Sweet Tales from the Wedding

After months of planning, and countless hours of work on the part of innumerable people, Kristen and Peter’s wedding went off beautifully. I didn’t take very many pictures as I was busy with so many other things, and we had a photographer, but I hope to post pictures when they become available.

In the meantime, here are a few random stories from our weekend that I wanted to be sure to share.

1. Miracles of Miracles!! There were two miracles I witnessed this past weekend. The first is that my back held up through all the work and stress. I have a bad back and usually when I am in a highly stressful situation, or having to do a lot of physical work, my back flares up and I end up flat down in bed. This time I didn't have any serious back problems until the very end of the reception. But even then I made it through all the clean up!! Truly a miracle.

The second miracle was the weather!! It has been very hot here in Phoenix--about 105-110 degrees and somewhat humid. However, on the day of the wedding, I walked outside early in the morning and felt COOL air!! We had some pictures taken around 7 and additional pictures afterward and we never felt terribly hot. It was such a blessing!!!

1. I #2. A League of Their Own. I had a vision for the reception and worked for several months to make it a reality. The day finally arrived for us to set up and while my husband and several others tackled the drop ceiling, I went to work with two friends to create a faux gazebo where the musicians would perform. Before going to the church, I put together a box with everything I could think of that might be needed. I had string, wire, wire cutters, scissors, duct tape etc. I was so pleased with myself for being so prepared and proudly displayed my box to my friends. Sonia Holmes looked in it and then asked, “Where's the chocolate?” A big oversight to be sure. But soon Sonia and Michelle Hill were pulling out screws, screwdrivers and ladders from their supplies, and I quickly realized I was out of my league on this one. I was so glad they were there, and even happier to leave the construction of the gazebo to their capable care. They both were awesome and stayed many hours making sure everything was perfect!!

And here is a little sneak preview of how it looked. This was taken before the centerpieces arrived but gives you a basic idea. The structure in the back is what Michelle and Sonia put together using Kristy's 8 foot posts and 5 gallon buckets.

#3. DIY to the Extreme! I really wish I had a picture of the wedding cake!! Kristen did not want to serve cake and she did not want to pay for an expensive cake that wasn’t going to be served. So, being the resourceful, thrifty person she is, she decided to make the cake herself—with fondant frosting. Now she had never used fondant before, but she had seen several you tube tutorials, so she felt perfectly qualified. Unfortunately the frosting was very hard, did not roll out well, and consequently was rather impossible to smooth over the cake. In some places there were folds, and in other places very noticeable gaps, leaving the chocolate cake exposed. No problem! Ribbon and silk flowers rushed to the rescue. Personally, I voted to throw it out and replace it with something from the store (especially when a pink substance started oozing from one of the gaps in the frosting), but Kristen insisted on putting it on display. (Much to my chagrin. :-)When it came time to cut the cake, they could barely get the knife through it, but in the end they did, each took a bite, and after the reception I happily threw the poor little cake into the garbage

#4. Secret Elves . . . I am so grateful to the many, many people who helped set up for the reception. They truly were a little army and did an amazing job. Wes and I worked from around noon to 4:30 but then had to leave to attend the wedding dinner—the night before the wedding. Our friends kept working, however, and when we returned around 9:30 there were only a few minor detail things that were left to do. Since we had an early day ahead of us, we went home around 10, leaving the mess from setting up in the cultural hall, with the plan to return after the wedding to clean it up. But when we returned the next day, we discovered that everything had been cleaned, the floor swept and the halls and lobby vacuumed!! I honestly started to cry. Thanks so much to the Carlini family and Doug Nelson for all their hard work!! It was very much appreciated. Thanks also to Doug for spending so many hours fixing the electrical problems so we could have all the lighting!!

