Our Garden Runneth Over!

Gardening in Phoenix is a unique experience. We planted our tomato plants in February...that's right, February! Our growing season is unique here, but with some work, tender care, and some shading, we have been able to get a lot of tomatoes. I love to go out in the morning and pick the cherry tomatoes...one for the bowl, and one for Suzzy! Nothing better than a cherry tomato fresh off the vine! Normally, the blossoms will not set if it is over 100 degrees, but we shaded our plants and have gotten tomatoes way past 100. However, today, it is forecast to be 113, and that qualifies as baking weather, so we went out yesterday morning and picked all we could, watered very well, and hope to get one more small harvest before we say bye bye to our tomatoes. We also picked all our watermelon, and we have 4 sitting on the kitchen counter...they ate 2 yesterday! I made zucchini muffins this morning (this time, I remembered to add the sugar! Hopefully, the troops will approve!)I still have basil...it likes the heat, but everything else looks weak. Hey, if I were outside instead of in this wonderful air conditioned house (again, I love Alaskan Home Services!!)I would look limp and weak. So, thank you, dear garden, for tomatoes, for salsa, for grilled zucchini, for watermelon, for the smallest cantaloupe you could ever imagine (we're talking golf balls!), for zucchini muffins. Take a rest, for now, and be ready for winter planting in a few weeks!!

Surpises Are The Best!

I am not usually one for surprises, especially when they happen to me! I don't like birthday parties, singing to me, etc. I am a hopelessly "plan ahead" person, and I try to be spontaneous, but it shows that I am not comfortable. I manage, and try not to make the world too terrible a place for the ones I love. The other morning...my first cool morning in a long time (thank you Alaskan Air Conditioning for working so hard installing my new a/c to replace our failing 25 year old one)...my sweet daughter in law, Danyel, called and asked if I had seen Allison's blog. I hadn't had any time to even turn on the computer that morning. She urged me to get on NOW. I was a bit concerned...there again, me and the no surprises malady (the a/c going out was surprise enough for a long time!)I opened it and found...first, my two sweet grandbabies looking quite surprised! And then the best surprise of all...an ultrasound of a sweet baby boy! Yes, Mike and Allison are going to have baby #3 this December. What a happy wonderful good and very great surprise! Now, I have to work on that stocking for my fireplace to hang up this Christmas. And then, the only surprise can be what they name this sweet little blessing from Heaven! (Adam is leaning toward Christofuss...but I said that wouldn't fit!)Surprises can be very, very, very wonderful!

Writer's Workshop

1.) Tell us about a "dirt cheap" you've taken this summer.
Well, our “dirt cheap” has been dirt nothing!! Now, I know that everyone thinks: Arizona…Hot hot hot, and so it is, here in Phoenix. It will get up to 114 this weekend. (They say “it’s a dry heat” and that does make it a little more tolerable, but when the temperatures at 4:30 A.M. are 92 degrees, it really doesn’t matter, dry or wet!) However, few know the reality that, within 1 -2 hours, you can drive to places, in Arizona, that are 20 to 30 degrees cooler. One of these places is our favorite: Woods Canyon Lake, outside of Payson, Arizona on the Mogollon Rim. It is about 2 hours North and East. We planned on camping, hiking and fishing at there. There are great campgrounds, we can ride our bikes or walk to the lake, where trout fishing is king. (and when the kids get tired of not catching anything on day 1, they spend the rest of the time catching crawdads.), where we hike everyday around the lake, where it rains-just enough to cool the warmer afternoon, and were you wake up freezing. That was the plan. Then, Nathan’s football coach changed their week off to last week. Dad had meetings galore already scheduled at work, and India doesn’t understand the vacation concept. To complicate things even further, our air conditioning, 25 years old, and a must for Phoenix, decided to die last week. It still is working (our house is at 85 degrees), as long as we keep all doors to periphery rooms shut, don’t do anything warm (cooking) inside, and stay dark till the sun goes down. We get a new unit, ducts, and the works installed today. So, bye bye Woods Canyon Lake, again for another year.

2.) When I grow up I want to be like …Marjorie Pay Hinckley. She passed away a few years ago. She lovingly served as the wife of our church President, Gordon B. Hinckley for many years. She always had a happy face. She always looked for the good. She always saw things in a positive way. She once said, “Elder Neil A. Maxwell once said,’ We are here in mortality, and the only way to go is through; there isn’t any around!’ I would add, the only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.
Another one that touched me…especially since I will turn 50 in a year, “Fifty was my favorite age. It takes about that long to learn to quit competing-to be yourself and settle down to living. It is the age I would like to be through all eternity!”
And, my favorite quote: “I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”
She truly exemplified what it means to be a Christian, and that is what I would like to be when I grow up.



