Sherrie's boys

Do you love these pictures or what? The left is Sherrie and Kennedy when he was about one year old. The boys were young and let Sherrie dress them up to look like the little boys of several generations ago. That would not happen today!

Sherrie's baby will be 12 years old this month. He is a tall, skinny, and a beautiful boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He has his definite likes and dislikes. He loves legos and can build the most amazing things. Oh yes, his favorite "person" in the whole world is Sponge BOB Square Pants.

Sher's second son is Brayden. He is my 4th grandson. (at the top). He will be 15 this summer and can get his drivers permit. Brayden is the sweetest thing and so good to his grammy. Brayden is going to be a big man and can do anything. He is a peace-maker and an inventor. His mind is full of big dreams and wonderful inventions......that his grandmother knows he will share with the world someday. He will get his Eagle Scout this summer.

Alex is 17. Sherrie's first son. He is tall, thin and very shy and so cute! He was my second grandson and has had charm and charisma from day one. He loves cars. He loves tearing them apart and building them back together. He loves outdoor sports with his family. He is a very hard worker and very dependable, his father's right hand man. Last year he went to Europe with the young ambassadors and got a touch of the real world. He also got his Eagle Scout Badge last summer. I am such a lucky grandmother.

And my Sherrie never stops. She is the perfect mother of boys. She can do anything and never stops surprising us with her talents. She just published a book "THE POWER OF A PENNY" which led to book signings and tv interviews and speaking engagements, which she handled beautifully. She is contributing part of the book profits to "Koins of Kenya". She is doing a blog-cook book that is so fun. She started a scrapbook paper company which she sold and now has a purse business. She adores her horses and big blue barn and can drive anything from trucks, tractors, hay baler's or pooper scoopers. She is very active in the church and in her neighborhood. Entertains on their house-boat and in their cabin. She is like the pink bunny that just keeps goin and goin and goin......

Go With The Flow-

Well, today I did something I promised myself I was never going to do again..........I signed on the line to redo my kitchen. Does it need it? Yes, it is old and outdated but the only real reason I have a kitchen is that it came with the house. First i was just going to get a new microwave and sink. Then maybe a marble counter, then they give me such a good price for tearing out and replacing my cabinets and having a custom built kitchen that I weakened. They are estimating to have it done by the end of the month, but my kids say, "don't hold your breath." All I can say to myself is, "this too will pass." When it is done I am sure I will love it! It's this "Feny Shui" thing I have going on in my brain. Feny Shui is the Asian art of designing space to allow for the optimal flow of energy through a room. Right now my house needs a little help in this area.

Have you walked into a living room and looking around wondered........does anybody live in here? Hey, there is a reason a living room is called a living room. They are meant to be lived in! When you walk into my living room there is no doubt someone lives in it. Someone who loves to travel and bring back a souvenir of every place she has ever been in her trips around the world. Bringing in all the elements that represent the best aspects of my life of travel creates a warm, interesting, friendly room that people can enjoy.

When you walk into a squeeky-clean room without any accessories you think to yourself, what are these people about? I am the first to admit my home has more "tchotchkes" that I need lying around, but each one is dear to me and has a story to tell that brings back a great memory of some strange land or place I have been. But, bottom line, as I grow older and can no longer travel the world like I have done in the years gone by, it validates to me "Been There Done That." I feel very lucky to think I have Gypsies blood soaring through my veins.

And, I don't kid myself one little bit, the minute I die the girls will have the biggest garage sale on the block and someone else will be the lucky owners of my treasurers. I will continue to work on my Feny Shui skills arranging and rearranging my goodies to keep the flow of energy at a high level in my living room, dinning room and soon to be new kitchen.

Today I am grateful for seeing 120+ countries, 6 continents and 48 states and have a "tchotchke" from everyone of them to enjoy.

What I think I know for sure.....or not!

