Shower the people you love with love...

So about a week before Kelley's birthday, I heard an advertisement on the radio of James Taylor and Carol King coming to Salt Lake City for a reunion concert. Woo Hooo! That's like a dream come true for me! I thought that would be something Kelley would like too, so I went right out and got some tickets and gave them to him for his birthday...(I know, it's kind of like Homer giving Marge a bowling ball with holes drilled his size in it for her birthday)

I have been a huge Carol King fan since I was about 15! I think I listened to her Tapestry album till it was about worn through. And as far as James Taylor goes, well Kelley got me hooked on him. I remember when we were dating, Kelley had the 8 track ( he he...yup were old) of his greatest hits playing in his old Camero. Then when he got his new Camero, he replaced it with the high tech cassette version. We bought all of his music and have seen him in concert a few times too over the years.

I love the lyrics to a lot of their songs...real meaningful expressions of love, longing, sorrow, friendship, and hope. As a young girl, I would write out the words to some of Carol King's songs and sit and ponder. I'm kind of geeky like that.

They put on a great concert...played for about two and a half hours. I don't know if I loved it so much because they were really good or because it just brought back so many good memories. Probably a little bit of both. James sounded like he always has. (Camille thinks he sounds like Kermit the frog! Ha!) I think his voice is kind of mellow and soothing. Carol King was a little raspy and kind of flat on some of the songs, but still so good. She can really belt it out! "You make me feel like a natural woman!!!'...

She was full of energy and danced around the stage like a teenager. Kelley and I were trying to figure out how old she is and figured it must be close to 70. Amazing!

Looking around at the crowd there, well, they were old.... We were laughing about it cause even though we didn't feel like it, we were probably about the same age! HA!!

We had a great night out together... walked around Gateway for a while, then had dinner there. It was so nice to spend the evening with him.... relax, hold hands, laugh and talk. It seems like it's been a while since we've had a chance to do that.

Just life

I think Kelley summed it up when he said 'I make this look good'

My poor guy...he's been working so hard to get this new emissions store open....

Every day after he finishes his regular job, he heads down to American Fork to work on the building...then usually gets home about 10:00.

I ran down the canal road this morning. Got two more bags of garbage. I ran on Tuesday too...made the mistake of picking up this big piece of cardboard wrapping stuff/ It pretty much filled up one of my bags...then there were lots of half drunk bottles of water, Gatorade, pop...I didn't want to touch them to dump them out so I just put them in my bag. It got real heavy. By the time I got about half way back to my house, my bags were full and I was about dragging them down the road. Then this guy comes driving by in a city truck and stops and tells me that they had just sprayed the weeds on the sides of the road, so to be careful not to touch them. Ha! I had been walking right through them digging out trash! I told him and he said, "well just wash your hands good when you get home, and don't touch your eyes!" I guess it's like Kelley always says...."No good deed goes unpunished"

I was surprised to see how quick the beans came up. The garden is growing really fast right now. I guess planting late didn't really make that much difference. I picked 3 big zucchinis. mmmmmmmm zucchini bread!

Garden is so pretty now...

This rose is at moms. I went up yesterday to do the irrigation. The water turn started at 6:04 am, so I was planning on going up the night before, but we were putting together the chicken enchiladas for girls camp and didn't get done with that till about 8:30, so I decided to wait till morning to head up there.

I got up about 4:30 and got on my way by about 5:00.
I went right up and turned the water in, then followed it down the canal to make sure it got to moms house. I had to open a few gates on the way down and shut it off from the house on the corner...water stealer. Teina said she really had to go the rounds with this lady this last irrigation time. She just turns the water into her back yard when ever it is coming down the ditch. So Teina changed the gates so the water would come to moms. A short time later, she notices the water is barely coming so she walks up there and sure enough, she has changed it back to come to her house. We have asked her to please not do that while we are having our turn. She is like "oh I didn't know you were using it...ok" Then about an hour later, we will notice the water flow has slowed way down again so we walk back up the canal and see that she has turned it back into her yard again. AGGRAVATION! I mean seriously, what is wrong with this woman? This has been going on for years and we have complained to the city many times, but it doesn't seem to do any good. Well after this happened last time, Teina called Providence city and they said they would let the water master know what was going on. I think they must have talked to her because aside from the first time I had to turn it out of her yard when I started, she didn't touch it!

