Warmth

I am looking out my bay window to snow falling lightly on the ground. Although the sun is shining. I see shadows from the trees, the car parked in the driveway and Carlston rock perched right outside our front door. Shadows and snow, what a day.

It is beautiful to watch but I am tired of snow, cold, wind, drab landscaping. I need warmth not only to warm the earth but to warm my bones. Warmth will help my garden grow and warmth will help me grow. I grow more when the earth is warm. I have more energy, happiness, strength, joy and motivation.

I love to watch the earth come to life. That is what I feel like. I come to life.

The flowers blossoms, the trees bud, the grass grows furiously and I am in heaven. This is what I imagine heaven to be like. Everything in bloom all the time. Fragrances floating on the air. Colors everywhere. Slight breeze.

Brilliant!

He knows me....

I look at her face, silently she looks back at me. Looking deep into my eyes as I look into hers. No words are exchanged nor do they need to be.

I feel the love eminating from her very being. I hope she feels my love for her. I kiss her nose and it wrinkles. A giggle slips from her throat while a smile spreads across her face.

Brushing back stray hair that has fallen onto her forehead I press a kiss to her brow. Warmth spreads into my lips.

As I rub her back to ease the pain I search my mind for anything that may come to it to help her. Quietly, prayers slip from my own lips pleading for God to ease her pain and in turn ease mine.

I am so blessed. Blessed because I know Heavenly Father hears my pleas. He may not answer me at this moment but I know He is listening and He will.

Things are complicated right now. He knows this is hard for me. "It is a refiners fire" I hear Him whisper so quiet it is barely audible. My heart quickens as I recall other times when I have heard these exact words.

"I know this is what you have layed out for me but Father, when will it end?" I listen. Nothing. I knew there would be no answer yet. He knows I am a fighter. He knows I can do it. He knows and in turn I know because He wouldn't just let me deal with this if He knew I couldn't handle it. He knows me better than I know me.

I am grateful He knows me.

Thinking...Thinking...Thinking

Over the course of a week I have been thinking about life, love and the pursuit of happiness. Cliche - ish I know.

With so many things going on with our family sometimes I don't feel like I get enough me time. You know that time. The time when you wonder about life, ponder your dreams, read a book that had nothing to do with anything but take you away on a fantasy trip to a land some days you wish you could get to. I am not sure how I fit it all this in when I was working full time.

This weeks pondering....am I doing enough. Not just enough for my family but enough for me, enough for God, enough for my neighbor. How do we gage that?

My first ponder was keeping the commandments. Am I keeping them to my best ability? Wait a minute...what are the commandments? Besides the big 10, what have we been commanded to do? Pay our tithing, journal, follow the Word of Wisdom and serve others.

In talking with my sister-in-law, Anne, she recommended this scripture:

2 Ne 9: 25-29
"Wherefore he has given a law (or His gospel); and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation and the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him. For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them....But wo unto him that has the law given (or knows the gospel and the commandments) yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation for awful is his state!

So, if we are concentrating on keeping the 2 Great commandments (Love the Lord, Love your fellowman) and wanting to put the Lord first in our lives that pretty much every commandment falls under those.

My thoughts now.....If I keep my eye on God and my neighbor (which not only includes those living in my neighborhood but my family, and those I come in contact with) I will be able to accomplish all I want to. And all I want is living my life to be able to attain Celestial life.

Problems with graphs

Over the past several weeks Nicole has had more and more open spots and they are taking extra long to heal.

Today she went to wound care and had Dr. Saffel examine her. His conclusion is her body is rejecting some of the graphs. So what does that mean? It mean she will be in for more grafting. He gave her some medicine to try and help. They are going to watch it for the next month to see if it helps. If not they will have to take off the skin that keeps opening up and put new donors there.

I have wondered if that was the case because the same areas over and over open. I guess this is a new phase for us.

I am grateful for the technology we have in this day and age. I am grateful the doctors have come so much further even in just the last 10 years regarding burns and grafts.

Flight Park

Very close to our home in Lehi, UT is the flight park at South Mountain. Each side of South Mountain has a flight park. The para-sailors and the hang gliders fly off the Utah county side in the morning and the Salt Lake county side in the evening. We watch them from out front porch in the morning. I love to see them floating above the minescuel cars driving by on their commute into the city.

They look so free up in the air, dancing one with another on the cool winds. How I wish I could do that. Maybe one day.

Night Visitors

We are so lucky to have nightly visitors. Each night the deer come out from the sleeping burrow to eat and meander in our neighborhood. We have encroached on their habitat and so I feel it their right to encroach in my yard. It is not like I have a huge garden or many great flowers that they come to eat. Which is good or I might not like my nightly visitors.

I think deer are so majestic. Their movements are fluid. The turn on a dime. Unlike horses or another animals similar, deer when they run actually bound. I wish I had leg muscles as strong as theirs.

Sandy Aquarium

Nicole and I joined the Sandy Aquarium. Salt Lake county is lucky to have this aquarium. It is not very big although it is nice and has great exhibits.

We loved the first exhibit. All things relating to Utah. Fish, wetlands, water and environment.



One thing I learned that really got me thinking was; if everyone turned off the water when they are brushing their teeth each day it would save enough water to fill Jordanelle! Now that is a lot of water.

In the next area we saw eels, moon jellies, octopus and sea horses. This sea horses picture is deceiving. These little guys are only about 1.5 inches long.






The aquarium has a penguin exhibit. Check it out.