What greater goodness can we know?

What greater goodness can we know than Christlike friends whose gentle ways strengthen our faith, enrich our days?

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

(LDS Hymns #293)

Friends.  This simple word brings to my mind a multitude of memories - faces, places, laughter, tears.  Throughout my life I have been blessed with good friends who "strengthen my faith, enrich my days".  In each place we have lived I count myself fortunate to have made friends who I still consider sisters, individuals whom, when we meet again, we jump right back in as though we were never apart.

This morning I received an email from one of these friends.  She is dear to me, though we have really only met once.  In some ways it is strange that such a friendship should blossom.  She and her husband were in one of the wards in Dan's mission and he, as a missionary, developed a strong bond with them.  Shortly after we were married we visited and they were kind enough to let us stay in their home.  That was 11 years ago.  I have not seen her since.  She has since had another child, whom I have never met, and her oldest (who was only 4 at the time) is now a vibrant, beautiful young woman. 

Yet somehow we have become friends.  We used to talk on the phone about once every 6 months or so, but now we follow each other's blogs and email back and forth.  It is irregular, but always a joy.  For whatever reason I was blessed to have her come into my life.

Do you ever feel like you must have been friends with someone in the pre-existence?  I often think that our friendships here are just a continuation of something eons older than we can comprehend.

So here's a shout out to all my dear friends over the years - all of you wonderful women who follow my blog and worry for me and laugh at me and with "the gentlest hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away."

Blogging Bafflement

I CANNOT COMMENT ON ANYONE'S AMAZING BLOGGING EFFORTS.



There.  That's my explanation.  And I've heard it from others. 

Does anyone have the solution?

Blogs I used to regularly comment on now just kick me off to re-sign into my google account, then tell me I can't.

Frustrating.

So, I am here and I am reading and I am enjoying all your thoughts.

Just can't tell you.

(If you set "anonymous" as one of your comment options, then I will give you feedback.

It's the only way it works.)

Does anyone else feel my pain????

Roasts and Toasts

I saw this in the paper down here and thought it was an ingenious idea.  It's simple - you can "roast" things or people that you are disappointed in and "toast" those that are exceptional.  Here are my own for today:

Roast: The nurse at the home where my grandparents reside.  The reason my grandma tells you "stories" is because she has Alzheimer's.  Her stories are her reality.  Do you know anything about elderly people with dementia?  Maybe this is not your calling in life.

Toast: My sister for going to the auto wreckers and picking up a new oil cap to replace the one missing from my van.  With her two little ones in tow.  Much thanks!

Creating and Exploring

Last weekend the boys made a cat chalet for the felines.  It started out as a box with a roof and turned into a work of art.

Clay used the project as part of a cub badge.  He learned to use the cut saw and the air gun nailer.  Pretty proud of himself!

The whole gang of boys

Malcolm and Spencer and I went on an adventure to see what lays beyond Grandma's yard.  Here they are in front of the bee hives...

...and by the old spill gates on the 9 mile canal

Pretending we are on the African Savannah.  The fox tail grass is really long this fall, and very soft.  When they got out into it and sat down I couldn't even see them!

"Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower." Albert Camus

Autumn is by far my favorite season.  Possibly because it is the time of year I was born, but more because of the crispness in the air and the urgency to get things done before the weather turns.  My time for resolutions is always in the fall.  I feel anything is possible and things are just beginning.  (There could also be a link to the start of school years here...)  Spring is lovely, but too wet and muddy with only a smattering of flowers coming around.  Summer is great, but I tend to abhor the heat and bugs.  Winter - well, what can I say about that except hot chocolate and Christmas?  Autumn - alive and warm and full of change!


Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ~Stanley Horowitz



Sure signs that summer is over (and that it's been successful):

1. You cannot possibly imagine having to eat another hamburger, hot dog, piece of watermelon, ice cream treat, jello salad, etc. etc. etc.
2. The thought of putting on your swimsuit and gathering up all the gear sends you running for cover.
3. The lawn is starting to look pretty good an inch or so longer.
4. You're glad when it's time to pull up the pea and bean plants and rototill the ground.
5. It's a relief that darkness comes around at 8:00.  Now we can catch up on some sleep!

