Happy Valentine's Day!

Up and ready for the day first thing. Out the door to get Christine to road show practice at 9:45 and then back to the stake center on my way home to work on RS things on the church computer. All visiting teaching companionships, reporting, etc. has to be generated from there. It used to bother me that I couldn't do it on my home computer, but now I look forward to the quiet time in the clerks office. It allows the spirit to flow while I'm working.

Then to Aaron Bros. for Duff's Valentine present. He got an autographed picture of Bronco Mendenhall and the team this week in the mail from the Coaches Circle as an appreciation. So I matted and framed it for him to put in the game room at the cabin. He loved it! I was so happy he was so happy.

Then a couple more errands and visits with some sisters. Got home and Duff and I had our weekly date grocery shopping. Some might think it's weird, but it works for us! We love to market together. It's a good time to talk and visit and just be together. Mike and Adrianne were here when we got back and they had started to make homemade pizza for dinner for everyone. They do a really good job with it. I made a hula pie as best I could. It tasted the same but didn't look as nice as in Maui! I did learn some things I will do differently next time!

Adrianne and I went to Joann's to get some embroidery supplies. She wants to learn how to embroider and asked if I would teach her. We picked out some very simple pillowcases, the flosses, the hoops, needles, etc. She got a cute box to keep her project in. They are coming over on Monday to bbq for the holiday and we will get started. Remember those stitches? Lazy daisy, stem, french knot, satin. She found some vintage patterns online to do some floursack dish towels once she gets the hang of it.

Christine is at the stake dance. She met her friends there. It was a 70's Valentine Dance tonight. She wore the suede fringe 'hippie' vest that I made when I was in high school in the mid-70's! She looked really cute. We got her a little pair of silver heart earrings for Valentine's day so she could wear them to the dance. I just love it when her face lights up!

Waiting till 11 so I can go and pick her up.....

VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sending our love to you all. And sending my love to my sweetie! Thanks for being my Valentine.

Thanks to all my 'other' Valentines too. My children, my children-in-law (who are just like my own children!) my parents, my sisters, my cousins, my friends. You make my world. My life would be incomplete without your love and support. Valentine's Day is about you too!

Happy Birthday Melanie!

We're glad it's your birthday, dear Melanie!

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday

To You--

We'll sing you a song for your birthday:

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday

TO YOU!

We remember when you were born. 17 years have sure flown by! Have a happy day, honey. Sure do love you!

Thought For The Day....and life

"Remember that ofttimes the wisdom of God appears as foolishness to men, but the greatest single lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and a man obeys, that man will always be right."

--Thomas S. Monson

Dare to do right! Dare to be true!

You have a work that no other can do;

Do it so bravely, so kindly, so well,

Angels will hasten the story to tell.

Dare, dare, dare to do right;

Dare, dare, dare to be true,

Dare to be true, dare to be true.

Dare to do right!

Dare to be true!

Other men’s failures can never save you.

Stand by your conscience, your honor, your faith;

Stand like a hero and battle till death.

Dare, dare, dare to do right;

Dare, dare, dare to be true,

Dare to be true, dare to be true.

I have always loved this song from primary. And it fits with President Monson's thought . Notice it says dare to DO right, not dare to BE right. That can get us in to trouble if we think we are always right. But doing right is a whole other thing!

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln.

One of the greatest men that ever lived. There is no doubt that God was in the details of this man as he turned to Him for guidance on how to lead our country. His influence changed the course of a nation preparing the way for the restoration of the gospel. There is a tangible, physical presence that you feel when you go to this memorial.

Happy Birthday, Abraham. It is fitting we take a day off to honor you.

[ journal: busy day. The microwave oven went kaput on Monday. It's 15 years old. I guess it's entitled to have a health issue! Haha! With the economy the way it is we are on hold for our kitchen remodel so we have decided to just fix the appliances that we have been limping along. We had the repair man here for a good portion of the morning assessing and giving us an estimate. When you look at the cost of replacing the range top and microwave the repair cost was very reasonable even if we do go ahead with the remodel at another time. Mike was over for the afternoon and it was good to visit with him. Duff was off with John H. most of the day working on the business plan that the electric company has asked for. It's Thursday, so laundry was on the calendar. On the phone quite a bit with RS things. Made a big pot of clam chowder and a pan of cornbread for dinner. It tasted so good on this cold day.

