Black Jack

I have a very special nephew.  He's not just a nephew, he's a friend.  He visits when I'm sick, he makes me laugh, he likes to sit and chat about stuff, oh and did I say he makes me laugh?? Last night we had kind of an informal party for dinner.  Benji and Bud stopped by to eat.  Then Tyler dropped in.  Whitney and Melanie came over after Yoga and then Jason dropped in.  Jim was off entertaining the YM, so after dinner Nick and the rest of the group sat down to watch the finals of American Idol...much more fun to watch as a group than by yourself.  We all had much to say about the singing while Whitney and Jason sat looking on appalled ( they are not fans) cast our votes and then the party broke up. Afterwards Nick, Benji and I visited for awhile.  Again I was reminded that Benji  not only has a funny sense of humor, but is also very wise when it comes to religion, relationships and a number of other topics.  I'm glad he came to visit along with the rest of the crowd.  They are welcome anytime!!  It is great to feel good and have people over to share the feeling with.

Beautiful Whitney

I was rushed the other day and put a not very attractive photo of my daughter on my blog. She is beautiful and I am sorry for misrepresenting her to the world. (Refer to her birthday blog) That is how she really looks, or go sign up for her yoga class to see how lovely and graceful she is!!!!

Mother's Day

This is the beautiful Melanie, she comes to visit us once in a while and brings Tyler with her. We love having her around. Yesterday they came over and gave me James Taylor tickets for Mothers Day!!!!

Whitney helped Jim fix a delicious dinner and set a beautiful table. It looked perfect because of her special touch. Nick brought me flowers, with a little money tucked inside for some flowers to plant outside. He was especially thoughtful and brought Abby flowers for her first Mothers day too! Then he rocked Jake to sleep. Abby and I didn't mean to dress just alike, but I guess great minds think alike. (We are both mother's of great people). It was fun to share the day with my beautiful daughter. Jim worked hard fixing the meal for Abby and I. We loved having the Latimer's over and of course Jim had fun with Jake. Having the Jazz win made it a perfect day. Now I get to start planting flowers!

A Different Place

I spent some time recently in a different place with a different group of people. They were strangers who soon became beloved friends. Somehow it was different there. Things were simpler. If someone slipped up, everyone was sad, but encouraging... if someone got their feelings hurt, they got their feelings hurt and then they got over it. When anyone accomplished the simplist of tasks everyone was happy. When somebody moved on we were sad, because we would miss our brother or sister, but so happy that they were progressing. We found pleasure in small things. Fresh air, music, quiet meditation, prayer, an understanding heart. I love the people in this different place and the angels who showed us the way. I stand in awe of these new friends. They have such grace, such dignity and love in their heart for all people. They are truly Christ like. When I went to the different place I didn't know anyone, but I was loved and accepted no matter what...I was taught what being unselfish was truly like. Sometimes I was taught this by someone who was a bit rough around the edges. I found out that angels are sometimes rough around the edges. I have a friend who is leaving "A Different Place" tomorrow...How I love her and want her to know how important and special she is and what a great thing she has accomplished. Not many people realize how difficult a challenge this has been and how strong a person must be to recognize their problem, be humble, be obedient, have faith and then brave enough to face the world on their own. I love seeing her bright shining face and the beautiful smile that radiates from her. She shines! She is loved by God and by her friends in A different place....

Is it Spring????

I keep thinking it is spring, that I will go out and plant my flowers, but everytime I think it's almost that time...it starts snowing...so I guess for now I'll just dream about warm days and nights and what my yard will look like when it does get warm and the flowers start growing. I will post updates, because I have faith that the sun will shine and the wind will stop blowing and when it does you are all invited over for a lazy afternoon with coke and crushed ice!

Whitney

My beautiful, graceful and creative daughter Whitney never got a birthday blog. So here it is. In my mind, this picture describes who Whitney is. She has such a creative mind...she doesn't need to look at what she is doing, it is just there. She is naturally graceful and whenever she puts her hands on any project it just becomes what she wants it to be. She looks beautiful in ragged pants and a tee shirt and bare feet with her hair pulled back. Her soul is as lovely as her face. She has the kindest heart in the world. I am lucky to be her mother. To learn from her. She has made me a better person, and I love her very much. What a blessing when she came into my life 26 years ago and she continues to bless me today.