You hear stories about people fighting over water rights and think does that really happen? Well it really does. People are pretty passionate about it too. I know for mom's yard, it takes the whole 9 hours to get the place irrigated, and that is without doing the garden. Daddy had it down to a science though and would get every part of the yard and the big garden covered. The irrigation turn comes any time of the day and night, and I remember many times he would be out there with a flashlight in the middle of the night, hauling pipes around.

I found a few old (and pretty fuzzy) pictures of the cousins playing in the water ...sweet!

Sure do miss my dad. Walking around the yard, waiting for the water to move gives you a lot of time to think. Different memories of him would surface in each area of the yard.

The back yard used to have a great orchard there with all different kinds of fruit trees. ...Macintosh, Yellow delicious, Jonathan...there was a plum, tree too. I liked the Jonathan best cause they were so tart. We liked to climb the Macintosh tree and would get clear to the top of it. The grass would grow tall under the trees and we would flatten it down in spots and make houses with little pathways that led to each others spot.

Kate, Brad, Julie and Brian

Daddy built the coolest tree house ever in one of the trees in the back yard. I was pretty little when a storm broke the tree and the tree house came down. After that, it was our play house there in the back yard...so many hours of playing dolls and house, with the cute little cupboard that held our little cups and dishes, and picnics on the little table and chairs.... Now mom keeps some gardening things and her canning supplies in it.
There used to be a fence between the orchard and the back yard. I remember it had sweet pea vines growing up it. On warm summer days, daddy would get out the pool and set up the slippery slide against the fence so we could slide right into the water. So much fun! It was great to be able to watch my own kids have fun doing the same thing when we would go to visit grandma and grampa.
Another thing I remember in the back yard was the monkey bars. It was actually a goal post kind of a thing that held the clothes line, but it gave me and my friend Leslie LaPray hours of fun! We learned lots of gymnastic kind of tricks we could do on them and would put on shows for anyone who would watch.

Candice and Denise

I don't ever remember being bored at home...there was always something to do. Daddy made the coolest swing for us down by the garage. He hung a big fat rope up in one of the tallest trees so we could really have a fun swing! We would climb up on top of daddy's truck and jump off and go sailing clear out over the road. What a thrill!

The drive way holds a lot of memories for me too. From riding the big blue tricycle, to roller skating, to hop scotch, to just sprawling out on the warm cement in our swim suits after playing in the irrigation water. The big maple tree that hung over the driveway supplied the twirly green seed pods that we would open up and stick on our noses.

The lawn down by the flag pole brings back memories of daddy putting up the flag in the morning and taking it down at night. I used to love to walk out there with him in the evening and help him fold the flag. He had the utmost respect and reverence for the flag and taught me the same.

In the east corner of the lot, there is a little sidewalk that goes up through the big pine trees. It goes to a gate that leads out to the road. I walked up through there every day on my way to school or to my friend Donnette's house. It was a cute little pathway in the day...hydrangeas blooming on the sides, but at night, it was really creepy. The trees hung way over and made it dark and scary. I would see the front porch light from the gate and would run as fast as I could go to the front door....just knowing there was something chasing me all the way!

We used to play kick the can and other night games out on the north lawn by the old house. All the neighbor kids would show up just after dark on those warm summer nights. Those were fun times! Then in the winter, daddy used to flood that lawn with water and it would freeze over for an ice skating pond. Bumpy but so fun!

The north lawn was where Bruce's band used to set up and practice too. I thought it was pretty cool to listen to them...especially Bruce cause he was the drummer. He would sit me up on his stool and hand me the drum sticks and let me play them sometimes. I liked to hit the pedal that banged the big drum in the middle.

When we wanted to throw out a blanket and lay on the lawn, we would go up east of the gazebo. There was always a shady spot and you were right in the middle of all the flower beds. They were immaculate too. Mum and daddy put so much time and effort into planning and planting and tending their flowers. They won many awards for their beautiful yard and it was a real source of joy to them to keep it looking so like that. We used to get bored of all the home movies they would take of their flowers, but now I get it.

