How it Was

The other day my biggest grandson was over visiting with his Mom and little borther and as the afternoon was progressing somehow the topic of discussion turned to gardening. I turn to the little fella and asked, "Do you have a green thumb?"

He looked at me like I had suddenly sprouted a second head and said, "No! My thumb is pink!"

Me: "You know, your Mom has a green thumb."

He: "No she doesn't! Her thumb is pink, too!"

Me: "Your Mom is really good at gardening and making things grow in her garden. So we say she has a green thumb."

He: Her thumb is pink! Thumbs are pink, not green!"

We all had a good smile. He's a cutie.

Back to school

Early morning seminary starts tomorrow. ugh

I Have a New Grandson!

Now silly me; when my daughter told me a long time ago that she was due on August 19th, I remembered that day. If I ever heard of any update to it I didn't remember it at all. So here I've been thinking all this time that the baby was still 3 or 4 weeks away. Grandma, who was scheduled to be the babysitter for the first grandson when this second one came along, even decided she had time to slip in a quick trip out west to visit some of the kids out there. So Yesterday morning I got up and went to church like a normal Sunday. I was sitting on the stand and church had just starting when someone slipped me a message that Blauberre was having contractions and was thinking that the day had arrived. I thot; no, this is too early. We've been praying that she would stay pregnant a little longer. So I left the meeting, went outside and called Blaubeere. Got her husband (I like him) and he said she was having some pretty good contractions but they were still at home. We talked about me watching their little boy should they decide to go to the hospital and that he would call back if they decided to go in. And I'm thinking this is too early - this kid needs to wait.

But you know how babies can be. No waiting if he doesn't want to wait. So we got thru church and were just pulling into the driveway when he called again. They were going to the hospital. So Maulbeere ran in, grabbed a few things and we backed out back out the driveway and left for Blaubeere's house. A little later we were at Blaubeere's house, all of us doing the waiting game, getting periodic updates from the hospital. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited. You know how babies can be; hurry up and wait. At least that how we were feeling. I'm sure the Mom and Dad weren't seeing it quite that way. Plenty to keep you occupied in the delivery room. But at home we just waited and waited. Finally it was getting late enough that we needed to figure out how we were going to do the next day as I was supposed to go to work and Maulbeere was supposed to be to school and the grandbaby needed someone to keep an eye on him 'til his folks got home. So we got things figured out and arranged and all came back to my house. Where we continued to wait. Only this time we didn't have to wait a whole lot more. About an hour after we got home we got the call that the kid had arrived and everything was perfect! That was good news. And the little guy was well over seven pounds, which meant he really wasn't all that early at all! That was good news!

So now there's a new little boy in Blaubeere's family. That's cool. That makes me happy. They're both doing fine and will probably be going home tomorrow. No pictures yet - nobody's had a chance to get them published any where yet, tho I'm told I'll get to see some a little later today when the new Daddy gets here to pick up the new big brother. I'm looking forward to that. Babies are such happy things. So fresh and new and full of promise. Babies are wonderful things. Especially this one - he's my grandbaby.

An interesting Thing Happened Today

Yea, so I had just dropped Maulbeere off and was heading to work this morning and came to a red traffic light. As I was pulling up behind the pick up truck (a Ford F150, I might add) already stopped at the light I noticed a mouse run from the curb out under the truck under the front axle. It ran to the driver's side tire and hopped up on the tire just as the light turned green. Bad move. Well, now my curiosity was up so as I followed this truck down the road I made sure to hang back enough so I could keep an eye on that tire; I was sure that little mouse was going to come flying out any minute. But as the truck pulled up to stop at the next light that little mouse still hadn't fallen out. I was just beginning to think I may have missed it when it fell out, kinda bounced out onto the road a few inches from the tire, still under the truck. Didn't move much. I suppose that was understandable considering the ride it had just had. Then the light changed and the truck pulled away. I slowly started forward and when the shadow was off the mouse it didn't have any obvious injury but it was still sitting there, just kind of looking around. It was obviously still alive. Well, traffic was moving and I had to go. It was still sitting there in the same place as it passed out of sight under my car. Traffic was too heavy for me to see if it was still there after I passed over it. Man, what a ride that little mouse had.

A Fun Thing to Watch

Sitting on the stand at church affords me a great opportunity to engage in one of my favorite pastimes: people watching. Today we had a high councilman visiting. His married daughter and her family live in our branch and was a little late to church this morning. So they come in during the opening song, find them a seat and get all settled in. Then she leans over to her two girls, ages 3 and 4, and tells them their grandpa is on the stand. So you could see the intense look of concentration as they look and look and look for him. And then the magic moment; they found him. Their faces lit up like little beacons, you could see the joy sweep across their faces. That was choice. And then the secret little wave to him. And, as discreetly as you can from on the stand, he smiled and waved back. That was fun to watch.

