READ MY WORDS

On Monday I was at Trent and Michelle's house, supposedly helping her, but really just cooking dinner, telling her to sleep when the baby did, and loving those kids.

All morning I told Enoch to find me a story book and I would read to him. He had other ideas. So, when Levi came home from kindergarten, and after he had eaten lunch, I told him I would read to him if he could bring me some books.

"I'm going to write some words," he said, getting a small notebook. Then we had a half hour of, "how do you spell this, Grandma?"

Periodically I would say, "If you get me some books I'll read to you and Enoch."

Finally he had had enough. "Grandma," he said, with his hands on his hips. "When I get finished you can read my words."

And so it was.

In his story there was a king and all manner of excitement, with words all run together and letters pointing backwards.

A five year old author. I'm expecting great things from Levi.

PS Baby Hyrum is number eight!

A BUCKET OF WEEDS

Last night our home teacher came and gave us our lesson on the lawn swings. Soon neighbors started joining us and we visited for a long time.

One neighbor gave me a great mental image to use in my life. She mentioned that at the end of the day her dad always asked, "Did you get your bucket of weeds today?" This became a habit and she still does this, she pulls a bucket of weeds and her yard is never overrun, it is always tidy, the roses have room to bloom as do her other flowers, not to mention her wonderful garden.

Last night, before we had family prayer, I mentioned to Phil that pulling just one bucket of weeds was pretty simple. Day in, day out, simple but the rewards are huge. Then I started thinking, we should do that with all aspects of our lives.

Spiritual Bucket. We try to read the scriptures in the morning before our day starts but it doesn't always get done. So simple, a few minutes prepares us for the day and yet, some days our spiritual bucket is empty. We go to church every week and Phil is serving at a BYU ward but what about reading the scriptures every morning? I think I will start reading an Ensign article with Phil before bed, too.

My housekeeping bucket is neglected often. A little work each day and then there are no gigantic cleaning projects to tackle. I got into the habit of every time I used a paper towel I then used it to wipe up part of the kitchen floor. Soon the floor around the sink and stove was clean and I was wiping up the floor by the table and back door. When I neglected this simple task the floor needed major cleaning.

Food storage bucket. I learned from my mother so it's second nature for me to have food storage. Most Mormon's do, as we have been counseled by our Prophet and church leaders on this subject for what seems like forever.

One year, as we were bottling yet another bushel of peaches, I innocently asked why my mother we had so much food storage--much more than we could eat in a year. She laughed and said, "Why, Lynne, it's for the Californians. When they have to leave California"--I don't know what she thought was going to happen--some catastrophe maybe--"they will be hungry and we will have the food to feed them?" That was that. She stored food and extra for others.

I would rather shop in my basement than have to run to the store for a forgotten item I need for dinner. I'm not perfect but I have a plan that I got from Liesa Card, who I met in Costco, peddling her book, I DARE YOU TO EAT IT. I like her blog, she has some cool ideas and it's not just all about storage but about her family as well. (Today's blog is "Frozen Hot Chocolate.") When I get my storage up to date I'll blog about it. I'm so excited to put her simple idea into a working plan. Already it has made my life easier.

Speaking of food storage plans I found another blog this morning that I'm excited to read. This girl even knows how to store cheese...for a long time. Article here. Her blog is Preparedness Pro There are lots and lots of blogs like this. What are your favorites?

Family bucket. This is a picture of two of my granddaughters having a two-and-a-half hour water fight out of a clean kitty litter bucket. (I'm eventually going to blog about this.) It took some convincing to get Hillary to drop off her girls because she was busy that day, but four of the grandchildren eventually ended up at my house--for eleven hours--and it was fun for them and fun for me too. I hope they will always remember that day with their cousins and grandma. This is an area I really need to work on. I don't have the kids here often enough.

Just plain Fun Bucket. We need more of this. The other day I said to Phil, "I want to do something fun." He asked what, and I honestly couldn't think of anything we could afford. Two days later some friends brought us a vacation package. A night's stay in Salt Lake City at a cool hotel that brings you a goldfish so you can have a pet for the night, a dinner gift card for the Roof restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and a gift card for a fantastic breakfast!

