A picture is worth...

I sure had fun hosting the "BIG GAME" party Saturday. I was personally feeling rather ambivalent. I like cheering for the under dog, whoever that might be. Can you all guess when I snapped this shot? And I was thrilled to have JT, Tris and Nicoletta, Baby Jane, PJ, Happy Hat, Shelly and all the kids here to visit and have fun. Thanks for the wonderful surprise visit!

Thanksgiving Day was awesome spending time at Mountain Road Ranch with the FAM. Friday was a perfect Pie Party for the family of The Rock. My girlies brought the house down in Sacrament Meeting when they sang on Sunday. I feel like I partied and cried all weekend. Glad to be back at work so I can rest...

An Attitude of Gratitude for...

My Father and Mother in Heaven and my Savior who express their love for me in countless ways.

My husband who is my Rock, my best friend, my sounding board and my soulmate.

My daughters who amaze me with their physical beauty and spiritual strength. And also their physical strength and spiritual beauty. :)

My big, huge, wonderful family! I love you all so much.

My friends I miss the most, Happy Hat, Panguitch Joe (and kids) and the Bremners.

The Golden Hour.

Hot Chocolate...actually any kind of chocolate.

Employment.

Skills (esp. Frog-eye salad making skills at the moment).

An insulated garage door (thanks to Scout's little driving mishap) and a new roof over our heads.

Hugs.

One-on-one conversations.

Hot Springs.

The Scriptures.

Singing in the ward choir.

Christmas music.

New perspectives.

Mountain tops, desert canyons, hidden springs, wandering trails, autumn colors, and powdery snowflakes.

Sharing adventures.

Yoga.

Agency.

A good pair of trail running shoes.

...to be continued as I ponder some more about stuff...


DAY 2

Road trips.

Revelation.

Finally being able to understand one of Maud'Dib's blog posts. Sigh.

Stargirl moments.

Out Takes

Sadly, these pictures never made it to the Family Christmas Card.

At Breakfast...

Apparently we are out of cereal that Mayflower likes, so she pulled homemade waffles out of the freezer and popped some in the toaster this morning. I decided to join her and since we are also out of maple syrup, I was pooring blueberry syrup on my waffles.
Mayflower: Mom, I just loooove IHOP!
DB: Mmmm. So do I :)
Mayflower: They have all kinds of syrup to put on your waffles! Blueberry! Strawberry! Huckleberry! And Poisonberry! ....And of course maple!
DB: Mmmmm! Those are my favorite, too!

You all have a nice day!

Learning

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.
It's about learning to DANCE IN THE RAIN.

I love this picture of Shematite. This was our front yard in Panguitch (2001?)during a torrential August downpour. She went outside to dance in the rain like my girls always do. They are a great example to me. I came across the saying written above recently and really liked it.

It reminds me to relax in the effort, have fun in the adventure, feel the intensity and appreciate what the rain actually does.

What I did this weekend.

Friday~
Got up at 6:15
Did laundry.
Cleaned the bathroom.
Took Scout to meet and pick up her Dearest Friend from down south. Was ecstatically surprised when Shematite appeared also! DF's parents went to Cedar City (an hour out of their way) and picked her up and brought her and DF up for a weekend visit! Thank heavens for "deer day" in Southern Utah to lengthen their weekend a little bit.
Grocery shopped.
Fixed dinner.
Did dishes.
Watched Sense & Sensibility with Shematite.

Saturday~
Got up at 6:30
Did laundry.
@ 7:30 Played 5 games of volleyball with the women of the ward. Very fun workout!
Helped Mayflower make more sugar cookie dough.
5th cold, rainy Saturday in a row.
Soooo...
Took all 5 girls to the hot springs in Ogden Canyon in the rain.
Came home, cleaned up, and went Birthday shopping with Scout and Shematite with DF along as fashion consultant and confidante. Actually I think Scout and I were the fashion consultants for DF and Shematite on this trip. The Rock was a very gentlemanly chauffeur ;) The rain has turned to snow.
Got home and fixed dinner. Sent Scout to work.
Rock did dishes.
Shematite and I put Scout's new bedding and curtains (birthday wishes) in her room.
We then went to Mt. Ogden Middle School's production of MULAN to support "cousin" Keigh. He played Captain Shang. So Fun! Still precipitating - back to rain again.
10:00 p.m. Did more laundry and read through my Sunday lesson.
10:45 p.m. Scout drove home safe from work in the rain. I can go to bed now. After I put some clothes in the dryer...

SUNday~
6:30 a.m.
Got up and got ready for church. Beautiful blue sky, crisp air, golden leaves and the smell of wood smoke.
Started the dryer again 'cause the towels weren't dry yet.
9am Gave my lesson.
10- ish Choir practice to sing in church today.
10:40 Gave the closing prayer in Sunday School.
Choir sang in Sacrament meeting.
YW presidency mtg after church.
Got home and made frosting for the sugar cookies.
The Rock did the dishes.
Took all the girlies to MRR for a visit with Grandma and GRandpa (and roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, salad and carrots). Had brownies and ice cream for Scout's birthday, peach pie for Shematite's up-coming birthday and sugar cookies 'cause Mayflower made them. It is here that Shematite informs us that she will probably be back up in a couple of weeks to see Michex in the WHS play "BEAUTY and the BEAST". She's a cupcake. I just like saying that. She's a cupcake! Go ahead, see if you can say it without smiling.
5 pm. Hugged DF and Shematite good bye, kissed The Rock and watched them drive away to the meeting place in Nephi. Still sunny and crisp.
6:30 pm. Walked to the park to watch the sunset.
7:30 pm. Started blogging. Here's a picture of Ben Lomond from the park with my cell phone. Have a nice night. I'm kind of tired. One more load of laundry...

Way to Bee!

I got stung by a bee today. It was stuck inside my pant leg right at my sock line. My leg was kind of busy keeping my foot in the stirrups. I was not able to swat the bee away because my hands were busy holding the reins. I was holding onto the reins with a fairly decent grip while hoping that Wayfarer and I could avoid the wild bee's nest that Wildbound and Shrek (the horse) had just kicked up and walked through as we rode on the mountain near MRR. I heard the hum and felt the sting just as the bees were starting to swarm all around WB and Shrek. Shrek started to sidestep and buck. I didn't want to yell. WB was cool as a cucumber as she instructed me to get Wayfarer down to the trail quickly. He was starting to shimmy and shake also, so I was glad to get to the trail, get the bee out of my pants, check the horses for any stow-aways and jump back in the saddle and take off at a nice canter! Yea! Those big boys got us out of that "hornet's nest" quickly and efficiently. What a fun ride! Thank you Wayfarer and Shrek.
I needed a little adventure today. But most of all, I needed the invitation.
Thank you, Wildbound. Let's do it again.