The birds and the trees

I have many friends, but only a few I count among my best.
One best friend, in particular, I have thought about more recently.
She is a wife and a mother.
Like most marriages, they have had their struggles.
Like many of us, they work through them as they work together and rely on a loving Heavenly Father for strength and guidance.
They have endured and succeeded. There is no doubt that they love each other.

Last night, a had a dream about this friend.
He was a tree, she was a bird.

The tree needed this bird. She ate the bugs, nurtured it and kept it healthy.
The bird needed this tree. He provided her with safety and shelter.
Together, the met each others needs and kept each other happy.
They loved each other, deeply.

For whatever reason, this tree had deep seated roots.
For other reasons, this bird loved to take flight often.
Sometimes, the bird cannot understand why the tree could not follow her when she wanted to fly.
Other times, the tree cannot understand why the bird loved to go so much.

In spite of a storm or two, this bird and the tree have always remained strong and sure.
They have always come to realize their devotion to each other and more importantly
they have humbled themselves enough to realize each others differences and embraced them…
because these differences are a part of who they are.

These differences are what attracted them to each other.
These differences are what makes them stronger as a couple, 
They grow together and become better, as they draw from each others strengths.

What this dream taught me is this:

This tree must love this bird, simply because she is a bird.
This bird must love this tree, simply because he is a tree.
This, is the Pure Love of Christ.

"The pure love of Christ.... What does this phrase mean? We find part of the answer in Joshua: 'Take diligent heed... to love the Lord your God... and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.' Charity is our love for the Lord, shown through our acts of service, patience, compassion, and understanding for one another....
"Charity is also the Lord's love for us, shown through His acts of service, patience, compassion, and understanding.
"The 'pure love of Christ' refers not only to our love for the Savior but to His love for each of us....
"Do we judge one another? Do we criticize each other for individual choices, thinking we know better?"

Bonnie D. Parkin

Memorial part 2

Today, the other side of the family:

Memorial…

Paternal Grandparents. (I never met.)

My father’s sister. (adopted)

My cousin. (Babette’s son.)

Tonight, Taylor and I took a quick trip downtown to the Salt Lake City Cemetery by way of Larkin Sunset Gardens. There are 116000 burial sites in the Salt Lake City cemetery, and I think I walked passed every one looking for the plots. But I persisted and found them. I even found our beloved Prophet along the way!

 

Grand Finale

Tonight was Taylor’s last High School Choir Concert… and it did not disappoint.

It was such a bitter-sweet experience.
The program was the best yet!!
The realization that this was the end was saddening.

We have had 6 full years of great experiences here.
Kylee with dance, Taylor with choir. Both with good friends and positive experiences.
Evan and I both agree…. we will miss Jordan High School!

Here is a taste of what we enjoyed tonight.

and this…

Choose the better part…

What an honor it is to know such a remarkable woman.

Jr. Prom

Tonight is JHS’s Jr. Prom.
After an afternoon of hiking,
(followed by a panic stricken father-moment when the thunderstorm hit the valley)
Taylor transformed herself into a beauty!!

She has always loved her sister’s Jr. Prom dress,
and a quick trip to the tailor earlier this week was all that was needed.
A little pampering at the beauty salon saved me from an afternoon of frustration.
Here are the results.

She practiced pinning the boutonniere on dad,

then on her date. She received her corsage and off they went.

Call us crazy…
curfew is left to her own discretion.

How to trap a spider.

Not long after Kylee left for her anticipated end-of-school trip to sunny California
I received this text message…

“I caught a spider last night and put it in the computer room.
Please kill him”

I shared the message with Evan, we had a good laugh and then
I went downstairs, and found this…

She has this down to a science.

What amuses me the most is the process:
1] quickly find a cup. this must be completed before the spider runs away
2] firmly place the cup over the spider. you must be quicker than the spider
3] slip a sheet of paper under the cup, being certain that the paper is also under the spider
4] tape the cup to the paper. this will insure that the spider does not lift the cup up and escape
5] remove the spider from your room. this is a precaution, just in case he does get a way
6] sleep peacefully
7] send text to mom, pleading for extermination

Once again, I shared with Evan. After another laugh,
I declared Evan the grim reaper

Note to Kylee…
mission accomplished!

Quotable

… forgive easily.
Even really smart people
do stupid things.
This is especially true
of those you live with.
Calm down. Let it go.
In a few seconds
it will be a brand new minute.

Robert Kirby
(from THIS column)

Mothers Day

Saturday
Non-Stop Gardening.
(Hoping we don’t kill this one off… green thumbs we have NOT!)
Phase I of feast prep.

Sunday
5:30 Wake up to start Phase II of feast prep.
(I know, I should not be working so hard, but I have a Mom too!)
Public declarations of gratitude from my daughters … posted on their Blogs.
The creating of Mother’s Day Cards to place on the framed photo for Mom/Grandma.
A break to play Dutch Blitz with my youngest.

A house full of family and chaos.
(One of my favorite things!)
An awesome card from a Nephew
(who may know me a little too well)

Forks flying on the floor.
Blaming Rachel.
(because she is so cute, and such a good sport)
Believing it was her Dad!!

Eating until our tummies burst.
Spilt punch in the fridge.
(Which led to a top to bottom scrubbing…Thanks Evan!!)
An awesome husband.
Terrific daughters.
A perfect day!
(weekend)

String

Two nights ago, the doorbell rang.
It was dark outside,
and no one was there.
But this was:

so, she did.

Mind you, it was cold, and she was barefoot.
She followed the string past the neighbors,
across the street,
back across the street,
around the corner,
around to the next street,
and half way down that block.
(Nearly 1/4 mile by my calculations,)

At the end of her task,
she found this:

so she did.

When she arrive home,
this was at the door:

(Also attached was a bag of m&m’s and a name.)

I, being concerned that the neighborhood cats
would clothesline themselves as they
scurried around the neighborhood at night,
set out to gather the string that led Taylor
on this treasure hunt.

As I gathered it, I realized that I was going to
end up with one GIANT ball of yarn.
So, our project began…

We collected a variety of silly jokes.

Created tags.

Tied it to the yarn.

And ended up with a large ball of
SILLY STRING.

Her answer was tucked in at the very end of the line.
”No joke… it would be silly for me to say NO,
so my answer is YES!”

Before and After

Just a little insight
(literally!)

The doctor says everything is looking great.
Healing is on schedule.
Taylor will be able to enjoy a fully active summer!
The only limitations will be her own.

If a dog eats grapes...

and cannot finish the bunch,
he buries the rest of them
between the cushions of the couch.

In case you were wondering…

If a dog (Chester)
eats grapes,
he carefully
picks them off the stem.

Quotable (with post edit)

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives,
but I will not rejoice in the death of one,
not even an enemy.
Returning hate for hate multiplies hate,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." 
~  Martin Luther King, Jr** ~

**Post Edit...
Come to find out this is NOT a direct quote from MLK. I still like it, so here it will stay.

Date

Last nights date seems to have been a success!

I greeted “the bachelor” at the door
and he arrived with a hug for me.
I introduced him to Kylee and to my great surprise
he declared that he has already met her.

After a few details, Kylee also remembered this meeting.
(At an institute activity)
Then off they went…
climbing at a local rock wall
followed by dinner downtown.

I will leave the details for my daughter to share on her blog…
watch for her update!