I Got to spend this last weekend with mom. I always love driving into Cache Valley...it's such a pretty place...it looks like something that should be in a painting hanging on the wall.

Even before the springtime turns the mountains green, they are so beautiful. From a distance, the bare trees look like they would feel like a soft brush if you ran your hand along the top of them. (I guess you would have to be a giant or God to do that, but that's what it reminds me of)

It's still pretty cold up there...they must not have gotten the memo that it's the first day of spring! Mom still has quite a bit of snow around her house, mostly just where the sun doesn't shine. Her rock garden is still sleeping. I didn't see any bulbs coming up, but they might be buried under the dead stuff. ( or it could be because it's still 25 degrees up there!) We didn't get the garden cleaned out very well last fall, so there's a lot of work to do.

We had a real nice relaxing few days together. Just a few minutes after I got to her house, her visiting teachers came by. They are really sweet and are good to look in on mom. We visited for a while, then the younger sister gave the message. It was on strengthening our faith through personal scripture study. She told us that her and her husband were preparing to go to the temple and this was one thing her bishop has asked them to do. She said she was having a hard time doing this until she read a certain part of this lesson. They have a little girl and the lesson tells that our children are growing up surrounded by temptations that will urge them to abandon what is right and follow the pleasures of the world, unless they have a firm foundation in the gospel and testimony of the truth. It says that it is our responsibility to teach our children and give them this foundation. It really struck her that she needed to learn herself and gain a testimony of it so she would be able to teach her daughter.

It was a good message and I am glad I was there to hear it!

Mom seemed pretty good most of the time I was there. There were a few times when she was pretty confused...would forget how to do simple tasks, but for the most part, her mind was pretty clear. She is really shaky on her feet though. When she first stands up, her legs start to give out and she has to sit down again. One time as I was helping her to the bathroom, she was just barely moving, and getting more and more bent over till I was afraid she would go right over on her head, she just stopped completely and just stood there. I said "are you ok mom?" she said "I'm just no good anymore" Oh that about broke my heart. I tried to assure her that she was still very good, but her legs were just getting tired. She doesn't get down on herself very often, and can usually laugh about things like that, but this time I could see that she was feeling pretty sad. I went in the east room to wait for her to get done in the bathroom, and saw this book of old songs sitting on the piano. I sat down and started to play some of them and a few minutes later, mom came walking into the room singing the song I was playing. "I love you most of all because you're you!" She sang and I played everything I could find that we knew. It seemed to lift her spirits and her tired legs were forgotten for a while.

I tried to get a little cleaning done around the house. The bathroom carpet is pretty bad again. I wish we had taken it out and put in something easier to clean. I cleaned off mom's dresser in her room and dusted and vacuumed everything. I don't think that had been done for a while.

Her poor house is in pretty bad shape. There's just a lot of little things that need to be repaired... it's missing my dad. He kept the house and yard in perfect repair. I don't think there was anything he couldn't fix. I don't ever remember a repair man coming to our house....he just tried to figure things out for himself and worked at it till he got it done himself. He wasn't one to put things off either. He would always be doing something...it drove him crazy in the winter when he couldn't work outside. When he got older, he even took up latch hook to keep busy.

Anyway, the house needs a man's touch...I'm hoping Kelley will come with me next time and work on a few things.

Mom even sang me a little song about it:

This old house is getting feeble

This old house is getting old

This old house lets in the wind

This old house lets in the cold!

Later that night, Phil came over with his fiance'. Yes I said fiance'! Brenda had told me a few days before that Phil had been dating this girl for a little while, and had talked about marriage, but then her parents were called on a mission and were leaving in May, so they decided to get married before they left. They set the date for May 7.

She is a real cute girl and seems really nice too. I think she will fit right into the family.

Phil is so funny. He reminds me of K.C. the way he is with girls. He said she lives in the same building as he does and he actually was her home teacher. He said he had wanted to date her but was afraid to ask for fear that if it didn't work out he would still have to see her all the time, being her home teacher. I think she set him straight on that!

Mom was really impressed with her (she knew their family because her dad was mom's old stake president) and was real happy for Phil. So was I. He is such a good guy and deserves a real special girl. I think he found her.

We watched lots of Lawrence Welk and went to bed early cause I had to get up early to make it home for church. I got mom her Fosamax as soon as she got up cause she can't eat for a half hour after she takes it. I got her hair done, then asked her what she wanted for breakfast. "Oh I don't need to eat today" What?? "Why don't you need to eat today mom?" "Well what day is it today?" "It's Sunday...don't you eat on Sundays?" "NO, I don't need to eat anything" "It's not fast Sunday mom" "Oh well, ok. I guess I will have to eat then." Oh dear.

She didn't eat very much at all while I was there. I fixed things she said she liked, but she would only pick at them. I know she just doesn't have any appetite at all, so if someone isn't there with her, she doesn't eat.

So I fixed her some toast, an orange and some pero. I had to leave so it's probably still sitting there. It's hard to leave her like that. I'm grateful for the home health ladies that come in to help her out. She has got to where she likes them too and looks forward to their visits, which means so much to all of us girls.

Got home, threw on a dress and made it in time to teach my lesson in Young Women.

It was kind of cool because the lesson was on Patriarchal Blessings and Maggie had just got her's this morning. It was her birthday today too so that made it extra special.