ones, soft ones. But then the dreaded day occurred. The day after you turn 43. One day you can read the small print on the soup cans and the next you can’t. You have to turn in your favorite, threadbare, marked-up scriptures and, trial of all trials, get a NEW set. With the GIANT print for the blind. You hardly even know them. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Where IS that scripture? But then I noticed that if I just wore one contact, I could read out of my "bad" eye. Or I would get several pair of funky glasses and when I needed to read, take them off. Then I heard about lasik mono vision. Changed my life. No more getting dirt under my contacts. No more digging around in my eyes for lost contacts. No more spiritual experiences with lost contacts. Okay, you have to hear about that one. I was at Rick’s College. You’re always poor in college because you have to spend all your quarters in the laundromat. It was Oct. The stores had all their Halloween stuff out. My roommate and I were in the drugstore, goofing off, trying on Halloween masks. As I took off the mask (one of those stiff ones), it kind of flicked my eyelash (when I USED to have eyelashes...) And out popped my contacts. "Please, please, please," I prayed. "Please, please, please, I’ll never do another naughty thing in my life...just please, please, please let me find my contact." You know the prayer. My roomie and I were both crawling around on the floor, being careful, patting the dirty linoleum, praying. Well, I doubt she was praying but I was REALLY praying. She was probably saying I owed her some "tots" for her humiliation. (aka-Napoleon "tots.") But I was making all sorts of promises. Then...I looked up! It was like a beam of light descended from above and illuminated my contact, glistening there on the floor about 3 feet in front of me. "Yes, yes, yes!" Prayers are answered! Just as I spotted the glistening contact....CRUNCH! Some dodo kid stepped right on it. I learned a very valuable lesson that day. I needed to be a little more specific in my prayers! It has been a joke between HF and me. I could just see Heavenly Father chuckling, watching me. Listening to all my unbelievable promises....I found my contact.....I saw the light. I knew it was funny. In a goofy sort of way.
19. Lasik surgery-I know I’ve mentioned this before but I love, love, love my corrected eyeball. I got glasses in 5th grade...cool ones. You know, black cat-eyes. I looked like an earwig in them. Then I got contacts which were great. And I wore contacts for over 30 years. Hard ones, soft ones. But then the dreaded day occurred. The day after you turn 43. One day you can read the small print on the soup cans and the next you can’t. You have to turn in your favorite, threadbare, marked-up scriptures and, trial of all trials, get a NEW set. With the GIANT print for the blind. You hardly even know them. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Where IS that scripture? But then I noticed that if I just wore one contact, I could read out of my "bad" eye. Or I would get several pair of funky glasses and when I needed to read, take them off. Then I heard about lasik mono vision. Changed my life. No more getting dirt under my contacts. No more digging around in my eyes for lost contacts. No more spiritual experiences with lost contacts. Okay, you have to hear about that one. I was at Rick’s College. You’re always poor in college because you have to spend all your quarters in the laundromat. It was Oct. The stores had all their Halloween stuff out. My roommate and I were in the drugstore, goofing off, trying on Halloween masks. As I took off the mask (one of those stiff ones), it kind of flicked my eyelash (when I USED to have eyelashes...) And out popped my contacts. "Please, please, please," I prayed. "Please, please, please, I’ll never do another naughty thing in my life...just please, please, please let me find my contact." You know the prayer. My roomie and I were both crawling around on the floor, being careful, patting the dirty linoleum, praying. Well, I doubt she was praying but I was REALLY praying. She was probably saying I owed her some "tots" for her humiliation. (aka-Napoleon "tots.") But I was making all sorts of promises. Then...I looked up! It was like a beam of light descended from above and illuminated my contact, glistening there on the floor about 3 feet in front of me. "Yes, yes, yes!" Prayers are answered! Just as I spotted the glistening contact....CRUNCH! Some dodo kid stepped right on it. I learned a very valuable lesson that day. I needed to be a little more specific in my prayers! It has been a joke between HF and me. I could just see Heavenly Father chuckling, watching me. Listening to all my unbelievable promises....I found my contact.....I saw the light. I knew it was funny. In a goofy sort of way.
20. That Heavenly Father never gave up on me.
Friday, September 21, 2007
5-At-A-Time/Plus Play It Forward
Here are 11-15 of my favorite 100 things. I didn't want my great-great-greats to get a brain freeze or anyone else that happens to stop by this site. I realize people really do have lives of their own....and don't need to humor me by spending HOURS AND HOURS reading what is in my head today! Just so you know, there are about 500 words today. There were about 2000 yesterday. I would call that a vast improvement. I'm giving myself a pat on the back. I am an old dog trying to learn a new trick. Just for today. Thank you very much! (That last line was my Elvis impersonation in case you missed the accent.)
11. Bonfires. When sitting around a bonfire- s’mores come to mind. Remember when I told you about when Pretty Patty Petty came to visit and brought her friend, another Pretty Patty Petty (I call her "ditto") and I made them swim although it was cold outside (the pool was nice and warm inside) and they didn’t want to until they realized it was dark in the pool and nobody cared if we had a racing stripe-vericose vein or two, then I got each of us a big bathrobe to wear and we built a fire in the firepit and made s’mores and talked and talked s’more. That sounds like a great home evening this month with all the kiddos.
12. Blogging. Which is just really a new name for journal writing. I do write for my great-great-great grandchildren, but I also write for my family (Travis, my boy-on-the-go, says he’s learned more about me through my blog than in person and at least knows what I am up to!) and friends....even some people I have never met. Because that keeps me in line to never say anything I wouldn’t want my great-great-greats to know. I want to record the tender mercies in my life and in those I associate with. I want to share my personality and my hopes, dreams and failures with my posterity in hopes they will find a friend in me. And when I read other people’s blogs/thoughts, I’m inspired. And I would rather be inspired by good people than watch CSI or whatever else is on television that is full of blood and guts and immorality. I like to be uplifted and I have surrounded myself, in life and in those blogs I choose to read, with good people. And I am so thrilled that two of my three girls (and Marci and I are going to work on hers this weekend! Hopefully!) have recently started their own. Check out tntwilliams.blogspot.com and campbellpost.blogspot.com
to further see how blessed I am!
13. It's almost fall. And that means fires in the fireplace. I LOVE starting mine with a switch. I love Sunday naps in front of the fire. I love sitting on my funky sofa and putting my feet up on my black bench that reminds me to "Believe" on the side and read my scriptures. I love snuggling with my hubbie before the fire. I also love curling up in my fat chair (an overstuffed chair-and-a-half) before the fireplace in my bedroom. It is so cozy. That is the fat chair that Hallee Babe gets to sleep in for Gramma sleepovers.
