Interesting blogs

I love blogs that make you think. I love blogs that expose you to new ideas and ways of doing things. I love blogs that take you to a different time and place. I love blogs that update you on family happenings. Oh, and I still LOVE the color purple, especially now that it's lilac time!

For thinking see this link. (This friend's blog inspired me to begin my own. Lloya may not know it, but she is the one I referred to in the very beginning.)

For new ideas of how to do things (like taking pictures) see this link to Eileen's blog.

For an opportunity to visit Mongolia today, visit this link and find out what the humanitarian missionaries are up to.

I love to read the blogs of my daughters, sisters, nieces and friends to see what is happening in their lives. It's a great way to stay in touch.

Pioneer Theatre

Dial "M" for Murder. This play was very well done and we enjoyed it. It was also done as a movie years ago and if you haven't seen it, you will probably enjoy it. It is a Alfred Hitchcock suspense film and is an enjoyable yarn about an elaborate murder-for-hire scheme involving a washed-up tennis player and his well-to-do wife who is having an extramarital affair. The planning is complicated, apparently well thought-out but as usual, the scheme unravels as a result of the expert sleuthing by a police inspector of a husband who ultimately outsmarts himself by attempting to blame his wife for murder.

Rick and I have enjoyed the season of great plays at Pioneer theater this year. I've already highlighted several of the plays over the course of the season. Last Thursday we saw Miss Saigon. I've never seen this musical before and I enjoyed it very much. It was so well done! It is sold out and now I know why. It's a worthwhile heart-breaker set during the Viet Nam era. The lead female (Kim) seen above had an amazing voice. Once again, the sets, costumes and music were superb. I'm very impressed with Pioneer Theatre company and the quality of the plays they do in the area. Here is my rating for this last season:

My Fair Lady - A

Noises Off - D (not an interesting story to me at all)

The Light in the Piazza - B

The Yellow Leaf - C+

Romeo and Juliet - A-

Dial "M" for Murder - B+

Miss Saigon - A-

Next year the line up is:

A Chorus Line

Is He Dead

A Christmas Story

Touch (ed)

Twelve Angry Men

Our Town

42nd Street

We're looking forward to another great season! If any of you readers want to join us, just let me know.

Pass the torch

Pass the torch (to somebody): to give responsibility to someone

Almost twenty nine years ago my mother lit my torch. I've tried my best to keep the flame shining brightly and to not let it go out over these last almost 29 years. I've been the keeper of that flame and I've been honored and privileged to be in the race.

Three years ago I lit the flame of the torch my daughter had just picked up. I went back again a couple of years later and lit another little flame of her additional torch and responsibilities. She was nervous and anxious about the second torch. Could she do it? Could she keep the flame going? Could she do the job that needed to be done? Could she keep both little flames burning brightly? Would she be a good keeper of the flame?

Even though a woman is made a mother in cooperation with her husband, I believe she becomes a mother because of the influence of her own mother. Usually it's the mother of the new mother who teaches her how to do what needs to be done. She demonstrates, she instructs, she encourages, she models and she gets out of the way when the time comes. The young mother looks back on how things were done in her home growing up and in large measure, she does what she was taught and in similar fashion to what she saw. And another generation of motherhood begins all over again. It's through trial and error, through experimentation, through tears and unbelievable joy, it's through discussion with other women, it's through watching good mothers and trying to emulate what they do, it's through never giving up that a woman becomes a good mother. Perfect? No. Striving daily? Yes.


The torch had been in the very capable hands of these two women. Grandma Mayme and Grandma Mamie. (How cool is that to have TWO Grandmothers named Mayme/Mamie?) They each brought their own skills and strengths to the assignment when they picked up their own torches. They each had different trials and successes, and they were each victorious in the end. They stayed in the race. They kept going. They laughed. They cried. And they raised some excellent children. They were exemplary mothers to the very end.

























































And this good mother is my own (although I do share her with six siblings.) She gave me every tool I needed to succeed. She lit my torch and she stood by to assist if I asked for help. Because of her, I am who I am today. No question about it. She passed a mighty torch and shared her love of motherhood. I'm honored to be a mother. It gives my life meaning and purpose. I've stumbled, I've fallen, I've gotten back up and kept going. It's hard, hard work. But those things in life that come with a price, that come through effort and striving, are always the things that we value most in the end. I love my husband and my four little torches who have taught me, who have been patient with me and who have helped me keep the torch burning, ready to pass on to another generation of torch bearers.

