GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT

"You are so much more than you give yourself credit for." That thought made me stop and think........do we women give ourselves the credit we deserve for the endless tasks we preform, for the service we are on call 24 hours for, especially those who have or have had a family. I look at my three daughters and their daily schedules and wonder how they keep it all together, even though Iam sure I lived the same kind of life when I was their age. I had twins and a 11 year old daughter, so they definitely were not on the same page, also a husband who was a pilot and never home to help, no parents or siblings in town to help. When you think of all the little things you do and think that they don't add up to much, but they multiply. You may think you are just like everyone else, but you are a blessing, a gift, a gem.......How could you ever think you were just ordinary? Nothing would be the same without you. You are loved and cherished by many. Every day we should pat ourselve on the back and know a job well done. Today was ladies day bridge and as usual great to see everyone. I am on standby to monitor three grandchildren for a couple of days, never fear they will hear from me regularly.........Yesterday the cooks bought and put up a new screen door on my patio, my four legged great-grandchild made her own doggie door, but is long gone and no one was bothered by it but me. I do appreaciate my kids help and concern. Sherrie's family is off to Navoou for the Fourth of July. Tomorrow we can kiss June goodby, it has been a very busy and fun month!

BROADWAY CONTINUED.......

Wow, I hate it when I hit something I shouldn't then don't know how to get back to where I was........But as I was saying when I lost it......Leslie and I have tickets to go see "The Mormon Musical" in New York. It won the best of plays on Broadway at the Tony's award this year. Some of our group won't go because they can't tolerate everyone thinking Mormonism isn't perfect for everyone, and some decided the price ($210.00) a ticket was to high, they just haven't been to New York before.

We have two Mormons running for President of the US now. Their religion has been tossed around a lot and will no doubt continue to be discussed in many forms. "Whether Mormonism is admired or dispised it is at least being acknowledged". Finally the conversation about the LDS movement is no longer simply the subject of a pro or con debate. The church has taken up all the free advertisements of Mormons out there and using it to our advantage. Yes, I am a Mormon but hopefully not a "holelier than thou "one. This will just add some frosting to a fun cruise a couple of days later.

BROADWAY HERE I COME

I am so excited.......Going on a cruise with my little sister in October, but first we are spending a couple of days in New York City! I love New York in a interesting way, so big, so loud, so crowded, such good shopping, so much to do and......so expensive. Leslie has never been to New York and we always have so much fun together on our vacations, (as the pictures dictates....happy hour at Senior Frogs in Matzatlan, Mex.) We decided to splurge and go see the broadway play "The Mormon MU

SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS........

You know, after a dozen hours of watching Sponge Bob he kinda grows on you! Been keeping Kennedy this week while Sherrie is at girls camp. Kens two favorite things to do at Grammies is to go to the swimming pool and watch TV. Seems he can always find a channel with Sponge Bob surviving some crisis. I love to hear him laugh. You know what they say it makes you healthy to laugh every day. Kennedy is 13, a head taller than I am and very thin.......he has the longest legs in the world. I had bridge last night so he got to sleep over with his cousin Scottie Cook and Karrie said they were up pretty late last night so I think we will both crash tonight. He went to his speech class this morning and they took a group to the ZOO which he loved. They don't have a Zoo in Vernal. When he and his brothers were small we visited the Zoo regularly, but that has been awhile, so it was something fun and new for him today. His Dad will pick him up tomorrow some time and his mini vacation will be over. I love it when the grandkids still want to stay with me but it won't be long until they are all past that. Tiff 29, Nicci 25, William 20, Alex 18, Richie 17, and Brayden and Andrea both 16 next month, at these ages they have their own agendas and don't need a baby sitter. So I am clinging to Kennedy 13 and Scottie 9.........and making lots of fun memories.

BIRTHDAY TIME......

Yesterday was my oldest grandchild's 29th birthday.......I just turned 79 in April so I guess I was 50 when my wonderfull life as a "Grammie" began. Thanks Tiff, the last 29 years have been the greatest.........or maybe I should thank your Mom also. This is Tiff and her cute husband Scott.

Tomorrow is Rob's birthday, Tiff's father. So a big Happy Birthday to Robbie. I guess Tiff's birthday also marks 29 years ago Rob became a Dad. Yesterday was Father's Day so we had a big celebration for both of them. Pam and Rob had a fun bar-b-q to celebrate. Rob's family all came and honored Rob's dad, Bud Pannier for father's day. I look forward to our get together every year to see all the fun people that I have known forever........It poured and poured and was too cold to eat outside. Summer starts tomorrow, here's hoping the weather starts acting like summer.

Sherrie is at Girl's Camp all week so Grandma Kay and I get to share Kennedy all week.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY.....

