"A rose by any other name. . ."

Driving into Mom's driveway tonight, Harry and I both commented on the vast array of rose bushes that greeted us. I should have snapped a photo. The bushes are full of blooms - if there were deer in her neighborhood, they would all think they'd died and gone to heaven!

So I picked a bouquet for the dinner table. I love flowers - and keep trying to grow them in my yard, but we have pretty deficient soil.

I'm not giving up though - there were never flowers when I was growing up there.

So there is hope!!

I love the Women's Broadcast!!

Let me just say that I love the annual Women's Broadcast. I especially love Elder Uchtdorf. He always says something that "speaks to me!!"

And Sister Beck - seems to have some Elder Maxwell influence going on there - "bleach the bones of faith" and "predatory and provocative influence of the adversary" come to mind!!

And our stake has a dinner beforehand - always a hit with me!!

What I miss about Utah -

I lived in Utah for almost 17 years - and had to be dragged kicking and screaming back to California - 32 years ago now!!

But I do miss autumn. In California, autumn seems to mean excessive heat and forest fires!!

The nip in the air, the changing leaves, the crystal blue skies - we could use some of that right now!!

The end of the day!!

When we were at Mom's last Saturday, Baby Harry said, "Take a picture of me falling down."

So I did. He thought it was pretty hilarious.

I'm glad it's so easy to entertain kids sometimes!!

People save the darnedest things!

I came across this sketch in my "stuff" as Mom calls it. My friend Laurie drew it back in 12th grade - we were bored to tears in Mr. Pitkanen's Econ class - I usually had a book hidden in my econ text to pass the time.

Laurie sketched! Click on it to see that she drew me reading Conscience of a Conservative - the one by Barry Goldwater. My politics have certainly changed over the years.

And so has my waistline!!

"When the family gets together . . '

Jesse organized a little luncheon for Grandma Helen - it was fun to see everyone who came.

Eve and I were having our Grandma's Birthday Sleepover, so I came a bit late to the party, but there was time to visit.

And take a group photo or two!!

A picture - worth how many words??

It seems like every event has everyone taking pictures. I suppose this has always been true, because there are certainly photos of past events. But it seems like everyone is always taking shots - except when you forget of course!!

After seeing all the wonderful photos on Hannah's blog, I'm feeling like I don't want to post my shots - they certainly pale in quality and interest!

But even a poor photo is better than none at all - especially once it gets old enough. I recall the group shot from Lyn's mission farewell - the one of Grandpa Clayton with all of his grandkids. It's small, grainy, and not exceptionally well-composed. But we all treasure it, because it's the only one of its kind!



But I probably will continue to take and post photos. And maybe I will improve. And maybe I will get a new camera too. But then I would need to take a class on how to use a new camera. But maybe I will do that too!

Another project for my "things to do when I retire!!"