One Fine Day

I am trying to figure out what to do with my blog...........this might be the start of a trend.......we'll see.

   

   I had a wonderful experience yesterday (26 July 2014) that I want to share with you. I attended a reunion which was to include all my maternal cousins. Turns out only about half of us could make it. We met at the church where our parents attended as children in a small northern-Utah town. We shared a light lunch enriched with lots of conversation. Someone had prepared slips of paper for each person to tell a memory or something they knew about one of our ancestors. The following two hours were filled with the kinds of feelings I anticipate we will have during eternity! As we talked of our ancestors who had embraced the gospel regardless of the cost and marveled at their courage and determination, I was filled with a feeling of deep gratitude for them and wondered if I would ever be able to express to them the love and gratitude I feel for them.

This same group of cousins has been working for two years on a family history book which will include histories of my grandparents, their six children, spouses and the grandchildren. It is nearing completion and will be available soon. The excitement and anticipation of each participant was very evident. It will be wonderful to have these histories available. But there has been an additional blessing: our relationship as cousins has been enhanced; we feel greater love for one another and some who have been separated for a time are a little closer now. This whole process has strengthened us as a family.

No one was in a hurry to leave, and several of us were wishing it could go on longer. After our good-bye hugs, as some were leaving, we entered the chapel, where so many of our ancestors had worshipped, and with my sister at the organ, we sang hymns of prayer and praise…our favorites and those of our parents. I couldn’t help but think of all those who have gone before me who had sung those same hymns in that same place—four generations worth! I also wondered if they might not be there with us at that time? It felt just right to close our hymn-singing with family prayer. Again, we said our good-byes and finally climbed into our cars………only to reconvene at the cemetery! It is sobering for me to walk through a cemetery. There is always such a feeling of peace and calm. As I read the headstones I again felt a deep gratitude for these people. They had embraced the gospel in different states and countries, some had left successful farms and businesses, some had endured the persecutions in the early days of the Church. All had followed a prophet into the West, and remained faithful throughout their lives.

I look forward to spending eternity with these people! As I learn the trials and struggles of their lives, their joys and sorrows, I have come to know them. I look forward with hope that I will have “run my race” as successfully as they have completed theirs. How can I possibly feel that my hardships and troubles are “too much”? They have passed a brightly burning torch to me. It is now my duty to see that I pass it on undimmed.

...."blood moon"....lunar eclipse #1

Did you see the moon last night!?!?!??? What an amazing experience!! And what added more to the fun was the use of technology! I was able to watch the eclipse with my daughters in Logan and Provo and my sister in Marion!! So fun! and so wonderful!! There really were no adequate words to describe it.........."the majesty of God" kept running through my brain. Then Marilyn shared her thoughts with me: "Oh Lord My God, When I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made; I see the stars...Thy power throughout the universe displayed"!!! YES!!!! Lisa wondered about the "ancient" peoples of the earth and their thoughts about an eclipse like that. I was thankful for the knowledge we have.......also, Lisa wondered what it would look like from the moon. We decided to add that to our "eternal bucket list" of places/times to visit. You can come along if you like! My list is growing!! If you missed the eclipse last night, you still have a chance--there are three more over the next 20 or so months: in October 2014, April 2015 and September 2015.......so you will have a chance. This is not common!! There was a 300 year period where it never occurred! Sir Isaac Newton, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln never had the chance to see this. WOW!! It's red when in the full shadow of the earth because it is reflecting the light of all the sunrises and sunsets that are occurring right then! Amazing!!! isn't it!?!?

Here is a really cool link to information from NASA, click HERE........well, the LA Times talks to someone from NASA........don't you just love technology???

And here is a really neat picture my wonderful nephew Mark L. took from Davis county last night. Thank you Mark!!

It didn't look quite like this for us.........our view was pretty "textbook"..........so if you want to "see what I saw" you can find it about anywhere on the web. I thought this was a beautiful picture. We live in an amazing and beautiful world!! I'm sure you agree..............

Surprise!

We had a wonderful surprise in our "inbox" this morning! This picture!!! It is our terrific missionary son, serving in the Philippines and a couple from Fillmore! I didn't even realize they were going to his mission............and maybe, because he is a doctor, they serve several missions there. We will have to ask. But I couldn't wait to share it with all of you!

