THE REST OF THE WEEK--Trip Part 4

IN WHICH THE FAMILY GOES KAYAKING

Thursday morning was spent kayaking. The kayaks were a very safe, flat-bottom design, which I was glad to see. I'd only heard about the other kind that tips over easily but there was no problem with these. I had thought we would be on a beach with a clear view of the water, but we turned out to be in a marina instead. Access to the kayaks was from a low platform that was right on the water. Kirsten and I and baby Elizabeth stayed on shore while others took turns either kayaking or caring for Elizabeth. Someone gave me this neat cap to wear. I thought it was kinda cute. I like Elizabeth's hat too, and how about those striped socks!
Everyone paddled around the marina for awhile before heading farther out. Helena has lots of excellent kayaking pictures on her blog, if you would like to see more. I think Peter may have been trying to get Elizabeth's attention here. Unfortunately there was a period of time when everyone paddled farther out, and we could no longer see anyone. Fortunately, part of the time, the friendly neighborhood sea lions at least pretended to be awake so they could be interesting to watch. :)

The sea lions weren't the only sleepy ones that day. Kate thought her ride was very relaxing. Something that impressed me was the number of blue flowers that I saw while we were in California this time. They were all over the place. Not only were the jacaranda trees blooming, but there were lots of these flowers as well.

SUDDENLY IT'S FRIDAY

It was hard to believe that the week was quickly drawing to a close.

Karen came to the hotel to visit everyone Friday morning. Her sweet grandfather, Jesse Stay passed away earlier in the week and services were to be on Saturday. (To read Karen's special tribute to her grandfather, please click here.) Her extended family had arrived from out of town and were at her grandparent's house, so Karen planned to spend the day with them. She wanted to say good-bye and to get some pictures to add to her "people who love Elizabeth" collection. Here are a few examples.

This really cute picture of Elizabeth and Grandpa was taken in the hotel courtyard by the swimming pool.

Here is Elizabeth with Aunt Helena.

I was so glad that Karen and Elizabeth were able to come that day. It meant a lot to me to spend a few extra minutes with both of them. Indeed, it was hard to say good-bye, and a part of my heart stayed with them.

During the week I spent several mornings watching Kate and Doug in the hotel pool. A toy butterfly, that Kate named Mariposa, helped her gain confidence about getting in the water.She eventually got in, but wanted her daddy to stand up pretty tall so she wouldn't go in too deep. By Friday morning she was much braver. Helena said it carried over when she got home as well. Last year she didn't want to get in a pool at all, but this year she's loving it. YAY Kate.!

Friday afternoon we went bowling. (We were glad that California has a no smoking policy in public places. We checked on that before we went).

We had three lanes. Kirsten and Kate had a lane to themselves. They used bumpers and a ramp so the ball stayed on the lane, and had a reasonable chance of rolling straight. It was great fun watching them. Here's Kate getting some help from her dad.
Kirsten needed help from her dad at first, but really enjoyed it once she got started. Here's a shot of some of our group. Helena, Doug and Peter are in the background. Barbie and Betsey are waiting while Kyle takes his turn

Nobody was competing, but Betsey had the highest score with 178. Everyone had a great time. Kyle said it was his favorite part of the trip. We'll have to remember that next time we get together!

Back at Peter and Karen's house, Betsey and Barb curled up on the floor for a Sisterly Chat.

Aren't they cute?

HOMEWARD BOUND
Everyone went their separate ways on Saturday, June 21. It was still amazing to me how short a flight can be when you bury yourself in a good book. Again I was greatly entertained by author Beverly Lewis as I devoured The Revelation which is the last volume in the Abram's Daughters series.

Fortunately I did take a break now and then to look out the window. Again I could actually see out of the window. ^o^ As I gazed out on the landscape below I was glad to be going home to familiar surroundings, where there are more green trees than there are cars, but I also had very poignant feelings about those dear ones we won't see for awhile. Hopefully next summer we'll get together again so everyone can meet the new babies who will soon be arriving.

Later, as I looked out again, I realized that the clouds around us were turning color, and so was the sky. A river below us was winding through fields that were no longer green, but had taken on an almost brassy appearance. Suddenly we were flying through pink cotton candy! I smiled with the realization that for just a minute or two we were part of a sunset. It was a sweet finishing touch to a special week.

THE CUCUMBER AND THE GRASSHOPPER

You might be saying, "Hey! I thought this was going to be something about cucumbers! What's this?"

