Taken from 

"Gift from the Sea"

"I am seeking perhaps what Socrates asked for in the prayer from the Phaedrus when he said, "May the outward and inward man be one." I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God.
Vague as this definition may be, I believe most people are aware of periods in their lives when they seem to be "in grace" and other periods when they feel "out of grace," even though they may use different words to describe these states. In the first happy condition, one seems to carry all one's tasks before one lightly, as if borne along on a great tide; and in the opposite state one can hardly tie a shoestring. It is true that a large part of life consists in learning a technique of tying the shoestring, whether one is in grace or not. But there are techniques of living too; there are even techiques in the search for grace. And techniques can be cultivated. I have learned by some experience, by many examples, and by the writings of countless others before me, also occupied in the search, that certain environments, certain modes of life, certain rules of conduct are more conducive to inner and outer harmony than others. There are, in fact, certain roads, that one may follow. Simplification of life is one of them. Simplification of outward life is not enough. It is merely the outside. But I am starting with the outside. I am looking at the outside of a shell, the outside of my life - the shell. The complete answer is not to be found on the outside, in an outward mode of living. This is only a technique, a road to grace."

~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I have read this book so many times I cannot count. It means different things at different times in my life. This particular part is so meaningful, because I have been in both stages, when I feel "in grace" and "out of grace". I have learned many of these lessons and know that simplifying and feeling calm within is a beginning of being on that road to grace. It is something that I have to continually work on or I end up on some trail far out of the way. I love the peaceful feeling I get when I read this beautiful book.

Life is like a Quilt

Grama Bagley enjoyed her life.  She was a happy person.  She loved simple things. 

 Clean sheets hanging on the clothes line, freshly baked bread, flowers in her garden, raspberries from her raspberry patch. 

 She always had a big quilt on in the living room of her old house.  

Her neighbors would stop by for a visit and stitch for a bit. 

 Their creations were wonderful..not always perfect, but that was the charm of quilting in those days.  It was about getting together with friends, making something with your own hands, and then giving it to someone you loved.  

Grama was something of an artist.  

She didn't paint or anything.  But she baked with an artistic hand, as well as those quilts that came out of her living room. 

 And oh..her garden.  It looked like a painting.  

Grama loved having her family around her and was always ready for a song.

  Her love of music, good food, and nature are ingrained in me, as well as her love of the gospel. 

How I admire the way she met her challenges and lived her life.  

I would  have loved my grama Adelila to be able to sit down with my two beautiful daughters.  Wouldn't Grama love to sit down with Abby in her quilting room?  She would marvel at her two huge long arm quilting machines!  

She wouldn't believe all the quilts Abby does for others.  

They would chat about fabrics, colors and designs.  How thrilled Grama would be in Abby's talent and work ethic. 

 Abby also inherited a great business head.  She's full of drive and persistence.  

She works so hard, but always puts her family first, which is what Grama always did. 

 Abby fills her heart with what's important and is done with the rest.   

Whitney reminds me of Grama in an artistic way. 

 Her love of nature and the way she sees beauty in all things.  

She moves with grace and is a natural mother. 

 When she teaches yoga, she transforms into a different person. 

 So self assured and in control of the situation she is in. 

When grama was instructing a cooking class she knew exactly what she was talking about and was very much the expert. 

 Just as Whitney is.  

Yet they have those mothering qualities that are so much the same.  

It is so interesting to me how these two girls could have so many things that remind me of their great grandmother, and yet they didn't know her at all.  

Whitney has a sentimental side to her that reminds me of Grama. 

 Here is a quote from Grama's journal describing how she fell when she was losing her home.

"I have become attached to this place.  I love the flowers, trees and shrubs we have struggled to raise from a veritable rock pile."  

Whitney would feel just this way.  I know.  

I am so grateful for my two girls.  For the kind of women they have become.  

I know there are many that have had a hand in teaching and influencing them.  But they are very much their own person.  

Lovely, kind, unselfish, talented, hardworking, so many attributes. 

 I know their grandmother would love to know them and be so proud, as would many others would.  

How blessed I am to have all of them in my life.

Aging- A Glorious Secret

"There's this youth culture...it really discards people once they reach a certain age.  I actually think that people are so powerful and interesting - women, especially - when they are older.  We've got so much to say, but popular culture is so reductive that we just talk about whether we've got wrinkles, or whether we've put on weight or lost weight, or whether we've changed our hairstyle.  I just find that shallow."  ~Annie Lennox

Not so in this neighborhood where I live surrounded by so many incredibly elegant, talented women. They are so beautiful in so many different ways.  It is because of how they have lived and what they have lived through.  Their beauty radiates through their eyes and in their smiles.  They have accumulated wisdom that only life can give you.  I find great comfort being around these lovely women.  

I have been walking in the early mornings with a few of these 'girls'.  

January can be cold when you live so close to the mountains, but we get up early and get ourselves moving!  One of our group has had a stroke, two have pacemakers, one of those nearly died before she got hers, and I couldn't breathe for three years.  

We have always cared for each other during those times, and also during emotional upsets.  

And so we marvel that we are out walking at all! 

 We notice the blue sky, the sun when it comes out from behind the mountains. 

 We notice every beautiful thing as we walk, because we have lived and we are so grateful for each other, for our surroundings and for the fact that we are actually walking!  Oh, what a wonderful world.  How much better to be on this end of things. To know what we know. 

 It's almost like having a glorious secret. We'd like to share it with our younger sisters, friends, daughters... but we can't.  

