Who wants Red Vines?

For all you Red Vines fans, check this one out. [Natalie, this has your name all over it.] A year's supply of Red Vines, in a myriad of shapes and forms? Who knew there were so many? Yowza.

Thank you, Woman's Day. You've done it again.

Happy Sunday

“Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.” ~Rosaleen Dickson

Children are always in my heart when I get up on Sunday mornings. It's such a privilege to plan to spend 2 of my 3 hours at church with the children and I always feel so much love for them as I prepare.

For me, unconditional love is so essential in dealing with children. I'm not suggesting that we never correct them, or that we accept inappropriate behavior. But I do feel strongly that the love we have for our children needs to be so clear to them that they understand that there is nothing they can do that would change that love.

That's how I want to go into Primary today.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

Mortgage Comment

So that's what it takes to qualify for a mortgage these days! Sigh.

Family

"I've come to learn that our families are a canvas on which we paint our greatest hopes -- imperfect and sloppy, for we are all amateurs at life, but if we do not focus too much on our mistakes, a miraculous picture emerges. And we learn that it's not the beauty of the image that warrants our gratitude -- it's the chance to paint." ~Richard Paul Evans [Finding Noel]

My friend Jacque has this quote on her blog and I loved it so much that I wanted to use it too. What a lovely thought -- that our family, sloppy and imperfect as it is, [and really, aren't they all?] is slowly but surely creating a wonderful picture.

Just the opportunity to 'paint' is a blessing. And that's how I think of my family -- my most precious, my nicest and completely undeserved blessing. Their love, support and ongoing forgiveness for my many shortcomings allows me to continue to paint, despite the fact that I am very much an amateur at this business of living.

By the time we're done with this artistic effort, it will surely be a most beautiful image, filled with our gratitude for the chance to paint.

**Disclaimer: not our family [picture via flickr]

Enjoy the Ride!

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey . . . delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." [Jenkins Lloyd Jones]

This quote is often mistakenly attributed to Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley [who quoted it] but actually came originally from a man named Jenkins Lloyd Jones. He was born in Wales in 1843, brought to the United States by his parents in 1844 and raised on a pioneer farm in Wisconsin. He became a Unitarian minister, and in 1882, began missionary work on the south side of Chicago, organizing All Souls Church, of which he remained pastor until his death.

I love this message. Life is hard. Life gets boring. Life requires work. Life wears you out. But life is wonderful, isn't it? Some of it is completely, utterly wonderful. Some of it is way too exciting! But as we work our way through it all, the trick, as Jones says, is to enjoy the ride. After all, men are that they might have joy, right? [2 Nephi 2:25]

I am loving my ride today -- despite the fact that it's laundry day for me. Are you enjoying yours?

Someday

Look what arrived in my mail yesterday! Thanks, Jori!! You are a sweetheart.

And having read right through this little gem of a book, I can tell you that it's one you need to get for your collection. Right now. What a sweet message. Tears? Of course! (well, duh!)

Thanks again, Jori!! Love it, love it, love it.

Yippee!!

Finally! Natalie has spilled the baby beans and I am free at last to express my joy at the exciting news of another baby coming to join our family.

I love, love, love babies and I love grandma-hood and I am so thrilled at the prospect of meeting another precious grandchild. I can't wait! Once again, I am filled with gratitude and anticipation of the arrival of a new little person in our family. How blessed I am!

**picture = Mason as a newborn

Thanks, Emily!

What a wonderful surprise to find a package in my mail yesterday from Emily. Even better than the cute heart-patterned bubble packaging were the contents -- oatmeal cookies! These are the very cookies that my mouth has been watering for ever since I saw them on her blog.

Delicious, of course! Thanks, Emily. Not only do I love the cookies, I love the thought and kindness behind the gift. You're the best. In lots of ways.

Happy Easter

“These simple words—“He is not here, but is risen”—have become the most profound in all literature. They are the declaration of the empty tomb. They are the fulfillment of all He had spoken concerning rising again. They are the triumphant response to the query facing every man, woman, and child who was ever born to earth.” ~Gordon B. Hinckley, “He Is Not Here, but Is Risen“, Ensign, May 1999, 70

There's nothing more meaningful that could be said than this -- that He is risen. I know He is and I am grateful for it every day of my life.

I will be spending some time this weekend with my feelings, thinking about the gift that He is: His life, His example, His atonement, His death and His resurrection. We are all so blessed and I am so thankful.

Happy Easter to all!

For that Special Mama

Take a look at this newest necklace from Lisa Leonard. It's beautiful, isn't it? Such a sweet message. This one I love, but not for me, I don't think, [I still have my eye on the one with the teeny little initials for my grandbabies -- her March special] but I can think of several lovely mamas who deserve this one. Maybe I should alert some hubbies.