This aint cornbread and chicken...

After my lesson in the barn on my first night at the farm...

I was actually really excited to come home yesterday and practice what I had learned.

I ran in the house and grabbed my boots. Those boots that helped my luggage exeed all weight limits, that I had to have, because my brother had given me so much hope of creating memories with the horses... I just couldn't do that without boots. Little black flats would be an embarrasement, like I didn't know what I was doing.

Then I headed down to the barn... grabbed the spikey thing, I thought was called a pitch fork, until my brother came down and was asking for the pitchfork? And I exuberantly extended this out, and was informed "that's not a pitchfork, that's an apple picker". I still haven't wrapped my mind around why it's called an apple picker, all that stuff I was picking up with it, certainly wasn't apples.

So thinking of all the help I was being, and what great exercise this was... I did everything I could remember very carefully not to goof anything up or let any animals get out or scoop anything into a wrong bin.

These guys... there are two big white ones, and a little short brown one.... are called Billy Bob and Pickle!
Billy and Bob both come and aren't particular about who is who... I guess you just them in pairs.
Goats... I am not even close to knowing how to relate to goats... I guess that will be another lesson, for another day.

It was such a peaceful night at the barn... this could very possibly be a great thinking spot with the moon coming up over the back pasture... if I were a country girl that is.
But something about the smell on my hands tells me I am just not, not matter how much I am going to try,
will I be able to transform in a short week.

Family...

Yesterday we visited and visited some more...

Of course one of our first visits was with Bunny.
I had to get my puppy fix... withdrawls were setting in.
And she fixes you up pretty good with puppy kisses and belly rubs.

Mom's first cousin, Wilma belongs to Bunny.
And if it is even possible, I am going to venture to say, Bunny is even more spoiled than any one of my puppies.
If that is possible!

Next stop... Uncle Joe and Aunt Alice.
This would be my Papa Moody's Sister (there was 13 kids in all).
I never got to meet my Papa Moody, he died when he was only 53.
But Mama Moody, well lets just say, I was probably THE luckiest kid ever to have the best hand picked premium, full of love, best hug giving, compasionate granma's in the whole world!!!! She was definitely a LIGHT and example of an examplary women in my life.
So as we visited with these, most amazing people... really amazing!
I was so hopeful to get a glimpse of pictures of my Papa or their parents!
At first hints she just mentioned she had them, then as we visited a little longer, I could tell she had been thinking about it and really got the hint that I wanted to see them. She walked over to a cabinet, full of albums stuffed with pictures... just when she was about to give up on knowing where any of those particular photos might be (and kindly not wanting to bore me with all the other family that I wouldn't have been as interested in) she found 2 of her parents.
One was a very old fashioned photo when they were probably first married. My great grandfather was nothing what I thought he would look like, very fair skinned and light haired. But my great grandmother, like the Moody's had very dark deep eyes, and dark hair and olive skin. And a very defining clean smile. Just like my Dad!
It was neat to see them, I tried to imbed that photo into my memory!
And then hung on every word of memory Alice could share with me.
I knew they must have been really special people, and I wanted to have memories of them, like I do my Mama.

Later in the evening, we had dinner with Greg and Michelle Moody, my Uncle Ken's second son.
Greg, who looks and everyeday acts more and more just like his Dad, is such a good guy.
Since I was really little, I had always admired how loving and kind he was to his wife.
Michelle, an artist and the Emily Post of party hosts!
What a fun night we had with them.

I hope in my time here we can see many more family members.
I am just glad we don't all exchange Christmas presents, I would already be broke.

I love being in the South. I forget about so many of the cultural differences here, and I keep finding myself whipping my head around to get a second look at something. Or , hearing some word or phrase I have to repeat in my mind over and over again to try and understand the meaning or content. Yesterday I heard "my mama ustaculd" and had shivers run up my spine realizing I really did sprout from a bunch of rednecks.
And my brother and I had a really big laugh about his wife visiting years ago, and thinking we were talking about "bald peanuts" when it was really boiled peanuts.

