Parties and more

Parties.

You might think we were party animals or something.  It especially seems that way since Gary and I are usually so boring (I know, he would say I should speak for myself).  Here are a few highlights.

Early morning yoga in the park for me.  I brought the camera this time to take pictures of the view.  What you can't see is the clear air and the birds singing.

While I was doing that, Gary and the girls were delivering this flier around the neighborhood.

Then we went to Karate Kid, which we all really liked.

The we had Eliza's friends over for a party

Today we met their cousins at the bean museum, went to the movie, and then the creamery.

The the girls went bowling with Gary and got snow cones.

More partying tomorrow!

Pictures from the yesterday

Transferring children from one set of grandparents to another

at Cove Fort yesterday.

Our interior decorators painting rocks for

the "HUT"

Notice the vines around the arbor

and the painted rocks.

The official grand opening of the "HUT"

Official first use of the portable fire pit.

Gary demonstrating the perfect burnt s'more.

Things will start

livening up around here come tomorrow.  We will drive to meet Eliza and her cousin at Cove Fort (half way between St. George and Provo), to bring them up to our house for the rest of the week.  I'm so excited to have them here.  This visit will be the beginning of a very busy summer with the family.  On the 20th, Gary and I will do the Missouri trip (unless the flight was mistakenly made to California or something), and then we'll be with Misty's family for just about 2 weeks before they go home.  Then Tiffany and family will be here for two weeks after the reunion.  I can already feeling myself going through withdrawal.  But for now, I'll just enjoy every moment of it.

It's been a non-stop

time the last few days.

Wednesday we had our Weekday Relief Society. The one where we "Scattered Sunshine." Needless to say, that song has been in my head all week. There were about 100 women and young women there who participated in a potluck salad dinner (we had two long tables filled to the brim with delicious salads), games, assembling humanitarian aid hygiene kits, cutting and tying the edges of fleece blankets, and making burned edge flowers. It was wonderful to see women of all ages participating together in all these activities. I fully intended to take pictures, but I didn't even have a minute to pull my camera out of my bag. There was more than $1300 donated for the humanitarian kits and blankets.

Yesterday I woke at 6:30 to begin sewing an apron for one of Natalie's friends.  We received an invite to her baby shower.  She has been married for 2 years and, as much as I hate to admit it, I still had not given her a wedding gift.  I have wanted to give her an apron with the bowls and pan I bought her.  Well, there's no time like a baby shower two years later to give her a wedding gift!  So, I finished the apron and then spent the rest of the day making little flower hair clips to match the little girl outfits we gave her for the baby.

So, here I am today.  Sometimes my life seems like I go from one mess to another.  In fact, it doesn't just seem that way, it is that way.  I get frustrated with myself.  But then I hear messages like the one in this little clip which we also watched as part of the activity.



I do have this desire to create.  When I first heard this message, it really touched my soul.  I think sometimes my frustration comes from the fact that I often don't finish (including clean up) what I start.  But the desire to create is inherit in all of us, especially women.  We want to create homes that are filled with love.  We want to create beauty in whatever place we are.  I think a woman's soul truly is remarkable.

I was at a beautiful

place this morning. 

We are not having Yoga classes this summer,  but our instructor, Elizabeth, said she would email us occasionally to join her in a session outside.  So this morning at 7:30 am I was in the "bowl" at Rock Canyon park doing yoga.   I wasn't sure how I would feel about doing it outside where people walking by could see us.  I remember driving around in Ashland, Oregon and seeing groups of people doing Yoga or Tai Chi in the parks.  Gary thought it was totally strange, and I remember thinking that I would never do that where anyone could see me.  

But this morning in the park, none of that even mattered.  All I could see were the beautiful mountains right in front of me and, when we turned to the back, the spire of the Provo Temple with angel Moroni on top.  There was a cool breeze that felt wonderful.  By the time we were in the resting pose, the sun was shining and we were baking in the sunlight.   

I wish I had taken my camera, but next time I'll take pictures of what we saw as we did yoga.  I won't, however, include a picture a me doing it!

At dinner

today we went around the table telling something we appreciated about our fathers. 

