Almost didn't make it

I just looked at the clock and realized that I almost didn't make my commitment to post every day. I got home from proctoring at 6, ate, went to a Primary Stake Meeting, got home and picked up a section of my doc management work. I still haven't finished the work, but I'm going to get this blog done!

I'll just leave one thought that stayed in my mind from the meeting.

Faith is like a seed.

Faith is a word that has many facets. I'll have to to explore that later

Stapler Challenged

For several days I’ve been wondering
if I’m "stapler challenged."

I use a stapler a lot at this proctoring job and

it worked great until I needed to refill it.

I found some staples, and loaded it up.

From that point on, I had continual problems.

The stapler would get jammed up

and I would have to pry staples out,

only to have the same thing happen again.

I reached such a frustration point that

I just went into a classroom and

switched the jammed stapler with a new one.

I figured the teacher

(who happens to be someone I know quite well)

could deal with it.

But, once again, when it came time to refill the

stolen one the same thing happened.

I pried out stuck staples

again, and again, and again.

Finally, I asked, “Why isn’t this working?”

Well, guess what?

Did you know staples come in different sizes?

There are deeper ones

that can staple through more sheets

and there are the regular ones.

Well, I was using deep staples

that didn’t fit in the regular stapler.

What do you know,

I learn something new every day.

It can't get any sweeter than this

Yesterday we got an email from Lydia

with this poem she had written in it.
I got her permission to post it on my blog.
It is so sweet it brought tears to my eyes.

Great loving people

Responsible realitves

Andersons and Ashtons

Nice

Dear people who love to be huged

Parents to my parents

Always loving and caring

Rrainbow colors on this poem

Eternal family

Nothing stops them from hugs and kisses

Two very important people

Seven plus one grandchildren who love you

I stole this picture of Lydia, Jackson,
Harrison, and Hyrum off Misty's blog.

Isn't she beautiful, and the boys handsome.
I would say a "rose among the thorns"
but I don't think they are thorns!

I'm such a lucky grandma to have
seven plus one grandchildren
who are wonderful!

PS: Thank you to all who went on and voted for Tiffany! I don't know how it will end, as the voting is still going on, but it was so fun to read what Sarah wrote about her (I agree with everything wholeheartedly) and to see the cute picture. Thank you friends and family. I love you all!

Voting is Tuesday

I'm being really confusing, I know.
It is on Tuesday, April 28,
that the division Tiffany is in will be posted
on the website http://www.giveawaytoday.blogspot.com/
So, I guess you can't vote until then.
If you're wondering what in the world I'm
talking about, read yesterday's entry.

And, on the testing front.
Other than a few computer glitches,
the testing seems to be going well.
And since school's over, and I'm still here,
I'll post from here.

There are several great quotes on signs
that are hanging in the classroom.
My favorite is this:

THE LITTLE THINGS*

THE LITTLE MOMENTS*

THEY AREN'T LITTLE.

I am reminded of that thought every time I attend a funeral
and the speakers talk of what they loved about the person.
It is usually not the big, grand, amazing things that
make a difference in individual lives.
It is the small, everyday, "validating," things
that people remember.

Yet, I know that sometimes I am so caught up in
the "right now" or "getting things done"
that I forget that.

PLEASE VOTE! Contest on Give Away Today

I was talking with my daughter, Tiffany, tonight.
She told me that, unbeknownst to her,
her sister-in-law nominated her in the new mother's contest
on the blogspot "Give Away Today."
(it's a Utah based blog that has a contest
or give-away every single day)
I guess there were 100 people nominated,
and Tiffany was selected by a panel of judges
to be one of the top 3!

There will be voting on the last three this coming Tuesday, April 28.

Tiffany is kind of embarrassed by the whole thing,
but she shouldn't be.
She is a great Mom.
And, apparently there is a great prize!

So . . . please go to

http://www.giveawaytoday.blogspot.com/

on Tuesday, and vote for Tiffany

Here is the picture her sister-in-law sent in,
so you'll know which one to vote for.



Aren't they cute!

Graham Crackers with Icing

These are the first cookies I remember eating.

Mom didn't bake a lot.
She made a white cake with chocolate fudge icing.
She made a boiled raisin cake with brown sugar icing.
I remember pineapple upside down cake a few times.

But I don't remember her baking cookies.
Dad make oatmeal raisin cookies once in awhile.
We did usually have ice cream in the freezer, though.
Strangely enough, ice cream is the one sweet
that I can have around that doesn't tempt me.
Does that support the theory
that we often want what we don't have?