Remember those peas that we planted on June 5th? (If not look here.) Well, even though we planted them way late (March and April are preferred for peas) we are getting a really nice crop. These are the sugar snap variety and even though it is now almost the middle of August, they are still going strong. We got everything in late, but the garden is working anyway. We're picking lots of zucchini and cucumbers. We're starting to get tomatoes, and green beans, and broccoli will be coming on soon too. So if you're ever into June and wonder if you should bother starting a garden--Go For It!

Something I really don't understand though, is why I even plant cucumbers. You see, I don't even LIKE the warty, spiky things. They are just fun to grow and to give away, so we do. Actually we grow them partly because I thought Betsey liked them. Truth be told--she used to. In fact she used to like them a lot. Ah, there is a story here. Well, sit a spell and I'll spin the tale for you.

Betsey was on the tennis team in high school. Tennis season is in hot weather and she used to really enjoy taking a cucumber with her to eat because she liked them and liked the cooling effect. Well something happened one day, that unfortunately changed her opinion of cucumbers--probably forever--alas!

Rewind a few years before that, back to the days when Betsey attended Young Women Camp. One year our friend Diann, was there as an adviser. Not only was she a fun counselor-type, but Diann had been through quite a bit of survival training. She mentioned to the girls that she had eaten grasshoppers when she had to. Now this was one talent the likes of which the girls had never before beheld, and so they pleaded with her to demonstrate this wonderful ability of hers. Diann, however, did not share their enthusiasm and had the audacity to refuse! Well, one thing led to another. To this day Betsey doesn't know who said it first, but she and Diann said "I'll do it if you will." So they both did. (yuck)

Betsey actually became quite famous after that (and will gladly sign autographs) as The Girl Who Eats Grasshoppers! To this date she has actually consumed four. (She used to say that it wasn't too bad once you get past the legs.) OK so fast forward a few years, back to tennis season. The very last time she ate a grasshopper was one day at a tennis match. Someone had heard of her talent and asked for a show and tell. She had to please her fans, right? So, probably with some reluctance, because it really wasn't among her favorite things to do, she downed one of the hoppy creatures. I imagine she also drank some water. Then in a little while she decided she would cool off with a cucumber--and YUCK. She realized that cucumbers taste just like grasshoppers! She hasn't enjoyed a cucumber since.

So if you want to know what grasshoppers taste like, just bite into a nice, juicy cucumber, especially if it happens to be warm. Oops, didn't mean to spoil them for ya.--K

p.s. That's a recent picture of Betsey. She's on the left, with her sisters Barbie, and Helena.

What IS That Fragrance?

Yesterday was a lovely day. It was about 80 degrees with low humidity, so we had our attic fan going instead of the air conditioner. Because we had doors and windows open there was a nice breeze coming in from outside. Last night as I was sitting at the computer I realized I was smelling a fragrance of some kind. My first thought was that perhaps there was something in the kitchen, but then I remembered the 4 o'clocks outside by the deck.

4 o'clocks are another "traditional plant" for me. My grandmother had some behind her house. The little flowers opened around 4 o'clock in the afternoon and closed when the sun came up the next morning. When I was little I used to love to go out there and sit among them and pretend all kinds of fanciful things.

I didn't remember about them being fragrant because I hadn't smelled them yet this year. They're not fragrant unless they're open and they're not open here during the day. In fact, ours don't open at 4 o'clock. We've come to call ours 8 o'clocks because they don't open until about then. Why they did that was a mystery to me for quite awhile, but now I suspect that it's because ours are planted on the west side of our house which is still very sunny until much after 4:00. My grandmother's, on the other hand, were on the east side, so hers were very shaded in the afternoon.

Anyway last night I went outside to take a few pictures. It was very dark, and I really couldn't see a thing. I just pointed the camera into the blackness and took quite a few shots. I wasn't really happy with any of them, because they all showed the flowers as partially closed. I wonder if perhaps they were reacting to the flash? I didn't save the very first one I took. It would have been interesting to see if the flowers looked any different before they were flashed upon repeatedly.

Anyway, regardless of when they open, I do like the sweet, spicy fragrance that they have to share.

To Wish Others Well

I have been working on posting our California trip, really I have. The problem is that I keep coming across other neat things as well.

