Springtime at my House

When I think of spring flowers I always picture colorful tulips or bright yellow daffodils poking their heads up through the damp, frigid soil, often sporting a soft coating of snow on their welcome green leaves. Ah, spring flowers bring with them a promise of new birth after a cold, dark winter. Just looking at them reminds me of Easter and the Resurrection of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

However, I haven't had much luck getting bulbs to blossom at my house and so I am usually lacking tulips and daffodils at this time of the year. I do love it when I can find affordable bouquets of these flowers to bring home and add a little springtime cheer to my home.

A couple of days ago I bought some beautiful tulips and put them in a vase on my piano next to my statue of Christ in the Garden and in front of my Living Christ frame. It felt like spring!

And they sat there for about 1 minute before Sparrow, the curious one, had to come and check them out. He thought they smelled pretty good

And head-butted even better.


And he had to make sure that he could still take his short cut across the piano to the table.

I could envision what was going to happen next, so the tulips got moved to the dresser in the entryway, where they still make me think of spring.

Springtime flowers in Arizona are a little more showy than these standard blooms. Our flowers go all out to blossom and grow and truly welcome spring with a grand hurrah. This is perfect flower growing weather for us and the place they grow the best, in my opinion, is at the Mesa Arizona temple.

They are so beautiful and they smell so wonderful.

A truly impressive sight.

I am learning to think of these as springtime flowers as well. While tulips and daffodils offer the quiet promise of new life, our flowers shout it from the gardens with uncontained joy.

Christ Has Risen! He Lives Again!

And I sat and enjoyed them for a few minutes today


because next week they will probably disappear.

It's time to plant the less showy, but equally beautiful, Arizona summer flowers.

Didn't spring just arrive?

Today I am thankful

that I didn't wait and go to the 2:00 session at the temple - it closed early today because of the Easter Pageant and I would have been sad.
for beautiful flowers.
for this Easter season and all that it represents.

General Conference

I just want to tell each one of you

who tuned into General Conference today

hoping to receive answers to your questions and concerns

that I am sorry.

Apparently, Heavenly Father inspired all of the speakers

to focus on my list today.

However, you can tune in again tomorrow.

Perhaps those will be your sessions.

I sincerely believe that what was shared today

by prophets and apostles of God

was intended to humble, teach, strengthen and uplift me personally.

I hope those of you who listened

to any or all of Conference today

feel the same way.

Isn't it wonderful?!!

Today I am thankful for

a son that cares if his shirt needs ironed or not and irons it himself if it does.

my crockpot.

spiritual food.

Missing Her

Two years ago today my mom passed away.

I am usually OK with her being gone.

Since we didn't live close to each other for the last 20 years of her life, at first I could just pretend that she was in Utah and I was in Arizona and think I would call her in a few days.

It made things easier.

However, for some reason, the past few days I have really been missing her.

When we came home from our Spring Break trip to San Diego I started thinking, "Last time we went to San Diego for Spring Break we came home and went to Utah for a funeral." The 2 trips are kind of connected in my mind. Just like the Spring Break Disneyland trip and my dad's funeral immediately after.

Perhaps I should do away with Spring Break trips to California.

Anyway, since we got home, my thoughts have kind of frequently drifted to my mom and the fact that she is definitely gone.

It's been long enough.

It's very real.

No more pretending she's sitting at her computer reading this blog post.

On Tuesday night we had Relief Society Temple night. We usually have it on the last Tuesday of the month but this month it got kicked up a week because next week our Stake has family week to prepare for General Conference and we are supposed to be home with our families.

It turned out to be a good thing because a sister who recently moved out of our ward went through the temple for her own endowments that evening and we could be there to support her.

It was a nice, but VERY FULL session.

During the session, I was looking down at my apron and thinking about my mom, who made it for me. There is a tiny spot on the embroidery floss in one place that I am pretty sure is her blood. She probably pricked her finger while she was stitching away. I look at it sometimes and I'm reminded of all the sacrifices that my mom made for me.

There are a lot of them to think about.

For some reason though this night, as my fingers traced that drop of blood, I was just filled with an overwhelming sense of loss.

I missed my mom so much.

I'm sure the friends seated on both sides of me wondered why I suddenly began to quietly cry.

I was anxious to reach the peace of the celestial room where I could sit and think and feel the closeness to my parents that I frequently feel there. The veil there seems thinner and eternity and the opportunity to see my mom and dad again seems closer.