Anyway, at home when we wanted a sweet treat,
Mom would often make fudge that was poured
onto a plate and was about one half inch thick.
I remember that on a lot of Sunday evenings.

But, the most common treat we had
was graham crackers with chocolate icing.
The icing was made with just
cocoa, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
No butter, margarine, or shortening.
Just those ingredients mixed up in a little
cereal bowl then spread on the graham crackers.
I still get cravings for those little treats.
Eaten with milk, of course.

I had frosting from Natalie's cupcakes,
So, I had to use the leftovers in graham crackers.
That's what Mom always did.
I think I may have liked the graham cracker cookies
as much as the cake.
That's probably a toss-up, though.
After all, they both have chocolate icing.

Gary wants me to make note of the fact
that he likes to squish the crackers together
and lick the frosting that squeezes out.

By the way. How do you take those beautiful food pictures that have the background blurred? I would love to do that, but I don't know if my little snap and shoot digital camera can do it. I guess I'll have to experiment some more.

Celebrating a Day Early

Well, the actual day isn't until tomorrow.
And the day we remember is the day after tomorrow.
But today we celebrated something very special.

The day started with Natalie taking cupcakes to work.



We ate delicious salad and pizza at Pizzeria 712



Birthday Girl and her Dad



Movie: The Soloist (very inspiring and sad)

Making a Wish
(But she forgot to until after she had blown it out)



Enjoying the Cupcake
Chocolate Cream Cheese
(I'll post recipe later)
Very rich and chocolaty, just like she requested.



And last, but not least, playing rock band.
Natalie did very well on the guitar
I did well on the drums
Gary did well on the singing.

But when Gary switched to drums and
I switched to singing we got booed off very quickly.
I can't understand why.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that
I can't carry a tune
and Gary has no rhythm.



Don't worry, Richard, Angie and I are practicing.

Validation Part 2

Oh, Wow.

After I wrote about "validation" yesterday,
Misty referred me to this youtube video.
It makes you laugh and want to cry at the same time,
and definitely validates "validation."

It's 15 minutes long,
but even if you only watch a minute of it,
you'll get a few laughs and a few truths.

Thanks Misty!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

Validation

I've been thinking a lot about "validation" lately. Maybe that term has come to mind because of computers, testing, and verifying, which I have certainly been involved with the last few days.

But I'm thinking of "validation" in terms of interactions with people. Everyone, regardless of who they are or what situation they are in, wants to feel "validated." They want to feel that their feelings and thoughts are understood and respected, even if they aren't agreed with.

As I've been in very different settings and had different roles than I'm used to, that thought has just been reinforced to me. So much defensiveness and so much contention can be alleviated if we only remember that.

So I'm reminding myself.

PS And while I wouldn't say today was a "piece of cake"
(that is the last cliche, I promise!)
I will say it went smoothly.
Yeah!

Idioms and Cliches

Yesterday "the real McCoy" came out in my writing.

I decided to look it up.

"The real McCoy" is an idiom used throughout much of the English-speaking world to mean "the real thing" or "the genuine article" e.g., "he's the real McCoy". It is a corruption of the Scots "The real MacKay", first recorded in 1856 as: "A drappie o’ the real MacKay," (A drop of the real MacKay), and this is widely accepted as the origin.

If you understand all that, then I won't beat about the bush and I'll call a spade a spade. I'll cut to the chase. I felt like a fish out of water at the high school today. I feel like I'm surviving by by the skin of my teeth. And today was just a drop in the bucket compared to what it will be like tomorrow when I'll experience whole kit and kaboodle.

But, I know it will be over before you can say Jack Robinson one hundred times. But that is cold comfort. The die has been cast. I will just have to eat humble pie if I mess up.

But, faith will move mountains, and I have faith that it will all work out. So, I'll quit all the gloom and doom.

And, please, just take everything I've said today with a grain of salt .

(and I only made it to "g" on this website)

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/g.html

PS: I know a picture's worth a thousand words.
But, I don't have any today.

New Experiences Today

Today was my first day (of a 5 week stint) as a
testing proctor at the high school.
I'm soooooooooooo very glad that today was a set up day and
that tomorrow we will get to go through a few practice tests.
Then Wednesday it is the "Real McCoy."
(sometime when it's not so late I'll look up the origin of that phrase.
But as for now, It's just what popped into my head, so I'll leave it).
Anyway, I think once I have the system down, it will be fine.
Until then, though, I admit I'm a little nervous.

