Happy Easter...

Twenty drops makes the perfect blue...

Sean...eager to begin the whole Easter Egg Decorating Process...

The color that eggs SHOULD be....

It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.

Christi, Nathan, Sean and Grant...a.k.a. "a few of the ones i love"...

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses.

-- Allophones Karr

When we are mindful of every nuance of our natural world, we finally get the picture: that we are only given one dazzling moment of life here on Earth, and we must stand before that reality both humbled and elevated, subject to every law of our universe and grateful for our brief but intrinsic participation with it.

(From her biography ofnaturalist Eustace Conway.)-- Elizabeth Gilbert

The Newest Member of our Family....

Christi and Ryan had their baby yesterday - March 8th! Baby Nathan is doing well. We are very blessed!

A childlike man is not a man whose development has been arrested; on the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a chance of continuing to develop long after most adults have muffled themselves in the cocoon of middle aged habit and convention.

-- Aldous Huxley

"Finish each day and be done with it . . . You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Happy Birthday Celebration....

We spent a nice day together at my parents house celebrating Leslie's 19th birthday (which was yesterday) along with the birthdays of my 2 nieces Anna and Mia. My mom made the most delicious dinner and a wonderful cheesecake for dessert. It was a nice way to spend the day! Thank you mom for all your hard work!!!

"I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase 'the tender mercies of the Lord.' Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord's tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits 'his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men' (D&C46:15).'

David A. Bednar

The Sunset at San Simeon....hhhhmmmm...wish I was still there.....

I think I mentioned before that i LOVE clouds....

This was our view on our drive to the coast yesterday....

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

-- Washington Irving (1783-1859) American Writer

I'm putting this one to the test...starting NOW!...

****Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

Henry David Thoreau

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected
without trials.

-- Chinese proverb

Today's Simple Truth....

President David O. McKay put it beautifully when he said, speaking of mothers, “This ability and willingness properly to rear children, the gift to love, and eagerness, yes, longing to express it in soul development, make motherhood the noblest office or calling in the world. She who can paint a masterpiece or write a book that will influence millions deserves the admiration and the plaudits of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters, whose influence will be felt through generations to come, whose immortal souls will exert an influence throughout the ages long after paintings shall have faded, and books and statues shall have decayed or shall have been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choicest blessings of God. In her high duty and service to humanity, endowing with immortality eternal spirits, she is co-partner with the Creator himself.”

It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expectedof him.
-- John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American Novelist

Let's all have a Peaceful 2007!

Things I Need to Do Better in 2007:

1. Be nicer..
2. Eat better...
3. Stop worrying so much...
4. Stop sighing all the time...
5. Relax more....
6. Read more...
7. Practice the Principle of Faith more...
8. Exercise...
9. Clean a little each day instead of alot occasionally...
10. Look for lonely people to befriend rather than feel lonely...
11. Go to the dentist and have my broken back tooth fixed...
12. Instead of counting down minutes and hours...ENJOY every minute and consequently every hour.
13. Stop getting on Ebay...

Santa came by our house tonight...

The Magic of Childhood

"Know you what it is to be a child? It is to be something very different from the man of today. it is to have a spirit yet streaming....It is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its own soul...."

- Francis Thompson

Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.

-- Harold B. Melchart

Mickey says, "Merry Christmas!"

We don't get snow at Christmastime....We just get piles of leaves...

Filled with cute, sneaky boys...Sean's my little Leaf Elf

"Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? From Nazareth came example. From Nazareth came sight. From Nazareth came strength. From Nazareth came life. From Nazareth came faith. From Nazareth came peace. From Nazareth came courage. From Nazareth came Christ."

--Thomas S. Monson, "Can Any Good Come from Nazareth?", Tambuli, Apr. 1989,

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer.

-Albert Camus

Life is like a field of newly fallen snow...

Where I choose to walk every step will show.

-- Author:Denis Waitley

A snowflake is a winter's butterfly......

Another year to celebrate life...yay!......

....and another 'new beginning' (I'm not getting older..I'm getting wiser, right?).........a time to remember all the blessings of being a part of a family that loves me...and having friends that feel like family to me. I love you all!!! Thank you for loving me and being such wonderful, inspirational examples to me. I couldn't make this journey without you - nor would I even want to.

Making a Wish....

An obviously staged photo of me poised above my Marie Callender's Chocolate Satin Pie...Leslie couldn't get the actual photo of me making a wish while blowing out the candles...so this is a pretend wish...but it's still a wish.........all wishes count.

We decorated our Christmas Tree last night.....

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.

~Agnes M. Pharo

"Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition,there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born."

~ Dale E. Turner

Christi's photos of Grant....

 

Baby Grant at the park.....

 

Sean's photo of my Faerie.....

he might need his own camera.....

 

"Expressing gratitude brings us humility. In a world where we have been given so much and might be severely tempted to pride, gratitude stands as a barrier, for one cannot fill pride and gratitude at the same time."

--S. Michael Wilcox, "Gratitude", January 2005 Ensign pg. 47

I bought this bouquet for myself yesterday...

after i learned i needed a new cast for 3 more weeks. Sunshine for my soul....

He was nice and clean...until Gramma Kim gave him...

A Nestle' Crunch Bar...which he happened to love. That's my puppy!

Baby Grant as a Dalmation Puppy...