I was just listening to a recorded interview with Marci Shimoff who wrote Happy for No Reason. She told a story about a woman who had been miserable for years. She was in very bad health with Lupus and other things. She was in a wheelchair, and was also very overweight. She heard about a practice of wishing other people well. She was skeptical and didn’t think she would even have the energy to do it, but decided to try it. Every day for a year she spent time during the day sending wishes of well being to other people. She chose to do it like this:

May you be safe
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you live with ease

She said these things silently to herself within her heart as she came across people. She said it for friends, co-workers and even for strangers as she was driving down the street. It isn’t known what effect it might have had on the other people but within a year her own happiness level soared. She was out of the wheelchair, and exercising three times a week, and is completely symptom free. The doctors say this is a medical miracle. The only thing that she did differently was to wish other people well.

She had to actually do it though. My problem with something like this is remembering. Over the years I’ve heard about quite a few neat things, but after awhile I forget about them. I think I’ll make up a few 3x5 cards.

That reminds me—Many years ago when the children were small, we had a Family Home Evening lesson about prayer. We made up cards with DFTP on them and put them around the house as reminders. It stood for Don’t Forget To Pray. One last card on the back wall of the broom closet hung on for many years. (The kids found creative places to put them.) We still have a card on the inside of our front door that says “I Am Someone Special,” from another long ago, but more recent, FHE lesson.

So I wish you well today. May you be touched by happiness, filled with gratitude, overflowing with enthusiasm, and encircled by love.

Love, Kathey

Our Family in 2006

On the last night of our June trip, Peter put everyone's pictures into his computer so he could make CD's for each of us to take home. Helena also included some that she took when everyone came to Ohio two years ago for our 40th anniversary. Not being a computer whiz I didn't have any idea how to put a CD into the computer let alone get any pictures off of one, so I thought it was probably some hairy scary deal. Well, I've finally learned how to do that!! I thought it would be fun to show a few of the 2006 ones… I like this one of Barbie and Kyle because of the angle. They are up against the swing in our back yard with our house in the background.

Here we are with our five kids. This was taken in the Relief Society room at the church.

Front row: Kirsten (number one kid) Kathey, Jim, Peter (the middle kid)
Back row: Betsey (second youngest) Barbie (the baby) Helena (second oldest)

And here's the whole group. This was taken in our back yard. Kirsten likes to wear red on Friday. Can you tell what day of the week this was taken? :)

Front: Kirsten, Betsey & Angie, Jim, Kathey, Doug with Kate (18 mo. old).
Back: Barbie and husband Kyle, Peter and wife Karen, Helena behind her family.

Our President Kimball Pumpkins

I just haven't been able to get myself to work on posting more about our latest California trip. I think I've been overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all, and all the MANY pictures, so for now I'll just show you this one, and then go on to something else instead. ^o^
Our whole family was there this time. Starting at the left: Helena & her husband Doug, I'm holding their daughter Kate, then Betsey, baby Elizabeth (Dau. of Peter and Karen) is next, then Kirsten, and Barbie. Back row is Jim, Karen, Peter, and Barb's husband Kyle. Helena and Barb are both expecting babies before the end of the year, so we'll soon be 14 in all. (Double click on the picture to enlarge it.)

* * * * * * * * * *

On June 12 I mentioned that I planted peas on the 5th of June this year, which was really late. Well that reminded me of another time when we got a garden in really late…

For quite a few years I had a letter route for Visiting Teaching. Every month I tried to include a personal note, or other interesting story that would hopefully be uplifting or inspiring in some way. I think that I originally wrote the following story as a Visiting Teaching message. It was dated October, 1999. It was about a special Family Home Evening activity we had one Monday night when the children were small.

Our President Kimball Pumpkins

Aren't we having a gorgeous autumn? It's so lovely and colorful. This time of year makes me think of another year long ago when we had some unique pumpkins for Halloween.

It happened when Spencer W. Kimball was president of the church. I can't tell you what year it was. I only know that President Kimball had been stressing the importance of growing a garden and we didn't have one. It was the end of June and not only had we not planted anything, but our once-lovely garden spot was a sorry sight. The weeds were so thick that our cat could get lost in them, and many of the weeds were taller than some of our children! It truly was a sad situation.

One night for Family Home Evening we set to work to change things. Our five children and I had great fun tramping down the weeds in the garden and covering them with 4 or 5 layers of newspapers. We held them down with a thick dousing of grass clippings which my husband supplied with the lawn mower. By the time we finished, the garden spot looked great. Not a weed was in sight. What a transformation! I began to think this might work after all.