However, once I entered the celestial room it was a place of joy and excitement and congratulations and it was wonderful, but not peaceful. Way too many people sharing their thoughts and feelings. I gathered with friends and then it was time to leave and I was the designated driver so I never got the opportunity to just sit and decompress and think and feel and be filled.

I need to go back and just sit and be still.

I know it will help.

I know I will see my loved ones again.

I know this is not the end.

I also know that sometimes it is just fine to feel sad.

To miss the people that I don't get to be with right now.

To wish I could just talk to my mom for a few minutes

and give her a hug

and get hugged in return.

I miss her and that's OK

and I took my moments to grieve this week

and that's OK too

and now I will pull myself up by my boot straps

and live the kind of life that my mom wants me to live

and the kind of life that will get me to where she is

and where I can be welcomed by her loving embrace.

That's what she would tell me to do if she were here

and that's what I'll do,

even when I miss her.

Today I am grateful for

the citrus blossom scent that fills the evening air when I walk outside.

a son that was grateful for me today.

a husband that washed the dishes.

La Jolla Cove

On Sunday when I was telling one of my friends that I had decided to go to San Diego she asked me what fun things I was planning to do. I told her I really wanted to go to the beach and see a whale, since this is whale watching season. It seems like even though I have been to San Diego a lot in the past 6 months I haven't made it to the beach very often, so that seemed like a good goal.

Well, Monday it was rainy and cold and Tuesday it wasn't really raining but it was wet and cold. That left today for our beach excursion. The oldest daughter, the son-in-law and the grandson had been to LaJolla Cove and seen lots of seals so the youngest son wanted to go there. I thought that was as good a beach as any and so off we went.

When we got to the beach the oldest daughter did a fabulous job parallel parking on Coast Blvd. (even though she swore she couldn't do it and got a little freaked out) and we were off to see some sea life.

We watched this group of seals and sea lions from the cliff above the Children's Pool for a while.


It was fun to watch them flop through the sand, swim in the surf and to see the mamas taking such good care of their babies.

Then we decided to move on and see what else we could find. We saw a beach with a few animals and people up quite close to them so we headed down the stairs for a gander.

The seals and sea lions seemed completely at ease with us checking them out. We got close enough to take a couple of pictures and then moved up the beach to let the grandson play with his sand toys.



and to take a few pictures of ourselves.

While we enjoyed the beach, people continued to move up close and watch the seals and sea lions. All of the sudden we heard a voice from the cliff above us, "Ladies and Gentlemen! Please move away from the seals.You are too close. Please move away from the animals."

Everyone looked around to see who was speaking. When it was discovered that the spokesperson was just a regular lady and not someone in authority, everyone kind of just went back to what they were doing.

Apparently, this was not the desired response and the woman decided to get closer to the offenders. She climbed the fence and rushed out to the edge of the cliff above the animals and once again began loudly urging the people to leave. She yelled, she cussed, she stomped her feet and ranted. I thought she was pretty scary and so did the sea lions and seals because all of the sudden they began to look concerned and agitated where before they were quite peaceful. The woman continued to carry on and other people decided to yell back at her. She took pictures of the "criminals" and they took pictures of her. She never aimed her camera as far over as we were, so apparently we weren't on her list of "stupid, idiotic, humans".

I thought it was interesting that this individual sincerely cared about the wildlife and really wanted them to be safe, but in her zealous display she probably caused more harm than good. The mommy seals only felt endangered after she appeared on the scene.

Sometimes I think I do the same thing. With the best of intentions, I rush in and try to enforce my will on a situation and often I end up making things worse. Maybe I can remember this experience next time I want to jump in and "fix" something. Evaluate if it really needs to be fixed and if it does, thoughtfully figure out the best way to handle it, hopefully without raising my voice.

When the excitement died down we climbed back up the stairs and headed over to La Jolla Cove. On the way we saw lots of ground squirrels eating the flowers. They were pretty cute.

The grandson liked to tell them "GRR..." and watch them run. He thought it was so fun until one of them ran down the edge of the cliff out of sight. Then he was really worried because he thought it had "falled down" into the water.

After we strolled through Scripps Park we stopped to watch a big group of seals and sea lions sunning on the cliffs above the cove. As the tide rolled in the waves would come up and splash over them, but they didn't seem to be bothered. We decided these were the anti social animals of the area because their cliffs were pretty inaccessible to the humans.