Note to self... search for bald peanuts while you are out today!

Seattle to Simpsonville...

We finally made it! Just what I was waiting for... to be with my big brother!
It was a long day of traveling, but fun to do that part with my Mom.
So worth it once we arrived, to be with my brother.

We went to see Mama, I will post about that later... it was a little emotional for me, but she looks great!

And then before bedtime, I "got" to go clean out stalls and feed the horses with him. It was dark down at the barn, so I didn't want to scare the horses with the flash on the camera, so no pictures. Yeah, I didn't really need to urk off my brother right out of the gate, by causing a big ruckus in the barn and getting him trampled by his own horses or anything. I am sure I will screw up something while I am staying with him, but I had a clue ahead of time and was able to avoid that one!
See big brother, I am finally growing up and getting smarter... even though I am a city girl!

December in Dallas...

My favorite sister got up at 3am to take us to the airport... that's love.... especially since she couldn't go with us!

We changed planes in Dallas... it was sunny outside, and I was still really hot! Hot in the house, hot on the plane, hot in the airport... I didn't pack clothes for hot! I might be in trouble. I have always wanted to go to Austin, and as it turned out, my Mom, who makes friends with EVERYONE she meets! Got to sit by a young man from Austin who's parents just moved to Greenville... needless to say.... I didn't get much work out of her on this leg of our travel (I made her work addressing my Christmas cards on the first leg... what? it made the time go by really fast! I didn't feel bad until I looked over and she was putting the address on her own... ooops!)

When we arrived in Greenville, the airport was all decorated... I LOVE their poinsettia tree!!!

And the famous geese had been decked out with santa hats and scarfs too! So cute!

Dinner party...

Mom invited anyone who could come; over for dinner...

We were only there for the night before we had to get up early to head out for SC in the morning.

It was so yummy, and we ate off the Christmas china. I love her Christmas dishes and of all the traditions I took with me when I established my own home... this was not one of them. I just do not have much formal instincts in my blood. I have seen Christmas plates at Target over the years that were bright red with snow flakes or snow men on them made of plastic resign and thought that was more my style, but never bought anything to just have out at Christmas.
We do however have a couple of odds and ends Christmas glasses that were collected from Arby's or McDonalds over the years that I love to pull out and drink out of in December.... but that would be the extent of my tradition with dishes.

I got to see Brooklynn, my nephews little one year old.

She was the life of the party, and didn't mind being the center of attention... I love that she had already learned to smile for the camera. And she can go from a complete tantrum with crocodile tears to that cheesy smile in seconds... too funny!

Papa and the Christmas Lights...

Now I know where the teenager gets his sense of humor... trying to get a picture with my Dad, I have 4 like this where when I turn to smile at the camera, he put's on his poker face.

Finally, he smiles once, sarcastically... oh well! It may be all I get.

Next priority... get Mom's Christmas tree put up. My brother and sis had spent hours this week painstakingly getting the lights off of this tree, that was originally a pre-lit tree that had gone bad. Note to self: if I ever buy a new tree, don't go with pre-lit...unless I want to replace the entire tree when the lights go bad. Their fingers were callised and they still had issues with lights by the time I arrived that might require therapy between now and next Christmas.

But they are so cute and it was a fun experience for me to jump in and do this together with them.

Idaho to Seattle...

The last minute things to do, before I leave town...
Get the Christmas packages to the post office!

I finally got this done... many thanks to my new favorite postal worker!

She runs the little post office out in the country and makes a horrid, terrible, dreaded job, much less painful!

And she is a doll!

Which totally helped me get my last minute things done, so I could be HERE this morning...

I made it! Here I am at the Seattle Airport... and big surprise... it's raining!

My hair totally took a dump within 2.5 seconds due to the fine mist in the air!

Forgot about that neat bonus of living in the great Northwest! Oh joy!

And today... it is especially small mist!

Tineey tiny itty bitty droplets... but they are beautiful on the trees!