The next day we scraped aside a small section of grass in the center of the garden, cleared it of weeds, and stuck some pumpkin seeds in the ground. It was July 1st--very late to be planting pumpkins, but we felt that planting something was better than nothing, and that we would be blessed for being obedient.

We watched hopefully, as the weeks went by and little pumpkins began to grow. By the last week in October we had several good-sized ones. The only problem was that they were dark green. Undaunted, we decided to pick them and make jack-o-lanterns anyway. What a surprise when we turned them over and discovered that the part of each pumpkin that was touching the ground was bright orange. When we carved them, they ended up looking like little orange pumpkin faces with lots of green hair! They were the most memorable jack-o-lanterns we ever had, and it happened because we wanted to teach our children that it was important to follow the prophet.

Sometimes we gain rewards in unexpected ways when we do something that's right, even if it seems too late, or otherwise doesn't make sense!

Later that fall I read in the back of the Ensign magazine that they wanted to publish an article about different kinds of Family Home Evenings. They asked for contributions, so I sent them a copy of the above story. I received a call several months later saying that it had been selected. It took about two years and several rewrites, but it was published in December 2001. Originally it was to have appeared in October, but got slipped to December. (9/11 might have had something to do with that.) It was part of an article called Family Home Evening, Any Size, Any Situation.

Following is the article with the picture that was in the Dec. 2001 issue. I was delighted with the picture. I did not send them one, but their artist's rendition was about perfect. It was exactly like the pumpkins looked, and almost how Peter looked at that time! The article itself was changed quite a bit. I knew that they would have to shorten it. The editors, however, didn't even want to include President Kimball's name because they felt there were many new people in the church who didn't know him. I really fought them on that one and they finally at least mentioned him. Something ironic is that one month later the Friend magazine had an article about a family planting a President Kimball Garden. Anyway, if you have a December, 2001 Ensign, our part of the article starts on page 42 and it's called Our Pumpkin Patch. (If you double click on the picture it will enlarge, and you can read most of the article as it appeared in the magazine. The first few words were on the previous page.)

Our Pumpkin Patch

Gardening can be a great unifying activity, as President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) and other Church leaders have taught. One of our favorite family home evenings came from working in our garden together. When we started, we never guessed it would bring us so much laughter and become such a treasured memory. We just knew something had to be done, since most of the weeds in our once-lovely garden spot were taller than some of our children! Pulling those huge weeds was too hard, so Mom, Dad, and all five children stomped them down. Then we covered the garden spot with layers of newspaper held in place with a thick dousing of fresh grass clippings. By the time we finished, the garden spot looked great. Because everyone worked well together, the task was accomplished quickly and we weren’t even very tired.

Though it was late in the season, the next day we scraped aside a small section of newspaper and grass from the center of the garden and poked some pumpkin seeds into the ground. Everyone was curious to know if we would have pumpkins before it became too cold.

We watched as little pumpkins began to grow. By the last week in October, we had several good-sized pumpkins. The only problem was that they were still green. Undaunted, we decided to pick them anyway and carve jack-o-lanterns. What a surprise when we turned them over and discovered that they were bright orange on the other side! When we carved them, they looked like little orange pumpkin faces with lots of green hair! They were the funniest looking jack-o-lanterns we had ever seen. This activity brought us not only a few gardening skills, but family unity and joyous memories as well.—Kathey Ahlstrom, Fairborn Ward, Dayton Ohio East Stake

If you would like to read the whole Family Home Evening article click here . It's pretty neat.

Holy Cow!

This morning as we were having our after-the-alarm-goes-off cuddle time, Jim said "Happy day after our 42nd anniversary."

I exclaimed, "42 years and one day, Holy Cow!" (Meaning--how did the time fly so fast…)

Jim chuckled and said, "I don't know why I thought of this right now, but I used to have a cow named Holly, so she was Holly Cow!"

He went on to say that he never says Holy Cow, so he never thought of that before.

My mom used to say Holy Cow, so I picked it up from her. For me I guess it's another tradition. ^o^

Does anyone know the origin of "holy cow?" Interesting how different things get started.--K

Two Blinks and a Burn

We were in California last week for a reunion of our immediate family. All the kids and their families were there. This is what Helena has posted about it so far. It was so-o-o-o-o fun, but it was like I blinked and suddenly it was over.

Also, today is June 25, which means it's our wedding anniversary once again. This is our very forty-second anniversary, or as Betsey said, our "forty-twoth." (That's pronounced like "tooth" you see.) That's another blink. Yes, the past 42 years have gone just that fast. Wow. I didn't really understand it when my dad used to talk like that, but now I can see what he meant.

