Food 4 Thought Friday

Food 4 Thought Friday!

A little feast without the calories!!

Feel free to play along for some yummy fun! Go HERE to JOIN IN!!!

Food 4 Thought Friday ~ This week's questions: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 
Breakfast ~ How do you spend your evenings when you have no where to go? That's when I really love to read but it doesn't seem to happen often enough.  I also blog in the evening if I am home.
Lunch ~ Name three of your favorite restaurants located anywhere and three of your favorite that are local.  Captain George's Seafood Buffet in Virginia is really yummy! PF Changs in Provo, Macaroni Grill in SLC.  Around here I love LaFerovia, Long Horn Steak House, Texas Roadhouse, and Ruby River. I really love Sizzler too!
Dinner ~ What gets neglected the most at your home in the cleaning department? Walls and Light Fixtures.  I kind of forget about them until I can see the dirt.
Midnight Snack ~ What are some of your hidden talents?  Music...so hidden I really can't claim it but I love music and wish I could play the piano or sing.  I have learned that being a friend is a talent that was hidden or at least not recognized for many years.  I am also sensitive to others feelings and the spirit.
Recipe of the Week ~ (instead of your recipe for life what is it just for the week?)  Let YOUR Light Shine!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 

I'm a Sub

(I realized I shouldn't share my number here) 

Yippee....I get to sub this summer!  Janae called me to sub for her today and I was so happy that I was able to.  I prefer subbing in the summer instead of being on a team.  I get to bowl for free and enjoy different people each week.  I decided to make up a sub card so that others would know that they can call on me.  I made it look like I know what I'm doing and like to strike. ☺  I got to bowl with Tina and Linda today.  I enjoyed visiting with them.  I use to bowl on a team with Tina until a few ladies quit.  Before I left I was asked to sub a few more times.

Carla and I hung out for a little longer after bowling.  We ran a few errands and just enjoyed visiting with each other.  I love being able to share feelings with my friends and I'm so glad that they are able to trust me to do the same.  Carla reminded me how wonderful my crazy, busy life is.  I wasn't complaining she just wishes her was busier.  Change and adjusting is always hard but something we all get to experience at different times.

Showering Heather with Love

Heather is a gal I met because of Cindee.  Years ago Cindee told me of Heathers blog and told me that I would really enjoy following Heather.  She was right.  I feel in love with Heather and her honesty and talents and wonderful testimony.  We decided to meet for lunch one day and after a four hour lunch we were great friends.  I served on Heathers Festival of Trees committee for about 4 years.  I always smile when I get an invite  or a Christmas Card from this cute friend.  I'm so glad that Cindee shared her find with me.  Heather is having a baby soon and I was invited to share this excitement with her.  I invited Cindee to come with me and meet this friend of hers face to face.  Heather was thrilled to finally meet Cindee.  It was so fun being a part of this celebration.  It was also very nice being able to spend some time with my sweet friend Cindee.  I admire the dickens out of Cindee....she's so close to perfect!

Count Your Blessings

There is so much in our life to be thankful for~yet, so often our focus is on our hardship and trials.  By taking time each week to focus on our blessings I know we will notice a positive change in our lives.  Even in our trials there are blessing....we need to look for them.

 One blessing I am grateful for today. Slow times....every now and then I like when my calendar isn't full and I'm not running all over the place.
An experience I have had that was a blessing to me. Since Mother's day was this week I'm going to share an experience that happened when Kevin and Braxton were both going to preschool.  Their teacher, Bev told me that one of the ladies helping her said that she just knew that Kevin and Braxton's mom must be a sweetheart because my boys were so kind and well behaved.  Such a blessing being told I was doing something right.

One Gospel Principle that is a blessing to me.  The Sacrament is such a blessing to me.  I'm so thankful that each week I have the opportunity to renew my covenants with my Savior and know that I am whole again.  Partaking of the sacrament is getting more and more personal to me and I imagine the priesthood holders performing this sacrament ordinance to be Jesus.  When I take the time is really ponder and think about this blessing it means so much to me. 
Something I have done to bless another.  Sister Frazier gave me a note for Mother's Day that expressed her love for me.  The note also said that I will never know all that I have done for her.  So just paying attention and acknowledging her must have meant a lot to her and blessed her life.
Who was a blessing to me this week? My family!  I have thought a lot about each of them this week and I'm so grateful to have them all as my family.  They truly are my biggest blessings!

Connor was Baptized

Our family is so happy for this handsome guy.  Connor was finally able to get baptized.  He has been visiting with the missionaries for over a year and tonight his desire to be baptized happened.  Connor was scared and excited.  He is afraid of water since he can't swim and was afraid he might drown.  He was brave though and had four helpers with him in the "cold" water.  One of the helpers (missionaries?) had to push his forehead under but they told him before they did it.  Connor let out a squeal of excitement when he came back up after catching his breath.  While the curtains were being closed we heard a second little squeal.  It made everyone smile.  The room was packed with people supporting Connor.  I'm so happy for Connor and think his dad, Shawn is pretty great.

