Seth Gets His Mission Call

How the yearsd fly by. This picture was taken of Seth at Brittany's baptism in Orofino, when the family lived in Weippe in northern Idaho quite a long time ago. The family lived on the Weippe Prairie only accessed by going up fearsome switchbacks on a road called the Greer Grade, which often washed out with the spring thaw. Quite a thrill to get there.

This pensive picture was Seth's senior class picture taken last year. This year, he has been a freshman at the University of Wyoming, and has been anxiously awaiting his mission call. The news came yesterday! He is to go to Managua, Nicaragua, entering the mission home in the middle of June. He is pretty excited, and is preparing to re-learn the Spanish language. We know that he will put the usual 100+ percent effort into this new experience. We also know that he is eager to put his talents to use with this calling.

My Storybook Farms Quilt in Progress

This was a wonderful day. I finished the top for my Storybook Farms quilt, designed by McKenna Ryan (from Kalispell, Montana), whose publishing company is called Pine Needles. She is a wonderful artist, and I wanted to make this quilt from the very first time it came on the market more than a few years ago. I am about half way done, with the top together. The next steps will be to (1) make a quilt sandwich of the back, the batting, and the top. I will pin those layers together, and then begin free motion stitching around every tiny piece in the quilt. When I have finished with that, then I will put the embellishing quilting on it, and bind it. Should keep me busy for a while. Be sure to enlarge the pictures to get the full impact. Note that the clothes and quilt on the clothesline are still just pinned. I will either find tiny clothespins or will sew them on to the clothesline.

The Earth Shook

No picture to go with this one - about 6p.m. last night, I was sitting at the computer, and Ron was out in the shop making "stuff". First, I heard the rumbling, a little like a train coming, and then the windows and things hanging in them began to vibrate, then came the shake, rattle, and roll. Fortunately, our little quake, centered in Randolph, Utah (on the Utah-Wyoming border, south and a little east of us), was only a 4,9. When I went out to the shop to see if Ron noticed, he was so busy with what he was doing, that he was totally unaware. Maybe that's because he's been in a big one in Olympia. I was glad when the evening and 10:00 news included lots of information about it, so that I knew I wasn't just dreaming it up. Should I use that museum putty that I bought 5 years ago to stick some things to the shelf? Who knows? The world is full of unrest, and keeps stirring things around.

Why are Iris called Flags?

After the snow has finally melted from the flower beds in front of the house, everything looks very dreary - plants that didn't get cleaned out last fall leave dead sticks looking old and used up. And the bark ground cover that was so fresh last spring looks old and gray, too. But, what a joy to find these hardy miniature iris peeking out of the ground - and by them, the pink of the ground cover that will later cover much of the area not brightened by flowers. We didn't think spring would ever come, but we must have faith. The green leaves of the tulips are popping up all over, and green is beginning to show in the lawn and at the base of the perennials. The roses didn't all winter kill, even though they didn't get the special mulch treatment last fall. All I have to do is get some new secateurs (sp). (I think my old 20-year-old ones went out with the garden refuse last fall.) The remains of sedum autumn joy, the fall asters, and the mums need to be pruned, as well as the roses. All I need now is a day like today without the wind that can blow a person over. It is 66 outside, but the wind is a definite deterrent. Definitely another day!

Happy Birthday, Brig

We left Brig at the MTC in Salt Lake City (before the MTC in Provo). I look at the small amount of luggage, and think about how meager his preparation was for the two years in England as compared to our missionaries today. Mother and Daddy had come to Powell for his farewell, and we all went to Salt Lake. It was quite a forlorn feeling to leave him behind when we went back home. One of Brig's school pictures - he looks pretty young - probably 6 or 7. (Is that a scab under his lip?) Doesn't he look innocent? Brig is about 3 or 4 - this picture was taken in our yard in Riverton. The smile has endured. We hope this is a very happy birthday - the years have certainly hurried by, and Brig has had his share of challenges and blessings in his life.