Lead me, guide me - and He does.

Our ward camp leaders and myself went to LoMia on Saturday to pick out a hike for our Young Women this summer.

We felt the Spirit guide us as we walked and talked.

The Lord loves these girls.

He wants them to have testimony building experiences that will sustain them through this journey on earth and see them to the temple.

As leaders we are only a source to provide those experiences.

I'm so grateful for mountain top inspiration.

waiting...

My friend emailed me this morning. I loved what she shared.

Andrea,

As I was walking out of church yesterday, I walked by a certain family of handsome men and one beautiful daughter. The handsome men were sitting on the planter, enjoying the sun, saying hello to passer-bys, conversing with one another. The beautiful daughter was standing impatient, watching her brothers and Dad, and as I walked by, I heard this, "Why does it always take Mom so long? I swear, she talks to EVERYBODY she sees!"

It immediately took me back to my teen years, remembering the Sundays we waited for my Mom to make her way out of the building. And then to my daughters, waiting impatiently on me as I said my goodbyes every Sunday.
This whole episode made me think of two things:
1. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
2. And I am very grateful for friends to say goodbye to while my family waits.
Have a great week!

Vickie

I'm smiling today and thinking of wonderful friends and a super wonderful daughter! The circle of life goes on.

And soon I will stand in my friend's shoes.

And Maddison will stand in mine.

And she'll have a daughter tapping an impatient toe.

Waiting for her.

missing you

As much as I love being here, there is something I miss about home.

Family.

This is sweet Sophie...

and this is magnificent Maeci Jo...

Kami and Brooke, my darling nieces, make some adorable babies.

Sigh...

(((((hugs)))))

I love you all!

I don't know why this post is all messed up. I've tried to correct it. It looks great when I'm done editing and then when I post...I get this mess!!

Lessons from a lemon bush

I've never much thought much about lemon bushes other than I'd like to plant one in our yard.
I have, however, spent a great deal of time enjoying the harvest from the bush.
Thanks to dear friends who spare me the hardship of picking the fruit, I am able to benefit from the fruits of their labor ~ literally.

On a quick trip to California to share the happy occasion of our nephew getting baptized we stayed with Grandpa Brown.
He has a mammoth lemon bush.
Grandpa had picked and shared a countless number of lemons. Over and over he would harvest and share his fruit.
Until all that was left were these tricky little ones deep in the middle.

These guys are protected by strong, pointy thorns and they hurt!
I know because I fell victim to their sharp, nasty stab.

Right under the fingernail.

So my hero husband went in after those lucious little lemons.

Time and time again he would go back into the thorns
and then emerge with these beauties!

















He has battle wounds to prove that this was no job for
a sissy
or whimp
or whatever you want to call me.

Maddison came out to observe for a time.

As I was watching, my mind had drawn several symbolic messages from what I was seeing.

I asked Maddie is she could draw any symbolism for herself.

She just looked at me, rolled her eyes and said something about not having a clue what I was talking about.

OUCH!

Teenagers are great aren't they.

She may just as well as poured lemon juice in my wound.

Right under my fingernail.

So I've spent a little more time thinking about lemon bushes and not just the fruit they bear.

And I'll humor you (or me) with one of the many thoughts I had...

There is no sweet without the bitter.

And thank goodness there is bitter because it makes the sweet oh so lovely!!

or D&C 29:39 would have covered it too.

He loves her ~ he loves her not

A scream of disgust flew out of Maddie's

room the other night.

She had turned down her bed

and found this on her pillow.

Cooper laughed until he cried.

He got the reaction he was hoping for!

and all the while...

...he most definitely loves her!!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Another Academic Night for Maddison.

You ARE all that

and

WE LOVE YOU!

Whatcha doin'???

Making strawberry jam!!

Time to refill the freezer.

This...

plus this...

plus this...

equals this...

sparkling clean grout throughout your entire house!

Thanks hon! I love you to the moon and back!

The Sound of Music

You must see this.

