Craft Day with Aunt Fay...

I was so excited to have help from the teenager home on a snow day, to get my chores done yesterday, so I could take part of a snow day off and do some creative crafting.

It turned out to be a sewing project, which I would have never taken on by myself... but luckily I have Aunt Fay close by. We decided we needed to get together more often... and what better way than to do something creative.

She has an amazing craft room, with everything you could ever imagine. She has many specialties, but sewing is definately one of them.

So we started on a church bag to hold all the stuff I have to pack around to meetings all the time.

She has so much material to pick from, and had some courderoy from my MIL that immediately attracted my attention. So I picked that.

Then she found some coordinating material for the trim in no time. One of my biggest nightmares is the fabric store... I get completely overwhelmed in there and my head starts to spin, so I was amazed at how quickly and perfectly the matching of the fabric came together.

Aunt Fay came up with the pattern in her head and knew just where to start... I love learning new things, but this is a gift! I would still be sitting there holding my head on my own.
We cut and pinned and stiched and chatted and laughed... It was a fun time!
We had a few creative slurges with ideas, then had to figure out how to add them to the project... I could tell already, this crafting thing would be good for both of us.
Of course we got advise from "Harley"...
"Precious" had to stop for a nap... It is going to be the cutest thing... I can't wait to share the final product.
I have some homework on it and then we will finish it on our next craft day together!
I will be sure and post the finished masterpiece! Stay tunned! :)

Snow Day...

It dumped more snow on us again yesterday.

I love the snow, and how it gives me a sense of renewal... it's a fresh, clean, white, pure, crisp beginning. I love that!

There aren't many hills here, it's pretty flat so it doesn't usually get too treacherous to drive on, but yesterday it began to pile up pretty deep. So the schools began bringing the kids home early, while they could still get the buses through this thick stuff.

It was the lightest fluffiest snow I have ever seen, and so I piled up pretty quickly.

And today they have declared a "Snow Day" off from school because the roads are a dangerous sheet of solid ice from the compacted snow.

We decided to go out as a family and shovel some driveways for the elderly single women in our Ward we have grown close to. The best part was arriving to some and finding they had already been done, by their home teachers, neighborhood kids, or friends looking out for each other.

That was cool, lots of service goes around when the "going gets tough".

My favorite part of the day was watching "my girls" out playing in the snow. Morgan is a real Frisbee dog, and has taught our little puppy Taylor to love the Frisbee. They found it in the snow earlier in the day, and when they came in left it outside... only to be buried in the snow during the course of the day.

They were hilarious rooting around with their noses in the snow trying to find it!

Lab's tend to be water dogs and love water in any form apparently... little Taylor stays outside until I make her come in and settle down. She doesn't even make the snow look very cold the way she plays in it.

I think if I patterned my life after this puppy, full of joy, playful, forgiving... I would be in pretty good shape!

If your wondering about Rudy, our little dachshund, well he is NOT a fan of the snow, and this stuff got deep enough that he has a little tunnel where he can make his way out and back only when it is necessary... the first trip out wasn't too bad, but as the snow kept piling up it was a little scary, but he's a pro at it now.

Hunting for Coyotes

My Strong Silent Mysterious Man invited me to go out Coyote hunting with him on Saturday, and while I am not a hunter, and cringe at the thought of a dying animal... I really wanted to spend time with him. Plus I really need to get in shape and keep working on my Health Factor, and I knew it would involve hiking, so I decided to throw myself in with both feet. It was a fridged cold day in the hills (well they call them mountains here... amatures). And snow still dusted on the ground from the night before, but the sun was going to come out and it was to warm up, if we wanted to believe the weatherman.
I took off towards the rocks with my camera to try and capture some of the beauty.
While My Man tracked and hunkered down in some rocks.

"He was gonna catch him a wascaly wabbit".. I mean coyote.

