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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Last Week of May

Its been a busy week and a half. On either the Wed. before or after Memorial Day each year it is Air Force Graduation which ends with an air show by the Thunderbirds.
This year, because Mike's offices are so close, his boss threw a BBQ lunch for all the families at noon for the show that started at 12:30. It was delicious, but the show didn't end up starting until about five to one because we had to wait for Pres. Obama's  ride and security detail to give the okay. He was the commencement speaker. Watching the Blackhawk helicopters hover slowly for a while wasn't near as much fun as listening to the pilots on the radio my dad had brought. They sounded like cowboys in the sky. Fun show!
On Memorial Day we enjoyed four deer that stayed behind our house all day. These photos were taken about 9:30 in the morning. At 5:30 when we were getting ready to grill, they were up the hill a little higher, but just enjoying the beautiful day and all the green grass and shade trees.
On Saturday we went to a graduation picnic for all the seniors in our ward at the park. More good food, nice visits, and some lacrosse going on in the field where LittleBuddy and his friends had fun.
On Memorial Day, we also did some planting. Blueberries, strawberries, and vegetables out back, and daylilies added to the front walkway.
In between all that, I've been working on this fun apron for Cowgirl. I finally got it done on Monday just in time for Cowgirl to arrive on Wednesday.
I knew she liked corals and polka dots so this was a fun surprise for her. Yesterday was my dad's birthday, and it was fun for our whole family to be here to celebrate him. We go walking with him every morning and love our time to spend with him each day. He's a great dad and a great grandpa. I just need to remember to bring my camera with me when I'm carrying down the potato salad, one of his favorites, and mine too.  I don't know if tastebuds are genetic or acquired, but we like all the same things except for fruitcake. Haha. He loves it, I shun it. Anyhow, we were the lucky recipients of his homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream to go with the cake my mom made him. It was Incredibly smooth, creamy, and delicious and suddenly I felt five years old again. Happy memories!


Monday, May 21, 2012

Puzzle Pieces

Don't be shocked! Two days in a row of blogging, almost unheard of anymore. I realized last night when I went to put on photos of the skies that I was missing one I wanted to show - yep, still in my camera. You have to know by now how much I love sunsets!
  
The cow have made their way into view again. They like to wander and we're always delighted when they wander into view. We've seen some deer again too. Not sure who is more excited - the kids or my dad??
MyGirl is growing up. Finally a picture of her wearing one of her favorite outfits. I know coral is a big color this season but for both my daughters, its "Their" color all year round. And those chevron stripes - so love those too!
Last night was seminary graduation. She was so happy to walk up and receive her diploma with her friends. We need to do more celebrating.

I finally got a piece of my puzzle solved. I had the Schirmer eye test done. 10 mm is considered normal for moisture content in the eye, and both of mine? 0 mm. The doctor was kind of shocked. He couldn't believe it when the nurse told him, and yet, there was the evidence. So, that pretty much confirms Sjogren's disease. I don't think its Lupus. After 7 and a half years, the answer is here. Honestly, its a letdown, as I've been suspecting this for several years, but to have it be confirmed feels like the puzzle is finally finished.

Speaking of puzzles, we still have his to figure out. So far I think just changing his diet is helping. That's the first thing I did to help myself 7 years ago, when my doctors had nothing to offer, and it made a huge difference. Whole foods as much as possible. Only dessert on Sunday. Minimal dairy and lean protein. In Brazil they drink lots of sodas and have protein with their rice and beans every day. Plenty of desserts and minimal vegetables. Just hoping to strengthen his immune system and see what we can figure out from here. He's been reading and started indexing again when he's not taking naps or hanging out with his grandpa.


Sunday, May 20, 2012

Beauty Everywhere

One of my favorite songs that we used to sing in Sunday School when I was a little girl started like this, "Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue blue sky. Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by . . . " I'm glad to say that I still love those same things, over forty years later. I love to look at the skies and feel the rain on my face. Yesterday morning was the type of morning that looked sunny, then got cloudy, and then sprinkled, then cleared up again, then threatened to storm again. My youngest two and I walked on the team of a friend in our church whose son has Cystic Fibrosis. At first I was talking with my friends but about halfway to the finish I ended up just following my son and his friends. Mostly I walked behind them and just observed the beautiful park and winding riverwalk we were on. It was so beautiful. Today as it started to sprinkle again I thought about how blessed I have been to see skies in so many places, and pulled up these from the past couple of months, in four different places. Wherever I go, there is always a thing of beauty to behold.





Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mother's Getaway

My Mother's Day this year started a few days early, when my Mom and I went to see Cowgirl. At first I wasn't sure I would go, with my son just getting home, but my dad was willing to take care of everyone while I was gone, and their dad was at work, and so we went. We'd signed up to take some classes at the Home Machine Quilting Show in Sandy, UT. I loved learning new things, checking out the quilts and shopping at the vendors. My Aunt Lisa came too, so the four of us enjoyed all that the quilt show offered as well as had fun checking out CityCreek in Downtown Salt Lake and the International Art Competition's Exhibit at the Church Art Museum  (I forgot to take photos there, but I loved it!) We visited several quilt shops in the area, ate yummy food, and had a great time.  This first quilt won the Best In Show, then we came home and  Mom saw it on the cover of one of her quilting magazines. It really was incredible! The photos don't even begin to do it justice, but the execution was inspiring. And, this blog doesn't do justice to the joy it was to be with my mom and daughter and aunt. How I love the good women in my life! They inspire me! 


 I thought LittleBuddy would love the subject of this quilt - knights and dragons.
 This was a class I took on thread. That tree is all thread. Just one of many ways my eyes were opened to new possiblities in the quilting world. The creativity there was motivating. I just wanted to come home and start sewing, but the reality was, MyMike is working overtime so I took Littlebuddy to a fireside with the YM General Pres. as soon as I got home. No sewing yet.
 Our eyes were opened to the possibilities of chenille. We all bought some so expect to see some of that in the future.
 Lisa had been to CityCreek the week before, so she gave us a tour. It really is pretty there. We ate lunch at the Blue Lemon restaurant and it was good.
 Walking through temple square is always beautiful.
 Their gardeners grow gorgeous flowers!
 In one of the quilt shops we saw quilted labels. We also learned how to make photo labels for our quilts. Labeling quilts was not something I'd given much thought to before. Another surprise, was that a lady in our local guild was one of the judges for the show in Salt Lake City. . . Small world.
The weather was wonderful, the trees were in bloom, we were all amazed at some of the things that we saw this week and I for one came back feeling rejuvenated and energized to create good things. Of course the reality is, creating this life for our family; fixing problems, encouraging others' creativity, keeping the wheels of our schedules and needs moving forward and finding joy in it all is what I try to create every day. The fabric and paper stuff, I squeeze in if there are moments left at the end of the day. The Best Show Quilt - a mother of 3 children under 13, who mostly quilts at night, challenged herself to make a compass quilt. She's self-taught. She figured it out by reading books, and trial and error, as most of us do.  It just makes me love that quilt all the more. Creative projects are inspiring and fun to engage in, but real life is the best creative adventure and I'm grateful every day for a mother who has shown me how to enjoy them both.

Monday, May 7, 2012

The Question and the Answer

When is it okay to just live with things as they are, even if you're miserable, and when is it better to say, Enough!?  This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately.  About three weeks ago I had a medical procedure done, and they found a few interesting things. Nothing earth shattering, but the quality of my life just improved, and I'm wishing I wouldn't have just "lived with it" for so many years. When I told one doctor what the problem was, and he couldn't find anything, then I just accepted that this is my new normal. I learned to cope and adapt and live with it, even though I didn't like it. I didn't know what else to do.  Then this year I went to another doctor, told her about my issue, and she decided to dig deeper.  And lo and behold, problem found, solved, and life is better. I'm sure glad I asked again and didn't just keep living with it.

Well, my son has been going through something similar only he's been 6000 miles away. Before he left for his mission I took him to a couple of different doctors to check on symptoms he was having that concerned us. We were told by everyone, he was fine. But guess what? When he got to Brazil, they appeared again.  They gave him some medicine there, and while it fixed one problem, it didn't fix all of them, and we believe the side effects of the medicine they gave him have made things worse, because now some miserable symptoms won't go away. So, then he was doing his best to just live with it, but it was difficult with the demands of being a full time missionary. Through several phone calls and emails, his mission president explained that he wasn't just sacrificing, he was suffering. His doctor suggested to me that he might need another medicine, but they weren't at liberty there to make that change, so the decision was made that he should come home. He said a great spirit of peace came over him in the temple two days before he left, when he wanted a final confirmation.  When I first heard he might come home early, I was sad, but immediately felt peace too. It took a couple of weeks, however, for my mind to really accept this. I wanted him to have a great mission experience, and this wasn't what any of us expected. I felt myself grieving once again for what was not to be. But, on the day he came home, again, there was a great feeling of peace. We love this boy. We want him to be well! Now I will not stop until I have found out how to solve these problems. Enough!

