TYLER'S BIRTHDAY

Thirty seven years ago, our son Tyler was born. He was an easy pregancy, easy birth, easy baby, happy child.

Actually, he has pretty much been a happy, pleasant person most of his life.

He took his time getting married, but when he did, he found the most beautiful, happy, loving person in Melanie.

And of course their little one is a happy, easy baby.

Tyler is a very generous, thoughtful and kind person.

It is fun watching him in his new role - that of being a dad. He's the best!

Ty- hope this year brings you much joy - you have certainly brought me joy thoughout your life.

"He who is a good son will be a good father".

~Author Unknown

You are and will be a great father! 

 Happy Birthday -
Love, mom

A LOVELY WEEKEND IN PARK CITY

Last April for our birthdays, our kids gave us a great gift.

It was a gift certificate to the Hotel Park City.

We didn't realize until we finally made it up there what a fabulous gift this was.

 We took the whole weekend.

Shopping at the outlets, a little lunch, then checking into our hotel.

We stayed in the beautiful cottages. I was treated to a massage. We had a delicious meal at RuthsChris. Lovely music in the park outside our cottage. (We listened from our hottub)! I have never been so relaxed. I'll probably let those little ones just run around tomorrow - "just make sure you're all alive," I'll say.

It'll take me a few days to come out of the lovely haze I'm in.

 (sorry if I'm gushing, I guess I don't get out much).

Today we wandered around the streets of Park City.

 ParkSilly is going on. Lots of fun things to take a look at.

We ran into Tyler, Melanie and Dylan.

 (Tyler loves the hotel and instigated this great gift).

We had lunch on a roof overlooking the city.

Dylan got a bit of a nap in.

What a perfect day.

Jim and I drove through Guardsmen Pass on our way home. The scenery was breathtaking.

We live surrounded by beautiful mountains, just a short distance from our home.

How grateful I am for our generous children.

Thanks, and I love you all.

WOMEN WHO ARE WHOLE

This month's visiting teaching message teaches us to be Holy women.

 I've been out three seperate times today. As I prepare to go out for the fourth visit I am really thinking about this lesson.

Each woman that I have visited today is totally different, doing different things. A Young mother, busy raising her small children. A professional who has raised a son, a grandmother who also has great grandchildren, and a school teacher with a growing family.

 I know that each one of these ladies would not consider themselves holy.

They are all humble women who are just trying to get by with all the daily struggles and joys that we all have. But I know them individually very well. They all have such unique strengths. They are all trying so hard to do what is right for themselves and for their families.

 They are such strong, unselfish women.

They seek out those who are in need and in their own way help them.

 I consider these women as part of a whole.

 Everyone has a weakness. We all have room for improvement.

Yet by visiting with one another, we grow.  By serving, as these women do, we help those that need it.

Our friendships become deeper.

 I learned much from these women I visited today.

I learned how they handle their homes, their children, their lives.

I learn from their stories and experiences.   

It wasn't so much from the lesson, it was more from reading the lesson and then seeing how it applies in the lives of these great women that surround me.

I may not become holy, but I become a more whole person by going visit them.

The women in this neighborhood are a blessing in my life.

LETTUCE, SWISS CHARD, AND TOMATOES - FRESH

"What was paradise, but a garden full of vegetables
and herbs and flowers?
Nothing there but delights."

William Lawson


 

I've been gathering plates like this from my garden. The tomatoes are starting to ripen.

The lettuce and swiss chard make a delicious salad.

Tomatoes need nothing but a little salt and pepper.

I have a little boxwood basil that adds tons of flavor to everything!

This was the salad we enjoyed last night.

The dressing was made from nonfat plain yogurt and dijon mustard and a touch of vinegar.

 I added whatever herbs I cut from my garden.

It was the best salad I've had all year!

"FEED MY SHEEP" , FROM MY MOTHER'S POINT OF VIEW





Every once in awhile I wander through the pages of my mother's lesson book. She was a Compassionate Service Teacher in Relief Society. I have her lesson outline notebook. I love to read the lessons she gave in her own handwriting. This particular lesson was on nurturing one another. Finding the one who might need help. I couldn't put the whole lesson here, but a few highlights that I thought beautiful.

She ends the lesson with this~

"Service - love - snowballs.

How much good could be accomplished if each of us never let a day pass without striving to touch the life of someone through service.

We can never under estimate our influence for good or otherwise. How great it is to be a special friend to someone, to show concern for another - to seek out those stangers in our midst who need our attention and to appreciate them for who and what they are."

June Bagley

"The fragrance' always stays in the hand that gives the rose."

Thanks for the lovely reminder mom.

FORTY YEARS!

My friend Toni and I grew up together. We did everything together always. Here we are at 16 wondering what adventures lie ahead. 

