More Friends

Since I'm on a friend roll, I will continue: 

I don't always post pictures of friends because, well, sometimes friends don't want their pictures posted.  But when my great-great-greats are reading this someday, I would love for them to know who in the heck I'm talking about!


I talk often about our Visiting Teaching group- actually it's two groups but we like to all get together once a month, when we can, and visit and uplift and laugh and...well, be friends.  Oh, and did I mention eat?



















Friday was a snowy snowy day and not everyone could come but 5 of us braved the weather and drove uptown to the Joseph Smith Memorial building where Lynda R. hosts once a week- to see the new Meet the Mormons  films that examines the varied lives of members of the Church.    We saw 4 wonderful new films, then had lunch at the beautiful Garden Room on the roof- which overlooks the temple (upper picture.)

I loved the photography in all of the films and the beautiful messages of endurance, faith, priorities and patience.  I heart being a Mormon.....

I love these women who constantly enrich my life.
Debbie S. and I go way back to when she and Steve caught David and I breaking in to their home being constructed.  I knew then that we would be forever friends (when they didn't kill us!)

I used to be Brenda's V.Ter before she and Bob went on their two missions to Hungary.  She's very smart besides beautiful and very politically savy.  I'm not....but I love her.

 
I visiting teach Elsa (with Gayle that's not here) and Lynda V.Teaches me and Elsa and Lynda are the best of friends so we all mesh together.  Lynda's son is the famous D.J. Kascade.

 Love everything about this beautiful building.  It is truly awe-inspiring
!

I have always loved Visiting Teaching- even when it was hard or inconvenient or when I thought I wouldn't have anything in common with those I was assigned to teach.  God has actually used Visiting Teaching to teach me forgiveness (another story) and love and the joy of friendship.  When I was first called as a V. Teacher- in college- the wonderful young Relief Society president called me in such a way that I've never forgotten it.  She said that I was called with a stewardship from the Lord for the ladies I would visit- and that two ladies (we were all just girls at the time!) had a stewardship over me!"  I thought that was amazing!  Since my mother wasn't a member of the Church, I never really understood what Visiting teaching meant.  I've had so many wonderful and funny and crazy and delightful experiences through all the years of Visiting Teaching (Saturday I subbed in the temple and Trish Morrison- whom I used to V.T. a million years ago before she moved away- came in and we both just got teary because we had that love that surpasses time.)  Gayle H. and I visiting teach Elsa (in the coral sweater) and have for about 17 years!    You get to know someone pretty well by then.  I would do anything for Elsa and I know she would do anything for us.  Gayle couldn't go Friday but tomorrow she and I are going to a new gal, Kelly Price, that just moved into our Ward , and neighborhood.  We are going for Swig drinks, then drive around our neighborhood and show her who lives where!  Goofy but fun.  I love doing unconventional things.  I love the relationships I have gained through the years and count each one an amazing friend- regardless of age differences and lifestyles and stages of life.  I pray about those I visiting teach each night and I love knowing there are two "angel friends" out there praying for me.  Hopefully someday we can all sit down in heaven together!!!! (and hopefully have lunch!)

All God's angels come to us disguised. ~James Russell Lowell

Friendship

I mentioned that a new book has just come off the presses called Courage to be You- Inspiring Lessons from an Unexpected Journey- by Gail Miller and Jason Wright. I think you can get it on Amazon but locally I think they are holding it until Mother's Day.   One chapter is called "Yes You Can (And Should) Pick Your Friends."  What a sweet surprise that she tells about our Bucket group.  Just part of it says this: "We talk about our children, but only to lift them.  We talk about our husbands, but only to praise them.  We talk about our faith, but only to grow it.  What we've never done in over ten years together is violate the rules of friendship.  Every month we count our blessings and remind one another that we'll never make it through this life alone.  We always have to have someone to go to or lean on, or who wants to lean on us.  I might lean today, maybe even tomorrow, and their turn to lean on me will surely come..."

and then "Sometimes when I drive away from a gathering of the Bucket Club, I remember the old adage that we are the average of the five people we associate with the most.  I hope that's not quite right.  I will be a happy daughter of God if at the judgment bar I have become the average of those twelve divine friends."

Wow- that was so sweet.  And so true.  What amazing women I get to associate with!

Galentines Ooh-La-La

 Last week I hosted a Galentine Ooh-La-La party for my friends at GNO.  We had SUCH a fun time celebrating friendship. I had fun having something creative to focus on plus love to show my friends how much I adore them.