4. And speaking of thanking people . . . thanks to Lisa Nelson for sewing the cute table cloths, Suzie Jones for the darling aprons, the entire Sheffield family who came to set up, Kristy Rose and family for the posts we used for the “gazebo”, as well as the lights for the ceiling, Jodi Poston for the plastic used for the ceiling, David and Vicky Goss for the backdrops, my daughter in law, Kali for the cute floral swag she made and the other decorations she borrowed from her cousin Becky Stone, Susan Hunter and Jenny Carlini for the food table display, Connie Purtymun for her table cloths, Bryan Purtymun for all of his help with the ceiling along with his son in law Andrew Darrow, Phyllis Leber for loaning me her chair covers, Matt Bullock for serving as Emcee, Jen Collins for the beautiful flowers used by the wedding party and Jackie McAfterty for the gorgeous centerpieces—as well as a thank you to all who helped set up, take down and donated greenery, cut up fruit in advance and served the food at the reception. Whew!!!! ( I have more thanking to do but will save it for other posts.)

It was a wonderful, beautiful day for our family, and there is no way we could have done it without all of your help!! How blessed we are to have you all in our lives!

We love you all!!

It's My Birthday and I'll Leave If I Want To . . .

I am not sure when it all began. I think early June just happened to be a good time for a vacation and so by coincidence we often left town for my birthday. But now it has become such a long established tradition that the thought of actually being in town on the day I was born makes my heart palpitate, my hands shake and my body break out in a cold sweat.

What it scares me, I really don't know. Do I think no one will remember? That no one will care? Or am I afraid they will remember and I will be uncomfortable being the center of attention? None of the fears seem justified, as I have very good friends who always remember, very kindly accommodate my vacation schedule and celebrate with me on different days--and I really don't mind occasionally being the center of attention. :-)

But no matter what the cause of my anxiety, when a good friend (knowing how I like to be out of town) offered me an excuse to travel this past week, I took it! And I am glad I did as we had a wonderful time.

We began our journey by heading north to Las Vegas. Here we attended a temple session, followed by lunch in the cafeteria and pictures in the atrium.

From there we continued north to St. George, Utah. What fun that was!! We headed straight to Tai Pan Trading--an amazing store I could be happy to live in for weeks!! But eventually our husbands dragged us out and we headed over to meet my older brother for dinner at The Painted Pony. His wife had meetings that night so we talked him into spending the evening with us. During dinner, Randy observed that this was the first time we spent my birthday together since I was ten!

The food was delicious and beautifully presented. (See the onion soup below!) Also a bit over priced. But we had a wonderful meal and enjoyed visiting together.

My brother is an architect and has done some work on the St. George temple. Several years ago he restored the veil room to its original form and designed the visitor's center annex, along with the connecting breezeway (below).

Randy also filled us in on some fun stories about the building of the St. George temple--like how President Brigham Young didn't like the original steeple and wanted it changed. He even said that if it weren't changed he would get it changed after he died. Five years after he passed away, the steeple was destroyed by a lightening strike, and replaced the way President Young had requested.

The St. George temple is the oldest operating LDS temple in the world. It was so much fun to see it, and admire the details, including the beehives found at the bottom of the staircases. I thought they were pretty cool.

The next morning we got up early to attend a session at the temple and then headed quickly over to the tabernacle. Wes heard that his great-grandfather built the staircase there and had always wanted to see it. What a treat that was! (And we learned the same man built the staircase in the Salt Lake and Manti temples, so I am guessing we will be going there someday as well! )

Of course when Wes learned that every prophet from Brigham Young to Howard W. Hunter had preached at the pulpit of the tabernacle, he couldn't resist having his picture taken standing there as well! (I am guessing they all wore ties though:-)

Unfortunately that was all the time we could spend in St. George as we had to head home for three wedding receptions and a baby shower. But on our return jounrey we did a quick drive by the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I had not been there since I was 14 and loved being able to go again. And I really loved all the old dead trees!! I thought they were so fascinating!

But there is nothing more spectacular than the view of the canyon!! Gorgeous!! Astounding!! And testimony building. What a beautiful and wonderful world we live in!

We made it home in time to attend all of the other fun activities--including some great birthday celebrations with family and friends.

Thanks to everyone for your time, your sweet gifts and especially your love!! You all bring great . . . joy to my journey!

Travel Tales--Final Edition

So realizing that everyone might be getting sick of our trip, I still wanted to post about some of our more memorable moments. These are fun, I promise!