This man I adored! He was always there for me, and never disappointed me by always being there and backing me, even though he may not have always agreed with my decisions. He was honest, kind, hardworking and his life was his family (five children) and wife. He was an outdoors man. He loved fly fishing and hunting deer and elk. His big hobby was what we called "Indian digging" which now is very illegal. It seemed to relax him digging in the dirt and the smell of sagebrush mingaling. He was the oldest boy in a family of 8 and after his father's death when he was a senior in high school, he worked hard to help his mother and the five younger brothers and sisters survive. He was a good football player in high school and loved to play tennis. He was six foot tall, always slender (or skinny) with black hair and grey eyes that crinkled when he smiled and laughed. He was living in St George in a fun little trailer and taking care of the horses on the property when he died at 75. My girls also loved him so much and he was a good grandpa...."papa" as they called him. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!

THE QUESTION?

Ying or Yang???? Every moment in your life is a "once in a lifetime" event. Be it a birth of a child or grandchild or the time your battery died in 6 o'clock traffic. At the time you don't realize the impack it makes on your life....but it has it's affect.
Why do we just slide by these moments and forget them? They are there for a reason, trying to tell us or teach us something. Some moments are tender...some are not!
Today was one of those moments. It was garage sale day at the Cooks for Richie. He is going to the Phillippines next spring with a group called Youth of something......I can't remember. Karrie has worked very hard putting the garage sale together down to the last detail. Ask neighbors to clean out their closets, the family all donated to help out. Sherrie brought a big load in from Vernal, Pam & Rob donated some very nice items and I found many treasures to donate. Karrie called one store that donated 8 dozen doughnuts, a pizza company donated 8 pizzas. All they ask is you put up a sign acknowledgeing their donation and willingness to help out a young person. Rich became very involved, and little sister Annie was very willing to help out. It got very warm and setting up is work as is cleaning up but, I never heard one cross word from anyone. We had a good turnout and did all we expected to do. Next week my condo is having a garage sale and I will try and sell some of the things we had left over to day. It is a good feeling to work together as a family and I realize now "every moment in my life is a once in a lifetime event." There will be other garage sales, other fun times with my grandchildren, but I also realize how important today was for me and hope I contributed in some small way.

DESTINATION AND END OF LIFE'S JOURNEY

When we are born we have a destination; the path is but the detail, it can change many times as we travel down our road of life. We all know our final destination is death......and returning to God. I always tried to stay on the path that would be best for me. I was lucky and chose a wonderful family to be born in. My folks guided and directed me well and set a good examples for me. Of course, I had the free will to choose my path. I grew up, went to college, became a stewardess, these were all in my life's plan. I found a nice man that would be the father of my children. I wanted him to be a hard working, educated, nice looking person who would contribute good genes for happy healthy and cute children. Done......then I came to a bump in my road I had not planned on and I was shattered! Of course, I am only human. But as all strong women find when faced with a crisis I picked up the broken pieces put them back together and have found PEACE. You are never alone in your life's trip to your destination, But after a crisis in your life you may find you have travel mates that aren't to pleasant. Anger, bitterness, despair and grief. It is up to you to decide if you let them be your "forever" travel companions. I must admit it does take a while to get rid of these travel mates, but I have replaced them with new ones, love, peace, confidence and happiness. I look forward to the rest of my trip to my destination, it only gets better.

"A journey's best part is the return home."

SUMMERS HERE

This kind of weather just makes me want to go out and hug a tree.....or two or three and be barefooted! We are on the edge of a little flooding they say, but so far with the warm weather on and off every other day we have lucked out. Sherrie called me from her cabin in Park City and said theyfelt by next week they will be able to drive in for the Young Womens Days up there. Karrie and I just got back from Bear Lake and the lake is up very, very high with much flooding for some of the farmers in the area. The pool is finally open and the grandkids are happy. This weekend is the BIG GARAGE SALE for Richie's fund raising for two weeks volunteer work next March. The whole family has really pitched in to make it a success.......Tomorrow is Sherrie and Darren's wedding anniversary, Tiff's birthday is Sunday on Father's Day and Rob's birthday is the 21st. So many fun things coming up. June is going way to fast.

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." Diane Ackerman I am doing everything I can to fill every inch of my life...........with the best of the best.

NOT "DUNROVIN" I GUESS

Every time I think I need to hang my "Dunrovin" sign over the door I find myself thinking about packing and traveling again. I am off to New York and a cruise up to Canada in October with my sister and family. Kar did invite me to go with them over Christmas, but said I'd stay home and tend the dogs. Then I decided I needed to do something fun to celebrate my 80 birthday next year so I signed up for a cruise with my three girls.......YES! On this cruise I can add two more countries to my over 100 countries I have visited in my life time. My goal was 100 countries by the time I was 70, I did it and now belong to the "100 Countries Country Club."

Not much turns me on now days, but a map or a travel brochure really does it. I soak in, wallow in, inhale and immerse my self in each and every new culture I come in contact with. I look forward to adding Beliez and Hondurous to my growing list of visited countries. And have withdrawls if I don't get to Mexico now and then. It's a big world folks and there are millions of wonderful people in it. Some are different colored, use different kinds of money and toilet paper and languages. But more and more McDonalds, french fries and cokes are tying us together with at least one common bond-----"food."

