"I looked out the window and what did I see"

It wasn't popcorn popping on the apricot tree! It has been a blizzard most of the day. We have mountains of snow in our backyard. It is beautiful to look at but not to go out into. We will be serving in the temple the next four days, if the roads are opened up by tomorrow morning.

Like the rest of you, I have been mourning the loss of one of my dearest friends, President Hinckley. I have smiled and cried off and on all day as the tributes of his life have been shared on the television. I knew that he couldn't stay on this earth forever, but then again he just had too. Hopefully we will pay tribute to him by living our lives like he would have us do.

Today has been one of those "stay in the house all day long" days. I have shared another day with the man who is by my side in so many different ways. He is their when I first open my eyes in the morning and usually the first words from his mouth is "I love you." He is next to me as we partake of our meals and never thinks of himself first. He always asks "are you doing ok?. When we retire to bed he looks into my eyes and says, "you know I do don't you." And I answer, "yes and I do too."
As I watched over and over the clip where Presiden Hinckley reaches over and takes Sister Hinckley's hand, I realize too that I have that same sweet blessing in my life. I can't begin to tell you how many times my sweetheart has reached for my hand during the day. It makes me want to continue taking care of what we have had these last fifty years together.

I just took another "sentimental journey." It was fun, I liked it!!

Love,
Mom, Grandma, Aunt Connie etc.......

A Closet Journey

Jamie called last night all upset. She had lost her wedding rings! But the good news...............she found them this morning. What a difference a day makes in our lives. However Abbie had come to her rescue yesterday.!Watching the tears flow from her mother's eyes, she ran to her jewelry box and found a cherry ring to give to her mom. A moment to remember for always.........

Which gave me a moment to reflect back when I too lost my ring.

As I always removed my rings when putting lotion on my hands (which was a dozen times a day) the phone rang and I ran to answer it. When returning to the bathroom to put my rings back on, they were no where to be found. Having a toddler in the house at that time, I immediately went looking for her. Needless to say she no longer had them in her possession. I looked everywhere and the tears flowed heavily for days and days.
One week later, while vacuuming my bedroom closet, I heard something "clunk" into my vacuum bag. I knew immediately what it was. In my mind, I could see my little girl sitting on the floor of the closet putting my rings on her chubby little finger. When I called out her name, she dropped them and came running! I quickly poured the contents of the bag onto some newspapers and felt through all the dirt I had collected the last week. There it was, a little dirty, but still -there it was!

Now you must know, when we moved into this home we had built ourselves, the closet doors were not hung. They were in the basement of the house and every day I longed to have them installed. I'm not sure if any of you out there realize how clean and organized your closets throughout your home have to be when there is not a door on them! Each week as I did my heavy cleaning, my closets were cleaned from top to bottom. They were always on display! I'm sure you know where this story is going. Had those doors been installed when we moved into our home, it could have been a year before I had found my rings!

As I was reaching for some clothes out of my closet this morning, I thought about leaving the door open for awhile, well at least until it motivated me to clean the closet! But then I remembered I had just found something to go in a vase I had in the corner of the bathroom. If the door remained open you wouldn't be able to see it, so I guess I'll wait a week or two!

The thought came to me that as a member of the church, I am like my closets on "Sage Street" , I am always on display! Are my thoughts and actions as clean and organized as my closets were? Boy I think I will remove those doors after all. Maybe it will be a reminder for me each day! Now where did I put that screwdriver!

Have a great day,
Mom, Grandma, Aunt Connie

We have Returned!

Oh how I wish I had the strength to work in the temple everyday! We have had two glorious days (Tuesday and Wednesday) where the world was shut out. Even though our responsibilities put some stress on us both, their is such peace and satisfaction felt no where else. I have been thinking about starting a journal about special experiences we have been privileged to witness before they are erased from my mind. Believe me that doesn't take long anymore!

Not only do we love serving in the temple, we love the people who we serve with. They have become like family. It's like we have known them all our lives. Maybe it is because we are all striving for the same things in life. We all want harmony and peace with our families. We want to have an eternal family and have everyone present. Nobody left out ! While we are in that "holy place" it all seems possible.

Just so all of you know, your names are placed on the prayer roll every two weeks. We have that privilege as temple workers. I personally need all the prayers I can get and thought maybe each of you could as well!

Somewhere out there....................................is the real us Jonna. I think I will have to put all those thoughts in what is called my personal journal. When I'm gone all of you can read it and it will be the real thing! My mom always said that there comes a time in our lives when we can say exactly what we think. I haven't arrived yet!

Keep those posts and comments coming, knowing that we love each of you. I really need to get 'real' now and vaccum and dust and clean bathrooms and etc. If I play my cards right grandpa will probably help me, and that's the real truth! He is sure going to make somebody a good wife when I'm gone, and by the way I am going first!!

Holy Moly!

I have been on this computer longer than I should have been. My eyes are shot and my sit down is hurting! Just learning how to blog has worn me right out and I'm just getting started! Maybe I can think of something to say of importance tomorrow but as of now my brain has shut down. Please tell me this will get easier and easier. It's hard teaching an old dog new tricks. Have patience with me!
I'd make some comments to all of you but I think I've forgotten how , so just read my post.

Love, Mom, Grandma, Aunt Connie, etc

Today was a good Day!

Today was great day. We have been visiting with Kenny and Jonna in Idaho Falls. We got re-aquainted with four great-grandbabies. Brandi visited with Bridger (2) and Addisyn (6 mo.). They are growing quickly, and we were excited to get to see them again. Later in the day, we drove to Rexburg, and went to the home of Stacey and Chantri Keele. We enjoyed visiting with our little great grand-babies there as well. Logan (2), and Boston (4 1/2 mo.) We enjoyed getting to know these little rascals a little bit better!

Later that evening, we had the opportunity to go to the Rexburg Temple Open house. We toured the beautiful new temple all a glow on top of the hill. The colors were sage green, with a wheat theme throughout. It was a sight to see!

We are new to this blogging thing, so please be patient while we learn. It will be fun to get to see all of you in action, on a daily basis.

We are tired for now...it's past our bedtime. We will learn more about this tomorrow.