There might have been a time in my life when I thought I knew everything for sure! But as the years have passed more and more I hear myself say, "I didn't know that". When I read Oprah's list of what I know for sure.........or not, there are a lot of her thoughts that ring true for me in what I have learned the past 78 years.

1. What you put out comes back all the time, no matter what. A smile, a kind deed, a word of praise for something well done.

2. Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power. Yes, the choice is yours, so I made the choice that the higher I climbed the lower he would sink. It worked.

3. Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you. You do have a choice here.

4. What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe. Your belief can become your passion and conviction in life.

5. I know without God in my life and the peace and help he has given me, my life would be very sad, lonely and empty.

6. There is no such thing as failure, only feed back. Stop, look and listen and learn from your mistakes and go on with your life.

7. Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn't lie. That little voice inside you is there for a reason so go with your "gut" feeling.

8. Love yourself and it will be easier to love others. Your body is not you, remember that. You are where you are in life from the choices YOU made, and the choices your parents made. Your religion, your education and the models you follow all come from your parents.

9. Every day brings a chance to start over. Take that new day and choose to make it even better than the last.

10. Being a mother is the hardest job on earth. Women everywhere should stand up and declare it so. It is also the most rewarding job on the planet to be a witness to the job you have done.

11. When you don't know what to do, be still and let the answer come. We already have all the answers to our life, we just need to chose the right road that leads to them.

12. This too will pass, trouble doesn't last.

13. THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON............JUST BELIEVE. This is the creed I live by.

"EASTER SUNDAY"

When you think of Easter Sunday, what comes to your mind? God, resurrection, his empty tomb, church services? Or, like to many of us, we think new Easter dresses and hats, baskets full of bright colored eggs and chocolate bunnies.

When I think of all my past Easters I'm afraid it was always the latter. But, on this Easter Sunday, also the second day of the annual Spring Conference of the LDS church, I have other thoughts and feelings.

Today my heart is filled with God and his resurrection. I have had the privilege to travel to Israel. I walked where Jesus walked. I have been to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus spent time anticipating his own calcification and resurrection. So near to the places where he prayed, was taken prisoner, where he was tried and condemned. Outside the city walls we were shown the place called Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified. Close by we were told was the cave in which it is said the body was lain and the stone rolled over the entrance. I tried to think back through all those years and the story of his resurrection, while seeing the River Jordon, floating in the dead sea, strolling atop the ruins of Masada. We passed by the hills where the dead sea scrolls were found and I put my prayer on a slip of paper to put in a crack with the many other hopefuls on the Wailing Wall. Yes, Jesus lived and left his foot steps many places for mankind to follow.

So now as I celebrate my (almost) 78th Easter Sunday today I only have God and what he did for us in my heart. No, I don't have a new Easter dress, I didn't get an Easter basket of eggs or a chocolate bunny, but best of all I have been invited to have Easter dinner with my oldest daughter and her family. My other two girls and their families are out of town on Easter vacation trips with their families and wherever they are I wish them "Happy Easter." Today I have much to be thankful for.

Hindsight or Foresight

At this age I only had foresight.........never dreaming of what my years ahead would bring. Studies show we make about 200 decisions a day.......from what to wear each day, what to eat or what job to do. I have read our life is channeled by DIVINE PROVIDENCE. What is Divine Providence? "The word "providence" comes from the Latin word proveeder, pro meaning "before" and veeder meaning "to see." Providence means that everything that is happening has been orchestrated with foresight. What's happening now must take place because of what is predestined. Often it is hard for us to appreciate this until we see what happens later." All I can say to this, 70 years after this picture was taken is "Amen."

By what unfolds in our lives today, we can sometimes recognize how God directed our life yesterday or a year ago or a decade ago, to put us where we are in life today. When something bad or negative happens, we may be upset, but then events end up playing out in such a way that suddenly we look back and realize "Oh my goodness! Everything had to happen as it did so that this could happen." I look at my life today of almost 78 years of unfolding one year at a time and everything was so incredibly planned, so masterful and magnificent. I feel somewhere in the great beyond I had a hand in choosing my parents and siblings, where I would be born, what problems and hardships I would be able to handle in order to progress into the kind of life I felt I wanted to have.