 He has had a challenging mission.........but don't they all? We are so thankful he has faced the difficulties with faith and courage and continues to smile and testify to the wonderful people of the Philippines of the reality of the Savior and His redeeming love. It is the most needed and important message in the whole world.............. I know He lives! I know He loves us! I know He atoned for each of us! And I know He will save us if we will let Him! The words of a Primary song come to mind:
"I know He lives! I will follow faithfully. My heart I give to Him. I know that my Savior loves me!"

...the calendar says it's spring!

What better way to celebrate the beginning of spring than planting a pot of pansies for the front porch!?! I've always loved pansies...........even before my Grandmother called me her "pansy-girl". When my visit would come to an end she would have me pull my shirt front out and she would fill it full of the beautiful, happy blossoms. I would take them home and "float" them in whatever beautiful bowl Mother would let me use. I love the rich "traditional" colors.......I love the "new" modern colors. They speak to my heart. I'm sure you understand............

Roger and I set up the "benches" in the heat room at the warehouse so we will be ready for the flowers and vegetables when Richard brings them next week............ahhhh, spring............

there's no place like home...

"The moon was a ghostly galleon..."

.....that's the thought that came to mind as I left the grocery store tonight....

Not gorgeous pictures, these, but I'm home............a short visit with a friend at said store, a hug and "checking up" with the sweet lady we bought our carpet from (15 years ago) as I was leaving said store, the view to the east and west, a train growling and whistling through town, the sight as I pulled into the garage.......the wind was not a "torrent of darkness"..........but a nice, gentle breeze........

........yeah.................I'm home

meanderings.....

I've needed to write here for some time now..........you know.....life goes on, and it gets to feeling ordinary and commonplace. But life is LIFE!!! And it's wonderful!! Over these months of being silent......and wondering if this blog is worth the time it takes and what I want it to be (I still don't have answers to those questions) life has continued much the same as for everyone else--busy. I have a new calling in our church. I'm president of the women's organization in our local congregation. It's something I never wanted to do! And hoped it would never come to me--but it has and the blessings have been numerous and wonderful.

We are officially empty-nesters, and have been for more than a year....so I have been able to spend more time with Roger. We have just been in the Bakersfield, CA, area getting the bees out of the almond groves. It has been an amazing experience for me! What a beautiful area of the world!!! the amount of food that comes out of that valley is beyond comprehension! Roger has been telling me for years about the vastness of it all........and I had no idea! There is no way a picture and/or words can convey all that. It's something you have to experience for yourself............but I do have some nice pictures I will share with you. There are lots............but I couldn't decide which ones to leave out!

The grove stretched almost to forever. The trees just beginning to leaf out as they dropped their petals--almost looks like snow.....but just a whiff of blossom scent in the air.

 I drove the truck through the grove while Roger and Michael rode on the back--stopping at every "drop" so they could treat the bees....

I'm glad there were some blossoms left.....can you find the honeybee?

 Some of the nuts were beginning to form. I should have take a picture a week later. It was amazing how quickly they grew--these are about the size of the end of my finger.

 The blossoms were just so pretty--each seemed uniquely gorgeous and the light didn't hit each one just the same! I couldn't stop with just one picture!

Again........it looked like snow........so lovely...........

Toward the east side of the valley--you can barely make out the mountains if you look hard--there are mile after mile of orange groves. Some of them had been picked, some not.......but all beginning to flower............

 Again........I couldn't resist.....the wonder and novelty have never worn off..........

 This grape vineyard had no end........really! I climbed the ladder on the truck and stood above the truck.......I have about six pictures just like this one from my extreme left to extreme right--they all look remarkably the same.........I warned you........even a picture doesn't capture the vastness of it all.

 

 We gathered up the bees from the drops in the grove at night and "stock piled" them in this large empty "field". Just look at all the stacks of bees--three and four pallets high--four hives to a pallet. There is no way a semi could get through a grove--besides, it would take far too long to load it that way. Roger can load a semi in 25:29.76 minutes--yeah...I timed him! Just look through these pictures and notice all the hives of bees.........

 The evening of the last night there.......in this field, surrounded by thousands of colonies of bees, three semis, two 3-ton trucks, men on fork lifts, and all that surrounded by almond trees on every side with the gorgeous sunset in the western sky. I was filled with awe at the wonder of it all......the goodness and generosity of Father in Heaven and the evidence of good, hard, honest work accomplished by men and a testimony of the bounty of the earth............all combined to fill me with reverent gratitude.