Confession...

Dear Visiting Teaching Sisters,

Not that you read this blog or anything, but this will make me feel better.

I have a confession. I am lame. You most likely already guessed it. Yes, you have not received a visiting teaching message for at least 3 months. You have barely had a contact some of those months. And here it is October 30th and I am again in the same boat.

I have had a darling treat prepared almost the entire month. (Don't worry, it's something that doesn't go bad!) and it is STILL sitting here. I have had every *intention* of calling and setting up appointments each week and I have allowed myself to become distracted until I put it off for the NEXT week.

BUT here we are... at the end of the month - the VERY end of the month once again.

Although my actions don't show it I want you to know I think about you ALL month, I pray for you and I worry about you. I wonder how you are doing. I look forward to visiting with you and learning what is going on in your lives - good and bad. I wonder what I can do to serve you and yet - I do nothing.

Again - I am lame.

So, forgive my lack of attention. I won't make excuses. There really isn't a good one. But I will keep trying until I get it right and do better. Forgive my last minute call and know that it doesn't really mean that I don't care. It's not about just "getting it done!" I really don't feel that way! I really do love and care about you. You really are important to me! I will do better at showing it!

Love,
Your very absent visiting teacher

Mmmmm Caramel Apples

I have the sweetest friends! One of them gave me a fun bday gift a few months ago... a caramel apple kit! Being the practical person that I am, I saved it.

In our family it is a tradition to have caramel apples in October for a FHE treat! So, of course I saved it! Monday I pulled out the caramel apple kit and made them. Oh my gosh! Those were the BEST caramel apples I've ever had. I wish I knew the secret! It was some kind of mix that we added butter and cream to and then cooked! It was dee-lish! Seriously, I really want to make these again! They beat Kraft caramels by a million miles!

We thoroughly enjoyed our yearly treat! Here is the proof! (A BIG Thank you Cyndi T.)

Fall in Mesa, Arizona

There is a lot of negative said about our lack of seasons here in Mesa. Heck, I'm one of the big time offenders! I always *wish* we could have seasons. Especially fall/autumn!

Don't get me wrong, I love it here! I really don't want it to snow here. Snow is fine to visit, but I'm very happy that I don't have to shovel it, drive in it or live in it!

Really there is only three horrible, no good or fun to live here months! So, can I help it that I really look forward to fall and the beautiful cool weather that is SUPPOSE to come with it? This has been a very warm fall. Not so fun. So, I decided I needed an attitude adjustment. We can find joy in our Mesa Arizona Fall - right?

How to tell it's fall in Mesa.

Dead giveaway - Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations!

Here, everything turns GREEN! LOVE our winter lawn!

The sweet smell (being sarcastic here!) of the freshly planted winter lawns!

BE-U-TI-FUL citrus. Of course right now it's still green. But if you look closely you can see that the green skin is starting to bleach out and turn yellow! By thanksgiving we will be eating tangerines and grapefruit! Yummy! It isn't Thanksgiving until we open a tangerine Thanksgiving morning while the turkey is baking!
FLOWERS! We can finally plant flowers again!



Carmel Apples. Every October we make carmel apples for a FHE treat! I don't know when the tradition started, but somehow it did, and now it's definitely a sign of fall!

So - we may not have the traditional fall, but we definitely have fall! I guess it's pretty wonderful after all!

Our Garden! week 2

(This is the garden right after we got done planting!)

We are loving our garden! My Mom came over a couple of weeks ago and helped me plan it out and get it planted. Vaughan was working in Flagstaff so it was fun to surprise him with the planting of the main garden all done!

We planted sugar snap peas, carrots, green onions, beets, turnips, spinach, lettuce (2 kinds) and radishes. Of course the kids had to come out and "watch". Heidi thought things looked a little boring. All dirt - no color! So she suggested ribbons on the sticks we used to mark each row. I told her she was crazy! But you know how my creative daughter just HAS to make things all cutsie! So into the house she goes and gets the curling ribbon. She has color coordinated the ribbon with what color the vegetables are going to be. I have to admit it has made it easier to remember what is growing in that row!

(top picture is my sugar snap peas (so proud!) and bottom picture is our radishes)

That weekend, Vaughan worked in the planter box turning the soil and adding our wonderful mulchy soil! So, I planted cauliflower, broccoli and brussell sprouts. I know - some of these vegetables are on the "I don't like" list, but I want to give my kids the opportunity to TRY them fresh and tasty as they should taste right out of a garden. If we don't like them, we won't plant them again! Though you have to admit there is something about eating something you had help in growing that makes it taste that much better! Who knows, maybe we will actually learn to like something we thought we didn't like before! It could happen! :)

(Beautiful broccoli and cauliflower! To the far left you can see the little tiny brussell sprout plants!)

Licorice (our bunny) enjoying the winter lawn!

Turning our Afflictions into Blessings

I've been wanting to blog for a long time. There has been so many things in my heart and mind. But to be honest my emotions have been way to close to the surface.

