Summertime Gratefuls

Source: Natural Solutions Magazine Facebook page

I have been very negligent this summer in posting about my gratefuls and tender mercies.  I came across the above meme on facebook yesterday, and tonight have decided to catch up a bit and post some of my summertime gratefuls tonight:  (I promise to be more regular with this blog from this day forward)

• DD3 graduated with her BA degree and was offered a good full time job!
• DD2 graduated with her Master's degree and was able to safely move herself halfway across the country to be near her family!  And get her old job back!
• DD4 found a great summer job in a wonderful National Park where she gained work experience, new friends, and had time to relax, recreate, and rejuvenate after a successful freshman year in college!
• DD1 received a promotion at work!
• DS1 and his girlfriend were able to spend a very fun long weekend with us in July!
• DS2 and DDIL were blessed to bring a brand new baby boy home from the hospital at the end of August!  If all goes well they will officially adopt in about 6 months!
• We celebrated my Dear Father's 90th birthday in May!
• We celebrated with my dear parents as they served as the Grand Marshals of my hometown's annual Fiesta Days parade!
• We celebrated with DH's Mother's annual July Family Party!
• I was able to spend time with each of my siblings during the summer!
• We were able to procure a brand new red Volkswagen Jetta and now have reliable transportation!
• We have received much needed rain to help water the gardens and lawns!
• We have dined on fresh strawberries, blackberries, cherries, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, basil and squash from our own garden.  The potatoes and carrots and beets and corn look promising too.
• We celebrated Labor Day weekend with all four dear daughters who helped us with a massive cleanup of the family business!!
• We have been blessed with random acts of service from wonderful neighbors!
• And much much more.  

We're very grateful for the new Jetta!

Sing, Sing a Song

(I've just got to include a meme here, borrowed from

 https://www.facebook.com/PaulCardallMusic/photos/a.10151563242176497.1073741828.33992686496/10152225682796497/?type=1&theater)

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending an evening of music performed by many of my neighbors.  The evening was sponsored by our local church and  included participants and audience composed of  members from seven different local congregations, and families and friends of course.  It was a wonderful evening of music, mostly vocal, but also included piano, violin, guitar, organ and even the xylophone.  From Rogers and Hammerstein to Bach to Phantom of the Opera . . . most of the numbers were fun, popular and upbeat, and all who were there came away feeling uplifted and happy.  Of course it didn't hurt that there were cookies and socializing afterwards.  Sometimes I think I don't get enough of that kind of interaction with my neighbors.  But the best part by far was the music.

I believe that we all need music in our lives.  It feeds our souls.  It inspires.  It comforts.  It expresses thoughts and feelings that often cannot be expressed by mere words.  I was blessed to have a musical mother who sang to me and filled our home with music.  We were give the opportunities to learn to play the piano and other instruments.  My mother was and is an accomplished violinist and was concert mistress of her university orchestra.  It has been a few years since she was able to play much, but I know it is a talent she will possess forever.  She took piano lessons as an adult and sang with the church choir for most of her adult life.

We have tried to provide our own children with similar opportunities.  I have taught the very basics of the piano to each of them, some have been able to continue with private lessons on different instruments, and we have encouraged them to participate whenever possible in school and church musical groups and programs.  My DH is also a great lover of music and has exposed our family to many different genres of music through his collection of vinyl and CDs, now stored digitally.  Years ago we enjoyed season tickets to the symphony, and would even take the one of the children in turn with us to certain concerts.   We have loved the treat of satelite radio that came with our new vehicle for the past several months.  We have tried to sing as a family whenever possible, sometimes with more success than others.  I guess what I'm trying to say is, I need to make a more concerted effort to not only listen to good music on a regular basis, but also to practice, perform and/or create music on a regular basis. I highly encourage and challenge each of you to do the same. Sit down at a piano, pull out a guitar, (or trumpet or clarinet or violin, or even a recorder) and if nothing else, sing at the top of your lungs while driving or in the shower.  Yep,  Sing, Sing a Song!!

* * * * * *

The final number in the concert tonight was "Distant Land (A Prayer for Freedom)"  by John Rutter.   It so much expresses my feelings about our world lately:

You really should read the lyrics!

Read more at http://www.lyrics.com/distant-land-a-prayer-for-freedom-for-chorus-lyrics-john-rutter.html#ZHOSs7QjOii7WA1d.99

John Rutter - Distant Land Lyrics

31 Years With My Honey

Today is the 31st anniversary of the day DH and I were married.  In honor of the occasion I pulled out my old wedding album and scanned a few of my favorite photos which have never before been exposed to the world wide web.  This is us posing by a famous old olive tree next to the Salt Lake Temple, a very popular setting for wedding photos back in the day.  If I remember correctly, the tree was damaged by the famous Salt Lake Tornado a decade or so ago and is no longer there.  This is one of my favorites of our wedding photos.  

