Wildflowers in Albion Basin

Yesterday was our RS Field Trip (focus group)....that Elsa and I planned to the Wildflower Festival (meaning the wildflowers are blooming) up in Albion Basin and truly....you must go. We live right here at the base of this amazing canyon (Little Cottonwood) and I'm ashamed at how little we go up there and enjoy its beauty. Keep driving up the canyon, past Snowbird ski resort....past Alta ski resort ( the place our son Ben loves more than all of us....)(just half kidding) and continue on the gravel road. You actually can ride the lifts and tram up and hike down....or just continue driving until you come to the Cecret campground. Most of us hiked up to Cecret Lake (about a mile).....just being outdoors and smelling the woodsy smells and seeing, really, the incredible wildflowers.....it was just what each of our souls needed....since we were all feeling the feel the loss of a friend and neighbor......and aching for our friend, Lynda.

Lunch is always a part of our field trips (of course!) We then tried out a Mexican restaurant in the canyon, El Chante (meaning the blackbird)....but it really should have been called "La Ardilla" or "the squirrel" as one kept coming inside and sending Cecily W. into terrors! I never knew she was such a scaredy-cat. It was hysterical! Oh, I can't WAIT to find a stuffed squirrel to secretly plant in her car or bed. She'll never live this down...

Up Little Cottonwood canyon, there is a famous rock. It is gigantic. A car could drive in the dark space underneath. It is like a 2-story building. I wish you could see in reality it looks like it is ready to tumble...... it could squash a small village. And everyone in it. Even those who prefer not to be squashed.

But thankfully, look at what is holding it up. A stick! A mere toothpick!

This rock is a metaphor for my life sometimes.....

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

- Mother Theresa

A NOT SO NICE WORD....

I just got back from my little women's retreat (you're saying "Again?!!! How much fun can one person get to have?") (and not little women as in Lousia May Alcott's Little Women) but our Relief Society focus group, called, for lack of a more artistic name- Utah Field Trips. In our year or so together, we have hit several museums, attended an art show in Wallsburg for an artist friend, Linda Curley Christensen, toured cool garden places and gardens, checked out favorite consignment shops in the valley, visited cemetaries and learned unusual Utah history, attended a 24th of July musical and had one of the stars, Michelle Baer, a FABULOUS LDS singer from Arizona (http://www.michelebaermusic.com/) give a special fireside for us. And, of course, we always explore the fabulous eateries the valley has to offer. This month we had a retreat at my friend and neighbor's cabin up in our beautiful mountains. An over-the-top wonderful time! I saw a baby moose (I love moose!), lots of deer, and I think even two wolves. They looked like wolves. They ran like wolves. They danced like wolves. Oh, I made that part up. But maybe they were someone's pets far from home. But then, I came back home and read another friend/neighbor's blog....about a mutual enemy. Here I was- happy and relaxed, spiritually uplifted and fed...and then I come home to her blog and it hit a nerve. It was about.....MAGPIES! (You can check out her full blog at(http://mamabawden.blogspot.com/) Can I just say, I am not nice when it comes to magpies. I think "magpie" is a dirty word. Here is my reply to her:

Oh my gosh...you've hit a nerve! I am battling the magpies as well. I've even written a poem about my feelings for the magpie. It's not a pretty poem.


THE MAGPIE WAITS

The magpie waits at Hell's gate
with piercing, steely eyes.
He dares the Son to infiltrate
and soothe my fevered cries.
Night images wring
my darkened soul,
spilling carnage
within full sight.
He hisses, "Justice is served"
then strips my flesh,
savoring every bite.

Okay, maybe a little too graphic. But magpies interrupt my morning snooze with their screeching, eat my squished little critters on the road, drive away the other birds, peck holes in my fruit crop. They are prolific because they eat what man eats-meat, fruit, vegetables, grain. Okay, I don't eat dog food or road kill. I told one of my boys last week I wanted him to build a potato gun and start pelting the magpies with them. They make me feel not nice. They bring out the worst in me. They make me feel not nice about me. I have "issues" with magpies. They don't have magpies east of the Mississippi. Someone brought a bird west as a pet. What were they thinking?!

