Blessed, Honored Pioneers

Although you wouldn't know it around here, today is Pioneer Day, the 161st anniversary of the day that Brigham Young and the first group of pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. At the very least, I think we owe it to them to stop for a few moments, consider their sacrifice and express our gratitude. Not every pioneer story is one of outstanding heroism or heartbreaking loss. Some of the stories were about simple endurance; putting one foot in front of the other until they arrived at their destination. Some of the stories were about obedience, some about loyalty. Their faith drove them forward and the blessings that we enjoy today are the fruits of that faith. I owe a tremendous debt to my ancestors and hope they are pleased with what I have done with the opportunities they provided me.

In my direct line there are 37 people who, along with their families, joined that great march of saints on the trek west between 1846 and 1900. Many of them began their journeys in distant lands; Austria, Sweden, Denmark, and England. Most of them walked away from farms and property-not just once, but over and over again. Many of them buried loved ones along the way. The struggle continued when they reached Utah. They fought crickets, Indians, starvation and the weather. But they also built temples, served missions and built Zion.

Their blood flows through my veins. The blessings that I enjoy today were purchased with every faithful pioneer footstep.

Thank you.

Don't You Slink Away Without Leaving a Comment!

I am substitute teaching this Sunday in Relief Society and would like to pick your brains. It has been years since I taught R.S (since before we were called to the branch in 2003) and I am not accustomed to using a conference talk as my lesson material. So, I would love it if all my loyal followers (and you anonymous stalkers, too) would read President Uchdorf's talk from the April 2008 conference (you can find it on lds.org or in the May Ensign) and share your thoughts with me. The title of the talk is, "A Matter of a Few Degrees." I think it was given during the priesthood session.

Any contributions are appreciated; your thoughts on the subject matter, personal stories, ideas on presenting the material, etc. We have terrific teachers in our RS and I don't want to let the sisters down! Thank you in advance...

The Boys of Summer

My boys are back tonight on USA and I am giddy with excitement. To quote Lyle Lovett, "Does that make me a shallow person?"



The crime-solving is definitely secondary, especially on Psych where fast-paced banter and witty pop culture references take center stage. On Monk, there is more pathos as we watch Adrian struggle with his wife's death and the scars it has left on his very damaged psyche. Both are well-written, well-acted, and well-worth an investment of a couple hours on a Friday night. Besides, "Mama Mia" and "The Dark Knight" are sold out.

Did you really think I meant baseball players?

His Middle Name is Style

This week I sewed shirts for the five grandsons. I spent a lot of time poring over bolts of fabric, looking for just the right print--whimsical but not too juvenile--cool, but not too sophisticated. I think I found just the right thing. Kind of a rain forest-inspired, surfer dude style with lizards and frogs. Spencer and Will are hanging out with me today while Heather helps her sister, Terri, set up her classroom for the fall. (Where did summer go???) So I had Spencer try on his shirt and he agreed to model it for the camera (actually, he didn't want to take it off). I asked him what he liked best about it (assuming it would be the lizards or frogs) and he quickly replied, "The comfy-ness. How did you make it so comfy? This is the most comfy shirt I ever wore!"

High fives for Spence who already understands everything important about fashion.

Click on photo to enlarge.

If They Sold Blogs at Dollar Tree You Would Find This One on the Potpourri Aisle

It has come to my attention that people are no longer enjoying my recent post about The Closer. I just don't have a lot of exciting news to report. I can summarize the last couple of weeks in a few lines:


1. It is hot here in BAKErsfield.

2. Due to the ongoing Piute fire up above Lake Isabella, we have very bad air quality.

3. The doctor has put me on an inhaled steroid which is helping a LOT. But I still have to stay inside most of the time to avoid the aforementioned bad air.

4. I have let Blanca and Vero go. I very much enjoyed their housecleaning abilities, but I need to get back to doing my own housework. It will be good for me physically (and I will save $200.00 a month!).

5. I have a new hands-free cell phone device, thanks to Governor Schwarzenegger. As of July 1 it is against the law in California to talk on the phone while driving, unless you have such a thing. It is not the kind that goes in your ear. It hooks onto the visor and I find it much more distracting than holding a cell phone. Clare has opted for a different approach. Today, while I was on the phone with her, she suddenly stopped talking. She came back in a minute and said, "I had to put my phone down--there was a cop next to me."

6. The medical community has just about finished their dance with our insurance company and requests are pouring in for our portion of my little hay ride. FYI--we are fast approaching the $200,000 mark. Fortunately, our share is considerably less. I am very thankful for the little protection racket that we call insurance.

7. On Sunday, I volunteered to play piano for Relief Society AND I was asked to teach the lesson in two weeks. This makes me very happy.

8. Tomorrow night is my family life enrichment group. I am teaching a class on "Family Traditions, Family Fun and Wise Use of the Media."

9. We went to a stake fireside Sunday night about Proposition 8, the defense of marriage amendment to the state constitution. If you are interested in learning more (and you should be--as California goes, so goes the nation) you can visit the coalition's web site at http://www.protectmarriage.com/. The LDS church is one of several churches in the state that is organizing its members to donate money and spread the word. They LOVE out of state donations!

10. Last week I sewed six summer dresses and one fringed cowgirl shirt for the granddaughters. This week I am doing shirts for the boys. Two down and three to go.

11. I have fallen in love with a "new" pattern. It is a re-release of a 1948 Simplicity pattern for embroidered baby booties. I love it even more than the last bootie pattern that I went overboard on. Now I need new (tiny) babies to make them for!



Well, that pretty much sums up my recent history. I hope you are all well and I hope you all caught the season premier of The Closer!

She's Back!

Bill and I are HUGE fans of The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick, on TNT. Kyra and the gang are back on July 14 for Season 4. This series is extremely well-written, with witty dialogue and real emotion. You will quickly begin to care about the characters and wonder what they are doing when they aren't visiting your living room. You need to rent the first three seasons and get caught up before the big season premier on July 14. I promise--you will thank me.

Clever Devil, Isn't He?

This is what the light fixture in our breakfast nook looked like in 1991 when the house was built. I assure you, it was considered very lovely at the time. In fact, we paid extra to have shiny brass every where the eye fell--on light fixtures, faucets, door knobs, hinges, etc. A few years ago, my decorating guru, neighbor, and middle child, Emily, convinced me that we could update the fixture by spray painting it with a textured black paint so that it looked like wrought iron. It was highly successful and I was very happy with it until I spent a week in Tahoe watching HGTV while trying to avoid the smoke in the air. I came home wanting to take my update up a notch by replacing it all together. I explained to Bill that aside from looking out of date, the biggest problem with the fixture is that the lights hang down. Playing cards at that table is like being in an Easy Bake oven. It won't cook you fast, but you'll get good and done eventually.

Much to my surprise, Bill apparently heard me. I walked into the kitchen and found him tinkering with the fixture, taking it apart and switching it around so that it now was an uplight! I wanted to buy those cute little fabric chandelier shades to replace the old ribbed glass ones, but Bill convinced me that they would allow too much direct light to escape downward and suggested I look for new glass shades that would direct the light up. I found some that I think work well and I am completely happy with our "new" light fixture. We played "Ticket to Ride"at the table last night and neither of us went to bed with heat stroke.

My hero, Recycle Man.