At his release, Pres. Ashby told us all (him included) not to feel ashamed because he had served an honorable mission. He was faithful and obedient in every way. He is now a returned missionary. And still 19 - weird, but that's our reality. I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for tomorrow, and hopefully we can start getting his health restored. Right now he sleeps a lot and hurts. This is our boy who thrived on physical activity, and to see him wiped out makes us sad, but grateful for the opportunity to help him.

Last night he shared his pictures with my parents. My dad asked him what he liked best, and he said, watching people change, and see the light come into their eyes when they felt the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ work in their lives. Then my dad asked him what he didn't like about it, and he paused, and said, except for being sick, he couldn't think of anything he didn't like. It was a privilege for him to get to live and work in Brazil. He will always cherish those memories.
It was a big week last week. MyGirl got her braces off the day before her brother came home. Look at those straight teeth! She did not want me to take her picture, but in reality she is looking beautiful these days. She's lost weight, has some new cute clothes, wears makeup more and is blossoming into a lovely young lady. She lives with so much, so its fun for her to have something to get past, and we're glad braces for her are forever done!
I finally finished the challenge quilt and got to share it Thur. night. So many ladies were so sweet and complementary. I added the felt stars and buttons to cover up a couple of mistakes, and then just kept adding them because I liked the whimsical look. Its a wall hanging. I learned a lot. It was fun to work smaller than a whole quilt and more doable in my life.
Below are the books our son brought back to keep up his Portuguese. He learned how to speak pretty fluently. He wants to keep it up. Its been fun to hear him choose a Portuguese word when he thinks it is better than the English word to describe what he's really trying to say. 
 He was blessed to go to the temple in Sao Paulo several times and now a picture of it hangs in his bedroom. I'll have to take a picture of that soon. He bought this scripture cover case as a reminder of his great experiences there.
 And, its been good for all of us to spend time with him again. He is a blessing still wherever he goes. His president wrote me an email and told me that everyone who had worked with him would miss him. He is a faithful and good young man. In all of this, his testimony of the Savior has stayed strong, and in fact grown. And, in his heart, he will always be a missionary.



Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Aloha!

 MyGirl picked out the birthday theme, a Hawaiian Luau. We kept our decor to the dining room, went to the dollar store then filled in with what we had on hand.


We added a few Luau paper cutouts to our banner wall on the window.


We had fruit kabobs, Hawaiian Haystacks, punch of Pineapple sherbet and Sprite, and Banana cupcakes.


So easy to sprinkle on brown sugar over the frosting to look like sand and dollar store umbrellas on top. She loved this!


The balloon was the gift from her little brother. We know how she loves helium balloons!
When everyone arrived, there were leis and shell necklaces to wear and place cards of palm trees to tell everyone where to sit.


The shells usually sit on a ledge next to my bathtub, and looked perfect on the fabric I brought back from Hawaii in 2007.

She wanted a new floral apron so I made this last week for her and she loved it. She had picked out the main floral fabric. My trick of the week was sewing it when she was either sleeping or at seminary.We're together so much, it takes extra planning to pull off any surprises for her!


It was fun to be together. She loved all her presents and our horse-back riding adventure through Garden of the Gods. We were glad to have our grandparents back from visiting my brother's family in Nashville. She told me this morning she loved her day yesterday, so I'm glad.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Its a Birthday!

MyGirl doesn't like me to take lots of pictures of her, but occasionally I get to. This was pretty recent, from our trip to California. Today she is 18 - my baby girl is now an adult. I can remember her birth, really, like it was just the other day. So quickly, she was suddenly coming, and then she was here. She didn't cry at all, and that made me start to panic, but after about 30 seconds she did, and though faint, it was sweet and glorious. She and I have spent more time together than I have spent with anyone else in all my years. We need breaks from each other once in a while, but for the most part, we're an easy fit. She is becoming a woman now. Its slow and gradual, but its coming. I know I have more to teach her and more to help prepare her for her future, but ready or not, she is moving forward. That said, there are also still real challenges and hurdles that I know are just around the bend, and I'm going to have to be the driving force to make things happen. I don't really know how to do everything that is needed, but I trust that one day at a time things will be made more clear. We've got a busy day planned ahead of us, horse-back riding and lunch, a little shopping, and some spa treats, then a fun birthday dinner and presents. Its a day to celebrate and she's excited for it.