Valentine Shelter Lunch

It was shelter to speak with you.  ~Emily Dickinson

Derby...

It was so fun to make this stuff. Check Derby Party off the bucket list...

Best of all.. dear friends were there to share.

Lunch for my Valentines...

I have been waiting all month to have a lunch for my Valentines.. today was finally the day and even though there was small water issue and the disposal broke and a few other mishaps.. It mostly came together.. I did leave the broccoli in the steamer for the second time it did not make it to the table.. I'm done with broccoli..

Happy Valentine's Day... We're celebrating all month :)

Shelter

This above are photos of Jen's brilliant President's Day Lunch.. the only President's Day lunch I've ever been to.. but I hope there will be many more. Thank you Jen! It was a perfect day. (Fabulous photos courtesy of Jennie Dopp.. Thank you Jennie!)

Friendship is a sheltering tree... ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Most of us don't need a psychiatric therapist as much as a friend to be silly with. 

~Robert Brault

Climb of My Life...

When I went to university, I had the fortunate experience of rooming with someone I came to very much admire for just a semester. She is an accomplished poet among many other talents and has started a blog of her own, A Poet In Zion, which I think you'll really enjoy. She posts her thoughts and poems on Fridays. Stop by and visit her blog or at least read this post about FAITH which I love.

Women's Shelter...

Love you dear friends...

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. ~Sirach 6:14

The Queen of Fun!

Meet the Queen of Fun!
Wherever she is, there's a crowd of happy people.

Including this little one on her first egg hunt!

She found FIVE eggs! And then, she found a slippery slide!

After she went down holding mom's hand about 20 times, she got brave and went down all by herself! Hooray! What a fun day!!!

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle...

This picture is dear to my heart. It's not just that it's a photo of two of my very dear friends. (They happened to be related by marriage.) The photo shows them with their calendars. They are planning and coordinating to see that each of their children (there are 10 between them) gets to music lessons, doctor appointments, school, plays, and all of their other activities. They make sure there is time for the most important things. They ensure that family needs are met. They take care of extended family and friends and neighbors and church responsibilites. These two do about as much good as people can do and not collapse. They make it work some pens and calendars and organization and big, big hearts. And, what they accomplish is amazing. When I think of the legacy they are creating at the kitchen counter.. It moves me to tears. I have many friends who do this every week. Here's to you my friends. You rule!

The Happiest Bride...

Despite this more serious photo that I really liked. I don't think I've ever seen a happier bride and groom. Their joy was infections!
May this only be the beginning... "The best is yet to be..."

Oh Good! My bird is here...

Oh good. My bird is here. He cleans all the bugs from around the windows outside, working his way around the house. Works for food too. Love him. If you don't have a bird, you must get one...

My bird is kinda different looking. I don't know what sort he is. He is light brown with smallish darker brown spots and has a very long beak which helps him in his work. He comes every day while I'm here typing away. I know he's here when he begins tapping around the back doors. Sometimes if I'm very quiet I can see him for just a second. Then he comes and sits on the climbing rose which scrapes, not in an unpleasant way, across the window next to my desk.

If I try to peak at him though these blinds, he flies away, so I don't interrupt. He does not want accolades. He's very humble, humble and efficient. I would like to give him a name, but haven't thought of any that fit. We get a lot of birds around my place, but he's my favorite. Pancake, our dog, has never been up in time to meet him. Pancake is a night owl. It drives us crazy. He keeps everyone up past their bedtime, but that's another story altogether.

Once a whole congregation of geese gathered for a loud conference on my roof. Boy was that loud! It scared me until I figured out who they were. They must have been making plans to clean out the ponds. The aquatic vegetation can get quite overgrown and we have to have large groups of geese fly in to take care of the situation when it arises. They are very organized about the whole operation. They always send in the appropriate number flying in a V shaped formation. They disturbed Pancake during his nap and it was a long time before he'd pipe down about it.

We get many robins. I think they are curious birds because they come to watch on a fence post while you plant the garden or read a book in the swings. I like them, they just keep one company. Baby l loves to hop after them and they never mind a little baby sitting.