I shared that one thing I appreciated about my Dad was the connection I felt with him. Dad didn't talk a lot, but he always listened and took in what was being said. If there was something that I or someone else needed and wanted, you could almost see the wheels turning in his head thinking of how he could provide it. He wanted for us whatever we wanted for ourselves.

For Gary, I told what a neighbor said to me yesterday. As I was talking to her about delivering some fliers around the neighborhood, I mentioned how sometimes if I had to deliver over a large area that I just had Gary drive me around as I did it. She said, "You are so lucky to have him. He is so good to you and supports what you do." I told her I agreed, even if sometimes he made fun of some of my projects.

Gary said what he appreciated about his Dad was that he was always a champion for the underdog. He would say to him "Now, Joe, take it easy on the little guys on the team." This was when Gary was actually one of the bigger "little guys" on the team. He also taught Gary to enjoy the moment and live each day to the fullest. His Dad was diagnosed with cancer in his 40's and died in his 50's, which is probably what helped his perspective.

Natalie shared that she appreciated Gary even more now that she is living on her own. He spent yesterday over at their condo putting up a fan. Then he swept up the outside entry area and did some other chores. She said she has alway appreciated the support he has always given her.

Lexie said what she really appreciated about her Dad was his example of service and how he got the whole family involved in it. He would get the whole family together and go pick up trash from the sides of the road or go visit someone who was alone. She said at the time she didn't understand why the whole family had to go. But now that he is gone, she really appreciates that they had that time together.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Natalie and Gary with her gift of movie tickets and m&ms.

Opening up part of my gift and guessing what it might be.

Holding all of his loot. 

His real gift was a wallet, which you really can't see.

What was more of a gift for the family was a portable fire pit.

I wanted it so we can roast hot dogs and make s'mores when the

grand kids are here this summer.

And the best gift we gave to Gary was that Natalie and I actually sat with him for hours while he watched the US Open.   Now that was a gift, believe me.  He did concede that I could burn fabric for flowers while we watched, so that made it much more enjoyable.
-
I'm so grateful for all the fathers I love.  My son-in-laws, brothers, brother in-laws, and list goes on.  In fact, I'm very grateful for every man I know (and even those I don't know) who loves his children. 

Today is a new

day. 

I want to make it balanced. 

A little time doing family history.  A little time doing house work.  A little time doing "scatter sunshine" activities.  A little time checking off my "to do" list.  A little time connecting with friends or making new friends.  A little time getting a pedicure (my feet still have the stain from the fence painting on them).  A little time making a difference to someone, somehow.  A little time getting ready for Father's day.  A little time giving my husband the undivided attention he deserves.  A little time getting ready for my summer guests. 

A little time . . . .  I really don't think I know how to do things a little at a time.   I think this is the reason I get so hyper-focused on one thing and do nothing else.  Help!

Baby steps.

Balance 

Baby steps.

Balance 

Baby steps.

Balance

You can do it.

We've all

had days like this one as parents.

In Costco today I heard a loud crash just in front of me.  When I looked up, a cart with a little girl buckled in the seat, had tipped forward and landed squarely on on top of two little boys (probably around 4 and 6). The three kids were definitely shaken up, but amazingly did not seem to have any injuries.  Somehow the boys must have been playing on the cart and tipped it forward while the mom turned her head.  After making sure they were OK, the mom said, "How the heck did you manage to do that?"  I wondered the same thing.

Then a little later, there was even a much louder crash.  I looked over and saw what looked like a very large cylinder type tank (about the size of a water heater) rolling across the floor.  It had fallen from one of the flatbed carts.  Standing right there next to the flatbed cart was that same mother.  I don't know if she was pushing the flatbed, or if she just had the misfortune of being by it.  Either way, all eyes were riveted on her momentarily as someone retrieved the cylinder.

At that point, I sighed and said a little prayer in my heart for that mom.   I prayed that the rest of her day would go a whole lot better than the first part had.   

Because we have all had days like that.

YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY,

DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT 
WANT ME AS YOUR TRAVEL AGENT!

I just did it again.