14. Shrimp. Any old Bubba shrimp way...fresh, boiled, fried, batter-dipped, scampi’ed, cocktailed, stuffed, skewered, dipped, baked. I love the oxymoron "Jumbo Shrimp." See, it made you smile, didn’t it!
15. Here the stores are working on Halloween and I’m thinking hearts. Not valentine hearts but everyday hearts. I love Brighton Jewelry (Gateway Mall or online) because most of their jewelry has hearts. Hearts make me happy... paper hearts, metal hearts, wreath hearts. The hearts my 5 year-old kiddos are learning to draw for me. I don’t love beef hearts. (I just threw that in to see if anyone was paying attention!)
And also to see if anyone is reading, Helen shared a "Play It Forward" challenge.
Here is what it is:
Pay It Forward:
I will send a gift representing me to the first 3 people who leave a comment here on my blog. I don’t know what that gift will be yet, but you will receive it within 30 days.
The only thing you have to do in return is "pay it forward" by making a similar agreement on your blog.
I will
1. Mail to you within 1 month a gift of my choice.
2. Write out in a style of my choosing (journal style, poem, spy novel, fairy tale, whatever) a memory of the two of us together. This should be interesting!(and the first three need to email me your address so I can mail your gift.....don't you love surprises?!)
11. Bonfires. When sitting around a bonfire- s’mores come to mind. Remember when I told you about when Pretty Patty Petty came to visit and brought her friend, another Pretty Patty Petty (I call her "ditto") and I made them swim although it was cold outside (the pool was nice and warm inside) and they didn’t want to until they realized it was dark in the pool and nobody cared if we had a racing stripe-vericose vein or two, then I got each of us a big bathrobe to wear and we built a fire in the firepit and made s’mores and talked and talked s’more. That sounds like a great home evening this month with all the kiddos.
12. Blogging. Which is just really a new name for journal writing. I do write for my great-great-great grandchildren, but I also write for my family (Travis, my boy-on-the-go, says he’s learned more about me through my blog than in person and at least knows what I am up to!) and friends....even some people I have never met. Because that keeps me in line to never say anything I wouldn’t want my great-great-greats to know. I want to record the tender mercies in my life and in those I associate with. I want to share my personality and my hopes, dreams and failures with my posterity in hopes they will find a friend in me. And when I read other people’s blogs/thoughts, I’m inspired. And I would rather be inspired by good people than watch CSI or whatever else is on television that is full of blood and guts and immorality. I like to be uplifted and I have surrounded myself, in life and in those blogs I choose to read, with good people. And I am so thrilled that two of my three girls (and Marci and I are going to work on hers this weekend! Hopefully!) have recently started their own. Check out tntwilliams.blogspot.com and campbellpost.blogspot.com
to further see how blessed I am!
13. It's almost fall. And that means fires in the fireplace. I LOVE starting mine with a switch. I love Sunday naps in front of the fire. I love sitting on my funky sofa and putting my feet up on my black bench that reminds me to "Believe" on the side and read my scriptures. I love snuggling with my hubbie before the fire. I also love curling up in my fat chair (an overstuffed chair-and-a-half) before the fireplace in my bedroom. It is so cozy. That is the fat chair that Hallee Babe gets to sleep in for Gramma sleepovers.
14. Shrimp. Any old Bubba shrimp way...fresh, boiled, fried, batter-dipped, scampi’ed, cocktailed, stuffed, skewered, dipped, baked. I love the oxymoron "Jumbo Shrimp." See, it made you smile, didn’t it!
15. Here the stores are working on Halloween and I’m thinking hearts. Not valentine hearts but everyday hearts. I love Brighton Jewelry (Gateway Mall or online) because most of their jewelry has hearts. Hearts make me happy... paper hearts, metal hearts, wreath hearts. The hearts my 5 year-old kiddos are learning to draw for me. I don’t love beef hearts. (I just threw that in to see if anyone was paying attention!)
And also to see if anyone is reading, Helen shared a "Play It Forward" challenge.
Here is what it is:
Pay It Forward:
I will send a gift representing me to the first 3 people who leave a comment here on my blog. I don’t know what that gift will be yet, but you will receive it within 30 days.
The only thing you have to do in return is "pay it forward" by making a similar agreement on your blog.
I will
1. Mail to you within 1 month a gift of my choice.
2. Write out in a style of my choosing (journal style, poem, spy novel, fairy tale, whatever) a memory of the two of us together. This should be interesting!(and the first three need to email me your address so I can mail your gift.....don't you love surprises?!)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Ten-At-A-Time
Okay, I saw Sophia do a top 100 list of things that make her happy. I thought that might be hard to do. No, I got the 100 down in less than a half-an-hour. The funny thing is, you know me, I can't just say a word. Or two. I have to write a whole term paper on each entry. So I decided I would do Ten-At-A-Time. My own, made-up Meme. A hundred or more things that make me happy. Ten-At-A-Time.
1. New bed sheets with a high thread count. I will not spend $125 for one sheet of 800- thread count, like I saw today at Macy’s but I will dream of them on my new 400-thread count sheets (on sale- a complete king set with two pillow cases for $75 plus another 10 percent off.) 400 works. I don’t buy sheets often so this is okay. It still takes my breath away. I won’t mention to David how much they cost because he’d have a cow. And we already have 10 cows. We don’t need another mouth to feed. Today’s purchase just cuts into my Happy Meal/Grammie budget. My current sheets woke up yesterday with big tears in them. You know, rips as opposed to crocodile teardrops. I don’t know where they came from. The tears. Maybe something snagged them in the dryer. But I also woke up (along with the sheets waking up) with 3 GIANT bites on my leg. They were proof-positive to David that, indeed, mosquitoes eat me alive during the night when we sleep with our french doors open! Being the cagey lawyer that he is, he declared they didn’t look like mosquito bites to him. I would post a picture of them for your consideration but then I’d have to, you know, shave the legs, then put good smelly lotion on so the legs would look camera-ready. But the Lake Powell tan has already faded to a sullen-malaria-looking-yellow (since we’re talking mosquitoes....)...not a pretty site even in a best case scenario so I’ll have to defend my own case. Without pictures. And in this case, I’ll dream with a new pillow case, on gorgeous gold-colored, 400-thread count sheets. With the french doors closed, thank you very much.
2. A soft, marshmallow pillow (not full or firm.) David’s mom used to take one feather pillow, then make two pillows out of one. One for each of us. David and I were both happy campers. I have the most amazing mother-in-law. She is love in action. When I had my babies, she would come and stay with us, hear the babies cry in the night, get up and change their diapers, bring them to me in bed, wait in the other room until I was done feeding them, then change their diapers again and rock them back to sleep. She’s a saint. Saint Darlene. If I were Catholic, I would pray to her. She’s that good. (I just re-read this entry. It sounds like I had multiply births. No, just one at a time. It was my daughter-in-law, Tenille, whose mom had quadruplets. Yikes!