The burn, unfortunately was/is sunburn. Last week on Tuesday we went to the beach. We went in the late afternoon. Everyone slathered on sunscreen, and the sun was at a low angle at that time, so no one had a problem with sun--or at least not much. Thursday was kayaking day. Kirsten and I and baby Elizabeth stayed on shore while everyone else took turns either kayaking or helping with Elizabeth, and Kate when Kate wasn't kayaking. Kirsten and I were under a big, shady umbrella so we didn't put on sunscreen. Kirsten is fine, but my feet got sunburned. I was wearing salt water sandals and was burned in that pattern. This picture shows how my feet still look today.

I didn't realize my feet were in the sun that day. I also didn't think much about it. I've had sunburn before and it has always turned into a tan in a few days, so far this one hasn't. It's still red and sore and it's been nearly a week. I've used different ointments on it, at least one of which seemed to make it worse. It's been disconcerting and puzzling. Yesterday I asked Dr. Duckwall about it and he told me something very interesting. He said that skin conditions need an abundance of calcium in order to heal. He suggested that I take a lot of calcium lactate to get it into my bloodstream, and also take a supplement called Cataplex F to get it into the tissues. OK. That makes a lot of sense, so last night I started taking calcium lactate and Cataplex F. Hopefully by tomorrow I will notice more of a difference. I think I'm starting to notice a difference today because the milder burn on my legs has been itching--a good sign I suspect.

Several other people got varying amounts of sunburn too--in places where they missed putting on the sunscreen or perhaps didn't put it on thick enough. We decided that we need to get a kind that goes on in some bright color at first so we can make sure we haven't missed any spots!

I plan to post more about the trip in the next day or two.--K

To a Really Great Guy

Last night I read this beautiful tribute that my daughter-in-law Karen wrote to her father, and I realized that I wanted to pay tribute to the extraordinary man who happens to be the father of my children. I don't have much time to do this right now, so I'm just going to do what I can and see what comes up.

What are some things that have made him a great and fun dad?

He offered good choices for the children:
• Where on your plate do you want your peas?
• Would you rather go to bed right side up or upside down?

That last one was especially fun, and of course the kids always wanted upside down. He would turn them upside down, have them "walk on the ceiling" down the hall and plop them on their beds.

It was fun to see the kids line up for running hugs from dad. They did that for years. He finally decided they were too big when they practically knocked him over when they jumped into his arms.

His patience and long suffering--He was always willing to be the donkey in our traditional family Christmas pageant. Helena would put a set of long, floppy, brown construction paper ears on him and off he'd go. It wasn't until much later that I realized how much it must have hurt his bony knees to crawl around on the hardwood floor with "Mary" on his back.

He was never a scout master, but was always willing to go on the Father & Sons camp outs. And how about the times he went on those Young women excursions? I seem to remember a certain back packing trip when someone I know just couldn't carry her backpack any longer, and dad came to the rescue.

There was also the volunteering every year to help with sports day at school, going to all the concerts and sporting events, and being the chess club adviser for several years.

Here's a picture of that great dad. I'm sure more could be said. Perhaps the kids would like to add a few comments about things they remember.

(Just ignore the mess on the table. It seems there are often messes in life that we'd rather not have in the picture, and life is too short to worry about them. ^_^)

I'd also like to share a few things about Jim the person, and Jim the husband.

He has been extremely teachable. He never has been much of a people person, and is not one to notice what's going on around him, but he is willing to take suggestion as long as it is offered in a kind manner.

He is an extremely willing worker, and has a great heart for giving service. He has helped so many church members move that he has become really proficient at packing boxes tightly in moving vans so the things don't shift around.

Sometimes he does take notice, and then take action. Once there was a snow storm during an evening Relief Society meeting, and he went over and cleaned the snow off of all the ladies' cars so they could drive home more easily. This kind of thing is typical of him.

Sometimes he has been exasperating to live with because he's an engineer, but that has been a learning experience for both of us. He really isn't being mean when he says things like, "Well the moon won't actually be full until 1:17 tomorrow night…"

He may sing a little off key, but he does it with enthusiasm.

From him I have learned kindness, not just because he has learned to be kind to me, but because I have also learned to be kind to him. I was really dumb when we got married. I think that most people are, and that's one of the reasons people are able to get married in the first place.