So this wasn't exactly a luxury tour!! Although we had a van, when we also had all the luggage, it was a tight squeeze. Sonia was particularly squished. This is how she traveled after Wes "fixed" it to make it more comfortable for her!

Good Sport Award definitely went to Sonia!

Pictured below is one of my most touching experiences. We hired a guide in Bethlehem who was one of three members of the church in that town. My favorite moment was when we went to "Shepherd's Field". After viewing the fields, we met in a cave where shepherds once lived. Here our guide recounted the Christmas story and bore his testimony.

It was so sweet to sit there on the side of a hill in Bethlehem, listening to the story of Christ's birth. You could easily picture the shepherds watching their flocks and hear the angels bearing tidings of great joy.

The Spirit was strong.

It will be an experience I will always remember.

Also in Bethlehem we went to the Church of the Nativity, which is supposedly built over the exact spot where Christ was born.

To view the spot you have two choices.

You can wait in line for hours with 300 other people until it is your turn to descend the stairs into the church basement . . . or . .

you can bribe a guide to take you down the back way.

We chose to bribe.

Here is our rather pricey guide who gave us a very (and I mean very!) quick tour of the church and then sneaked us down the back stairs two at a time where we never really saw "the spot" due to the 300 people filing by on their knees kissing it.

But it was memorable!:-)

And on a much less serious note . . . While visiting Nimrod's Fortress near Galilee, we saw some teen aged boys climb these rocks for a picture. So, not to be out done . . .

Here is one my most favorite (and funny) moments ever!

We rented a house and shared cooking responsibilities.

On Saturday night it was the men's turn to cook.

They made eggs and potatoes.

But these were not just any eggs!

Wil has a special way of making them.

He mixes eggs and milk together and then strains them to remove the "gunk" which he told us is umbilical cords.

Seriously???!!!

So here he is making his umbilical cord-less eggs.

Curious??

No, they are not worshipping the computer.

They are trying to hear a basketball game.

Wes and Wil's brother Ken's basketball team played in the national finals while we were in Galilee and they wanted to hear the game--which was not easy.

Unfortunately Ken's team lost, but hey, second in the nation is still great, don't you think!

Truly--Manna from Heaven!

This was our first schwarma place (love that stuff!!)

Here the bread was definitely fresh!!

See that hole in the roof? After the bread was cooked in the store above, they would hand it down through the hole to make the sandwiches.

Yummy!!

Jerusalem is exhausting!!

It seems like you walk up hill all day long.

Here Wes takes a little nap on the southern steps before continuing on with our sightseeing.

After a few long days of tiring travel, Darren quipped, "Now I understand why Peter, James and John kept falling asleep."

And last favorite moment--meeting so many of the BYU students from the Jerusalem Center.

We were walking down the street one night when we suddenly heard cheering from this group. Turns out Wes was wearing a BYU sweatshirt and they saw it.

Funny thing . . . see the girl on the far left?

Her brother just happens to be one of my son-in-law's best friends,

And the girl on the far right?

Her father was the mission president in Hungary and we know seven missionaries who served there.

Small world.

Sadly, the time came for us to return home.

But the adventure was not over!

While flying between NY and Phoenix, we looked out our window to see this!!

It came toward us, flew along side us and then disappeared under our plane, to appear on the other side where it flew away.

Gotta admit. It was pretty cool to see!

So that concludes my tour of Israel . . .

Well, with one exception.

On Friday, in honor of Easter, I am posting pictures of Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb.

Shalom!!

Random Ramblings of our Road Trip to Israel

Miracle of Miracles!

We witnessed several miracles on our trip. One of the most important is that we actually found where we wanted to go. When we were trying to get out of the airport and head to Nazareth, Wes handed me a page of instructions he printed off the Internet. Unfortunately all the street names were in HEBREW!

Driver and navigator checking out the map before we set out once again.

