My Favorite Valentine's Day

As a Relief Society Presidency we decided to deliver some roses to the widows at church. Honestly…it didn’t seem like a big deal at all. I mean, what’s a rose wrapped in tissue from a couple of girls? It can’t mean much, right? As we pulled up to our first stop this young mother was chatting with a friend right before we came to the door. As we rang the doorbell her friend said, “I wonder what your husband will send you today”. There we stood, a small bouquet of roses with a card attached that read “Together Forever”. She was very grateful and we were on our way. The second house we came to was the home of the oldest woman in our ward. She has been widowed for longer than I have been alive. As we handed her the flowers she seemed bewildered. “What’s the occasion?” she asked. “It’s Valentine’s Day!” came our reply. She said “You’re not giving these to EVERYBODY?” (She is over the enrichment committee and is always concerned about our tiny Relief Society budget.) We told her no but that her husband would have wanted her to have flowers today. Her eyes welled up with tears as she reached out to embrace the two of us. As she looked at the card that read “Together Forever” she started to well up again and informed us that this is what they have on their headstones. We delivered a couple more goodies to very grateful women and I cannot describe the feelings I have inside me. I am so grateful to spend today with my husband, but I am even more grateful for our sweet Relief Society president being so inspired to do this for these women who would not be spending today with their sweethearts. What an amazing experience this was and I must say that this has been my favorite Valentine’s Day yet.

A Different Kind of Drug Problem

The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farm house in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, "Why didn’t we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?” I replied:

“But I did have a drug problem when I was a kid growing up on the farm.” I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday morning. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher. Or if I didn’t put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me. I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profane four letter word. I was drug out to pull weeds in mom’s garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad’s fields.

I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline or chop some fire wood. And if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the wood shed.

Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin, and if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, America might be a better place today.

Busy, busy, busy!!

Our day started at 7am when I got up to do a mad clean before Timi and Cory brought Jace by for the day. I did the dishes and cleaned my floors before Hayden woke up and he was very excited to learn that his friend would be over soon. After a yummy breakfast consisting of blueberry muffins and bananas we departed on our adventure. First we had to make a pit stop at the grocery store, but then we were off to the zoo! It took us awhile to actually get to the ‘good stuff’ because Hayden seems to have a fascination with ducks. We trekked all the way to the zoo to sit and watch ducks for a good 10 minutes. Doesn’t he know that there are lions and tigers there??? Silly boy! But it was quite enjoyable to watch him get so excited and run around saying ‘quack quack’ over and over! The boys LOVED the reptile exhibit, one that I wish would vanish into thin air. The thought of a 400 pound snake kind of gives me the creeps! We went on to see the elephants, one of which was slinging mud on himself and making quite a mess! I just hope Hayden didn’t get any ideas! We were there for a little more than two hours before the boys were exhausted. I can’t blame them, I was exhausted as well!

Then at about 6:30 we went to The Cheesecake Factory and had a family dinner. There were 10 of us, so it was chaotic…but very nice to be with everyone. The food was great and the company even better! It’s a shame we can’t do that more often.

I would post an overload of pictures, but I cannot find my camera’s charger and the battery is dead! I’ll see what I can do about that and will hopefully have some fun pictures for y’all in the near future.