The Masters

Jim, Jamey, Taylor and Jack got in on Tuesday's practice round of the masters. Jim is taking the pictures here, but Jamey has 1200 pictures, so I'm sure if anyone is interested, he'll be willing to show them. The boys got golf balls from Tom Watson and watched the players skip balls on the sixteenth across the water. Taylor and Jack didn't know Grampa was coming so they were surprised at the airport when he met them at the gate! It was fun for all four of them!

Spring is on its way!!!!!!

Spring is on its way..with its promise of all things green. It is my favorite time of year. Those first warm days (where are they???? its snowing outside) that make you think of hot summer nights to come. There is hope in the air. I get excited at each sign that my yard is waking up. Small blulbs, planted years ago are struggling out of the hard ground. If it does snow, it melts quickly. Today I will plant pansies in a few of my pots on the front porch and maybe one or two renoculous, my favorites. They are a glorious precurser of what is to come. Later in the spring I will plant seeds in the ground by my trellis. They will be scarlett bean and morning glory vines. They start out just a small seed in the ground or a pot. You nurture them and care for them and then you wait. a week, or two? Maybe...then one day you wake up and go outside and see a little string of green and then the next day several more strings of green and then the next day several more strings. (I plant multiple seeds in the same place). They look a little pathetic at first....sometimes needing a bit of string to hold them up. The vines seem very frail at first. I must be careful with them or they will break. Each day as they grow I start twisting them around each other. Each singular vine from each seed is getting stronger and then as I twist them together they gain in strength. Somedays I go outside to see how my vines are doing and they seem to have grown a foot overnight! They get full and become bushier. After about six weeks I start noticing a flower starting to form within the leaves. This is when the excitement starts really setting in. I have enjoyed watching these plants grow from tiny seeds, the whole process. I could have bought an all ready done vine in May and had everything in the yard just so - but then I wouldn't get to experience the miracle of watching a seed start from the beginning and go through the stages - to struggle to grow and finally to bloom..... oh the beautiful blooms in all different colors, deep purple, bright fuscia, startling white, periwinkle blue. Different colors, but all climbing up the same post of my trellis. It is a miracle. I think of my concerns and worries for my family and what I've learned these past weeks. I must have faith. I'm at the stage where I'm still holding the package where the seeds lie waiting to be planted. I haven't even started planting yet and as I have just described it is a long process. But it always happens. I would never go a day without taking care of my plants. How greateful I am that I just have to look outside to be reminded that Heavenly Father will help me accomplish anything. It is His promise. I just have to plant the seed DO THE WORK, and have the faith. He will take care of the rest.

Happy Easter

What a nice weekend we had! On March 22 we celebrated Jamey's 35th birthday....even though he is in Philadelphia we had a chance to chat with him and Becky and the boys. Who'd of thought we would have a kid that old??? What a great family they have and what great things they are doing. It was fun to see Tom the day before his 57th and see the Bagley's line up to have Megan cut their hair. And then a beautiful Easter Sunday. We started out with Whitney and I giving a lesson in YW's. The two of us are in charge of doing a tree for the Festival of Trees next November. Our YW president is using the theme of "being prepared" and the parable of the 10 virgins for this year and that is the theme we will decorate the tree around. So for the lesson I told the story of the Ten Virgins...then Whitney described her vision of the tree...all old and Jeruselemy with lanterns catching the light and bright scarflike garlands going in and out of the branches. She talked about the sights she had seen in Turkey last summer with Jolyn & Company, and really made you see her vision of the tree and of course the girls all fell in love with her. It will be a neat experience for us. On to SS and then Church where of course our beautiful Choir sang. Only the Tab Choir can sing better than our Ward Choir! We had a nice Easter dinner with Abby, Mike and Jake, Nick, Whitney, Tyler and his friend Melanie, Jim and myself. Ham, funeral potatoes, asparagus, rolls, salad, Abby's delicious lemon bars and of course some Easter chocolate. It all tasted great! It was a wonderful day and I hope you all had as nice a day as we did!

More of What I am Learning

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us: It's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear
our presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela