Babies

Oh how I love babies. We got a new one, on St. Patty's Day even! No they are not calling her Patty after me, thank goodness for that! They are calling her Alexis Reign, Lexi for short. She is so teeny, weighing in at 5lbs,8oz. 18 1/2 inches. Perfect. Some dark brown hair and the sweetest little face! I am in love. Naomi and I have been hanging out for the last two days and she is so excited to be Big Tiger! That's what her daddy calls her in Chinese. She used to be Shahu (little tiger. Now she is dahu, Big Tiger. Naomi loves to do projects and is now at my elbow, wanting to do a bunny rabbit puppet project so I think I had better post this and get with it! She is standing here having a conversation with me, apparently about random thoughts in her head. She just said, "It sure takes Jesus a long time to come back doesn't it?" And "Does Tobee cry a lot?" And "Are you almost done?" All said with her little lisp. I love her!!! I do apologize for the photos. I am the world's worst photographer. I know that! I do try, but what can I say? And I can not figure out for the life of me how to get the pictures where I want them on the page. Still working on that!

Monkey On My Back

You know how, when you have something that you need to but you would just rather it went away, it just hangs on your back and weighs you down. And the funny thing is that the longer you carry it around, the heavier it becomes. So then you finally decide to do it and it isn't that heavy of an ordeal at all. Well, maybe a little but when it is all said and done, you are glad not only to have it over, but even a little puzzled as to why you procrastinated the ordeal to begin with! That happened to me today. For weeks now Tom has been after me to can his beloved beets. He grows them with pleasure and picks and eats them relish! All I am required to do is cook the bleedin' things! Some nights I will even nibble one or two. I finally went in search of all ingredients and jars needed today. After only two stops I had everything required and was home and in the kitchen by 1:30. I will admit, not with the best of attitudes I began. Tom was right there for each step and helped peel and fill the jars. It wasn't until he reminded me of all the projects that I ask him to do for me all the time, without so much as a murmur, he happily fulfills my every whim, that I finally smiled a little. And when the last jar popped as it cooled on the counter, I felt like I had actually accomplished something stupendous. Okay, maybe not quite that great, but I did have a sense of peace that I had finally gotten that monkey on my back laid to rest! We now have a dozen jars of wonderful pickled beets, home grown and labled with love! Good day! Good man I married!

My Heart Hurts

I haven't posted in awhile. We took a little road trip and I even took a picture or two but they remain trapped in the camera. Then Ashley moved out. Actually, it has been a moving out day for a couple of weeks and it wasn't until I helped take the bed over that it really hit me. When I left her apartment, I cried and felt like I had just left her at kindergarten again. My heart actually hurt in my chest. I know, she' been married for almost 2 years so what the heck?? But when she left the first time, we had just had a big party and she didn't take the bed so it was like she was just going away for awhile. This time she left a room pretty empty and it left me feeling empty as well. But all is well and I have big plans for the room now. I am going to start organizing my pictures. Yeah! So I may have some fun stories to tell in the coming weeks. Well, have to run for now. Children have descended and need me.

I got this picture in the email a couple of days ago. I had to laugh. This was taken right after we were sealed in the Mesa Temple in May of 1979. And I do mean right after. We were wearing this when we went into the temple. I wonder no one made mention that we might want to wear white shirts and ties!! We were so naive. But we did get sealed and that was the important thing! It was a wonderful day and though we have had many mountains and valleys in our family life since that day, I would say that it has been abundantly blessed in all ways.

It's Birthday Time

Twenty Three years ago today was a Monday. That meant Family Home Evening at the Dunes. I went to my Dr. appt. at 2pm and headed out to the dunes with the family in tow. We hadn't been there very long and I began to cramp. I didn't say anything, just started timing them. By 6 I told Tom we had better get going, I was pretty sure I was in labor. We left the boys with the Marchants and hooked up our trailer and headed on in. We hadn't gone far when our truck quit working properly and we were pretty much moving along at about 2 miles an hour. We dropped the trailer at the inspection station and kept on limping in. The pains were about 2 lminutes apart and I just knew we were going to have to name this baby "Freeway". To make a short story shorter, we made it to the hospital and had the biggest surprise of our lives. We got a baby GIRL!!!!! WoW! She has been a light in our lives every since. So Happy Birthday to Ashley Nichole Lemmon Coulter. We love you!