I served Savory crepes
             artichoke quiche
             mini Croque Monsieur
            strawberry and melon caprese salad  
            with a browned butter and balsamic glaze

            (truly- lick the spoon.  Recipe on the cooking blog!)
             sparkling cider
and delicious macaroons that were unbelievable (I purchased from a new baker that is fabulous!)

I also had candy Eiffel tower cups to go shopping in the different candy jars.

 

 

 I blew up the picture I had for my invitations in black and white and then chalk colored it in for a photo background- then got funky glasses and hats and berets and mustaches for our photo shoots.

 

 

 

 

 

Galentines is a celebration of girlfriends and I have many to celebrate!!!!!!  We've celebrated this friendship when we were in our twenties and now we are all grandmas!!!  But we still know how to party.

We always laugh so much.  My friend Terri- who's birthday is today- comes from a crazy dysfunctional family yet she is so grounded and smart and organized.  She told us two funny stories about her dad.  He called her over this week to work on his obituary ....then called her back to say he had changed his mind and decided to go to Wendover (gambling) one more time!

He also mentioned that in the obituary to only mention two of his wives, not the other three!
Ha ha!  We laughed and laughed.  She has never ending stories.

Catching Up

 

When I download pictures from my phone, it reminds me of what I've been up to- so this post is full of randomness.

 

I don't think I've mentioned but I love to do service of my own accord.  I LOVE to do any service project (today helped with Mardi Bra- an event to buy undies for homeless women) but I especially love to do service that is self-started.  Of course, I also had to con my friend Patty (actually two Patty's!) in with this project....because I hate to sew but I love to buy fabric and cut things out- we are making at least 100 "girlie thingamajiggies" to help with DaysForGirls or whatever organization needs/sends feminine pads to countries/refugees/ or whoever needs them.  It's been a great project.

 

 

 
Also, who knew the secret step in making perfect hash browns?  I didn't until today!  Check it out on the cooking blog!

 

 

 I love the Olympics but haven't watched them as faithfully as I usually do.  Luckily I saw Shawn White's amazing halfpipe victory (he was crying and I was sobbing!)  and have seen some beautiful  ice skating (Nathan Chen's amazing 6-quads!) plus some downhill skiing and snowboarding. What amazing athletes!  And I almost look like an Olympian in my Dunkin Donuts gear!

 

 

The other day (night) when I was bringing Hallee home from dance (remember after 10 p.m.!) I was pulled over by a policeman.  I honestly had no idea what I had done wrong.  Come to find out, my brake light was out.  There was a hole like someone threw a rock through the red cover.  I promised him I would get it fixed the next day.  Can you believe $400 plus?????  That is so nuts! 

 

 
I do have something fun on the horizon.  This week I am hosting our GNO group.  I chose an Ooh La La Galentine party for the theme.  I have had so much fun planning French menus and décor!

 

 And I will end with this positive thought:

Happiness is a choice, not a result.  Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy.  No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy.  Your happiness will not come to you.  It can only come from you.

Fun Stuff

🙂I have been reconnecting with friends from my past (as part of my desire to get my party mojo back on.) (not really.)  One of the friends I reconnect with- we lived in the same neighborhood as each other in our first home out of BYU.  We worked in Young Women's together (oh the stories we could tell.....)  I LOVED spending time with K. - but we did have a laugh.  We have identical hair styles from a million years ago.

 

 

Today I had lunch with a newer friend, Joann, but we haven't seen each other forever. We talked and talked.  I have such wonderful people in my life.

  Yesterday I got to meet up with friend Sophia - a meet in the middle in Ogden.  We laughed and acted silly and ate and ate and talked and talked and determined that next time it won't be so long inbetween!

 

We went into an artsy store (The Art Box)- where you can go anytime and make candles.  They have base prices for the size you want- then you (for more $) add whatever embellishments you want on them!!!  Since I love mixed mediums- these just sang to my soul!  Can't wait to organize a fun girly getaway!!!!

 

 

Tomorrow  is back to the temple (we had two weeks off although David and I did go to the Salt Lake Temple )- Yay!!!!  Then  Thursday I get to lunch with a roommate from my first year in college, Ilene. Again, we haven't seen each other forever.  She is a "larger-than-life-personality/funnier-than-heck" friend and I know I will come home happy!

So, one of my "resolves" was to lose 4 pounds a month for 6 months.  January was perfect and then my birthday hit.  Lost 4, gained one.

So, February- with one continuing party, I've gained 3 so now I'm even.  Even isn't good unless you are having fun.  With friends.  With family.  With hubby.  I'll live!!!

If a man is called to be a street sweeper,
he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted,
or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts
of heaven and earth will pause to say,
here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

P.S.  I think I was on the friend and party committee in heaven.  I think I'm doing a great job!!!

