The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

So, I have this really cool gift.

Blocking out noise.

I learned when I was learning
how to live with my husband.
He snores!
Sometimes pretty loud.
Sometimes my kids and I laugh
in amazement at the sounds he makes.

I learned to block it out.
I feel too bad waking him up and telling
him to roll over. I just couldn't do it.
I still can't.

This gift has come in handy. I block out
the noise (if it's not screaming) my kids make.
Especially if I want to read.


And read I did.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

It's about the German Occupation during WWII
on the island of Guernsey in the Channel.

I loved it.
I love stories about WWII.
This one was sad. So many terrible things
happened in those times.
But some of them tried their darndest
to make some fun so they could have a little
happiness, or just a laugh here and there.

I loved their Society Meetings.
They read what they wanted and
then reported what they learned.
Positive or negative.

The Society brought peculiar people
together. They cared for each other and
loved each other through such tragedy.

It's a love story too. The kind I love.
Not mushy.

I highly recommend you reading it!

This and That

Right now I'm enjoying the CD Primary Colors.
I love it!
There is a lullaby that I swear
I'm going to memorize so I can sing
it to the kids.

I'm glad the weekend is over
and I can relax. I had
the opportunity to speak
in Sacrament Meeting
about the Crucifixion yesterday.

It caused me to study a lot.
I learned so much and gained
a deeper testimony of the
Atonement. And knowing
that God knows me and helps me.

Mom, Cindy and Rashelle came.
I love them.

We are blessed.
The Lord is good.
So good!

My friend had her baby
yesterday and we had her
family over for dinner.
Her in-laws came too and
shared with us their
experience serving a mission in
Nauvoo.
That is my dream.
To serve a mission with my husband.
It's his dream too. :)

One day!

Do you know what I want right now?

I want this nifty water color set.
Some ice that is easy to chew.
A silent house so I can read.
An inspiring painting to look at.
Comfy socks and slippers.

A kiss and a hug. :)

Caucus 2010

I loved hearing 300+ people
pledging their allegiance to our
flag.

I loved seeing so many people
I know and love in our community.
I love that good people are so willing to
give their time to participate in
the goings on of our communities.
To help us understand and help our beloved
country.

I am so proud of them.

Thank You!

Meeting John Bytheway

Yes! We met him.
Me, Sara, Chloe and Lauren(my niece).
The girls were lucky enough to each
get a knuckle punch from him.
Oh my.....


His Mother was delightful and
so cute while she was singing
hymns at the pulpit. Just little snippets
of hymns that she loves and sang to
her children and to herself in times
of trial and happiness.

They both talked about faith. She added
a little about music and hymns.

Read the preface of the Hymn Book
next chance you get. It's very
enlightening.

John Bytheway is so funny.
We laughed and laughed.
And, felt the spirit.
John spoke about the 5 scriptures
that can get you through anything.
Do you know them?

Let me enlighten you....

#1. 1 Nephi 11:16-17
God LOVES his children.

#2. Moses 7:26-33
Our trials DO NOT go unseen.
He weeps for us.

#3. Alma 14:9-13
If we are still alive, our work is not finished.

#4 Alma 7:11
The Atonement is not just for sinners.
It's also for those who suffer in any way.

#5 D&C 101:32, 34, 36
God will answer ALL of our questions.

Please read the references. Don't just read them,
study them, ponder them.

and listen to this

One Spring Day

Reading Fairy Tales can be very interesting.
Some of them are pretty lame.
The girls' assignment was to read one
and rewrite it in a different way.
They did a really good job.

Lilly used these math manipulatives in her math lesson.
And of course they couldn't stop there.
They made all kids of fun designs.

Apparently D snapped this picture of me
while I was enjoying the warmth. I fell asleep
on a blanket the kids spread out on the grass.
It was so nice to enjoy the sun.

I was lucky enough to be part of the kids'
Littlest Pet Shop club. Where we help
others and if there is someone who is getting
left out we will include them in our club. :)

This is the kid's rocket. D (under the slide)
is the driver and says
"Blast Off" and the kids slide down
any way they want. So fun!