Once, a friend was up at Sundance film festival and observed a crowd of people waiting on a corner, to cross the street, and their antimated concern that someone's exotic bird had apparently escaped and surely it was worth a lot of money and how could the bird be caught. My friend looked on with amusement when she saw that the "Eastern" folk were gazing at a magpie sitting in the trees. Don't let those "tuxedo" outfits fool you! They're a menace! Sorry, you pushed my buttons! Even though the magpie/buffalo story was lovely. I know magpies. Grrr!

I'll Never Grow Up!

Peter Pan is a fairy play. There isn't a thing in it which could ever happen in real life. That is as it should be. It is consistently beautiful, sweet, clean, fascinating, satisfying, charming, and impossible from beginning to end. Mark Twain


Last night my granddaughter, Rylee, age almost 5, danced in Peter Pan at Kingsbury Hall on the U of U campus. Each year, the dance studio she attends (Utah Dance Center in Sandy), puts on a full length play. I’ve been to enough dance recitals to kind of understand how they run so I was totally unprepared for this production. Their studio is apparently so large -I bet there were several hundred dancers last night and they have 3 nights with different dancers! It was a totally professional production with fabulous sets, beautiful costumes and even a flying Peter Pan. I had a date with granddaughter, Gracie, already 5 (Gracie and Rylee had this conversation on the way home from the production...who was "almost" and who was "already" along with comparing their foot sizes and other interesting stuff...pretty funny.) First of all, I told Gracie she could choose where she wanted to go for dinner and then I got worried. When her mother, Brandi, asked her where she would choose, Gracie said, "That depends. If they have a playland, then McDonalds. If they don’t have a playland, then Wendy’s or IHOP. Thank goodness for IHOP. We both love waffles, plain with butter and syrup with a side of links. While we waited for our food, I taught her how to make snakes with the paper off the straws. (That was Rylee’s favorite thing when we went out to lunch.) You squish the paper up on the straw by pushing the ends together and then taking the squished up paper off the straw. Fill the end of your straw with water by holding your finger on the end of the straw and carefully dabbing the water on the crunched up paper. It starts moving like a snake! I also conducted a short interview. Here are the results:

What is your favorite color? "Orange (that was a surprise) then pink then blue."

What is your favorite sport you play? "Soccer. Grandma, it is the only sport I play!"

How many goals did you make this year? "Well, maybe 5 or 9. I don’t think I made 19." (I’m sure she made 19! She was amazing! Once, only 4 people showed up on her team (they play with only 3 players at a time) so she didn’t get many breaks. She was kind of horsing around, getting right by the goal then kicking it out of bounds. When her coach asked her what she was doing, she said she was tired and wanted to go out. He said, "Gracie, you make a goal and then you can go out." She immediately made a goal and then made a funny face at her coach as she ran off the field! She really IS good.

Who are your best friends and why?

Cassie, because we play Game Cube and sometimes we "are" game cube. (?)

Lizzy because when someone gets hurts, she helps me take care of them.

Taylor: (a girl) because when we play Star Wars, sometimes she will be the boy.

Rylee was so darling in her dance number. Her number was

"Don’t Smile at a Crocodile."

She really did a cute job (and this just isn’t her grandma talking!) She is such a number....half teenager, half imp, looks like Cameron Diaz as a little girl. She is always giggling and is really a crack-up. Of course, the girls wanted a sleepover after the performance, so although it was late, we had to hit a Smith’s on the way home to get a movie to watch (Jump In) and Root Beer Float ice cream bars (our favorite) and chocolate milk. They ran all over the house giggling when we got here and finally I got their beds made on the sofa so they could watch the movie. They lasted about 45 minutes til they zonked. Do I love them?!!!