The challenge began all over again when we arrived in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a crazy city, laid out across many hills and with winding roads that suddenly turn into one-way streets, or change names every block—with very few street signs. Even between maps and all eyes on the lookout, we struggled. One time, after several mistakes, Wes told me to put the map away and he would go by feel. In just a few minutes we arrived at our destination. And in the end we found every place we were looking for. Truly a miracle!

Can I get pepperoni with that?

We rented a house in Jerusalem that had a kosher kitchen. Which meant, of course, that besides other things, we were not allowed to eat any pork products or meat with dairy. In fact the kitchen had separate microwaves, dishes and silverware for our dairy meals and meat meals.

We mostly ate at kosher restaurants as well. (Even McDonald's is kosher there) One day we decided to buy pizza for dinner. We scanned the menu for anything familiar to us, but could only find a list of strange vegetables. No such thing as “Meat Lovers” there!! Another time we ate at an Italian restaurant where they had cheese lasagna, and sweet potato stuffed ravioli.

We actually really liked our food in Israel, (we ate a lot of shwarma!) but the first thing we all did when we arrived in the US was buy a sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich!

Where L.D.S. stands for Lay Down Shekles!

My friend Sonia with a a couple of her new best friends

The best place for fruit and vegetables is the Israeli Market, but the best place for souvenirs is the Arab Market in the Old City. The most fun part about shopping there is the shop keepers will haggle over the prices, and they love the Mormons!

With our shopping list in hand, we traipsed into our first store to check out the selection and prices. After hearing the shopkeeper’s “best” price, I suggested to my sister-in-law, Leslie, that we visit a few other stores before buying. The shopkeeper turned to Leslie and said, “You I like. Her I don’t like!”

But he then gave us a better price!

I was only looking for oil lamps for my friend Lisa, but ended up buying some spices as well. I got a cup of saffron threads for $7.00 (my most expensive item) along with spices for Israeli salads, pita bread and shwarma. Now I can’t wait to try them all out. Party’s at my house!!

Make a joyful noise!

One of the most memorable experiences is a visit to the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem. This is simply what is left of a wall that surrounded the temple grounds and since it is all that remains of the temple, it is also the Jew’s most sacred site.

All during the week devout worshippers come to offer prayers, read their scripture and leave notes to God in the cracks of the wall. It is touching to see at any time, but unforgettable to witness on a Friday night—the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath.

On Friday the worship area is packed with people, praying, singing and dancing. Although “reverence” isn’t a word you could use to describe their worship, the energy level was impressive and contagious. If I had known the words to their songs, I am sure I would have been tempted to join them.

But instead, the following night found us at the Jerusalem Center watching the first session of General Conference live with the students there. That was also an unforgettable experience—to be in Jerusalem and hear the “word of the Lord” go out from “Zion” to the world.

Pictures taken during the week at the Western Wall.

No photography is allowed during their Sabbath.

Part II—(later this week) Our Adventure Into Palestinian Bethlehem!

So, It Started Out Being A Good Day . . .

The sister missionaries were moving in today and we were very excited!

Michelle and I spent a couple days this week--during her spring break--cleaning out the room they will use, and getting rid of a lot of stuff collected over the past 14 years.

The only thing I had to do today was finish cleaning the laundry room so we could turn half of it into a kitchenette. A stove was being delivered at noon and a refrigerator is coming on Tuesday.

I went to the sister's apartment early to load up my Tahoe with their belongings and then ran home so I could deliver lunch to a friend whose children were hit by a car yesterday while driving a golf cart across the street and just got back from the hospital. (They are okay, but the boy is pretty banged up.)

Then Wes and I were going to hurry and work on the laundry room before his training meeting at 1--that was to be followed by a baptism and then over to friends to watch the BYU basketball game.

A good day, right?

WRONG!

While moving a box in the laundry room I discovered the wall was wet. The entire wall, actually. I groaned, realizing that a wet wall had to mean we had a plumbing leak. I gave Wes the bad news and he started ripping out the drywall to locate the water source.

A friend came by to help him take the cabinet off the wall (the father of the kids who were hit by a car) and later another friend came to help as well.

This is my basement now. The white spot on the wall is where the cabinet once was.