And here is a meme that has been floating around on facebook for the past few weeks.  It just fits perfectly in this post, because my DH is one of my greatest blessings, and I enjoy the gift of his love and service to me every single day. 

This is another of my favorite wedding day photos.  I loved my wedding bouquet, especially the orchids and the pink baby roses.  If I tried to save it, I no longer know where it is.  After  seven or so moves in the past 31 years and six children, mementos  like the bouquet just didn't make the cut.  Notice also the beautiful shiny wedding rings.   Of those we only have my wedding band remaining.  DH's wedding band is probably somewhere on a New Jersey baseball field, and my diamond is also somewhere in New Jersey.  We pulled off a fireplace mantle in search of it before one of our moves, but could not find it.  We've talked about getting replacement rings someday . . . .but . . . so far have made other gift choices instead.

Yes, we did have a finely decorated car to send us off properly on our honeymoon . . . but I don't think the decorations made it all the way.  Just say'n.  :)

And here are two of my favorite photos from the honeymoon to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole Wyoming.

Yup.  I love this guy!  He doesn't often chew bubble gum, but I still love traveling with him and will go with him just about anywhere he wants to take me.  Happy Anniversary  DH!

P.S.

For your further reading enjoyment, here is the very first blog post I ever wrote:

My Honey And Me

And another post about our 26th wedding anniversary trip, a gift from our children:

California Anniversary

And another post about my wonderful DH:

Top Ten Reasons I Love DH

I. LOVE. SUMMER.

I Love Summer.  I always have and I always will.  I'm not apologetic about it.  It is by far my favorite season, and closely followed by Spring.

 Yes, there have been years long ago where the days of freedom and play grew old and I looked forward to the new clothes and school supplies and returning to the structure of the classroom and learning and reuniting with friends.  But the best times for me are when the skies are blue, the sun is hot, and the plants (yes, even the weeds, sigh,) are growing strong.

This summer has been different from any other for me.  The children are all adults, and most are working out of state.  We have had no major road trips, vacations, or reunions.  I miss the days of taking a passel of kids to the lake or the pool or the park and the library.  I even miss the days of trying to sneak in some work and keeping all of the chores and laundry done while trying to keep kids busy, productive, entertained and happy.  This year there have been small, quiet get-togethers with smaller than usual extended family groups for the July holidays, and my father's 90th Birthday back in May.  I have worked full time all summer long for the first time in my life (unless you count the summer where I worked and lived at a family camp . . . that was almost more enjoyment than work if you want to know the truth).  I have spent most of my time at work or in the classroom (last minute decision to take an evening class) and the weeds have run rampant in the garden between the infrequent rain showers and the almost daily watering (moving the hose from spot to spot in the yard in the gathering dusk.  No automatic sprinklers here!  :).  The garden is rather pitiful, but we have had a bountiful crop of strawberries, cherries and blackberries (and not nearly enough time to do them justice)  a few peas, and some promise of peppers and tomatoes and carrots and hopefully some squash and corn and beans.

But  . . . I STILL LOVE SUMMER!  I enjoy every possible moment of my lunch hour out in the heat and the sunshine.  I love trying to tackle the weeds and the sprinklers and the lawn mower.  I love driving in the middle of the day with the windows down, the very warm breeze blowing through my hair, the fluffy white clouds on the horizon contrasting with the deep blue of the sky.  I avoid air conditioning whenever possible, and only tolerate it on the muggiest days or to appease those around me who find no comfort in the heat.    I try not to notice that summer is slowly creeping to an end, because, I LOVE SUMMER and want it to stay around for a long long while.

Hallelujah

So, I woke up this morning singing the Hallelujah Chorus in my head.  I'm not sure why it's there, but I guess it's a good thing.  There could be worse things running through my mind. It is a beautiful day (in spite of the heat) and just a great day to sing Hallelujah!

I have been blessed with a good life.  I have a wonderful family, and a very blessed heritage and situation in life. I have recently been reading the book Fresh Courage Take, by Dean Hughes, his third book in a series based on the early days of the LDS (Mormon) church and the trials of the Mormon pioneers.  This latest book tells of the men who volunteered to be a part of the Mormon Battalion of the US Army headed to the War with Mexico.  Though none of the men lost their lives in Battle and they were able to earn much needed money to help the saints who had been pushed out of Nauvoo, they faced much hardship, many died from other accidents and illness, and most crossed the southern US desserts in dire straits without adequate food and water and clothing, many ending up absolutely barefoot for the last months of their march and subsequent journey by foot to the new settlement in Utah.  These men also left their wives and children behind with only tents and wagons to live in and fend for themselves during the cold and illness at winter quarters and their own trek across the plains.

