Hodge Podge of Weekend Activities

This weekend I had several kids come to visit my boys from the previous town we lived in. It was wonderful to see all of them again! Some things never change. They are all still the same unique individuals and most of them make me laugh so hard my guts hurt! I love them all so dearly.

Several of them were in my home day-care for a few years when they were little. Now they are all about 19 years old and doing fantastic! Most are in college and nearly all are staying on the path they had made for themselves as far as serving missions for the church. I'm so pleased to learn that!

They all went to a place in St. Cloud and had fun cliff diving for the day on Saturday. It was a perfect summer day to do so and they all came home sunburned and happy.

We also went to our youngest sons play on Friday. It was amazing! He was in a leading roll in The Pirates of Penzance! It's an operetta and was downright adorable! Hunters voice rang out crystal clear and my mouth gaped as usual even though I've heard his singing voice a million times! I am so amazed at his gift and how humble he is about having such a beautiful voice.

I loved the era the play was written in. Where men were men and women were feminine and adorable. It swept me away as I giggled at their antics and silly humor. The bathing beauties covered from head to toe was so hilarious!

These days of summer have been so memorable for me as I awake from my long slumber and am sleeping better each day. I'm getting stronger and stronger and am amazed at the beauty all around me once again. I have been able to enjoy my kids and go fishing and garden often. Family work has become so much fun again!

Speaking of the garden! We have been inundated with summer squash! Everything is producing at once! Oh my! I have four yellow squash plants and three zucchini. Far too many and after several weeks I'm giving it away left and right. Soon the spaghetti squash will take over and the cantaloupe as well. Green beans are also keeping us VERY busy. But sadly half my tomatoes have fallen to blight! My cucumbers have been fighting a fungus. So, I'll have to hit the farmers market for some later this season to fill in the gaps as I start to can sauces and pickles.

Matthew in Russia has been struggling with getting Baba Anya to allow him to fumigate her apartment and the infestation of bed bugs. Ugh! I told him that he needs to tell her he'll have to inform her neighbors if she won't allow him to spray. I think it will work.

Our son in LA has been warned about bed bugs there as well. Thank goodness for small blessings and the lack of creepy critters in our home! I hate nasty bugs! I quiver just thinking about it.

Smiles, Cheers and an Occasional Song

I have been so excited about posting this week and have had some technical difficulties to deal with online. Just as I was thinking that I would have to start a new blog, suddenly everything works again. So, I guess the Internet gremlins have finally left me be and I'm free to share my thoughts with my readers once again. Thank goodness!

I had a rather odd but relaxing 4Th of July this year. Odd because it was lacking a group gathering or traditional picnic our family always had in the past. Relaxing because we worked in our wonderful veggie garden as a family, digging in the dirt, setting up hot wire to keep out bunnies, woodchucks and deer. As a reward for working so hard, we then went across the road to the Crow River to fish as a family. I guess it really was a celebration of sorts, just different.

It was relaxing to watch the hypnotic river current pass by while watching an occasional carp leap out of the water in front of us. Gosh does that ever get your heart racing!

We saw leopard frogs sitting on the bank below and Hunter was feeding them bits of night-crawlers. It was actually quite entertaining wondering which frog would get the their favorite food first. It was a simple day and it was so relaxing. A moment in time where all cares and worries ebbed away from each of us and were replaced with smiles, cheers and an occasional song.

The cheers happened when I caught the first and second catch of the day! I barely landed the second one by myself.

It was simply a wonderful day. It was a celebration of freedom from monotony and stress. It was also a celebration of our most precious family.

We are truly blessed as a family, to live in this free country where we can worship and love and play without fear. Though recently the family has been under attack and it concerns me deeply. Having raised four wonderful sons, I know how important it is to have a mother and father figure in their lives. I do realize that is not always possible in some families. But they must do their best in these trying times we live in.

Recently our church who remains aloof when it comes to politics, has made a statement concerning same sex marriage. The process by which our constitution is upheld, has come into question by four judges in the state of California is about to effect all Americans across the board.

Below is a link to what the first presidency of the LDS church is now telling our members and the world. We have joined with many other churches to stand up for the Constitution. I pray you will too. Become aware of what is going on in our beloved free country. Remember what our ancestors fought and died for. Study, search , ponder and pray about what to vote for when you go to the polls this year. Uphold our constitution and our rights and our right to preserve the votes that pass what the people want, not what a handful of men have interpreted to be the law.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/california-and-same-sex

I am so glad I took the time to enjoy the 4Th of July with my family. It was the most restful day I've had in a long time. What a beautiful place we live in--what a blessing this country is!

Cultivate an Attitude of Happiness!

“I believe [the Lord] is saying to each of us, be happy. The gospel is a thing of joy. It provides us with a reason for gladness. Of course there are times of sorrow. Of course there are hours of concern and anxiety. We all worry. But the Lord has told us to lift our hearts and rejoice. I see so many people . . . who seem never to see the sunshine, but who constantly walk with storms under cloudy skies. Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “If Thou Art Faithful,” Ensign, Nov. 1984, 91–92).

I felt such joy as I read Gordon B. Hinckley's quote! It is only as we look to Christ and His example, that we can deal with all that life throws our way some days.

There are times when I'm asked how I can be so happy? I answer that I have given my worries and my fears to my Savior when I can no longer carry them myself. I choose to look for the light and the good in my life rather than dwell on the pain, the suffering and the lack of.

My life then flows with blessings and as I count them they are without number! We can each do the same. From the smallest thing to the most magnificent!

I can find the love of what our Heavenly Father has given me in plain dirt if I have to! yes! Dirt! A handful of dirt has millions of granules each with a purpose, each with a history! That dirt can be carried to the far corners of the world and grow almost about anything that is planted in it with a little care and some water and sunlight.

I often stand in my veggie garden in my bare feet feeling the dirt between my toes, it's soft, warm goodness all around me-- growing my tomatoes, zucchini, green beans and water melon too! Flowers blossom, bugs wriggle through it as I stand in one place watching miracles pop up all around me in a whirl of life. I imagine my cares going into the dirt through the bottoms of my feet. Soon I forget what was bothering me as I bend to pull a weed.

I challenge each of you to look for the love of our Father in heaven in your daily life too. Look for the miracles that abound all around you. Let the hours of concern and anxiety be smaller. Dwell on the possibilities of life and learn and grow doing something you love. Seek those things that will make your spirit sing! Let go of the past, the pain and the negative. It will leave you if you let it. Then allow our Saviors love to encompass you in all it's sweetness. I know you can.....I did it and if I can, anyone can do it too.