They have taken out a good portion of the wall and cut two holes in the ceiling so they could reach up and cut out a pipe. We believe the leak is coming from the upstairs bathroom, which could also mean my bathroom floor may need to be ripped out as well.

In the meantime--there is no place to put the oven or the fridge. My husband missed his training meeting and will probably miss the baptism, and our bathroom is off limits until the leak is fixed--which will take a couple days.

UGH!!

But . . . I prefer to think happy thoughts. Like about this cute little guy below who is growing up much too fast!

And of course if BYU wins, it will certainly help to bring great . . . joy to my journey!

A Farewell of Sorts

Dear Family and Friends,

When I started my blog, I really didn't know anything about blogging. I just knew all my nieces were doing it and I thought it would be a great way to keep in touch with family.

But now two years and 278 posts later, I have learned a lot. One thing I learned is that there is a vast blogging community filled with wonderful women, and many have become friends. Some of you I have had the blessing of meeting personally, but all of you have blessed my life in some way.

I have had women who were once complete strangers offer to take dinner to a sick child at BYU, another offer to run to Walmart in Utah to find a Christmas tree ornament the stores in Arizona were out of. I have had women send me recipes, ideas for parties, and suggestions for helping with children and other challenges. I have had women pray for my mother when she was ill, and celebrate with me on the birth of a grandchild.

But, I have also learned that not having a plan for my blog wasn't the best idea. Over time my blog has seemed to have gotten away from me and evolved into something that I am not really very happy with.

I have considered just moving forward with this blog, making the changes I would like to make. But in the end decided it was better to just start over. So, beginning today I will be shutting this down, and in January I will debut my new one. (I decided starting it now before the holidays might not be the best choice).

However, between now and then, I still plan on making frequent visits to all of you, as I cherish your friendship and the things I learn from you.

May you all have a wonderful holiday season, and may your life always bring . . .

Joy to your journey!

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A Visit To My Neighborhood

My neighborhood is a little unique.

I live on a cul-de-sac in the county, on a street with no name, that has seven houses all facing different directions and is also home to five dogs, several chickens, numerous jack rabbits, an occasional rattle snake, a large family of quail, and about 30 other birds that live in the orange tree in my front yard, eat all the oranges and greet me each morning with a cacophony of squawking.

When we first moved here, we were on the outskirts of civilization. We were the “edge of the desert” where teenagers went to have drinking parties, and an occasional dead body was found. We didn’t have cable TV or Internet service and every time the wind blew, our electricity went out—which also meant we had no water since our well pump requires electricity to run. The nearest grocery store was twenty minutes away, and going to church each Sunday was a half hour drive.

And the one road out of our neighborhood, when flooded, would become impassible.

During those early years we also suffered through what I call “the plagues”.

We had the mouse plague (which recently returned), the scorpion plague—where thankfully no one got stung-- the black cricket plague, the Indian house cricket plague and my most favorite—the plague of the centipedes. During that time, every morning I would awake to centipedes crawling across the floor, or hiding in my shoes. On two occasions they didn’t even wait until morning to pester me, but rather during the night, climbed into my bed!

It was then I wondered why we had willfully moved out to “the prairie”!

But civilization has since come out to meet us. Cable lines run under the ground, a Super Target is only a half mile away, a church building is down the street and monthly pest control has eliminated most of the unwanted creepy crawlers.

And I no longer wonder why we would ever want to live out in the desert. For besides the incredibly beautiful sunrises and sunsets that bless us each day . . .

We have our neighbors

Wonderful, fun, and very good neighbors.

Everyone on our street has lived here at least 10 years, and some as long as 15. Five of us belong to the Mormon Church, and all five were in the same ward (church unit) at one time before moving out to the county. The other two families actively participate in other religions.

But all of our kids have grown up together. In the beginning, there were Friday night “Capture the Flag” games, “secret” clubs, dance parties, and bake sales where we all got to buy back the items we just made. And we have all been the victim of the occasional prank—from the harmless toilet papering to the more destructive time when a garden hose was put inside a car window, the water turned on and left running over night.

Now we mostly celebrate prom dates, weddings and the birth of grandchildren.