I had talked to Shawn a month or so ago and asked him when he was going to let Connor get baptized. He had told me that he wanted Connor to know for certain what would be happening to him and the commitments he was making.  We both agreed that Connor has his place in heaven already and really didn't need to get baptized and might not ever really understand.  I remember telling Shawn that by being baptized it would open more doors and opportunities for Connor whether he needed them or not and how he is a blessing to all of us.  When I drove home after our little visit I remember thinking that I should text Shawn and let him know what a great dad he is.  (I should have pulled over and did it because I forgot to actually sent a text to Shawn)  I do plan on giving Shawn a card though on Sunday when Connor gets confirmed.  Shawn is so patient and kind to his son.  He's also very honest with us and has told us that they both get on each others nerves at times.

I had called Connor earlier in the day to talk to him because I knew it was going to be busy that night at the baptism.  I told Connor that he was going to have a warm feeling in his heart and know that he had chosen right.  He really listened to that because on Thursday at SNAP he bore his testimony at our Testimony Meeting and mentioned that.  What a sweet, innocent, tender, loving soul Connor is.

After the baptism we headed over to Bob and Vicky Fowers where they were having a going away party for Sister Frazier who was transferred to the Hyrum, North area.  She will be blessed and so will those she comes in contact with.  She will also be missed by us!

Just a Little Going On

Parker spent the night for his birthday. Oh how I love our little tradition of birthday sleepovers...so fun.  Kimleighel didn't have school and so she slept on the couch by Parker.  I needed to get up at 5:00 to take Jared to drivers education and so I slept in my own bed.  I'm glad that Kimi was a good Aunt.  It made an impression on Parker and he told his mom how nice Kimi was.  

After I dropped off Jared at the School I went to a few grocery stores.  I needed to get things so that I could make the missionaries dinner tonight and I knew I needed to start the corn beef and cabbage before I took Parker shopping.  Corn Beef isn't that easy to find in May...but I was able to...thanks to the nice guy at Kents who sent me to Harmon's.  (reminded me of the Santa on Miracle on 34th street)

Parker was excited to go shopping and knew what he wanted.  He even told me which Walmart he had seen it at.  Sadly, when we got to the aisle that it should have been in the toy he wanted wasn't there.  He spent a lot of time looking at a van for Ninja Turtles to ride in.  It was a little more than I normally spend but today I thought it would be fine.  I never mentioned that to Parker but I did ask him if he had Ninja Turtle guys to ride in it.  I don't think it does...maybe?  Anyway he wanted to check out all the aisle's and he came across a truck, trailer and car on the trailer that was a remote control.  He grabbed that immediately and said let's go.  It was about half the price of the van and so I told him he could choose another "small" thing.  He saw a batman beach towel and that was that.  Parker was happy with his choices and off we went to lunch.

Parker wanted to go to LaFerovia but they are closed on Monday's and so Kimleighel directed him to Chili's.  It was a good choice.  They have TV's around and a little machine on the tables to pay with that also have games on it.  Parker loved that....he also enjoyed peering over the wall at the other customers.  Such a cute, fun boy!  I usually comb hair but forgot today...thank goodness it doesn't matter as much with boys.  He such a cutie I just didn't think about it.  We had such a good time with Parker.  Parker is so polite and good.  I sure do love this cute boy that calls me gramma.  We got to play for about an hour when we got home before his mommy came to get him.  She needed to take Macie to a doctor appointment at Primary Children's Hospital with a team of doctors to see what's next and Parker was going to go to his Aunts to play.

Just after Natalie came and got Parker it was time for me to leave to go pick up Ivy and Zaden from School.  Ivy had invited a friend to come and play too which was fun for Ivy. Zaden wasn't bothered by it.  He is really good at just playing by himself or going along with the girls.  Today he made a cool thing with the lego's.

While the kids entertained themselves I prepared the Quiche that Sister Winks had requested the night before.  The Corn Beef and Cabbage was smelling wonderful by now. Did I mention that the Sisters asked us to fix them dinner because they knew that transfers would be the next day and they wanted to have dinner with us before any of them left.  Larry thought it would be nice to ask them if they had any requests.  To my surprise they all spoke up.  Sister Frazier wanted Corn Beef and Cabbage,  Sister Tulley requested Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Sister Winks wanted Broccoli and Cheese Quiche.  So today we decided that we would make them all happy and I pretended to know what I was doing.  Each of their requests were granted!  They all seemed pretty happy. ☺ (sister Frazier was the only one that was transferred but she had been here for 7 months so we weren't surprised.  We're going to miss her)

I was a little tired by the end of the night and glad that I had my mother's day treat that our Ward gave to the Mother's on Mother's Day.  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day!