To Encourage Us in Trials

Here are some quotes that I am sharing in my lesson today.

           QUOTES TO ENCOURAGE US IN TRIALS

 

I know God will not give me more than I can handle.  I just wish he didn’t trust me so much!  Mother T.

 

Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.

 

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Matt. 5:4

 

When something bad happens, you have three choices.  You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.

 

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. C.S. Lewis

 

If you never know hardship, you will never know how to support people around you.

      Enduring hardship isn’t just about strengthening one’s character…it’s about building one’s testimony.

 

The wound is the place the light enters.  Rumi

 

Sometimes we are tested to not show our weaknesses but to show our strengths.

 

To all who so despair, may I offer the assurance of the Psalmist’s words “Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.  Thomas S. Monson

 

When life knocks you down, you are in the perfect position to pray.

 

When you are at your lowest, reach up!  God is waiting!

 

True strength is not measured when you are at your strongest but when you are at your weakest.

 

It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.

 

It’s not the load that breaks you down.  It’s the way you carry it.

 

Sometimes the things we can’t change end up changing us.

 

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Every bad situation will have something positive.  Even a dead clock has the correct time twice a day.

 

Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life.

 

I’m right here, swimming in the river of hardships but I know how to swim.

 

Sometimes the same hardship you wish would be removed is the very thing that is curing, protecting and saving you.

God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons we could not learn any other way.

 

Obstacles are put in your way to see if what you really want is worth fighting for.

 

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.  Henry Ford.

 

Trust in God.  He won’t make the mountain smaller but He will make climbing it that much easier.

 

And most importantly:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths.  Be not wise in thine own eyes.  Proverbs 3:5-7

 

 

Aftermath Super Bowl

Brandi and Doug are in Philadelphia for some education meetings (Doug)- and they are having a great time.  How fun to be in Philadelphia when they are having the parade for the Super Bowl winners!  You can see the team in the upper pictures.  3 million were expected- Brandi said it is quite the tailgate party!  Crazy fun!!!!

Meantime- I am the babysitting (no babies here) Grandma.  I trek over to their house after school and run errands and the 3 girls and I go out to dinner and watch movies BUT also:

( here is yesterdays agenda)

Wake up at 6  (what????  I never get up at 6 anymore.  Ever.  Even if the house was on fire.  PLUS I forgot to take my sleeping pills so basically I fell asleep at 4 and the alarm rang at 6!!!)

Scripture Study at 6:20-6:30  Perfect for my attention span

2 girls have to be driven to PIANO LESSONS before school at 7:00 a.m.!!!!!

Then all three head to different schools with different start times.

I forgot about Rosie.  Rosie is their dog.  I'm not a real doggie person but Rosie loves me.  Rosie jumps on my bed and snuggles with me all night.  David never licks my face in the middle of sleep (or in this case, non-sleep)  Rosie is really sweet but she does smell faintly like a dog.  But I'm her grandma so what the heck.  Buck up, I say!

Then I run home when the kids are in school and crash on the sofa.  And run out to lunch with friends because, let's face it, I'm still birthday celebrating.  Then before I know it, it is time to run across the valley once again when the kiddos come home.  Last night, after dinner, we headed back to the house and Addi and I watched "The Giver" because they are reading it in school and she gets double credit by watching and comparing the movie.  Before I know it Hallee comes in ready for her ride to dance class at 8:30 AT NIGHT UNTIL 10!!!!!!  My bedtime is before 10?  What the heck?????

These kiddos!  Whew!  I remember carpooling for Brooke and Tanner last year and actually spending almost 8 hours running carpool getting 3 kids to 3 different schools and horses and putting 100 miles on the car!!!!  Remember, I memorized Curious George's Halloween tape until I can't stand hearing his little whiny voice anymore!!!!!  Poor Ryker's head was stuck to the carseat.

Okay, enough already.

I have only high praise for the wonderful moms and dads out there who spend half their time in the car making sure their kiddos have "good life experiences."  Or something.  I'm just so glad it's not me all over again.  Except when I'm in Grandma mode.  Then it makes me happy.  I do love my kiddos!  And their parents.

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown

My kiddos know that I am a little (!) unconventional and love to be silly.  We were  having a serious conversation in the car when Gracie asked me if I could pick any job that would bring joy and meaning in life, what would it be.   Addi couldn't believe I said "Drive an ice cream truck."  Well, I did have to clarify "without the creepy music."  Apparently I need loftier aspirations....



