Parker Graduated

I love this little one.  He is so cute and smart and getting so big.  His preschool had a little graduation ceremony tonight.  This is Parker's interview:
I am thankful for..."I don't know"
I think the best way to catch a Leprechaun is...."a trap"
I would eat green eggs and ham...."We just make it and then we would eat it at the beach"
My favorite thing to do with my mom is..."help her"
My favorite thing to do with my dad is..."play a game, blackout or bingo"
More of my favorites...
Color..."Blue and Yellow"
Preschool Song..."Dinosaur Boogie"
Story..."The Dinosaur Book"
My favorite thing to do at preschool is..."To make projects and play outside"
When I grow up I want to be ....."An artist"

Time with Carla

On Sunday I received a text from Carla..."Is your week packed or do you have a day to spend some time with me?  I don't care what we do I'll even come over and help you watch your grandkids ☺ I  just like being around you Dawn."  then another "how about lunch in SLC on Wednesday if you're free?" Carla totally knows how to make me smile!  Of course I have time to spend with people that want to spend time with me.  Wednesday was good.  I just had to take my grands to kids club and wait for the pest control guy to come.  I love our pest control people. (BeeLine Pest Control)  They make an appointment for any time between 9-11 but always show up early.  I have never had to wait for them...they are prompt and always nice.  Our house was treated and the guy was on his way about 9:15.  I did some things around the house and was ready when Carla came to pick me up.

I enjoy visiting with Carla.  She is so open and honest and really good at building me up.  We went to Market Street Grill because her cute daughter, Jessica is the manager there.  It was nice visiting with her for a bit...she is a smart girl.  Jessica took care of our lunch. That was very nice of her and we appreciated it.  Carla doesn't care for seafood and didn't realize they have hamburgers until it was too late.  I thought it was wonderful.  We ordered Key Lime Pie to share and it was divine!

After lunch we went to the Farmington station and Carla had a coupon at Gordman's but ended up getting me a necklace with it.  The girl is so kind and thoughtful. As I write this I wonder why we didn't make it to the Home Good Store?  I remember walking over there but I don't remember going in....hmmmmm?  It was a fun day and I enjoyed our time together.  Carla is such a sweet friend.

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. I'm thankful that we are blessed with so much...too much sometimes.  We have everything we need and more...we are pretty spoiled. (everyone I know is)
An experience I have had that was a blessing to me. Having a few kids that have struggled in school and in life has been a blessing to me.  My experiences have taught me compassion and unconditional love. 
One Gospel Principle that is a blessing to me.  Baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost.  I don't actually remember being baptized but I do receiving the Holy Ghost.  I "felt" him immediately!  I remember the covenants I made at baptism and they have helped me during my trials.
Something I have done to bless another. I help my kids by watching their kids...which I also a huge blessing to me.  This summer I am driving Trichelle's little ones to their Kids Club and I know that is a blessing to her.
Who was a blessing to me this week? My friend Carla...she makes me feel special.  Kimi and Jared have also been.  They are out of school and really enjoy my company which makes me happy.

Peace, Peace Be Still

I started taking Ivy and Zaden to their Boys and Girls Club today.  It's a great summer program for the kids and super affordable.  Trichelle needed somewhere for the kids to go and have fun and found this program.  Her kids were able to get in the program in Ogden and so I volunteered to help them get there.  I'm so glad that there are neat programs for the kids.  We had summer recreation when I was growing up which is probably similar to this.  The kids are really enjoying it.  They get breakfast and lunch and have organized activities.  I couldn't watch them one day a week (for a month) for what it costs for a whole month and I know the kids are having more fun being around other kids than they would be if they were at my house every day. We've been letting the kids sleep over so they don't have to come at 5:30 am when their parents leave for work....that is pretty fun too.

I finally got my hair done today...it's needed colored and trimmed for over a month.  The grays use to really bother me but I have so much now that I am getting use to seeing them and don't call right away to get them colored.  I really like the way my hair turned out today.

Larry and I went to the Temple tonight and it was so nice going together.  I prefer going first thing in the morning but enjoyed picking Larry up from work and going together.  I love going to the Temple and the peace I feel there.  I am so thankful for our Temple that is so close.  I love the Temple and I'm so glad I get to go inside and enjoy the experiences from being there.  I have enjoyed taking family names through.  I have one left and it's for my marathon.  The name I have left needs the initiatory and endowment done and so I have saved it so I can do it all in one day.  It's so nice having a bit of Heaven right here on Earth!

It's where and when

This is what we do.....We meet at Applebee's at 3:00.  We do this so that we don't get mixed up.  We often are seated at the booth in the South East Corner.  We like it there and have thought about carving our initials in the table.  (we wouldn't...but maybe we should make a tag for that table since we occupy it so much)  We had exciting news today.  Mallory gets her son back from his mission tomorrow and Kathy will have her first baby girl join her family next week.  Woo Hoo!  Of course we knew of both those things but we were able to talk and be really excited about them since they are so close.  I love sharing our lives with each other.  I'm so  happy that Mallory she gets her cute son back.  He's one of the kindest human's ever born.  He's so talented, smart, happy and just nice.  I'm excited to see him and give him a hug.  I'm excited that Kathy is finally going to get to cuddle a baby girl after having three sons of her own and two grandson's.  She is so excited!
(this picture is old but we all look the same..sometimes my friends get tired of me taking pictures, so I sneak them in anyway)

About Me

One of my gifts is that I am sensitive to the "spirit".  One day when I was driving through Sardine Canyon....it was fall and the mountains were beautiful.....without a doubt I knew that my Grandma Bessie had accepted the Gospel and that I needed to do her temple work for her.  I'd like to say that I got right on it but that didn't happen.  I didn't know how to go about getting the paper work done.  Eventually I got some help and had most of the information filled out and then I lost the paper.  It took me many months to get it done again.  I bet I was about a year from the time that I "knew" before I got things done.  We had my mom do Grandma's baptism and I did the rest.  It was really wonderful and while I took my Grandma through, Larry took my grandpa through.  We went up to have them Sealed and I was pleasantly surprised when we were told that my grandma Bessie's parents work had been done and that she could be sealed to them.  The spirit was so strong.  The Sealer even stopped and pointed out that there were Angels among us....I knew it....I felt them.

Years later my mom went through the Temple for herself.  While we were sitting in the instruction room I felt my grandma Bessie come to the door, walk and stand in front of my mom and then she sat by my mom for a minute or so and then she left.  It was awesome and I am thankful that I am able to feel the spirit of those just beyond the veil.  I've had other experiences since with friends and loved ones.  The veil is thin and we are being watched over.

Recipes

Grape Salad
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 lbs of grapes (red, green or both)
1/2 cup brown sugar (opt)
1 cup pecans, chopped (opt)

Mix: cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla
Add: grapes and stir together until well coated
Pour mixture in a 9 x13 pan and sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans if you want.

Cafe Rio Pork
Cook Pork Roast on low for 12 hours in a crock pot with water added half way up the meat. After 12 hours drain water and get the fat off and add:
1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cumin (opt), 12-15 oz bottle of Taco Sauce, and 20 oz bottle of Coke.
Continue cooking for 4 hours...Shred the meat and continue cooking for 2 more hours.