... another month almost gone!

"Days fly by faster as you get older," my mother used to tell me that when I was a girl... and I would think... YEAH, RIIIIGHT! LOL Sometimes I wonder... if I could have that young body back, and keep my experience...? ahhh, what a dream~

Once you grow up and have kids of your own, a home/hubby to care for/about... maybe you have a very different kind of life from mine, but still... doesn't it "seem" that the older you get the faster the days pass?

Life in my personal little Hooterville (AKA "SmallTown" AZ) is settling into a reasonable routine. The in-laws have adjusted to life in this DRY southwest region, instead of their previous more humid part of central TX, where everything was green, and grass did not have to be watered. Notwithstanding, it's been a relatively uneventful adjustment for both. The hardest part is that they are no longer able to be together. Mom lives with us and Dad is in a end of life care facility. He is stable, for how long is anyone's guess.

Mom is stabilizing too, and it honestly feels like a privilege to be of service to her. If someone had told me even 10 years ago that someday I would be helping to care for my MIL I would have called them a liar! We had, what I can only term as an "interesting" relationship for most of my marriage, but in my world and from my belief of family, this is what families do. They love and support one another through all stages of life, and mom needs people and stimulus. In a care center she would shrivel. The longer we care for her the more convinced I am of this truth. Another surprising fact is that through this experience my love is growing exponentially. So as long as mom stays relatively amiable, we will keep her here, with us.

I can honestly say that God holds us in His hands continually as we attempt this path. Often I feel His gentle encouragement to not loose my cool, in the moment ~ when challenges arise. At other times I KNOW that my sense of humor has been given a gigantic boost and I simply feel the urge to laugh rather than respond in a less appropriate way to difficult situations that come to our lives.

A side benefit we really never thought about, is that our children are getting to know the grandparents who they have not seen and rarely heard from for the last 18 years. It's a sweet, unexpected blessing. For the first time in 20 years hubby spent a short time on father's day with his father...

We are all trying to gather as many happy moments together as we can... for later when memories will have to do.

finally, pictures of our 2010 family reunion

Starting out in the van the first morning of the trip... here is our cute Princess Bride and her Sir Knight (it is hard to believe they have been married 2 yrs!)

This is where we stayed... it was very nice, and was right across the street from the beach.

here PB and SK are again after we got to the condo and walked to the beach

Son2... it was a beautiful evening and the kids enjoyed stretching their legs after the long car ride.

loving my hubby is really easy, cause he is just a wonderful, caring and handsome man!

The first two days we went to Knott's Berry Farm, San Diego Wild Animal Park AND the Zoo, had such a great time, even with a little rain in the afternoons...

Every night we had beautiful sunsets, and every morning we had gorgeous sunrises...

After Son1 and Sweetee joined us we went to Sea World

Here are the kids, all lined up, waiting to get WET! LOL

and of course these are the performers ~ taking a final bow

There was plenty of silliness and smiles...

(Son2 is taking the picture in the third shot above...)


Some of the kids went Sea Kayaking... (a great workout, I am told...)

and boogy boarding... also not something "I" participated in... LOL

We had GREAT meals together at the condo and sometimes at restaurants...

On Saturday, Son1, Sweetee, hubby and I went to the San Diego Temple...


All in all we really enjoyed the wonderful scenery and had so much fun being together and playing hard, whether it was for 4 days or a week it was so worth the energy we put into making time for each other. And then of course we needed a vacation after the vacation... LOL

Because our sons have joined the Navy we have no idea for sure when our next reunion will be, but we ARE "planning" one, and we will manage to have some family gathering every few years at least.

It was so great to spent time as a whole family.

...so many changes!

I don't even know where to start. Our lives are completely in flux. We got home from vacation with our children and went immediately into rescue mode for hubby's parents.

My FIL is in end of life care, MIL is living with us while we try to assess where to go next with her care, her dementia is much worse than we had any clue and the changes have taken place mostly in the last few months.

