Doin' the Happy Dance

RAIN!

Every day this week!

Us desert dwellers love it!

How you Can tell when the Grandkiddies have Been here.

Maybe it's the stray toy that we forgot to pick up.

or it's the windowsill that's just at the right height for little people to teeth on.

(don't worry, no lead paint here!)

or maybe it's the perfect tiny handprints on the tv....

In any case, these little reminders warm my heart...

And make me smile.

Random Blathering on Wednesday Morning

I've got too many projects I want to do and not enough time to do them.....
Working on one right now..
But I can't share cuz it's a gift!
But I promise I will soon.

Music on blogs kinda drives me crazy.
But..
Sometimes I go Kerin's blog on purpose several times a day.
Just to listen to her playlist.
Because I love to listen to it.

It rained last night!!
Hip hip hooray.
The thirsty desert soil is soaking it up.

I'm kinda obsessed with healthy eating.
(my kids are saying-duh-right now)
I probably should share more stuff about it.
Because it does take up a lot of my mental time.

I always get kinda depressed at the end of July/August.
I think it's kinda of like the gloominess people feel
who live in the Northern climes
and have cabin fever.

My house was full of people yesterday.
It was really fun.
But boy howdy...
I'm feeling it today.
I think I'm getting arthur-itis.
Ug.

The wedding invites are piling up again.
It seems like we are busy every weekend.
With stuff.
Maybe another vacation is in order?????

I have the cutest grandkids in the universe.
One sentence pretty much covers that thought.

It's time to clean out the refrigerator.
I have no fresh fruit to speak of in the house.
Except the brown bananas.

And that's all.

Lagrimas (tears)

I know that you may think that my life is all vacations, sweet grandkids and gardens, but that's only a miniscule portion of what makes up my day. (and I know it's the same for everyone else too!)

Sometimes there's heartache and pain that I really don't want to share on the world-wide-web.

But today, maybe I'll open up a piece of my heart. For those of you who may be new, I'm the Relief Society president of a Spanish-speaking branch. (I speak enough Spanish to get by!)  For those who are not LDS, that means I'm the leader of the women's organization in our little church unit. I get to have the privilege of serving them for awhile. I love them, I call them, I laugh with them and I cry with them.

There's lots of media stuff raging about these days, especially as it relates to people who live in Arizona. I'm not getting into that.

But these are my brothers and sisters.

I love them.

Where else can I go to be greeted with a warm hug and a kiss?

I love their faith through incredible trials, their happiness with simple things and their complete joy and devotion to their families.

My counselor, Blanca, is leaving today.

(she's on the left)

I cry every time I think about it.

She is a wonderful example of faith and devotion.

She is ALWAYS available to serve at a moment's notice.

She has undergone some incredible trials.

And she has been blessed immeasurably.

But she's afraid.

And she's leaving.

And I can't stand it.

A Loverly Bunch of Cantaloupes

It's funny, when people meet me for the first time in person, or introduce me to someone else, often times they say, "She has the most AMAZING garden!" I admit, I'm really lucky to have some really cool raised beds to perch on whilst I'm doing my gardening thang, BUT if you could see it now, well, all I can say is, "victim of heat."

I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I can't battle the 110+ temps in July. I can't even step foot outside the door to check the weed progress, much less tend and nurture my little planties.  I can't plant cantaloupe, muskmelon and pumpkin seeds even though the planting guide says I can. I just sorta press my nose to my glass back door and sigh and wait until the sizzle stops in about mid Sept.....or at least abates a bit so that I can get the fall garden prepared...

But when we returned from Cali last week, I got the shock of my life, my poor little untended garden had produced a bounty of these babies!

Lesson in persistence and endurance to the end....

Another one!

So I'm just polishing off the first of the cantaloupe and boy howdy, it's wonderful!

I gave the cucumber away.

Cuz I don't have much faith in the taste of cucumbers the size of my whole arm.

Restores my whole faith in summer gardening....

almost.

The Final Vacation Photos: Because we all know there is More to Life than Viewing my Vacation Photos

Just a few more favs:  mostly spontaneous food-related......

And what trip to San Diego would be complete without a visit to...

Go see the new Mormon Battalion museum...

It's fabulous!

The last bits of randomness.......

See ya' next year!!!!!

Water Babies

As the resort was in-between Pacific Beach and Mission Bay, and had a pool & jacuzzi, there were plenty of opportunities to get wet.......

She was SO cute and such a happy contented baby.

The beach.......

Boogie boarders extraordinaire....

The Bay......

The Pool.....

But I admit, the water was COLD....

The Big Boy contest....

To see how far they could go in without wimping out.

(listen to the cheering in the background)

C-c-c-old!

That's enough! Wimps!

But you know the old saying....

When you point one finger at someone else....

The other three are pointing back at you.

That's me.

High and dry.

Biggest wimp of all.

We Interrupt this Vacation Narrative to Share a Photo of Elder D!

Out berry pickin' in Sitka Alaska.

Sent by his favorite convert, Paula.

(she's my favorite too cuz she watches over him, feeds him and sends me photos of him!)

Mr. Sandman

I mean, this kid LOVED the beach.

As soon as we got there, he made a beeline for the waves.

The kids even dug him a sand play pen, but he kept escaping.

Buried waist deep.

It didn't work.

There must be some vital nutrients in sand.

(notice Mom's expression of horror!)

Can you guess which Mr. Sandman loved the beach the best?

And to be politically correct....here's a little Sandwoman.

(more on her later♥♥)