A Moment in Time

Lately it seems we are reaching for the camara more and more to capture lifes moments. This was one of those moments I don't ever want to forget. I had the priveledge of doing this the first time years ago as signs of the first treatment became apparent in her hair. As I compare the two times it became apparent how much my beautiful mom has grown. The first time she was so worried about her hair and what people would think when they saw her head. She cried and cried with so much emotion that it was hard to get through. Now she humbly sat as the 5th time of shaving her hair came. I knew this was going to be hard as I shaved around the scars that the gamma ray knife had caused and then I realized that was nothing compared to the scars it had caused inside her head. Scars we are not sure she will ever recover from.

Before

Getting ready

During

Laughing

Crying




Feeling the Angels near

"Warm hands" she said.

Finished

Still in good spirits.

Nothing puts life into perspective more than that. I love you mom more than words can express. I honor you, I cherish you and will never forget this moment in time.

Happy Birthday!

President Monson Happy Birthday to you!

He turned 81 on August 21st. What a marvelous milestone for him. His first Birthday as the Prophet. He was 36 years old when he was sustained in the quorum of the twelve. Thats 45 years of service. Thats the longest anyone has served in the quorum and leadership role. What a blessing to have all of that learning and exposure to be our prophet at this time in the world. I can't think of a better man suited to help role forth the will of the Lord in these latter days.

May the Lord bless and keep you safe and healthy Pres. Monson. Happy Birthday!

Summer jam

The end of summer always means harvest time for me. I absolutly love to start the berry picking and jam making and zuccini eating and peach canning. This last week we went to Carver farms and picked 9 pounds of strawberries and about 4 pounds of rasberries and a bag of corn. I took all of my kids and we had a great time. Taylor picked the most strawberries of all and I was so glad he helped pick them. I made jam and my kids helped me do it. I had such a feeling of satisfaction that night as we were all taking turns doing some assembly line work to make our strawberry freezer jam. It was so heartwarming to have my 5 year old mashing the berries and absolutly loving it untill he was falling asleep over the bowl. I finally told him he could take a break because it was 11:30 pm. He really didnt want to miss out on the jelly making process but since he had seen and helped with 4 other batches before that he was willing to retire to bed. Ashlee helped me wash and cut the berries and Alyssa was helping smash and stir too. We were all in the kitchen together and I couldnt help the feeling of gratitude for their tender spirits and that time we spent making jam together. You know the best part was I didnt even care about the mess like I usually do. I just had fun and didnt care that the strawberries were going splat. As I tucked them in to bed that night I felt in my heart that they will treasure that time together also. I know this winter when we break out the freezer jam it will mean so much more to them knowing that they helped pick and make that jam. I know I will feel that way too.

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So who out there has finished there copy of Breaking Dawn? I just want to know if you liked it or not. I am a little weirded out by it. It was deffinitly not what I expected at all. I wont spoil it for any of you but I do have to say to some of it......eeeewwwww gross. At one point I wanted to throw the book away. I just want to find another book like Twilight. It really surprised me that they were both written by the same author. I know there has got to be a story out there that compares to Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. I almost feel like she betrayed us by puting the gross stuff in it. The whole reason I read it and justified reading it was because it wasn't some gross vampire book but now I can't even stand to read the other books in the series because that last book just took the fun out of it. I know I am probably over reacting to a book series but hey it was fun and I enjoy a good story.

Breaking Dawn just kind of broke me of the Edward Bella saga. And saying that just makes me sad. I loved the series up untill this point. I wonder what Stephenie was thinking and why she had to go there with the book. She is really a creative story teller with lots of imagination. I wonder maybe if she was influenced to much by other vampire books or shows and she felt pressure to keep up. But that is usually not her style.

Anyway....

Anyone have any recommendations?