My time is no longer my own and I find myself struggling to just stay on top of email and my photo project. It's a good thing I hadn't planned anything for the summer, (at least nothing written in stone.)

I will try to get some of our vacation photos posted here, but there are quite a few on my project 365 if anyone is really interested. Start with April 19th and move forward (but the vacation pictures are not necessarily in order, or limited to the time we were gone in April...)

to quote...

~Mark Twain:
The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.

The "promise" of Easter.

The peach tree is in bloom and the day is glorious.

Easter will forever be a bit tender for me, 3 years ago on Easter evening daddy returned "home"... but knowing/understanding the message of Jesus Christ, the Savior of us all, means that on that beautiful evening it was the first time daddy and momma had been together for any real quality time for some very long years, though they died just 5 short weeks apart. That thought was a sweet reality for me.

I always loved Easter growing up, momma made it special... As I learned and repented as an adult I grew to love the message of the Atonement. I grew to love and have a deep gratitude for my Savior. That is when Easter became more than just a nice family holiday, for me...

I love Easter for another reason the last few years. A reason that simply increases my value of this special gift the Savior gave to the world. It is the day that my parents were reunited in the heavens to await their resurrection. Easter is a reminder of the day that the phrase "morning of the first resurrection" became PERSONAL ~ to me... I know my parents are together, happy, and waiting for the rest of the family, no matter how long it takes for us all to be reunited.

The veil seems thin to me today as I remember my parents, and revel in the message of Easter ~ repentance, forgiveness, renewal, Godly love ~ the Atonement... I pray each of my loved ones have a similarly beautiful experience.

..the days rush by

..with speed that can cause a bit of dizziness, if you're not careful. Already we have reached the end of March for this year of 2010. I find myself wondering how is that even possible. Nevertheless it is... it's here, and we better make the best of it. I woke up too early, and to celebrate the day I took a lovely picture for day 90 of my photo project. Check it out.

The best thing about getting to the end of March is that in April we are planning a fabulous family reunion, and the time will soon be upon us. All of our children will be able to make it, so that at one point we are all together again. That is something I am really looking forward to.

Later this year Son1 and Sweetee will be heading off (probably across the country) to start a new chapter in their lives together. Living the all new life for them of a Navy family, which can and probably will mean lots of travel, with interesting places to go and lovely ports to see. They are excited to take on the world, young and in love with each other. What a great joy as a mother to be a part of that. But, before they scatter on their waves of adventure we decided to attempt to gather our children and their spouses together for some more fun in the sun and surf. It worked (a little to my surprise), and promises to be a wonderful vacation treat.

Our pups will be home with a "hired sitter", who thankfully is also a friend... watching over them and our home. I am glad they will be well loved while we play on the coast, but I know they will miss us and I, will most definitely ~ miss them. They are a true and happy part of my everyday life.

I have become "the lady with the dog". My little girl puppy goes practically everywhere with me, and is doing very well in her early socialization training, heading towards life as my medical alert dog. She happily rides in her carrier, when in the car. Sometimes for hours, and behaves well most places we take her. She is a little too exuberant still around other dogs, but after all not even 5 months old, so she will get better in that area too. Despite all of that, as a family we decided that everyone would leave their dogs home... and even though my baby could have gone as a service dog in training we are leaving her here so that we can really concentrate on family time, and so that she can retain her normal routines.

We have tons of plans and adventures to enjoy, I am looking forward to spending that time with my family. The thought of what is coming just makes spring seem even greater in my mind. I love this time of year always, and the weather of late has been warm and pleasant. Tiny buds are peeking out of branches everywhere. Spring is gaining momentum in our corner of the world. I feel so happy about that.

...to see the light,

and the world in general through a camera lens and trying to fill up the days on my 365 project is at times a lot harder than it should be, although not necessarily harder than I thought it would be. My creativity is not as well developed as some in our family, plus I find myself wanting to shoot new and different things, not just the same things I always thing of... and unfortunately physical limitations have kept me from going out and about this week.

