April Flowers

Last fall I pulled all (well, I thought all) the bulbs out of these boxes.  I intended on planting new ones, but never did.  This spring up came these flowers - it was a nice surprise.  I waited too long to take these pictures so they are wilting, but you get the idea.  The rose is doing nicely - I hope it blooms.  If anyone has any ideas on how to get it to do that, please comment.  There Sami and Jackie - did I do good this week?

April 2014

David in his Sunday best - SO HANDSOME! 

Utah/Idaho Trip

April 9 I flew down to Salt Lake to meet Sami and spend a couple of days with her and then to meet David to drive home.  Sami and I had a good time together.  We attended a class together (and I actually was able to participate!), we went to an art exhibit on campus (google "BYU and Sacred Gifts". Simply amazing.) We ate lots of good food and visited with Sami's cousin David (my birthday buddy). We found Sami a good place to live for the next 8 months.  We really accomplished a lot!  Friday morning we drove to Pocatello to meet David.  He had finished his Sophomore year, packed up all of his things, said goodbye to his friends and drove to meet us.  We spent the night in Pocatello - don't eat at Pizza Pie Cafe there not good - and woke up early on Saturday to drive home.  We said goodbye to Sami and we both drove in separate directions.  It took a good 11.5 hours to get home with very brief stops to get gas and something to eat.  I enjoyed spending time with David, I did not enjoy being in the truck that long.  We survived though!

 

Mowing

Yup - its that time of year - Lawn mowing starts!  I know it was in March last year too - it just seems SO early.  It was nice to get outside to cut down the tall grass- I am looking forward to more sunny days.  I opened up all of the windows this last Saturday - you can't beat that sunshiny fresh air smell to drive out the musty, dog smell of a closed up wintering house.  We used our rotisserie on the barbeque tonight for the first time - oh my, the chicken was divine!  I am SO ready to use the barbeque again.  Here's to spring!

Grandma Marylou

I am dedicating this blog entry to my grandmother, Marylou Jean Ellis Britton.  She lived 90 years and had a well lived life.  I thought I would share some memories here so I will always remember them and the love I have for her.

1.  When I was young we would sometimes spend the night with grandma and grandpa at their farm. I remember the pigs - oh they were BIG!  They were in the barn and made a lot of noise when we came in, crashing against the stalls.  The cows would come in from the pasture when grandma banged a spoon against a metal pail - they knew it was time for dinner!  They had one milk cow that was black and white and the rest were white faced herefords.  Grandma had names for all 100 of them!

2.  I discovered my favorite flower at grandma's farm - Sweet Williams.  They grew everywhere and the smell was amazing.

3.  I remember grandma taking me school clothes shopping once.  I begged her to by me a dress.  She did - and I wore it a ton.  It was white with short sleeves and lace - I felt so pretty in it.

4.  I remember telling my mom that grandma wasn't a "rocking chair" type of grandma.  Mom laughed and laughed.  I said that because I thought of grandma's as people that knitted and baked cookies - instead of hauling bales of hay out to the cows and fixing fencing. 

5.  Grandma used to feed us boiled dinner (yuck!) with cabbage, rutabagas, beef, and whatnot all boiled together.  We did the dinner dishes and then before bed she would give us toast - with real butter that she had made.  I thought it tasted terrible - the butter that is.  What did I know?

6.  I remember my parents spending time with my grandparents - they would listen to twangy country music and talk and talk.  Sometimes I felt like they could talk all night!  Looking back I think it was cool that they could do that together and have a good time.

7.  I remember when it was time to butcher cows and pigs.  It was SO cold while my parents and grandparents cut and wrapped the meat. 

8.  Haying time was the opposite - hot and sweaty.  It was fun to me though - riding in the hay truck back and forth from the fields, the sun shining, and then a big meal cooked by grandma at midday.

Grandma was full of life and was a great grandma.  I will miss her, but I look forward to our joyous reunion someday!

Dreams Do Come True

One of the dreams I have had since I started having kids was that as they grew into adults they would still be friends...that our sense of family would not disintegrate just because we don't all live together any more.  When my kids were little and would fight I would say (over and over and over...and over again)..."when it all comes down to it, and dad and I are no longer on this earth, YOU will be each other's family.  The only option is to love each other and be friends. STOP fighting".  Apparently I said that enough because I actually heard them talk about it recently :)  Fast forward to today...they are four hours apart at their different colleges, but that doesn't stop them from connecting and visiting often.  When life becomes overwhelming they take a break and visit each other - eat good meals, laugh, talk, and then return to their respective lives.  Makes my heart sing!

Wind!

Sitting here watching junk tv - no I'm not going to tell you what it is - and the wind is HOWLING.  The power has blinked once, enough to make the battery backup on my computer start screaming.  I can hear the rain pounding against the house, and loud noises of things bumping outside in the night.  AND I LOVE IT!  As much as I love to see the snow drifting down, I love storms.  I know I am safe, warm, and dry, and I love to hear the wind rush through the trees around us and down around the house.  The dogs aren't very excited about it...so they generally hide in dark corners, wound in tight circles.  Drizzly, all day sort-of-rain I can do without...it makes winter last.for.ever.  Crashing windy rainstorms? Bring it on!!