The Blessing of the Temple

Today was my turn for sharing time. Usually I get started on it several days early but it totally slipped my mind until I was headed home last night at 10:30 after babysitting my littles. PANIC!! I knew this month's theme was the Temple and was so blessed and relieved when my topic was-

"Families are blessed through

sacred temple ordinances."

As I read through the sparse outline into my mind came exactly what I needed to share. My life would be so sad... so bereft of hope without the saving atonement of our Saviour, Jesus Christ and that through Him I have been sealed eternally to my wonderful celestial children! How could I possible go on without the hope of a glorious Resurrection? And an eternal association with my loved ones?

So I stayed up late and got up early so I could take my family with me to sharing time today. I found this wonderful snapshot was just perfect for showing my beautiful children at a very happy time. Christmas 1980 (7 months before Tony and Amanda died).

I also took along this photo that I put together back in December 2008. My Mama and Daddy... who love me and assist me from the other side of the veil!

When I talk of those wonderful temple blessings how could I not share their likeness?

Of course I get emotional when I share my deep faith and love for my family and the comfort I receive through the Holy Ghost. The spirit was so strong bearing testimony of the truths I was sharing...

Families Can Be Together Forever!

I made sure to identify to the children that what they were feeling was the Holy Ghost bearing witness to them than the things I was sharing are true!

After the closing song (Gethsemane led by several of my wonderful primary children... I was a mess) and closing prayer by Elder Oaks great-grandson, one very perceptive, precious girl (Zoie Smith) came and gave me the biggest, longest hug and thanked me for my lesson and testimony! What a sweetheart! She knew I needed that hug!

I am so blessed to be able to work with these wonderful children.

Primary Breakfast

Today was the annual *meet-your-new-Primary-teacher-come-in-your-jammies breakfast*.

Bob-viously, the kids met their teachers on Sunday, but this was the first Saturday in the new year that we could use the chapel! Since this is an annual event and previous Primary presidencies have kept meticulous notes we didn't have to make it up as we went. There was lots of direction on how much to buy, how much was used and what to do after the eating was finished.

Tradition is that the Bishopric cooks the pancake-ree-ous-es for the group. We are so blessed with our new Bishopric. They jumped in just like they were old pros! I suspect that years of Scouting taught them a lot about flippin' flap-jacks.

Brother Hicken, Bishop Bown and Sister Witney

I witnessed one of the sweetest things. All of the children have just moved up a class, but when Sister Hancock came into the cultural hall her *last year's* class mobbed her with hugs and love. They honestly KNEW that they are loved by the Hancocks!

After the children were all served and had mostly finished Bro Hicken motioned for me to come over.

He'd made me my very own Mickey pancakereeous! Yum!

Sister Emily Lewis organized an activity for the kids to do when they were finished eating. She had a coloring sheet for the younger classes and a word search and crossword puzzle for the older kids.

Sister Crook told the children that she had treats for those children who were sitting and finishing their activity sheets.

Have I mentioned how much I love working with these ladies?

I am so grateful to be serving in Primary again! What's not to love when you get to be with darling children like little Jack, who wanted his picture taken?

"I Kiss You, Bonx!"

My friend, Breanne, just had her fourth baby. How can a girl have such consistently darling children? When #3 was born Breanne lived in our neighborhood and asked if I'd do a photo shoot for her. It was my first shoot for someone outside of the family! I remember looking through the bazillion photos and thinking, "Ah-stink! There's not a good one in here!" But after a couple more viewings I started to see I really did have some good shots. Then a couple of weeks later I went back and took photos of  Baby K and her cousin!

And now Baby K is two and a half! "I kiss you, Bonx!" is only one of the things she says and does to her new brother.



I was excited when Breanne called and asked if I would like to do a photo shoot for new brother, *Bonx*. What a lively group. I suppose that having been at Grandma's all day watching conference with all the cousins may have contributed to the mayhem! We started with the group shots. What a train wreck!! Have you ever tried to get all four children to look at you at once? Hmmm, not easy. But I was able to do some cloning and come up with this nice group shot.



Then we did sisters- (Baby Big-girl K was not excited about this!  I cloned out M's hands right under her chin!)



and brothers... too bad nobody loves this sweet baby boy!



Then on to the baby fashion parade. What a patient little soul!

First an owl-



Next a turtle-



Then a bear with a bare-bum!



And we can't forget the old-man-face!



It wasn't until post-processing that I saw I'd caught Breanne and family reflected in Baby Bonx's eye! LOVE IT!



We ended with the stork pose... oh my... we should have started there. Bonx wasn't too happy with this! Poor little man was just out of energy for anymore funny business with costumes and props!



But what a darling baby...

The Queen Monkey

Earlier this week both Gordon and Stuart made a fairly thorough search of the freezer trying to find some orange juice. Then they asked me, the Queen Monkey, if we had any OJ. I was able to locate 2 cans but I also realized that part of the problem was that the freezer badly needed-

1. organizing
2. defrosting

So this afternoon I made that my project. It's funny how a task as simple as defrosting a freezer can dredge up so many memories! But this day they were oozing out of the freezer along with the melted ice!