Boy, I am really rambling...haven't even got into my visit with mom. She was having a pretty rough day when I was there. I was out irrigating for a few hours, and would come in and check on her , but she was still sound asleep, so I just let her sleep. About nine, I checked in on her and she stirred around a little bit so I went in and sat on her bed. She woke up and seemed kind of disoriented. She had a real hard time getting up out of bed. Her legs were just so weak and shaky. I finally got her down to the bathroom and she just seemed exhausted....which was bad because then I had to get her into the shower. I hated to have to put her through it, but she had to get cleaned up. It was hard to see her like this. She just seemed sad to have to have me help her like that. I assured her that I didn't mind at all and was glad to be there with her. When we were walking back into the east room, her legs gave out and she went right down. I was standing right next to her holding one arm, but it didn't do any good. Her legs just buckled. She said sometimes that happens, and she has to crawl to the couch. WHAT???

I picked her up and put her on the chair in the kitchen. She sat there for most of the day. This is not working...somethings' got to change. I asked her again if she would come stay with me. Oh how I wish she would. She says she can't do it...who would take care of her house? Oh dear.

I finished the irrigation about 4:00 and came in and did some things around her house....laundry, making her bed up again, garbage, dishes, tidying up. After we ate a little dinner, I got on my way home. Pretty tough to leave her like this, but I knew the home health lady would be by to help her get to bed. I'm sure grateful for what they do for her. Reading over their notes, I can see that she is not easy and they really do a lot for her. They can only keep it up as long as she is mobile though, and she is getting to where she really needs someone on both sides of her to hold her up. I wish so much I was closer so I could do more...

please work ...please work

I realize that every other 50 year old woman goes through this, but I if you could bear with me for a minute, I'm going to tell you how I feel about menopause.

It stinks.

I started having symptoms about eight or nine months ago where I would wake up in the night just totally drenched with sweat. Kelley would reach over and touch me and be like eewwwwww. It didn't happen very often, mostly just before my period.

My emotions were pretty much out of control around this same time too. Things that normally wouldn't even bother me, would have me in tears or in a rage. And sacrament meeting...well I'm sure all the people that sit around me think I am a total basket case. (mostly every song, even instrumentals, watching the boys pass the sacrament, and many of the talks would bring me to tears.) I couldn't get through a YW lesson without at least one melt down.

I would lay awake at night working myself into a tizzy over things I have no control over, then feel like crap the next day because I didn't sleep all night.

Well over the past several months, this has increased about 150 percent. And to add to the fun, now I am having full blown hot flashes during the day!

I rememeber when I worked at the flower shop, Karen was going through this same thing. She would break out in a sweat and grab for anything around to fan herself with. I would think..."man she must be old...that will never happen to me!"

The hot flashes started out really random...maybe like one every few days, but slowly increased to now where I am having one about every hour...day and night!

I broke out in a pretty good one at the temple yesterday while we were doing sealings. As the sweat started collecting on my chin , I looked around, hoping no one would notice my bright red face and thought "ok most of these ladies are older than me and must have gone through this same thing.... they are still alive and seem quite pleasant and content, so I guess I can get through it too."

Had a pretty rough night last night. I would wake up every hour...pretty much on the hour,...look over at the clock, sigh, sit up and cool myself off in the fan, then flop back down and try to go back to sleep...Many thanks to my dear husband who set up two fans in the bedroom to try to make me comfortable. This is really a big adjustment for me....normally I would be huddled under at least two blankets and the sheet with my woolie jammies on, snuggling up to Kelley, putting my ice cold feet on him to warm them up. That is a thing of the past...now I am all sprawled out on the bare bed, (sheet only) in just my undies. Don't touch me... I'm hot!!!!!!!!!!
About a month ago, I heard on the radio about this magical pill that is supposed to relieve the symptoms of menopause...I thought it was probably just another scam, but decided to check it out online. It sounded pretty good but was quite expensive. Kelley had heard the ad on the radio too and when I told him I had looked into it, he was all about it. "I don't care what it costs...just send for it!!" Wow- these are the words of a desperate husband.