See "You don't want me as your travel agent"

I was booking the flight for Dan to come out to our reunion in August.  Except I booked it on the wrong date.

Here is the deal.  We are flying one way out to Missouri on July 20 (I think), staying there for 5 days, and then driving Misty and the kids here.   Dan started a new job and can't take as much time off, so that is why we are driving them -- so we can play here for a week before the reunion.    Then Dan is flying in for the reunion and driving back with them.

Except I just booked his flight a week earlier than I should have.  So I went in and changed that flight to the correct date, August 4 (I sincerely hope that is the right date). 

Now I need to stop blogging and make sure The flights I booked for us going out to Missouri are on the day and year they should be.  I'm almost afraid to look.

Why do I keep doing this to myself?

Would someone please take over these duties for me?

Could it just be a subconscious effort to get out of travel responsibilites?

Am I just extremely "calendar challenged?"

Could I just be losing my mind?

Some may ask, "Did I have one to begin with?"

These are things that inquiring minds want to know.

I'm not so sure I want to have an inquiring mind.
I'm afraid of what it will tell me.

Annie Pie

turns five!

Annie is:

Absolutely the most beautiful 5 yr old princess in the world!


Naturally as sweet as pie.


Never without her blanket (which makes me very happy)!


Irresistible


Essentially PERFECT!

We wish we could be snuggling with you like this today, Annie!

 

 

Happy Birthday, Annie!

Pictures that

Involve the senses.

I was watching a segment on "Studio 5" today where a photographer was talking about taking photos of images that bring to mind the five senses: sight, smell, touch, hear and taste.   Basically, she was saying that we should take pictures in such a way that when we see them we also remember the smell or taste, etc. 

The last few days I've been thinking of how the sense of smell brings back memories.  I've been making suckers (for a Relief Society activity) for the first time in years.  The scents of cinnamon and root beer have been permeating the house and my clothes.  It takes me back to a time about 30 years ago when I made suckers nearly every day. That is when we lived in our house on 300 West.  Gary was selling the suckers at Provo High as a fundraiser for the baseball team.   I love the smell.  It's also bringing back a sense of touch that I don't love-- very sticky counters and floors.  As you can see from this picture, I do not have it in my DNA to cook in a tidy way.  The syrup does not always go where it is supposed to.

 It certainly does bring back memories.

Two more days

of hard labor behind us

(but I won't show my arm this time.)

The last few days have been very rainy and cloudy.

I've been out there working this morning in the mud.

The sky feels like it did when we drove through

Whitby Island the first time.

Kind of haunting, but beautiful.

Here are are the results so far:

This is where the white arbor was.

I loved the white arbor, but it is looking pretty bad.

We've moved it to the side of the house where

we are going to make a hut of sorts

when the grandchildren are here.

I'm already enjoying that little shady nook.

View to the side while sitting in the chair.

View to the swing from the chairs.

I planted the arborvitae trees that will

grow 10-12 ft high x 2 feet wide.

Our new arbor with a clock behind it.

That's so when I'm out working in the yard

I can look up and go,

"Oh, it's noon.  No wonder I'm hungry."

There is the tree we planted 3 years ago.

View of back with the "roaring" fountain

that everyone makes so much fun of.

I personally thought it was a great mail-order deal.

West side view

West side by our "Cotty" shrine.

I'm really pleased with how the fence turned out. I do kind of miss the more filled in, established look,we had with the full grown lilac bushes. Hopefully the trees will fill it in quickly. I also want to plant some kind of climbing plant on the arbor, but I don't know what.  It's still a work in progress, but I'm having fun visualizing my grandchildren playing back there this summer.

Two days

of hard labor behind us.

Yesterday we stained our fence.

Gary sprayed and I followed along rolling.

Today we stained our neighbor's fence.

Tonight we planted 4 trees and more flowers
and touched up the fence.

It's 10:30 at night and Gary and I are just now coming in.

Tomorrow I'll take pictures for the big reveal

of our new fence and trees.

It looks very different with the lilac bushes gone.