La Jolla Cove has an underwater ecological area with artificial reefs so apparently it is popular with scuba divers. It was interesting to watch people swim out into the cold ocean to explore. Most of them were clad in wet suits, but one brave soul was wearing nothing but a speedo. Scary!

The grandson got kind of bored of watching the sea life and decided to try his hand at street entertainment. Here he is playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" on the bench and singing along.

I found him entertaining even if no one else did.

It was a beautiful afternoon and a fun way to end this trip to San Diego.

Can't wait to come back again. Maybe next time I will actually see a whale.

Making Sugar Cookies

Today the oldest daughter and I decided we wanted to make some sugar cookies. The grandson thought it was a great idea.

First we had to make the dough.

We have a favorite sugar cookie recipe that came from our next door neighbor, Kate. Every year we would go to their house and make sugar cookies at Christmas time and this was the recipe that we used.

Holiday Sugar Roll Out Dough

1 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar

1 cup margarine

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp almond flavoring

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

Cream sugar and margarine. Mix in egg and flavorings. Stir dry ingredients together; blend into sugar/margarine mixture. Refrigerate 2 – 3 hours. Heat oven to 375. Bake 7 to 8 minutes.

After the dough sits in the fridge for a couple of hours you need to put a lot of flour on the table where you are going to roll out the cookies.

This is more fun than making the dough.

A lot more fun.

Then you get to cut out the cookie shapes and put them on the pan and cook them.

You have to get really close to make sure the cookies are cool enough to frost and make sure you blow a little if they aren't.

Then you make the frosting.

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

Water to make icing consistency.

Try to remember to not add too much water because then you have to add a lot more sugar :).

Then you get to frost your cookie. You have to concentrate really hard and make sure you do a good job.

Then you get to eat your dog bone cookie.

That is the funnest part of all!

We like making sugar cookies!

Puppy Love

I will be the first to admit that I am not a dog person. Give me a nice cat any day. I have never really felt a great deal of love for Baja doggy. She is cute as dogs go, but dogs are jumpy and smelly and just not my favorite.

Plus when you mix her with a two year old it usually means trouble. When one of them wants to be left alone, the other one just has to get in their face.

The constant poking, barking, biting, pulling, chasing, yelling, crying drives me crazy.

However, I must hide my feelings well because Baja seems to really think I like her. She is always the most welcoming family member when I arrive at her house for a visit. She is SO happy to see me. I don't get the reception that the son-in-law gets when he comes home from work, but it is a close second.

Today the grandson and I were upstairs playing toys while the oldest daughter was gone to a doctor's appointment. We left Baja downstairs with the back door open in case she needed to go potty. It was very likely that she would since earlier the grandson had fed her an entire package of Girl Scout Samoa cookies while I went to the bathroom. (I should have known he was up to something when he didn't even ask to go potty with me.)

When we came downstairs we could tell she was in trouble just by looking at her face.

It had been raining and she decided to dig in the mud and then proceeded to haul it all into the house with her and bury it in the couch cushions. I wasn't very happy. I threw all the clumps away and then started sweeping up the mess. That was when I saw the present Baja had left for me.

There in the pile of dirt was a tiny heart made out of a piece of grass. It made my own heart happy.

I guess Baja's not bad for a dog. In fact, when the grandson isn't around she is almost likeable.

At least she keeps me warm when she cuddles with me on the couch. It's nice to be loved, even if it is by a puppy. I guess I should try to like her back - at least a little bit.

I Just Can't Seem to Stay Home

Since the day the youngest son moved back to Arizona, about a month ago, he has been wanting to take a trip back to California. I didn't encourage him too much because I thought it wasn't really necessary. When I realized he was going to go whether I encouraged him or not I thought, "that's OK. He can go if he wants to, but I just saw the grandson and the oldest daughter for a week and I don't need to see them again". We are planning a trip to California in March for Spring Break and that isn't that far away. I was decided.

However, as his departure got closer I just couldn't think of a good enough reason to stay home, so I asked him if I could tag along. He was happy for my company, as long as I agreed to pay for some of the gas. So...

Once again I find myself in San Diego and I'm happy to be here.

Who wouldn't be happy to see this cute, smiling face?

Tonight, after the grandson went to bed, we played Scattergories and then the oldest daughter and I put a puzzle together. It is a Dowdle puzzle of San Diego. It was fun to work on and had some interesting details.

The grandson's favorite part was the temple.