3. Big bath towels- I love the Hotel Collection at Macy’s. Gee, I’m sounding like a commercial for Macy’s today. It must be because I went shopping there today and I was already thinking this morning about things I am grateful for. These bath towels are expensive. You have to wait until they are on sale and even then, you have to sell a kiddo for them. $19.99 on sale! You might think of a second mortgage on your house. It would be worth it and besides, the interest on second mortgages is tax-deductible. I am a self-confessed laundry massacruist (I think I made up that word) and the towels still come out fluffy for me. It’s a miracle. Even after a million washings. They are so plush you could get lost in them for a week. Take a good book with you. And some chocolate. I didn’t pick up any today but I paused and stroked their plush pile. That’s enough to make me happy. And it didn't cost a cent.
4. Pez’s...because they remind me of when Ben was little. It was a gentler time. And Heather, I laughed when I saw that you bought a friend the set of Elvis Pez’s. I had bought them earlier! For Ben’s collection. The collection that Ben doesn’t really care about anymore but I still buy for because when I see them, I think about Ben. What a darling little boy he was. Our hearts were connected. They still are. So, I buy Pez’s. That’s what mommies do. No matter how big their babies get....
5 . Duets- I love the new Reba Duets CD I just bought. Saw just a smidgen of Oprah and Reba was on and talked about it. It made me ponder who I would choose to sing a duet with....she picked some of my favorites...Kelly Clarkson, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Ronnie Dunn. Oh, and Carole King! I love her voice. She was my young-married favorite. ("I feel the earth move, under my feet...I feel the sky...falling down..." Radio stations play that song whenever we get a little earthquake tremor.) I would also choose James Taylor, Enrique Inglesia, Gwen Stefani. I want to be one of Gwen’s "doo-wopp" girls. I want to sing with a Betty Boop voice. I want platinum hair once again and to wear funky shoes. I used to think I could sing. Just like I used to think I was athletic. My roommates paid me to quit singing. Not so hot. I was also first runner-up EVERY year for cheerleader in high school. I thought I was coordinated. Thank heaven for unanswered prayers....
6. Air fresheners- I’ve already shared that I have a fetish for air fresheners and confessed that I have even climbed up on toilets in gas stations to see what company makes that particular freshener and to get a better whiff. I know how sick that must sound. I do scour my hands afterwards. But I love Glade plug-ins also. My favorite scent is "Tropical Mist." I buy them by the dozens. I get it in spray as well. Spray, spray, spray. It makes me happy. My latest car air freshener is by "Sensy"...have you smelled those new candles? It is a citrus one and almost makes me high in the car.....love at first sniff..... For candles, I love Salt City Candles...my favorite scent is Woodberry. It isn’t for everyone but I love it. One time Cousin Zella came over and loved the smell so I bought her a candle. She had her house smelling good when Charles came home and said, "Yuck! What’s that terrible smell?" So, that just goes to show you, that you can be called as General Young Men’s President of the Church and still have a bad sense of smell. Sorry, Zella! You can come to my house and sniff!
7. Having deer for pets- I love that my 3 babies are growing up so strong. But one is still nursing, for Pete’s Sake. The poor mom was high-centered the other day trying to stand on its tippie-toes for the baby to feed. "Enough, La Leche mommy, enough!" If your baby is old enough to eat apples, they are old enough to be weaned!
8. The friendships I’ve made through Visiting Teaching throughout my life. My life is so much richer for all of these women. Today Marilyn B. (Mama Bawden) and I visited. She is so lovely inside and out and I love that we can share our hearts. Today we discussed how really the biggest hurdle in our lives is finding peace. Do I really "trust" in the Lord when the storms are raging, when bad things happen to good people I love, when things seem out of our control, when life isn't fair. I have a long way to go in trusting. And I think that is the key to finding peace on a higher level than we do. I loved, loved, loved, as I shared last week, the V.T. quote from Elder Maxwell. "How can we sincerely pray to be an instrument in His hands if the instrument seeks to do the instructing." If I truly submit my will to His, if I truly understand that He will "make up the difference" and "make all things right", then I would be a greater partaker in His peace. Peace has been on my mind. And I love that Marilyn B. and I can share as friends.
9. Bees. I don’t like necessarily the real thing...I love to read about them and study them and to think about them. My master bathroom is my bee room. I honestly read a whole book about bee-keeping. Who else do you know who would do that? I have a neighbor that is a beekeeper and he invites me to come beeing with him. I would love to but I feel a little awkward "beeing" with him. Is that kosher?
10. A new yummy recipe- yes! They make me happy! Today on "Good Things Utah", they published the recipe for my favorite breakfast dish at Mimi’s Café. It is so good, you want to lick the plate afterwards. Oh wait, I think I "did" lick my plate afterwards. Sorry, Cousin Zella and friend, Patty L. We usually go to Mimi’s to celebrate our birthdays. I hope I really didn’t lick my plate....
Mimi’s Cafe’s Pain Perdu(8 servings)
Balboa Mix Ingredients:
12 oz. Cream cheese
½ c. orange marmalade
Preparation:
Cut cream cheese into smaller pieces and place in mixer. Add marmalade and mix approximately 10 minutes on medium speed, scraping the sides frequently.
Perdue Ingredients:
16 pieces egg-white bread
Preparation:
Trim crusts off egg-white bread; add scoop of balboa mix to center of a slice of bread. Do not press together. Top with another slice of bread to form sandwich.
French Toast batter ingredients:
3 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup Half and Half
1 ½ TBS Sugar ¼ TSP Salt
¼ TSP Vanilla
¼ TSP Cinnamon
¼ TSP Nutmeg
Zest of ¼ Orange
Preparation: Add eggs, Half and Half, sugar and spices together and mix; add orange zest.
Grilling: Dip Pain Perdu "sandwich" in French toast batter. Cook on flat griddle to a golden brown on both sides. Slice diagonally.
Add strawberries, blueberries and raspberry puree across entire center. Dust with powdered sugar.
Okay. I understand this might sound too complicated. So just hop in the car and head to the closest Mimi's Cafe. I love the decor. It's all about roosters. And don't forget to lick your plate.