I have been taking it for 3 days now, and can't tell any difference yet. They said I should see some improvment in about a week....I'll keep you posted...until then, please stand by with fans. thank you.

Looky what we found!

Candice has been looking for a table to put her sewing machine on (second hand of course) and wondered if I would like to join her for some DI shopping on her lunch hour. I love the DI! You just never know what treasures you will find there. Candice scored this time! Cute embroidery picture of a cat in a rocking chair, picnic basket, plaque of husband and wives responsibilities (very funny with ideas from early 1900's) and a cute table! It needs to be repainted but is well built and will work perfect for a sewing table. There are also some really interesting people at the DI. Some super friendly and nice...others not so much. As I was going out to my car to pull around to the back to pick up the table, there was a man standing there next to a fancy motorcycle. All the sudden he goes into this rampage yelling "What is wrong with people? Why would you leave a shopping cart right here!" (this is minus about 6 f words that he inserted randomly)

Then he picks up the shopping cart...yes it was a full size shopping cart, holds it up over his head and throws it up onto the sidewalk.I was just standing there with my mouth hanging open staring at him. Then I pretty much ran to my car...glad it wasn't my shopping cart, I may not be here to tell the tale.

I finished this dress I've been working on for about a week. I was kind of proud cause it was a real doozer of a pattern and it turned out pretty cute. I think what I liked about it most was the fact that after looking and looking for some fabric, I found this piece on Walmart's dollar table. 4 bucks! (The interfacing and buttons cost more than the fabric!)Stacey called me the other night and told me I could pick her raspberries if I wanted some... she was not going to be able to get to them. She's so thoughtful like that. My heart sure goes out to her. She is trying to take care of her dad, who is in such bad shape and in so much pain that their whole family is just praying that he will be able to die. Her mother has Alzheimer's and doesn't even know her anymore. Really a hard time for her. The dedication, service and love she gives to them every day is remarkable....and she still finds time to be a wonderful friend.

They had corn at Walmart for 10 cents an ear so I bought a whole bunch, blanched it, cut it off the cobs and froze it. Yum! (one chunk in the freezer bag, one for my mouth...)

When I've been running down the canal road lately, I've been really disgusted looking at all the garbage on the side of the road...so today I decided to do something about it.

I put on some gloves and got some garbage bags and headed down the road. Now that I was looking for it, I was really really disgusted! There was so much garbage! I had a bag filled before I even got half way down to the end of the road.

Seriously! Come on people!

I about fell in the canal trying to reach some of this junk, so I got what I could and decided I would come back with a rake tomorrow to get the rest.
I found a set a keys that looked kind of important down from Heugly's house. I tried to take them to their house, but their big dogs were growling and barking and started coming at me. I could see that going really bad...so I just backed away from their house...nice doggy? I'll have to call them to see if they are missing some keys.

Chris and Stacie came riding by on their bikes and Chris told me I was a good citizen for picking up the garbage. Ha! I don't think that so much...more of a selfish gesture on my part...it's just like when I go to bake and the kitchen is messy, well I have to clean it up before I can enjoy baking....or when I want to sew and my sewing room is messy and disorganized, I gotta clean it before I can sew. I can't even stand to sit in a messy room and watch tv ...don't get me wrong, I am far from a clean freak, but I just can't feel comfortable or relax till I've tidied up the place a little bit.

Anyway, now I can run, or walk down the lovely canal road and enjoy the beauty that is there, and not be annoyed by the garbage on the side of the road.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.....

I was out picking more raspberries and these thoughts filled my head;

Our Sunday school lesson was from the book of Psalms and this was the title. Josh told a story about how his little boy had seen a picture of the resurrected Jesus up in the air surrounded by angels. His little two year old said "Wow! Jesus can fly!"

He said this comment really described the lesson as his son recognizes just how cool Jesus is and praises him!

I think sometimes we take for granted or just fail to recognize just how cool Jesus is. Everything that surrounds us and our very own selves, are created by His hand.

Our world is so amazing! Isn't it just an evidence of His great love for us as you look around and see the beauty and wonder of His world.