Yesterday my friend Cindy and I were talking cupcakes at church.
(It was after church, of course,
not when we were supposed to be paying attention!)
She told me she had a good frosting recipe
and said she would give it to me.
Well, she not only gave it to me, but she brought some to me.
I had been craving chocolate cupcakes every since our conversation,
so she saved the day. They were wonderful!
They gave me just the fortification I needed
to face my new adventures of the next day.



Thanks, Cindy!

Cindy's Very Good Chocolate Frosting

5 c powdered sugar
6 T Hershey's cocoa (sometimes more)
1/2 canned milk (or can use regular)
1 t. vanilla
1 c. butter

She likes the Betty Crocker Super Moist Butter Recipe Chocolate Cake Mix--and I did too!

Now that I'm a working girl I'm going to try to
get to bed a little earlier.

So, Good Night

A Time of Miracles and Tender Mercies (Part 3)

Continued from last 2 posts:

When Mom was released from the hospital she was given only one restriction. That when she attended the wedding events, she was to use a wheelchair, so she wouldn't tire out too much. I guess they knew her heart had only so many beats left in it.

Here is Mom as she is being wheeled out of the temple.

Mom did not buy a lot of clothes in her life. (She preferred to buy them for her daughters!) It was such fun for me to go shopping with her to get dresses for the wedding. We went to a shop downtown and found not one, but two, green dresses. One she could wear during the day and the other to the reception. I had to insist she get both, and she finally gave in, but it went against her nature. (Somehow I've never had that problem).

I think you can tell she was adored by her grandchildren.



Everyone had a lot of fun teasing her in the wheelchair.
As I watched it, it was me who just about had a heart attack!



A beautiful shot with both Grandmas



The luncheon was held at a bed and breakfast across from the temple.
We had a slide show at the luncheon that had pictures of
Misty and Dan as they were growing up.
My brother told me later how much Mom had enjoyed that.
Especially the picture of my Dad holding Misty when she was a baby.




The reception that night was beautiful.



Of course the bride and groom were the stars of the night,
but Mom came in a close second.

She was able to visit with her sisters and
almost all her nieces and nephews and grandchildren.
After everything she had been through in the last month,
everyone loved seeing her and visiting with her.







I've always been glad there was some fudge there on the
table for Mom to eat.
That was always her favorite candy.

Once the reception was winding down, we sat and watched as Misty threw the bouquet and the girl cousins sang their "Nobody" song. Singing that song, with choreography, had been a tradition since they were young. Mom had such fun watching them perform that.

I was so happy to be able to sit and visit with Mom during that time. Mom told me how beautiful everything had been. I told her "I'm just so glad you are here." She nodded her head and said, "Me, too." As it was time for Gary and Lynn and Mom to leave, I went out to the car and handed Mom the keys to our house (they were going to drop gifts off there) and told her I would see her in the morning.

Once we got home I wanted to call Mom and get her "play-by-play" of the whole day. Mom was a wonderful conversationalist and always made astute and interesting observations. But we starting bringing in gifts, and by the time we were done, I thought it was too late to call. I thought we could talk in the morning. I guess that is my only regret. I wish I had called.

The next morning we got the phone call from my brother, Gary. Mom had passed away in the night. They heard her get up sometime around 3:00 am and then heard her go back to bed. When they checked on her at about 7:00, they found her in her bed. Sometime in-between she had gone from a peaceful sleep to a joyous reunion with my Dad.

My brother said the last thing she said
before she went to bed that night was,
"Wasn't this the most perfect day."

For me, it was the most perfect day.
My daughter had gotten married
and my Mom was there to share that day with us.
And though it was so hard to lose her,
we knew that we had been the
recipients of great gifts.
The gift of a Mother's Love
and numerous manifestations of
of Miracles and Tender Mercies.

At Mom's funeral my brothers spoke of Mom's two heart attacks and how, while she had been "out," that Dad had probably been there saying "Come on, I've been without you long enough, you're coming with me." And that Mom said, "No I am not leaving now, I am going to be there for Misty's wedding. I'm not going to let anything spoil that day for them."

I think that is a very likely scenario, as anyone who knows my Mom knows she would have stood firm in defense of anything involving her children. I also don't think Dad would have put up too much of a fuss at that point, as he wouldn't have wanted to spoil the day either.

I would love to hear other's remembrances of Mom's last day upon this earth or of the miraculous events leading up to it. I would love to hear your observations or conversations you may have had.

In the meantime,
I'm still looking forward
to getting that "play-by-play"
from Mom at some later date.