This morning was our Utah Field Trip focus group. We usually meet at my house, then car pool to our destination together. Today we traveled to the little Granite cemetery. I had arranged for Rosemary Fairborne, who lives in our Stake but in another Ward, to meet us there and give us a little history of pioneers in our community buried there. It was so awesome because many of those pioneer’s posterity still live in our Stake and it was fun to hear their family stories. Then we got to tour the "White Chapel" which is an old historic church here in Granite. Rumors are that it is haunted. Unfortuantely, it has also been the target of severe vandalisms over the years. Avard Fairbanks bought it from the church in the 60's and has used it as his art and sculpting studio. Avard did the angel Moroni on 4 of the temples, I think, and has sculptures in Wash. D.C. and throughout the world. He died several years ago. His grandson, Lance,who is also an artist (the son of Grant who is a plastic surgeon but also an artist) was there working on some restoration work and he gave us the tour and some great history. I have always wanted to go through the old church so today was a highlight. Eve Mortensen, whose home we bought, was an avid painter. I was lucky enough to get two of her paintings, and one of them was of the old white church. It hangs in David's office. The funny thing about the "white church" (that is how it was dedicated) was that it was really red brick. It took almost 30 years for it to be dedicated because it had to be paid for before dedication and by that time, some of the brick had started to deterioate, so it was whitewashed to look more holy! After that, we went to the temple quarry site at Little Cottonwood canyon and talked more about the building of the temple and the granite that came from our canyon. I didn’t know that all the granite for the temple was just sitting in the mouth of the canyon,huge house-sized boulders, some three stories high, being pushed there how many years ago by a giant glacier. I always thought the granite had been mined or chisled from the mountains. Interesting how God works. He never ceases to amaze me!

Then lunch at the Porcupine Grill. Porcupine Grill has a fabulous house salad...greens with spiced pecans, mandarin orange, pear slices, feta and purple onion. The dressing is described as a creamy balsamic dressing and I literally stayed up nights trying to figure out the recipe. I think I’ve mastered it and whenever I fix it for people, they love it too. Here’s my version of their house salad dressing:

Porcupine Grill Balsamic Dressing

1/2 cup honey
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
½ tsp. sesame oil
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar

I'll end tonight with one thought from one of the women we heard about today. I can't remember her first name but she was the oldest person in the cemetery (a Despain.) She said in her memoirs: "There are always so many things to worry about, you could worry your life away. So I decided I would set aside Thursdays to worry and then really enjoy myself every other day!" What a great attitude! (Well, except tomorrow is Thursday!)

And good news! Two, maybe three new babies born here yesterday. Got you curious? Tomorrow I'll have pictures!

A Second Baby Tops the News Stories

Monday- watched the kiddos in the morning. It was Tanner’s birthday and so in the evening, David and I and Tanner, Travis and Tenille and kids and Brandi and Ryan and kids all ate at Smokey Mountain Pasta and Pizza. It was so warm that we sat outside...then it cooled off before our food came and we were CHILLED but we had a great time together.

Tuesday- Painted a red rock scene with Jon McNaughton and all the painting friends. Debra Simons, Debbie Parr, Erica Nordquist and her daughter, Michelle Coleman. I met Shauna Horne for the first time and really liked her. Everyone else did acrylics but I did oil. Jon paints in acrylic, but I don't like the look of the masonite/gesso’d board. I love the texture of canvas. We painted for 8 hours- had a GREAT lunch. Michelle made a salad of Valene’s that I absolutely loved!

Southwestern Chicken Salad(Valene Cook)
1 lb. skinless chicken breasts, cooked, cooled and chopped
Marinate in lime juice and dash of chili pepper if desired 

2 tomatoes, diced
1 avocado, diced
½ red onion, diced
1 to ½ c. shredded cheese
1 can black beans, rinsed and
and drained
8 cups (1 bag) mixed greens
Toasted Tortilla chips
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
(we served Dirty rice over the top of the salad- I used Zatarain's mix from the store)

Toasted Tortilla Strips: Slice flour or corn tortillas into small strips using a pizza cutter. Put on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with chili powder, if desired. Cook at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add to salad just before serving.

Lime-Cilantro Dressing
3 c. mayonnaise
juice of ½ lime
3 T. water
1 c. fresh cilantro
3 T. white vinegar
dash of black pepper
½ Anaheim or jalapeno chili, rinsed, de-seeded
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor; whirl until smooth. Combine salad ingredients, toss and serve with dressing. (This is fabulous!)