It never ceases to amaze me when I see how perfectly everything works! From watching the blossoms in the garden grow into a yummy yellow squash, to the miracle of the conception and birth of a new baby. Everything about it is so complicated and intricate....I mean when you think about it...it's just a miracle that it works out right!
Our own bodies are so amazing! I was thinking as I ran this morning how great it is that we sweat to cool us down...He really thought of everything! And the power in our bodies to heal is nothing less than miraculous! I could really go on and on and on! And to those who say they believe that all of this came about by chance...really???? are you kiddiing me?

Anyway, I give ALL PRAISE and thanks to HIM and hope to never be found ungrateful for all He has given me.

Here's your cute little eggplant Candice! When we were out there looking at it on Sunday I didn't even notice it had a little eggplant on it!

I'm grateful for her... she called me yesterday ..."Grandma I love my elephant and my flamingo! and Toy Story crayons! You're the best grandma...I love you! "
Another evidence of God's love for us...that he has given us family to love us and to be loved.
Those are the true necessities of life.

A few more pictures from Camille and Katie.....so glad Camille could be with her...really tough weekend for Katie. Wish so much that things were different for her...I guess it all comes down to free agency and choices people make. Nothing you can do about it....just gotta keep having faith that her day will come. Can't really put into words how my heart aches for her.
If that face doesn't cheer you up, what will?Had a real nice Sunday. Good fast meeting. Karen Terry told about how she had gotten a call from her daughter, telling her that her two year old daughter had drowned in the neighbor's pool. After much resuscitation efforts, they had gotten her heart beating again. She was unconscious when they rushed her to the hospital. After many prayers, blessings, and putting her name on the prayer roll at the temple, she regained consciousness...perfectly fine.
Paul N. bore his testimony too. He's just a really good kid. It looked like he had already taken on the mantle of a missionary while he was standing up there. When he came down and Martha was giving him a hug, I was taken back a year ago, to the Sunday before K.C. left on his mission. K.C. and I were sitting there in Sacrament meeting, ( he was still , with his dads encouragement, trying to kick my shoe off) we were both thinking about that being the last time we would be sitting together like that for about two years. I can still remember the special feelings we shared that day as he would look over at me and I would smile at him, but then start to tear up. He put his arm around me and I could see he had some tears too.
I can't believe a whole year has passed since then. It's so great to see what the Lord is making of my son. Gina told me that Chris is already a different young man than the one who left a month ago. Pretty cool what a mission can do for a person...for those who they give the knowledge and blessings of the gospel to, and even as much for growth and change in their selves.
Anyway, I do ramble.
I was teaching YW today and was so glad when walked in and saw Candice sitting there. Kelley came into my class too. I really appreciated the comments they made....pretty much made my lesson. I especially liked something Candice said about being true to yourself. My lesson was on Honesty and that comment took it to a whole different level....to what really matters! I'm so glad she was there...and would share that with the class.
What would I do without my sweet family? Love them so much!


Came home from church and dug out the old box of VHS movies I had recorded when the kids were little. There are some classics...Robin Hood (the cartoon) Bedknobs and Broomsticks, 1001 Rabbit Tales, The Sword in the Stone... wow all the words and the songs come right back to you! We had fun reminiscing and laughing with them.
It was nice to be able to pick some fresh herbs from the garden to make a yummy pasta salad for dinner. The garden is growing like crazy... got a whole bowl of raspberries too.

When I was looking for some things on Honesty for my lesson, I came across this Sacrament meeting program from 1987! That was when they just formed our new ward and I was the primary president. Wow that feels like a life time ago. It was fun to look back at the kids that were on the program and the leaders who were in the ward then too. So much has changed since then, but I still have great love for those ladies I served with. I think that's just an extra blessing you get as you serve....a love and a bond with those people that will never leave you.

I Can't believe it's Saturday again...where did the week go? Ok....a few things from this past week...

First and most importantly; Camille found out she is having a boy! Olivia called me and proudly announced that she is gonna have a brother! ..."I'm getting him a Buzz light year toy...Oh I think Buzz wants to get out of the box right now so he can play with Jesse!"

Only downfall...she can't name him Myra. I have felt all along that this was going to be a boy...Camille's pregnancy has been different, she's been much sicker and that's how I was with K.C. .

