I'm thankful for Love...

I see love all around and have been on the receiving end of truly Christlike love from family, friends and strangers in my lifetime !! How grateful I am more people than not want a world filled with love!!

I'm grateful for technology...

Because I live today and my daughter is serving the Lord today, I can get pictures of her the same day !! This was Hermana Scott on Thanksgiving day!! It was their "P" day so they went hiking, and this is a picture afterward !! And in 22 days I get to talk to her on the telephone !! So different from the days when missionaries left their families for years and had only letters to stay in touch... and those Sisters definitely earned their place in Heaven being patient and trusting in the Lord to return their husbands to them safely !! Thank you Father for the technology of today!!

I'm thankful for my eyes and my ability to see...

Theses are things I have enjoyed looking at they all make me smile !!! Yes I know Tom is in there twice, that's on purpose, he's so dang handsome !! hahaha

I'm thankful for laughter !!!

This picture makes me laugh !! The line that came with this cartoon is, "I've been doing it wrong all these years" !!!

If you know me you know I love to laugh, and most of my friends think I'm funny. But I know too much laughter and at the wrong time is not a good thing either !! But I'm thankful for laughter as it has been my anti-depression drug from early childhood, when I discovered I could make people laugh, much to my mother's chagrin !! She was always trying to reign me in, honestly she did try !! So here's to laughter and the endorphins it produces !! May you find something funny in your trials today !!!

I'm thankful for my mother !!

This picture is of my Mom with Hill and Mel her granddaughters !!!

Today is my mom's 80th birthday !! I promised her I would not tell her story until she had passed away, and I intend to keep that promise!! Suffices to say she has suffered at the hands of many, but she rose above the cruelty of others to be a kind and gentle mother !! I have been blessed to be her daughter !!

Happy Happy Birthday Mother Dear !!!

I'm thankful for dreams!!

I always wanted to write a great novel.









I love good guitar music, especially rock and roll. I always wanted to be able to play. My father was an awesome guitar player and he didn't read music. He only had to hear a song once and he could play it. I loved to hear him play. I own a guitar but the neck is too big for my hand, so this Gibson is my dream !!!













I have always wanted to travel, by car, I hate flying !! And since this show has been on TV I have wanted to visit the places he shows us !! The Diners, Drive-Ins and dives tour I'll call it !!















And the one place I've always said I wanted to visit the most is Maine. Don't ask me why but all of my adult life, I know that's a long time, I have wanted to visit Maine and enjoy the coast and mountains and of course "CRAB CAKES" and maybe a lobster roll or two !!

When I was young I had so many dreams, first and foremost I wanted to be a mother. Something I am blessed to be!! So if I never accomplish anything else I'm happy to be a mom. There is no greater feeling than for your toddler to grab your face look you in the eyes and tell you she loves you!! If I never heard another sound I would have been alright then.

So today as I am getting close to retirement, I can see the dreams I had as a young girl in my mind and some dreams I've added since then. I am grateful to have lived long enough to be able to think about living some of my dreams.

Man who would have thought I would be happy to be 55, life looks pretty good from here actually, seriously who would have thought....

I'm thankful for my Brother and Sister-in-Law !!

I am thankful for my younger brother, Mark and his wife, Sara !! For the example they are of true love !! They have been married since Sara was 15 and Mark just turned 18 !! They have raised 2 beautiful daughters and have 4 awesome grandsons and 1 cute as a bug's ear granddaughter !! They have an enduring love which is an example of how it's done !!! Staying together through it all, that is !! They have had their ups and their downs but stick together they have. I will sum it up in a little story. Mark and Sara were preparing to fly to Hawaii for vacation, right after Sara had a breast cancer scare. (side bar here: Mark gets extremely motion sick) I was talking with him on the phone, I told him I had been praying for them to be safe and knew the Lord was watching over them. My brother said to me, "I know this too, but if we have to die this is how I would want to go, together, I cannot imagine my life without Sara in it." I know she feels the same way !! They are still in love after 32 years together come "Heck or High Water" !! Thank you both for you true devotion to each other and the example you are to us all !!! Love you Sissy

I'm thankful for the Rainbow !!

I'm thankful for the covenants the Lord has made with man and my understanding of those covenants and their importance in our lives !!!

I'm thankful for our Stake Presidency!!!

This weekend we had our stake conference !!! I don't have a picture of the men who serve us so well, but I love these men and am grateful for them !! Presidents Barrus, Stokes and Matsunaga are men of great faith and I truly enjoyed this weekends meetings !!

I'm grateful for Hillary !!

I was 31 before Hill came into my life !! She came very dramatically, through emergency surgery and breathing machines (for me) and very high fevers (me again, she was quite healthy from the get go !!) and a very painful recovery !!! But as this picture (one of my favorite pics) shows she was well worth the brouhaha !! lol

Happy Birthday Hilly Tilly !! Love Mom

I'm thankful for my dad

This was Easter Sunday 1960 !!!!

I'm grateful for the United States Armed Forces

These are pictures of my father from WWII !!!










Thank You to all Men and Women who have ever served, who are serving and who will in the future !! God Bless America !!!

I am grateful for Jamie...

As a young girl I played with dolls and all I ever wanted to be was a Mom, when I was 12 my baby sister was born. She made my whole world sparkle !! She shed light where none had been. My heart was so completely stolen by her !! My parents seperated when she was 9 months old, and I had her care when I wasn't at school !! It was like playing dolls with one who loved me back !! She showed me how to love, and she was the first person who loved me and wanted me over everyone else, which was a wonderful feeling !! All of her life we have never left each other or hung up the phone without saying, "I love you", and from 4 years old on she called me "Sissy" (in fact my neices didn't even know my name wasn't Sissy until they were older) before that she called me mommie !!

She is now one of my biggest fans, and I trust her with my life. She is the most non-judgemental person I know, and I have never heard her say anything unkind about anyone!! She has raised 3 awesome children that any mother would be proud of !! And they all 3 play the guitar, and there's a lot of noise in that house, and she never complains !!

I just wanted to tell her that my life began the day she came into it and opened my heart to the possibilities of a future !! Thank You Jamiekins Love, Sissy

I'm thankful for flowers

I love flowers !! And I'm thankful for their beauty !!!

I'm thankful for this little guy in my life, even with the whirlwind he creates !!

I'm grateful for my life...

Though my life has appeared as this road, scary with large valleys and awesomely high places to reach, I have truly been blessed to live in this time and in this place !! And I testify I have never had to walk this road alone !!! My Elder Brother Jesus Christ has walked right beside me talking to me making the work seem light and at times when I thought I was too tired he carried me making the road disappear !!! Even before I knew who He was my Savior walked with me, and when I sat down and refused to progress down this road He waited patiently for me to get up and continue on !! He is there today patiently waiting for me to walk farther and do all I can to reach the top of this road !!! This knowledge is priceless to me. And I am Grateful to have lived !!!

Today I want to Thank my Father for the power of the Priesthood!!!

I am truly grateful to live on the earth in this dispensation, and to have the priesthood power in my life !! It's power to heal bodies and spirits inspires me and fills me with awe!! Thank You Father !!!

This is an obvious grateful post !!!

I'm grateful for every Sister or Brother who taught this Hermana a thing or two over her lifetime !! She had awesome teachers in Primary, Young Womens and Seminary !!! I am grateful to you all !!! And I know she is too !!! May you look at her today and know she is serving the Lord well in Payson AZ, and you are partly the reason she is !! Thank You!!

I'm grateful to have made it here

If you know me at all, you know I hate my picture taken !!! However today I am posting it to commerate my near retirement. Yesterday they had our retirement potluck !! And when I started at the IRS 32 years ago I didn't think I would retire from there !! But here I am today near the finish line, and I know it is by the grace of my Father I've have been this blessed !! So today I am grateful He has carried me kicking and screaming all the way here !!! Thank You Father !!!!

I'm grateful for the Beauty of the Earth

I am grateful for this beautiful spectacle in my own backyard !!