We have had up times and down times, achievements and heart breaks. And through it all, we have been bound together by car pools, tragedy, sickness, health, and love.

I love that I can walk over to my neighbor’s home at any time to ask help with anything, and they are always willing to help. Whether it is shoveling 20 tons of rock on a Saturday morning, or help with a sick child in the middle of the night, someone will be there.

Our next door neighbors are particularly close friends. We have lived by each other for 24 years, served in many church callings together and have children who are best friends.

I count as one of my greatest blessings our friendship with Bryan and Connie. We are welcome in their home at any time whether they are there or not. If we go to their house while they are there, they will always feed us (something my kids learned very quickly) and if they aren't there we are still welcome to go in and watch TV (they have cable and we don't so my husband often disappears to their house to watch sports).

There are no walls between our houses and there are no walls between our hearts.

It is an honor to travel through this life with all of my neighbors. For they are definitely people who have brought, and continue to bring great . . . joy to my journey.

A Dream Come True

Since I was a teenager, I have dreamed of visiting a certain area of the United States.

Well, this past week I finally got that opportunity!! We went with some friends, and as usual (when we are with them) had a wonderful time.

Look at the pictures below and see if you can guess where they were taken.

A.

B.

Picture A is of the Boston Temple at dusk. We spent a wonderful evening there doing work for Jenny's (my friend) ancestors.

Picture B is of Rockport, MA on the tip of Cape Ann. We were only there about 20 minutes, but we thoroughly enjoyed strolling around town and sampling the homemade fudge.

Okay, keep reading and see if any of these pictures look familiar.

C.

D.


E.

F.

C, D, E and F were all taken at Acadia Park in Maine. I was so thrilled to be there, especially in the fall!! It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect. The first two pictures give you an idea of the fall foliage. The third picture is of the many lobster boats. The harbor was filled with them! What I didn't understand is why lobster costs as much or more in Maine as it does anywhere else--even though you aren't paying for the shipping fees. Even so, we enjoyed our share of it.

And the last picture is of the light house on Bear Island. We took a boat across the harbor to Cranberry Island and passed this lighthouse on the way. So darling!!

Okay, ready for another picture? How about this one?

G.

And this one. . .


H.

G is actually a picture of the drive going into Joseph Smith's Birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. The drive and the views from there were so beautiful!

H is a very cute touristy town called Woodstock, which was nearby. We loved this town but would have loved it even more if there hadn't been so many tour buses driving by.

Okay, here is the last group of pictures. Can anyone guess where these were taken? I will give you a hint. They were all taken on the same street.


I.

J.

K.

The answer is Deerfield, MA. I had never heard of the town before this trip, but was so glad to discover it!! The town is considered one of the best preserved historical towns in the U.S and dates all the way back to the late 1600's. We loved walking the street and admiring the cuteness of it all!

So that was my trip! It was very fun, very beautiful and filled with gorgeous weather! We returned home this morning at 9:30 a.m., which means I have now been awake for 22 hours straight!

I am off to bed!

My Very First . . . and other stories from Utah

I am finally back from my trip to Utah, where I spent all of last week enjoying the company of my parents, spending time with three of my daughters and my granddaughter, and visiting with good friends.

It was a great week!

Although it didn’t start off so great.

(not the actual officer who pulled me over)

Just after crossing from Arizona into Utah I got pulled over for speeding. Now I know that for many people (family members included) this isn’t a big deal but for me it was HUGE!! I have never been pulled over for speeding before—in my entire life!! Not that I haven’t sped, I just have never been caught doing it. And although I thought it was a little unfair (I was just passing a car and would have slowed down after passing it) and I explained that to the officer, he didn’t care. He wrote me out my very first ticket anyway. So I told him he was going on my blog and he suggested I might want to join his Facebook fan page as well. Ha ha.

But from then on it was a great trip.

First off we went to visit my sister to spend time with her and her cute family. She has one son who just got off a mission and another who left last Wednesday. I was so glad to see them both!! Aren’t they so cute!!

(Can you guess which just got off the mission and which just left?)