At first I thought I wanted Olivia to have a sister to grow up with but then I decided that this is the perfect situation because now we won't have to compare Olivia's adorableness to another girl. How could you??? Their little guy will have his own cute boy look... no competition...problem solved...the end. Also when I think of how great the relationship between K.C. and his sisters is...I can see Olivia being like that with her brother too.

I never really had a close relationship with my brother....He was quite a bit older than me. What I remember most of him was him throwing me up in the air, pulling me around on a sled, practicing with his band over in the old house, having to duck his head so he wouldn't hit it on the light in the living room, fighting with mom and making her cry, having me over to his apartment (didn't like it cause it smelled like smoke) to babysit his little boy.

I can remember the night the police came to the house and told my parents that he had been killed in a plane crash like it was yesterday. Still remember just how it felt. So empty and sad...just like the casket. Nothing to put in it...the force of the impact obliterated everything. Mom put a favorite picture of him on top of the casket. Now that picture sits in daddy's den on top of his desk. Always a bleak reminder when you go in that room.

Anyway, I think of him often and wonder what his life would have been if it had not been taken from him so young. My parents grieved terribly over him...as much for his loss of life as the condition of his soul when it left his body. He was not living the way he should have been and this was always a hard thing for them to accept. We didn't talk much about him...always stirs up a heart ache when we do. Hopefully we will be able to build a better relationship in the next life.

On to some happier news... I finally got my teeth! After about 9 months of a lot of anxiety, pain, and numbness...I have my teeth. Now we will have about ten years of paying for them!

It was a little bit awkward when I went in to get them put in because I had just let the receptionist have it a couple days before. She called me to tell me that we needed to pay another 3000 dollars for the crowns they were going to put on when I came in. WHAT???? She said

" Oh we thought you knew that the implant is a totally different charge than the crowns. How would you like to pay for that?" Well lets see, I'll have to make arrangements to sell one of my kidneys first...would that be allright? Seriously I was so mad I just went off on her. I told her about how awful the whole experience had been...starting off with having the endidondist do all this horrific work on that area, only to have Dr. L. tell me that the tooth in that area was broken and couldn't be repaired...and that tooth was hooked to a bridge, so we just had to replace everything! Then when I went in and had him put the implant in...my mouth and jaw became totally numb because he hit a nerve. "Oh it will go away after a while...just be patient." So I waited and waited and waited. It didn't get any less numb. So I called him and he said to come in and have the implant removed. That didn't feel very good, and it still was numb. He said it would surly get the feeling back soon now. Well after about a week, it started to get feeling in it, and has gotten better since. Still not quite right though, kind of tingly.

Well after I got the feeling back, he wanted me to come in and have the implant replaced. I was really nervous to do it, but at this point, I have no teeth so what do you do?

He was reeeeeeely careful this time...kept checking the xray so he didn't get close to that nerve again. Anyway, then there is the waiting time, where the implant is supposed to grow to the bone. That was a long 3 months. Gosh I'm glad it wasn't my front teeth...what do they do with that?

( I apologized to the receptionist when I went in there...not her fault!) He put the new crowns on the implants (Not as easy as it sounds, had to laser off my gums cause they had grown over the implants...not pleasant) and I am now the proud owner of a full set of choppers. Candice and I went to see the new "Eclipse" movie on Tuesday. Jenny was telling me about how her sister in law rents out a whole theater for the premier. She asked me if I would like to go and I said "YES!" She said she could get some tickets for Candice and I.

It was a lot of fun! The movie was better than the first two...different director, better special effects, and better acting.Candice and I decided we would go to the farmers market this morning. I got some hyacinths for the pond, a purple pepper and some yummy cherries.

Some new entertainment...this guy and his didgery doo
This cutest little boy playing the violin with his mom

more huge dogs

This girl was selling chickens and chicken coops...I still want some...as soon as Kelley has time to build a coop!

After the farmers market, we hit up a few garage sales. I found an antique cake taker for Candice. It was pretty awesome. I have owed her one for about a year now. Debt is paid.

These are pictures Katie and Camille sent me from their trip to visit California. I can hardly stand not being there with them...but I'm glad they could get away and spend this time with Kate. I tried to get a plane ticket, but they were just too much on a holiday weekend. So I will just have to enjoy the pictures and look forward to when we can all be sitting there on the beach together.