I had no clue how hard it would be to develop a really close relationship with another person, and frankly there were times of big disappointment. My knight in shining armor had a few rusty spots and chinks that were especially aggravating to me. I could tell though that when I pointed these out to him that it only made him discouraged and afraid to try harder.

Finally I was able to be wise enough to admire him as a person, and to express sincere appreciation when he did things that I especially liked. How often do we notice when people let us down, and forget to comment about the good things we do?

I gradually learned that with my children and my husband, great strides would eventually be made by noticing the baby steps they take in the right direction.

Baby steps! Isn't that what life is all about anyway? We all do the best we can, but with encouragement from those who care, we will become who we are meant to be.

Our Changing Yard

Who plants peas on the 5th of June? I do, if I haven't gotten them in the ground earlier. It seems to me that last year we planted them on about the first of June, and we had fabulous yields of sugar snap peas for weeks even though peas are essentially a cool weather crop. I had some seeds left over from last year, so I plopped them in the ground on one end of the trellis, and planted some 2008 seeds starting at the other end. As of today, Jim says they're up on both ends. Yay for trying old seeds as well as new ones.

We really like Square Foot Gardening, and built our boxes several years ago. It really does cut down on about 85% of the work. Because we garden in boxes, we never step on the soil, so it doesn't get packed down, and we'll never have to till it again. In the winter we've been covering the soil in the boxes with a few layers of newspaper and a combination of leaves and grass clippings. If for some reason a box doesn't get planted the next spring, not only do weeds not grow, but the decomposing mulch keeps adding nutrients to the soil.

Jim put a flat board in the ground all around the outside of our garden to make mowing easier. As the years have gone by, the garden boxes have shrunk a bit, causing quite a gap to form between the boxes and the board. Unfortunately that's a fine place for weeds to grow. As I was taking the mulch off of one of the boxes, I realized I could stuff it in the crack, so that's what I started to do. I think it will work well. You can also see part of the fence around the garden. Jim made it in sections so we could open up one section at a time for working comfortably from the outside. We have two kinds of critters that these fences work well for keeping out--rabbits and our little dog, Angie. You see Angie likes vegetables, and in the past has pulled up peas and broccoli plants. Near the garden there is an especially delicious sight right now--pure eye candy. I had heard that clematis like to climb on climbing roses, so we planted some together. I'm bonkers about this particular clematis and rose combination.

Does anyone know the name of this blue clematis? It's my very favorite. I've probably got the name in a notebook somewhere.

Our mock orange bush has also been blooming on the other side of the back yard. My mom had one, and so did my grandmother, so we planted one in our yard to carry on the tradition. They are SO fragrant. Mom also had lilacs, a snowball bush, a flowering almond, and some peonies, so we planted some of those too. Traditions are nice.The group of hostas below is just down the way from the mock orange bush. (Mom didn't have hostas, but that's OK. I like them anyway. ^•^)

Going around to the front yard the scene is very different. The candytuft, with their white carpet of flowers so plentiful a few short weeks ago, have had their fling and are now producing light green seed pods which are pretty in their own right. (If you want to see what the candytuft used to look like, scroll down to the May 10 posting.) Now it's time for the "Cerastium Tomentosa" to show their own white blanket. (Helena told me that the common name is "Snow in Summer.") I love their silvery leaves and tiny, snow white flowers.Next we are greeted by roses that Barbie planted here some years ago, with a few coral bells peeking out.

The white astilbes are coming into their own now, with a lovely background of hosta leaves.

And last but not least is our Kousa Dogwood. And, if you look closely in the lower left corner you can see a hint of one of the June lilies that will decide to bloom in a few days.

This year we had a truly gorgeous spring. The transition to summer has happened much too quickly, but every year is different and brings its own promises. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next. --K

A Final Farewell

I took my camera to church today because I never did get a picture last night of the whole Greenwood family. Good-byes are always hard. April and Sydney were only 2 and 1 when the family moved here. After five years the girls are now 7 and 6. This is the only home they remember and that made it especially hard.

April and Sydney are standing in front. Back row: Roger holding Caleb, age 1, Marci holding Kelsey, age 3, I think. Mom and Dad know how to smile for a camera, but I think the children's faces reflect how they all felt.

Sydney had tears streaming down her face as they turned to walk down the hall. I quickly snapped this picture as Mother and Daughter stopped to soak in one last look at this picture depicting the Savior giving The Sermon on the Mount. Not only is the family bidding farwell to home and friends, but to the church building they have loved as well. It was a bittersweet, tender moment.