On top of that, while the weather has been much nicer in the last 10 days, the ground is still brown and dreary, and I want to see the hills full of green and for spring to come to stay. It's hard to say which I like better, because I really like both spring and fall, they are my favorite seasons... and this last winter was such a challenge for me, more so than normal. I am not sure why, exactly. Truth told, it doesn't really matter, I am just glad winter is moving into the background.

We have a family trip planned for later in the spring... A Clan Reunion with all my children. It's going to be so fun, and I am really really looking forward to getting away from the house and spending time with my whole immediate family.

I have not found blogging to be much fun the last few months, but I am hoping that will change again soon and I will share more about our vacation after we get back and I have a few pictures to post.

snow storm...

Just a few days ago our night skies were so clear I was able to manage a clear shot of the Orion Constellation... I learned to recognize it while looking at the stars with my daddy... Hubby and I love to spend time just looking at the night sky in good weather, and enjoying thunder storms too... Small joys, those are things that are important.

But, it's going to be a few more weeks before the porch evenings/nights happen in comfort again. Yesterday we had a really good snow storm, and it was REALLY cold. While driving home from grocery shopping we even had a complete white out, it was a little freaky seeing as how we live in AZ and many think all we see is sun and dry heat, ha ha. A bit later the weather got busy again and we had more snow...

This view is looking right outside our front door, towards the hills to the northeast.

Today the snow is gone and the ground is brown again. I can't wait for some green to start peeping through the earth. I am soooo ready for spring. I can't remember wanting spring to come so much before. This has been the LONGEST winter I remember in a long, long time.

keeping up with the jones'...

or NOT.! In truth, I don't even try, ha ha. But, I thought it made for a decent title. Today, there isn't much to say that's new, and even "the Jones family" isn't doing much that's new. In my corner of the world, spring tries to lift it's head periodically, but has it's efforts dashed regularly. Two weeks ago it was beautiful and warm one day, then it would snow again. Two days ago it was also beautiful, if a bit chilly... but yesterday it was windy and snowing, and today it's wet and dreary... by tomorrow it might be sunny and warm again though. The pups love it when that is true. I think they are more anxious for spring than I am, even.

The best news I can share is that we've had the most rain this year that I can remember, (a least during a winter) since we moved to this high desert valley in June of 1994. That bodes for a beautiful spring for us, but a seriously challenging summer danger, in regards to the fire season. Guess we'll have to see about that as the year moves on. Officially spring doesn't even arrive for a couple more weeks, but everyone I know is so anxious and wishing it would hurry up and get here, already! [chuckle] Aren't we a fickle bunch? We pray and pray and pray for rain and when we get it, we complain. (But not serious complaining... most people ARE really VERY glad for the rain we get...)

It's just that spring, and the beauty that goes with it is enticing, and we are anxious for the glory that IS spring, in our desert southwest. But we must wait, and so we do... and we try to think of new things to talk about, except the winter, and the rain, and the snow...

say hello...

...to cold/flu bug #347, seriously, SERIOUSLY??? This is simply ridiculous! Even after airing out the house in the past few days, wiping down all surfaces faithfully, taking the dogs to the park, and breathing fresh air to clear out germs from my lungs, here I am, sick again.?

This winter's bug season has been the WORST for me in decades, I am so over it.

flowers from my sweetheart...

...spread all over the house this morning before I arose, a spring bouquet of various daisies, greenery etc., and a sweet card to tell me that he is glad we met all those years ago...

Some years we celebrate Valentine's Day late or early, depending on hubby's work schedule. Today was OUR V-Day... We are blessed to be in love after more than 26 years. One thing I have learned over these years is that it is truly important not to pass up the opportunity to say in spoken and written word that you feel blessed, happy, loved, and grateful for the gift of marriage to your valentine... The days go by fast, and the opportunities may not always be there, if your delay.