After all, who doesn't love Julie Andrews and the childhood memories of this magical movie.

http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/04.09/antwerp.html

I was smiling just watching.

People just making people happy.

Enjoy and have a very happy day!

If you can't find us at home...

you can find us at the T-ball Little League field,

or the Minor's Little League field,

or the Junior High basketball court,

or the D-backs games at Chase field.

Such a crazy busy, happy time of year!

Cooper's first game

Keep your eye on the ball..

Keep your swing level...

Let 'er rip!!

Seeing through my son's eyes

While Grandpa Brown was visiting this past week, he and his friend took Davis to the Desert Botanical Garden to see the spectacular blown glass art by Chihuly called The Nature of Glass. The blown glass was woven throughout the garden in a grand display. I sent my camera along with Davis (first time photographer) and told him to capture it all.

And so he did!

I found that seeing the glass, flowers and butterflies through his eyes was a wonder in and of itself. It was such a pleasure to have Davis give me the play by play of why he took a particular picture and what he was trying to capture.

He is amazing!

These are only a few of the nearly 75 pictures he took.

I hope you'll click on the collage and take a look up close.

Thanks for taking this one Susie. I love it.

An English lesson

Tucking Cooper in bed the other night, he pulled me in TIGHT and with arms wrapped around my neck said,

I just love you so, so, so, so much!

I kissed him repeatedly on the cheek and said,

I love you so, so, so, so much too!

Then he said,

No Mom. I said I love you more than two.

I had to think for a minute to catch the homonym.

I love this kid more than TWO.
More like SEVENTEEN!

It's what we do

Diamondback Baseball!!

Spring Training game in Tucson

Cooper & Kites

We usually bring home a little gift for our kids when we leave.

What do you think we brought them home from Vegas?

The boys got kites!

Not these kites.

But some really cool ones, none the less.

I couldn't get a good picture of the boys' kites.

The were flying way too high.

It was such a fun, free feeling to watch them.

The kites and the boys.

I did get a wonderful picture of this...

What a perfect spot for a

happy splash of clover!

Actions speak louder...

"Our task is to preach the gospel.

Use words if necessary."

~ St. Francis of Assisi

Found this.

Loved this.

Wanted to share this.

In other words. . .

Brent nicely reminded me that the song we were

swooning to in front of the fountains was

"Fly Me to the Moon"

by the king of smooth Frank Sinatra.

I don't make this change for anybody but myself and my desire to remember it perfectly.

Thanks honey. I heart you.

How was the show, you ask??

The show was OUTSTANDING!
We were seated at tables right up by the stage. Perfect!
A couple times during the show Donny (sigh!!)
came off the stage via the table tops (double sigh!!)
to shake hands. That would be MY table!
Or rather 'our' table, as Brent was with me. : )
Donny and I held hands not just once but twice!
I can attest to the fact that his hands were not sweaty
at all but rather dry and scratchy.
I didn't mind.

Oh ~ And the repeated eye contact...

Fuggetaboutit!!
(and don't you dare try and tell me he was looking at all the ladies as much as he was looking at me! Let me enjoy this.)


How did Brent enjoy the show??
Well, when Marie came down the stairs right by
our table and stopped in front of him,
ran her fingers through his hair and planted
a perfect kiss on his forehead,
I think he was a bit starry-eyed. Heck! I was!!



I wouldn't let Brent wash that kiss away until we got back to the car so that I could get a picture. No cameras were allowed into the theatre so you just have to take me at my word with this recap. Then I made him dab it with a tissue, which I now have in safe keeping.



Here we are back at the hotel with Marie's kiss, show tickets, commemorative glass
(which I'll be using out by the pool this summer), streamers that fell at the end of the show
and of course, my hand that held Donny's.

I took this picture after the show. I wanted one of the marquee in the night time lights. We were driving down the strip ~ I stood up in the car (yeah, all the way through the sunroof) to get an unobstructed view. I got lots of honks. I'm sure it was my visible enthusiasm and not the fact that I was a 42 year old nut case!