3.) Describe a difficult moment that you survived.
Oh, boy…I dearly, dearly love my sons. I love them more each day. And, because of the challenges I have faced with them, I love them unconditionally. Difficult moments come when your “plan” doesn’t work the way you think it should. My two sons served honorable church missions. However, one became ill on that mission, and served nine honorable months. The other became terribly discouraged and served twenty one honorable months. When the phone calls came, informing me that they would need to come home, I, for a brief moment, thought I was going to die. But, mom love immediately flooded my inner being, and from the time I saw my babies get off that plane, my heart melted and all I wanted was to hug them. They may still feel like they let me down, but nothing could be further from the truth!! They are honorable, good men, great husbands, and-hopefully someday-tremendous daddies.
Another difficult moment that I survived, was when I received a call from high school, telling me that another son had been caught in possession of a substance that was not allowed at school. I was flabbergasted, stunned, and totally shocked. I wanted to die, but mom love, again, immediately took over. We stood by him, through school expulsion hearings, through college and dropping that, through dui’s, and we still are there to support, though not so much financially. I never thought it would happen…he had been taught…the example had been set…but we love him, and I survived.


4.) List 5 things you like to do while camping...Well, when it comes to camping, I have 29 years of experience. That is the ONLY hotel I have been in...a tent! What do I like to do? The most wonderful thing we do at Woods Canyon Lake is to hike around it every day. It takes about an hour. You are surrounded by forest on one side, lake on the other. There are wild strawberries growing. There are places to sit on a rock and put your feet in the cool water. It is just wonderful. Another thing I like to do while camping...and this may seem strange...is to do the dishes! I get to put my hands in warm, soapy water and, for once in a day, I feel clean! I like to paint my Christmas ornaments while camping. I take my wood, my paints, and all my stuff, including brush bin and water bottle, sit down on a rock while my hubby fishes, and paint. It brings back such memories every time I hang them on my Christmas tree. I also like to go bike riding on our camping trips. We can ride on the great trails and you can end up on the edge of the Mogollon Rim and see the entire Verde Valley...pine trees as far as you can see! Finally, I just love to have my grandbabies on our campouts. Now, this has not been able to happen for a few years...they live far from our camping area...but I remember taking my grandson for a walk through the campground. He just loved cars, and he knew every make and model, at the age of 2! We would walk by a campsite and he would say, "What kind of car is that, Grammy?" and I would repeat (if I could read off the side of the car. If I could not, he would not be satisfied until we went up into the campsite and saw the true make and model).Then we would go to the next campsite and this would repeat. It was soooo fun! He would put on his helmet and ride his bike. It was just the best time. Maybe someday, a few years from now, we can do that again. Camping is fun. Food is great (especially Nate's blueberry cobbler!) and the COOL weather is the best!

5.) What are you paranoid about? I am not a paranoid person, per se, however, I really like things to be as planned as they can be. I get really out of step when I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants, so to speak! If I get that out of control feeling, that is when I feel the most paranoid. I do try to plan for everything, though...and when things change, I pray and breathe....a lot (for both!)

Cameo and Ethan

This post is not anything more than a "thank you"...thank you Ethan for being wise enough to marry Cameo!! They came by on Sunday night...Cam had tried over and over to do something for my birthday: texted me to take me out to lunch, but my head and my lack of a/c was making me ill...then they both sent me birthday messages on my birthday...surely a great gift. Then, on Sunday, they brought me flowers, a neat accessory for my Winter village (get that, Kayty, not a Christmas Village...so it can go up on the piano come November 1) and my favorite...Sees Nuts and Chews!!! Cameo made sure we took pics, too...something I often put aside. She is just the most thoughtful person! She is unselfish, and kind, and dedicated and just wonderful. I feel so very blessed and honored to be her mom in law.

My boys may have made some of their teenage years an adventure in prayer for me, but they sure have made up for it with their gems...Cameo...and Danyel. I love them dearly!

Wise Thought

Having a man who I know is a living prophet on the earth today is such a great blessing. Thomas S. Monson guides the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as President, and he is the living prophet for the entire world. I was emailed this quote this morning. What he observed:

“Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives

if they had their . . . supply of food . . . and were debt-free. Today we find that

many have followed this counsel in reverse:they have at least a year’s supply of debt

and are food-free.”

President Thomas S. Monson, “That Noble Gift—

Love at Home,” Church News, May 12, 2001, 7.