I wish I had something more to say...

...but life has been so tiring, and uninteresting.

I've spent the last weeks (6) with a cough and a variety of bacterial and viral bugs in my lungs and upper respiratory tract... I'd just get over one thing, and I'd get something else. It's been a long few weeks.

I am finally... just today feeling like I may be on the mend. I am so grateful. Maybe that is a good enough thing to say, I am grateful...

to quote...

If you want happiness for a lifetime ~ help someone else.

~ Chinese proverb

...winter, so over it!

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning at the Groundhog Day ceremony in western Pennsylvania, officially predicting six more weeks of winter. However in AZ we know that spring is just around the corner...

Yesterday hubby and I were talking about plans to take the puppies walking in some new places once things start to green up. (2-3 weeks?) Certainly in 4 weeks we will be having some really nice days, and the crocus will be starting to poke their heads out.

I plan to have my camera at the ready to get some nice "local green" shots for a change. We had to go all the way to Mesa last week to find any spring color. Chloe was totally confused at what the green grass on the grounds of our hotel was. hahaha

I am seeing light in a whole different way, through the eye of my camera. Foto-Friends told me I would, but it's hard to understand when you've never really done much "real" photography. Point and shoot just does not count, I am learning.

It's a fun hobby and I am figuring out what all the fuss has been about all these years. Still I am glad I waited for digital, I could NEVER have afforded the cost of processing all the pictures I delete. ;-)

snow, wind, rain and more snow...

We've been having some nasty weather here in the lovely Southwestern US. We live in the high desert, and contrary to popular understanding we DO get some snow (which is usually gone in less than a day, and I personally like it that way...) We get our share of rain, enough usually to keep desert flora and fauna alive, and we get a LOT of wind, because our high desert valley is, for the most part, a huge expanse between the mountain ranges. In fact, WIND is something you just have to learn to live with, if you are going to live in any part of the beautiful SW.

Having started with that description, the last week has been kind of crazy, weather wise, around here. On Monday and Tuesday the weather was typical, sunny, a bit nippy, breezy, and clear... simply put, it was BEAUTIFUL. So while out running some essential errands with hubby, we took a very quick detour to a lake close by, so that I could load up my camera with pictures of some beautiful scenery and stunning close-ups of AZ beauty... (without getting in a car, because not only am I still sick and coughing, I really don't want to get on the roads in bad weather...) I barely left the vehicle, but it was nice to focus my camera's eye on the lovely vistas that make up our corner of the world. I had fun just snapping scenery while we were moving very fast along the highway.

Then, everything changed. It was as though the whole of AZ was magically transported to another part of the country. Over the next 3 nights we were hit by back to back storm systems that brought tons of very cold precipitation... Flooding, road closures, mud, rock, and snow slides are happening more and more each day since the weather change. Each morning for days, people unaccustomed to it ~ have been waking to white lanscapes and treacherous roads to maneuver. Schools had to close because we don't have the equipment necessary to clear even the main roads fast enough to assure safety for the children. Local colleges closed for the same reason, and ~ or because crossing the campus was dangerous to healthy limbs walking on shoes not meant for snow and ice covered concrete. Fender benders and vehicles slide offs have become the sad reality for too many local motorists... A couple of days ago some roofs collapsed in a town 90 miles northeast of us. It's just in many ways so nasty, and something most people here see a lot less often than in other places. So, it's something to "write home about"... Even though we ARE grateful for the precipitation, HONEST, it's time for us to be returned to our lovely normal weather conditions.

Of course during this tme period, there was also the joy of "snow days" for students and teachers, who got time off to play... and there is the beauty of the moment, when the white landscape is so pleasing to the eye... I caught some of that beauty around my part of our small community and also added those pictures to my project 365, if you are interested they will be posting over the next few days.