Toni met her husband right after graduating from High School. 
Forty years ago yesterday they lined me up with Jim.
I had gone on a date the previous week. We went to Kamas to see the movie Tora, Tora, Tora.
(I generally like a good war movie, but this was and still is the longest and most boring war movie - I mean movie of all time).
Besides I didn't like the guy which made it seem even longer.
Jim's and my first date went pretty well, so he asked me on a second.
He said" let's do something a little unusual, we're
going to Kamas to see Tora, Tora, Tora!" We were with Toni and Willard and I liked Jim, so the movie didn't seem quite as long. I didn't tell Jim for a long time that I had already seen that movie at the same theatre just a few nights before.

Toni and Willard got married in December and we got married the following April.

We both have five kids!

Forty years has certainly gone by fast. But it's great to have these two as our friends.

(Don't you think we look exactly the same)!??!

Jim and Willard actually do!

(They either looked like 60 year old men when we married them

or they have not aged at all.)

TRAVEL - YOU CAN NEVER SEE ENOUGH OF THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY

We've had some fun times with our friends, Dale and Teri.

We try to see some part of the world at least every other year.

 Sooner if possible.

We've driven from Boston up the coast to Bar Harbor - absolutely fabulous!

Took the boys to the Indy (sorry for my misspell above) 500.

 That trip was fun just watching them act like they were 5 years old and it was Christmas.

We've seen the wonders of Mesa Verde, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone.

 Along the way stopping at Martins Cove and many other areas of interest.

This year we thought and thought, where should we go?

 What exotic place is calling our name?

Could it be Barcelona, Rome, Zurich or Paris?

Maybe in another life.

 Teri and I were just told to pack our bags.

Which we did.

 We always know how to pack compactly.

The guys might have to rent a uhaul- The trip they've planned is to Yosemite National Park.

At this rate we will see all the national parks very soon.

We are thrilled, although I think Teri and I will pick the next trip - possibly NYC? or maybe The San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington?

 Sounds delightful, as I'm sure this trip will be.

 They all are.

 Can't wait to get on the road and see another part of this wonderful country.

LEMONS AND HERBS

I went to my niece Brooke's baby shower the other night. It was at my daughter Abby's home.
When Abby, Whitney, my nieces Marta and Sarah get together, they always come up with just the right touch to make things look perfect.
 The night was perfect. We ate outside, and could hear the waterfountain from Abby's pool
(love the sound of water).
Company was perfect -(it always is when the family gets together).
This little jar caught my eye. They had filled a jar with lemons and put daisies in it.
Looked so fresh and pretty. They found the idea on pinterest, which is fast becoming something I'm enjoying for great ideas.
Yesterday I had a minute. I thought, I don't have any daisies, but I've got plenty of herbs and I love green and yellow together.
 I have a friend who hasn't been well. So I cut some herbs and some lemons.
 I can't smell, yet the combination of these two scents were so strong as I was preparing this I was actually able to smell the herbs and lemons.
It made it that much more delicious to make up.
 Thanks to Abby, Whit, Marta, Sarah and  pinterest, who's ever idea this was,
I love it!

TO ENJOY EACH DAY

After having this fun family with us the past several weeks, I am inclined to be a little down now that they are gone.

They are back to their golf clinics, their soccer and of course, more baseball. It is so hard to see them just a few weeks during the year.

They grow so fast and are good boys, brought up so well by good parents. I am so grateful for them, but still a bit sad that they are so far away.

I can't sit and pout for too long.

Life goes back to the regular routine fast enough.

 I am blessed to have a job where I don't go sit at a desk day in and day out.

Where things are routine.

 I spend my days with these firehouses. (Tyler not included).

Nothing is ever the same.

 There are always questions and wonders about the grass and the leaves.

I love how Sam's little hands enfold his blanket around his body when he finds it laying on the ground. 

 Jake has thousands of questions about everything,

and Dylan loves to be cuddled and is learning how to do new things everyday. 

It is wonderful to see everything through the eyes of a child. 

They make me think how simple life truly is or should be. 

 These children just want hugs and security.

To feel loved.  

And so these little ones remind me what is important. Have I been patient with them and with myself? 

 At the end of the day have I hugged my loved ones?  Have I said kind words to those I come in contact with?  Have I shown compassion?  Have I loved myself?  That's a hard one.  To be kind to oneself. 

These are important questions to ask myself. 

 I fail alot, I must do better. 

