"Grampa, are there any fish in this stream?"

Jake went fishing when we were at Fish Lake.  He said, "Grampa, are there any fish in this stream?"  Grampa answered,  "sure, this is where I caught my first fish!"  Jake said, "it must have been the last one."

A lovely Summer Afternoon

Yesterday it was just Dylan and me, until Nick arrived home early. Then the fun really began.  First they poured over magazines together.  Dylan loved all the chairs and tables in the pictures.  His new word for the day was "yellow". 

Next a walk around the neighborhood on Nick's shoulders.  They looked for cars and trucks, birds and flowers.  And of course the beautiful mountains!

Next just relaxing on the porch watching the world go by.  Dylan is certainly going to miss his Uncle Nick.  All the nephews love his stories.  When it comes to telling a story Nick's the best.

TAKE SOME TIME

I read an article today by President Dieter Uchtdorf.  In his talked he asked, "Have you ever been in an airplane and experienced turbulence?  The most common cause of turbulence is a sudden change in air movement causing the aircraft to pitch, yaw, and roll.  While planes are built to withstand far greater turbulence than anthing you would encounter on a regular flight, it still may be disconcerting to passengers. 
What do you suppose pilots do when they encounter turbulence?  A student pilot may think that increasing speed is a good strategy because it will get them through the turbulence faster.  But that may be the wrong thing to do.  Professional pilots understand that there is an optimum turbulence penetration speed that will minimize the negative effects of turbulence.  And most of the time that would mean to reduce your speed."  He continues on saying, " This is a simple but critical lesson to learn.  It may seem logical when put in terms of turbulence, but it's surprising how easy it is to ignore this lesson when it comes to applying these principles in our own daily lives....The wise understand and apply the lessons of air turblence.  They resist the temptation to get caught up in the frantic rush of everyday life.  They follow the advice - There is more to life than increasing its speed.  In short, they focus on the things that matter most."

I loved this advice.  Focusing time on things that matter most.  Sometimes pressures and "turbulence" make us pick up the pace and miss out on what is important and we forget to enjoy the beauties all around to us.

Another article read today, by Ann Cannon in the Tribune, reminded me of this.  She was comparing Jimmer Fredette to a baseball player she used to love to watch play.  His name was Kirby Puckett.  She writes, "Kirby Puckett played with a smile on his face.  He caught fly balls, smiling.  He hit home runs, smiling.  He rounded the bases, smiling.  He was like hey, Ma!  Did you see that?  Did you see how I just parked the ball over the center fielder's head?  Isn't baseball great? Isn't life grand?"

He spent his time enjoying what he did. A good habit to cultivate.  Enjoying time at work, playing with our friends.  Appreciating and being grateful for the good things.  Take time to look outside, even with our gray skies and rainy weather I'm noticing some purple flowers just outside my window. 

" Spring is on its way, I think smiling to myself."

Isn't life grand?

