Silence Broken

I'm not gonna lie.
Life is really hard right now.
And I just am not willing to share private information on the world wide web.
Kinda like profaning the sacred.
ya' know.

But know that there is a lot of kissing of grandbabies.
Fervent prayers being said.
Immersing myself in the scriptures.
Trying to allow the Savior to carry my burdens,
But sometimes they are tough to let go.....
Sometimes I think maybe I can carry them better....
Go figure.

I'm learning the HUGE importance of gratitude.
Looking for the tender mercies that occur each and every day.
And recognizing them, even if they are miniscule.
Feeling the love and warmth of family.
The strength that comes from temple attendance.

I'll try to pop back in soon.

P.S. It's finally cold here.
It's been freezing at night.
Garden?   what garden?

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

Test Results

As always, life is crazy here.
But we got a glimmer of good news yesterday.
The preliminary test results for the amniocentesis:
No genetic abnormalities.
So far so good.

Just the little matter of the heart problem.
One step at a time.

I'm full of gratitude!

She said it Best

Again, I refer you to my Amy..an inspiring post....she gives herself the best advice on dealing with trials.

It's been a few days of tears and agonizing. Watching a beloved daughter suffer and wondering how to help her. Worrying about a precious grandchild's future. And yet, there is always hope. There have been so many others who have lifted and encouraged. There have been blessings of peace and comfort. Pleading prayers. Humble prayers of accepting God's will, no matter what.

And so we wait.
And hope.

The pictures on the ultrasound do not paint a pretty picture. There are serious defects in her little baby's heart. There are serious worries about genetic chromosomal defects. She has a team of compassionate, caring doctors. I struggled to hold in the tears when one of them gave her a tender hug after he delivered the tough news.

And so we wait
And hope.

But go read her eloquent words.
She said it best.

Walking to the Edge of the Light

Painting by Greg Olson

This is hanging in my house

A bazillion years ago, at a Stake Conference, I will never forget the statement by our visiting authority. He was talking about faith. He was illustrating faith by comparing it to walking along a dark road using a flashlight. He said that faith is stepping out into the darkness, just at the edge of the light, and trusting that the light would follow. I don't know if these were his exact words, but my memory is vivid of stepping out beyond the light of the flashlight. I don't see well in the dark, so this made a big impression on me. That visiting authority was Elder David Bednar.

We are walking by faith these days. I asked permission from my daughter to share our story. You see, a week ago, at a routine ultrasound, a hole was discovered in her baby girl's beating heart. The world stood still for them and life changed in an instant. They have waited a long time to begin their family, through no fault of their own, and now, through no fault of their own, they have been chosen to bear this trial.

Now a week later, we still know very little about what the plan will be, other than the fact that the defect is fixable, that all other organs and body parts appear to be perfect. They were told that there is a chance of a chromasomal defect causing the heart problem, and my daughter is agonizing over that too.

So we trust in God. I told her that Heavenly Father has the power to fill that hole in her baby's heart if it is His will. And if it is not His will, then we live in a day of amazing medical miracles.

So today, could you remember my daughter in your fasting and prayers? If you want to read her story, you can go here.  We are going to the pediatric cardiologist on Monday to hopefully find out more.....

And so we learn to walk to the edge of the light....and trusting that it will follow.

Guess where We're going Tomorrow?

 A picture is worth 1000 words.

I caught it!

The State qualifying relay team.....

Good luck girlies!

Garden Update

Despite my feeble efforts, due to swim meets and other activities, my garden has sprouted! I marvel every year at the miracle.....

 My first experiment with fall green beans.  It worked!!!  Plant them in late September.

Carrots are growing. I accidentally found out the way to get carrots to sprout....the hard way...more at the end of the post.

Sorry about the horrible lighting! This is the cabbage patch.

The peas sprouted too!

So did the lettuce.

And the onions!

This is the future cilantro patch!
For the life of me, I can't figure out how to grow spinach. Anyone have any ideas? Varieties? Tricks? I just doesn't want to sprout.

My accidental and possibly unfortunate trick for getting the seeds to sprout so fast happened a couple of weeks ago. We had been expecting rain and of course in Arizona, no one expects rain when they tell us. I had left my container of seeds outside thinking to myself that I would "get to it tomorrrow."  Yeah, right.

I woke up a few days later to the sound of rain on my roof. 
Hard rain.
Very early.

My collection of seeds were soaked.
All of them.
Including the ones I can't plant right now.

So I hastily planted the ones that I could, including the carrots, peas, lettuce and more cilantro.
Kept the ground wet.

And by golly, they sprouted!!

I've got a new patch of carrots, soaked and planted this morning along with the flowers. Trying another experiment this year.

And tonight I'm going to a class to learn how to grow fruit trees in small spaces.
Like back yards......

Here's hoping for more success.....despite my feeble efforts!

What a Difference a Year makes!

Last Monday night we had our annual (can't remember which number) Halloween party at Grandma's house. I figured this would be a fun way for us to celebrate together, Grandma gets to see the kids in their Halloween costumes and on Halloween night Mom & Dad don't have to stress over bringing the kiddies over to see their grandparents.

As usual, it was chaotic, fun, loud, at times hilarious......

This is a snapshot of the group from last year.....

This is the photo from last Monday.....

The fact that we got these guys up on the wall with no casualties was a miracle! Unfortunately we never got a photo with them all looking ahead at the same time.

So without further ado-and here's hoping that Blogger will download the photos.....
Here's the details of the party, complete with crafting, games, mummy dogs and a pinata!