Happy Birthday Annie -- 30 and 13

Happy Birthday Annie --the age span of my children is now 30 and 13. Thank you for being such a great daughter, sister, grandaughter, mother, niece, cousin, . . .

We love you!

Home at last . . .

Nephew Peter returned with honor (rwh) from the West Virginia Charleston LDS Mission. He served a great mission! He spent time in northern West Virginia and Central Virginia --- from Mannington (WV) to Roanoke (VA), from Clarksburg (WV) to Covington (V), and so on. He has grown and developed, and we have all been blessed by his service. It's so nice to have him home.

Elliott Day - - -

Annie has a week of meetings, and it was my turn to watch the boy today. I got to do the whole mothering experience -- breakfast, bath, play, snacks, field trip, lunch, nap (2 and 1/2 hours for both of us)! It was a cold and rainy day, but that didn't keep us from going outside. Elliott didn't like the rain or my umbrella, so we opted to play with tennis balls in the garage. I think the best part of the day for Elliott was when Willie got home from school. They are best buds! It's great being Elliott's grandma and Willie's mom!

My lilac bushes are bee-u-tee-ful!

I don't know what it is about the lilacs (shape, color, scent), but they are just so awesome!

I hope they last a few weeks. I am so excited to get my yard in shape and it is just so much more pleasant when the lilacs are in bloom.

Lilacs remind me of an old fashioned garden. Aside from roses, there is no flower as beautiful and aromatic as lilacs. Of the two, lilacs have a stronger scent that carries quite a distance. Unfortunately, lilacs bloom for only a very brief couple weeks in the spring. Once the buds begin to open, I pray for a cool dry spell. Once the blooms are over, I still have a nice shade bush, but I have to wait for up to fifty more weeks to see them again.

History:
Lilacs in the United States date back to the mid 1750's. They were grown in America's first botanical gardens and were popular in New England. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew them in their gardens. Lilac bushes can live for hundreds of years, so a bush planted at that time may still be around. Lilacs originated from Europe and Asia, with the majority of natural varieties coming from Asia. In Europe, lilacs came from the Balkans, France and Turkey.

26 ft. 7 in.

Willie was in the Granite District Junior High Track meet today. He threw the shot put 26 ft. 7 in. -- the best throw ever! He also had to run in the 7th grade relay -- how about that! If you know my kids very well -- especially Willie -- you know he can be a little slow in the running department. However, I must say that he "ran like the wind" in the relay. It was definitely, absolutely, remarkably the fastest I have ever seen him run!

Sunday Sentiments

• My baby brother (36 years young) is in the hospital. He had knee surgery on Wednesday (torn ACL). He is the kind of person that no matter what happens to him, it always ends up worse than anyone else. The surgery was done in a surgical center in Provo late Wednesday afternoon. He and his wife got home close to midnight Wednesday evening. He's has had a terrible time -- the knee surgery is painful enough. He didn't do well with the pain medication (combined with anti-nausea meds); he had to arrange for his own physical therapy for Friday, and the PT he went to wouldn't touch his leg; luckily, a PT in his ward finally came to the rescue. He started getting congested on Friday and by Saturday he couldn't breathe without intense pain. In the middle of the night (Saturday-Sunday), he was vomiting blood, so the hospital was the next option. At first, it was thought he had a blood clot (maybe he did) but after some divine intervention no blood clot -- he has a serious case of pneumonia -- hospital time for the next three days. Needless to say, he's a basket case (as is the rest of his immediate and extended family).


• Niece Madeline graduated from USU on Saturday -- journalism and communications -- she has an internship with the D-News (Mormon Times) for the summer.


• Niece Melinda and her family were at her mom's for the weekend to celebrate birthdays of her two little ones (Rilee {4} and Conner {1}.


• My little grandson is struggling to cut his 15th tooth. That is just seven too many teeth for a 15 month old. He has been miserable. We spent some time with him yesterday and he tries so hard to be happy, but the painful mouth just gets in the way.


• Haley and James are in Idaho Falls -- new baby on James' side of the family. Haley has made a decision to teach in Murray School District next school year.

Parent Failure?

Willie had a track meet yesterday afternoon (Wednesday), 3:00 p.m., at Skyline. Karl and I both planned to attend I got delayed in a meeting and I felt assured that Karl would be at the meet to support Willie. Karl, however, at the same time was pressed to get some last minute shipping out the door and just knew that I would be there for the boy. At 4:30 p.m., we realized that neither one of us had made it too the track meet. Rats! Needless to say, we both felt like we had let Willie down.

His bus rolled into the Hunter Junior High parking lot around 5:15, and Karl was there to pick him up. He was okay about our lack of support. (What a great kid!) He also told us that the meet was cut short because a girl (runner) from another school passed out, and an ambulance was called.

I just don't like parent failure!