Parts of the story were very hard for me to read as I think of my own blessings.  I have ancestors who lived through these times and went through similar experiences to those of the characters in this book, and each generation since then has worked hard to provide their posterity with a better life. So, yes, I do have reason to be singing Hallelujah.

3rd Annual International Hug a Convert Day

For those of you who may not be aware, June 1, 2014 was proclaimed as the 3rd Annual International Hug a Convert Day by Middle Aged Mormon Man, one of my favorite bloggers.  To celebrate, all throughout this week Middle Aged Mormon Man has been posting conversion stories of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Each story represents someone finding, and accepting the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - and then acting on it.

In his first post of the series CELEBRATING CONVERTS: HERE WE GO…  from last Sunday, Middle Aged Mormon Man explains a bit about why he likes to celebrate new converts and their courage in accepting the gospel.  The stories themselves are amazing, and I've been enjoying them all week long.  You just might enjoy reading them too!

MAN HUGS STEVEN KLAUSER
Hugs for Kathryn Porter
Man Hugs for Chris Staggs
Hugs for Mona Anderson
HUGS FOR “BRUDER” HELMUT WINTERSTEIN
HUGS FOR ANNETTE HENNESSEY
HUGS FOR MARGARET FLOYD
HUGS FOR HEATHER MILLER
MAN HUGS FOR PHIL STRINGER
HUGS FOR PAULA ARCHER
HUGS FOR ANDREA DRAKOS (AND AN EXTRA HUG, TOO)
HUGS FOR SUSANNE BROWN
HUGS FOR BRUCE & SHARON COHEN
HUGS FOR CARON ANDREWS
HUGS FOR DEBBIE & MEL BIRCHER
HUGS FOR ANNE MAXSON
HUGS FOR ABBY FALLS
HUGS FOR MATT NEWMAN (FROM ACROSS THE POND)
HUGS FOR KESSA BOHMAN
HUGS FOR MAYUMI ATHAY
MANLY HUGS FOR KEVIN HAMLET
HUGS FOR DEBBIE JOHNSON
MAN HUGS FOR ROBERT T.
HUGS FOR MEGAN (MEGGIE) RIANDA
HUGS FOR ZAIDA VAN SYCKLE
HUGS FOR DENISE DEL MUNDO
HUGS FOR DUSTIN BURNHAM (WITH THE REQUISITE BACK SLAPS)
HUGS FOR KATHRYN ILES
HUGS FOR VALERIE STEIMLE

Reflections on A to Z Challenge

Well, my procrastination on getting this post written means that I have missed signing up on the official Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Reflections Linky, but I'll go ahead and write this post anyway, and hopefully some of my new blogging friends will find it.

I really wasn't planning on participating in A to Z 2014 as April is usually a pretty full and busy month in my house.  Last year I found that I spent so much time writing my posts during April that I missed out on a lot of prime gardening time, and I didn't want that to happen again.  Then it occurred to me that if I used my yard and my garden as the theme of my blog posts, I might be more motivated to both work in the yard and get the posts ready.  So I set up my list of topics for the posts on Creation and Compassion and I tried to do as much in advance as I could.  Of course  I found that I just had to have current photos, and so there wasn't a whole lot I could write ahead of time.  At the last minute I decided that I wanted to do a series of posts about what I believe to be true on Random Thoughts and Tender Mercies and I was off to a crazy, fun filled month of gardening, taking photos, and blogging every day after work, and trying to visit a few new blogs every day too.  I've found some wonderful new blogs, some new blogger friends, and Grammy Staffy even featured me in one of her posts, Y is for You!  Thank you Grammy Staffy!  That was very exciting!

But, the last two weeks of April brought visits from dear children, graduations, weddings, etc, and I just couldn't keep up any longer!!  I have drafts of my final week of posts, but I just couldn't do it all and still enjoy all of the activities and visits with my family.  So, I quit.  For a time.  The drafts of the missing posts are still here, and I may just post one or more of them occasionally in the weeks and months to come, just because.  I may just revisit the garden every so often too and show you a bit of how things are coming along.  Right now it all looks pretty sad because I've been neglecting it too!   But there you have it . . . my reflections on the 2014 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.

 If you would like to meet some of the other Blogging from A to Z participants, you can find them here and read  Other reflections on the A to Z Challenge