Julie is a Teenager

My oldest grandchild is now a teenager.

She is beautiful both inside and out.

I should feel old.

But I just feel incredibly blessed.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a rather atypical Memorial Day. Jeff, Maddie, Brian, Susan, Tyler, and Aubrey went to Mt. Pleasant Friday after school. They also brought Susan's brother George and his son, Garrett and Susan's friend and ward member Jen and her baby, Zane. They did lots of fishing,exploring, and biking and four-wheeling. Jeff did a little work on the Fairview property and the yard at the house.

Amy did a great job speaking on "faith" in Sacrament Meeting.

She and I drove to Mt. Pleasant after church. We have all been having an adventure with the neighbors' animals.

We even got to feed bottles several times to the "bummer lambs" next door.

They are so cute.

And always very hungry.

We city folk are havin' a good ol' time...

Fairview Retreat

Just returned from the semi-annual scrapbook retreat to Fairview, Utah. I get to go twice a year and relax with a great bunch of ladies.


Did I mention that I love these ladies? (Michele, Jill, Aimee, Kimberly, Jeanee', me, LaRae.



We take turns cooking and the food is heavenly. (Kimberly's version of pioneerwoman.com's Pasta Primavera.)


Jeanee' taught us how to fold really pretty napkins. (But don't be fooled. We eat all meals but Sunday's on paper plates.)


This is what we do to Kimmy's generally SPOTLESS family room...We leave it like this for five days, and I think it drives her a little crazy...:)


It IS a little crazy...but very productive and lots of fun...This year we had quilting, CD movie-making, wedding preparations and card-making going on, as well as scrapbooking.


This is what the room is SUPPOSED to look like...


I brought everyone a sample of my homemade laundry detergent . (Less than $.02/load as compared to $.24/load for Costco brand.)


I gave them each three samples of homemade soap too...

Hey. If you save money on your cleaning supplies, you can buy more scrappin' and quilting supplies...

Thank you, Kimmy, for your generosity in organizing this and providing a place for it!

For Posterity

Jeff and Brian poured concrete last week and the timing worked out perfectly to cast these little prints in it!

It gives me a lump in my throat and makes me say "ahhh..."


As you can see, we've done this before. The new prints are just below these.


Aubrey's thumb went a little crazy...


Sydney has the perfect STIIIIFFF fingers to imprint concrete...


Tyler, concentrating very hard...


Maddie got home from school just in time to make her print. She is actually of the previous generation, but wasn't born yet when we did the first handprints.


We ran over and picked up Julie at her house...


then "snatched" Ally on the way home from school so they could make their contributions.


Brian, whose handprint was included in the first generation concrete, identifies the new generation of prints.

It still makes me say "ahhh."

Parable* of the Soap

Once upon a time, there was a slab of soap. It was pumpkin colored. Ugly. Scraggly on top. It smelled like--well to be honest, it smelled like disgusting wet paint.

It smelled so bad that the makers of the soap seriously considered throwing it away immediately.

It was awful, awful soap.

The other bars of soap made by the soapmakers were beautiful. They smelled wonderful-like white tea and ginger, like Arabian spices, like cinnamon, like almonds. Their colors were warm and inviting. The were highly desired and eagerly awaited as they cured on the bedroom closet shelf. Every time people walked into the closet they happily breathed in the delicate scents from the beautiful soaps.

The pumpkin-colored soap was banished to a shelf in the garage and forgotten about.

After four weeks, the soaps were taken from the closet shelf to be wrapped and packaged. They were decorated and put into beautiful gift bags. They were tagged and designated for special people. They were ready to go out and clean up the world!

At the last minute, the soapmakers remembered the pumpkin-colored soap. Could it be useful for anything? The soap was brought into the light and looked at. Could it be possible? The soap was pale yellow, with brighter yellow specks, just as it had looked in the enticing "recipe" book. It smelled clean, and fresh, and spicy. It smelled good! It was desirable, just like the other soaps that had been beautiful from the beginning. It was ready to be wrapped, decorated, and gifted to the world!

Moral of the story: Don't be quick to judge and/or throw out what may not seem desirable at first look. Given a little time and and a little peace and quiet, it may just turn out to be a jewel!



*I know that this is more of a fable by definition than a parable, but I just thought "Parable of the Soap" had a better ring to it...

(And, I know you've all just been DYING to know how the sunflower and calendula soap turned out...)

Valley of Fire

Our niece Abby and her husband Anthony were here for a visit this past weekend. They got married in February and are so cute together.


We took the motorhome to Valley of Fire on Saturday. Abby likes to pose. Anthony is a good sport.


Maddie is always finding holes in which to fit!


Anthony is King of the Rock.


They drove down to the dam since I said Anthony couldn't come to Boulder City without seeing Hoover Dam. Abby sheepishly confessed that in the 19 years she's been coming here, SHE never remembers visiting the dam...We were shocked! She has seen it lakeside from the boat, but had never driven down to and across it! THAT is rectified now!

We love having our family visit!