A Time of Miracles and Tender Mercies (Part 2)

(continued from yesterday's post)

Mom was ready to come home, but we knew she could not be alone. The plan was that Misty and Dan would live in her basement after the wedding. But in the meantime, she would stay at our house until Gary and Lynn came in for the wedding and she could go to her home with them

Even though it was stressful, this was a very sweet time for me. Because we live in Provo, as Mom and Dad had, there had never been a reason for her to spend the night like she did with Charlene and Richard in Salt Lake and Gary and Tom in California. While here, she seemed to thoroughly enjoy watching the wedding preparations and the comings and goings of a busy household. I can still picture her face and laughter on one occasion when we were sitting at the table talking. Gary came downstairs and held up a pair of his nice leather shoes. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to. Mom and I exchanged glances and then started laughing. The shoes now had the tassels chewed halfway off. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last, that our bunny had destroyed a pair of his shoes. Mom got such a kick out of that.

Mom had come home from the hospital on a Sunday. On Wednesday morning, just after Tiffany and Natalie left for school, she came downstairs to the kitchen and said, “I think the pain in my chest from the “paddles” has finally gotten better. She sat down at the table, almost instantly she collapsed with her head hitting the table, her glasses flying, and her body slumping over. I went over and put my arms around her from the back and held her saying, “Oh Mom, Mom.” I remember looking around wondering if Dad was there ready to take her with him.

What kept going through my mind was that I wasn’t supposed to revive her, but how could I just sit here? I yelled to Misty to call 911. She was downstairs, and did so. She said, “Mom, they said to start CPR.” My response was that I wasn’t supposed to. She said again, “Mom, you need to start CPR.” So we lowered her to the floor and I started the CPR. After going through a few of the sequences (still fresh on my mind from two weeks previously), I said, “Misty, she’s gone.” Misty again said, “Mom, you need to keep doing it.” As I did that, I’ll never forget seeing the shudder of breath come back into her and watching her chest rise when she started breathing again.

By the time the paramedics arrived she was breathing on her own, and by the time she was at the hospital she was asking where she was. In the emergency room the Dr, who after a cursory exam and chewing me out for resuscitating when the records said not to, sent her straight to a floor. That night before I went home, Mom was sitting up talking with us and visiting with her sisters.

Leaving her that night, my heart was full of such emotion, the strongest being the feeling of horror that I almost hadn’t tried to bring her back. Even if she hadn’t survived it, I would have still been grateful that I had done what I could. Thankfully, Misty was there to urge me on, or I’m sure I would have regrets today.

The miracle here besides the fact that she survived? One moment’s difference. Had she not come downstairs the moment she did, I would have gone upstairs a little later and found her in the bed already gone. Lucky that she happened to come down so we were able to do CPR? I don’t think so. It was more than luck.

After another day in the hospital, Mom came to our house again. It was now just a little over a week until the wedding. Again, I felt so blessed to have her here with us. Mom had never been one comfortable with thinking or talking about death, but there was a whole different feeling of peace and calm about her now. It gave me the feeling that, though she didn’t remember any of these episodes that on some level there was a new understanding or remembrance of an afterlife.

Mom had often related to us how she had missed her Dad much more after her Mom died than she had before. The explanation being, that as long as her Mom was alive, then a part of her Dad was also. I still remember her response during one of our conversations were I recalled and related that same feeling to her. I said, “You can’t go, Mom, because then we will have lost both of you.” She kind of shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well, if I die, I die.” Very accepting. Very at peace with it. We had not told Mom of the Doctor's dire diagnosis, because we did not want her to live in fear. I was horrified when I saw Mom looking at the emergency doctor's notes The ones that said she was not be resuscitated and “yet the daughter had anyway.” She looked at me and calmly said, “Well, what are you supposed to do, just sit there and watch me die?” I still feel that pain and anxiety in my heart when I remember those emotions.

Gary and Lynn came in a few days before the wedding and Mom went to her home with them. Words cannot express the love and appreciation I feel toward my sister and brothers. During both Dad and Moms lives, illnesses, and subsequent deaths they were right there with them. Never was there a feeling of aloneness, but always the knowledge that any and all of us would do whatever was needed to support Mom and Dad and each other. The flights in from California, vigils at the hospital with Dad, the unceasing support of Mom once Dad was gone. It never waned. I feel it even now, years after Mom and Dad are gone.