I am embarrassed to say my favorite part was the buff surfers.

We had a hard time figuring out why there were legs waving out of the top of one of the buildings, but once we completed the scene and read the words we realized they weren't legs but elephant and giraffe heads poking out of the zoo.

There's lots of exciting things to see and do in San Diego and I'm excited to see and do them for the next few days.

Today I am thankful for

one on one time with the youngest son.

Sunday dinner that I didn't have to make.

an amazing Gospel Doctrine teacher who loves the scriptures and makes me want to love them more.

We Bought A Zoo

Ever since before Christmas when they talked about this movie on "Extreme Home Makeover" I have wanted to see it. It took awhile to get there, but I thought it was worth the wait. I really, really liked "We Bought a Zoo". However, don't take your son with you when you go because he will accuse you of crying really, really loud. I would have cried quieter if he hadn't stolen my crying napkin.

"You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it."

Benjamin Mee

The Blogging Dilemma

Tonight it was brought to my attention

that my blog post production rate

has dropped drastically during the past 2 years.

• ► 2011 (42)

• ► 2010 (49)

• ► 2009 (180)

• ► 2008 (222)

Hmm. I hadn't realized that.

I better pick up the pace.

Actually, I decided recently

that I wanted to be a better blogger.

As soon as I decided that

something happened to the program

I use to upload pictures to my computer

and well,

what's the point of blogging

if there aren't any pictures

for my children who aren't into reading.

Due to my lack of photos -

Wait,

I am not lacking in photos.

In fact I have so many pictures on my computer

that I have no memory left

and my computer is slower than slow

and my husband tells me daily

that I need to move ALL my photos to the external hard drive.

But, I love my pictures

and I don't want them out of my sight

even for a minute.

Then while I am rambling on

about why it is so difficult for me

to produce a blog post

I push a wrong button and

the incomplete post publishes

and makes absolutely no sense.

Now do you understand

why my post numbers are down?

No?

Neither do I.

For those of you who

have hung on through

this entire nonsense -

I give you a story

for your enjoyment

which will include

a previously uploaded picture.

It is called

"The Blue Poinsettia"

When we had our ward Christmas party

each table had a blue poinsettia

as the centerpiece.

When the party was over,

the flowers were passed out to families

and one came home with me.

I put mine on top of the piano,

but the cats kept trying to eat it.

I have heard that poinsettias are poisonous

so I didn't think that was a good idea.

I tried really hard to keep them away from it

and they tried really hard to eat it.

When we left to go to California for Christmas

I put the plant out on the stool on my front porch

so the cats couldn't have a feast.

I told the oldest son

(who was watching our house and the cats)

that he could take it home with him

if he wanted it.

Apparently he didn't want it,

because it was still sitting on the stool

when we came home a week later.

It looked quite sad and forgotten-

very shriveled and unhealthy.

I felt the soil that it was in

and it was plenty wet

so I decided to just leave it there

and see what happened.

Fast forward another day -

both sons and I are walking into the house.

The oldest son says,

"I think your flower froze

one of the nights that you were gone.

It looked fine one day and

the next day it looked - pfft. "

The youngest son looked at the plant,

and then he looked again and said,

" Wait! You mean it wasn't always blue? "

For those of you
who care about things like poinsettias.

The weather here has warmed up
A LOT
and the poor thing is doing much better.

However, it is still mostly blue.

The Passage of Time

So,

here it is.

2012.

Am I the only one that feels like the year 2000 DID NOT begin 12 years ago.

It seems like last year.

Or maybe 2 or 3 years ago,

but not 12.

Things have changed a lot since then though.

Now all the kids that were wild young 'uns then

are starting to have young 'uns of their own.


They think they are old enough to put OUR puzzle together


and don't leave us any room at the table.

It was actually kind of fun though,

to have our daughters want to do puzzles with us.

It meant they were close by

and not hundreds of miles away.

My mom used to always say

that the person who put the last piece in the puzzle

was going to have the next baby.

That is another good reason to start

including the daughters in the puzzling.

The last piece in this puzzle was missing.

The oldest daughter spent some time

under the table seriously searching for it.

At this point she is trying anything that might get her a new baby.

She did find it

so we're still holding out hope

for a new member of their family in 2012.

We missed our friend that got to welcome the arrival of 2012

in a hospital bed facing a new challenge along with a new year.

Here's praying that her cancer disappears

as quickly as the past 12 years have.