I also forgot how much I missed the trees! There all so green!

But the traffic hasn't changed much... uggg!

Don't tell my husband, I might never get him here if he see's this!


Home, Sweet, Home.... (I know it's not my home, but it always makes me feel homey when I come back to my parents house).

This is so my Mom... all decorated for Christmas inside and out!

I can hear her in the back of my head singing this song "Joy to the World".

Beautiful! Thanks for such a sweet home coming Mom!

I can't believe I am saying this, but I already miss my dogs!

SPT ~ Joy

Last night we fed the missionaries (I didn't get any pictures, drat).
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What joy they bring into our home; they were so grateful for the meal; polite, we love to hear their different stories of experiences from their mission, we quiz them on their favorite places from this mission, and they bring such a special spirit into our home when they come.

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We shared some really special thoughts about giving and the true meaning of this season.
We read a letter home from our nephew missionary in Chile, they really enjoyed that we shared that with them, and they loved hearing about the warm weather there.
The teenager shared a spiritual thought.

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And then as they went off to their busy schedule of the night, we went out to get our giving tree gifts. We have a 2 year old boy that wanted train toys.

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It was a joy to have my boys really get into this the way they did. It wouldn't be just a grab and go gift, that I bring home and wrap and ship myself... it was full of time together, and extended thought and searching for just the right gifts.

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I had no idea toy train shopping could be so involved.... but I loved every grueling minute of it!
(Not to old, not too young, not too noisy (noisy toys are reserved for giving to your nieces and nephews to best annoy your favorite siblings... not to punish other unsuspecting parents) not too messy, just the right size for his little hands, something that would for sure get endless hours of playtime on Christmas morning! and all of us had to agree on it!)

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I lacked the faith that my boys would turn it into such a special time for our family. So the 1st hour I really missed out. Soon after I learned that their hearts were definitely in the right place and I just couldn't see it through all my doubt.

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At the second store, the teenager who in my eyes seemed to just wander off with his own agenda... called me on my cell phone "where are you, I found the perfect gift!!!!". After locating each other, it was true, he had found just the right toy train set. Not to old... not too young... and we all agreed on it!



He had heard every single instruction, just when even I was beginning to get frustrated wondering if the perfect gift would be out there... the teenager, of all of us, would come up with it!

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Joy to my heart!

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On the way home... the teenager said he wanted to find out who it was for, and he wanted to be there when he opened it! Even bigger joy to my heart was listening to his Dad explain why it was to be a secret from him, and from us! I sat their with my dark sunglasses on for the ride home in the dark with tears streaming down from my face!

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Joy, Joy, Joy!

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They get it! And to put the cherry on top... since I am running like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to have everything else in my life ready to leave for my trip in the morning, they offered to wrap it and get it delivered to our RS Presidency.

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So here comes my lesson... all day I am looking at those gifts, unwrapped, with only a promise that they will take care of it! My challenge is NOT to wrap the gifts... it's making me crazy, but I have to trust in my boys and LET them do this!!! It will mean that much more, if they actually get it wrapped and delivered without me doing it for them.

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So I am sitting on my hands, this is hard for me!

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Joy!
Think of the Joy it will give them!
Think of the Joy I will have when they follow through!
Trust and Joy! Not my strong suits, but I have to learn to start trusting and letting go.
And embrace the Joy!!!

If I didn't have a dog...

A good friend in AZ sent me this in an email, I could relate so closly that I wanted to post it, it made me laugh out loud... all these little puppy noses are wiggling and sniffing in animated form in the email!

If I didn't have a dog...

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I could walk around the yard barefoot in safety.My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated.All flat surfaces, clothing, furniture, and cars would be free of hair.When the doorbell rings, it wouldn't sound like a kennel.

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When the doorbell rings, I could get to the door without wading through fuzzy bodies who beat me there.I could sit on the couch and my bed the way I wanted, without taking into consideration how much space several fur bodies would need to get comfortable. I would have money ....and no guilt to go on a real vacation. I would not be on a first-name basis with 6 veterinarians, as I put their yet unborn grand kids through college.

