Thoughts on Fairness

We have all been told that life isn't always fair. I know this only too well. After a long winter of gray skies, we finally got our first taste of truly warm weather this past couple of weeks. I love the sun shining in the windows. It brightens my soul and outlook as well as warms and motivates my body to function and I am able to accomplish so much more. I have been looking forward to being able to go outdoors and work in the yard, go for walks, enjoy the scenery, etc. Yet I have not been able to go outside my house for 12 days (The only exception was to go to the store for a few minutes and drive about 3 or 4 blocks down the street to visit Jill P. and come back, which I paid dearly for that night!). According to the allergy tests I have had, I am only allergic to dogs, but each year at this time I suffer greatly. I take my meds yet I continue to cough and sneeze, my eyes water, I lose my voice due to an irritated throat, I have headaches and can't sleep. Everything is blooming at once and the air is full of pollen. I am not able to tolerate it. My asthma kicks in. This has become a yearly event. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the beauty of this season and the warmth it brings. Spring continues to bring a feeling of hope and a desire for new experiences and growth. There is no point in dwelling on the misery of the moment when there is so much to look forward to...Summer! I figure that by the end of May I will be able to sit on the back patio and soak in the sun. I will be able to visit the fruit stands, go to the beach, take walks down by the river, go to the park with the grandkids, and give thanks for all the wonderful moments. Life isn't always fair, but it sure is worth whatever price we are asked to pay. The lesson is to have patience, endure, take the opportunities we have when they are there and be grateful. When we are able to remember this then we are able to see more clearly how truly blessed we are.

Boogie Baby

Hey, I'm pretty good!

Ooooo, Love that sound

This part requires my full attention

Almost done .....

I did good!!!

Benjamin Franklin Quotes that I love :

1. Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.

2. He that is of opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.

3. He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.

4. He is ill clothed that is bare of virtue.

5. Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from society.

6. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

7. He that can have patience can have what he will.

8. Take it from poor Richard, poor and lame, what's begun in anger ends in shame.

10. Wish not so much to live long as to live well.

11. Perhaps the history of the errors of mankind, all things considered, is more valuable and interesting than that of their discoveries. Truth is uniform and narrow; it constantly exists, and does not seem to require so much an active energy, as a passive aptitude of the soul in order to encounter it. But error is endlessly diversified; it has no reality, but is the pure and simple creation of the mind that invents it. In this field the soul has room enough to expand herself, to display all her boundless faculties, and all her beautiful and interesting extravagancies and absurdities.

12. Employ thy time well, if thou meanst to get leisure.

The Wonderment of Life

Ever wonder what it is that excites a small child?

A favorite toy at grandma and grandpa's.... A bug?
Maybe

It's not squash for lunch!

Hmmmm......It's not grandma and grandpa
making silly faces to get smiles for the camera!

A blanket and thumb are great comfort....
but

THIS is living!

Guitar Hero

This picture is revenge! :)
Andrea posted a picture of me playing Guitar Hero on her blog so I figure a picture of her enjoying playing on my blog would be fair.
GO ANDREA!

The kids love this little guy.

He flaps his wings while singing the chicken dance.

Easter Sunday

Ally and Kaitlyn

You would think no one showed up! It seems to be a tradition each year to take a picture of the table of food and no people!


Today started off with us attending Sacrament Meeting at church. We had wonderful talks and beautiful music sung by the talented voices in our ward. I dashed off right afterward to go pick up mom to bring her to our place only to discover when I got there that she was sick and not able to come to dinner. I had really been looking forward to her being with us and was disappointed, but felt bad for her. She had flu symptoms and was chilled. I hated to leave her alone, but she just wanted to curl up with a blanket, get warm and rest. Andrea, Jeremy and the girls came over for dinner. It wasn't the traditional ham dinner but instead we had barbequed country style pork spareribs, Lion House baked beans, potato salad,asparagus and rolls. Andrea brought over some fruit and deviled eggs. Mom sent over an angel food cake with a pineapple topping. Everything was yummy! The girls had an Easter Egg Hunt indoors since it was very gray and rainy outside. We wish that Kevin, Heather and Mya could have also joined us, but Kevin had to work.

Springtime at the Temple

Today I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the temple with my dear friend, ConneMara. Each of us felt the need for the spiritual uplift and to enjoy the beautiful day. This time of year the temple grounds are especially beautiful with the blooming daffodils and tulips. We topped the day off by going out to lunch and picking up a few items from the book store. Great day!

A Sunday Afternoon Drive

This weekend we finally got a taste of spring after a very long winter. It also happened to be General Conference week, so we were unable to get out and work in the yard or enjoy the warmth of the sun (It actually got into the 70's). We felt a little house bound and closed in, so once conference was over we decided to go for a Sunday drive up into the hills. People often wonder why we in the NW love it here so much since we have so much rain and it tends to be gray a lot. These pictures show the reason. We are blessed with such beautiful sights when the sun comes out.

DaVinci the Genius

"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than
mastery of oneself."


"It had long since come to my attention people of accomplishment
rarely sat back and let things happen to them.
They went out and happened to things."


It is spring break here and so it was the perfect time to take advantage of some free tickets we had for the DaVinci exhibit at OMSI. We loaded Andrea and the girls in the car and made a day of it. It was amazing to see the replicas of some his inventions and the many drawings and paintings. I would have posted some of them, but we were not suppose to take pictures in that area. The girls weren't really into all the DaVinci stuff, but they did enjoy the hands on exhibits thoughout OMSI.

Whose face is the MONA LISA?
Doesn't matter...she's never looked better!

Grandma and Grandpa with Ally and Kaitlyn

Andrea and girls writing their names backwards
so they can use a mirror to read

Flying Cups!

Ally's favorite part of the day was the water exhibits.
Here she is playing with the paddle boats.

Kaitlyn seemed to enjoy most anything that was hands on.
Here she is using the microscope and magnifying glass to look at bugs.

Oooooo-Ouch!

As a child about age 4, three of of my grandparents passed away within months of each other. None of them were very old. In fact I am almost 'that' age, now. Between their deaths and listening to my surviving grandmother talk about her aches and pains, I remember thinking how awful it must be to be to be old. (I even became scared of someday being in my fifties because I thought that everyone fell apart during this decade.)
As a young adult, I started to notice that my parents were chiming in and talking about their aches and pains often with family and friends. It seemed to my young mind all the adults were trying to outdo each other's horror stories about their pains, doctor visits, and medicines. It was enough to make me roll my eyes. How was it that adults seemed to have nothing better to talk about?........
Well, guess what?! I am now the older adult who sits with friends listening to their medical histories and sharing my own. George and I wake up in the morning and ask how each is doing with an understanding that even a night's sleep presents it's own difficulties....insomnia, back and shoulder aches, headaches, having to get up several times, hard to walk after getting out of bed, etc. When we get together with friends, it is not uncommon for us to greet each other with the question, 'How are you doing" or "What did you hear at your last doctor's appointment?" What is so scary is how fast we got here!
So.....kids, I apologize...When you ask how we are doing and you get more information than you might want to hear and are tempted to roll your eyes, I understand. But this has become a very real part of our lives. Thank goodness we 'older people' also find humor in our aches and pains. 'Sick' humor, I admit....but someday....kids, you too will understand and laugh.