Halloween Fun!

Da-da-da-da…

(Snap! SnaP!)

Once upon a spooky eve….

A group of very  strange folk gathered together to

celebrate the approaching  Hallow’s Eve.

The welcoming committee was at their post.

Special forces were patrolling the area.

The neighbors were cautiously keeping watch, but

a few  guests managed to slip through unnoticed.

Strange items were carried in to the house.

      

Creepy sounds were heard!

Thankfully, no one went hungry!

Seems a little quiet and empty now.

Will they return next year?

It’s a good bet the tradition will continue!

JoAnn

(aka Medusa)

 

Spreading some goodness

We live in a world where negative happenings seem to get a lot more attention than positive, upbeat news does. 

(If you watch the 10:00 nightly news you know what I mean.)

Sometimes it is easy to get depressed and discouraged, thinking people are just wrapped up with their own problems and that no one really cares about others.  Or we think our own lives are full of disappointment and sadness, while every one else is living the good life.  One negative thought always produces another one.

Don’t you love when stories about human kindness, or resilient human nature go viral on the internet? It is uplifting to me to see someone take the lemons life dishes at them and turn them in to a sweet lemonade.  Sometimes it is through the simple example of another person that we can deal with our own problems.

Our little granddaughter, Brooklyn, was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease (a genetic gluten intolerance).  Coming from a long line of “foodies”, that news was frustrating to all of us.  We love eating, cooking, and planning what we will eat and cook tomorrow or next week, or at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

After a very tiny mourning period, Liz, our daughter, was able to share her feelings about the situation. 

We have been encouraged by our church leaders to be positive influences on others- to spread some goodness, if you will.

I’m so proud of her attitude that I want to share the goodness of her message with you.

I hope it will help someone.

Liz and Brooklyn

This is just a small example of passing along the positive:

This summer when we found out I was going to have to drive Aubrey all the way across town to preschool instead of going to the elementary school in our neighborhood I was really bummed. My Dad reminded me that Heavenly Father knows what he's doing and that things would work out. I figured there was a good reason why this ended up happening, but I was still bugged. When we found out that Brooklyn has celiac disease last week, I was heart broken for my poor girl. We love homemade breads, pancakes, crepes and all other gluten filled products and knew this was going to be a very hard adjustment. This week while dropping Aubrey off at preschool we learned that one of her teachers also has celiac disease and that she used to own a gluten free bakery. Yesterday I spent the day shopping and learning so much from this wonderful lady and am now feeling so much more prepared for the life ahead of us. This morning she brought in a slice of her special bread for us to try. It was THE absolutely most amazing piece of gluten free bread I have ever eaten! It was so close to the bread we know and love! Now I am armed with new recipes and knowledge and ready to take on the world. Once again, proof positive that Heavenly Father knows me personally and knows exactly what I need to help us get through this new phase of our lives!

Thanks for sharing your good  attitude, Liz!

We love you!

JoAnn

(Mom)

P.S. Thanks to all the people who stepped in with food, recipes, and encouragement!

A Little Excursion- and valuable tips I learned

Last weekend my husband and I took a quick trip to visit his sister Marcia and and her husband Steve in Palmyra, New York where they are serving as missionaries for our church.

Since we’re not really seasoned travelers, I compiled a little list of things I learned.

Here goes:

Tip #1.  When you arrive at the very late (or early) hour of 1:00 a.m., be prepared for a pleasant surprise when you wake up the next morning.

This is the view that greeted us as we looked out the front door.

Tip #2.  Don’t be shocked when you realize things might be bigger and more colorful than they are in a desert climate.

O.K., Utah does have some pretty color in the fall, but maybe not the variety of colors we saw in New York.

Tip #3.  Two hundred year old fences (or replicas) have a lot of charm that modern ones lack.

( The Joseph Smith family farm in Palmyra)

( The Joseph Smith family farm in Palmyra)

( The Joseph Smith family farm in Palmyra)

Tip #4.  House size doesn’t determine coziness or charm.

(The last three photos were taken at the Peter Whitmer farm.)

(Smith frame house at the Joseph Smith family farm.)

(Smith frame house at the Joseph Smith family farm.)

(Smith frame house at the Joseph Smith family farm.)

Tip #5.  Don’t overlook the history and character of an old cemetery.

(old Palmyra cemetery)

Tip #6.  Plan on falling in love.  (At least with the scenery!)

View from the bottom of Hill Cumorah.

View from the top of Hill Cumorah.

Inside the Sacred Grove near the Joseph Smith family farm.

 

Tip #7.  Plan on not really having any “good hair days” due to added humidity and other factors..(It’s green for a good reason!)

(Niagara Falls)

Tip #8.  Realize that you will have enough photos and memories to fill many future blog posts….

Thanks, Elder and Sister Bean for being great hosts!

JoAnn

P.S.  If you would like to learn more about the history of the Joseph Smith farm in Palmyra go to this link or this one.

This link tells you more about Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration.

Welcome to my favorite season…

With school now in full session, I can finally stop, pause, and remember why I love this time of year.

I LOVE THE FALL!

First of all, school is new, fresh, and kind of exciting.