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The most used words in my vocabulary would not be: out, sit, down, come, no, stay, and leave him/her/it ALONE.My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates or barriers.My house would not look like a day care center, toys everywhere.My pockets would not contain things like poop bags, treats and an extra leash.

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I would no longer have to Spell the words B-A-L-L, F-R-I-S-B-E-E, W-A-L-K, T-R-E-A-T, B-I-K-E, G-O, R-I-D-E I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside. I would not look strangely at people who think having ONE dog/cat ties them down too much I'd look forward to spring and the rainy season instead of dreading 'mud' season.

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I would not have to answer the question 'Why do you have so many animals?' from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by someone as close to an angel as they will ever get.

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How EMPTY my life would be!

Sunday thoughts...

Some thoughts on Sunday ~

I am always amazed at how well God knows us so personally, and how he can place people in our lives and around us and use them as instruments in His hands to teach us what He needs us to know.


Even when I am sometimes too full of myself to listen, or I am going along thinking all is well... He finds His way into my heart, softens it and humbles me until I get His message.

What ever the lesson, so many times it comes through others. Today, I was so uplifted by testimonies, simple, eloquent, or humble.

A reminder from Him for me to be repentant continually, for my shortcomings. Even when I try and be so good, I often fall so short!

Messages to turn to Him, even when things are going along smooth and you think you are doing it all right. I guess that is prideful. I don't think of myself as being prideful... but with a little analization, I realized I can be know it all! My way is always right. Why can't everyone just do it my way kind of 'tude! Not pliable, or bendable, or willing to see someone elses side of things. There are so many perspectives to everything. I hope I can keep repentance to the top of my priorities as I go throughout my week.

Ward Christmas Breakfast...

To blog or not to blog... hmmm, not sure if this is a good idea? I find I really LOVE to blog about fun exciting things we really want to remember, but challenging things are hard to blog about. And this is a fun exciting event for most everyone.... but not always for us.

However, when I thought of my online journal not including some of the hard challenging things we actually survive, I thought it would be sad not to document that it even happen.

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Our Ward put on their Annual Christmas Breakfast and Program yesterday. My family was pretty adamant, we didn't want to go for various reasons I'll try not to write about, some pretty silly, some selfish, and some very warranted... but after a meeting that morning with some Stake members, my heart had been softened by an entirely unrelated conversation; so I came home and convinced my boys we needed to go and be supportive. It was a HUGE production and even though we don't like crowds, have the pickiest eaters in the entire world, and just aren't into the big productions... we should go, be with our ward family. They need to know we deeply love and appreciate them! We have an awesome ward!

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Some really cool things I loved...

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1) I learned to use a feature on my new camera that does panoramic shots... you take three different shots and it melds them flawlessly together.

So I could get the entire gym in one picture!

I just can't wait to do a mountain range scene, or a sunrise/sunset! So exciting!

2) Enough food to fill the black hole... I could only ever find him here... IN LINE EATING!

3) The Young Women... serving so happily! Really they were smiling, so willing, and making the best of their work the whole time!

4) For memories that it sparked for me about previous Christmas Breakfasts where we shared traditional things we do in our families. I remember one family shared they wake up their kids super early... they try to wait, but sometimes it's 4am because they are so excited they can't wait! And I thought to myself... I should call them, we are up too! I always think of them now in our wayyy too early Christmas mornings, but have yet to call them at 4am too share in all the excitement! But it is a fun memory for me.

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5) For my Strong Silent Mysterious Man for coming and enduring. Poor guy, these food gathering events are sooo hard for him!

But he was a good sport and let me get our picture together... and look he is smiling!

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I think he turned to the children and watched them and they will always soften your heart and make you smile and forget all your own road blocks in life. For sure we saw and heard some really funny things from the mouths of babes in the short time we were there.... Kids say the darnedest things!