031- This is My Father's House

We got a call last night asking if we would be able to help clean the church today in preparation for tomorrow's meetings. With so many families in our ward this opportunity doesn't come around very often and we gladly accepted.

It is with gratitude that I cleaned windows, door handles, chalkboard trays and sprinkled ice melt on the north facing sidewalk. I love the reverent feeling of being the only one in the chapel as I look for crumbs, paper and misplaces hymn books.

What a marvelous time we live in; we are free to worship "how, where and what we may" without any persecution!

It is with reverence that I clean my Father's house...



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030 Ickle Icicle

By now you all know that I have a real affinity for macro shots! I just love getting up close and personal! I love the magnified details.

Today is another one of those. I caught these ickle icicles in their drip-mode and the sun shining through them. I set my camera on burst and took at TON of photos then when I uploaded them to my computer I whittled that number down to 8 ;). (Again, how I love digital... let me count the ways!)



My other offering of *this* day is MY Maple Mountain with her cap on. I don't think I will ever get tired of looking at her in her changeable wardrobe!

029 Ginger Snaps & Jelly Rats...

...THAT'S what IKEA's made of!

And if you don't believe me here is the photographic proof! Enough said!


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028 Happy Memories

I was giving a most wonderful gift! You may laugh, but 18 "Banty" eggs! As soon as I saw them I was transported back to those "chicken coop" days and the quiet singing of those little Banty hens. (How does one even write that sound? Brooookk, is as close as I can get!) I was just a tiny girl but the sound is so comforting to me.



For years my dear sister, Ann, had these chickens and when visiting I loved to make the egg collecting trip. I would talk to those little biddies and they would croon back to me.

These beautiful, naturally-colored Easter eggs came from a friend who keeps them. They are smallish but very tasty. What a happy, thoughtful gift

As an aside, her husband has often shared his wisdom from the chicken coop in our Sunday School class. The one that stays in my mind is his experience with a new batch of chicks. When they first arrive they are so frightened and skittish. He goes and sits quietly in the coop and talks to them until he has been able to gather them to him. He drew the parallel of how the Savior so often wants to gather us, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, to protect us, but we, like silly chickens, run away from that safe haven.

Ooh-ohh-ohh

So do I sound like a chimp!?!

I've been playing with Kimi's fun homework challenges and came up with this...

I had to share!

027 Frozen Berries

This just may be my favorite winter ever! We had our few days of *balmy* reprieve (45 degrees), then lots of luscious snow and now today sunshine! Yep, this is shaping up nicely!

After blowing snow this morning I decided that I wanted to go for a walk sans-Harley (he gets too dirty!). I was almost out of the neighborhood when I realized I'd forgotten my camera; so back I went. It was cold today, never getting above about 25 degrees. But when the sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing it just doesn't feel that cold.

This day I decided that I hadn't been up to the dam for a long time; I set off up the wonderful walking/bike trail that goes up Hobble Creek Canyon. On the way back I saw this beautiful little tree just loaded with lots of bright red berries with fresh powdered snow on top. Out of the 40+ photos I took on my jaunt, this had to be my #1 pick of the day (Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE digital?!!)



When I got home I saw that Kimi had posted her Kreative homework for the week. The berries were just perfect for this technique. What do you think?



This last shot is just for my sweet niece! On the way back the wind started blowing into my face and I got quite cold. As I adjusted my scarf it made me remember Sarah's post about her *beard*! (I love the detail in my glasses)



Happy, happy winter day!

026 I LOVE the snow!

I recognize that this isn't always a popular position to take with some people! But it is true... I LOVE THE SNOW! I'm not sure why. I don't "do" winter sports anymore.

So what could be the reasons? I love the softness of it. I love the quiet there is when snow on the ground. I love to hear it crunch under my feet when I walk on it. I love the way it piles up on the trees and makes everything look like a marshmallow world (which we don't get very often since we usually have that marvelous Utah powder snow!) I love to taste it, although I don't do so much anymore... I still remember that cold, melt-y goodness.

