Thankful Me

Photo: Curly-haired granddaughter, wearing bunny ears and with back to the camera, looks out the window Last weekend was a whirlwind of fun, as one daughter brought her family over for Easter, another daughter joined us, and John's parents also came for the afternoon.  Photo: My grandchildren. The big girls sit in the middle, holding their baby sister. The brothers sit on opposite ends of the couch. The girls are wearing pink and blue floral dresses, and the boys wear grey pants and vests and blue shirts.  Also on Easter, youngest son celebrated a birthday. John and I also celebrated our anniversary this week: 32 years. Photo: John and I pose for a selfie in front of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple There's something about birthdays, anniversaries, and family gatherings that make me reflect back on what was, and forward to what will be. (Maybe not in the moment, but in a quiet time after everyone has gone home.)  Photo: Youngest grandson sleeps on t...

Photo: A wooden chair sits by a window. The window has horizontal blinds and sheer white panel curtains. Both the blinds and curtains are open. The view out the window is of blue sky, snow-capped mountains, and an expanse of houses, trees, and buildings (including the white Mount Timpanogos Temple) in Utah Valley.   While I know that snow in May is not impossible here, I'm beginning to think that spring has come to stay (at least until summertime.) No snow is predicted for the upcoming week, flowers are blooming, and trees are leafing out. With temperatures forecast in the 70's today, and no clouds in the sky, the mood here in Utah is fairly positive. Gratitude flows easily. Photo: A close-up shot of green blossoms on a maple tree  1. I'm thankful for Easter. Of course, the pain, agony, and suffering Christ endured is unfathomable, but the good news is that His act of love, and His resurrection from the dead, offers hope to all of us. I believe Easter is me...

Photo: A branch of an olive tree on the top of the photo,and purple pansies on the bottom, frame the white marble Rome Italy Temple When John and I traveled to Italy earlier this year, one of the sites we were most excited to see was the new temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our tour was planned around the open house dates, and I believe we were part of the first group tour on the first day of the open house.  No photos were allowed inside the temple itself, but never fear. The church has produced this very thorough video that takes you on a virtual tour of the Rome Italy Temple. In addition to showing the various rooms of the temple, it gives the best explanation I have heard of the purpose of temples and the ordinances that take place inside the temples. It's definitely worth a watch. After we toured the temple, we exited to the plaza that sits between the temple and the visitor's center. Olive and palm trees, along with other plants and...

A photo, taken last year, of the back of yellow-lab Drexel's head, as he watches a session of General Conference on TV Last weekend was General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Twice a year, in April and in October, I watch church from my couch, as I listen to four (2-hour) general sessions of conference over two days.  As you might imagine after binge-watching so much, I come away with great appreciation for the messages I've heard. For today's TToT, I'd like to share some of the messages that stood out to me. I'm thankful to have heard: 1. Ulisses Soares' advice concerning those who do not think/act/live like we do: "It is hard to understand all the reasons why some people take another path. The best we can do in these circumstances is just to love and embrace them, pray for their well-being, and seek for the Lord's help to know what to do and say. Sincerely rejoice with them in their successes; be their friends ...

Photo: A piece of lined paper with the words, "Dear Kristi," printed on it. I'm joining in again with the Six Sentence Story prompt, given by Denise at Girlie on the Edge . This week's word: Contest. Once upon a time, before the days of e-mail, instant messaging, FaceTime, or even text; when phones were corded and attached to walls in homes, and calls were charged differently depending on time of day and distance, a mother longed to stay connected to her oldest daughter, who was hundreds of miles away at college. The mother, unbeknownst to her older daughter, invited the two younger children to participate in an activity designed to promote family bonding and strengthen sibling ties: letter-writing. The little brother, dutifully and without enthusiasm started his letter, "Dear Kristi, I wrote this letter becouse (sic) Mom made me." The little sister, on the other hand, wrote, "Mom said to sit down and write five sentences to you. I th...

Photo: A tan grade-school-age girl in a blue shirt smiles at the camera as she leans against a rail at Niagara Falls. As if she is a pot of gold, a rainbow extends from her shoulder upward to the sky. Twenty-three years ago, a beautiful little girl was born. From the get-go, she was sweet, sensitive, and rather shy. She has grown into a young woman of whom I am so proud. She has worked hard to overcome challenges, and recently told me she is trying to face her fears, and asked me if I would write her story and share it here on the blog, in hopes she can inspire others through their own struggles. Although I offered to publish an auto-biographical piece for her, she wanted me to write her story from my perspective. At her request, and with her approval of this post, I share the following: Photo: A tiny baby girl, dressed in a sleeper and hat made of white fabric with red and blue hearts, looks at the camera and holds up her hands The phone rang, and the social worker on...

Photo: Ruins of shops line a stone street in Pompeii Prior to arriving in Italy, though I had not heard about Herculaneum , I did, of course, know about Pompeii. After touring the ruins at Herculaneum, I was even more curious to see Pompeii, so I could compare and contrast the two places. Like Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., but while a mud flow buried Herculaneum, ash rained down on Pompeii. The difference in the way the towns were impacted is evidenced in the ruins: in Herculaneum, wood and skeletons survived, while in Pompeii, no wood remains, and plaster casts provide proof of former life.  Photo: A plaster cast, sitting on a modern box in a storage area of Pompeii, shows a person sitting, knees drawn to his chest, with his hands up to his face Herculaneum was a smaller city than Pompeii, and the excavated ruins open to the public are understandably smaller as well. As we walked around Pompeii, we visited a la...

Photo: The view from my front window of my apricot tree in full bloom. In the foreground is a forsythia bush. I have spent much of this week shredding papers, organizing photos, and generally just trying to make my office look like an office and less like the aftermath of a tornado. I don't just want surface-level organization; I'm after the organizational equivalent of spring deep-cleaning. And, as I'm actually motivated to complete this project, I'm going to keep at it until I'm finished (or, to be honest, until my motivation flits to a different task.)  This is the paragraph that should be a beautiful segue from above excuse for a quick Ten Things of Thankful list to the actual list. I'm not going to spend time coming up with one, so hold on to your hats, here we go: 1. I'm thankful for my middle daughter, who celebrated a birthday this week.  2. I'm thankful for my youngest daughter, who has a birthday this weekend. 3. I'm thankful th...