Memory #1- Back in the day, before frost-less freezers this was a horrible job that we had to tackle on a regular basis.  Mom found a cool *defroster* in some obscure catalog which amounted to a small heater that you placed in the freezer to hasten the defrosting.  Before that it was pans of boiling water. 

Memory #2- A bunch of years ago... sometime circa 1997 I decided that THE WAY to defrost the freezer was with the hose.  The freezer lived in the garage at the time and it just seemed like the quick-fix!  Quick-fix all right!  It froze the controls in the ON position and I had to call the repairman.  

Memory #3- With my Mom's defroster in mind and my pride still smarting from #2 above I rigged up a similar situation using a small person heater... I'm sure this is VERY safe... especially if the extension cord that the heater is plugged into is in the water on the floor!  Yikes!

My nice defrosted and organized freezer...

Memory #4- Being a thorough kind of girl I decided I'd wipe down the outside of the freezer as well... there were finger-prints and something that looked suspiciously like blood on the side of the freezer (ick!) plus accumulated dust.  That is when I looked- really looked- at this little sign that has lived on my freezer for at least 15 years!  It reads-

Please close the door tightly and push the bottom corner with your knee or foot (NO KICKING) or it won't close!  Don't forget!                            Signed- The Queen Monkey

Camille wrote the sign for me and attached it to the freezer.  As you can see it is so faded that it is almost impossible to read!

My reward for my hard work?  Not only a flood of happy memories but I found some Snickers ice cream bars I forgot were in there!

Alexander the Great Grape

Several years ago when I was at Bek’s house on Grammie duties I just happened to catch Tadhg as Sir Isaac [Fig] Newton at the Rivergold’s History/Wax Museum night. So as I was planning my trip this time and found out that Caden would be participating in the same event I knew I would have to be there to see him as Alexander the Grape!



The students each choose a mythical, fictional or historical character they want to represent. Then study to learn about their character and write themselves a little script. The parents get to help them make a dandy costume. The students memorize their little schpiel and they are all set for the big performance.



Usually the characters are frozen in one of the many outside quads, but this year rain moved them into the classrooms. The idea is that they stand frozen until a spectator comes and taps them; they awaken and give their informational speech and them freeze again. I’m always amazed at how clever they are.

Caden was just slightly nervous when Grammie came, in all her state, to hear him. But he managed to make his way through his speech.


Being an all powerful conqueror he knew that he needed to get his rest before the big battle.



We wandered in the several classrooms to see the rest of the wax museum. Some of my favorites were-

The goddess- whose daughter ate 6 pomegranate seeds and was taken by Hades, God of the Underworld, for 6 months of the year. This little girl was so animated she was a joy to watch.



Moses- who was wearing his father’s jamaka and prayer robes.



A sea goddess- who somehow got on the wrong side of King Tritan.



This little girl, who I don’t remember what she was, with beautiful amber eyes.



I saw Indiana Jones wandering around outside after the wax museum was finished, I ran up to him, gave him a tap and he accommodated me. He even showed me how he could use his whip with a big crack!



I asked Caden if I could carry his shield and spear (to avert another world conquest right there on the Rivergold campus). As Bek snapped this pic Brock informed me I was not Grammie the Great... but I told him he was mistaken... I definitely AM GRAMMIE THE GREAT!

236- Summer's End

I captured this little girl unawares today. She lay so motionless, as only a child can do. Was she mourning the loss of her carefree summer days?



I don't know... I didn't disturb her. But it is back-to-school here in Utah...

108- *Lasterday*

So, lasterday Ryan and Nikki came over to stain the fence. *The men* decided that they would rent a professional grade paint sprayer from Ace Rents in Spanish Fork (as opposed to buying one). I think it took them longer to go pick up and drop off the sprayer than it did to do the job! Gordon says Ryan finished the spraying in about an hour!



Can I just say again how grateful I am for our sons? They are so good to us in doing the little (or not-so-little) jobs that need to be done.

This fence is an excellent example; I am no part of the work force. I just go look and say, "Wow, that looks great!" and then go back inside or go shopping or... whatever! It is amazingly wonderful. For years I was the driving force, the team captain, the go-to-mom (oh wait, they only told me were to go if they were angry... not really- bwahahahahaha). I am so grateful that our boys will just pitch in and do this for us. What a marvelous blessing! And, let me tell you, this *old* mom is very thankful!!



Isn't this a beautiful sight?

092- Darling Boys

Look at these darling boys!

Not boys, you say?

Men?

Yes they are!

And such good men too.

I love to watch them working together. By Saturday evening I will have a new fence. Now here's the bad news. It will make the rest of the old fence look old and shabby!



And just so you know... I've saved you from being scarred for life by not showing you Ryan's impersonation of being a plumber!

327- Show and Tell

So are you wondering why I have a picture of all these cute *ickle first's* bums? If you look very closely you will see my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt top in the middle of all of them... and under it are half a dozen assorted quilts that I brought in for *Show & Tell*!

