This morning, as I was tidying up a little before our presidency meeting and was putting the vacuum away, I started looking through the boxes of books and cds Morgan had brought over for the yard sale.  He said for us to go through them first to see if we wanted to keep any of it.  I started looking at this little book called "What would a Holy Woman Do?"  It was  written by Russel M. Nelsons wife.  She told about how she had gone with her husband to the temple re-dedication in Tonga and had noticed that the words "Holiness to the Lord" were not on the temple.  She mentioned it to her husband and they soon corrected the mistake and then rededicated the temple.  She said she thought about what Holiness to the Lord meant and was impressed to do an experiment.  She asked several of her friends to choose one of her normal daily activities and ask "How would a holy woman do this?"  She mentions things from conflicts with  children, gossiping, reading the scriptures, opportunities to help others, and finding patience and controlling her temper.   The book tells about the experiences these different women had as they tried to live their lives in a more holy way.  It was really interesting to see how this simple idea changed their lives.  I decided I would try to do this little experiment too, and even had a chance to try it out this afternoon when I went visiting teaching. 
Denza and I got to L's house and her husband started off by telling us that they were really busy and she didn't have much time to talk. (we had made an appointment and she said this would be a good time to come)  I have the hardest time with this man.  We were like 'ok, we won't keep you then' and got up to leave.  L said for us to sit down and that she could talk for a minute.  So we sat down and Denza started telling her about visiting her mother's grave yesterday. L's daughter came into the room and picked up a folding table and headed downstairs with it.  Right in the middle of Denza's sentence, L starts yelling at her daughter to bring that table back.  E said her older sister had asked her to bring it to her, but L kept arguing with her to put it back.  It was a strange and pointless argument and Denza and I were both just looking at her like 'what is wrong with you?'  It seems like L just provokes her children to start an argument. I felt so bad for the little girl.  I wanted to just leave but then  thought of the challenge...What would a Holy woman do?   Oh boy, I didn't even know what a holy woman would do, but I tried to understand in some way,  why L was like this. (I have seen some sad stuff in this house since I've been visiting teaching there and  I've also seen her try to do better.)  I had the feeling that she had been having a really hard day.  I tried to feel some compassion instead of the contempt I was feeling for her and her husband.  L finally stopped ranting at her daughter and realized that she had cut off Denza.  She apologized and said she was just really tired.  I asked if there was anything we could do to help her and went over and gave her a hug.  As I did, I could tell she needed one as she held on to me and I could feel her sob.  Then I went and gave E a hug too.  She is one of my darling  yw and I just love her to pieces. We left right after that but I think I had felt the power of love overcome the darkness in that house for a few minutes as I tried to do what a holy woman would do.  I'm far far from a holy woman, but I realized today that if I listen for the spirit to teach me and follow through on those teachings, I can do small things that will help me become just a little more holy than I was yesterday. I'm going to keep trying...A lot of times I leave that house with some pretty ugly feelings, but today I felt something different.  I know it was from searching for the answer...what would a holy woman do?

I've really got to try to keep caught up cause my memory isn't getting any better these days, and some pretty cool things happened last week that I hope I can remember.
OK first the funniest thing happened last Wednesday when I was going to racquetball.  I was running late and forgot my phone ( which turned out to be quite tragic)  So I was going down 35th  south and noticed this motorcycle in front of me.  It looked like one of those furby people cause the guy had these big furry ears.  When I got closer, I could see he was in full dog costume.  It was a great costume too...furry body with a big bushy tail and with paws and a full on  German shepherd dog face.  He was wearing a jersey that said Max...K-9.  Anyway I figured he must be a mascot for some team.  He went down redwood road too and we both stopped at the light there where you turn up to the redwood multipurpose center.  Then all the sudden he hops off his motorcycle and puts his kick stand down.  He walks out into the crosswalk and I see this little Japanese lady coming across the road.  He walks up to her and puts out his arm for her to take to help her across the street.  This was the funniest part...this little Japanese lady looks up at him and screams when she sees this big dog! I was dying cause I had left my phone home and I wanted to take a picture of what was happening so bad!!!  He must have said something to her cause then I see her laughing.  She puts her arm through his and they walk to the sidewalk together.  It was so funny and sweet!
Then when I got to racquetball, Ruth had me playing Lanis first.  I had got there late and when I came in heard some of  the ladies talking about coming and playing last Friday in the afternoon.  Lanis said she had learned some new moves.  Ha!  She is a good player....I really enjoy playing her.  She hits the ball really hard.  I have always been able to beat her though...sometimes hitting it hard is to my advantage.
When we went in to play she said "I'm going to do better today"  I was like "ok, cool, bring it on."  Then she proceeded to kick my butt. Apparently she had learned an awesome corner shot from Pat and she used it time after time.  I think I got about 9 points.    Ha!  I was really exhausted when we finished playing.  I was really giving it everything I had.  I like her attitude though... it was kind of like 'The Secret'..."I'm going to do better today... and she did.

