The Tulip Festival

Abby, Jake and I went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was beautiful with so many varieties of tulips and the colors were gorgeous! Jake loved climbing the stairs and we all loved the "Secret Garden" the best. You have to go in a tunnel to get there and through a door and into just a little space. I could just picture just such a spot in my garden...but as things go, I guess my "upper garden" will have to do.

Teaching Jake to appreciate nature's surroundings, so he will become grama's helper in her garden!

37 Years Ago!!!

Happy Anniversary to Jim and I! Can you believe how young everybody looks? Wow!!

Look at mom's hair! I thought it was the most beautiful doo I'd ever seen!

The Happy Couple!

Wedding Day Approaching

Before Tyler and Melanie jump off the cliff together at their wedding... Melanie's family had a lovely get together, where Whitney, Abby and I got to meet all of Melanie's family. It was so nice to get to know everyone.

We met all the aunt's and cousins, and tied a beautiful quilt..

We ate great food and visited and got to know Melanie's family better. Thanks for sharing her with us!

Poor Aunt Mildred

I have been sick for the past two days, and saw this, made me laugh and thought I'd share it. Laughing always makes me feel better!

Aging Aunt Mildred was a 93 year old women who was particularly despondant over the recent death of her husband. She decided that she would just kill herself and join him in death. Thinking that it would be best to get it over with quickly, she took out his old army pistol and made the decision to shoot herself in the heart, since it was badly broken in the first place. Not wanting to miss the vital organ and become a vegetable and burden to someone, she called her doctor's office to inquire as to just exactly where the heart would be on a woman. Her doctor said, "Your heart would be just below your left breast."

Later that night, Mildred was admitted to the hospital with a gunshot wound to her knee.

A Clean Home

After a day of cleaning inside and outside, I sat down for a while to enjoy the fruits of my labors. It is rewarding to see everything put in its place and just take in my sweetly smelling surroundings. I found a poem that describes some of the feelings I have when I take care of my home.

" I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing,
windows that need cleaning
and gutters that need fixing,
because it means I have a home.
I am thankful for laundry and ironing,
because it means my loved ones are nearby."
Nancie J. Carmody

If I look a little I can always find something to be grateful for.

(Even when I clean)!!!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

We got a call yesterday...Taylor informed us that on Saturday he hit his first over the fence HOME RUN!!! He said he knew when he made contact with the ball it was going to be a long one. He was the first up to bat and had two strikes on him! Great early birthday present for his Grampa! Way to go Taylor!!!!

Happy Birthday Jim

Lots of food, Lots of fun! Thanks Abby, Mike, Whit, Jason,

Tyler, Melanie, & Nick for

a wonderful party!

Happy Birthday Jim!!!!!

Gifts of the Soul

"To live ordinary life artfully is to...

live more intuitively

and to be willing to surrender

a measure of our rationality and control

in ruturn for gifts of the soul."

Thomas Moore

Beautiful Music

Our ward choir might not quite be the tab choir, but we're a close second. Yesterday for Easter, we sang two of the most beautiful songs. One touched me very deeply. I would like to share the words with you .

" Did you see him in the garden, when he bled from every pore?

Did you feel his lonely anguish

when he asked to drink no more?

Did you see his three disciples as they

slept through his great pain?

Did you hear his footsteps coming

taking upon the cross for men?

Did you watch him through the courtyards,

did you hear their angry lies?

Did you feel the lash upon you, did you follow by his side?

Were you there when they condemned him and they nailed him to a cross?

Did you hear him then forgive them as his loved ones mourned their loss?

Did you see him in his glory when the stone was rolled away?

Did you feel the hope of all men when his ransomed life was paid?

will you know him when you see him once again on heavenly thrones?

will he say to you in pure love, come to me,

thou art mine own?"

....words by Shawn M. Stringham

The music is as lovely as the words...it made for a very special Easter.

And the fun continues..

After the hunt...

Jake sat down and played us a little jazz.

He sure can belt it out, takes after his Grampa Jiggs!

Then a story with grama Polly..

He told us all that

he had one FUN day!!!!

Jakes Easter Egg Hunt

It took a minute for Jake to get the hang of it,

(maybe because they were easter soccer balls, not eggs)!

but with Whitney's help he soon started

finding the hiding places ...

and as he found each egg,

of course there was lots of cheering!

Happy Birthday Jolyn

When Jo was little mom would take us to the fabric stores and while mom looked through the pattern books, Jolyn would wander around and just have fun looking at all the fabric, while I would run frantically after, making sure she wouldn't get lost. She always was a free spirit..and quite adventurous... Well, she's all grown up and she is still a wanderer...travelling all over the world... I guess she won't get lost. She always seems to find her way back home. This month she's in India and Thailand..Happy Birthday Jo! (Photo's courtesy of Jolyn's blog)

Coco says...

A girl should be two things, classy and fabulous.

coco chanel

Spring Cleaning

What a mess!

After working all day, I wonder if this, will ever become

this????

And... after working outside for most of the day,

my reward is....

this....

pure heaven!

Wear your Hat!

"Throughout the years, I have mentally put together a profile of women who can wear hats. Generally, they are women of great confidence. When they visit someone in the hospital, they park in the tow away zone it is always there when they return for it. Their hair is always long enough on the sides to pull back and secure without little pieces standing out over their ears like Howdy Doody. They love blueberries, and they never stain their teeth.
They have two children: a boy and a girl, who are not allowed to watch television. Their husbands recite them poetry that doesn't rhyme. They're the first to wear white shoes in the spring. The family dog wears braces for an overbite. I know I am generalizing, but I'm bitter. In my heart, I know there is much to admire about a woman wearing a hat who knows that she attracts attention of every eye around her and can still walk like a person. I used to give speeches and I'd be so self conscious that I'd walk to the podium as though I were marching to Poland. I have a hat. It is graceful and feminine and has a wide brim with a red ribbon around the band. It gives me a certain dignity, as if I were attending a state funeral or something. People are generous in their compliments. Someday I may get up enough courage to wear it, instead of carrying it."
-Erma Bombeck

I think we all have gifts and talents that we might not be brave enough to show to the world. I think I might just start by wearing a visor!

A Great Lady Said....

A Great Lady Said....

We can make a difference!

"Most of the time, each of us feels incredibly ordinary, but that shouldn't hold us back. One ordinary woman can make a difference. Our job is to get in step with the purpose for which we were created. The world is longing for women who will make a difference. Women make great leaders! Faith Whittlesey said it best: "Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels." I found this in a little book by Pam Farrel, I was browsing through today and liked it...thought I'd pass it along.