Each of us has our own Life Dance......our way of moving through the world. Thanks to airplanes, ships, taxis, buses etc. I have joyfully been perpelled around the globe, loving every minute of my world's travels. Off to lunch at Shirleys for our big afternoon of Mexican train and catching up on our latest news. Yesterday it was Patty's late birthday lunch, life is good.

OH HAPPY DAY!

When you think about it "a birthday is the first day of another 365 day journey around the sun......enjoy the trip." Everybody is God's somebody and we should feel very important as we live out our days. Today I had Karrie signed me and the three girls up for a cruise for my 80th birthday........next April. It will also be the twins 45th while we are gone. God has been so good to me. Oh yes, today is my X's 82nd birthday, just thought I'd throw that in?

Karrie and I worked on the stuff for her garage sale coming up in two weeks. The family is working on earning money for Richard B. to do a work program in the Phillipines the first part of next year.......what a great little Mom......so much work. Sherrie has been through that when she and Brayden decided to do a work program in Africa. Such great girls. It has been a good chance for the family to clean out a few closets.

Ann, my old travel partner called this morning from the hospital to tell me she fell in the bath tub Sunday and broke her back, she has been struggling to get over a stroke she had. At this age,(a year younger than me) ,she realizes she should have taken better care of herself, lost weight, exercised more, and not over medicated, all of which she was guilty. I am worried about her that she will get discouraged and just give up. Hopefully Sherrie and Kennedy are coming to stay all night with me.

LABYRINTHS

Labyrinths are ancient symbols that represents a journey to our center and back into the world. They have been used for meditation and prayer for centuries by ancient civilizations up to the present. They can be made of stone, grass, fabric, sand, sticks, almost anything. They can be elaborate or very plain they all serve the same purpose . I would love one in my back yard. Diana Carulli has created them all over the world.

Hopefully as you walk or after you walk a labyrinth it will remind you to live this moment. To enjoy each meal, the weather, the touch of a loved one, the friendships or hug of a grandchild. Day by day you will be collecting golden experiencers that help you be the great person you are ment to be.

You walk with no expectations in mind, concentrating on the path, just seeing what happens. It is like a maze, no deadends. It is suggested, find a word you would like and use it as a mantra while you walk. I would love to make labyrinths available for everyone. This is such a stressful time in our world. No jobs, homes lost, divorce, children bullied. We need a cheap escape, a place to maybe find peace and sort things in our life out..........I can't figure out why all at once this is so important to me? A very quiet weekend.

TO DO LIST........

Can't believe how the days just slip by, then the weeks and months! I do love late in the day when your though with all you plan to do. I love that time of night when the sky swallows the sun and gives birth to the moon. But lately too often this time of year the moon disappears and takes the stars with it making the heavens weep. I think it has rained every night this month. The lawns are green and the water bills are down though.

I have been thinking about creating a "to do list"........you know list all the things that need to be done every week of your life. Vacuum, dust, mop floors, bathrooms, water plants, clean the fish bowl, change the sheets laundry etc., etc, etc. Through the week I could check off the things I got around to that day.......or not! Days go by and I try to remember the last time I dusted. I do the laundry when I run out of the underwear I like and all that's left are the kinda raggedy ones, then I do laundry. This way I could check my list to see how long it had been since I cleaned the toilets. You can always get in my house, but don't check out the corners. Cobwebs are harmless? I remember the days when I was married and we had a big golden retriever which shed like crazy. I vacuumed every day, besides it made the shag carpet stand up and look nice. Those days are over for me, I have arthritis and it hurts my back now and I have up graded to hardwood floors.

And then again......why not a list of "things not to do" instead of being roped in by a "To do list". Don't go shopping on black Friday, don't eat outside with bugs, don't dust until you can write your name in the dust. You know use your last years to waste your time on the computer, rearranging your photo albums. Take up painting, volunteering, playing bridge or having fun with the grandkids and just be happy. "Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."

FOR WE WALK BY FAITH

"For we walk by Faith and not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5;7
Two horses in a field---look alike, but not---one has a bell on his halter the other doesn't and is blind. The blind horse follows the horse with the bell and trusts him, the lead horse waits and is sure the blind horse is safe and hears his bell.
Like the owner of these horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us where we are in need.
Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way.
Good friends are like that, you may not always see them, but you know they are always there. Listen for my bell---I will listen for yours---Be kinder than necessary . Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Everyday I pray that I may reach out and find someone that could use the ringing of my bell. I Want to help, to listen, to be there for someone as long as I can. Sometimes it is your family, sometimes it is your neighbor or it could even be a stranger. I don't have a friend that I feel I would change their problems for mine. My life has not been without the ups and downs of the road we have traveled, but I have always heard that little bell giving me courage to travel on. May I be there for my siblings, children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews and family and my many wonderful friends. Sherrie and Kennnedy spent the night with me we had fun shopping and eating out. Karrie came by and Pam called! Life is good.......