We had our combined for Young women that night.  The guys were in charge and and we didn't really know what we were going to be doing.  At BYC the Sunday before they were kind of like deer in the head lights when we asked them what they had planned. Haaa these guys kill me!  ummmm something outside...maybe Frisbee golf or something...just show up at the church at 7.  So when we all got there, they said to go over to the park and we would play ultimate Frisbee.  I didn't know what that was but the kids seemed excited about it.  It was kind of like football but you were throwing a Frisbee instead of a ball.  They picked teams one at a time (which I am not a fan of...had flash backs of elementary school, waiting uncomfortably while teams were picked, then  finally hearing my name being reluctantly called because I was the last one left...)  anyway, I don't know how it is for boys, maybe they don't get their feelings hurt as easy, but I could see some of the girls self esteem plummet. They started the game and had us leaders play too. I spent most of the time trying to keep Elizabeth from getting beaned in the head with the Frisbee.  She was very talkative that night (something about the dentist and her brother missing her sisters concert...I just nod my head  a lot...she seriously is the sweetest girl...I just want to squeeze her. When she is in a big group through, she wants your attention and will just start talking and won't let you leave her.) and was oblivious to the Frisbee flying by her head, so we just walked up and down the field and I listened to her and deflected the Frisbee when it got too close.  When she got tired, we went over to the side and played with Cami's baby.  Cami is going to be great in YW.  She fits in really well with all of us and the girls like her.  I know it was an effort to come that night because Buie is in the YM so they had to bring all their kids to the activity.  I really appreciate her willingness to be involved.
After a while, Jarom and Brad showed up and the game got kind of rough.  Soon after that everyone quit and had cookies and punch...(very impressed they brought treats...I think that was a first!)   It seemed like everyone had a good time though. 

I need to say a few words about Young Women yesterday.  We have been trying to use the girls more in teaching experiences.  A few weeks ago when we were planning the teaching schedule,  we all felt strongly that we should have E teach this lesson on strengthening your testimony.  She has really been struggling lately...not wanting to come to anything and when she is there, she's ornery and distant from everyone.  There have been some other things going on that have caused contention between the girls...I've never seen a ward with so much drama!  And what is sad is that it's an adult that is initiating it.  Anyway, she kind of got caught up in this whole thing and we were pretty worried about her.  It made me sad because I have always thought she was such a great young woman...much more mature than her age and a real leader for the other girls.  When Bonnie asked her to teach the class, we were afraid she would turn her down, but she seemed OK about it. 
When we went into class, she was all set up and ready to go.  We worked on "The Living Christ" for  a little while, then turned the time over to her.  She was well prepared and did an excellent job with the lesson.  She got the girls involved, shared personal experiences and then bore her own testimony about strengthening your testimony. She had  us all repeat the young women theme again, except this time she asked us to say it slowly and think about he words we were saying. It was pretty powerful.  I couldn't get past the first sentence... the tears started there...We are daughters of our Heavenly Father... who loves us and we love Him!  I thought about the countless times when I have needed to feel that love and I have never been disappointed.  The knowledge that He is always there, waiting to hear from me and help me though my life has gotten me through the darkest times in my life.  We talked about the parts of the theme that meant the most to us and it was interesting to hear the girls thoughts.  There are some pretty deep thinkers in our group.  Then E told about how ironic it was that she had been asked to teach this lesson because she had been questioning several things about the church and felt her own testimony wavering.  She said she was grateful she had realized from teaching this lesson where she had problems and what she needed to do to get her testimony back where she wanted to it to be.  She talked about young women and leaders that had helped her through their example. It was pretty sweet because she asked M to bare her testimony, then told her how much she looked up to her.  M doesn't get a lot of that from the other girls...she is an amazingly strong girl who always tries to do whats right, but has not been close to the other girls...I could see that this meant a lot to her.
We were all pretty much in tears as she finished up the lesson.  It was pretty evident how Satan had tried to get a hold of this sweet girl...it seems like he goes for the strongest souls because he knows how much good they can do.  It was even more powerful to see how through some soul searching, study and prayer, she had felt the love of Heavenly Father and overcame the darkness that was creeping into her life.  As I hugged her after class and thanked her for the wonderful lesson, I had a sweet feeling that Heavenly Father was happy with what had just transpired.  This calling can be challenging and I often feel inadequate and unqualified, but I am so grateful to have the blessing of being able to serve my Heavenly Father and these girls right now.