1. New bed sheets with a high thread count. I will not spend $125 for one sheet of 800- thread count, like I saw today at Macy’s but I will dream of them on my new 400-thread count sheets (on sale- a complete king set with two pillow cases for $75 plus another 10 percent off.) 400 works. I don’t buy sheets often so this is okay. It still takes my breath away. I won’t mention to David how much they cost because he’d have a cow. And we already have 10 cows. We don’t need another mouth to feed. Today’s purchase just cuts into my Happy Meal/Grammie budget. My current sheets woke up yesterday with big tears in them. You know, rips as opposed to crocodile teardrops. I don’t know where they came from. The tears. Maybe something snagged them in the dryer. But I also woke up (along with the sheets waking up) with 3 GIANT bites on my leg. They were proof-positive to David that, indeed, mosquitoes eat me alive during the night when we sleep with our french doors open! Being the cagey lawyer that he is, he declared they didn’t look like mosquito bites to him. I would post a picture of them for your consideration but then I’d have to, you know, shave the legs, then put good smelly lotion on so the legs would look camera-ready. But the Lake Powell tan has already faded to a sullen-malaria-looking-yellow (since we’re talking mosquitoes....)...not a pretty site even in a best case scenario so I’ll have to defend my own case. Without pictures. And in this case, I’ll dream with a new pillow case, on gorgeous gold-colored, 400-thread count sheets. With the french doors closed, thank you very much.
2. A soft, marshmallow pillow (not full or firm.) David’s mom used to take one feather pillow, then make two pillows out of one. One for each of us. David and I were both happy campers. I have the most amazing mother-in-law. She is love in action. When I had my babies, she would come and stay with us, hear the babies cry in the night, get up and change their diapers, bring them to me in bed, wait in the other room until I was done feeding them, then change their diapers again and rock them back to sleep. She’s a saint. Saint Darlene. If I were Catholic, I would pray to her. She’s that good. (I just re-read this entry. It sounds like I had multiply births. No, just one at a time. It was my daughter-in-law, Tenille, whose mom had quadruplets. Yikes!
3. Big bath towels- I love the Hotel Collection at Macy’s. Gee, I’m sounding like a commercial for Macy’s today. It must be because I went shopping there today and I was already thinking this morning about things I am grateful for. These bath towels are expensive. You have to wait until they are on sale and even then, you have to sell a kiddo for them. $19.99 on sale! You might think of a second mortgage on your house. It would be worth it and besides, the interest on second mortgages is tax-deductible. I am a self-confessed laundry massacruist (I think I made up that word) and the towels still come out fluffy for me. It’s a miracle. Even after a million washings. They are so plush you could get lost in them for a week. Take a good book with you. And some chocolate. I didn’t pick up any today but I paused and stroked their plush pile. That’s enough to make me happy. And it didn't cost a cent.
4. Pez’s...because they remind me of when Ben was little. It was a gentler time. And Heather, I laughed when I saw that you bought a friend the set of Elvis Pez’s. I had bought them earlier! For Ben’s collection. The collection that Ben doesn’t really care about anymore but I still buy for because when I see them, I think about Ben. What a darling little boy he was. Our hearts were connected. They still are. So, I buy Pez’s. That’s what mommies do. No matter how big their babies get....
5 . Duets- I love the new Reba Duets CD I just bought. Saw just a smidgen of Oprah and Reba was on and talked about it. It made me ponder who I would choose to sing a duet with....she picked some of my favorites...Kelly Clarkson, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Ronnie Dunn. Oh, and Carole King! I love her voice. She was my young-married favorite. ("I feel the earth move, under my feet...I feel the sky...falling down..." Radio stations play that song whenever we get a little earthquake tremor.) I would also choose James Taylor, Enrique Inglesia, Gwen Stefani. I want to be one of Gwen’s "doo-wopp" girls. I want to sing with a Betty Boop voice. I want platinum hair once again and to wear funky shoes. I used to think I could sing. Just like I used to think I was athletic. My roommates paid me to quit singing. Not so hot. I was also first runner-up EVERY year for cheerleader in high school. I thought I was coordinated. Thank heaven for unanswered prayers....
6. Air fresheners- I’ve already shared that I have a fetish for air fresheners and confessed that I have even climbed up on toilets in gas stations to see what company makes that particular freshener and to get a better whiff. I know how sick that must sound. I do scour my hands afterwards. But I love Glade plug-ins also. My favorite scent is "Tropical Mist." I buy them by the dozens. I get it in spray as well. Spray, spray, spray. It makes me happy. My latest car air freshener is by "Sensy"...have you smelled those new candles? It is a citrus one and almost makes me high in the car.....love at first sniff..... For candles, I love Salt City Candles...my favorite scent is Woodberry. It isn’t for everyone but I love it. One time Cousin Zella came over and loved the smell so I bought her a candle. She had her house smelling good when Charles came home and said, "Yuck! What’s that terrible smell?" So, that just goes to show you, that you can be called as General Young Men’s President of the Church and still have a bad sense of smell. Sorry, Zella! You can come to my house and sniff!
7. Having deer for pets- I love that my 3 babies are growing up so strong. But one is still nursing, for Pete’s Sake. The poor mom was high-centered the other day trying to stand on its tippie-toes for the baby to feed. "Enough, La Leche mommy, enough!" If your baby is old enough to eat apples, they are old enough to be weaned!
8. The friendships I’ve made through Visiting Teaching throughout my life. My life is so much richer for all of these women. Today Marilyn B. (Mama Bawden) and I visited. She is so lovely inside and out and I love that we can share our hearts. Today we discussed how really the biggest hurdle in our lives is finding peace. Do I really "trust" in the Lord when the storms are raging, when bad things happen to good people I love, when things seem out of our control, when life isn't fair. I have a long way to go in trusting. And I think that is the key to finding peace on a higher level than we do. I loved, loved, loved, as I shared last week, the V.T. quote from Elder Maxwell. "How can we sincerely pray to be an instrument in His hands if the instrument seeks to do the instructing." If I truly submit my will to His, if I truly understand that He will "make up the difference" and "make all things right", then I would be a greater partaker in His peace. Peace has been on my mind. And I love that Marilyn B. and I can share as friends.
9. Bees. I don’t like necessarily the real thing...I love to read about them and study them and to think about them. My master bathroom is my bee room. I honestly read a whole book about bee-keeping. Who else do you know who would do that? I have a neighbor that is a beekeeper and he invites me to come beeing with him. I would love to but I feel a little awkward "beeing" with him. Is that kosher?
10. A new yummy recipe- yes! They make me happy! Today on "Good Things Utah", they published the recipe for my favorite breakfast dish at Mimi’s Café. It is so good, you want to lick the plate afterwards. Oh wait, I think I "did" lick my plate afterwards. Sorry, Cousin Zella and friend, Patty L. We usually go to Mimi’s to celebrate our birthdays. I hope I really didn’t lick my plate....