We have been counseled to have a 3 month supply of ready to prepare food in our pantries, in storage. This can help on "a short week", a minor storm, or anything else that might happen. This just involves buying "a couple of extra" every time you shop. When you buy peanut butter, buy a couple of extra. If there is a great sale on pasta, buy a couple of extra. That is all...a couple of bucks every week. I am so grateful we have. I had to cut our food budget, due to Dee's reduced pay, and we now are helping Morgan get back on his feet. I have (keep fingers crossed) still not had to add to our shrunken food budget, and we are doing okay...thanks to "a couple of extra." It truly does work!

Fabulous Fourth!

Today is my birthday...my 49th birthday, to be exact. Yuck. I am really getting old! Anyway, I have never been the kind of person who liked a very big deal made of anything of mine, especially my birthday. This year, even with our failing air conditioner, it was nearly perfect. I awoke early...drenched in sweat due to aforementioned failing a/c, woke my sweetheart and we hiked the mountain at Thunderbird Park. Another year and I am blessed to be able to make it up and down. I have taken to this traditional hike, usually alone, to just be grateful that I can hike again this year....that I have good health and I can make it. We then went yard saling...got a few more storage containers for the pantry...some sponge brushes...Dee and Morgan got a few things. We packed a lunch and headed off for Prescott, Az. Nathan stopped at a gun store and used the money he has worked so hard for. We then found the mountain biking trail Morgan and Nathan wanted to try. They biked...Dee and I hiked. We drove around Prescott, headed home, and have had a good swim, and are nearly ready for bed. I received wonderful texts from my kids, a card and really "cute" glasses from Kayty, a cherished entry on my sister's blog from her, and wonderful, wonderful birthday remembrances from my dear friends on facebook. It was a perfectly wonderful birthday!!! A fabulous 4th of July!!!

P.S. I came in from the pool to find the most wonderful message on my cell phone from my two grandbabies. "Happy New Year, Grammy!" says Adam. "Happy New Year!" says Grace. "Happy Birthday!" I am sure they had come home from seeing fireworks, Las Vegas style! And how appropriate it was...yes, it truly is a new year! And a happy one it will be!

Thank you to all...for moms and mothers in law (my mom always calls at 3:14P.M.),to Ethan and Cam (can't wait for lunch with you!), to Doran and Danyel, to Morgan, Kayty (who always makes anything a party...keeps Party City in business!), Nathan, and especially Dee, for all you do, and for no Jackie Chan movies this year! Hooray!

Writer's Workshop

This week’s topics were more difficult to choose from. That mom guilt thing…well, there are not enough volumes to carry my thoughts on that. Allison wearing too small tap shoes “just one more time, honey”, Ethan being ignored when Nate was hurt in an ATC mishap and Ethan received a bad burn on the leg, and….well, I could go on…and on…and on!
So, my selection for this week is: “I'll be happy when…” Now, I am not foolish enough to even begin to think that one magical event will occur that will “make me happy”. And, to be honest, I really am not unhappy. I have a great hubby, fantastic kids, and the very best grandbabies, on earth and in heaven! My sweetheart has a job and works very hard for our family. We have a lovely, and safe home, and we live in a neighborhood that I can run and not be afraid. I have a car…with air conditioning (super happiness this time of year!) We are all, basically, healthy, and Kayty’s diabetes is in good control (we find out next week how good it is in…quarterly A1C). We have plenty to eat (thanks to coupons, lists, and food clubs, plus little helps here and there: you who help know who you are! And thank you, again, from the bottom of our heart!) We are surviving on much less money, and yet we still can tithe and pay all our bills on time. All the basics are met, and that makes me happy.
I love my home. The living room is just what I want…so is everything else, except for our bedroom and bathroom…and that doesn’t make me unhappy, just kind of unsettled. But, hey, it will come. I love the back yard, the pool, the garden, the fun things to do. I do miss our playground being filled with Adam and Grace, but when they do come it is just the best, so I have much to look forward to.
I love church and the things I learn each and every day. I love it that a temple will be built within a mile and a half of my home. I love the Lord, the scriptures, and all the opportunities I have to learn and grown. I love it that I know there is a living prophet on the earth today, and apostles that testify of Jesus Christ. I feast on their words every chance I get, and their teachings are there to help me be a better person.
So, it seems, happy is very much what I have. Now, don’t ask me to respond to this near Mothers’ Day…so much guilt there…but I am very happy. So, I will be happy when…well, that is now, so I need to just remember this when all is going nuts and I just can’t see straight. Maybe, I will be happy when I remember that I have so much to be happy about!