Summer is so busy, let's ring in a warm, fabulously colorful autumn.  Bring it on!

Oh how we love pumpkin season. You did know this gourd-ish squash has its own season, right? Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin.... We anxiously anticipate it every year. ~Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer, October 2010


(I LOVE PUMPKINS)

October's poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter. ~Nova Bair

Ummm...

Hi.  I am still here.  I am just uninteresting.  Or uninterested, you choose. 

Uploading my photos this summer turned out to be a much too complicated endeavor for me and, frankly, I was much happier spending my time in the sunshine than holed up in front of my screen. 

Eventually I may get around to it, but really, it's kinda late, don't ya think?

I am creeping up on the big 3-5 this week.  I am in many ways amazed to think that I have walked this earth for that long.  It feels like a heart beat in many ways, yet soooo much has happened in that time.

More amazing is my parent's celebrating their 36th anniversary on Tuesday.  Wow.  In the midst of all the changes and transition we are experiencing it gives me great inspiration to watch them tackle all of life's curve balls together and still be, well, together. 

I was thinking of this today.  All the things they've held on through.

Deaths (particularly of a child).

Financial stress.

Family stress.

Children aging.

Parents aging.

Broken lawn mowers.

Problematic septic fields.

Car "accidents".

Hopes and dreams not realized.

It doesn't end just because we get older and "grow up".

But, lest you think their life is miserable, there's a lot of good to brighten up the lows.

Marriages.

Grandkids.

Having work.

Missions.

All the kids home to visit.

A beautiful yard as a result of some really hard work together.

Good friends.

Oh, and all the above negativities just having a way of working out.

I see now the truth in Marjorie Hinckley's statement:

"Sometimes the pattern of life seems a little monotonous - and discouraging.  It is like climbing a mountain and, after reaching the top, getting knocked back down to the bottom to climb it again; but I guess the fun is in climbing and not in arriving.  I hope so!"

Maybe we spend a lot of  our lives uninterested.  Just surviving.  Waiting for the better times to come along.  When really they're right here with us.

Thanks Mom and Dad for helping me see that life is made up of all these things, big and little. 

36 years.  I hope my marriage is full of mountains by the time I get there.  It will make it all the more exciting to look back on, won't it?

Back to School

It's that time of year again.  I am usually ready for it, and I have to admit that the kids were getting at each other's throats (and mine) for the last week or so, but back to school was bittersweet for me this year.  We had a great summer seeing so many of our friends and family, swimming, travelling, camping, working in the yard and just plain running free.  It's hard to face the reality of schedules and bedtimes and, well, the end of summer.  It has been cold and rainy all three days of school so in a lot of ways it feels like autumn has come in full force.

The kids are riding the bus to and from school for the very first time.  I think it is the highlight of their day - for now.  I'm sure the extra hour and a half added on their school day will start to wear on them eventually.  It's good for us though as we are never late for school! (gasp, looks of shock inserted here)  And it forces us all up at 6:30 every morning.  They are the first stop in the morning and the last stop at night.  The kids get on the bus at 7:38, and aren't home until 4:15.  Quite a change from Port Moody where school started at 9:00 and they were home at 2:45.  Makes for a lot longer time they are away.  Two days a week I will have everyone at the school in the mornings - 4 hours all to myself!  I will let you know how beautiful that is at a later date.

Madi and Clay have had great fun reacquainting themselves with their old school and old friends.  One boy said to Madi, "Madison?  You have changed!" and another greeted her with, "Madi! Look guys, it's my third cousin twice removed!"  Amazing how they remember these things.

Things are good right now.  We are trying to make the best of this temporary situation and enjoy the next 4 months.  After that anything can happen...