Living Together in Love

Wow. April and May have slipped by in an instant. Well, okay. There were some things go on that have kept me busy during this time. I had learned some 22 1/2 years ago that losing a parent is not easy. I got a reminder recently as my Mom passed away. Maybe because my Mom's passing was less expected than my Dad's. Maybe because now both my parents are gone. Maybe because I have always derived a certain amount of comfort from having her around, even if it was hundreds of miles away. It felt so out of place to drive out to her house and be in her home without her being there. I can't begin to describe all the feelings that were flying around in my heart during that trip out. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family - it made this difficult time so much easier. It was so good to see my children all together (except my missionary, who had a good reason for not being there), having a thoroughly enjoyable time being together. That happens so seldom these days. That's the blessing that hides in funerals; good times with family. I'm glad we had time that we didn't have to rush out and right back.

Okay, it's not Sunday. But here's a scripture that has always meant a lot to me: "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die". (D&C 42:45). We do that and its such a wonderful way to live.

How it Was

So this is kinda how it went:

Himbeere was getting ready to go home teaching. He walked in and dropped his shoes on the floor and then sat down to put his socks on. One shoe landed fairly close to where he sat down, the other came to rest a foot or two out of reach. So he says to Quasar to fetch his shoe and bring it over. Quasar, of course, paid absolutely no attention. So he grumps and grumbles for a bit and then goes quiet as he puts his socks and first shoe on. When he was ready for the other shoe he says to Maulbeere, who has been sitting at the computer all this time and is actually farther away from his shoe then he is, “Hey, stand up and get my shoe for me.” Everyone in the room busts out laughing at this point and even Himbeere can’t help but smile at the ridiculousness of what he just said. Yea, so that’s pretty much what happened. That boy is a good source of entertainment.

So who finally got the shoe? Himbeere did. Good for him!

Sure Sign of Spring

Forget the robin, it was wrong anyway. And the groundhog. Here's the sure sign of Spring.

Notice he's barefoot. Himbeere had to cross about 20 feet of snow to get to his hammock. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

Borrorwed from my Niece

A few weeks ago my niece posted this mem onher blog. I thought it was fun so I'm doing the same.

*Who eats more: Probably me. She lost a ton of weight over the last while and is looking really good.

*Who said I love you first: Me; I fell in love with her first

*Who is smarter: Definitely her

*Who does the laundry: She does it more often than me

*Who does the dishes: That’s probably even

*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: How do you tell? If you stand at the bottom and face the bed, she sleeps on the right.

*Who mows the lawn: Isn’t that one of the things kids are for?

*Who cooks dinner: She probably does it a little more often than me.

*Who drives when you are together: Usually me

*Who kissed who first: Both; it was just after we’d agreed we would get married. But before we were officially engaged.

*Who asked who out first: I asked her out on our first date. Took me half an hour

*Who has more siblings: She does

*Who wears the pants: We both make the decisions

*Who is funnier? Schwarzebeere says Mom is funniest but that he is funnier than both of us combined.

They're Here!!!

Heidlebeere and her little baby came to see us! Here she is seven weeks, almost two months old and we're finally getting to see and hold our newest grandbaby for the first time. Incredible. That's the down side of have your kids live so far away. Oh, well. It sure is nice to have them here.

What a cute little girl!

This kid has a grandmother that is totally enjoying have this little baby here. I had forgotten how small a little infant is. She is so tiny.

Everybody was enjoying the little kid.

Band Concert

Maulbeere had a concert at school Thursday. She was in the first band that played. First the whole band trooped in. Can you see her?

They sounded pretty good. Her concerts are getting much better than when she was in the younger bands.

She always says she's nervous before these things start. But when she gets there and into it she settles down and does a good job. The band sounded real nice.

A Sunday Thought

When I see the words “command” and “evil” in the scriptures I think how modern society has vilified these words to make them more harsh than they really are, or at least than they originally were. As you read the scriptures, almost every time we get council from the Lord it is in terms of a commandment. You seldom see a softer word used. But you can frequently tell from the context, and you know from your other study of the character of the Lord, that He does not generally use it in harshness. He sometimes might be pleading with us to accept what He’s offering but could still use the word “command”. He commands us to be happy and accept what He offers us and many of us are repulsed at it simply because of the word “command”, forgetting why we came here. Makes you wonder if the adversary has worked to give that word its repulsive connotation in our time. Especially in American society where so many of us think we’re being individualists as we wear the uniform of our chosen life style and persona. “Evil” is much the same way. We all know and readily recognize that “no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God.” That means a little bit of disobedience will keep you out just as effectively as a horribly gross amount of wickedness. So when the Lord says we are evil, He’s not calling us horrible or incredibly wicked. He’s just acknowledging that we are disobedient enough to be disqualified. Thank goodness for the Atonement! This incredible gift is from a Very Special Person who knew from the start we would need help getting back and has provided a way.

"How great the wisdom and the love
That filled the courts on high
And sent the Savior from above
To suffer, bleed, and die!

"His precious blood he freely spilt;
His life he freely gave,
A sinless sacrifice for guilt,
A dying world to save.

"By strict obedience Jesus won
The prize with glory rife:
"Thy will, O God, not mine be done,"
Adorned his mortal life.

"He marked the path and led the way,
And every point defines
To light and life and endless day
Where God's full presence shines.

"How great, how glorious, how complete,
Redemption's grand design,
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!"

Eliza R Snow