Our Aniversary

Today I Have Been Married for 22 Years

Jared, You know you are the man of my very best Dreams. I am so happy that we chose to spend our lives together. Today is all about us and celebrating the love we have for each other and the life the Lord has so generously blessed us with.


MMMM...

Mommy is away

Right now my mom is enjoying herself at a hotel for her Birthday. it has been a year since she last stayed at a hotel by herself. I don't know how she can stand being alone (w/o her hubby) but i guess i will understand when i have a family of my own. the last time she went on one of her little "trips" she brought home our cat Sasha. This cat is the reason we have seven kittens. She was naughty. Well anyway mom deserves to get away sometimes. i miss you mommy!

-♥-
Mollie
P.S. I am 14 years old for those who were wondering.

Sunflowers the Middle

There were some years between the first Garden of Sunflowers and this New Garden...

In the fall of the year I turned 40, all of the Sunflowers were gone, believe it or not, it is too cold here in the winter for the prettiest sunflowers. It was a particularly cold winter with several freezes and even snow here in sunny Mesa, AZ. Quite the contrast to the current mild winter we are experiencing.

The fall brought a particular chill to our home... our sweet and beloved son came to us with the news that his girlfriend was going to have his baby. My mother heart broke open in a way I could never anticipate. These are not experiences I had thought of. The story is long and full of pain, conflict, lessons learned, LOVE, patience, impatience, tears, and even smiles. As more than one Prophet writer in the Book of Mormon wrote I can not write even the smallest part of what I feel here.

Three years have come and gone. There has been gardening. Not the kind of Gardening I Love. The yard is clean, the gardens are prepared, the weather is gorgeous, and I wouldn't dare put in print for Jared's eyes how much I have spent on seeds from Johnny's Seed Catalog ☺.

And This Year I Have A Gardening Buddy!

Sunflowers

The Year I Turned 40 I Planted
A Garden of Sunflowers

They grew very fast, which I didn't know would happen. They were so gorgeous and I feel kind of silly admitting this but, I didn't realize how many different heights there would be. I just picked the seeds with pictures on the packets which appealed to me.

These flowers were like Trees, For Real!! Our one year old puppy though he was in Heaven. I can just imaging how happy all 8 cats and kittens will be this year when I plant another garden of Sunflowers.

My family is going to San Diego, sailing with Uncle Lee and Patrick for 4 DAYS!! I will have the house for some peace and quiet. All Weekend. Makes me even more grateful for President Washington and President Lincoln.

I plan to be planting Sunflowers.

1000 Meal worms

This is the package I received in the mail today. Contents: Cricket {bug} water, Odor eliminator, Freeze dried meal worms, Glider Food in a jar, and 1000 live meal worms at 1" each.




Have you ever purchased 1000 meal worms? I have, many times over.

Baxter, our first glider in 2004.

You might say, Gross or TMI, or What the..., or That gives me the Heebee Jeebees, and I would answer, I don't blame you!! I thought all of that too. A very important part of the diet for our pet Sugar Gliders is the protein in Meal worms. I have gotten over my aversion to the crawly little critters for the sake of my 5 little delightful pets. We are all in love with these tiny creatures. They are marsupials which means they have pouches like kangaroos. When you touch them it is like touching mink or silk or the softest thing you can imagine!!


Sadie and Boo are popping out of this sock to say hi to Isaac during family home evening.

Baxter snoozes on Carlin's lap.

Seeing

Don't Miss the Miracle

I, who cannot see, find hundreds of things
to interest me through mere touch.
I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf.
I pass my hands lovingly
about the smooth skin of a silver birch,
or the rough shaggy bark of a pine...
I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower,
and discover its remarkable convolutions;
and something of the miracle of Nature
is revealed to me.
Occasionally, if I am very fortunate,
I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel
the happy quiver of a bird in full song...
At times my heart cries out with longing
to see these things.
If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch,
how much more beauty must be revealed
by sight.
Yet, those who have eves apparently see little.
The panorama of color and action
which fills the world is taken for granted...
It is... a great pity that, in the world of light,
the gift of sight
is used only as a mere convenience rather than
as a means of adding fullness to life.

"Don't Miss the Miracle," by Mark Link, compiled from the essay "If I Had Three Days to See," written by Helen Keller in 1933

Today is Saturday, I am still working on Simplifying, for me not as easy as I think it should be or sounds. Each day I pray that I will recognize The Lord's hand in my life. Today, I have seen some things with different eyes, quite possibly, OK definitely, Mostly just because I have opened my eyes to them on this particular day.

I spent time out back and realized that my flowers that I had planted from seed were beginning to bloom♥♥

I saw that my dog and Jared were playing fetch and that Johny would bring the toy
drop it and wait {you know, fetch} Whahhh... THIS IS NO SMALL MIRACLE, he is almost three and has never liked giving you back what you throw for him. I said, "What was that..?" and Jared said, "Yeah, he's been doing that for a few weeks now." Like it was nothing!!

I saw a confrontation coming between Mollie and I, I stopped us and said let's talk later.

I see how helpful and kind Jared is when I am stressed and frustrated. He is a good example for me.