This is the second year that Miss Lewis has invited me to her classroom to show & tell about my quilts. The class has just completed a unit on quilts where they learned all the different shapes. I am always amazed at how much they know. Last year I even learned what a rhombus is! And this year I learned what a quadrilateral is! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?



I just love going into Camille's class. I love children! If I could go back and have a *do-over* (which I wouldn't- for so many reasons!!) I would make sure to get my teaching degree so I could work with these delightful little ones all the time.

After Miss Joanie's *show & tell* the children were off to singing time. Just down the hall is a kiva room where they have group activities. It has a nice rotunda ceiling and the sound is beautiful. Just imagine 175+ 1st graders singing their hearts out! One of the seven (yes, 7 first grade classes) teachers plays the piano beautifully! I set my quilt basket down in the hallway and stayed to listen to them sing... it really doesn't get much better than children singing; and I not ashamed to admit they made me cry!

251- Sweet Babies

A few days ago sweet Baby K made her debut on my blog. Today I was back for more photos of her and her darling cousin. They are only a few weeks apart. The *Mamas* wanted to have their images captured (sounds so old fashioned, doesn't it?) in their blessing dresses to use for an invite for the event later this month.

This is my favorite. I added some typography art along with the personal information that I won't show on my blog. All you get to see are the sweet babies...

246- Sweet Baby K...

Several months ago a friend, who reads my blog, asked me if I would do a photo shoot of her baby when she was born. I told her I would be pleased to... and today was the day! Presenting sweet baby K...



I've taken thousands of photos of my own kids and grandkids, but I've never done an *official* photo shoot before. I knew that I needed to bank on the rule of numbers... take scads of photos and you are bound to end up with some good ones.



I uploaded 338 photos files from my 8 GB card. The first time I went through them I thought, "Ahhh, these are awful!!" I don't know what I was expecting... so I gave it two more reviews before I started pulling out the ones I thought might have some promise.



I opened them in Photoshop Elements 7 and did a little fiddling and color adjusting and found that I really hadn't done so badly after all. I spent the afternoon editing 58 *keepers*. I am so grateful for all the things I've learned over at the Spraground. I was amazed what just a little of this and a little of that can do to turn an ok photo into a POW- photo. The other thing that was invaluable to me today was the Perfect Workflow action by Erin... what a time-saver!



I also got photos of big brother and sister. What a precious family.





Andrea asked me on Facebook if this was a new career... ummm, NO... just an extension of my need to create!

(applies to all photos- BRUSHES- Worn_HighRes003, Script_Brushes_by_LadyVictoire, RhonnaFarrer_2ps_SnapShotFrameKit, FONT- Angelic War, Felix Titling ACTION- DPMoms Perfect Workflow)

239- Moustaches

Funny story...

Gordon comment this morning that Harley was starting to shift his loyalty and preference to me. I told him that he needed to just spend more one-on-one time with his dog. His response was, "You don't!!

I stuck my head around the door of the laundry room while doing my *everybody-loves-little-Joanie-why-wouldn't-they?* face.

He replied in humorous disgust, "That makes me want to take a picture of you and draw a moustache on it!"

I laughed and knew exactly what my blog post would be about today!



One of the reasons this was so funny is that Gordon used to think it was great sport to come home from work as an Air Traffic Controller with his permanent ink work pens in his pocket and draw moustaches on our little children!! I think he did it just to vex me and delight the kids! What a funny daddy! Here are my darling little cherubs in March 1987 with their Daddy-art faces.


JOURNALING PATH- JSprague_4-squareTemplate BRUSHES- RhonnaFarrer_2ps_SnapShotFrameKit, FONT- Felix Titling ACTION- DPMoms Perfect Workflow TEXTURE- kimi overlay edge 1, KPertiet_FreshlyWornPhotoBrushes-5

I just have one final question... where did these sweet little babies go?

143- Children Captivate Me

Yesterday at the reception there were lots of children but some of them particularly caught my eye. I love to photograph children... they are so honest with their feelings and it shows on their darling little faces.

Here are some of my favorites -

I've wanted to try panning (following a moving object that is in focus while the background is out of focus thus showing the movement). I had a perfect opportunity... this little cutie was trying to swing herself. I asked her if she would like me to swing her (what... am I crazy... of course she did!!) I told her I was going to take her photo while she was swinging... could I have asked for a more photogenic little girl?



I made friends with this little guy when he dumped his plate of cashews on the grass. I asked him if he would like a cup so he wouldn't drop them again. After we'd picked them all up he climbed right up in the empty chair by me to finish them. I'd made a friend! Love his brown eyes...



Blue-face-crew-boy cracked me up!! The party favors were candy sticks. As you can see... this little guy got a blue one... ALL-OVER-HIS-FACE. How could you resist a face like this?



And my last little friend of the day is this tousled-haired boy... he only made a brief appearance... just long enough to make sure that Grandpa got him a cupcake! Can't you just see the anticipation in his eyes? Grandpa gave him a bite and then they were off home (one of the adjoining houses).