This past week has been difficult as a sweet friend of mine lost her fight with cancer.

My friend Carla Niesen passed away on Monday, October 12th. She was an amazing person. Full of life, laughter and fun. I can not remember ever visiting with her that I didn't laugh at something she was saying! It just wasn't possible. She could turn the worst of times into the best of times. She did this the whole time she was dealing with cancer.

Carla left behind a sweet husband, 2 daughters at home, ages 17 and 14, a young son, age 7, a married daughter and son in law and a brand new granddaughter - only 5 days old. I know that Carla is in a better place. I am happy for her and that she isn't in pain anymore. I can only imagine what happy reunions took place the day Carla returned Home.

Carla was never bitter or angry. She always had a positive attitude about her cancer. She turned every negative into a positive.

A week before she passed away I went to visit her at the hospice center she was staying at. A member of our stake presidency was there. She was asking him about what he was going to do after he was released. She asked him if he was getting his papers ready to go on a mission. Then Carla said, "I'm going on a mission. My kids asked why they couldn't go too. I told them it was because you didn't get picked! I did!" There it was again. Her positive attitude. Making everyone else comfortable with the eventual outcome! There was never a gloomy sad feeling.

I think the worse part about Carla's leaving is missing her! I feel sad for her family. I feel sad for her children. Children shouldn't have to grow up without their Mommy's. Husbands shouldn't have to be alone so young. And grandbabies should be able to grow up knowing their grandma's.

Carla and I used to joke about raising our grandchildren together! She announced that she was going to be a grandma by saying... "You aren't going to be mad at me because I'm going to be a grandma before you?" "Of course not!" I remember telling her! I was so excited for her and for her daughter!

The Sunday before Carla's funeral we had stake conference. We had a 70 visiting, Elder Richards. At the Adult meeting on Saturday he talked about something that meant alot to me for so many reasons and it reminded me of Carla. He told us to "turn our afflictions into blessings." He shared some examples. It reminded me of many of my "afflictions" and the resulting "blessings" that always come! It reminded me of Carla - and how she turned her "affliction" into a blessing.

I titled this blog "turning our afflictions into blessings" because I don't want to forget what I have learned. Although, I will miss Carla so much, I am grateful for the blessing of learning so much from her: How to smile when your heart is breaking. How to allow my faith to carry me through hard times. To look at all the good around me and remember to tell my kids I love them everyday. Service, service and more service is what makes us happy - truly happy.

I want to honor my friend by following her example, which is following the Savior - and becoming more like Him. Thank you Carla, for being my friend. For making me smile. For reminding me what it truly means to be a disciple of Christ. For reminding me that out of every trial comes blessings! I love you!

A Fun Project!

I needed something cute to hang in my window for halloween! So, I just went to my favorite scrapbook store - Scrapbook etc. - and bought some cute halloween paper and a couple of embellishments! Not too much, I wanted to use what I already have! I decided to make this cute Halloween banner.
I used my cricut to cut out the letters. I *heart* my cricut! With jewels, ribbons and some fun halloween brads that I found in my stash I think it turned out pretty cute!

Now - to work my Happy Fall banner!!

We're Going to Have a GARDEN!

It is really going to happen! I'm so excited! Vaughan and I have been talking about putting in a garden but he's been So busy- which is a good thing, but has slowed down the process!

Unfortunately gardening doesn't wait! You have to get those little plants or seeds in or you miss the window of opportunity!

So Monday we finally took the first step and ordered dirt! Yep, we actually paid for dirt!
(this used to be TWICE as big - maybe bigger!) But after Vaughan wheel barreled load after load into the backyard we now have this:

It used to look like this:


This used to be our kids sandbox. The neighborhood cats found it and we have hated it! I knew it was a health concern. To be truthful I don't really like sandboxes! DIRTY! But Vaughan had so much fun making it for our kids! It really looked like he was putting in a swimming pool! It was pretty funny! But now it's going to be a beautiful garden!

I can already see the rows of radishes, carrots, lettuce and other delicious vegetables! I can almost taste them! But I'm trying not to "count my chicken's before they hatch!" This isn't our "first" garden, so I know our success ratio! But we'll keep trying until we get it right!

At least we are on the road to being more self sufficient! I'll post more soon!

Yay for Fall!

I am loving the cool weather that has finally found us! It finally feels like fall is coming! NOW I can decorate and bring the season in the house!

I started doing a little today. I love taking things I already have and updating them or at least making them look better than they used to! It saves money and helps me fill that creativity need! It makes me feel good using what I already love!

My first project is this holiday tree. I spent hours many years ago painting cute wood cut outs for each holiday. I am slowly changing them and updating their looks! I love how this turned out!

Here is the BEFORE:

And here is the upgraded version:
It looks cuter in person! I took off the rafia and added lots of ribbon! It was fun looking through all my ribbon. I tend to collect ribbon! ;)

Well, I'm off to see what's next!