The next day we went to visit Kristen’s classroom. She is teaching third grade this year in the Nebo School District. It was so much fun to see her room. And it was even more fun to hear all her stories each day after school during the week. One of my favorites was when some kids brought her flowers after recess. When Kristen asked them where they got the flowers they said “Across the street in someone’s yard.” Kristen joked that her next writing assignment would be to have the kids write apology letters.

We also were able to get Kathryn settled into her new apartment and meet one of her roommates. That was fun but leaving her there was sad for me. I have loved having Kathryn home with me this past summer and I am going to miss her a lot now that she is back at school.

Camille also flew in from Colorado to spend the week with us. I loved having her there as well. I am pretty sure life doesn’t get any better than sitting around the table at night visiting with your children. Although I missed those who weren’t there, I loved being with my three daughters who were. They are all so hilarious when they are together that I can’t stop laughing.

Another highlight of my trip was my mother’s birthday party. Thanks to my sister Terri, we were all able to get together to eat very yummy food and celebrate another year of life. I think my mom looks great--which is pretty amazing considering all she has been through the past two years. (And I would tell you she is turning 75 but she would be mad at me for it. :-)



I also loved visiting with my sisters and going to lunch with my sister Becky (on the left) for her birthday as well. Becky is one of my most favorite people. She is also someone who will never be rich because she is always using her resources to help others. She is truly one of the most creative and generous people I know. I love that she is my sister.

(This was taken at Terri's house, unfortunately Terri isn't in the picture.)

And to top off the week, I got to spend time with my very good friend from high school, Jaye Lynn and her husband Mark. I have known Jaye Lynn since I was 14 and I met Mark (who is the men's track coach at BYU) a year later. I was with Jaye Lynn the first time she met Mark and doubled with them on their first date.

There is something very sweet about spending time with people who have known you almost your entire life. Camille went with me to their house because she also knows them well as she worked as Mark’s secretary in the track office for four years while in college. It was so much fun to reminisce and get updates on mutual friends. I loved every second of being there. Because of my husband’s church calling and situations where we live now, I always feel I have to be constantly on guard. I have to always watch what I say and how I behave.

Consequently there are very few people who I feel really know me. But there in that family room, I didn’t have to be guarded at all. I could just be me.

It was fun. It was liberating. It was wonderful.

And the entire week was definitely one that brought great . . . joy to my journey.

One Fine Day . . .

I had a wonderful day on Tuesday.

I got up and worked on my to-do list until noon when I left to meet my friend Susan for lunch. Susan is my walking partner, but between her summer vacations and mine, we haven't seen each other very much. And after talking for one hour every morning for two years, not visiting for over a month meant we had a lot to catch up on.

So we skipped the exercise and went to Babbo's, a wonderfully delicious Italian restaurant, where I enjoyed chicken limone while we chatted for a very long time.

In the evening Ryan (my son) and Kali (DIL) came over for dinner and swimming. We had such a great time out in the pool. The kids all raced in a variety of swim strokes where Ryan was declared the winner--much to his delight. Wes won the holding-your-breath-while-swimming contest--making it four lengths of the pool before coming up for air. And Kali and I --not being the best of swimmers, but still enjoying the cool water after a very hot day--cheered them all on to victory.

And then Kathryn brought out warm and deliciously, wonderful chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven---that we all ate while still in the pool.

I think I spend most of my life in a rush. I like being like that, actually. I am happiest when I am busy and when I am busy I am in a hurry to get things done. But on Tuesday I didn't rush anything. I didn't hurry home from lunch with Susan, and I didn't skip the pool to work on a project, like I usually do.

I just enjoyed the moments.

And at the end of the day I realized how precious those moments were, as they definitely brought great . . . joy to my journey.

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And since I haven't blogged for a while, I am also posting these pictures below. While Kristen was still home I had some fun taking pictures of the three younger girls.

I am certainly missing having them all home now. But the good news is I will soon be spending time with my oldest daughter, her husband, and best of all--our grand daughter!! I am pretty sure I will be bringing out the camera a time or two for that. :-)