Candice called me yesterday about noon and said she didn't feel very good (she's been having kidney stone pain for about a week) and was going to come over and let me take care of her. I was going to get her comfortable on the couch or in my bed, but she said she wanted to just lay on the floor by me in my sewing room while I sewed. (She said she liked the hummmm of the sewing machine) Within about 10 minutes, she was sound asleep.

When she woke up (2 hours later) she said she would like it if I helped her relearn how to play the piano. WHATT??? Is this the same girl that used to cry, scream, slam doors and sometimes hide when I told her to practice the piano? I guess the difference is that now she wants to learn .

I used to give my mom fits about practicing the piano too and would do about anything to get out of it. She was not going to let me quit though and patiently put up with all my whining.

Mom would take me out to Wellsville for my lessons every week with Mrs. Poppilton. She was the wife of one of the guys daddy hauled milk for. She was strict, ( I remember her smacking my hand with a ruler when she got really exasperated with me) but I liked her. I can still remember what her house smelled like.( combination of roses and milk)

Then when I was older, I started taking lessons from a lady who lived up on the bench. She had an enormous house with a beautiful grand piano. I loved to play on that piano... the sound that came out of it was very different from Mrs. Poppilton's old upright....It was louder and deeper and when you opened up the top...it was clear and beautiful! My teacher(can't remember her name right now! dang!) was super perfectionist and expected none less from me. I think that was when I really started to practice. By this point though, I had developed a love for it and actually enjoyed practicing! I would memorize pieces and play them over and over till my mom probably wanted to beg me to stop! I would learn duets with my sisters ... we had a lot of fun playing together. I love to be able to sit and play beautiful church music...It has always calmed me and is a wonderful way for me to feel the spirit. It has been a blessing in my life and I could never thank my mother enough for having the patience and foresight to help me stick it out.

All of the kids had piano lessons...Katie and Camille started with this lady over in west valley named Marilyn. She was an excellent teacher and made their lessons fun. (She would play games, have treats and have group theory classes with her other students. They both did really well and learned a lot from her.

When Candice seemed old enough to start lessons, I lined her up with Manuel. (Super talented pianist friend (relation through marriage of Mendenhalls son). I'm not sure what the problem was....he was a very good teacher...very soft spoken and kind, but Candice was not having it! When it was time to practice, she would fight it with everything she had. There was no bribing, threatening, coaxing or pleading that would get her to do it. It would usually end up in a screaming match and we'd both cry. She just didn't want to do it. So after several months of this torture, I gave up the fight and conceded ...."You win Candice...but someday you will wish you could play the piano...." and this was the day! I dug out all the old piano books...John Thompson...Schaum... Finger Power. I've got a whole stack of them...all well worn and marked up with notes from several different teachers. Some of the books were one's I used when I was learning to play the piano.
We started from square one, or middle C and went over the notes, hand position, timing, rests, and sharps and flats...all the basics. She remembered a lot and really learned fast. Before long she was playing Oscar the octopus and Gooseberry Goose!

It was fun to hear those old tunes again and sing along with the silly words. I guess those stay with you forever. We spent a lovely afternoon learning, laughing, playing and singing. It made my heart happy to be able to see her want this. It's such a big part of my life. It's like when you have something that you love and means a lot to you...you want other people to have it too so they can feel the same joy from it that you do! I hope she will keep it up...we have scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday after her work for lessons.

One of my favorites...'He could jump and he could crow...flap his wings and tap his toe!'

The latest from K.C...

I went for a run this morning (sans Lizzy) and used K.C.'s ipod. Listening to the music he loves (he has some great classical music on there...Beethoven, Mozart...made me feel closer to him because I love it too. Miss listening to him playing the piano. I hope he gets some opportunities to play while he is on his mission.
His latest emails have been really sweet and make me want to try to do better. Sure do love my boy.