"The world has grown more complicated...To make a day now it takes bells and whistles and clocks and desks and commitees and meetings and money and a serial of daily newspaper editions, and hungry people, and people who are too tired, and luncheon engagements and telephones, and noise and shouting and much hurrying. Perhaps these ingredients are necessary for the concoction of a day; but when I come to observe the Ceremonial of Evenings and Mornings, they do not seem to be the reason why light and darkness were separated and day and night created.  Whatever be my philosophy, I , too, must work to make enough money to pay my share toward the bells and whistles and the trains and the luncheon engagements and the privilege of hurrying.  But as I watch the stars of evening, and in the morning open my window toward the east, I shall observe the Ceremonial of quietness of heart, of simplicity, and poise of spirit, that I may keep my soul and the souls of others free from entanglements in the machinery of a day."

~Abbie Graham 

THE GANG LEAVES US

After several weeks of fun with everyone together, our eastern gang are leaving us.

We had one last get together. Trying to get family pictures is impossible as the above photos

will show. Sam was having none of it, although, as his grama I think he's cute no matter what he

does.

It's easier to take random shots, yet then no one is ever together. Everyone somehow is alot happier when not having to pose.

Time goes by so quickly. It seems like yesterday that these big boys were the age of the little ones.
Nothing is better than being together and catching those moments to remember them by.
It's been a great couple of weeks.

MOUNTAINS, BOYS AND BASKETBALL

It is amazing to me that in just a few days time I have been able to see beautiful images like these.

Saturday, Jim took me to his hunting spots. The wildflowers were covering the hills as well as these sheep.

I was overwelmed with the beauty that is just an hour from my home.

Today Dylan, Jack, Hogan, Luke and I took a short walk.

 The sites were just as magnificent.

Everything is so green.

The mountain is breathtaking as usual.

The boys played a little basketball while Dylan and I cheered

them on.

There's nothing better than boys, basketball, green grass and mountains.

Lovely.

OLD BOOKS, NEW BOOKS, ANY SUGGESTIONS?

I love to read.

 I was compiling a list of my all time favorites and it was taking too long.

I decided to stop

and go find another book.

But as I was remembering just a few of the books I've loved, many of which I've

read and re-read, I always think that I like them either because they are exciting,

I learn something of different

people and places,

or I just feel like I am there and a part of their world for awhile.

I have always loved the way

Leon Uris wrote.

I learned alot about history,different cultures and people from him.

Jeffrey Archer always leaves you hanging until the last minute, but I think he has a bit of a sense of humor as he writes.

Again I learned history from Anya Seton with her saga's about Katherine and Elizabeth, and of course Miranda in Dragonwyck.

It's always enjoyable reading John Grisham.

I was 12 the first time I read "Gone with the Wind". I read it in about three weeks.

I've since read it so many times I can't count. But I can quote lines.

I'm sure everyone will agree it's an all time fave.

Og Mandino writes good, uplifting stories with great life lessons.

And Rosamond Pilcher's "The Shell Seekers" is another I've read over and over. I feel like I live in the Cotswolds. Whenever I read that book, I want to hurry and cook a delicious dinner and set a lovely table, just as Penelope would.

"A Lantern In her Hand" and "A White Bird Flying" were my favorites as a teenager,

but I've read them at various stages since. I always love these pioneer stories.

"The Thorn Birds" was one of the all time best romances.

And "To Kill a Mockingbird" is also a readover and over.

I loved the "Forgotten Garden" last summer, and want to read more of Kate Morton's books.

  Vince Flynn kept me on pins and needles all winter.

Whenever I need to calm down, I pick up my friend, "Gift from the Sea." 

 I just finished "Daybreak" by Belva Plain. Hadn't read any of her books for a long time, and I loved this one. I could go on forever, I'll stop my review now.

 Am now looking for something really good to read.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

I love you, anyway

My dad always came up with funny little ways of expressing himself. 

 He made a joke out of everything. 

Probably to hide his true emotions. 

One of his sayings was "I love you, anyway", which he said with a bit of humor, a touch of sarcasm, always with love, is something, that I think is quite profound and full of wisdom. 

When mom and dad had their 50th wedding anniversary we had the saying beautifully made for them.

 I think that those words probably helped make their marriage as happy as it was.

Yesterday, within the span of a half an hour I let escape out of my mouth some embarrassing words to some people I care about it. 

 Nothing earth shattering. 

Just enough to make me think I needed to be locked up in a room somewhere for timeout.  

 I thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice if I could call these people and say, "I made a silly comment and they would simply say "I love you, anyway.."

and it would be over. 

 Or I would write a note and they would send me a card like the one above,

and that would be it.  No further explanations needed. 

Because I hope I'm not the only one who says or does mindless things once in awhile. 

 I do think it is important to own up to things said or done in a moment of haste, yet also equally important to realize that everyone has a moment of weakness and needs to be loved regardless.


So, send a card to someone.
The words
I love you, anyway
are simple, kind, and tell us we are ok despite our faults.
it's called
unconditional love.