I loathe the magpies, crows and California gulls, (see the following incident http://loveboxes.blogspot.com/search?q=seagull) but we must have a clean up crew on hand. But, never feed them! They are very dirty and it only encourages their bad behavior.
The seagulls actually poop on the sidewalk at The Church. It's not attractive and last summer it caused a lot of gossip and frankly quite a great scandal. The crows are just creepy and there are always so many. My neighbor Jake and I think they might dive bomb us one of these days and we prefer to stay in when they are out. I don't know about Jake, but I'd rather visit with birds on more of a one on one basis. Pancake is secretly afraid of them but walks bravely down the sidewalk as if they're not there just to show how brave he is. We know better...

Bluebirds are my great love! I used to see them on my walks in the morning almost every day. Bluebirds are terribly shy, so you see just a flash of heavenly shades of turquoise. It's very good luck. I am anxious to see them again in the spring. Their only job is to be beautiful.

We have a few other friends that we love. Our neighbor Tiger the cat is codependent on his family, very weird for a cat. He cries for his people if he's not with them. He's orange and very cute. He once sat for a portrait with Pancake which was entered in the Reflections contest. Tiger is the only cat Pancake enjoys an association with. Pancake says Tiger is such a good cat, he's really almost a dog.

Katie the dog is one of our favorite neighbors. She has the lovable face of a teddy bear. She reminds me of the nursemaid in Peter Pan. She is as big as a Buick and will sit on your feet so that you can't move and must continue to pet her. She is sweet, but not gentle, a very enthusiastic greeter. Once my daughter and I were on our way to lessons, c opened the car door to say hello and I instantly had a face and lap full of dog. Our car is too small for Katie we decided. Katie walks 2 miles everyday, which is exhausting, so the only thing you can really hire her for is holding down rugs that could blow away in a slight breeze or similar chore because she really needs to nap the rest of the day.

Our next door dog Bella is so elegant, but she isn't interested in any of the trappings of posh society. She is always on duty. She marches the length of the fence and back again hour after hour. It seems the mice are always planning an attack and Bella is no nonsense. They will never outsmart her. She will discover them in their devious planning every time. She gives dogs five times her size their marching orders, but is always appropriately polite to those who outrank her.

Peeka used to be the neighborhood greeter, but she so old and has such terrible allergies these days. You should hear her sneeze!

We have a good mouser that often pays a working visit. She is disinterested, black, sophisticated and arrogant. She knows how good she is. We suspect that she once lived in the city. She is willing to make a daily inspection for bartered porch naps in the afternoon sun. Pancake doesn't like her, and complains under his breath every time she comes. He swears that she sticks her tongue out at him. We tell him to keep quiet and ignore his protests since her work is so very important. Without her, we'd simply have to relocate.

I am so grateful for good service. It's encouraging that one can still get such good and useful help these days.

Thank You for the Thank You...

... they were beautiful & delicious!

Best Face Forward...

Isn't it interesting how people are... especially women.. I know I do this anyway. We go around comparing our worst selves to everyone else's Sunday best. I heard Marie Osmond say something to this affect the other day on Good Morning Utah. It's so true I think. We compare our messy house to our neighbor's gorgeous garden and our slobby sweatsuit to our friends perfectly pressed ensemble.
We all want to be better. Well, there are a few jerks around who think they are perfect and wish everyone else would just be like them.. but, I think most people are in the other category. I look around at my neighbors and friends and think. I wish my house was as clean as Laurie's and I was as fit and lovely as Alecia. I wish I had Kim's musical talents and Laura's organizing skills. I wish I could befriend people like Lisa and be as gifted a mother as Kate. These are real folks, the ones I watch and see everyday... amazing people.
I don't know how to stop judging oneself completely.. but I have been thinking that maybe we should stop thinking of ourselves as individuals in that way, but think more of the one or two gifts that we add to the group. Maybe we aren't meant to be perfect one at a time... maybe we only achieve perfection in this life when you add us all up together.

Today I Joined Facebook.. I mean yesterday..

... and felt pretty silly taking photos of myself.

Hello Friends..

It has been fun to wander around that site though and find old friends from school. I do like the old blog though with all the pretty colors.

PS... Blake.. I love how you wrote, "Welcome on to this thing. Now your emails will double." The way you said that reminded me of Grandpa's phraseology so much and had me chuckling to myself for an hour. :)

Thank you Mr. Russell...

