This and That

I am loving this time of year.  Our skies are full of clouds, wind, rain and sun.  We had the most amazing lightening storm last Tuesday night, just at dark, about 10 PM.  Lightening flashed between the clouds every few seconds for what seemed like a long time.  The sky lit up above us and thunder filled the air.  It was amazing.  I've never experienced anything like that before.  California, you know, has no such sky works.  A hard rain soon accompanied and then followed the lightning, along with lots of wind.  It was impossible to ignore such a show.

Our neighbors, the Wintersteens, invited us to visit a park full of American flags on Memorial Day last Monday.  The field there held flags for a large number of veterans.  We discovered that we could buy flags and attach a name and military organization to each one, and post it with the other flags.  So I bought one for Layne and one for my father.  We labeled each one and placed them with the other flags.  As I walked through those flags I could see the soldiers they represented in my mind.  It was an emotional experience for me.  I could feel the spirits of those soldiers.  Being surrounded by those flags brought such feelings of love and gratitude that we have men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line for us.  For our country.  I'm so grateful for them!  And that we have military men in our family.  We were able to bring our two flags home once the display was over.  I plan to display them in the yard when the occasion calls for it.

Layne holding his flag on Memorial Day at the Park.

Layne and I among the Flags.

We've been playing with our ATVs a bit lately.  Playing.  Layne also.  Layne.  He isn't much of a player you know.  Yet, for some reason, he is into this.  I'm happy to see it.  So we are joining friends and going on several ATV trips this summer.  I think I'm excited.  It is fun to drive them.  We rode through the foothills next to our development this past week.  It was great until I had to drive down what appeared to me to be a pretty steep hill.  That scared me.  But I did it, once Layne led the way.  And I made it out alive and unscratched.  So perhaps I can manage this.

View of our neighborhood from the foothills, when ATVing.

We are still taking singing lessons from our opera-oriented teachers.  Brett and Sue Hamilton are professionals and we are lucky enough to have them teach us.  It has been a revelation to me.  I'm actually learning how to use my voice and how to breathe better.  My mediocre voice is also improving somewhat, although I wouldn't want to display it too openly.  The Hamiltons performed at a local hotel Friday night and we were lucky enough to get tickets for it.  Wow, what fun to see professional singers up close and observe how they handled themselves, mistakes and all, in stride.  It was such fun!  There were even people there that I knew, which is such a joyous thing considering our limited experience here.  Since we don't get out to things like this much, it was an experience worth noting, and, hopefully, repeating.

I will say that Idaho is providing us with a multitude of new experiences and new friendships.  I'm enjoying that.

Treble Clef

I've been singing with my singing group, the Treble Clef Singers, for three weeks now.  Saturday night was our last performance, for family and friends.  We've been singing mostly in Old Folks Homes, and a couple other places.  It has all been very comfortable as the audiences are easy to please.  It is a great format for growing confidence.  I'm definitely not as scared of singing in front of people as I used to be.  In informal situations that is.  Singing for friends and family was a bit more stressful, even in a group.  But, much like giving a talk, once we got going the fear left.  My ladies are a lovely group ranging in age from 30s to 70s.  We costume up, make up some choreography and sing.  It has become a very rewarding and fun activity for me.  Our group has adopted Layne as their token male and he performs something at each of our concerts.  So we are the "couple"of the group.  This time around Layne and I sang a duet, "Old Black Magic".  My ladies were very supportive of our efforts.  I found my courage singing this with Layne and learned to belt out my part.  This is a major step for me.  My usual singing effort involves blending in and, if possible, not being heard.  So this was a milestone.  I found that I liked it and was not nervous.  It feels good to face this fear.

Our singing instructors have committed us to sing as a quartet at Church.  Hum.  That is an altogether different kind of singing and it scares me to death.  I may be about over Treble Clef fear but singing in Church crosses the line.  Except in the choir.  Lots of voices there and I can hide if I want to.  But before the summer is over we will be singing in a quartet during sacrament meeting. Sigh.  Face the fear, right?  I'm afraid my voice will turn to a frog.  I'm afraid of singing flat.  I'm afraid of losing my breath.  All the fears overcome in Treble Clef are alive and well in Church.  Can I possibly get over this?