So when I woke up this morning to even more snow, I wasn't shocked... I'm just ready for our milder AZ weather to return to us, and soon please... I have it from some reliable sources that Oregon and Washington have been enjoying our normal weather this week, but as much as I love you guys... we want it BACK..! ha ha ha

...mine!

The fine art of toy take away has been learned in our house... hahaha

Tucker was an "only dog" for a really long time (3+ years). I mean, that is a long time in dog years... and I worried that he would resent the new puppy. But he and Chloe have great fun playing. In fact HE is like a completely different dog. He's very willing to share food, water, and toys... and even a rousing game of tug is only fun until the other stops...

Then, they play "chase"... the stampede is sometimes DEAFENING... LOL

...a walk in the crisp winter air.

I got to spend yesterday, all day with hubby, grocery shopping, running errands, and then strolling though the outer grounds of a Museum so that I could fill up the card with pictures that I might be able to use for my project 365... (I have truly exhausted my indoor opportunities at home for a while... LOL) and out of dozens of pictures I found only 5 that made the grade...


It was such a lovely day and my camera just HAD to take some pictures of "us"...


These don't fit my plans for my project, and I post them here for friend and family that don't "facebook".

...amendment on the photo journal idea

After a few more email exchanges over the last couple days with some wonderful friends (especially "Phyllis",) and extra encouragement from friends on facebook I have decided to "try" and keep up with the BIGGER project after all... However since it will be so many days of photos, I am starting a new blog for it. I'm calling it:

project 365 pollyanna style...

If you would like to join me, and create your own project, please send me a link to your photos/blog too. I am also backdating a few posts and including more photos from the last few days, so that the blog starts on January 1st. This just makes it easier for me to track where I am in this quest. A link for the project will stay available on the side menu of this main blog.

Thanks to all my friends (and again, especially to Phil) for encouraging me to step outside my comfort zone and try to do this... It should certainly be interesting, for me.

a photo journal...

My friend that is really into landscape photography (as in semi-pro, in southeastern Utah,) on finding out that I got a cool new camera at Christmas, suggested that I post one new picture every day... I gather from what she said this is called a "Project 365". My first thought? 365 pictures in the same # of days? Geez, that's like a picture a day for a year. No way Phyllis Diller.! (I jokingly call her that, because her name starts with Phil... and she and I go WAY back, and it's well, a JOKE... She looks nothing like Phyllis Diller, more like a very young and pretty Donna Reed if you ask me. But that is beside the point...) That's way too dedicated for this slacker, dear friend!

Having said that Phil, darling... I "will" try for 52 pix in one year... That would be relatively, one picture a week. Still, I won't promise to post these pictures on the same day each week... and if I miss a week I will TRY to catch up by posting two the next week... BUT... NO PROMISES. Period.! Do you understand, dearheart? And NO guilt, you hear? hahahahaha You know I love ya', but seriously Phil, I am simply NOT a photographer, and you can't use the "but you have that cool camera that you simply need to use", card... OK? I KNOW have a phenomenal camera now, but you need to remember that my youngest is much better (and I mean SERIOUSLY, much better,) at using it right now, than "I" may ever be...

There... Now that the ground rules are laid out, here goes:

EDITED: because of a change in plans... see my Jan 5th 2010 post. This picture has been moved to a new blog.

...the perfect ten?

...it'll never happen... No year will ever be a perfect ten.

So, then the trick is to make each day into a perfect 10 or maybe just an "almost 10". At the end of those kinds of years you can look at it and think: wow, great year..!

I just had one of those years... wasn't perfect, wasn't even good or terrific some days... but over all, it was a great year. And because I know me, and hubby, and I know the rest of my family... this coming year will be an "almost 10 year" again... Be assured we'll have huge challenges, and irritating setbacks, and maybe even a few knee bending emergencies... but... at the end of this coming year we will be able to look back and see all the good moments.

I am so completely blessed to be a part of a family that lives life that way. It's a "new canvas for a year of joy to paint" for us. I can't remember where I read that, but it fits~!