Thanks to my brother, or I never would have known that Mr. Russell passed away Saturday, July 12, 2008.
You know how when you don't see people for a long while how you just picture them doing what they always were. I still had Mr. Russell pictured in his classroom teaching kids history and political science. Yesterday, before I knew about Mr. Russell's passing, I was reading a book about politics... I think that would have made him happy. In the book, Ben Stein wrote about some of his favorite teachers, "I had great teachers in the public schools of Montgomery County, Maryland, in the 1950's and 1960's. To these fine men and women, it came naturally to praise America and to teach their students that love of their country was an integral part of mental health. In those long-forgotten days, teachers believed it was their job to build moral character and that patriotism was a major part of that character-- and I'm grateful for it. I don't have anywhere near the strength of character of many people around me, but what little I do have is owed largely to my teachers." Unlike Ben Stein, I had only a handful of teachers who were true scholars AND patriots. Mr. Russell was a stand out. He loved America deeply. The Founding Fathers and other great men and women in American history were real people who came alive in his classroom. I looked forward to his class and sat spellbound when he taught. I loved his class and was grateful to be one of his students even when I was young and had little experience. I knew Mr. Russell was a teacher with unique gifts. Now, as an adult, I am both thankful for the hours he spent in the classroom and even more thankful for the many hours of preparation that he must have spent outside the classroom. The only way I know to really become an American Patriot is to know history and to really know it and then to share it like he did was a great labor of love. Mr. Russell, you were just one of those teachers who can never be replaced. Thank you.

Sorry...

Sorry to be gone so long. C's brother suffered a medical trauma on Tuesday and passed away Thursday... so I won't be checking in much for the next week.

Jessica, I'm sorry. I will get your package in the mail when things settle and I will have an extra giveaway since I missed one.. once I get back.

Thanks for understanding.

The BBQ..

The BBQ was so much fun! My friend Shauna put together these decorations by having us all bring our children's cowgirl/cowboy gear. Then she brought two backs of Hoody's roasted peanuts that we scattered and smashed a little.
Bandannas and sunflowers ...
.. and lots of good food, but by then the people were there, which is when I stopped taking pictures and went to the party myself.

Circe's Trees...

Circe has written another masterpiece. Don't miss it.

P.S. Get a box of kleenex first.

Giveaway!

Shauna who is our favorite Jenni's sister.. is having a really fun giveaway contest about one of my favorite candies.. you have to see the post anyway.. she decorated so cute for the shower she had for her new daughter in law.. so get over there and enter!

Angel Without Wings..

This little doll came without the holes to make her angel wings.. but I painted her anyway and thought she looked lovely... so she is a little angel, it's just that her wings don't show. You know people like that. Right? :)
I do. And, you must know who you are.
Please excuse me today. My sister is getting married. I will be back tomorrow with lots of fun photos.. I hope. :)

Flowers & Favors..

Alicia's shower was so fun I'll show you ... these turned into
... these..
My mom made these.. chocolates in lovely Carolyn Roehm paper quilted boxes.
My sister to a photo of an arrangment like this to our local flourist and he made this lovely spring arrangement for our party.
We all brought flowers and put them everywhere. I didn't take too many photos though. I should have taken photos of our cookie table. My sister-in-law Brynn has promised that she will share her marvelous lemon bar recipe.. with lovely white chocolate.. We had Marta's Spinach Quiche

SIMPLY SPINACH QUICHE

10 oz. pkg. Frozen Spinach (let thaw in fridge for a day)

5 Eggs, beaten well

8 oz. carton small curd Cottage Cheese

2 cups grated combination Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheeses

1/8 cup dried or chopped Onion

1/8 tsp. Salt

1/8 tsp. freshly ground Black Pepper

9 inch deep dish unbaked pie shell (in the frozen foods aisle)

Preheat oven to 375°. Drain thawed spinach in colander, pressing with paper towels to remove all liquid. In large bowl of mixer, combine eggs, cottage cheese, spinach, 2 cups grated cheese, onion, salt, and pepper. Beat to blend and pour into unbaked pie shell. (At this point, quiche can be refrigerated overnight.) Bake 50-60 minutes. Let sit 5-10 minutes before cutting. Cut into wedges and serve warm.Yield: 6-8 servings.

Thank you Marta! I've used this recipe about 4 times already. :)

We had a really lovely time. So many of our favorite ladies came. c and her cousin were so wonderful to help greeting the guests and they looked so cute in their spring colors.

My sister Christine's home looked so pretty and she had her new yellow room finished just in time.. Why, why did I not take more pictures. Well.. it was so fun. Thank you everyone for coming! We had a wonderful time!