Mimi’s Cafe’s Pain Perdu(8 servings)
Balboa Mix Ingredients:
12 oz. Cream cheese
½ c. orange marmalade
Preparation:
Cut cream cheese into smaller pieces and place in mixer. Add marmalade and mix approximately 10 minutes on medium speed, scraping the sides frequently.
Perdue Ingredients:
16 pieces egg-white bread
Preparation:
Trim crusts off egg-white bread; add scoop of balboa mix to center of a slice of bread. Do not press together. Top with another slice of bread to form sandwich.
French Toast batter ingredients:
3 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup Half and Half
1 ½ TBS Sugar ¼ TSP Salt
¼ TSP Vanilla
¼ TSP Cinnamon
¼ TSP Nutmeg
Zest of ¼ Orange
Preparation: Add eggs, Half and Half, sugar and spices together and mix; add orange zest.
Grilling: Dip Pain Perdu "sandwich" in French toast batter. Cook on flat griddle to a golden brown on both sides. Slice diagonally.
Add strawberries, blueberries and raspberry puree across entire center. Dust with powdered sugar.
Okay. I understand this might sound too complicated. So just hop in the car and head to the closest Mimi's Cafe. I love the decor. It's all about roosters. And don't forget to lick your plate.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Field Trip- Lehi!
"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves." Thomas Edison
Today "Utah Field Trips" explored Lehi, Utah. One of the gals, Sharon Allen, has a son that just bought a darling store in Lehi for us to tour. Problem is, it wasn't really in Lehi, but Lindon, but, heh, it started with an "L." I think she's related to me! So first we headed out to Lehi, by way of Lindon, where we all had fun looking through all the goodies at Simply Splendid. They have gift items, yummy popcorn and goodies made on site, do personalized gift baskets, do projects for Super Saturdays, etc. They have a lot of the vinyl words or metal words on plagues. The two quotes I have on this page are both quotes they have on signs in their store. I thought they were beautiful. This is a treasure that I purchased there.
From there, we made our way to "The Holy Cow" boutique in Pleasant Grove (still not Lehi, but Simply Splendid encouraged us to go). Of course I couldn't remember the name. I called it "The Wild Cow" and "The Mad Cow" but "Holy Cow" didn't stick in my demented mind! I haven't been to a boutique/boutique forever so this was fun. The most spectacular booth has these embellished witch hats. Brenda bought one for a costume lunch she is going to and I bought one for an Oct. centerpiece. Although I know Penny would love it as well and her birthday is tomorrow so I'll have to wait and see. It is over the top beautiful. Go hungry because they have the most wonderful "Big Buns." And you'll have big buns after eating their buns but we were licking our fingers sharing Linda Raddon's purchases. I don't have a picture of them because we ate them all.
.......................................................my gorgeous witches hat..................................................
From there we headed to Lehi! Yeah, our destination. After a wild goose chase because I really am directionally-challenged, we found the Porter Rockwell statue sculpted by Stanley Wanlass. Porter actually settled in the Lehi area, and a few years ago, Stanley was commissioned to do this statue. David and I attended the unveiling, and I remember being moved by it so much. although a statue, it contains such passion and movement! Just unbelievable. Stan actually lives in our neighborhood. His house is like a castle, complete with turrets and knights in armour in the inside foyer. At one time he had a Lamborghini or some exotic car like that parked in his living room! He is known internationally for his sculptures, especially of old cars. But he has done amazing monuments...several in Oregon, where they live part-time, of early explorers. You can see some of his work at stanleywanlass.com.
I did quite a bit of research about Porter Rockwell and was pleased to learn several things about him that I did not know. I think in his case it might be hard to separate most things shared about him fact or fiction. But this is what I learned:
He was the 10th baptized member of the church, when he was 16 years old.
He was with the first wagon trains to the valley and was with Orson Pratt's advanced team of 5 that first saw the SL valley on Jul 21, 8147. Three days later is when Brigham Young saw it.
He was a protctor and bodyguard of both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. When with Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith gave him a promise, like Samson, that he would be protected from his enemies as long as he didn't cut his hair. Many years later, when in California during the gold rush era, he saw the widow of Don Carlos (Joseph Smith's brother or son?). She had just suffered through cholera and had lost her hair. Porter cut his har to have a wig made for her. His greatest enemy then became alcohol. He actually had quite a successful saloon/hotel at Point of the Mountain called "The Hotsprings Brewery." He died one of the richest men of the State. In the statue, at the base of Porter's feet is a dog. This dog was described as loyal as Porter was to the prophets. He went everywhere with Porter. Story has it that is would often ride behind Porter, straddling his horse. The dog's name was Ugly.
Lehi was first settled by a small group of Mormons in the fall of 1850. First it was called Sulfur Springs (the warm springs that made Saratoga popular), then Dry Creek, then Evansville, after Bishop David Evans, then Lehi. We learned today about David Evans, again an early convert to the church. He was actually a survivor of Haun's Mill. His son, Edwin Evans, was one of the early "art missionaries"...sent to school in France, to learn to paint. Edwin worked on many of the murals in the Salt Lake Temple and the Cardston Temple as well as the SL VA hosptial. His grandson, another David Evans, is one of my art teachers.
From there, we headed to Porter's Place for lunch. It is in old Lehi and has been there since the seventies. Brenda and I had a laugh as soon as we got there. We used the restroom and opened the door and saw that it was for one at a time. But she came out laughing, because inside were two toilets side-by-side, although one was out of commission. Ladies don't do double-seaters! We got laughing, so I had to take a picture!
Although we didn't tour Lehi Roller Mills today, I told everyone to go home and watch Footloose on video since that was the scene of the famous dance number in that movie. Again, we took a roundabout way home because, in case you didn't catch it the first time, I am directionally-challenged! But we made it fun by calling the car following us and pointing out all sorts of trivia along the way. Another good time had by all!
Ran some errands tonight and drove home to this! Our mountain on fire! This is our mountain, our Bell's Canyon Reservoir. Burning! This is where my patron Saint J. hikes each day, and has vowed to protect us. She must be out of town. I bet she is in tears. We all are. Tonight was a Ward wedding reception and most of the field trip group was there...Brenda was hustling home in case it starts coming down, not up. Her street is lined with firetrucks. Makes you realize how life turns on a dime!