Primary is Thumb-thing!

Well, Valentine's Day came and went and with it, the Primary Activity that was Thumb-thing Special! I think it was successful and I hope the children remember a little of what was taught. We had a round of 4 classes all geared toward making our family strong. Then we gathered at the end and had a little object lesson on how the family is like a rope. The kids all seemed to get it and liken what they had learned from the classes. There favorite part of course was the Tug Of War we ended with. Oh and the cupcakes!! Thanks to all of our presidency and Lynna for teaching the classes. I felt like we had a great time, good turn out, especially considering it was a holiday weekend. I didn't of course, take any pictures which was so like me! So now I am on to the next project, Young Women's Camp. I finished "Celebration" again and wanted to let the author know how much her book has meant to me so I did a search for her online and found out she passed away last year. I am sad. She was so wise and I wanted to tell her. I love so many of the things she says I wish I could remember them. But for today I will post one of my favorite. "The gift of daily celebration is bound up in our ability to see the hand of the Lord, the Creator, in all things-to see beauty in every manifestation of creation, in the talents of others as they are inspired by God, and in others themselves, because they too,are creations of the Lord." I hope you all have a day of Celebration today!

It's February? Are you sure? What year?

I am amazed that time can pass by me without so much as a breeze to tickle my mind. January is a blur. Actually, most days are. It's what happens when the mind goes! I spent a few days ill for a few weeks of last month but this one is better. I made it to the gym for 5 days in a row last week! Hallelujah!! I have been reading quite a bit. Finished Edgar Sawtelle, loved it. Although it did take me a little bit to get into it. Someone at the gym was talking about it and I said I just couldn't get into it and they asked me where I was. I told them and they said I hadn't gotten to the good part yet. So I went home and read another 20 pages and there it was!! I was hooked. Had to sit and finish the whole thing that night! Then I took a trip with The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes. Good read! Finished Firefly Lane on Sat. night. Started it Sat. morning, stopped long enough to take 7 of the grandkiddies to the movies, and then picked it up and didn't put it down until it was finished. I loved it. Great Read! In between I read the 3 volumes of The Kingdom and The Crown series by Gerald Lund. I had read them before but felt like reading them again. And I am glad I did. Made me go back and start rereading the New Testament.
Then last night I started another reread, the book called Celebration. I read it every few years and then in the back of the book I write a thought or two. The first time I read it was in '96, then in 2001 and the last time was in 2003. That's one good thing about not being able to remember, you can keep reading your favorites and they are all new again. When I am in the rest home, I'll get to meet new people every day, again and again!!! Anyway, this book is so inspiring to me. I always want to do and be better when I finish it. The last time I read it, I recorded this thought. "I always come away with hope and desire to "celebrate" life more fully, better,and more consistently." I always try to remember the adage, "Celebration is self-made" But I do forget so it is always good to sit with this old friend in print and remember again! Well, that pretty much sums up my sitting down time for the last few weeks. I probably read more in January than I do any other month. Down time from all the hub-bub of the holidays I guess. I am now gearing up for YW camp this summer. We have it mostly planned and just need to get the info to the wards and make it all happen. Saturday is our Primary Activity, then in March and April I have camp activities with the Stake. So that should keep me busy. In between I get to love on my little girls and boys. We went to see Hotel For Dogs last Sat. I have to say it was delightful and I clapped at the end. Much better experience than I had anticipated. It held all of the children's attention and I think they liked it as much as I did. I took Grama Peggy shopping last week and had a heck of a time getting clothes to fit her. They didn't have skeletal sizes. We finally did find a couple of size 2's that fit ok if she puts a belt on! Ah, old age, ain't it grand. We did have some laughs so it was a fun day. Well, this post is long and pretty boring since I didn't even have a picture to spice it up. But then, Journals can be laborious for the reader at times, I'm sure. Maybe if I didn't wait so long in between times.