Petro Forakis helped my scouts
with their space derby's.

One on One with D.

Petro is such a good friend.
Him and his wife Veda have
done so much for us.
Petro spoke one year to
The Statesmanship Club about
what is was like to serve in the
Marines during WWII, they both
spoke to my Liberty Girls Club about
what it was like living during the Depression.
He teaches D about wood work
(one of D's dreams) and they are all together
genuine people. He used to be a Bishop and
Veda and I talk about what it's like to be a
Bishop's wife.
We understand each other.

On a sad note, My nephew Andy(5) was run over by a
car this afternoon. My poor mom was
with him and watched the whole thing.
His femur was broken.
He was laying on a long board in a church
parking lot and some teenagers were driving into
the parking lot and didn't see him.
He is doing well at Primary Children's Hospital.
They set him in a cast that covers one whole
leg, around his pelvis and part way down his
other leg. He'll need be in the cast for 6-8 weeks.
If you could please say a prayer for him....
He's going to be bored out of his mind.


All in a spring day!

meeting Ellen

I read c-jane. Do you?
If you want you can click on
her blog on my side bar.
She's funny and she has a
slight lisp like my husband.
That's why I like her. And she makes
me want to move to Happy Valley.

She posted one day about getting
some postpartum clothes made for her
by Ellen. Sara read it too.
Sara dreams about designing clothes.

Sara asked if I could possibly contact Ellen
so she could interview her. (Personal progress
goal by the way.)
"I can try." I said.

I found her e-mail and asked her if she would have
some time for us.

I was so surprised when I got an e-mail back
from her saying she would be happy to meet
with us.

We met at the famous Iceberg Hamburger joint.
Ellen was so fun to talk to . She was happy and
excited. She was wearing the cutest skirt she designed
and shoes my daughters loved which added 100
points to her hipness.

She told us a lot and Sara asked her some more
questions.
Chloe and I enjoyed being able to sit in and ask
some questions of our own.

She gave Sara some fun tips to get started with
her dream.

Keep loving clothes.
Watch movies and the Academy Awards
and notice the clothes.
Get familiar with different kids of fabric.
Like going to a fabric store just to touch
fabric. Collect swatches.
Sew just to experiment.
Learn how to follow a simple pattern.
If you hate what you make, put it in a suit
case in the closet.
Get on newyorktimes.com and look at the
slide show of all the different styles in
New York and London.
Write, write, write.
Start a blog and share what you have learned.
You can visit Sara's blog here.
I can't think of funner homework than that.

Ellen, you were delightful. Thank You for
sharing 'you' and your expertise with us.
I still want the name of that big book you
told us about. :)

You can visit Ellen here.

The Italian Girl in Algiers

left to right: Lauren, Natalie, Avery, Sara, Cecilia, Chloe and Mary

My Daughters of Light

We finally made it to the Opera.
It was really funny and the Opera House is beautiful.
So many lovely ladies in beautiful Cinderella dresses,
and gentlemen in nice suits and tuxes.
It was lovely.
We all wished we had dresses like that to wear.
One day! :)

The Opera was in Italian.
And did you know there is a translation at
the top of the stage?

Not me.

I was so involved in watching the performers,
trying to figure out what everyone was saying
and the gist of the story. I didn't notice anything else.

The man on the stage was pushing away the woman
on the stage.

Then everyone starts laughing.
I lean over to Sara, " What did he say?"
"He said, 'Stop talking, your making my eardrums bleed' "
Sara said.
"What!?" I said, astonished that for some
strange reason she could all of a sudden
understand Italian.
"How did you know that?"
She sarcastically gestured toward the
translation in slow motion.


I really enjoyed the rest of the show. :)

When I got home at 11pm T(my 15 yr old son)
had all the kids in bed and the house clean.
I hugged him so tight.

I went to bed happy.

