Reflections…Red Butte Gardens and life in general

It’s a beautiful world we live in.

Rugged mountains, beautiful flowers, all the different varieties of trees, grasses, ponds, sunsets, fluffy white clouds, and wildlife

all contribute to the wonder and splendor of our daily existence.

I can’t understand how anyone could ever doubt that it was not well planned

and prepared

by a loving and caring Supreme Being-

a master gardener-

a caring Heavenly Father.

That knowledge helps get us through the tough times.

Right now we are praying for several family members who are struggling with ill health, and a seventeen year old grand-niece, badly injured in an awful automobile accident, who is fighting for her life.

Not things we wanted to happen.

Times like these tend to make people dig deep in to their souls for strength and comfort.

  Peace requires trust, faith, hope, and acceptance.

It also involves sacrifice, work, love, forgiveness,

and lots of crying together.

We can’t control the outcomes,

but we can be there for one another.

Our prayers are with you

Travis,

Connie,

and Kenidee.

We love you!

♥

 

Fairy Tales do Come True…

 

Once upon a time…

On a golden June morning, a beautiful princess and a dashing young prince joined their hands together in holy matrimony.

Excitement was in the air….

A glorious location was chosen….

 

A sacred ordinance was performed…

Friends and family came to celebrate with them…

Only a few slept through the event….

A fun reception followed….

Red roses graced the tables…

 

Festive refreshments were enjoyed…

A little magic was felt by all….

As in all fairy tales, the evening ended much too quickly.

(Some damsels might have felt their slippers were getting a little too tight at this point, so maybe the timing was just perfect.)

Good wishes were called out as the happy couple departed.

And they lived happily ever after!

 

The End

(Or is it just the beginning?)

P.S.  We’re sure glad our photographer didn’t deliver a little prince during this event.  We love your photographs, Liz!

P.P.S.  Thanks for so many friends and family who worked hard to make this fairy tale a reality!

Showers with men…and kids, too!

I’ve mentioned before that my family is unconventional. 

Part of the reason is that our families are growing and getting together is not an easy task.  Every year it seems to get harder and harder to accommodate all the different schedules.

Did I also mention that a four hour drive is required to get from my sister’s house on the North to the sister’s home at the South end (me)?

Because of this fact, and since we still enjoy sharing holidays and special events, we combine many activities into one big event.  Since everyone brings their whole family, and no one wants to be left out, we just let everyone be included in the fun.

After our first combined event, I innocently remarked that, “I like having showers with men!” and the phrase stuck.

And that is how “showers with men” became a reality in our family..

We have learned that if everyone brings a salad and a dessert we have enough food to feed everyone who shows up, and a lot of variety., plus no one has to do all the work.  We also have enough left over for later.  Sometimes we have someone fix a meat dish, too.

Playing shower games is replaced by lawn games, visiting, or chasing kids.  The men have learned to patiently “ooh and aah” as gifts are opened, and the honorees share the spotlight.  (Yes, it would be more fun to be the only one honored, but it isn’t very realistic any more.)

We recently had a fun-filled “shower-shower-birthday-birthday-Memorial-Day party”.

These three are getting married soon. 

My niece Amy is on the left, and Brittany and Robbie (our son and his fiancé) are on the right.

Here is a rare shot of some of the kids actually staying in one place.

It was an untraditional, but fun day!

Happy Birthday Diane and Chris!

Thanks Linda and Dave for sharing your beautiful yard.

(Sorry I didn’t get pictures of everyone who was there.  We missed those of you who couldn’t make it, too!)

JoAnn

P.S.  Does your family have any uncommon traditions that your have created?

A beautiful season…

School is on the final countdown and I can’t wait for some extra free time.

That is probably my most wished for, but unachieved, dream.

While my life has been busy, it has also been fulfilling and fun.

We had a “speed-date” vacation to Portland to visit our daughter Heidi and her husband Ovidiu. 

(It involved two days of travel and only two days of visiting!)

Our other three daughters also went, but they were a little smarter and flew.  Little Aubrey also came with us to celebrate.

Portland was having a beautiful spring.

I fell totally in love with all the rhododendrons and other flowering tree/bushes!  We don’t have the right climate for them in Utah and I guess I’ve never been anywhere during their blooming season, but I was blown away by their beauty. 

I may need to reconsider living in a cold winter/dry summer location.

It was great having a sister reunion.

And fun seeing our two expectant mommas together.

 

Little Aubrey was such a great traveler.

We got to meet some very nice people as we attended a baby shower for Heidi.

 

I finally got my quilt finished!

You can read about my disastrous quilting project here.

 

We spent some time in downtown Portland, browsing the street markets ...

waiting in line for Voodoo Doughnuts…(one and a half hours!)

and wandering through the rose gardens (we were a little too early for the Rose Festival).

It was a quick trip, but we had fun!

We hated saying good-bye so quickly, but the trip home was also beautiful.

Don’t you just love this time of year?

There is so much beauty in nature-and it is quite different everywhere you go!

Have a great week!

JoAnn