April 29, 1995, dawned bright and beautiful. It began early in Manti, Utah, at the LDS Temple. I had not seen Mom yet that morning, but I remember looking across the sealing room, making eye contact, and exchanging smiles. I felt so blessed to have her there.

We have some wonderful pictures of Mom on that day. They can tell the story much better than I can.

But, I’ll have to post those tomorrow. (I still need to scan them in).

A Time of Miracles and Tender Mercies (Part 1)

I do believe in miracles, not just luck or coincidences.

I do believe that at given times we are shown

“tender mercies”

that let us know that God is aware of us

and what we are experiencing in our lives.

I know life is full of these these wonders

and I love to hear of them from the

people who experience them.

A beautiful talk on this very subject can be read here:

LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Tender Mercies of the Lord

The story I want to share is long,

so I'll divide it into several entries.

Most people reading this blog already know the story

because they lived it with me.

But I want to record the facts and the feelings of wonder

I still feel whenever I think of it.

I don't ever want it lost to my grandchildren.

It is a story of a mother’s love and determination,

of a Heavenly Father who is aware of us,

and of miracles and blessings.

Fourteen years ago, in April of 1995, there was a lot going on in our family. I guess I should start with the year before, beginning in September of 1994. It had been a year since Dad had passed away and Mom was starting to experience health problems. In September she had emergency surgery for and was hospitalized with a blood clot in her leg. At the same time, Gary was laid off from Word Perfect and we were unemployed for 3 months. Misty announced that she was getting married (not a problem, because we loved Dan, it was the timing that made it a bit stressful). Natalie was hospitalized for a week with a bad infection. Gary’s mom fell and dislocated her shoulder. Our bunny disappeared for two weeks (and finding him was a tender mercy in itself). I think you get the drift. It felt like life was falling apart.

By the time the first of April came, Gary was once again employed, the wedding plans for April 29 were coming along fine, and Mom seemed to be doing well. On the Saturday night before General conference we went to a bridal shower for Misty at my sister’s house in Salt Lake. The next day we had lunch here at the house with Mom and Gary’s Mom and sat down to watch General Conference. Mom was sitting by me as I was folding wedding invitations. She made the comment that “she would help, but that her hands didn’t work like they used to.” A moment later I looked at Mom and her head was on her chest. I think my heart stopped for a moment as I said, “Mom, Mom.” No response. By that time we were all up and trying to get her to respond. I called 911 and they instructed us to start CPR. So while I relayed their instructions, Gary and Dan lowered her to the floor and began CPR. They were still trying to revive her when the paramedics came and used the defibrillator on her. After several tries, she started breathing again. In the emergency room she had several seizures and was in intensive care for three days. We didn’t know if she would come out of it, or if she did what her condition would be.

We were so relieved as she slowly came to, with just short term memory loss. Even that went away within a week. I clearly remember one day in the hospital when she was still having a little memory loss. My brothers were in the room with us and she was asking what she had she missed when she had her memory loss. They were teasing her about it. I can still picture her laughing when they told her that, “She had actually been in a coma for a year and that during that time Annette had stolen all her money.” If I remember right, they even got out a checkbook to show her. It makes me laugh even now as I picture that scene in my mind.

Mom remained in the hospital for two weeks, which put the wedding now just two weeks away. It was during that time that they took her in to do an angiogram. As we waited, the Dr. came back into the waiting room after a very short time. He had started the angiogram and just stopped. The first thing he said to us when he came out was, “I can’t believe this woman is alive, let alone sitting up eating breakfast just a short while ago.” He said something to the effect that "her arteries were 99% blocked, her heart 99% gone, that this would surely happen again, and soon, and that when it did we shouldn’t resuscitate because it would put her through too much and she would never survive." These were not the words we expected or wanted to hear.

But we knew at that point that the miracles had already begun. First of all, Mom lived alone and, other than when someone was visiting with her, was by herself every night and most of every day. The fact that she was at our home, sitting with all of us, was amazing in itself. That she survived at all was miraculous.

But the wonders don't stop there.

(to be continued tomorrow -- this is taking me a long time to write!)

Seriously Jealous

Dianne lent me this cookbook to look through.


The recipes in it look really, really good.
But what really makes my mouth water is this:


I am seriously jealous.
You better believe I'll be making myself one of these.


A woman after my own heart!

The proud owner of . . .

A "quality" duplex in Cleveland, Ohio!