I had to get a shot of the Flamingo Hotel. This was larger than life. It covered the entire hotel.



And then I had to get one of. . .

. . . the three of us.

Post concert, Brent and I went to dinner at the

Burger Bar in the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

It was THE most delicious burger to have ever melted in my mouth. If ever you are in Vegas to see Donny & Marie or The Phantom, you must put this on your list of places to eat. And the buttermilk onion rings were a splendid side.

Saturday afternoon we took a stroll over
to the Belliago fountains.
All in perfect synchronization
to the smooth Harry Connick Jr.
It was sweet & romantic.






Inside the Belliago was a beautiful site.
Giant, happy flower umbrellas that looked as if they were suspended in mid air.

I want this cathedral ceiling and these umbrellas
in my next home!

Another ceiling in the Belliago was filled with
bright and beautiful blown glass.
It was huge and impressive.



They also had an atrium type garden that was
a relaxing way to end our afternoon.



Along with the cathedral ceiling and umbrellas,
I would like this water feature ~ tulips included
at my next home.



I could have taken hundreds of pictures.
Which leads me to my next birthday wish. . .

I want a great camera.

And when we returned home we found
a freshly manicured lawn,
a spotless house,
dinner on the table
and those heavenly lemon cupcakes for dessert.



Kristi (our sitter since Cooper was a babe in arms)
just makes it so easy.
We love her to pieces! No really,
I could never find the right words.

And this is the end of my 42nd

birthday blogpost.

(I can hear a collective sigh and

'thank goodness' all across blogland!)

It's good to be me!

I must say that turning another year older does have its perks!

From phone calls, emails, ecards, FB notes, lunch, gifts,

treats on my porch, and ice cream with my family,

I'd say it has been a *perfect a day.

Thank you for celebrating with me!

And now Brent and I are off.

*perfect day (defined by the Osmonds) ~

May tomorrow be a perfect day.

May you find love and laughter along the way.

May God keep you in His tender care,

'Till He brings us together again!

Good night everybody!!

Birth Day

Well, here it is.
The GOOD and the BAD.

All spelled out for me.

If I have questions about who I am or what I am about,

I can refer to this post.

Actually, much of it I would agree with.

Some of it I would not.

Gratefully my 42 years of earthly experience have given me a more heavenly understanding of who I am.

It is a birthday gift I'm most grateful for.

Sock details

After 18 years of doing my family's laundry, I have a confession...

I HATE (I know that is a strong word) to stick my hands into my children's dirty socks to turn them right side out so that they can then be washed. It slows me down and honestly ~ it is plain disgusting. Notice I am not clumping my husband into this mess because he does turn his own socks.

Bless him.

Some may say "Why do you bother turning the socks anyway?"

I say "Because that is the way my mom did it."

End of discussion.

Now I can say "Mom, I totally get it!"

I have asked for cooperation time after time over the years. And each of them did get a built in excuse when they were just kneehigh to a grasshopper. After all, they were only kneehigh to a grasshopper. But really, it has gone on too long. I don't want to reach into the laundry and touch those dirty, crunchy, sandy, stinky socks anymore. And the bigger the kids get, the bigger the UCK gets! It has taken me 18 years to come up with a solution but after a few weeks of following through with my threat, I now have almost no inside out socks to report of.

My threat?? It basically went like this.

But first you have to imagine me like this ...

And then I said,

"If I have to touch one more

stinkin'

filthy

disgusting

sock, I'm going to explode!

From now on, if I come across one of these afore mentioned socks I will toss it into the hall and then I will gather the offenders from the far corners of the house and you will come together for a sock turning party!"

I did follow through and I must say that after only a couple times of being called to participate in a sock turning party, the vile pile of offensive socks has now greatly diminished and only a few pair remain. They are learning (I've even overheard Cooper take off his socks and then say to himself "Oh man. I better turn these.") and now you can imagine me like this...