Tuesday night I spoke on Journal Writing at their Ward (Granite South Stake- 16th Ward). It was awesome to speak and see so many people that I love there. First of all, a girl by the name of Anita Wells spoke on her love of the scriptures. It was fantastic! She shared how the scriptures have spoken to her throughout the years. You could tell she was light years away from where I was at her age. I was so impressed and inspired. She has published a children’s book called, "Nephi, Nephi, I Know the Scriptures are True." A funny, but cute thing that she did for her family for Christmas last year, was to try and look up people’s birthdays in the scriptures and then find the best scripture to give them. For instance, my birthday is January 29th or 1:29. As I’ve looked up many of the scriptures, I found this one (that I had actually underlined before)

Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake

(Which I love because it goes with another scripture that helped me so much when Ryan got malaria and dengue in Guatemala. I was so upset because I had stressed out about that possibility before he left and David said I needed to have faith and turn him over to the care of the Lord. I did, and Ryan got so sick. I felt so betrayed until I read another scripture that said, "How much better is it that you suffer for my sake than you suffer for your sins." I realized that there is a GREAT difference between righteous and unrighteous suffering. And good people, even missionaries, do suffer but at least they are not suffering because they are sinning. Also a cool thing about this scripture is- that it came to me when I was in the depths of my sorrow...and I opened my scriptures and there is was- TA DA! I love that when it happens!)

Wednesday was Utah Field Trips. We met at my house and had three cars of us that went to the Salt Lake Cemetery ( other’s met us there.) We had a map that showed where different prophets or pioneers of the Church were buried, and as we would trek them out, then we would share faith-promoting stories (which I had prepared) at their grave. Several of the gals had relatives buried there so they related stories from their history. It was a beautiful day and so enjoyable. My favorite, that I shared, was Jane Manning James, who was the first black woman pioneer. She lived a harsh but faithful life and I want to sit at her feet some day to pay my respects. This picture of her giving half of her wheat to someone else who had none. It is on a monument at the cemetary. The Salt Lake cemetery is so awesome....we didn’t even make a dent in it. It was also fun for me to do research on many of the prophets. Afterwards we had lunch at Red Butte Gardens. Great day.

Thursday was Joshua’s birthday. He was in school but I had told Marci that I would come and help with the little kids (Heidi and Elijah) to give her a break (so she could rest with the new baby.) I made the pasta dish from last week’s Creative Cooking to take them for lunch. When I got there, Elijah was ready for a nap so I just took Heidi for the day. We did some shopping (a comedy of errors, that I won’t go into), got McDonalds, went to the park to swing and slide. Heidi's a little doll and it was fun to be with just her for the day. Then I hurried home...

I was planning on attending Graci and Hallee’s dance recital but I just couldn’t make it work. I had a new art class taught by Marilyn Gandre (of the Peck and Gandre paperdolls that I used to collect- they did all the Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, etc. Also some of the nostalgia Barbie and Ken paperdolls) It was AWESOME. I did graphing for the first time and was so impressed. I don’t really care about the face I am painting but I am just excited to be learning some new techniques. So, this has been a wonderful art week.

Friday our paint class in the morning was cancelled but that was so okay with me since I’ve painted all week. It was nice to have a day without so many demands although I had promised Brandi to watch the kiddos that night since she and Ryan had tickets to some comic in Logan. She brought them about 3:00p.m. but also their cousin, Megan, to watch them here for a few hours which really helped. I took her home at 5:30 and the rest of the evening was spent playing, referring, feeding. We had a great time but it sure makes me remember real fast the stress that these young mothers (and dads) have day after day, raising little kids. It is constant and draining. So I was glad to be able to give Brandi and Ryan a break and also spend more time with the kiddos. They all did pretty good.