It has been stormy this week.  I love it.  Thunder storms are to continue throughout the coming week. It is an open week!  I have all sorts of plans for accomplishing my own personal goals.  Here's hoping I can stay the course.

Our singing group at the Friends and Family performance.
I'm in the back, in the green hat.  Good view, eh?

 

Mother's Day

I don't like being in Idaho for holidays.  Mother's Day fits that as well.  No family is here to celebrate with.  But friends are abundant.  We had dinner with our Fremont group last night and one of them, Lisa Young, invited us to dinner today.  So, in spite of Layne's willingness to fix me dinner, we will share our Mother's Day meal with the Youngs.  Even without family here, I rejoice in the family I have.  My children and grandchildren bring me nothing but pleasure and gratitude.  They are all such good people.  There are many here who have such family heartaches.  But we are not among them.  So, even without family here, I am rejoicing today that I have a family and that they bring me joy, not sorrow.

My Mother's Day Treasures

Our week has been full of singing.  It takes lots of time and energy, so I find that I am getting little else done.  But I believe we are doing a good job of bringing some pleasure to those we sing to.  And the money we make will go to a doctor who fixes cleft palates in developing countries.  And I'm learning not to be afraid to sing in front of people.  Except that our singing teacher wants us to sing in a Sacrament meeting at Church. That scares me.  We are scheduled to sing next month.  Can I pull through without being scared out of my wits?  I keep telling myself that I should face my fears.  I'll let you know how that turns out.

Me on one of our new ATVs.

Dad enjoying an ATV ride in the neighborhood.

Layne and I tried out our ATVs by driving through the neighborhood.  I can see that they are going to be a lot of fun.  Layne is hot to use them and has already ordered helmets and goggles for us.  We will join a group to go ATVing later this month.  Singing and ATVing; who knew that we would be doing these things?  I have Idaho to thank for these grand adventures.

"Must Change"

The blossoms of spring are gone and replaced by the green leaves of early summer.  Our yard is bursting forth with life of all sorts.  The sound of birds fill the air, along with the sweet smells of our lilac trees.  Green fills my vision as I look out on our expanse of grass.  Layne's care has turned our yard into a green heaven.  Several neighbors have told us that we have the loveliest lawn in the neighborhood!  As I look upon all this beauty, I imagine how nice it would be if we could add a gazebo, redo the deteriorating deck left over by the previous owners, plant more flowers and trees.  "Must change," Layne tells me, mocking my dream.  He is slow to share my vision!  Of course it would probably work better for me if I simply appreciated all that he has already done.  I'm trying to do that.  I do appreciate it.  I really do.  But I have this vision...

The kitties are spending some of their nights
outside now.  But by morning they are eager
for breakfast.  Here is one of them looking in
our bedroom window, greeting us as we get up and
pleading for food.

Our spring.  One of the lilac bushes is at left.

Our spring concert has begun.  My singing group has performed 8 times already.  It is uplifting, energizing and exhausting all at the same time.  The duet that Layne and I sing is so far going pretty well I think.  We even sang it at a wedding reception on Friday.  I'm rambling on about this because I am usually scared to death to sing in front of people.  Unless I'm part of a good sized group.  But I don't feel afraid singing with Layne.  Maybe it is the song.  We are singing "Old Black Magic".  It is not serious, but fun to sing.  Mistakes can be absorbed into the presentation.  I like that.  So, amazing as I find it to be, I'm actually enjoying singing!

Layne, you know, is a serious kind of guy.  He isn't much into recreation but prefers to be productive. That is where his joy comes.  I've become more of that kind of person also.  His influence is pretty powerful.  With is in mind, I was amazed to hear him talk about buying a couple of ATVs from a couple we served in the temple with.  It seems they want to go on a mission and decided to sell their ATVs and trailer to finance it.  The price was very good, so Layne went for it.  Us and ATVs.  Who knew?  Layne is talking about going on ATV trips with another temple buddy and actually having some recreational fun!  I'm amazed.  And pleased.  Is this an example of "must change" perhaps?

Lately I am filled with thoughts about how much our lives have changed since moving here.  We are doing things we've never done before.  I never thought that, by this time in our lives, so many new experiences would present themselves.  While I still miss my family, I can't help but enjoy and be grateful for these new adventures.  I feel myself expanding, in good ways.  I'm grateful for it.

Daughter's art.  This was done by Jessica.