We can all think of a difficult time in life that looking back at it now, was actually a gift. My 30 year marriage was one for me. My husband never touched me, but the mental abuse was far worse, the unfaithfulness and dishonesty killed my love. After the twins were 18 and he was free from child support he walked out. Yes, there was the pain of rejection, the doubt at 54 I could go on alone. But it did not take me long to realize what a blessing in disguise the divorce was! I bought a house, a car for each of the twins, invested my share of our life, went back for more education and a fun job as a Conceirge at a hotel. I began traveling around the world, speaking on cruise ships, enjoying the children and grandchildren. No more being treated like I was a worthless idiot. I found lots of new friends and realized who my real friends were in my "other" life. Each year has just gotten better. If we can see the Divine Providence in such twists and turns, we are actually seeing God's wisdom. Looking back, we are able to see how much god was looking forward for us. That is Providence. Thank y6u God...........

MARLEY AND ME

This is Karrie and Marley Christmas morning, the day after they got him from the pet store. The family met him Christmas Eve at the family Christmas party. Marley spent Christmas Eve curled up on Andrea's lap taking in his new family...........Well, a lot has happened in Marley's life since Christmas. The first part of the year he became a "father" of 10 beautiful puppies. The mother, Izzy also belongs to Karrie's family. He has grown up and is huge.....my dog Gigi and Tiffany's little dog Goldie give Marley lots of room around the house. Marley and I are having a battle to settle who is "alfa dog" of my house! I am baby sitting Marley and Izzy for the Cooks while they do Easter vacation in St. George. I can see now how he takes up so much of Karrie's time as he is very loving and clinging and wants to be right with you every minute. Marley loves me that I know and we have become very good friends, it's just that when we go up stairs I want to go first.........and so does he. When I tell him no, he doesn't listen till I use my grandma voice........everyone listens then! Having four dogs and two of them very large dogs is quite an experience. We are a family of dog lovers, all my children have at least one dog and we all pitch in and baby sit for each other. Sherrie took her dog with her to Mexico this weekend. Pam just got home from New York and her son tended their two, plus my x's dog while he is in China. Goldie belongs to my granddaughter that lives with me and her boy-friend has a dog. The dogs all get along thank goodness. Today has been nice and sunny and they have enjoyed being outside as long as they can see me through the sliding door. I think I will just stick to one dog, but the family knows grandma is a good dog sitter.

LAUGHTER IS NO JOKE........

APRIL 1st.......April Fools Day!

This is a day of pranks and jokes........which are suppose to make you laugh. According to scientific study, laughter is good for you.

No one teaches you to laugh, you just do it. Laughter is a way of communicating, it comes involuntarily and in certain spots in a conversation. Rather than just laughing at something funny, laughter is about social responses. "laughter above all else is a social thing, and usually requires another person."

Like a smile is a smile in any language, a laugh is a laugh in any language. People of all language groups laugh with a basic ha-ha-ha. It is thought there is a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound. Each "ha"is about 1/15th of a second....or not. Some people laugh longer or shorter, louder or simply chuckle. Still, a laugh is in the mind. "It's a joy; it's positive engagement in a person's life!" It is very social.

Of interest deaf people laugh without hearing and people laugh when having a conversation on a phone without seeing anyone. This illustrates that laughter is not dependent on a single sense but, due to social interaction.

Some studies of animals think laughter produces an insulin like growth factor chemical that acts as an antidepressant and anxiety reducer.........this probably happens in humans also. When scientist can figure out what is going on in the brain during laughter they could make a vaccine or pill that fights depression and anxiety in people. At any rate there is nothing in my life that makes me feel better than a really good laugh, I love friends who make me laugh! So I will continue to smile, chuckle or just laugh out loud. "Laugh and the world laughs with you, Cry and you cry alone." And that is no April Fool.........