Mother's Day

I love Mother's Day.  I have always loved Mother's Day and was quite surprised when I heard that others didn't.  When I was young I loved singing the Primary songs about Mothers and listening to people talk about Mothers in church.  I love my mother and always enjoyed celebrating her on Mother's Day.

When I married I was thankful that I got another wonderful Mother.  I had heard friends talk about their mother in laws and was glad the only thing I could say about mine was how good she was.  I feel blessed to have wonderful mothers who taught us the right things in life.

 I was thrilled when I became a Mother and Mother's Day changed a little for me....it just got better!  I still enjoyed celebrating our mom's but it was also fun to celebrate the fact that I was a Mother.  I never remember feeling or thinking I wasn't good enough.  I just thought about how much I loved being a mom and how much I loved my children.  Mother's Day changed again as my kids started to marry.  I had more children that I loved and adored...it just got better!

 As the grands started to come Mother's Day changed again.  It is even better than it was.  I still love celebrating our mom's, and I still love celebrating me being a mom, but I really love celebrating my girls that are mom's.  I admire my girls so much.  They are all such wonderful mom's.  So much better than I ever was.  That doesn't make me feel bad like I should have been better it makes me happy that they are better.  Larry and I mentioned many times over the years that we just hope our kids do better than us and that pattern continues to happen.  I think we did pretty good because we have great kids.

This year instead of posting on Facebook how much I loved being a mom I posted this:

"Happy Mothers Day to us ALL! We have all been influenced by wonderful Mothers!" ♥
Every one of us has a mother that took care of us and nurtured us.  That is worth celebrating!  Being a mom is a lot of work.  It's that hardest job I think there is and at the same time the most rewarding.  I have said "being a mom has brought out the worst in me but it has also brought out the best in me."  I love celebrating all women on this day....every women leaves her mark!

Traditionally Larry's mom has pizza and everyone congregates to her back yard and visits with each other.  I love traditions and I have always loved doing this.  However, this year mom wasn't feeling good and decided it would be too much work to have everyone over.  I know that in time things change and so do traditions.  We decided to have pizza at our house with our family.  I think the kids all enjoyed it and I did too.  However, I really missed seeing and visiting with some of our extended family.  When we found out that mom wasn't going to have everyone over Larry and I decided to visit our mom's on Saturday.  That way we would be home when our kids came.  I prefer visiting our Mom's on Mother's Day but this year this worked out the best.  My mom was having my sister's family over for dinner anyway and by going a day early we wouldn't be interrupting. I know that some of Larry's siblings would still stop by his mom's so she would still get her visits. 

When we got home from visiting our mom's on Saturday I was surprised to see a "sweet" bouquet for me that Cindee had brought over.  What a kind, thoughtful person Cindee is.  The bouquet was edible.  The flowers were cupcakes and the picks were cookies.  My grands enjoyed eating my bouquet...I enjoyed watching them.

This year I told the kids I only wanted to take some pictures of all the grands together and also some of them.  That's all I wanted.  Some might have forgot and might not have been thrilled but were gracious enough to cooperate anyway.

Later in the evening we played Head's Up~7 Up which was pretty fun.  I love when the grands want to play games with everyone and seeing everyone get involved.  Pretty much makes my heart want to explode with happiness.  The sister missionaries stopped by later.  They brought gifts.....so sweet of them.

I had a few nice surprises today even though taking pictures would have been enough. I received many sweet texts which always make me smile and maybe even shed a tear or two.  I still love homemade cards and received a few. Larry surprised me with a nice watch.  I also got a cute plaque that I hung immediately in my kitchen, some bath bombs that look like an ice cream sundae, and chocolate. I loved and appreciated all the thoughtful gifts. I made a card for each of my girls and put a Movie gift card in it for them to enjoy a date with their hubby.  Part of that gift included us watching the kids while they went out.  Giving gifts to my girls is fun for me....at this point I think the focus should be on them. Young mom's work the hardest!

  

Oh....Justin told me that he spoke in Sacrament Meeting and that he probably should have invited me.  He said it's probably good that he didn't though because I would have just cried. (I'm sure he got that right)  When he mentioned it I didn't even think about him saying anything about me.  It didn't cross my mind at all.  I just thought it wasn't fair that Natalie had to sit by herself on Mother's Day but at least she would be acknowledged in his talk.

Mom's do so much.  Mom's seldom get a day off and work around the clock 24/7 regardless of what day it is.  I remember enjoying going to the hospital because it was kind of like a day off. ☺ I didn't have to cook or clean or wipe noses or any other momma duty.☺ Relaxing is something that comes with time.....I get to more often now that my kids are older.  So enjoy the hustle and bustle because it will pass.....so quickly.  I'm so thankful for  all my memories and the season's of life.  They are all so good and I'm glad that I have enjoyed each one while I was experiencing it.