Saturday- The morning was hectic getting all the kiddo’s clothes and paraphernalia found and everyone out the door. And Brandi and Ryan (and all parents) do it each day- every time they go somewhere! Whew! It was quiet when they left and not having anyone here- David, Tanner and Aunt Pat and Casey left on Friday night to go to St. George to move David’s folks again, and I didn’t expect them until late evening. So, I had a nice day- changing sheets on the bed and doing laundry all day. I did a Costco shop and went to Western Gardens to pick up some plants. Later in the afternoon, Ryan and Marci and the kids dropped in and we talked and played for several hours. The baby is precious and all are doing well. (This picture is of little Noah Joseph) Joshie was happy with his birthday present (a rock grinding machine- "How did you know exactly what I wanted?!")


I had just received a call from Travis about 6:30 that he and Tenille were headed to the hospital, so about 9:00 p.m. I left for Cottonwood Hospital. Tenille did great...you never would know she’s in labor. Dr. Terry came in all dressed in a suit and tie from the evening session of his Stake Conference. He checked her and she was a ten! It was fun to reminisce...since he had delivered Tanner and also Tenille’s little brother, Jake. Anyway- three great pushes and he was out! Just a little guy- 6 lb. 9 oz. which is smaller than their last two. He is so cute...he looks just like Boston now, not when Boston was a baby! He has Rylee’s beautiful little heart shaped lips. It was awesome to be there and get to hold him. (And they haven’t officially named him....) So that makes ELEVEN! Boy, once you start having grand kids, they just multiple so quickly. And we love it! After I got home from the hospital, I still needed to do some breakfast casseroles for Josh Wright’s farewell since Julie is still recovering from her surgery from breast cancer.

(The name is official- Nash Darley Williams! We love him!)
Sunday- (see Eakins Tribute)
It was Josh Wright's farewell. Josh is an amazing pianist- having won competitions all over the world. He spoke (for 40 minutes!) and then played an original composition of "I Believe In Christ" with Brother Corey doing a narrative. Pretty incredible!

I did a little lesson in nursery about Heavenly Father making all the fishes and everything in the sea (my presentation wasn't nearly as spectacular as Josh's presentation)...and made a little aquarium with colored fishes and turtles and frogs inside with paper clips connected to them and a stick fishing pole with a magnet on the end of the line. So the kids got to fish and they thought that was fun.

Came home ready for a nap but we had an appointment with the Stake President and Tanner for an "after mission follow-up." President Miles is such a great man- I just enjoy being around him. THEN I got my nap (while David was at the Church for a Church court and Tanner and Casey were watching the playoff game.) Tonight we had a High Priest fireside with Elder Todd Christofferson. He and his wife, Kathy, live in our Stake. In fact, Kathy was the education counselor in the Stake Relief Society before me. For most of the evening, he just answered questions from the audience. It was interesting, but not necessarily inspiring. But then he took just a few minutes at the end, to talk about the importance of the calling of High Priest (and wives). He shared one scripture that stood out and spoke to me. It was Hebrews 4:14-16-

14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.
16. let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Since I have been studying so much lately about the concept of the atonement, forgiveness, mercy and grace, this really touched me. I loved the part that said that Christ wasn't a high priest that couldn't feel our pain and infirmities- because although he was sinless, he was tempted and experienced all that we do. I love the idea of coming boldly unto the throne of grace- and finding mercy in our time of need. I always think of the last lines of a an old movie called "The Chosen." It is about a young Jewish man, whose father is orthodox, but the boy is enchanted with the world outside of that tradition. He shows the heartache both experience. The closing lines talks about their reconciliation (it is only in the movie, not the book, unfortunately)...and basically the father says, "Come to me as far as you can go....and I will meet you and make up the difference." To me, that is grace and mercy.

The Last Few Days

"Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for my posterity." Thomas Jefferson

This has been such a relaxing week, I almost (just almost) feel guilty. Wed. was our Utah Field Trips focus group in Relief Society that Elsa Gray and I are in charge of. Elsa has been off to China with several in the Ward so we did it a week later than we usually do. Half the group cancelled that morning so there were just four of us- Elsa, Debbie Stowell, Gayle Howe and myself. We’re all great friends so it was fun. We went to Thanksgiving Point for the tulip festival. Again, how peaceful to be able to walk around those beautiful gardens with literally thousands of tulips in bloom. I printed off several pages of gardening quotes, so we sat for a bit in the Secret Garden area, and read them out loud.