"The simple fact is this: anything that does not draw us closer to God takes us away from Him." Elder Faust
Today "Utah Field Trips" explored Lehi, Utah. One of the gals, Sharon Allen, has a son that just bought a darling store in Lehi for us to tour. Problem is, it wasn't really in Lehi, but Lindon, but, heh, it started with an "L." I think she's related to me! So first we headed out to Lehi, by way of Lindon, where we all had fun looking through all the goodies at Simply Splendid. They have gift items, yummy popcorn and goodies made on site, do personalized gift baskets, do projects for Super Saturdays, etc. They have a lot of the vinyl words or metal words on plagues. The two quotes I have on this page are both quotes they have on signs in their store. I thought they were beautiful. This is a treasure that I purchased there.
From there, we made our way to "The Holy Cow" boutique in Pleasant Grove (still not Lehi, but Simply Splendid encouraged us to go). Of course I couldn't remember the name. I called it "The Wild Cow" and "The Mad Cow" but "Holy Cow" didn't stick in my demented mind! I haven't been to a boutique/boutique forever so this was fun. The most spectacular booth has these embellished witch hats. Brenda bought one for a costume lunch she is going to and I bought one for an Oct. centerpiece. Although I know Penny would love it as well and her birthday is tomorrow so I'll have to wait and see. It is over the top beautiful. Go hungry because they have the most wonderful "Big Buns." And you'll have big buns after eating their buns but we were licking our fingers sharing Linda Raddon's purchases. I don't have a picture of them because we ate them all.
.......................................................my gorgeous witches hat..................................................
From there we headed to Lehi! Yeah, our destination. After a wild goose chase because I really am directionally-challenged, we found the Porter Rockwell statue sculpted by Stanley Wanlass. Porter actually settled in the Lehi area, and a few years ago, Stanley was commissioned to do this statue. David and I attended the unveiling, and I remember being moved by it so much. although a statue, it contains such passion and movement! Just unbelievable. Stan actually lives in our neighborhood. His house is like a castle, complete with turrets and knights in armour in the inside foyer. At one time he had a Lamborghini or some exotic car like that parked in his living room! He is known internationally for his sculptures, especially of old cars. But he has done amazing monuments...several in Oregon, where they live part-time, of early explorers. You can see some of his work at stanleywanlass.com.
I did quite a bit of research about Porter Rockwell and was pleased to learn several things about him that I did not know. I think in his case it might be hard to separate most things shared about him fact or fiction. But this is what I learned:
He was the 10th baptized member of the church, when he was 16 years old.
He was with the first wagon trains to the valley and was with Orson Pratt's advanced team of 5 that first saw the SL valley on Jul 21, 8147. Three days later is when Brigham Young saw it.
He was a protctor and bodyguard of both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. When with Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith gave him a promise, like Samson, that he would be protected from his enemies as long as he didn't cut his hair. Many years later, when in California during the gold rush era, he saw the widow of Don Carlos (Joseph Smith's brother or son?). She had just suffered through cholera and had lost her hair. Porter cut his har to have a wig made for her. His greatest enemy then became alcohol. He actually had quite a successful saloon/hotel at Point of the Mountain called "The Hotsprings Brewery." He died one of the richest men of the State. In the statue, at the base of Porter's feet is a dog. This dog was described as loyal as Porter was to the prophets. He went everywhere with Porter. Story has it that is would often ride behind Porter, straddling his horse. The dog's name was Ugly.
Lehi was first settled by a small group of Mormons in the fall of 1850. First it was called Sulfur Springs (the warm springs that made Saratoga popular), then Dry Creek, then Evansville, after Bishop David Evans, then Lehi. We learned today about David Evans, again an early convert to the church. He was actually a survivor of Haun's Mill. His son, Edwin Evans, was one of the early "art missionaries"...sent to school in France, to learn to paint. Edwin worked on many of the murals in the Salt Lake Temple and the Cardston Temple as well as the SL VA hosptial. His grandson, another David Evans, is one of my art teachers.
From there, we headed to Porter's Place for lunch. It is in old Lehi and has been there since the seventies. Brenda and I had a laugh as soon as we got there. We used the restroom and opened the door and saw that it was for one at a time. But she came out laughing, because inside were two toilets side-by-side, although one was out of commission. Ladies don't do double-seaters! We got laughing, so I had to take a picture!
Although we didn't tour Lehi Roller Mills today, I told everyone to go home and watch Footloose on video since that was the scene of the famous dance number in that movie. Again, we took a roundabout way home because, in case you didn't catch it the first time, I am directionally-challenged! But we made it fun by calling the car following us and pointing out all sorts of trivia along the way. Another good time had by all!
Ran some errands tonight and drove home to this! Our mountain on fire! This is our mountain, our Bell's Canyon Reservoir. Burning! This is where my patron Saint J. hikes each day, and has vowed to protect us. She must be out of town. I bet she is in tears. We all are. Tonight was a Ward wedding reception and most of the field trip group was there...Brenda was hustling home in case it starts coming down, not up. Her street is lined with firetrucks. Makes you realize how life turns on a dime!"The simple fact is this: anything that does not draw us closer to God takes us away from Him." Elder Faust
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Potpourri
Today Linda Midgley and Carolyn Campbell came for lunch. It is so enjoyable and they loved the house and the Porcupine Grill food so all went well. I don’t feel like we got to visit enough and to hear what each are doing. I was proud of Linda because she actually wrote a short story, kind of a sci-fi and emailed it to us earlier so we could critique it. Good job! But it was about sunflowers, who kind of take over the planet...always turning their heads to watch us! And you know me! I LOVE sunflowers. I paint them, paint them, paint them and have written several sunflower poems! How dare she make them sinister. So, I hurried to the store to get her a bouquet of sunflowers. And, of course they were out of them! Oh well, anything I can do to harass my friends. Linda is the one I make fun of for checking out her car each morning, to make sure there aren’t any "tigers" or other wild animals lurking in the back seat! That still makes me laugh....
Went to a shower last week where they had the cutest favors I’ve ever seen. Imagine a 2-tiered cake platter... the top one smaller than the bottom. These little boxes were made from a die cut, I think at All My Memories, to resemble a slice of wedding cake. The gal that made them cut the lid with a scallop to look like icing, as well as put white glitters. There is a flower on top of each piece with a silver petal, a diamond center of the flower and a piece of paper that extends saying "Loving you is a piece of cake." Then the little "slices of cake" were filled with white and silver candies....so cute. I’m not sure these pictures do it justice. 
I’ve been entertained all week by a flock of birds that have swarmed our hawthorn trees. I used to be quite a bird-watcher, when I wrote poetry, because it is important to stop, look, observe and using the real name of a bird is always more poetic than saying "a flock of birds." So I got out my worn copy of "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds- Western Region." I’ve been through it and been through it without luck. Until today. The birds are a Cedar Waxwing and have been quite entertaining. They are quite gluttonous and these little birds will sit there and swallow like 8 rather large berries in a row. I don’t know how they can fit them in their tiny tummies! I haven’t really seen them here before, and the little buggers actually keep flying straight into my window! Really, here are pictures of just SOME of the splats! David said, "Well, your windows are so clean, they must just not see them!" Ha! A
nd they certainly aren’t clean now with all the crashes!
