Hydrangeas

 How can this right outside your door not make you happy? I finally got to grow my own when we moved south. My beloved hydrangea blooms green and the gradually turns vibrant blue.

 

Like this.

Until this year. 

  

 

My hydrangea this year looks like this.

 

Same soil, same exact fertilizer. I am not sure what happened to create this multi-hued beauty. We had a warm winter and a cool spring, maybe that had something to do with it.  I do not control the weather, but I know who does.

These amazing blooms, all from exactly the same source.  I can not help but think of the Lord and how he knows you and I. When He sees beauty and feels love, so often I feel inadequate and not enough. Why when we are a soft, subtle lavender pink, do we long for vibrant, stunning blue? Just opened green, full of expectant possibilities, we do not we see our immediate beauty but feel badly that it is not yet our time to be full and violet? Why is it so hard to love and appreciate the amazing beauty of the petals we have been given? Why do we long for what we are not, or do not have?

In John 10:10 the Savior says "...I am  come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly"  I want to recognize the abundance of my life given to me by the Lord, to revel in the joy and beauty that is already there. I am praying that I can learn to do this more consistently, that the Spirit will help me to see what is already amazing and beautiful in my life.  At the very end of chapter 32 Alma testifies, " Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you." The rewards come as you are waiting...not at the end. The reward is the journey taken with the Lord.

Why do I feel inadequate when I have been created by a loving God who knows exactly what strengths and weaknesses I need to learn to love like Him? Every time I walk out my door and see my amazing hydrangea, I am reminded of the Lord's love. Also of the beauty we already are, each of us.

Hmmmm....

Would you give this man a visa to visit your country? Seriously....

Every time I see this picture I just crack up!!!! 

Jason was in a super hurry on his lunch break getting some passport pics for a duplicate passport. He went to a drugstore, the kid working took his picture, charged him $15, put it in an envelope and Jason rushed back to work . He swears he just looked at the camera and followed the directions to not smile, just look normal....

Law of the Harvest

We finally planted a garden this spring. It took some ingenuity, engineering and many more hours then expected, but we finally built a deer-proof growing space. We have been eating peas and lettuce now from our garden for the past few weeks.  It is so satisfying to go and pick some vegetables that you have grown and tended for dinner. I want to always remember Grace running into the house, her hands full of homegrown peas and a smile of wonder on her face.  She was the first to sample them, but we have all eaten our share. Does anyone ever grow enough peas that they make it to the dinner table? We just seem to eat them straight from the vines.

The kids each have their own area to plan, plant, tend and harvest. I know it is small, but it is a beginning. There is so much eternal truth to learn from the Law of the Harvest. We will see if we can keep our thumbs green all the way through the heat and humidity of summer...

 Molly loves peas too!

Twin Day

Grace and Sophie's school had a "twin day" today. The girls have been planning for couple weeks what they would wear. An old pair of glasses with no lenses were resurrected with their Papa's help. $5 dollar t shirts were purchased.  I even had trouble this morning telling them apart. They thought it was really funny. I think it is funny that my twins are so excited about dressing up as twins!

Slowly but surely

My kids are being converted into southerners. Today while working outside I heard Grace repeatedly call out to her brothers on the trampoline "Y'all, I have biscuits!" using her best southern drawl. Turns out it was yet another version of the puppy/owner game that has been played for years at our house. Then Jason took the girls to ice cream as a special treat for good report cards. They both chose caramel bacon gelato. Sophie said it was mysteriously delicious.

Making Memories

 We went camping last week at Hanging Rock State Park. It was cold. We have had such a warm spring and then the few days we camping were freezing! The woods in early spring are so beautiful though. We were mostly by ourselves which was relaxing. Worrying that your kids are being loud and bothering people camping 2 feet away from you is just not fun.

 Jason and I are polar opposites when it comes to what to eat camping. I am the super fast and easy camp food person, like hot dogs just cooked on the fire. He is the super yummy, lots of work camp food person. Jason did food this time and we ate like kings. Jason brought dutch ovens and cooked delicious food the entire time.

 

 

The dogwoods and violets are all blooming. Violets in the woods always remind me of Granny and it makes me smile. It is still so amazing for us to see wild trees blooming all through the forest. A ranger also pointed out the first wild magnolia I had seen. It's blooms are not quite open yet, but was still so fun for me to find. He also taught me the difference between mountain laurel and wild azaleas, both of which will bloom in a month or so. Grace found salamanders in a small lake. The kids had never seen any before. Molly was super fun to have along and we had a great time.

I finally got all the laundry washed on Wednesday and we got home on Saturday. But it is worth it. I have so many happy memories of camping with my family and being taught to love the world around me as a child. It shaped so much of me, including my spirituality and my relationship to the Savior. I hope to follow my parents and do the same for my children. Making memories, building a foundation for my kids in the Lord one bit at a time.

Easter 2012

 Luke, Grace, Sophie and Noah

 

 

Sophie has become quite the designer. She made this Easter tree with some eggs we had from Granny's house, a stick from our backyard and a pickle jar. The only thing she didn't do was spray paint. :)