Daddy's desk and words to live by

We told KC he could put grampa's desk down in his room so he could study there...I think daddy would have approved.  But first it had to be put back together.  

When they tried to get it out of his den, there was no way it was going to fit through the doorway.  I'm wondering how he got it in there.  It almost felt like they had built that room around it.  So after much deliberation and inspection of the desk, they decided to take it apart and take it out in pieces.  This about broke my heart cause it seemed like they would never be able to get it put back together again like it was.  I mean it was in quite a few pieces.  They hauled it into the garage then upstairs in the garage a while later, and there it has sat collecting dust.  So when KC said he would like to put it together I was really happy.  I went up there with him and helped him clean up all the pieces.  He vacuumed them off, then I wiped them down, then used some wood restoring oil on them.  That really helped bring it back to life.

 

 

 

 

 

Found a cool old penny

 

 

 

 

 

The back of the desk still had a bunch of little articles and thoughts daddy had saved stuck to it.  I pried them off the best I could so I could keep them.  Sitting there reading them filled my heart with love for my dad.  These messages he thought were important enough to cut out and stick where he could look at them every day are a pretty good description of the way he lived his life.

 

 

Some of these were too beat up to read so I'll type them in...

"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.  what we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly;  'tis dearness only that gives everything it's value.  Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon  it's goods;  and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated. "

Thomas Paine

"Learn from the mistakes of others...you can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself."

"I expect to pass though life but once,  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."  William Penn.  Quaker founder of Pennsylvania.

This one had the first few lines missing, but I liked the rest of it...

"...and if thirst and hunger don't claw at your insides, and your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms can bend, if both eyes can see, and if both ears can hear, then whom should you envy?  and why?  Our envy of others devours us most of all.  Rub your eyes and purify your heart and prize above all else in the world those who love you and who wish you well. After all, this could be your last act."

Alexandre Solzhenitsyn

I think I must have inherited the love I have for collecting quotes and thoughts from daddy. (These are just a few of the thoughts he had...they were hung all over his desk and on the walls of his den.  When we were going through his things, we found a few notebooks he had filled with quotes)

 I have a big binder full of them that I have just kept adding to over the years.  Whenever I see or hear something that speaks to my heart, I'll go write it in my book.  Then when I want to make a new stitchery picture, I can thumb through my book and pick out just the right one. Sometimes I sit and look through my book, just to see these messages that make me want to do better or to just make me feel good.  I've always thought as I collected these words of wisdom, that  I want to try to live my life so that when I die and my kids are going through this book of quotes, they might say of some of them..."I can see mom's life in these words...I've got a lot of work to do.

So at racquetball on Wednesday, Marsha comes in with this coolest water feeder for the chickens!  She had made one for her chickens and made one for us too.  How nice is that?  It's pretty cool.  It's a bucket with holes drilled out of the bottom, then these little water nipples go in the holes.  She taped around them so they don't leak.  You hang it up so the chickens don't step in it or poop in it and get the water all dirty.  I have wanted to have their water off the ground ever since we got them so I think this will be really neat!

Marsha took me home because we wanted to stay and play racquetball a while longer and I had ridden with Stacey.  She wanted to see how our coop worked anyway.  She got some chicks this spring and is going to do laying hens too.  When I talked to her about it, I just couldn't say enough good about them.  I have thoroughly enjoyed having them.

I hope our chickens can figure out the water feeder...if we can change it over to a five gallon bucket, then we wouldn't have to worry about getting water for them when we go out of town.  As it is, we need to fill their water about every other day.  Thanks Marsha! You're the best!