Yesterday winter returned and it started to snow... those big, fat, goose-feather flakes that I love so much. Since this is a warmer, wetter system than we normally have the snow started to pile up on the trees. I went out late last night and got this first photo. I was so excited with how it turned out. This is my globe willow that lives in the front yard. I've planted one of these at every house we've lived in for the last 25 years.



This morning there was 8-10" of new snow piled up and waiting for me to come and "move it". Thank goodness we have a snow-blower! It makes all the difference in the world. After my work out I took my camera out of my pocket and proceeded to document my "most favorite winter thing".

If I had to vote, I think this one would get my number ONE vote. I just love macros!



These lovely trees are elkhorn sumac... I love the gnarled look of them. These trees have been featured here frequently with a sunset behind them. I know that some people don't like them because they tend to be invasive. But I love how stately they look!



And this is our silly friend Harley. I just happened to turn around and there he was doing one of the funniest things... he will stick just his nose out the dog door and see what is going on outside. He cracks me up!!



So *this day* I have 4-photos of the day! What can I say? I love the snow and one just wasn't enough!

025 Old Man Cat

Are you ever struck with a thought that you know didn't come from you? This happens to me frequently and I recognize it as the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful to know that the Lord really does know me and care about me. He cares about the little things I care about. That is such a comfort to me.

This weekend was our Stake Conference. I always look forward to these twice-yearly meetings. I always come away refreshed and refueled. It was while I was sitting in conference this morning that the thought came to me that I needed to feature our long-time friend and furry companion, Simba. Simba's been here before so if you want to read more about him click on the "Simba" tag.

Sadly, our Sims has become an old-man-cat! He is only a shadow of his former 15 pound healthy self... but at 14 years old this month, I guess we need to be grateful that he is still with us.

Simba was diagnosed with failing liver and thyroid problems about 2 years ago and the weight has just melted off of him in spite of constant medical attention. He is half the weight he was in his prime. The up side is that he seems happy and he is still active. He can still jump up on the counter to eat (albeit via the toilet now instead of straight from the floor), still stalks any erratic flying thing, and can still give Harley what for.


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I couldn't just post this old-man-cat photo of our Sims... I needed to show all what a beauty he once was! This is Simba 4 years ago, just after we moved to Utah. What a happy, smiling kitty-boy!


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024 Winter Primrose

Each fall the BYU grounds crew pulls out all of the wonderful "in-full-bloom" summer flowers at the Provo Temple to prepare the beds for the next spring. They put in thousands of tulip blubs (LOL... this is how we deliberately mis-pronounce bulbs... and it just came out that way!). They also do a massive ground-cover planting of pansies and primroses.

I am always amazed at these hardy little flowers. As soon as the snow melts there they are already with their happy little spring faces... even though it is still the dead of winter! The pansies never fair as well... they look a little frost bitten and bedraggled.

I know that it is still winter but there is a certain happiness in 45 degree days and some of the snow gone. I've lived in the mountains long enough to know that winter is long from being over... but it is so nice to have just a little reprive from true, white winter.

023 The Draper Temple

This morning as I was contemplating my day's activity I thought, "What a wonderful photo journal I am making for myself." As I've previously stated, I've never been an every-day journaler. The closest I came was for part of 2007 when I would write a couple of lines on my Far Side calendar before bed. I recognized that I miss so many little things that might just be helpful to me at some future point. Anyway... just a happy thought about my project.

Today's photo is of the new Draper Temple. It is, fittingly, in Draper, UT, about 35 miles from our house. For a couple of months prior to the actual dedication of the Temple there is an open house, where the public can tour the temple. This is a beautiful building with the interior all done in these wonderful smokey-teal colors... almost a sage green... but with that teal cast. It, of course, is wonderfully decorated and has beautiful craftsmanship. The recommend desk is dark marble from China (?) that has these iridescent blue/teal/peacock spots in it, very beautiful.

It was a very foggy, rainy day today and some of my photos were mostly fog! After our tour and bus ride back to where we'd parked Gordon and I drove back up to the Temple in hopes that there would be a little clearing in the fog. I was able to snap this one from the car and it was the best of the bunch!


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I was able to feel the Spirit there testifying that it is indeed the House of the Lord. What a wonderful time to live in.