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I haven't blogged for a while, because I have become immersed in the novel "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. He wrote the "Kite Runner" which I liked, but this one was a page turner.....often depressing, but it kept you reading and the main message was hope. I feel that there were many more messages in the book which I won't go into, because for any potential readers I don't want to ruin it for you. The book is dedicated to the women of Afghanistan. It tells of the culture, the women's plight, no matter what the regime is at the time...it has never been good for women. When the Taliban came into power...All rights were taken away from women...no school, no arts, no health care, no law to protect them, nothing and yet I think the author wanted people to know that most of the women and some good men, tried to stay strong to make their land a better place for their daughters. As I read each chapter I was more and more grateful for this beautiful and great country we live in. Also I am more and more grateful for my religion. A religion that encourages women to get an education, to pursue their talents, to appreciate the arts, to teach their children and continue learning all through their life. It teaches the men to honor their wives and counsel with them over decisions on everything. The husband and wife are one working for a common goal. I took a Book of Mormon class years ago and as we all have struggled through 2 Nephi where Isaiah seems to be talking in a different language, the teacher went through each passage and helped us to understand its meaning. What I got from parts of it is that from the beginning of time when Eve exercised her power as a partner in her marriage to Adam....Satan immediately knew a way in to destroy families. He knew that if women had any power at all, he would loose ground. So through the ages women became second class citizens. It wasn't until that late 18th century and into the 19th century that woman started coming into their own. Wanting education and some brave ladies going to be doctors and other professions, that until then were totally male dominated. It was hard going for many years as women struggled to get the vote here in America and more and more women went to College and received an education. The problem came again, when Satan recognized what was happening and so he tipped it the other direction, where for awhile it was almost looked down upon if you did stay home and take care of your children. In some cases women became militant, feeling they didn't need men for anything. The feeling was more about me, as a woman than we as a wife, partner with husband, mother of children and someone who could hold her own in the board room or in the art world. Satan knows that balance and good judgement and the unselfish heart that is given to us is the end of him. So as women we do have considerable power, to use for the good or bad. It seems that lately the pedulum is moving more to the middle, but only in some places. Mothers are being recognized as most important to raise up their children to be good people. We have many responsibilities, and big hearts, and sometimes we get worn out, either mind or body. But here, (In the US, my church, my family and friends) we have a huge support group to help us at every turn. While in Afghaniststan during the last 30 years, women have had to choose between keeping children in their homes where regular beatings go on, starvation and no warm clothing....or taking them to an orphanage, just to let them have something to eat. Those women rose to the occasion and never gave up hoping for a better day...and instead of escaping to another peaceful place, they go back to make things better for future generations of children in their nation. These women have the same wishes for their children and themselves as we do. They are very brave. They want peace, they want to be able to go outside and play without fear of being bombed or taken to prison. It is with gratitude that I only have to read about such a place, but with admiration for the women of those nations who will fight for their rights and their children's rights, they deserve as do we all. We feel the same guilts and sadness, if we leave our children and work or are not able to support our children in the manner that many Americans have achieved. The pain is the same as we feel , but we have a different perspective, because we have been so blessed having not endured those horrors that others do, it sounds like a whole different planet. Yet I feel that women and mothers everywhere have a common thread running through us. We need to stay strong, we need to be grateful for husbands that support our endeavors to better ourselves, we need to stay abreast of the world and the people that do not share our wonderful life. We need to stay in tune with our Creator, so we remain a stable force for good in the world. I have always said, that at my funeral I want my sisters (related or not) to be pallbearers. Because my whole life from my grandmothers, mothers, sisters, friends and daughters, I have been carried by their support, their love and their strength. Women will win the battle over good and evil, because of our capacity to love unconditionally and to give of ourselves unselfishly for good causes. I am grateful to be born a woman and know that we were put here on earth for a specific purpose. We are much stronger than we ourselves think and knowing this we should go forward with great hope and optimism for our future. That's what I think....what do you think?

Not to be Outdone

I loved Marty's story about being caught in the dressing room with her darling, but very stange outfit on. I am even more brazen than Marty.. As most of you readers know I have been sick. I have embraced my illness with enthusiam by changing my look. (only because I gained 40 pounds and had hair start to fall out) I've gone for a kind of gypsy, hippie, free spirit kind of thing. I don't know if it is working, but at least it gives me something to think about when I get up in the morning. (Which gypsy skirt to wear and also which wig)! Yes, wig...I'm sure you all know about it, because the moms know and we tell everyone everything. But I have several wigs.. One day Jim came home and said "Paula you're blonde!" I said "Give me 2 minutes and I'll be a brunette, or a redhead". Anyway, getting along with this story. On Tuesday I was dressed in an especially strange way, because I knew I wasn't going anywhere. I had on a pink t-shirt (no bra) a gray skirt and bright pink knee length stockings with pretty silver ballet slippers with bows on them. I also did not put on my wig because I wasn't going anywhere..my hair has gotten longer and for some reason has a lot of weird curl in it, so it actually looked kind of Afroish. I had to mail some letters, so I put on my coat and drove to the post office and mailed the letters. The store Ross is just around the corner so I thought I'd go in really quick to see if I could find another $5.00 peasant skirt. I wrapped my coat around me and went in, got a cart, and started strolling up and down the aisles...at the end of the second aisle was a full length mirror that I just happened to glance into... I wondered who that wierd looking woman was standing by me...then I JUMPED!!!! IT WAS ME!!! I left the cart where it was and ran out of the store as fast as I could. The next day it snowed, so I stayed home all day. I didn't see anything in the news about a deranged crazy woman at Ross, so I guess I'm safe and will never go to the post office again with out being fully clothed and wigged....

Back to school

Today my much older and wiser sister has given me a lesson in blogging. I will write longer after this first session..