Where did February go?

I can't believe that February is over! It sure seems like time is moving a lot faster than it used to. Candice stayed overnight on Sunday. It was fun to have her home again. We didn't do much, just snuggled on the couch and played tetris but it was fun to have her here.

She always keeps us laughing and brings a lot of joy into our home.

Candice's friend Megan has been on American Idol this past week and it has been really fun to watch her. She has an amazing voice and is really beautiful too. She is really down to earth and funny, and the judges said they could see something special in her. She was chosen to be in the final 36 people. After singing wednesday night, everybody was supposed to vote. We called in quite a few times to vote for her. Then on thursday night they told us how the voting had gone. They had 4 people up there and said that one of them was going to go on. Then they eliminated two of them and it was just Meg and another guy. Well they chose the guy to go on. It was pretty disappointing. They could still chose her for a "wild card" contestant though so were keeping our fingers crossed for that!

So when I was backing out of the garage to go to racquetball, I bashed into K.C.'s car. He had been parking on the road, so I didn't even think of him being there. There is really no excuse for it though. It made his front bumper fall half way off and put a big dent in the side of my car. dang it! Kelley had to come out and rip the bumper the rest of the way off. I felt so bad! K.C. is a sweetie though, he calls me and says "it's really ok mom, the bumper was being held on with rip ties anyway". K.C's car is really having a bad month. It has broken down about 4 times. Could have done without that. Anyway, I have taken large amounts of grief from the family this week for it. Thanks for making me laugh about it. You guys are the best!

K.C.'s bumper relocated to the garage.

Brother Wilcox class was really good this week. He was making a CD for Deseret Book and said we could come listen to the recording. He talked about the way that God sees us. These were some of the things that stood out to me.

God sees the power within us to do good and he places us in positions to do so.

When we see ourselves as God sees us we can rise to His expectations. When we see others as God sees them, we can help them to rise to his expectations.

God sees the polished character

God sees the smallest acts. In the hereafter, we will know how all our little acts effected peoples lives.

God sees we are worthy of his most precious gifts. This is God's way of saying "I need you all" we all need to contribute our gifts. "Hold them up so they can bring beauty and light to others."

God ceases to see negitives of the past.

God does not see with impatient, discouraged or anxious eyes. He hears our cry's..."don't give up on me...I'm trying, don't let me fail."Anyway I always come away from his class uplifted and with a renewed conviction to do better.

We have been having such great weather for february. This was just one of those days you have to get out and do something in the yard. We raked up pods and Lizzy poop.

Then you wouldn't believe what I found. I looked down and saw this patch of yellow and it was a dandilion already blooming! It gave me hope for spring and warm days...even if it was a weed!

I went up to spend a few days with mother this week. We had a real nice visit. I always love the time I can spend with her. She always has stories to tell about when she was younger. Her mind is so clear and she can remember names of friends and family and things that happened more than 60 years ago. She was telling me about milking the cow(named molly) when she was a little girl. She said her dad always liked her to go out to milk the cow with him because she would hold the cow's tail still so it didn't swipe her dad in the head with it. She told me about the horses they had that pulled the cultivator in the garden. She said she would walk along holding the horse while her dad guided the cultivator from behind. She talked about her best friend Margie and how they would meet on the corner there by the post office and walk into town to work at the sewing machine shop. She told me about a man that lived up the street from her that was deaf and dumb. His name was adolf. She would see him walking by house each day as he walked to Logan to get free bread from the bakery there. She said he had been disowned by his sister because she was embarassed of him because he was slightly retarded. Mom said they took meals over to his house quite often because her mother felt so sorry for him. She said that her mother was about the kindest person you would ever know. That must be where my mom got her compassion from. Anyway, she was telling me all these things and I was wishing I had a tape recorder!

Mark put together a CD with all these wonderful pictures of Mom and Dad and their relatives and gave it to the sisters for Christmas. What a treasure!

I was trying to fix mom's hair saturday morning and it was so long, I was having a hard time. We called her hair dresser to see if she could cut it, but she wasn't home. So mom says "why don't you just cut it?" Well I didn't think that was a good idea, but she said it would be fine, so I did it. It actually turned out pretty good. She was happy with it anyway.

Brenda had been in Salt Lake with Mark and Olya friday night and so she picked up Teina on her way home saturday morning. Then Leslie came over and we all went over to the Blue Bird to celebrate my birthday.

We have been kind of waiting for Teina to feel better to get together. She has been sick for about 3 months now. She has acid reflux and the doctor thinks she has depression too. She feels like she is on the verge of throwing up all the time! That is the worst feeling ever! They have tried some different medications, but haven't found anything that will help her. She has lost about 30 pounds cause she just can't eat. I sure hope they can find out what is wrong with her. I feel so bad for her.

We had a fun lunch then went back to mother's and opened birthday presents. It was so nice to all be together. I feel so lucky to have been born into this wonderful family. I love my sisters and my mom!