 Yesterday was the nicest day.  We have had some really cold weather this past week, so it sure felt good to have a beautiful warm sunny day!  I have been tending all the little plants I got about a month ago when I went with my sisters to the "Fuchsia day" event that they had at Smiths.  They had small geraniums and fuchsias on sale so I bought a bunch of them.  I've had to cover them several nights to keep them from freezing but they all survived and have grown into pretty nice plants.  

When we got the fuchsias, we also went over to Home Depot and got some of that Barcopa (the little white flowers that are so cute) that were really small too.  Now they have grown nicely too.  I planted one pot and it turned out really cute.  I'm going to plant the baskets on the patio wall with fuchsias too.  They are so pretty! I'll take a picture when I get them done.

Kelley and KC have been working hard on the garden wall.  It's really looking good.  When they went down to reds canyon last time, they got a really huge rock. I can't really imagine how they got it into the trailer.  It was quite a process to unload it.  They backed up the truck to where they wanted the rock to land, then used the dumper to let the rock slide off the trailer.   

KC is getting the spot ready for the rock here...

I worked out in the yard all afternoon.  All the spring bulbs have come and gone so I cut off the ones that the leaves had died off.  Then I pulled a bunch of weeds. It's kind of theraputic to me to dig out in the dirt.  Even digging out dandelions was a pleasure with my nice new gardening tools.  Thanks Candice, I love them!

 I was leaving racquetball on Wednesday when I got a call from Candice.  She was very upset.  She said her cat had died.  They had found it in the closet  that morning and couldn't really figure out why it had died.  She said he sleeps in there all the time, but the way they found him, he was wedged between a box and a fan.  He didn't show any signs of trauma so they were really puzzled.
I felt so bad for Candice though. This was her favorite kitty.  She has had him for 7 years and he was her faithful companion.  He slept on the pillow next to her every night.  He really was a beautiful kitty.  So fluffy with amazing blue eyes. 

Candice, Curtis, Megan and Quinn came over and we buried the poor kitty in the back yard.

 

It was very sweet and tender as they all said why they loved Elton kitty.

I know Candice is hurting...wish I could take it away from her.  It's so hard when you lose a pet.  They are like part of the family.  I guess that's the consequences of loving them so much.  I sure believe in the saying "It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all"  That's what our lives are made up of...experiences of love.  If you don't let yourself love something,  you will miss out on all the joy that comes from it.

I remember when mums kitty "mittens" finally had to be put down.  It had cancer and was in a pretty bad way.  It was really heartbreaking.  Mittens was a very special kitty.  (With an extra thumb!) It was mother's companion for many years and these were years that she really needed that companionship. Most of the time, she was alone so it was comforting to her to have mittens on her lap or stretched out next to her on the couch. Mum's health wasn't that great at this time either, but she always cared for the cat.  She would get it soft food when it started having trouble with it's teeth. Then when it started getting sick, she really babied it.  Made sure it took all his medicine (not an easy task!)  and spent whatever it took on vet bills. (luckily, she had a very sweet veterinarian that would make house calls) 

I think caring for the cat gave mum something to live for. She couldn't get out and work in the garden any more and I know she felt like she wasn't doing anything worthwhile.

So when mittens was gone, mum was really sad.  We tried to get her to take another cat but she very adamantly told us that she couldn't have another pet.  It just hurt too bad when they died.

I know there is a place in heaven for all the sweet animals that have brought us so much joy and love.  I look forward to that reunion.

A few thoughts from the last few days...

 

Kelley and I were able to spend a lovely afternoon at the temple on Saturday.  I love to do sealings.  Brother Larsen always makes it special and makes everyone feel welcome and appreciated.  He had a sweet message for us about the mission of mothers that really touched my heart.

 The tulips were amazing!  That guy is pretty good looking too!

 Mama duck on the canal road with her babies...just sat there in the middle of the road.  I had to get out of the car and herd them off to the side.  They went right back after I drove by.  There must have been something on the road they were eating.  I hope other people will watch out for them.  Those little chicks were just as cute as could be.

 Mother's day is usually pretty close to Kelley's birthday, but this year it fell on the same day. It made it kind of nice to celebrate both of our special days together.  I'm not going to lie, I was feeling kind of blue cause I was missing my mom and the rest of our family so much.  I sit in church and see all the grandma's and moms surrounded by their kids and grand kids and that ugly jealousy starts creeping into my heart. I even  had several well intentioned people say to me..."Oh I bet you miss your grand kids today"  yes. I. do.

