May the blessings of light be on you~

LIGHT

Life doesn't come with an instruction manual.
We learn by what we do, 
what we see
and the things we share with those
who walk the path with us.

Surround yourself with those
who choose not to stumble~

It has been a wild and crazy month of March. 

But we do live in the mountains.
When we first moved here back in 2008
it snowed 11" on June the 11th, 
I wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into.
I have adjusted.
Now everyday is an adventure, and putting into practice
the art of living well, in spite of the weather!

The best feelings are those that have 
no 
words to describe them!

One of our children survived a horrible accident
yesterday.  Fell, through the roof he was
working on.

When I got the call, I had a premonition that it 
was going to be bad news, before I said
"Hello".

Tears followed, and then sobs of gratfulness
that his injuries were not more serious.

"Your faith, will perform miracles...especially when
 you get your hands and feet involved."

~Gordon  B Hinckley

His recovery, will be long, and painful.
But he is the purest example of someone who does not 
give up.  His life has been full of
challenges.

His favorite phrase, after the initial shock wears off.
"Next!"

His example of never, never giving up,
laughing till he cries...and
finding the beauty in every lesson,
inspires me.

Through tumult and trial he finds a paradise.
Paradise is not a place we are going...
it is a place we are from.
We can go there at any moment, anytime.
The sacredness of the moment
is the key to peace,
to finding true freedom...
to rising above the challenge!

 

Never lose and opportunity to see anything

that is beautiful,

it is God's handwriting...

a wayside sacrament~

If you only say one prayer a day...make it, THANK YOU~

The secret of having it all...is knowing you already do.

So today is my daughter, Britt's birthday.
She came into the world, with red curly hair, that eventually turned
smokey blonde.  But her eyes are green, and she
has the temperament of an Irish lass.

What a life she has had.

When in second grade she was attacked by a boxer, while
playing in the backyard at a friends.
Lucky for her, a plastic surgeon was just coming off shift
and agreed to stay and work on her, when 
she was admitted to the ER.
Her nose was hanging by a thread, and a big hunk of her lip
had been bitten off, plus puncture wounds galore,
all on her lovely face.

By the time I got to the hospital, her Dad and Grandfather
were already there holding her sweet little hands
and whispering words of courage.
I took one look at her, and the doctor
asked me to please leave, before I passed out and they
had two patients to stitch up.

Long story short, she looked like a miniature Frankenstein
when she was finally put back together.   Two days
later she was back at school, just daring anyone
to make fun of her face.

She healed up beautifully, and if you didn't know the accident had
happened you would not know that the little crease
on the bridge of her nose, was reconstructive.

 

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out?

This incident is just the beginning of a lifetime of 
challenges, but her story is, hers to tell.

She went on to qualify for the Chess team in Jr. High,
loved ballroom dancing, and can do math figures
in her head.  She is a hiker, a camper, a pyromaniac who
loves to build bonfires, in a snowbank
in the dead of winter.

She lost her husband, a childhood sweetheart, to a head-on
collision.   Now she is raising,
two little man cubs who call her Mommy.

She has become the "tinkerer" in her family, and does not
back down from a challenge when something gets broke.
She tries to figure it out.  It that doesn't work she will make a
call to her Dad, and they come up with a plan of action!

 

The thing that delights me , is she still calls when
her babies are sick...
when fixing a favorite dish,
when humbled with daily crisis's, 
neighbors dogs gone wild...
missing rent checks in the mail,
chapped hands that nothing she has tried will heal.
or...
just to say "hello".

Stay humble

Work hard

Be kind

 

She was born, three days after my thirtieth birthday.
I tell her, she was the best
present I ever got.

She has lived a lot of life...is a survivor in heartache, 
and at the end of the day, she can still
kneel in a prayer of thanks.

Don't think of the things you didn't get after praying...

Think of the countless blessings

God, gave you without 

asking!

If you only say one prayer a day,

make it

Thank you~

If the road is easy...you're likely going the wrong way.

 

"Be of good cheer...

your future is as bright as your faith!"

~Thomas S Monson

Once upon a time there was a little girl, who grew into

a teenager, who grew into a woman,

who married the love of her life.

And then

the story began.

One of my earliest memories of married life.
For the most part it was bliss...
honest,
 so when I share this just know, that it is part of the story.

I grew up in a home of modest means, as did my new husband.
We gleaned from the land, cooked almost everything
from scratch.  Forty, years later I can testify
that from scratch is 100's better in every regard...pocket book,
taste, and presentation. 


We had been married a few months.
Still newly weds.
It was fall, the days were still hot, but the evenings brought a nice change in temperature.  I had prepared
a skillet dish, with chopped potatoes, bell peppers, ground beef,
seasonings...and pieces of
beautiful, succulent summer squash.
The aroma, was savory and inviting.

 The table was set for two,
 candles lit and
homemade rolls nestled in a basket.

I was so excited, when my guy got home and said, 
"Umm smells delicious!"
Five minutes later, after washing up and blessing the 
food, I dipped up his plate.
He was busy slathering some butter all over his hot roll.  
Setting his plate in front of him, I expected him to start wolfing it down.
Instead he looked at it with such derision.  
Jumped up
with plate in hand, marched over to sink and proceeded to
scrape his food into the
garbage disposal

"I don't eat squash!"

To be honest with you, I cannot remember the exactness
of what unfolded after that outburst.
Our mind truly does have a way of protecting a broken heart.


I'm sure it was not pleasant, sure there were tears on my part, and
probably a few hours of wondering what the heck I had
gotten myself into.

This thing called marriage.

"The heavens will not be filled with those

who never made mistakes!"

~Dieter F Uchtdorf


Well, just a couple of days ago, we celebrated
forty years of marriage.

We have figured it out.  Number one thing:
I do not cook anything with 
squash.  :)

My guy, has more than made up for that little outburst,
and I have forgiven him, except every now 
and then I have to tell somebody about
it in case they think we are
THE PERFECT
couple.

We are not.
We are just two people who have refused to give up
on each other.

Two people, who are tender with each others hearts,
number one champions of each other, in
success, and rallying in picking ourselves up,
dusting each other off, and trying again, when we stumble
and fall.

We are honest with each other.
This has been a character trait refined with time.
I'm not going to lie, this was a hard thing for me to internalize
and apply.  Lucky me,I had a man, who was to dang stubborn and not going to give up on me. 
 Time has a way of teaching you truth.

1)  Get over it!
2)  Deal with it head on.
3)  Don't forget how fun it can be making up
4)  Formulate a plan of action, that resolves what you are facing.
5)  Thank God, for the lesson.
 

Very little is needed to make a happy life~

We are still simple folk.

Love rides in the country.
Hunting in the mountains, a good book, 
golden sunsets, rain on a tin roof,
the flicker of a campfire,
the silence of a new fallen snow.

Wildflowers in a meadow, the gurgle of a brook, and the rush
of a rising river, while fishing...or not.
Games and adventure with our grand children.
The honk of geese in the sky as 
they head out. 
Laughing out loud, when it is warranted! 

Home made bread, fresh from the oven.
The delights of perfecting your craft.
LG, makes ice cream
that countries would fight over. 

And so, so much more...

We have found that it is in the shelter of 
each other, that we truly
live...
and if the road is easy, 
you're likely going the wrong way~