A Fond Memory, and A Spectacular Treat

Tonight we went to a going away party for Roger and Marci Greenwood and their family. They are leaving on Tuesday to move to Colorado after being here for five years. Roger will be teaching there. I have fond memories of their family. Marci and her family were always so kind to Kirsten, and invited her over when they could. Some years ago, on a moment's notice Marci even drove me to the hospital, and also kept Kirsten over night, when Barbie had an emergency appendectomy. I shall ever be grateful for her kindness, and her willingness to help.

Marci Greenwood and Kirsten

An Unexpected Treat

After we got home I walked out on the deck and saw something spectacular. It was one of those breathtaking scenes that’s gone in minutes, but when I saw it I, I knew I had to share. It was too lovely to keep to myself. Unfortunately it wasn't something I could take a picture of. I dashed in the house and called for Betsey and Jim to come and see too. (Kirsten was busy changing into her p.j.’s)

The sun was setting. There were bands of cirrus clouds in the sky and the sun was shining through them creating golden streaks. There were literally gold bands across the sky that reflected that bright light down into our back yard. Because the sky was darkening, it made the gold light show up even more. Everything was just bathed in it. Green trees and grass looked lush and brilliant, and reds were vibrant. White petunias had an inner glow.

I’ve never seen our little red shed look so pretty, and its white trim stood out as if it has been painted just this morning. The red geraniums in our containers looked as if some little flames of fire had come to rest there for just a moment.

Too soon the light vanished, but I’m so glad I got to soak in the experience even for a short time. How often do we fail to notice lovely things that could touch our spirit, and fill our bucket for another day? I suspect they are all around us if we take a minute to see them. I’m glad I happened to look when I did. ^.^

Acting As If

I know just about everyone is interested in getting ahead. I've read quite a few things over the years about "Acting AS IF," and for me it's a valuable principle, but one that's hard to practice.

I wrote in my journal about this type of thing last night. I've heard about the "Act as if" principle lots of times before. The thing that's really hard is acting as if you had the energy to do something. Here's what I wrote in my journal last night: "I looked again at Dr. Laura’s book Bad Childhood, Good Life. Page 223 has a testimonial from a listener to her program: 'I have finally begun to realize that you do not need to feel better before you behave better. As you have often said, Dr. Laura, Feelings follow appropriate behavior.'"

Going along with that, Dr. Dean Black in the Frogship Perspective, said “We act according to our principles, not according to our moods, and then our moods go away.”

What's hard for me is trying to do things, even though my energy is practically non existent. There have been times, that with sheer determination and not much else, I've gone ahead and started something even though I haven't had the energy and found that energy does start to build little by little. I've found that for me, getting up EARLY in the morning is a key to feeling better later on. Unfortunately it's easy to get away from that.

I will experiment with this more. I got up at 5:30 with Jim today, even though I didn't sleep well and didn't feel like getting up. It's hard when you wake up and your biggest ambition is to take a nap. ^_^

We'll see.

An article from Jack Canfield came this morning and I thought it might be helpful. (I do have permission to use it.) It's long, so I've just included it as a link, but has some very good stuff.

In the article Jack explains why taking action is important, why rejection doesn't exist, why gratitude is important, and much more. Enjoy! I have highlighted those things that are most meaningful to me. If you would like to read it please click here.

Our Five Grandchildren

I thought it would be fun to show all five of our grandchildren. You didn't know that we have five? Well let me introduce them. Below is Katherine Elizabeth Jole, daughter of Helena and Doug. Kate, as she is known by, will be four years old in December. Helena made the sweater that Kate is wearing.And this little miss is Elizabeth Anne Ahlstrom, daughter of Peter and Karen. She was born January 14, and is currently 4 1/2 months old. Elizabeth is very observant and is trying her best to talk and to move around. She had her first taste of rice cereal today, and liked it! It's obvious that she loves her mom and dad and they love her right back.

And introducing "Munchkin" Mills. Below is a three-dimensional ultrasound picture of Barbie and Kyle's little one who will make an appearance around Halloween. Later pictures showed that the baby is probably a girl, but that picture wasn't as clear as this one, so I decided to post this one instead. If you look closely you can see that her head is to the left. You can also see short little arms and legs, and the umbilical cord. Needless to say we're all really excited.

And speaking of excited, Helena surprised everyone by posting the following announcement on her blog on May 6th. Their little one will be born around Kate's birthday in late December. Part of what makes this so exciting is that there will be three little cousins all born within the same year.

