Gracie Jayne

Some things in life are just meant to bring you joy. Grandbabies are definitely one of those things!

A glance back

Today marks 44 years to the day that I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. January 28, 1968 was a significant day in my life, but I wouldn't realize how significant for years to come. When I was eight years old my mom had only been a convert member for four years. She was an amazing woman, without a great LDS support system. My father was (to put it mildly) an inactive member. So much so, that I didn't even know he was a member of the church until I was an adult. Needless to say, our home wasn't a gospel centered home, and I wasn't quite sure what being baptized really meant. I now marvel at the eight year olds who have been taught gospel principles their entire lives, and are prepared to be baptized. This year we will have two grandchildren baptized. They have each grown up in amazing families who teach and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And for that, I am grateful. I would like Ella and Tyler to know I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for each one of us. I love my Savior. Forty four years is a blink when you look at the whole picture. I have been blessed beyond measure.

One Amazing ARK

My uber talented brother-in-law, Clayton, made this ARK for me. I asked him to build it so Ron and I could put our animals on it that we collect on our travels. The top (the house part) comes off and it's empty inside. I love it! And I love my bro.-in-law for making it for me when his workshop was officially closed. Thanks Clayt!

More Happy Birthday

...It was as if Heavenly Father said "Hey, it's your birthday, here's some gorgeous sunshine." It was the loveliest day. My dear friend, Becki, picked me up and treated me to lunch at Burgerville. I had a cheeseburger and the most devine chocolate cherry shake! She is so much fun to visit with.

Becki is the kind of person who inspires you to be better than you are. I love that girl! Some friends stopped by with fun surprises, and our kids sent me some fun things to open as well. I got texts and calls wishing me happy birthday and I got to go to the dentist...hey, who doesn't consider N2O a happy birthday present??

******** ******** Later, my hubby had fresh flowers delivered to me. He also gave me a beautiful necklace and pair of earrings, which I can't wait to wear someplace fancy, and he cooked a most delicious (and surprising) bacon wrapped filet mignon dinner, cleaned everything up himself, and gave me the Most. Amazing. Footrub. Ever! Yep, it was a great day to turn 52!

Dreams really DO come true!

What a wonderfully perfect day this has been so far! It began at 5:00 a.m., with juice and a birthday card, then a bit of a treasure hunt. My hubby is always surprising me with the funnest gifts. Last year I wanted to make a headboard for my bed and I got a beautiful, (huge) piece of plywood. This year I just asked for a foot rub (he gives a killer foot rub!) but he had been busy in his office for more than a week. So if he was practicing giving a foot rub, it wasn't on me! Ok, so back to the treasure hunt...

These were the clues I found in our bedroom, my artroom, the bathroom by the guestroom, in the guestroom, in the linen closet, in Ron's office, in the bathroom across from Ron's office, and our bedroom closet. Which eventually lead me to the toy closet in the bonus room where I found this:

Notice the size in comparison to Ron's drums. It was big and heavy! >WE INTERRUPT THIS POST TO BRING YOU THIS ANNOUNCEMENT: I am a super fan of artist James Christensen. I have been dreaming of one day owning a print of his work called The Ten Lepers.

THE END Back to my post... So finally after years of dreaming... of wishing...of coveting... of searching on EBAY, Craigs list, KSL.com... my wish was fulfilled!!! I finally got the print of my heart's desire! . . . .

.. . I absolutely L.O.V.E. my husband. He makes me laugh every day! This is the best birthday EVER!

OK, I cry 'UNCLE'!

I'll be the first to admit that I have mocked many Washingtonians (is that a word?) for being such scaredy cats of a little snow. Calling snow-days at the schools when there is barely a skiff of snow on the ground and it's melted before first recess. I lived most of my youth in Utah, and we walked to school in 3 ft. drifts...uphill...both ways...barefoot! Ok, maybe not barefoot. But it snowed a lot when I was a kid, and we just carried on. This week I showed you the pictures of our beautiful culdesac covered in a fresh blanket of newly fallen snow, so pretty...see the happy pine tree in the upper middle?

HA! Well the wicked step-sister of mother nature has reared her ugly head, and she is called ICE! See how sad that same pine tree is now?

Most of the trees in our neighborhood have suffered damage. The yellow circles indicate breakage, and the red arrows indicate the broken limbs. The green color indicates the only trees on our street which didn't sustain any damage, because their gardener chopped the heck out of them last fall. Hmmm...maybe THAT's the ancient Chinese secret!

Our sad tree in front has broken off onto the street and onto the second terrace of the yard. Our power went out for a little while during the night, but our house stayed pretty warm. Ooh I hear the garbage truck coming, I want to watch him do the 'Ice Capades' down our street!