"May our heart's garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers." Hahn

We had planned on lunch in the Harvest restaurant but the wait was too long so we ordered sandwiches at the deli there and it was delicious. Anytime with dear friends is delicious even if there isn’t food. (How can I say that- there is ALWAYS food!)

"Your first job is to prepare the soil. The best tool for this is your neighbor's garden tiller. If your neighbor does not own a garden tiller, suggest that he buy one."
Dave Barry

Hurried home and worked for several hours organizing the food storage areas. Got so engrossed that Johnna had to call me and tell me I was late for my hair appointment! How short-minded I am! So, got my hair cut- David came home from work with his cut also so we were a matched set. He also has been beating me at Nertz lately. That makes him the king. My mom and dad play several hands of Skipbo each morning to determine who is the boss for the day. That makes David the "pool-boy-lawyer-cowboy-sprinkler-fixer-king-for-the-day-boss"...whew! That’s a lengthy title! 

Thursday Jenny Miller hosted a birthday lunch for her mom, Valene Cook, at Jenny’s gorgeous new home in Pepperwood. There were about 35 people there...from all periods of Valene’s life. It is always so fun to visit with everyone. Valene is just one of my favorite people who always "fills me up." The party was wonderful for Valene and I’ve been excited to see Jenny’s new home. My favorite rooms (although every room was great!) were the mother’s room and the food storage room (Brandi’s favorites as well.) Just a great afternoon.

Then art with David Evan’s on Thursday evening. I’m almost done painting a farm scene of Liberty, Utah. My favorite music to listen to is anything by Tim Janis, especially "Beautiful America." I fear everyone at art is sick of listening to it. But it is so "painterly!" 

Friday, Brandi had picked up some extra patients so I volunteered to babysit the kiddoes. Parker is off track so it is the four of them. I went out to their home so I could load up all the pop cans I’ve been collecting for a YEAR and then take them to the recycling place. The money is going into their "Disneyland" fund. I had 12 large garbage bags full of pop cans...they have driven David nuts stashed in the garage. Guess how much I got for them? A whole $14.90! Whew, whew! Not hardly worth it, I’d say. I told Brandi , "Well, at least that is 12 bags that won’t be going to the landfill!" (Still not worth it!)

It was funny, when we pulled up to the VERY scary salvage yard, Parker looked around and said, "I can’t believe my mom would let us come here!" That is kind of what I was thinking as well!

Afterwards, we came back to our house and played. Thankfully, no goose attacks! I did the Easter egg hunt again. I put money in the eggs, and that money also goes into their Disneyland account. I think we had better have A LOT of egg hunts since pop cans aren’t going to cut it! I was so tired in the evening, David and I just went to Sonic after he was done working outside and got a shake. I think that was dinner....

This morning - Saturday- was spent watching Gracie and Parker's soccer games. Luckily, they (the games) were one after the other, at the same playing fields. They both did great and they are so fun to watch (the kids, not necessarily the games! I'm really not a very good sports-grandma!) Then shopping and getting ready for Travis's birthday party/dinner tonight with the whole family. Travis loves Famous Dave's BBQ so I ordered all the meat from them, then made baked beans, a tossed salad, had chips and dip. I tried a new recipe for Banana Cake (Rylee helped me...I forgot, they came in the afternoon and Rylee and I watched some princess movies until I fell asleep and Bo was napping as well!) Everyone came- Ryan W. just got home from a week in Mexico (with the Book of Mormon Archaeological Foundation)about an hour before they came. Everyone sat out in the backyard and played Red Rover, Red Rover with the kids and jump the rope with the hose. They called me out of the house and I did make one jump. Whatever happened to my fabulous jump roping ability. I jumped one loop and came down like "thud!" Oh, the perils of aging! My favorite thing was watching all the kiddos running around the play room with the lights out, flashing their neon-glow bracelets I had left over from Easter. They just laugh and play so hard!

Anxious to get filled up tomorrow with Church....