For the beauty of the earth

Happy belated EARTH Day!!


For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
Pleasures pure and undefiled,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of heaven,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For thy Church which evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

Marcy

I figure I met Marcy about 35 years ago. We lived in the same college dorm our freshman year. Our rooms shared a common telephone and it was actually kept in a little compartment in the wall that we could access from our rooms on either side. Marcy was so small that she could fit in the telephone box and she crawled through that box on more than once occasion. Anyway, we hit it right off as friends. We had some things in common and yet we were worlds apart on other things. She was a southern CA city girl, I was an ID country girl. She came from a wealthy family with two brothers, I came from a middle income family with six siblings. She was popular in high school - a cheerleader with suitors lined up around the block. Me, not so much (not at all actually on the suitor front.) She was a convert to the church and her parents were not members. I came from a very active LDS family and I was raised in the church. She was small and short. I was tall and thin. We looked like Mutt and Jeff.
In spite of our differences, our similarities won out. We loved Rock and Roll music. We loved to laugh and have a fun time. We loved to try out new adventures. We loved to talk and share ideas and secrets. We loved attending college, but we loved the social aspect even more. We had goals and aspirations and we had many boy crushes. We dated boys who hung out together at the time and that made for some fun interactions. She introduced me to different ideas and ways of looking at things. I introduced her to skiing and she visited me faithfully when I ended up breaking my leg. We both loved the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And now comes the good part - she literally changed my life for good. No question about it.
She decided to serve an LDS mission. She got called to cold Minnesota. She prepared to serve and right before leaving to enter the mission home, she came to Utah to spend some time with me and to ski. What were we thinking, going skiing right before she entered the mission home? What IF she would have been injured? We were fool hardy and intrepid, and thought we were ten feet tall and bullet proof, just like most 21 year olds. She asked ME, her friend to escort her to the mission home and help her get check in. I felt very honored to have the opportunity. And that very day, my life changed because I was with her. I felt the unquestionable prompting that I should serve a mission too while I was helping take her bags into the living quarters. There were many bunk beds with bright yellow bed spreads on them. I just felt our Saviors love so strongly and I felt the impression that I should serve as well. If this little five foot nothing girl who weighed 95 pounds (who came from a family who didn't belong to our church, one who could put her own plans and goals and aspirations on hold to serve) could line up to be counted, then I could line up as well.
She changed my life for good. I'll be forever grateful for her example, for her encouragement and for her friendship. It took a very strong impression along with her example to convince me to do it, but I'm eternally grateful that I did. I cried all the way home after I dropped her off. Part of the reasons for my tears was because I wouldn't see her again for a year and a half. Part was because I knew what my own future was going to be. I didn't even listen to my new Gary Wright "Dream Weaver" 8 track cassette tape that I just bought. I just contemplated that my life was going to change ~ and it did! In ways I can't even describe.
We've kept in touch through the years. Visits, calls, Christmas cards, visits to her home, visits to mine. Last weekend I went to visit my friend Marcy in her home again. She is the mother of five wonderful sons. Four of the five are return missionaries and are married in the temple. They are pursuing their education and starting worthwhile employment. After being the only girl for so many years, she now has four daughters-in-law and a beautiful granddaughter. Her youngest son is a junior in high school and will undoubtedly follow the footsteps of his brothers. She and her good husband Bruce have raised a great family. I'm so proud of my little friend Marcy! We spent the entire weekend talking, laughing, listening to some favorite tunes, going to movies, getting a pedicure, going to lunch, sharing trade secrets, shopping, seeing the sights of her city and just enjoying every second of being together. I continue to learn from her. We continue to confide in each other. We continue to share our lives. Our personalities are quite similar. We like to "say it like it is" and forge ahead in things we are doing. I think we encourage each other to be the best we can be. So this one's for you Marcy! I have been changed for good because of YOU. Love you dear friend...