This is a picture of the Salt Lake Temple from the Roof restaurant. We were flabbergasted. We were, and are excited. They have filled my fun bucket with anticipation. We haven't decided when to go but looking forward to it is half the fun. Can you imagine? They are like Santa Claus and the Good Fairy, all rolled up into one. And no, I'm not going to tell you who it was. You can look at all my friends and imagine they are the ones. Won't that be fun?

What buckets do you fill on a regular basis?

IT OCCURS TO ME....

I don't know if you read my Father's Day post or not. My disaster day with the meltdown and not even giving Phil his card. Anyway, we celebrated Father's Day the Saturday before Father's Day so he did get honored and loved. All the kids came and brought food and their kiddies. That makes him happy.

Here are the children having a treasure hunt. The rule is, you can look for every clue but the only person who can find it is the one whose name is on the last clue. If they ask for help the rest of the group can give hints. They are so good about it. When we first started treasure hunts, years ago, they would yell out, "I found it!" Now they are so subtle and don't let the "finder" know they've spotted the clue.

This one doesn't take her nose out of a book long enough to hunt. She doesn't know there are memories to be had by being a part of the "cousin group."

This is what happens when you hand the camera to one of the children and say, "take photos for a minute. His sister will kill him. Her motto is, "I don't get mad, I get even."

Self portrait. And more...I didn't post most of the self portraits.

We're sometimes a weird bunch.

Each is weird in his own way.

Sometimes weirdness is exhausting!

Some do not have wierdness. They do have the most contagious laughter on the planet. I wish you could hear her delightful laughter.

And some do have the weirdness gene. Its from Phil's side of the family, I'm sure.Some find laughter in the weirdness. She's laughing because she hid the clue on the lawn swing and they can't find it.

Some have tongue in cheek because they know what's up.

Some were merely surprised when they get darted. "All right! Who which one of you hairballs shot me?" Yes, she calls them hairballs. It's part of her charm.

Some smile, some whistle or perhaps spit, in the background.It didn't occur to me to take a photo of the delicious food. Here's the serving table without all the delicious food. Do you like how the cloth is on so perfectly straight? I'm a stickler for details, yes I am. Happy Late Father's Day dear. Your card is around here somewhere, I promise.

I love you.

"UP," THE MOVIE, AND ALSO A PLACE TO LOOK FOR COMFORT

These little people took me

to the movie "UP" last week. They were delightful.

The movie was delightful, too.

It was funny and a bit sad too.
It had high adventure.
And the cone of shame.

The movie was about friendship and

loyalty but it was about loss, too.

Today was a day of loss for us. A sad day. A day for contemplation and faith in Heavenly Father and believing him when he makes promises.

If you are having a sad day/month/year/life, remember that God loves you and is watching over you. He is sad at your sadness but He knows that everything will be all right, even when it's not. I find it hard to believe some days, like today, but deep in my heart I know it is true.

God loves you. He loves me and my family. He wants us all to be happy. Even when we are sad. Like today.

GOING GREEN

Some of our grandchildren

take "going green" seriously.

Some take to totally seriously.
And some find it a total snore.

BEFORE AND AFTER--RHUBARB BLISS

Yesterday the grandkids picked rhubarb. Some of them made hats and then... ...the rhubarb was peeled and salted and they had their first bite.

They loved it. They loved it so much they had more.

" Oh, my. This is so good we can hardly stand it."

So they had some more.

Yes, those girls ate a whole piece, bit by bit.

A younger grandchild had some.

"Humm. Not bad."

" Yup, actually it's pretty darn good."

This youngster knows how delicious rhubarb really is.

Yes indeed. Rhubarb, the fruit of the Gods.

PS Remind me to teach you how to make rhubarb fruit leather. It's fantastic. Really, it is.

1,3000 WORDS IN PICTURES

Pika is sitting on top of the piano, looking upstairs, probably saying, "You are going to get in trouble. Again." "Who? Me? What you talking about?"This was tonight's rug plucking party.

This was yesterday's rug plucking party. Yup, he's in trouble.

Stuffed potatoes on my cookbook blog.

Many wonderful Grandchildren.