We saw some beautiful deer, with a buck amongst them. I was so relieved they were off limits to the gun. Whew! I was able to sneak up over this ridge and get a few shots, but I really wasn't too sneaky, they knew I was there. After a few clicks they quickly moved on along there way, first herding, then with a trot then bounding with all fours. As they approached a cattle fence line, they bound over the top of it one by one! It was amazing to sit and watch them. Totally made my whole day!

We hadn't been very successful finding any coyotes to shoot, they are very smart and stealth like creatures. It almost felt like at times we knew they were out there, but just couldn't see them hiding in the sage brush and wintery scene.
We came upon another herd of deer, and tracked them from one valley up over a ridge as I tried to get close enought to get a shot of them... they began running quickly, as we saw what had spooked them ~ a coyote right in the middle of the herd!

The blood started pumping, and the adrinaline rushing, as we both grabbed our weapons of choice trying to get off a shot of the sly critter we had been hunting all day.

The final score (if we were keeping score) ...

Beth 1

Strong Silent Mysterious Man 0

But a good time was had by all!!

Gordon B. Hinckley... 1910 - 2008

Last night Gordon B. Hinckley died at age 97. He was the 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He has been the only President I have known since I joined the Church in 1999. And I have always had very kind soft hearted feelings about him as a man.

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I shared some pictures and a few thoughts about him on an earlier post... you can go here to see and read them. He was special and loved by many throughout the world.

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I had a very personal experience that changed my thoughts and feelings about his position in the church almost two years ago when my family attended a General Conference in SLC, UT. We had heard from others who had attended in person that it was a very special experience, but it did not prepare me for the feelings that would come as President Gordon B. Hinckley walked into the Conference Center.

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It was immediately quiet, so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. He smiled and very reverently waved his cane out to us, and turned and waved to the brethren seated on the stand as he walked with his counselors close behind to his seat. From just that action, you could feel his love!

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I had learned to love him dearly long before, but at that very moment I looked at my husband and tears welled up in both of our eyes. Without saying any words, I knew he felt the same spirit in his heart as I did. It was a great feeling of unity between us.

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The feeling was not just my love for this man, but the burning realization that he was a Prophet of God. A prophet like those of whom we read about in the Bible, not just a prophet for my church, or it's members, but a prophet to the world... for each and every one of us. It was in my head at that moment that "he speaks directly to God the Father". The council he would share, was not just for my Bishop, or even just for me, but for all of us, and it applies today. It was an overwhelming feeling of hope and great joy, and I felt so blessed to listen to the words he shared that day. I knew these were not just words from this man, but what the Lord wanted "me" (and all of us) to hear, it was special council on how I could keep the commandments and why it was so important.

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Gordon B. Hinckley served in an amazing capacity for the LDS Church, and I am sure there will be many tributes to him in the days and weeks to come. And I look forward to reading and watching them. I just wanted to write down my own personal reflections about him, to have in my online journal.

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One thing that made him remind me of my grandfather was his sense of humor. He traveled all over the world, even late in his years. And one story I heard that has stuck in my mind, sounded just like something my Papa would have said... making fun. He was attending a ground breaking ceremony of a new Temple to be built... and as he walked up a hill to reach the site, he had his body guards with him on each arm, usually big bruit type men in suits. He said when he reached the top... "I would have been here sooner if I had not had to haul these two up the hill with me!"

There are many many stories and accounts of his humor, he was a very witty man.

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I loved that he had a kind and gentle soul, and you could feel his love... but he was very direct in his council. He did not shirk around the issue, he always got right to the point, and you knew where he stood on something ~ because he would tell you. He had such a way of uplifting and encouraging you. And when he spoke specifically to women, his council always made me feel better about myself and my purpose in life. He had such a way to make you want to be a better person.

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He always spoke very sweetly of his wife ~ I loved that he was so open about his love and respect for her. What a great example to all of us to speak kindly of our spouses, and not negative or harsh words. I am so happy for him to be reunited with her in Heaven.

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I am very grateful for my knowledge of Eternal Life made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and that it is available to every one of us depending on our obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

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Gordon B. Hinckley a faithful prophet and servant of the Lord, a wonderful man... he is so loved, and will be missed.