Out With the Old, In With the New 3-08-2010

I just returned from a youth meeting following stake conference where Elder Bruce D. Porter of the seventy presided.  He brought such beautiful, simple insight and direction for us as a stake and a community and to my life personally.  The Spirit was there in abundance both last night and this morning and I feel so buoyed up.  It has been a wonderfully full weekend of inspiring guidance and testimony.  

Jordan's best friend was set apart as an Elder today.  It is a surreal thing to watch these young boys, one by one, have this mantle placed upon their shoulders, and then hear letters home (a piece of one which was read today in stake conference) which sound like they were written by far more spiritually mature men.  There is nothing quite like the sure testimony of a stripling warrior who is sensing the magnitude of their calling and rising to it.  It was powerful!

Mikayla has started preparing for the ACT this summer.  She never ceases to amaze me with her foresight and preparation and determination.  She is diligent and persistent in so many facets of her life and I have gained such a testimony of the potential of the Personal Progress program from watching her magnify "experiences" into life changing habits.  I find myself constantly looking to her example to better myself and raise my standards.  There is a reason for the label "sweet 16" and she personifies it beautifully.

Lily and Sophie's 6th birthday is on Tuesday.  It is normally the busiest day of the week and I am hoping we can mesh it into the day that they have been hoping and dreaming of for months and months.  They have a birthday "cake" order requested out of a cupcake fantasy cookbook that I am a little stressed about, but they have been pouring over the pages since December and have their little hearts set on it.  Jordan promised to help and suggested that I hide the cookbook that day so that can't compare the two. (What a brilliant son!)

Now we just have to pin down date ideas and breakfast in bed orders and hope that we can fit it all in under the guise of a relaxing atmosphere.  I already feel exhausted:)......... but birthdays only come once a year.

I am so looking forward to spring break and beautiful warm days where I can "abandon" the house and get my hands in the soil.  I need 3 individual good spring cleanings; one for my yard, one for my home one for me--it could do wonders!  With the sun I am feeling the pull once again to get my padded self and my padded dog out exercizing, something I have very noticeably abandoned with the cold weather this year.

I am also looking forward to next month when our city will be celebrating it's 100 year anniversary and will also be once again participating in Middleton Unplugged.  It is so cool to live in a city where city government and church leadership work in partnership with each other and it all blends together.  I LOVE Middleton!  I was driving through town the other day trying to see it through a strangers eyes and thinking anyone just passing through would  label it a dump, but I was partially wrong.  Even Elder Porter mentioned the feeling here in the community, specifically not just among the saints.  We have our share of run down buildings and neglected trailer parks, but we more than our share of good people everywhere I look, and it feels like family.  After a meeting the other night I stopped at the grocery store to pick up milk.  When I got to the check-stand the cashier (Aurora) told me she had seen my husband come through 30 minutes previous, so I put back the milk and avoided trying to fit 8 gallons in my refrigerator.  I love those little kinds of things.


Crazy Hair Day at School 
(Sophie wanted no part of anything that was not cute:)

Glued to the Olympics

SUNDAY AFTERNOON:
Out of the Best Books

Sharing the Stirring Spoon

A Beautiful Spring Day

My Little Lily Pad

Sophie; Always Modeling

THE MAGNIFICENT SIGNS OF SPRING:
Weeping Willow

Aspen Grove

Crocus

Tulips or Daffodils

Sedum

Peach Tree

Strawberry Patch