A Productive Memorial Weekend

Today I finished planting the rest of the garden. It was so nice to have Jared's dad come up and till so I didn't have do use the "double-digging" method which I usually use. I feel such a sense of satisfaction looking out at all of the neatly planted rows, before any weeds have had a chance to take over. I never thought I would be the gardener in the family - because the weeds drive me crazy because of allergies. I always got to do the inside chores growing up because of my allergies. But now I want the fresh veggies bad enough that I just take allegra or suffer through it. I especially love the green beans, corn and tomatoes.
Daniel is still young enough that he just loves the chance to work with dad. He helped his dad and grandpa fix a few sprinkler problems & repair the closet in a room. I love to see him smile as he works. Someday I'll post some recent pictures - but for now you can see him doing his ultimate favorite chore-vacuuming. He gets pretty upset when he sees someone else doing it instead of him.

It was Rebecca's birthday on Saturday. Rather than have a party with friends she chose to go out to dinner with mom and dad. She is becoming a lady too quickly. It's hard for me to believe that her childhood years at home are already halfway over. We had a lot of fun scrapbooking in her new scrapbook (b-day gift) together and for the night she told me her "I was her best friend." But tonight she says I'm not her best friend anymore, because I told her she needs to practice violin. I guess sometimes its more important to be a mother than a friend. (Becca started reading this as I'm typing and her suggestion is to write..."I guess sometimes I'm a little too hard on her:)" I know someday she'll thank me for "making" her practice.

On Sunday I got to experience my first Sunday of my new calling. Things actually went pretty smoothly. Our Sunday morning traditional breakfast is rice pudding. It's almost like dessert for breakfast - but the results are worth it. All of the kids like it so much I just tell them "As soon as you are dressed in your church clothes you can have breakfast" and usually that's incentive enough for them to get dressed on their own quickly. I had presidency meeting @ 9 and let Daniel come to play in the nursery next to us - but when our meeting was over at 10 he had disappeared. I figured he went home since we live next to the church - and fortunately he did. He said some "strangers" came in the room just a few minutes before we ended our meeting (the lady in the other ward came to set up when their sacrament mtg got out) so he ran home as fast as he could. At least he realizes that "strangers" can even be nice looking primary ladies. He used to identify strangers as only men with facial hair and cigarettes. Now he finally gets it that a stranger is anyone you don't know.

Jared gave an amazing talk on the the priesthood and shared a story about the safety and protection and influence a righteous priesthood holder can have as they stand up for true principles. I especially liked hearing him share how he gained an added measure of respect for my dad as they went on a camping trip together and the safety and protection he felt in his presence as he stood up for true principles when challenged about his beliefs in the church.

Good things:
Gardening in the sunshine
Rototillers
Mom-daughter bonding
A faithful husband