Audrey drew this.  I love them both and have framed
them alike to hang together.  My daughters, the artists!

Two Visits

My daughter Audrey and her family have lived with us for a number of years.  So we have grown close and used to being in one another's company.  Perhaps for that reason Audrey feels the need for regular visits.  I love her pursuit of continuing closeness, so when she said she was going to drive here from her home in Mountain House, I was excited.  Two weeks ago, she drove the 10 or so hours by herself and arrived on that Monday afternoon.  She stayed for five days.  We had such fun together.   We saw some of the local sights, went to the temple and exchanged thoughts and ideas.  It was a sweet time.

Audrey with a new hair style from my favorite local
hair stylist, Danea Villa.

She introduced me to a journaling system that includes long range planning and I'm hooked.  At least for now.  I've made all sorts of charts of potential accomplishments, in various categories.  It is a pretty structured system.  I admire structure.  I'm in the habit of setting up all sorts of versions of it for myself, with grand plans for accomplishment.  After all, I only have so many years left to do whatever I want to get done before leaving this mortal place.  But while I admire all things organized, and goals set, I am, by nature, a free spirit.  So I quite often sabotage my own good intentions.  Sooner or later, something inside of me often rebels and I lapse back into my free-spirit mentality.  I forget my carefully ordered systems and lapse back into relative chaos.  But perhaps if I persist in my efforts, I will eventually win in my war for accomplishment.

My first accomplishment under my new system was to get all of my father's memorabilia organized into one binder.  Wow.  I'm so proud.  And I so enjoyed reviewing my father's life once again.  He really was quite wonderful.

Audrey's sons Chase and Isaiah and Chase's wife Morgan joined us on Friday of two weeks ago.  Isaiah was visiting Chase, so they brought him back to our house, for the drive back to California.  California is where Ben and Jessica's newest baby girl was just born.  The thought came to me that I could ride there with them and see my newest little granddaughter.  Audrey planned to begin the drive back at 1 am Saturday morning so as to get Isaiah back to California in time to go to work for the afternoon.  You may imagine how we looked forward to that!  Then Layne suggested that we leave after dinner on Friday night instead, spend the night in Winnemucca, and finish the drive on Saturday morning.  He made all the arrangements for us, and we took his advice.  It made the trip so pleasant!  Perhaps that is how we should proceed from now on.

We celebrated Morgan's birthday Friday afternoon,
with strawberry pie for dessert.  She loved it.

I spent the time in California with family mostly, getting a good bond in with just about everyone.  I spent last Sunday with Ben and Jes and our new little Olivia.  And all the other, very busy children.  I had such fun with all of them.  Olivia is almost two months old now and, with a little encouragement, she "talked" to me and even gave a little smile.  I was charmed.  Audrey and I had a very pleasant lunch and bond with Reed several days later.  Cliff drove me to the airport early last Wednesday morning and we talked all the way.  I loved that too.  So, in spite of catching a cold from someone there, I had a wonderful time and it was very worth the effort to make the trip.

Olivia in a serious moment.

After some encouragement on my part,
here is a hint of a smile from Olivia.

Ben and me in his kitchen.

I've been nursing my cold, and passing it on to Layne, ever since returning home.  We are both staying home from Church today to nurse our ailments.  Next Tuesday we begin our concert series with my singing group.  I hope we can squeak out some singing.  Layne and I are supposed to sing a duet.  This is new territory for me.  I'll let you know how that turns out next week.    

Easter

I have happy memories of Easter that flow back to my childhood.  We had Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets and seemed usually to find a Church to attend on Easter.  I remember dressing up in a new dress, shoes, gloves and hat for Easter.  There was no other event that produced such finery.  Easter services always seemed especially spectacular too.  Special flowers and music usually filled the chapels we attended over the years.  I longed for more of Church in those days.  But my family only attended Church on special occasions.

Of course joining the LDS Church changed all of that rather dramatically.  Church is part of my everyday life now.  I like it that way.  But memories of sweet Easter celebrations has made me a little sad when Easter falls on General Conference Sunday.  Easter services are often not celebrated in the ward when that happens.  I love General Conference and I love Easter.  But I wish they fell on different weekends.  Somehow it doesn't feel quite right to sit at home, in casual clothes, on Easter and watch the TV.  Perhaps that is just the Protestant in me.  Plus there is no family to enjoy a celebration with.  BUT I did enjoy Conference and there were plenty of talks about the Savior and Easter.