For they must live it. 

 Then they will know.

  "Growing old is a mandatory process. For women, for a period of time, we might even resist aging as we try our hardest to fight off wrinkles and hang on to the physical beauty of our faces.  Yet, getting old is a natural process where things are slowing down, and you'll begin to see that the sparkle in your heart and the twinkle in your eyes make you beautiful in a way that's not achievable in youth. 'Age' is the acceptance of a term of years.  But maturity is the glory of years."

Making my New Year Beautiful..

These are a few things I need to do throughout this year.  

GRATEFUL FOR CHRISTLIKE FRIENDS

"A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away." 

~Arabian proverb

I am blessed to have such friends and family members. I have posted many times how fortunate I am to live where I live.  To live among people who are kind, loving and Christlike. 

I was reading a talk by President Uchtdorf last night.  Some of his comments are so applicable to my friends.  I would like to quote him. 
"To follow Christ is to become more like Him.  It is to learn from His character.  This process is very complex and very simple at the same time.  Developing Christlike attributes in our lives is not an easy task, especially when we move away from generalities and abstractions and begin to deal with real life.  The test comes in practicing what we proclaim.  The reality check comes when Christlike attributes need to become visible in our lives - as husband or wife, as father or mother, as son or daughter, in our friendships, in our employment, in our business, and in our recreation.  Christlike attributes include knowledge and humility, charity and love, obedience and diligence, faith and hope.  These personal character qualitites stand independent of the organizational status of our Church unit.  Christlike attributes are gifts from God and cannot be developed without His help." 

My friends are not perfect, but they strive to live Christlike lives.  They know what love and charity is and they live it.  There is a feeling of security living among these people for come what may, we help and lift one another. 

President Uchtdorf continues:  Christlike attributes are the basics.  They are the fundamental principles that will create the wind beneath our wings.  As we develop Christlike attributes in our own lives, step-by step, they will "bear [us] up as on eagles' wings"  (D&C 124:18). " 

These lovely people bear me up.  I have learned more about kindness, acceptance and unconditional love through my associations than through any manuel. It is the actions and example that teach.  How could I been so blessed to build our home and raise our wonderful children  here 37 years ago?  To raise a family, to learn and grow from the example of people such as these? 

Simple Blessings

I am  grateful for the simple things.

  I could go on forever about the simple blessings that enrich my life. 

 I just have to sit out in my garden for a few moments as the sun goes down,
 feeling the autumn air as it turns my leaves from green to dark yellow and red.

I just have to snip the last flower from my
 garden to brighten up a spot on my table.

I just have to look at the changing seasons, knowing with a surety that spring will come again, as it always does.
And while I wait I will enjoy the fall colors and the winter snow. 

Simple blessings surround me.
My husband's love, a call from a son or daughter, feeling small arms around my neck from a little one, soup from a dear friend, my lovely home, the beauties of nature.
 Simple is what my life is made up of.
 I count these blessings each day.

Thanksgiving Point, Pictures and grandkids

Had a lovely Friday with Abby, Jake and Sam at Thanksgiving Point.

 They went down for some pictures and I decided to take a few of my own.  

The flowers are beautiful down there right now!

So were the kids!!!

I couldn't get enough of their cute smiles. 

 They cooperated for just about an hour.

  And when they were finished there was....

GREAT JOY!!!!

"Grandchildren, Sunshine to my Soul"

I was blessed with a heritage that continues to guide even as I grow older. 

 I am a grandmother now, and each day I think of my grandparents and the influence they had on me.  I loved being around them. 

 They taught me by their example.  

They were hard workers, they were funny, they were gardeners, they loved their families.  

They loved the gospel and taught me to love it too.

Nothing made my grandparents happier than when their grandchildren were around. 

We played in the orchard and among their flowers. 

 We sang and we were loved.  

We were taught values and what was right and wrong and why our pioneer ancestors came across the plains.

  We knew were we came from.

My parents continued that tradition. 

Showering great amounts of love onto their grandchildren. 

 They loved being with them.

 Showed them how to work how to play and enjoy life. 

 They too had strong testimonies that carried them through happy and sad times. 

 They would be proud of their posterity.

These are my darlings. 

 I try to be the grandmother like those who preceded me.  

It's a different world.  

Things happen so quickly. 

 I love these grandchildren so much and am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of their lives. 

 I hope I can influence them for good as my grandparents did. 

 The most important thing is to love them.  

That part I have down!!

"Grandchildren..Sunshine to my soul"

Two Ways to Live Life

I heard a quote by a very wise young man the other day. 

 He was talking about answers to prayer. 

 He said,

 "There are two ways to live life... 

One way, is as if nothing is a miracle... another way, is as if everything is a miracle."

All I have to do is look around me,

and I realize that

 "Everything is a miracle."

"And Thank you for a House full of People I Love"

As I sit here tonight, I am so grateful for the last few weeks. 

 I love having my whole family together.  

We've had a lovely time while the DeSpain gang east has been visiting. 

 Makes us feel complete. 

Then to have Nick come for Fish Lake made everything that much better. 

 I don't know when the last time was that we all sat down for dinner together.  

Thanks to Tyler for making that happen. 

 Everyone is busy, everyone is different, but that's what makes up a family. 

 We all love each other regardless of our differences, and that unconditional love is what keeps our family close.   So I guess summer vacation is coming to a close. 

 We have been together and made wonderful memories that I will cherish.

"And thank you for a house full of people I love."
~Terri Guillemets