I've got a pretty awesome Mom.

My Mom loves to have a good time.
She vowed to herself that she would
always tell us she loves us, ans she has.
All eight of us!
She never got mad when we had to go
to the potty at the most inconvenient
times, she just took us.
Not like me.
She is an amazing artist and all of us know it
except her!
She is the most loving person alive and wants
everyone just to be happy.
She's has a contagious laugh and she laughs
a lot. And sometimes she can't stop!
She loves funny things her grandkids say.
35 of them!

I love taking this water color class with her.
She is so talented in not her art only, but many
other things too. I 've learned a lot about her
I never knew.

I Love You Mom!

Whatever...

So, I go to my class last night which was really fun, and
Karen wanted to start us off with landscapes. She had us
picture one in our heads because we weren't going to
skech it first, we were just going to paint it from our
imaginations.

I pictured a beautiful fall day with Quaking Aspen trees
all around. Yes, that's what I wanted to try to paint.

Remember how I said you just have to let the water color
do it's thing and then just accept it as it is?

Well, This is what my painting wanted to be....



The road to Las Vegas.

Daisies and Therapy

My last water color class was last Friday.
And, I finished my daisy picture for my kitchen.

I just need to frame it now.

These are the pictures of all my class mates.
Aren't they talented.
I love how all of them are so different.
I was bummed I didn't get a picture of
my class mates. They were all so cute.
I was sad it was over.

There's good news though.
I get to take it again.

Thanks to my awesome Babe!

This time with adults.

And, not just any adults!

My mom Evelyn, my brother Garth
and my cousin( more like a sister) Valery.

How do you like them apples!

I'm so happy to share this with them.
And, anyone else for that matter.
But especially them!

Water Color is like therapy for me.

Last night and every night really, I had
to straighten the covers on my bed so I could sleep.
It's a funny sight, my side of the bed is all nice and
neat and straight, while my husbands side is chaos!
Blankets all in a pile and pillows with their cases half off.

Who can sleep like this?
I know! I know!
My husband can.

He just laughs at my neat and straight side.

Last night I thought,
"There must be some lesson in this"
Seriously, I thought of all the gospel topics and
tried to come up with a lesson.
I fell asleep and this morning it came to me.

Water Color!
When you water color everything is wet and when you
add color to water it just spreads around
and you have no control of it.
Well, maybe a little, but not total.
You have to just let it do its thing
and then accept it for what it is!

Beauty!

I remember one time when my husband and I were dating.
He was staying at a friends house and I went to see him
early one morning and he was asleep on the hide-a-bed...
with his mess of blankets and pillow cases half off.

It was beautiful. :)

I can liken water color to our children too.
You have a vision of what they are going to be
when they grow up and they end up being something
you didn't plan on but just as beautiful.

These stories run through my head every time I paint.
It helps me to be more loving and accepting
of things I have no control over.
It's good!





It's good.

Small miracles of love. Days 5, 6, and 7

On Friday, which was the last day of our Missionary
Week, the kids were anxiously waiting to be able to do
"normal" things again.

Whatever! :)

They did impress me though. :)

I told them about how it's important to remember,
no matter what they were doing in their lives, to do
good continually. That is how we get our hearts pulled
to the front of our chests and Love!
This is what we do to feel our Saviors love for us.

It works.

I don't care what religion you are. We can love each other.
I've learned that this week. Well, I've known, but to
experience it is a whole different story.

Miracles have happened. I think they happen all
the time, we just don't recognize all of them.

Because they are small.

Some of my awesome Mother friends got together
for a sleep over. It was so great to connect with them.
We did some service in my friends neighborhood
late Friday night.

Saturday morning we helped each other through
some things mothers deal with, with their children.
We needed each other and we gave what we had.
And it helped.

A lot!

Sunday, I saw so many people at church that
came because of love. A miracle!!!!

Friendships have been made because of love!
Another miracle.

Testimonies have been strengthened because
of love.
The best miracle.

What a great week.