WHAT IN THE WORLD???? Shaun called this morning and the Black Pearl (the truck) had been broken in to right in the Lanai parking structure during the night!!!! They tried to shoot out the driver's window 7 times, but it didn't work. So they shot out the driver's side back window. There was glass everywhere. They rifled everthing and basically took it all. Fortunately, he took his laptop and wallet with him. But the biggest loss was his ipod and all associated with it. He called the police and waited for them to come. They told him that there is a rash of auto break-ins right now in the college apartments. Last week there were 18 other break ins just in the Lanai parking structure! And last night alone there were 35 break-ins at Provo college apartment complexes! The police were very helpful with information for where he could get the windows fixed today before it started snowing again. I sure hope they catch these guys!]

The Mangle

I was at a point today where I was able to start catching up on ironing! (cue choir) Hallelujah! My bedroom closet is big and I always keep the ironing board set up in there, and the ironing basket has been growing and growing. I made a BIG dent in it. I like to iron in my closet. It is quiet and still. I am alone with myself and my thoughts. It's a good time for good pondering. Plus the smell of the steam and the lavendar spray is intoxicating.

I was doing a lot of napkins and tablecloths from all the holidays. The smell made me go back in time to Westchester at my grandmother's house on Truxton.

She had a little guest room built onto the back of their detached garage. It was affectionately called "the back room". It was such a fun place. A darling little cottage room. I can see it perfectly in my mind. In it, she had a mangle set up. It was a rotary ironing system. Very european. I have no idea where or how she got it. But I would love to sit by her for hours and watch her 'mangle'. It was mesmerizing. She would feed the kitchen towels, tablecloths, and certain types of clothing through it. She had 'sprinkled' them with water from a bowl with a vegetable brush and rolled them up and stacked them so they would stay moist. This insured that they would be steamed just perfectly. They didn't have spray bottles back in the 'olden days'. She made sure the creases were just right. And they would come out smooth and just 'so'. You had to be very careful not to get your fingers in/on it. That thing was HOT! The smell of the heat and steam was memory making. Sometimes we just sat there quietly together. Sometimes we talked about any and everything. Sometimes she would explain to me how and what she was doing and why. Other times I just observed by example. Sometimes we would sing together. In the summertime, it could get a little warm in there, but in the wintertime the heat and steam were so comforting. I never got the 'feeling' that this was a chore. Rather that it was a time to sit and relax.

I saw a 'mangle' in the Williams-Sonoma catalog recently. A beautiful updated version of what my grandmother had. I would love to have one! Not just for the perfect ironing, but to make many more memories with.

[I'm so much better today! Mouth a little sore, but otherwise all better.

We decided not to go to the cabin for the long weekend. This will be the first President's weekend we haven't been in Utah in 20 years I think. But we have done so much traveling in the last 6 months and just coming off a trip it feels nice to just stay home. Nats and Robert are going up so they can have a break from college life for a few days, and Shaun is coming home and will fit in some doctor appointments while he's here.

I'm so proud of him. He is doing really well. Winter in Provo is not his 'cup of tea', but things are going good. School is good. He is disciplined with his studies and is doing great in his classes. One of his psych classes is a tough one with some very controversial subject matters. The professor has pulled him aside a couple of times and thanked him for his comments and thinking outside of the 'box'. She told him that a lot of students in this class get stuck in a finite set of ideas religiously and socially and can't see through/past them and his participation gets them thinking! Goodness knows he's been through plenty to be able to offer different perspectives!]

What A Mouth!

Another appointment at the dentist to finish the crown and some additional work on the other side of my mouth. Soooo, both sides are numb, I have a headache, my jaw hurts, and my eyeballs ache too, I'm chilled, and don't feel good. The good news is I don't have to go back for four more months. It seems as I get older (and also genetics) I build placque more quickly so they want me to come more often to keep track of it for the next year. I spent the morning finishing all the laundry from yesterday, so that is now caught up, and then this afternoon and evening 'resting' off the meds. Duff picked up the call pool today for me. He had a cleaning this morning and found out he has to have a crown now! He'll probably do just fine--he's a toughy!

Sun shining today, but cold out. More rain is expected starting tomorrow night through the weekend.

Looking forward to feeling better tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary to Mike and Adrianne

February 9, 2008

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

You guys made it! One year and a lifetime and eternity to go. You two are an amazing couple, and we love you and are proud of you. A year ago it was the hottest day ever in February. Today it is raining and cold. Such extremes, but you two have stayed even and strong.

Enjoy your evening tonight!