Go to the link,
scroll down a little, and to the right is the video screen.
Click on the arrow that says,
"You're watching Homes on Utah Auction Block"
About half way through the news clip
you may see someone you recognize.
Apparently he was the only one smart (???)
enough to actually buy anything.
Does that surprise you?

http://www.kutv.com/mostpopular/default.aspx?articleID=88559

In the meantime, this weather is insane.
And Gary is out on "Spring" break????

House Dresses, Dusters, MuMus, and Aprons

I've been thinking about these since one of
my last visits to Aunt Beth.
When Gary, Richard, and I went to visit her in the rehab center,
she was wearing what I would term a "duster."
One of those combination dresses/housecoats that
my mother wore every day when I was growing up.

It appeared that Aunt Beth had on a duster just like one Mom had.
When I commented on that to my cousin,
she told us that it was Mom's.
I had forgotten I had taken some clothes over to
Aunt Beth after Mom died.
I found it very sweet, comforting,
and also very symbolic that she was wearing it.
It made me feel close to Mom.

There's so much history in the
house dress/duster/mumu/apron generation.
Today at the personal history writer's group,
Caroline read a paper she had written about growing old.
In it she mentioned how women never used to wear pants
and how hard it had been to get her mother to wear pants,
even when she was working in the barn.
I remember that it took a lot of coaxing to finally get
Mom to buy some pants in the 1970's.

After Mom died, there were lots of house dresses in her closet.
I couldn't bear to get rid of them because
there were so many memories attached.
(My daughters joke that they would never
have that problem with my clothes.
They "claim" that I have so many that they
can't really associate any certain ones to certain occasions)

A few years back at a family reunion we had a baby shower for my niece, Angie. The only requirement for coming to the shower was that the women had to wear one of Mom's house dresses. They "got" to keep them after that. I was so happy I had found a meaningful way to clean some of the house dresses out!

I still wear some of Mom's house dresses for nightgowns.
Misty has worn hers out and I'm trying to make her a replica.
My son-in-law, Justin, has only one request, and that is that
Tiffany not wear a house dress/mumu/duster.
Today I pulled out some of my great Aunt Elner's
"Swirl" house dresses.
I'll have to post some pictures of them later.

Trying to get back on a schedule

I really need to get back into routines.
I'm naturally such a "feast or famine" type person.
Or another term for it would be "all or nothing."
Every time I'm in a "feast" or "all" mode
(and I'm rushing around trying to finish everything),
I keep telling myself that if I would just do things a
little at a time that I wouldn't end up feeling so frazzled.
But, then after I've been in a "feast" or "all" stage,
all I want to do is nothing.
Thus, it is a vicious cycle.

So today I made some efforts.
I took the initiative and cleaned the bathroom,
not because it particularly needed it,
but because if I followed the routines suggested
at Flylady.net
I even listened to my Flylady CD as I wiped down the kitchen.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_FLY_CD.html
It's a great dance video, as you can see from these pictures of
Annie and Ashton (who is hiding behind the flylady duster)
while they danced to it more than 2 years ago.


I'm a big Flylady fan. I love to read the testimonials.
I definitely don't have the routines down,
but at least I think about them.
A step in the right direction don't you think?

A Beautiful Easter Day

1st of all,
the sun was shining!

2nd of all,
hearing the words and music at church
reminded me of the resurrection and atonement
and brought peace to my heart.

3rd of all,
we had a fabulous time with
Lexie, Matthias, and their friend Rebecca

We had dinner, shared laughs,
learned new things
(or at least Lexie was learning
how to do the "peacock."

Had an Easter egg hunt,
(Thanks, Lexie for providing that)
first with the two men
and then with the three women
Quite the sight!

4th of all,

Natalie sang to Gary and me for about an hour
as an Easter gift.
I could listen to her beautiful voice forever.

5th of all,
I discovered that chocolate covered peeps are
way better than just plain ones.

The only sad part of the day was when
Natalie colored her eggs.
When she went to peel one,
she discovered they were not hard-boiled,
but rather soft boiled.

Something needs to feel like Spring

Because the weather doesn't.

In fact, it feels quite dreary.

But yesterday when I came home from the dentist,
I found this gorgeous quilted table topper
sitting on my back doorstep.
I knew immediately who it was from.



When my friend, Dianne, talks of her quilting projects,
I have hinted (not too subtly) how much I would love a
spring/summer colored version.
She gave me a beautiful earth-toned one a few years ago.

I so appreciate the workmanship
and time spent imagining and creating it.
It brings to my mind
patience, and beauty, and friendship.
The colors and patterns
remind me of sunshine
and blue sky, and light,
and fun, and hope,

And SPRING.