I have a new “bumper crop” of students that seem eager and ready to learn, and so far they are mostly agreeable and cooperative.

We mapped out our hearts as a way to get to know each other.

(We have some favorite things in common.)

 

So far….so good!

Fall’s touch  has come to the front door of the house , too.

Dollar Tree crows have taken up residency on the lamp post.

 

I wish I could have gone to the pumpkin farm with the grandkids!

And….

Some interesting characters have been hanging out around here…..

Now, I just need another autumn leaves tour through the mountains!

H a p p y    F a l l !

JoAnn

P.S.  Please share what you love about Fall.

 

Helping the poor (link to great message)

This photo is of the Rexburg, Idaho Temple.

We took this picture a few months back while visiting our family there.  Rexburg is built against a hill in a rural area of Idaho. 

Rexburg is also the home of the BYU-Idaho campus.

The temple is a beautiful structure high on the hill.

The day we were there was cloudy and threatening rain, but the sky was so vibrant and a gorgeous shade of blue.

Right across the street from the temple you see acres and acres of grain fields.  Stunning in a very simple way.

This weekend we participated in the semi-annual General Conference for our church.

There was beautiful weather, inspirational messages, and thousands of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathering together to strengthen testimonies in Jesus Christ.  Conference weekend has been uplifting and rewarding once again. 

One of my favorite messages was given by Jeffery R. Holland and you can watch it by clicking here. 

He teaches us that we should look beyond the reasons why people might need help, not judging if they have created their own troubles or not, and reach out to them with compassion.

It was a message that made me stop and think about my own actions and maybe change my attitude a bit.

Aren’t we all poor in some way-at some time?

This world could use more charity and love.

If each one of us did just a little more to make things better, imagine the changes we could make.

I’m going to try.

JoAnn

P.S. It was fun having a sleep-over with you Maddie, Brooklyn, Joshua, and Olivia! 

Sorry you have been sick, Zachary!  I missed you, Aubrey, and little Paul.

Humble beginnings…..

I just came across this picture of our very first apartment as a married couple.

As newly married BYU students (we got married during the Christmas break), housing was scarce and expensive.

We still didn’t have housing as we left school for Christmas and the preparation for our upcoming wedding.

Miraculously, we soon received a phone call from the owner of this little house in south Provo saying we could rent the basement apartment.

Our house had a bright orange bathroom that was really a long hallway with a toilet and a shower curtain at the end of it.  The shower had a cement lip to keep the water inside.  We were lucky enough to have a small bedroom, kitchen, and living room.

We have some good memories of living there.

We became good friends with the owners, the Pectols.

We would eat together once a week, bringing all our leftovers to share.  We enjoyed their food and they enjoyed ours.

It was a good beginning.

 

We moved to West Valley and lived in another apartment before buying our first house.  (I need to get a picture of it.)

This was our first house.

After having six children, we were mighty packed inside our starter home, but we decided we could get more house if we used Ken’s building skills and added on rather than move to a more expensive neighborhood.

Our house now looks like this.

We have spent many years working on it and changing out the “ugly” for more modern finishes.

We feel so blessed to have a comfortable home that meets our family’s needs.

There is always a project waiting to be worked on, but we count our blessings every day for the space to entertain our growing family and our friends.

Life is good!

JoAnn

 

Geraniums, bamboo, rain, and a winning ticket…life is good!

As you can tell from my heading, this post is going to cover some random material.  I’m not even sure if it will connect together at all.

(Pretty sure it will take some imagination.)

Here goes.

Geraniums:  One of my favorite flowers has got to be red geraniums.

I plant them in my yard.

The window sills of my classroom are full of  many colorful pots of geraniums.

I’m drawn to gardens and planters lined with their color.

I love how they bloom all summer (and all winter in my sunny windows).

These beautiful blossoms were from our visit to Snowbird last weekend.

Bamboo:  We have some new flooring in our house.  My husband has been really busy.  The air around here is still tinged with the vapors of the hard wood from all the sawing.  We have a few moldings to finish up, but things are almost finished.  Yeah!

Rain:  Utah has been pelted with rain all weekend.

Thunder, lightning, and rain-the good old kind of storm that makes you want to curl up with a book, or bake chocolate chip cookies. 

(We may have become a little nervous during the night when the flash and the rumble were only a few seconds apart!) but, we live in a desert and rain is always welcomed.

There were places that couldn’t handle all the water and unfortunately, some flooding occurred.  Our hearts go out to those who suffered from the flooding.

The photo below was taken earlier in the summer by my daughter, Liz, but it was that kind of rainy weather.

She sent me this photo of a park near their home.  The water is covering a grassy park.  We had about one and a quarter inch of rain on Saturday.

Winning ticket:  I am the lucky winner of a free 16 by 20 inch Easy Canvas sponsored by my blogging friend, Pat,

at

 Mille Fiore Favoriti. (Go visit her blog and see the beautiful fall colors in the mountains of Colorado.  She is a wonderful photographer and always fills her posts with interesting facts and information.)

Now, to pick a favorite photo….

Well, my rambling is almost complete.  I hope this weekend finds you rested and ready for another busy week.

JoAnn

P.S.  Don’t you love this time of year?