I'm off to shower.  I look like I've got some infectious disease on my hands and arms because of all the stain spots and the hive looking things.  In fact, the camera's right here, so I'll take a picture.

The picture doesn't really do it justice.

If you can't tell, I'm looking for sympathy here.

More cupcakes!

I tried some carrot cupcakes for the first time,

and iced them with cream cheese frosting. 

Of the three types of cupcakes I made,

Gary liked those best. 

I think this recipe is a keeper.

Carrot Cupcakes

3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk (or sour milk)
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.  In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, pecans, and pineapple.  Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.   Divide batter evenly between the 24 cupcakes, and bake at 350 degrees F 20-25 minutes. Check with toothpick.   Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar (about 5 2/3 cups),

In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese, butter, and extracts until smooth. Reduce speed to low; add confectioners' sugar and beat until blended. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until icing is smooth and creamy, frequently scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Makes about 5 cups

The other two cupcakes were just basic chocolate cupcakes, 

but then filled with either a peanut butter filling

or a cream cheese frosting. 

I just filled them like this after they were baked.

Once they were filled, I frosted them with chocolate frosting

and put a little of the peanut butter or cream cheese filling on the top.

The peanut butter filling was a recipe I got from Eileen.  It is just 1 2/3 c. peanut butter, 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 5 T milk.  The 5 T. works well for frosting, but I had to add about 10 more Tablespoons of milk to make it thin enough to pipe in as filling.  

I licked enough frosting yesterday, that I probably won't need another cupcake with frosting for quite some time.

My Elegant

sister in her elegant lounge wear.

She looks more like 39 than 59!

(Sorry to ruin it for you, Charlene,

if you've been lying about your age)

I'm glad to have

my hubby home after he's been gone for 

five days and nights at scout camp.

You may notice the unshaven look. 

Part of that is because he's been camping for 5 days.

The moustache is because he thinks he's growing one. 

I'm not so sure about that. 

I found something

fun at Big Lots last week.

The pan only cost 7 dollars, and it is pretty cool.

That is if you like brownies.

You put the batter in the pan.

Put the section piece in the batter.

And then bake them.

When they're cool, you just lift the pan out.

The bottom is actually an insert that comes out.

And this is what you get.

Brownies all cut and each side is an edge.

If you think edges are the best part of brownies,

then this is for you.

It also comes with a lid.

P.S.  I'm not getting a commission for this advertisement.

Today has been

much more fun than yesterday.  Other than some work in the garden this morning, I have pretty much been playing.  I went out with Dianne to lunch at Zupas and then to Sam's club.  I don't have membership there, but she does.  I love spending time with Dianne and adding a little shopping to that makes it even better.  The exciting thing today was that they now have aluminum lids for the aluminum disposable pans that I buy.  Who would think that would be so exciting?   I would.  As the saying goes, small things amuse small minds. 

Then we got a cupcake at Sweet Tooth Fairy, and since I've been home I've just been avoiding even the appearance of work.  I think I'm going to continue to make this a play day and I'll get back on my schedule tomorrow.   

Wow, it took a lot of work to talk myself into that.

I found a little

forgotten treasure today.

Because of my propensity to do all or nothing, I decided that for this week I would very deliberately spend time on everything that I need and want to do. Unfortunately, what I need to do and what I want to do are usually two very different things.  So, today, I set the timer for an hour and allowed myself to read and catch up on my magazines.  Then I set the timer and had to spend an hour to cleaning out our bedroom (the cleaning hours went very slowly).   Then I had another hour of reading, and another hour of cleaning, several hours of crafting, etc.

Anyway, in my cleaning out of drawers I found this little treasure.

(it measures about 6 x 4 x 4 inches)

 

It was painted by a very immature 14 year old girl (me) sometime in October of 1968.  Gary had asked me to "go with him" on Halloween the year before, so I obviously made it to commemorate our 1st year together.  It does have a very 1960's, hippie era, look to it. 

If we hadn't ended up marrying 6 years later, I'm sure this would have been thrown out long ago. Who knows, I might have have even thrown it at him :)  But since our relationship did remain "rock" solid, I think I'll still hold onto it.  Pun intended.