Our yard is exploding in blossoms.  Spring is such a beautiful time.  I love walking through the yard and seeing it come alive, a little more each day.  Layne is loving working in the garden.  But our garden experiment with early planting has hit a snag.  Our tomatoes apparently roasted in the plastic covered setting Layne set up for them.  He's decided that they needed more water.  So he's started over, unaffected by the frustration of it all, or so it appears.  He just keeps on trying new approaches until he finds out what works.  He's got a knack for not getting discouraged over things.  I so like that about him.

Part of our front yard.  Love the blossoms!

I have a number of projects started.  I've complained before that I can easily start things but finishing them is, for some reason, a challenge for me.  So I've started a t-shirt quilt.  Its not on my priority list but, somehow, I feel pressed to do it.  So I am.  And I'm happy to say that it is almost finished!  Once it really is finished, completely, I plan to celebrate the completion of something.  Then on to my other uncompleted projects.  I'm hoping that finishing something will spur me on to complete some more.  I'll keep you posted on that!

The t-shirt quilt, almost finished!

I am filled with gratitude for the good things that fill my life.  I realize that we are amazingly blessed and I don't want to take it for granted for a moment.  I wonder what more I should do to share these blessings and show the Lord my gratitude.  I pray to know each day and am trying to tune into the unspoken needs of others.  I'm working on being more service-oriented.  I'm grateful for Easter too, and the chance to review the Lord's grand Atonement and the gifts it brings to us all.  I guess, to sum things up, I'm just plain grateful.  

Happy Easter!

St. George

We have a deal with our friends Bill and Trudy Ostler.  They visit us once a year and we visit them once a year.  Since they live in St. George, this seems like the best way to keep in touch with them.  Our turn to visit them came up last Monday.  So we flew to St. George and joined them in their lovely house at the base of the red rock mountains.  The red dirt of southern Utah is enchanting.  It fills the countryside with amazing mountainous shapes, in red, often ribboned through with white dirt.  It is such a sight!  Imagine growing a garden in red dirt!  People there do.

Bill and Trudy had our days scheduled with visits to Bryce and Zion parks and sights in between. We drove and hiked and took endless pictures.  And we talked and talked.  Trudy and I walk the same mental path in most things, so our conversations flow and build on each other.  In most categories anyhow.  Bill and Layne get along very well too.  So spending time with these friends is a treat.  Bill had our days planned much as Layne likes to do.  By the time we did all that he scheduled us for it was time to go home.

It is interesting to see such varieties of beauty in our world.  If I were to describe a nature scene that is most beautiful in my mind, it would be filled with trees, green grass and flowers, with a bubbling brook nearby.  Southern Utah has none of these things.  Well, very little.  It is filled with desert plants, lots of dirt and rugged mountains.  Many of them red.  In spite of the contrast with my vision of natural beauty, I found the scenes we experienced awesome in their loveliness.

Bryce provided us with quiet pleasures, while Zion was filled with lots and lots of people.  As it turned out, the week we were there was spring break.  So the area was filled with families.  We took a bus through Zion and visited with several strangers.  This may sound to you like an exaggeration, but everyone we actually visited with was from Boise!  Yes, it was actually true.  Crowds filled all the special places in Zion, so it wasn't as much fun for us as our time in Bryce.  But it was all a wonderful adventure.

It all ended early Friday morning when we returned home.  It is so good, always, to be home.  And now everything is pretty much back to normal.  At Church today our stake president told us that he had been notified by Salt Lake that we could be finished with our mission in May!  Or we could continue until November, when our two years would be up.  We have our choice as it turns out.  So now we must make a decision about it.  I'm not sure what the best thing to do is.  We are thinking that we would like to do one more mission but the question is, when?  Our year is filling up, working around a November release.  Perhaps we should keep to that time frame.  I just don't know.

Trudy and me in Devil's Garden, near Escalante, Utah.

Bill "pushing" on a local rock, with Layne, in Devil's Garden.

Our room at a Bed and Breakfast in Escalante, where we spent one night.

Our scary hike along Shakespeare Trail in Kodachrome Park.
If you look closely you can see some of us on the path.