Hey Mom,
It sounds like you had a really good week, man that story about grandma was soooo good, I took a picture of it and I am going to go home and translate it and use it in a lesson some time. She is really a special person, when I think of someone who deserves the Celestial kingdom; she totally fits all the requirements. I hope I’m as great as her some day. I will write her a letter next p-day, we went to the mission presidents home today to hang out with the Cranneys because they are leaving on the 1st of July. They live in a place called Rosinka, it means dew drop, but it is like a Little America. When you walk down the streets you really feel like you are in America, lawns, trampolines, bbq's, people who say good morning. It’s a way cool place, so we went there and played tennis, it was way fun. I am really going to miss them, they have really influenced my whole life, and they are such great people. When I was with sister Cranney, I kinda felt like I was with you, I felt peaceful, calm and like everything will be ok. But im sure the new president and wife will be really great too. I was wondering, could you call Hatsumi and get the addresses of all my friends on missions? I just want to send a letter to each of them at least once while we are out. I would be really grateful if you did that, then you could just send it in an email, maybe you could even go to Hatsumi's house to talk to her about it, that would be fun. So, I had a pretty good experience a couple days ago, we were coming home at about 8:30 and we were about 10 minutes from home, and I thought, maybe we should go home yet, but then the natural man says "you’re tired, it was a long day." but then I still thought that we should stay out a little longer, so I said to my comp something like: lets just walk through the park, maybe there will be some one there. So we did and when we walked past this car repair place on the way to the park a guy who worked there, probably looking at the little bag of Book of Mormons we were carrying, said " what are you selling?" and we said "what we have is free" , and he said "people dont give stuff out for free" and so we told him about the BoM a little and he gave us his number and wanted to meet and said he would read it, so we'll see. But it was interesting how the spirit worked. It is so easy to dismiss those little promptings, but sometimes the really pay off to listen to. I love you Mom, KC
ps.I hope you have a great week, I still haven’t got that birthday package you sent, you may want to check on that.

Hey, you’re welcome for all the kind words, they are the truth, I love you. That’s way funny that you have the key locking habit now, it’s a really tough one to kick...actually I never kicked it, I just got a hide a key. After I got the Hide a key, I probably still did it about 3 or 4 times at least. At least I always had my phone thought. Do you and Mom read the scriptures together? If not you should, I love studying with companions, and you have the best companion ever. You can only learn so much from reading the scriptures from your point of view, but when you do it together it kinda sheds a new light. We have been reading a bunch from the Book of Mormon with that investigator who told us he got an answer to his prayer, because he lives with a whole bunch of other guys in an apartment and they all smoke and drink and smoke pot, and he doesn’t do any of that. So he doesn’t really have a place to pray and read, so we are trying to help him with that. He is a way cool kid, he is 18 and is going to America in a few days, so we will miss him, but he is going to either be baptized there or when he comes back here on September 25, to maybe you could pray for him that he will stay faithful while he is in America, his name is Dima. I love you Dad
Elder Jensen
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:57:50 +0400
Subject: Reeba
From: kelley.jensen@myldsmail.net
To: jkj51156@hotmail.com


That means fish in Russian, thought maybe you'd want to know. Man, a nice cool day on the lake sounds awesome; it has been way hot here lately. Way humid is more like it. I usually am not a sweaty guy buy I am currently dripping sweat from my nose. We had an opportunity to go on a split with President Cranneys sons this week, and while my comp was with one of them they stopped by an investigator and he asked them to give him a blessing because his feet had swollen up for some reason and they hurt way bad, and so they blessed him that he would be able to get back to work. And then the next day they saw him up and around, I think he was even going to work. Its really incredible how the priesthood really works, I’m so thankful that you taught me to honor my priesthood and how to use it correctly. How is the building out there going? Is it almost ready to open up? Sounds like your working way hard on it. My apartment isn’t too bad, you walk into a hall way and straight a head is the big room and on the left is the kitchen. We actually just got our hot water back on a couple days ago, we had to take cold showers for about 2 weeks. So that gave me a new appreciation for hot water. I love you Dad, don’t work to hard or let anyone drop bricks on your head while your working...or even after.
Elder Jensen

Hey Mom,
Thanks for being so great, I hope you know that I think about you often and think about the things that you have taught me. They help me a lot. Yesterday one member called us and invited us to his house out in the country, it’s called a dacha, so we went today and it was incredible, It was like a little vacation. He has such a strong testimony.