Went to a shower last week where they had the cutest favors I’ve ever seen. Imagine a 2-tiered cake platter... the top one smaller than the bottom. These little boxes were made from a die cut, I think at All My Memories, to resemble a slice of wedding cake. The gal that made them cut the lid with a scallop to look like icing, as well as put white glitters. There is a flower on top of each piece with a silver petal, a diamond center of the flower and a piece of paper that extends saying "Loving you is a piece of cake." Then the little "slices of cake" were filled with white and silver candies....so cute. I’m not sure these pictures do it justice. I’ve been entertained all week by a flock of birds that have swarmed our hawthorn trees. I used to be quite a bird-watcher, when I wrote poetry, because it is important to stop, look, observe and using the real name of a bird is always more poetic than saying "a flock of birds." So I got out my worn copy of "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds- Western Region." I’ve been through it and been through it without luck. Until today. The birds are a Cedar Waxwing and have been quite entertaining. They are quite gluttonous and these little birds will sit there and swallow like 8 rather large berries in a row. I don’t know how they can fit them in their tiny tummies! I haven’t really seen them here before, and the little buggers actually keep flying straight into my window! Really, here are pictures of just SOME of the splats! David said, "Well, your windows are so clean, they must just not see them!" Ha! A
nd they certainly aren’t clean now with all the crashes!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Monday-Monday
Today started with a jump start. David flew to LA this morning....and I was greeted at the door by someone (a jogger? A gully walker?) who let me know two of our horses were out roaming the gully! OF COURSE David isn’t here. That is our crisis-mode-of-operation. When there was a bat in the house...when the outside water main broke...when people get in car accidents....when Brandi was in labor with Parker...when the horses are out....(okay, I think that covered about the last 20 years)....I’m just realizing he’s been out of town a lot lately. But, back to the horses. Have I mentioned I am not a horsey girl? Have I mentioned I am a city girl? But I’m starting to get it. I brought those two mischievous horses back even without a rope. Cousin Casey helped. But I think I could have done it all by myself. Just a bucket of grain did the trick. The problem is, the horses don’t un-paddlelock the fence. We have lots of people who use our property to “ride through” to get to the gully. And that’s okay. And some ‘walk thrus.” That’s okay too. But PLEASE shut the fence behind you. What are the chances those responsible will read this? About as likely as the next time they get out, David will be in town!
Had the kiddos this afternoon. Rylee is off track still and the girls couldn’t wait to call her to come and play. The pool has issues so they got their swim suits on and did a tubby with bubbles. Okay, can I just say, the ENTIRE bathroom was full of bubbles. Gramma wasn’t too happy. And little girls can’t use quiet voices. It is full pitched screams and exclamation!!! Gramma took some aspirin when they left today.
Yesterday I made Sophia’s french dip. Oh my,my,my! Everyone in the family has swooned. David, myself, Tanner and Cousin Casey and their buddy, Chris. We all swooned. I promise you will swoon too if you make it!
Crock Pot French Dip Roast
1 packet Au Jus Mix
1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
1 can beef broth
3-4 pound Chuck or rib roast
Put all ingredients into the crock pot and cook for 6-7 hours. MMMMMMM!
That’s it. I put mine in the crock pot on low when I went to bed on Sat. night. We woke up to yummy smells but I let it cook until dinner at 1:00. I got a great loaf of sourdough bread but french rolls would be great. First thing when Tanner got home from work today was asked if there were any left. I actually did two roasts (the special at Smiths) and there is just one small container left. It’s that good!
Spent time on the computer today pulling things together for our field trip to Lehi on Wednesday. Read lots of stuff on Porter Rockwell, David Evans and Edwin Evans. Stan Wanlass. You probably don’t know who these people are (well except for Porter) but I’ll tell you all about them on Wed. It will be a fun excursion.
I have my two writing friends coming tomorrow for lunch. Linda M. drives here from Santaquin and Carolyn Campbell lives close by but neither have been here to this home....so that means cleaning my fool head off today! I love, love, love to cook but I’m really thinking tomorrow I might go and get food from Porcupine Grill for lunch. It’s not that I don’t want to cook...I’m just tired of cleaning up after.
I’m sounding kind of complaining tonight so I’ll end on a lighter note. Brandi called me a little while ago and told me something Parker just told her. Tanner took Parker to the BYU game a few weeks ago. For some reason, I was paranoid about Parker getting lost in the gazillions of people so I insisted on writing Tanner’s cell phone number on a paper and giving Tanner a safety pin to pin it to Parker’s shirt...just in the case of an emergency. I think I even wrote about that. Well, when they got to the game, Tanner told Parker to look around and find a really cute girl. When he had one spotted, he was suppose to go up to her and tell her he was lost and could she call his uncle’s cell phone? Tanner said, “Look at it this way, Park. You can pick out your aunt!” Oh, that boy is funny. I love him to death!
Had the kiddos this afternoon. Rylee is off track still and the girls couldn’t wait to call her to come and play. The pool has issues so they got their swim suits on and did a tubby with bubbles. Okay, can I just say, the ENTIRE bathroom was full of bubbles. Gramma wasn’t too happy. And little girls can’t use quiet voices. It is full pitched screams and exclamation!!! Gramma took some aspirin when they left today.
Yesterday I made Sophia’s french dip. Oh my,my,my! Everyone in the family has swooned. David, myself, Tanner and Cousin Casey and their buddy, Chris. We all swooned. I promise you will swoon too if you make it!
Crock Pot French Dip Roast
1 packet Au Jus Mix
1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
1 can beef broth
3-4 pound Chuck or rib roast
Put all ingredients into the crock pot and cook for 6-7 hours. MMMMMMM!
That’s it. I put mine in the crock pot on low when I went to bed on Sat. night. We woke up to yummy smells but I let it cook until dinner at 1:00. I got a great loaf of sourdough bread but french rolls would be great. First thing when Tanner got home from work today was asked if there were any left. I actually did two roasts (the special at Smiths) and there is just one small container left. It’s that good!
Spent time on the computer today pulling things together for our field trip to Lehi on Wednesday. Read lots of stuff on Porter Rockwell, David Evans and Edwin Evans. Stan Wanlass. You probably don’t know who these people are (well except for Porter) but I’ll tell you all about them on Wed. It will be a fun excursion.