And last but definitely not least is Betsey's baby. What, you didn't know that Betsey even has a baby? She has blonde hair and brown eyes and is very cute, and also very obedient. She is fourteen years old, and her name is Angie. We love her a lot too. She has been a major asset to the family for a long time. She is fun and funny and loves vegetables. She gets very offended if we cut up carrots, or broccoli, or cauliflower, or green beans, etc., and don't "accidentally" drop some to her. She is very good at "barkuming" crumbs up off the floor.

BIRTHDAYS!

Jim is 66 years old today. He was born on Lorna Hansen's 14th birthday. Lorna's family had a surprise birthday party for her yesterday in honor of her 80th birthday. In spite of weather forecasts for dire circumstances, everything went very well. Here are Lorna and Jim at Lorna's house yesterday. Jim thought the shirt he's wearing would be appropriate for Memorial Day. It says "I BLEED Red White and Blue." He got it one of the times he donated blood.

We took Jim out to eat at Olive Garden tonight. Betsey had the chicken scampi and really liked it. Jim and I had salmon and Kirsten had spaghetti. Kirsten and I gave Jim a DVD of the Court Jester, with Danny Kaye. I got that idea awhile back when my friend Jill mentioned on her blog how much her family enjoyed it.

Betsey bought him a new rain gauge. All the numbers were worn off the old one. I knew he was needing a change when the other day he threatened to take a ruler with him in order to see how much rain had really fallen. She also got him a $5 DVD set which she said was from Walmart’s reject pile. It has 20 old John Wayne movies that are black and white and about 1 hour long. We watched one tonight. It’s interesting to notice how films have evolved over time. Betsey finally figured out that something huge that was missing was music. There was no background music of any kind, and the acting left something to be desired. We just had to laugh at some of it.

We sang "Happy Birthday," to him, rather creatively, and all of the kids called too. We also bought a New York style cheesecake, and heated up some frozen berries to put on top. It was the ending of a very nice day.

Our Trip to Illinois

Jim and Kirsten and I left on Friday, May 23 and drove to Illinois to attend a memorial service in honor of our Sister-in-Law Lynda's mother who passed away in December. On the way there we took a quick drive around the University of Illinois campus. Jim and I first met at the U of I in the cafeteria of the Illinois Street Residence Halls. We didn't get a picture of that building, but we did manage to snap pictures of our first dorms.

For the first three or four years that he was at the U of I, Jim lived on the second floor of Hopkins hall, shown above.For the first year or two that I was there, I lived on the third floor on this side of Van Doren Hall, which faced the football stadium. I remember several times when the night before a big game people came around to tell us to either have the light in our room on until midnight, or off all evening. The objective was to spell "GO ILLINI" in lights. I remember that it worked pretty well.

After taking a quick tour of the campus, we drove to Normal Illinois and checked into our hotel before driving to Eureka to visit Bob and Judy Hickok. We've known Bob since before Kirsten was born. His first wife, Lea, passed away a few years ago. He has since married Judy who was a long-time friend of the family. It was so fun meeting Judy and renewing our friendship with Bob. They showed us around Eureka, including a tour of Eureka College, alma mater of Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately we forgot to take a picture.

The memorial service the following morning was held in the cemetery in Fairbury, Illinois. Jim and his brother Frank grew up in Fairbury, and so did Frank's wife, Lynda. Jim and Lynda were in the same class in high school. Frank was a year older. (Frank passed away in 1999 at age 58.)

Lynda's brother, Doug, gave the eulogy. Then we stood around and visited for awhile before going to the Fairbury Country Club for lunch. Lynda is in the above picture on the right. Her sister Peggy is in the middle, and brother Doug on the left. These two handsome fellows are Mike and Mark Ahlstrom, sons of Frank and Lynda. Below are Mike, Lynda and Mark. We then looked at some of the sights in Fairbury. Below is a picture of Aunt Mildred's house in town. She and Jim's mom were sisters. I used to love visiting in that house. Our last stop was the Old Homestead. It had changed quite a bit. The people who live there now have built a deck in the back of the house.And the front porch is gone. It apparently has been enclosed. The garage to the left in the picture below was added by Grandma Ahlstrom during the time she lived there alone after Jim's dad passed away.

And here's the barn. It appeared to be in great shape. The corn crib that Betsey once got stuck in is long gone.

And so we bid farewell to Fairbury. Who knows when we will pass this way again. It was a nice trip, but we were glad to get home later that night.