And speaking of Super Bowl- which I didn't watch- after the halftime performance (which I also didn't watch) they had a commercial from Verizon called First Responders.  It featured people in various situations where lives were saved by first responders.  One of the people in the commercial was our wonderful neighbor/darling girl/ one of my Laurels that fell over 40 feet off a water fall and landed on rocks/water below.  If you saw the commercial, she's the one who says "she was surrounded by angels."  That's our girl.  That's our miracle.  (you can Google the commercial.)

“The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen."  G.K. Chesterton

”Miracles happen every day. Not just in remote country villages or at holy sites halfway across the globe, but here, in our own lives.”  Deepak Chopra

“Miracles never cease to amaze me.  I expect them, but their consistent arrival is always delightful to experience.”  Mark Victor Hansen

Sweet Bucket and Other Stuff

Tuesday this week was Bucket at Annette's home.  We had such a beautiful time together as always.  She had previously ask us to send her our favorite scripture that had the word "heart" in it.  She had made them up on cute hearts and we made this darling little Valentines of the Heart reminders.  Our discussion is always so edifying.  I adore these women that I get to associate with.  I love hearing their thoughts on everything! (I think I'm going to find each quote in my scriptures and put a notation by them who loves that particular one...)

 

 

 We all got a sweet Valentine's surprise.  Gail's book called Courage to Be You just came off the presses and she brought one for each of us.   I came home and have almost finished it.  So wonderful and reflects what an amazing woman she is and is so encouraging.  I think it will be in bookstores for Mother's Day.  Co-written by Jason Wright of the The Christmas Jar fame.  I love Gail and am honored to call her friend.

And speaking of books- I just finished the 3 volumes of this blog that my kids published for me for Christmas.  That's almost 900 pages!  But I have loved re-reading the story of my life, the life of my family and friends and Ward.  The ins and outs of life.  Keep reading funny kiddos sayings.  Hallee Babe used to pray "And thank you for Heavenly Hinckley."

Last week I had to send a picture to some of my kiddos.  I had one of my ears re-pierced.  (That's what happens when you don't always wear earrings...)  I had just read in the "blog book" about taking Gracie to get hers done 10 years ago.  This is what it said:

Afterwards, Brandi and Gracie and I went to the mall. Brandi surprised us by announcing that since Gracie has given up a bad habit successfully, she thought she needed to be rewarded and Gracie was allowed to get her ears pierced (a previous 8-year-old privilege.) I thought I was going to faint and Gracie was worried "what if she accidentally did the old habit?" She's TOO worried about doing the right thing if that is possible.... We had to call Rylee during the process and she was so excited, I thought she'd jump through the phone! We had to call and give several updates.

Rylee: Are you in the busy part of the store with jewelry or is she sitting in the chair?
Me: She's in the chair.
Rylee: Is she holding the black, fuzzy bear yet?
Me: Yes, it is helping her be brave. Did you get to hold the bear?
Rylee: Yes, does that lady (just a mere girl!) have the gun yet?
Me: Gun?! Come on, Gracie, we're outta here!!!!

 

I'm preparing my Relief Society Lesson for next Sunday on trials helping us to become better people.  Brandi and I were talking the other day about how what she thought was (and still is) one of the most horrible things anyone could go through.....and yet- how in reality, that terrible thing was really a HUGE blessing and a protection for her.  I found this quote that I love:

 

For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone.  The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes.  To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.

Owies for Summer

 This is Summer, looking runny nosed and mirerable on her way to Primary Children's Hospital.  Today she went in for tubes in her ears (because of chronic runny nose and ear infections)- and found out she had strep, staph, and tonsillitis!  They took out her swollen adenoids as well!  Poor baby!  It scares me to death when the kiddos have to be put out so I can now breathe a big sigh of relief and gratitude.  Life can happen in a second ....and I'm so glad our baby girl is going to be okay!

What Do These People Have in Common????

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AND ME!!!!!

 

 

                          January 29th

A year closer to 100- but you know what that means????  Lunches out with friends and friends and friends and shopping with friends and a movie with a friend and fun with hubby and Brandi threw a birthday party for me with the family!!!!  It was so dang fun!  Pizza and my favorite salad from Porcupine Grill and all sorts of yummies including chocolate cake and banana cake- my two favorites!!!!  We played Family Bunco and it was a riot- even the littles played (well, not three of them...)  It was wild and crazy and my heart just about bursts when my family is all together.  I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!

Brandi had a darling felt mailbox with hearts for everyone to write a love note to me on.  Yes, I wanted to cry.  My heart is heaped up and running over!  (and I got some additions to our "Small Plates" which brings me such great joy !)

If you've got to get really really really old, at least it helps to be really really really happy!!!!

Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.-Jack Benny