I have my two writing friends coming tomorrow for lunch. Linda M. drives here from Santaquin and Carolyn Campbell lives close by but neither have been here to this home....so that means cleaning my fool head off today! I love, love, love to cook but I’m really thinking tomorrow I might go and get food from Porcupine Grill for lunch. It’s not that I don’t want to cook...I’m just tired of cleaning up after.
I’m sounding kind of complaining tonight so I’ll end on a lighter note. Brandi called me a little while ago and told me something Parker just told her. Tanner took Parker to the BYU game a few weeks ago. For some reason, I was paranoid about Parker getting lost in the gazillions of people so I insisted on writing Tanner’s cell phone number on a paper and giving Tanner a safety pin to pin it to Parker’s shirt...just in the case of an emergency. I think I even wrote about that. Well, when they got to the game, Tanner told Parker to look around and find a really cute girl. When he had one spotted, he was suppose to go up to her and tell her he was lost and could she call his uncle’s cell phone? Tanner said, “Look at it this way, Park. You can pick out your aunt!” Oh, that boy is funny. I love him to death!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Sunday Musings
As I was working on my spiritual journal today, I started making lists of things and thought I would share just a portion of them.
10 Talks that Have Mattered To Me-
Of course there are many more. They just aren't coming to mind as readily. I love anything Pres. Hinckley says, Pres. Monson is a classic speaker, so I really didn't even mention those. But I would love to hear anyone else's favorites. These are just a couple of talks I've studied and studied again and again. One quote from Elder Packer....he's actually quoting Orson Whitney quoting Joseph Smith. It is the balm that soothes anyone's heart about a child who has strayed.
Our Moral Environment- Boyd K. Packer
"The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught a more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God." (Orson F. Whitney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1929, p. 110.)
The Only Real Treasure- Elder Buche
The Challenge to Become- Elder Oaks
The Other Prodigal- Elder Holland
Learn By Faith- Bednar
Decisions Determine Destiny- Monson
When Thou Art Converted- Todd Christopherson
More Meekness in Trail-Richard G. Scott
Jayne Malan- Summer of the Lambs
Choose Not To Be Offended- Bednar
Thirteen Temples I've done temple work in:
Cardston, Canada- my first temple entered as a teenager doing baptisms for the dead
Idaho Falls- second temple entered doing baptisms, later married there
St. George
Manti
Salt Lake
Provo
Ogden- took out my endownments there since Provo was closed
Jordan River- our temple, our temple, our temple! But not for long....
Bountiful
LATimpanogos- one of my favorites. I just love it.
Nauvoo- got to do a session and then baptisms. So awesome!
Logan- My great-great grandfather , John Thirkell, stood up during a meeting when the people were discouraged and it is recorded that he saw a vision of this temple...that it would be built if the people repented and pressed on. He could see the temple, where it was to be built and he said that he could see it and many houses and thousands of people in them. I would say that describes Logan today. The vision is recorded in the temple history.
Temples I've Been to but not been in- (lots of missed opportunities!)
San Diego
Oakland
Guatemala
Washington DC
Portland
Frankfurt Germany
Boise
Winter Quarters, Neb. (we planned on going but they didn't rent clothes there.)
St. Louis
Hawaii- maybe did a session there
Mesa
Orlando- I think we did a session there but I'm not sure
Favorite church callings:
Stake YW president
Stake RS presidencys (several times-two that stand out)
counselor in RS presidency or any time a counselor (much more fun than being president)
Primary chorister
Any callings I didn’t enjoy-one time as a Ward YW president
Once I was called to the nursery before we had even been to our new Ward. I was kind of a baby about it since I was young and immature and pregnant and already overwhelmed. After my first Sunday, David asked me how it went and I mumbled some complaint, to which he replied, "Are you still whining about being in the nursery?" Brandi was just little and immediately stuck up for me and said, "How would YOU like to be in there with all those crying babies?" to which David chuckled, ‘Oh, I think your mother will fit right in!" I did laugh. I didn’t smack him. He was right!
10 Talks that Have Mattered To Me-
Of course there are many more. They just aren't coming to mind as readily. I love anything Pres. Hinckley says, Pres. Monson is a classic speaker, so I really didn't even mention those. But I would love to hear anyone else's favorites. These are just a couple of talks I've studied and studied again and again. One quote from Elder Packer....he's actually quoting Orson Whitney quoting Joseph Smith. It is the balm that soothes anyone's heart about a child who has strayed.
Our Moral Environment- Boyd K. Packer
"The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught a more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God." (Orson F. Whitney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1929, p. 110.)
The Only Real Treasure- Elder Buche
The Challenge to Become- Elder Oaks
The Other Prodigal- Elder Holland
Learn By Faith- Bednar
Decisions Determine Destiny- Monson
When Thou Art Converted- Todd Christopherson
More Meekness in Trail-Richard G. Scott
Jayne Malan- Summer of the Lambs
Choose Not To Be Offended- Bednar
Thirteen Temples I've done temple work in:
Cardston, Canada- my first temple entered as a teenager doing baptisms for the dead
Idaho Falls- second temple entered doing baptisms, later married there
St. George
Manti
Salt Lake
Provo
Ogden- took out my endownments there since Provo was closed
Jordan River- our temple, our temple, our temple! But not for long....
Bountiful
LATimpanogos- one of my favorites. I just love it.
Nauvoo- got to do a session and then baptisms. So awesome!
Logan- My great-great grandfather , John Thirkell, stood up during a meeting when the people were discouraged and it is recorded that he saw a vision of this temple...that it would be built if the people repented and pressed on. He could see the temple, where it was to be built and he said that he could see it and many houses and thousands of people in them. I would say that describes Logan today. The vision is recorded in the temple history.
Temples I've Been to but not been in- (lots of missed opportunities!)
San Diego
Oakland
Guatemala
Washington DC
Portland
Frankfurt Germany
Boise
Winter Quarters, Neb. (we planned on going but they didn't rent clothes there.)
St. Louis
Hawaii- maybe did a session there
Mesa
Orlando- I think we did a session there but I'm not sure
Favorite church callings:
Stake YW president
Stake RS presidencys (several times-two that stand out)
counselor in RS presidency or any time a counselor (much more fun than being president)
Primary chorister
Any callings I didn’t enjoy-one time as a Ward YW president
Once I was called to the nursery before we had even been to our new Ward. I was kind of a baby about it since I was young and immature and pregnant and already overwhelmed. After my first Sunday, David asked me how it went and I mumbled some complaint, to which he replied, "Are you still whining about being in the nursery?" Brandi was just little and immediately stuck up for me and said, "How would YOU like to be in there with all those crying babies?" to which David chuckled, ‘Oh, I think your mother will fit right in!" I did laugh. I didn’t smack him. He was right!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)