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Duff's Release and Home From Maui

We got home last night at 12:30am. Mike picked us up from the airport. It was 46* outside and raining. So we went from 78* to 46* in a matter of hours! I guess that's not as extreme as some people we talked to while we were in Maui. One gal was from Alaska and they figured they were dealing with a 100* difference!!! Makes me shiver! I wonder what it was like for them when they got back home! We met a lot of people from states/countries where they have true/hard winters. Now, going back and forth for them would definitely be a shock to the system! A lot of these couples stay on Maui for 2-4 weeks during this part of the winter. Good way to escape the 'blues'.

All 3 of us slept in. No place to be with our church so late this year. Duff and I are kind of messed up with the time change and his release from the Stake Presidency. Speaking of which:

Duff was released a week ago. We weren't even here for the 'official' release because we were in Hawaii that day. He is totally bummed. He really loved that calling. He's been in various positions on the high council or presidency for almost 8 years now, so I guess it's time. President Brennan told him our bishop has been after him for 6 months or more and finally couldn't put him off any longer. Apparently there is a new calling awaiting him, but we have been gone. Pres. B. wouldn't tell him exactly what it is only that it will include his wife. What? That's me! Oh, what does this mean? I LOVE my calling right now and I haven't been in it for very long! Well, when the Lord calls, we do, so I guess we are in for some changes. It will be very different for him to be home on a Sunday morning. That will be an adjustment for him and for me also because I have my own schedule and routine with him gone.

It was nice to come home from church to my tidied house. Adrianne was awesome and my house was completely clean and tidy when we got home! We had chicken for dinner, which ended up being delicious considering I wasn't able to go to the store last night. We caught up with all the kids by phone and watched a movie with Christine.

Back to LIFE----

Maui--Day 8

I don't even want to say the words: this is our last day here. Can it be a week already? How about 2-3 more days? Where did the time go when you aren't doing much of anything? We've been trying to come up with some kind of employment that would allow someone to live here and enjoy. Duff and Richard are convinced they could waiter at night. You know: work the night shifts and get all the tips, enjoy the days. Haha!

We packed up this morning. Check out time is at 11:30am. Richard went down to the pool early to get in the Hawaiian 'air' up to the last minute. Patti took one last walk on the beach. Duff's back was feeling a little tweaky and with anticipating the long flight, he wanted to stay in and I elected to stay with him, so I sat out on the lanai and read the book I was sure I would finish and hardly read!

We checked out and went to Whaler's Village to get some last minute shopping done. It is a quaint place to dine, shop, get gear for snorkeling, diving, etc.
The ABC store. It is like a convenience store. You can get just about anything here.

Then to Reyn Spooner for a traditional hawaiian shirt for Duff. That was the only thing he wanted. When he lived and worked in Hawaii in 1990-1991 (he was in charge of the B of A mergers with Honolulu Federal, and survived hurricane Iniki, but that's a whole other story!), he loved these shirts. Hawaiian 'white collar' men don't wear dress shirts and ties as we know them. They wear slacks with 'aloha' shirts, which are dress or polo 100% cotton shirts with small hawaiian prints on them and no ties at all.

Next stop, Crazy Shirts. You can get great clothing here. We grabbed a few t-shirts, and looked a lot at everything else. Then we piled in the car and headed for the airport with a quick stop at the brand new Barnes and Noble bookstore on the way. The guys needed some new reading material for the flight home and Patti was looking for some things for J.T.'s kindergarten history presentation on Hawaii that she is helping give.

We watched the whales all the way. So fascinating. I feel kind of attached to them after sharing their ocean for a week. We turned in the car at the rental office and not a moment too soon, because I was starting to get motion 'woozy'. Got out and breathed in that sweet hawaiian air deeply and was better quickly. I made sure I took my dramamine before we got on the plane.

Maui Airport from the sky!

Duff and I were fortunately able to upgrade to first class for the flight home. It was a difficult flight on the way over and he didn't want to repeat that with his back. The Petersons changed their seats as well to up front more and it was easier for them too. I guess on the way over we were just too far back and the seats are terribly close. We will remember that for next time! We all decided we had so much fun we will repeat this same trip next year around this time again! Yahooie! By a fluke we had good timing because by the time we got to the gate, we were all able to board right away and get settled.

Good bye, Maui!

Aloha Oe--

Farewll to thee, one fond embrace, until we meet again!

By: Queen Lili' uokalani

Happy Birthday Sue

Happy Birthday To You--

Happy Birthday To You--

Happy Birthday Dear Susie--

Happy Birthday To YOU!

Hope you hve a great day, dear! I love you!

Aloha from Hawaii!