Merry Christmas!!!!!

(I had hoped to make this post several days ago.......things have been a little busy around here, so thought I got most of it written and ready, ..........well........it has taken me till now. And though it's "too late" to be up, I'm going to post it now!!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, surrounded by loved ones. We have had a wonderful time together, and maybe I will be able to share some of that with you as well...........)
Over Thursday and Friday, the 22-23, Roger and I went to Salt Lake City with our high school choir--Daniel is a member. Roger drove the bus. There are all kinds of reasons why you want to be the wife of the bus driver..........aside from the obvious that he's a great guy! you get a free ride, a free room, and no additional responsibilities; i.e. they can not make you a chaperone. However, as you know, you can't deal with teenagers without some drama..........this was no exception. But we had a great time! They sang at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and then a real concert in the Assembly Hall. They started off the day, Friday, with fun...........standing in the rotunda of the State Capitol Building and listening to their voices roll around and come back to them time and time again............it was beautiful! And one of my favorite stops on this "tour". (We've "done" this trip several times and it's always a treat.) I love the beauty of the capitol building..........it was a "misty" day..........so beautiful!!!! Some of the pictures are good..........others not so good, but meaningful..........

The time on temple square and the plaza was truly the highlight of the trip..........as soon as I get out of the bus on West Temple and hear "O Come All Ye Faithful" as the nativity presentation ends the spirit fills me and I feel that I have come "home". And I wonder why I can't feel that all the time??? The choir sang in the Joseph Smith Memorial building then 1 1/2 hours later in the Assembly Hall. We were able to wander around the square and over to Deseret Book........what a beautiful store!!!!! As twilight came and then the lights began to come on--lighting the temple, the tabernacle, etc.........but we had to be in the Assembly Hall before the lights on the trees came on.........it was all lovely. I have no words to express my feelings...........awe, wonder, magical, peace, grandeur, love, majesty, "home", glorious..........I'm sure you feel it too............so here are the pictures..........

 

 

I was leaning against the Tabernacle watching the nativity story for the second or third time, with this view...........and I couldn't help but wonder what He might be thinking about all this..........as this "looks" down over the lawn where His birth is staged..........and I wondered..........and gloried in the words "Oh Come!!! All ye faithful!! Joyful and triumphant.........."

...solstice snow...

 Yes...I think about such things as "solstice" and "equinox" and "total eclipse"---which we missed last night because of the storm :( And I know that this won't seem like much to many of you in the north or at higher elevations. BUT!!!! This is major for us!!! worthy of pictures on the blog!! And it's beautiful!! AND current..........I took the pictures 1/2 an hour ago!!! Are you impressed?? It will probably never happen again..........

Our birch tree--really "weeping"

 the front porch railing

 I know this is common in Buffalo, NY.....but here????

 Remember those lilac bushes????

And thank goodness for loving neighbors and young, strong, healthy backs!!!

...the thrill of it all

I wanted to make this post days ago, but I've been busy......so I'm determined to do it today. Last Monday we started shipping our bees to Needles. Forrest came the night before and spent the night in his truck. Roger was excited to get them loaded and on the road. I didn't need much of an excuse to "go see". I don't know what it is about seeing our bees on a truck...even when it was our "big" truck--which, by the way, looks really small when you park it next to a semi!...There is something about knowing they are ours; their worth--and we are trusting them to someone else!!! Forrest is a good man. And there is always a satisfaction, a relief of sorts, to get them out of Utah before it gets too cold. Those two weeks of real cold weather we had were pretty hard on them. So.........maybe you will feel a little of the thrill I feel just seeing them all loaded on a truck. And you might even "see" more bees on the road now that you know what to look for. I'm sure you've seen them...........just maybe didn't know what they were.............You can see it was a beautiful day!!

 I wanted to get there while they were loading, but Roger is so quick that the bees were all on the truck and screened! They were beginning to tie them down before I got there.

Michael is securing the screen while Forrest watches. He wasn't too excited to be in the picture, but I told him he is and important part of all this!

They have cross-tied the back and then they will put lots of more straps on them.

Not a very good picture, but you can see the dead bees on the ground. It was so cold for a couple of weeks that quite a few of the bees died..........and the others pulled them out of the hive.........they keep a clean house!

This is "Notch Peak"....50 miles west......I really want to climb it one of these summers. I especially love it with its dusting of snow!

the time thing...

So I'm not the only one!!! RAH!!!! Did you hear Pres. Monson last night??? I'd have to say I'm in pretty good company! I'm feeling much better than I did the other night...........I found the lights--clear on the bottom in the back! My sweet grandchildren helped me--truly, they were excellent help! Then Scott came home and he then Daniel finished them while I ran to get replacement fuses and bulbs. I don't know why lights on the house make such a difference, but they do...........I'm working on one little step at a time...........

Aren't they darlings?? And dressed so elegantly too! We did the best we could. Irene--recognize the blue coat???

it's all a blurrrrr......or a dream........

I am having great difficulty with the astonishing speed of passing time! Am I the ONLY ONE??????? Truly, I have not really got in the groove of writing 2010........thanks to the "back" button you don't know that I typed 1020!!!! Now that would be something!! I alternate between feeling pushed and shoved or panting to catch my breath as I race to "keep up". I'm beginning to think there really is no hope for the catching up part. So my shoulders droop and do I admit my defeat???? Is there no cure??? no hope??? I used to wonder what in the world Jacob was talking about (Jacob 7:26)....lives passing "away like as it were unto us a dream". But I think I'm beginning to understand what he meant........it wasn't that long ago that I got married! right? but there are all these people who are "mine" that I'm responsible for! ME!!!! a grandma?!?!?!?!??? yet I love these little ones as though they really were my own, so they must be, right? And didn't we have Christmas yesterday?? almost...........? some days it feels like it............and since my last post the days have whipped by like the light/telephone poles along the highway. Almost too fast to count, yet there they are for the counting...complete with the swoops in between them..........what a ride!!

We got home from Florida on 10 November--Wednesday. My friend and I do a little hour long quilt class "thing" (for want of a better word) every second Saturday. I had to hurry my preparation for that. Then it was time to get serious about the tree skirt for the "festival tree". (Some of my cousins and other extended family members did a tree for the "Festival of the Trees" in Salt Lake City for Primary Children's Medical Center.........we have ties...........). The whole saga of finding fabric etc. is another post...........went for over night to my mother's and sister's for Thanksgiving.......just returned yesterday from two days in Salt Lake for the state bee convention.................I just want to stay home and have nothing to do...........is that possible????? I can't find the house lights, so we have almost no Christmas decorations up and I'm really struggling with Christmas spirit. I found it yesterday in the distribution center on 17th South. I stood there with tears in my eyes when one of the men asked me if I was finding what I came for.............yes............and it was peace and love to calm my troubled heart. Maybe it's my fault that everything is a blur. If I slowed down maybe I could count the "poles". You think??? Maybe someday I will "wake up" and find that my life really was "like unto a dream" and I'll be home..............really home.................sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

In the mean time, I intend to enjoy the time I have here............even if it is not what I thought it would be like, I can enjoy it. Here's to enjoying mortality!!!!! Love you all. Thanks for listening to my ramble. Maybe I will get some "Florida pictures" on here one day.........maybe not...........at any rate, I'm determined not to stress about it..............