But then I look around me and think ...I can't complain about anything!  I have been given a beautiful family!  I have a wonderful, faithful husband, four amazing children, and three beautiful grandchildren!  And we all love each other! 

 I looked around at other women in church and I started thinking about them...There are  many women who come to church alone either because their husband isn't active or their husband has passed away.  There are women who want so much to have children, but sit there with empty arms because they have not been given that blessing in their life.  There are women who don't come to church on Mother's day because it is a painful reminder to them of the loss of their own mother or loss of a child.  There are women like my my own daughter, who have a heart full of love and are so ready to give it to someone, but have not found the man to share it with.  There is nothing she wants more than to be a wife and a mother.

My heart ached for all of these women. My pity party was over and my thoughts turned to compassion and prayers for these women that truly have a reason to feel blue.

We spent a lovely afternoon together with Candice and KC.  They are so thoughtful and really made the day special. 

 I got these sweet cards from Olivia and Sam. Gosh I just love them to pieces!

 Kelley gave me these beautiful hanging baskets...love them!

Candice is so thoughtful...she gave me all my favorites...yummy candle, gardening tools and a good book to read. 

KC wrote me the sweetest note...those mean so much to me!

 Katie and Camille sent us sweet cards and this gift card.  That's what I'm talking bout! yummo!

 Sure feel blessed and humbled to get to be a mom and a grandma. Thats all I've ever really wanted.  Life is good.

Here's a little update on the garden wall...

Kelley and KC unloaded all the rock we brought home from Reds Canyon and that was no easy task.  There were some big ones in there!

 These two have strength that amazes me!

 Last Tuesday they made another trip  down there and got another nice load of rock.  I couldn't go because I was having presidency meeting that afternoon.  I was kind of worried they would run into some bad weather cause the weatherman was saying there was a big storm coming in.  Luckily, the rain held out till they got home, but they said the wind was really howling down there.

The next day, they were pretty anxious to get the rock unloaded because Jamey needed to use the trailer. Every time they would go out to do it though, it would start raining.  At first they kept coming in the house when it was raining, but then they could see it wasn't going to stop, so they just powered through and kept unloading in the rain.

 They worked on the wall all day Thursday and could see that we were going to need more rock, so we went over to American Stone and looked at some they had there.  It looked like it would blend in perfectly with what we had brought from down south, so Kelley bought two pallets.  I think they are planning one more trip to Red's Canyon too.

 I came in to find KC laid out on the floor.  (actually one of his favorite places to nap) He was pretty much exhausted. Come to find out that lifting heavy rocks all day is not that fun. But they are building a really nice looking wall and I think he gets a sense of satisfaction from that, plus he's just a good kid and wants to help out his dad.  (also a good reminder of why he is going to school) 

I've asked Kelley before why he chose to be a brick mason. It's a really hard job and I have to say that through the winter months, it is the job from hell.) Well, at first he just started doing it because his friends hooked him up with the job. I don't think he had intentions of making it a career, but then he stuck with it because he needed the work...we had just got married and he was trying to support our little family.  It was a rough road though...they would have work for a few months, then there would be times when they didn't have any.  He would do any side jobs he could get and that kept us going. The winters were always rough.  Some contractors would tent the job in and keep working through the cold, but most would just shut the job down.    He has worked for many different contractors and over the years...Then there were the years that he was partners with Gail.  (That is a whole other story but I will just say it had it's ups and downs) and  then he started working with Jamey.  They were together for several years, then Kelley kind of went off on his own.   I think through it all though, he has enjoyed creating something beautiful that will be there for a long time.   I love to drive around and look at all the homes, buildings, and walls he has built. ( Our neighborhood alone has a ton of his work in block walls, homes and fireplaces)  He has done some amazing work!   He has also made life long friends with the men he's worked with.  They still stay in touch and talk to each other after all these years. (Tye calls regularly to tell Kelley that he loves him)  Anyway, I am a lucky girl to have such a talented, hard working man for my husband.  He has always provided well for our family and made it possible for me to be a stay at home mom.  I am so grateful for that.

 The pump clogged up in the pond again so Kelley has to get right in there to clean it out...

doesn't he look handsome in his waders!

Ahhhh there it goes...I'll tell you what....That guy can fix anything!