Spring has sprung!

One day it was kinda warm but still-well you know still brown.  The next day?  You can smell it in the air.  That smell of loamy earth and things starting to burst.  Hints of new grass, tree frogs croaking and suddenly  IT'S SPRING!!  You just want to shout it as you go out the door.

We step outside and rediscover our yard and trees. Pull out the chair cushions.  Test our pale skin against the bright yellow sun.  Inside things change too. Salad bowls get brought out and blankets get put away. The cute snowmen are put away and replaced by beautiful flower centerpieces.  Parks become populated by moms and families again and balls and mitts are uncovered.

                  


And here in the south-flowers!!  On tree after tree, in gardens and yards. Greens, whites, yellows, pinks, purples and all shades in between.  One right after another after another!!  It is glorious and beautiful and just perfect.

 


And the babies are coming. Chicks, lambs, kids, and bunnies.  Little bluebirds appear and the robins return.  Beautiful manifestations of the renewal of life.

 

I love this from another friend's blog " Perhaps more than anything, spring is a physical manifestation of the generosity of God. No matter how dark things may seem, light is within reach. Winter and hardship and sorrow are necessary aspects of mortality, rolling over through the years, but with each death there is renewal. With each spring comes life.

Spring is a reminder that all hope is not lost. Each new bud, every green shoot that emerges from the ground becomes a symbol of that great resurrection of our Savior."

Isn't if wonderful that  Easter, when we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, comes during the new life of spring?  Right outside my window is a reminder of Christ's mission and purpose and as I contemplate the beauty around me I can discover my role in that plan.

Anne Shirley of Green Gables expresses it wonderfully, "There is one good thing about this world-there are always sure to be more springs."

The Temple is a special place...

Saturday Scott and I had the opportunity to attend the wedding ceremony of a uniquely wonderful young couple we know.

 I always feel closest to heaven when I attend a wedding sealing in an LDS temple.  It is seriously one of the most beautiful experiences you can have in mortality-to witness two people devote and covenant with each other and Heavenly Father in total faith.  It is just well-- celestial!!  And to be surrounded by all the people they love most in the world is indescribable.

We believe that when a couple is married in God's temple they are sealed together not just until death do they part but for all eternity.  This is done by the power of the priesthood given by God to an authorized sealer.  The couple makes real promises to God and to each other and amazing blessings are pronounced upon them which are  beautiful and tender. You can learn more about temple marriage here.

This particular sealing was achingly bittersweet because of the experiences both had been through.  Both of them had lost their moms in very tragic and heartbreaking circumstances in the last year. While this could have really dampened the ceremony there was actually such a spirit of love and presence encompassing the room.  Usually the chairs on each side of the couple are reserved for the moms so they can have the best view of the ceremony.  If moms are not there then an aunt, friend or other escort.  But this in-tuned couple chose to keep those chairs open because they knew their moms were there and aware of the sacred ceremony taking place.  The sealer explained this and then admonished those present to not ever refer to them in the past tense because  they are still alive and with us just not physically at the moment.  That the most beautiful image and a moving tribute to the love of families.

Before we left the temple that day, Scott and I took some time to go and do some sealings for family members of mine who are no longer with us.  I love doing family history.  It gives me such a feeling of love to get to know a little more about those people and the lives they led.  It is so exciting for me to experience the opportunity to participate in the sealing of children to their parents and couples to each other and to give them the opportunity to choose for themselves.  Wonder about why I love family history?  Go here to read why.

Just more chances to see the strands of the family web come together!!

I'm officially a cat person!

Yes, it is official-I am a cat person.  Of course anyone that really knows me will be thinking duh! But I have tried to be something other than what I really am.  Let's try chickens. 

   

 Chicks are cute and chickens can be really entertaining to watch.  But really, they aren't very cuddly, don't pay attention when you talk to them, and sometimes are downright scary. Although they do give you food.  I also had dogs who have been wonderful.  

Toby       Honey                                      

 Toby   tolerated others but knew I was the Queen.  He really was just a cat with dog breath.  And right now we have Honey our cocker spaniel who is wonderful. A pretty girl who thinks she's a farm dog.  And she is a hoarder.  We have to clean out her "den" under our bed every week!  We won't talk about Snoopy or Andie-they are Doyle's and Daily's to blog about.

But having a cat around just soothes my soul.  I can just feel myself relax when a kitty jumps up and starts purring in my lap.  Since I was 2 or 3 I have always had a cat in my life.  Fluffy was with me through my parents divorce and went with me while I lived with my grandparents.  Then came Sua who accompanied me as we moved a number of times and was a perfect companion for a lonely little girl.  Felicity got me through the craziness of high school, romantic heartbreaks, college and until I met Scott.  She left me in the capable paws of Kitten who kept me company while on bed rest of 2 pregnancies and the fun of raising my little ones .  At the same time we had Oscar   

    Felicity     Kitten   Oscar

the manx.  Who I will admit was fairly grumpy. But please!  Aren't most cats?

Then quickly came Abby who was Lena's cat and then Puddin who was Daily's.  Of course they lived at our house so they were really mine.

Abby  Puddin

Honestly, both these cats were a little quirky.  Abby was actually called Scabby Abby because she had a strange skin condition where she always had scabs-gross!  She also did this strange thing when you scratched her bum where she did these jerky head movements and yowled-creepy but highly entertaining.  Puddin was cool most of the time except he had this strange relationship with a black and white stuffed puppy that he nursed on for years and years.  As they got older they were not so patient with the new grandkids pulling at tails and ears.  Each of these cats lived until at least 18 yrs old and most until 20 +.  Puddin finally passed on about 8 months ago and for the first time I was cat less.  Scott was estatic (obviously, not a cat person).  I thought, this is ok right?  I don't need a cat. No more yucky cat box or worrying if I left something on the kitchen counter.

But then we had this little stray show up.  We put her in the barn and I convinced Scott she would just be a barn cat.  I would go up every day in the cold and just sit and cuddle her.  It was heaven. I felt complete and peaceful.  Yes a cat is definitely my touch stone, or muse or something like that.  After just a week that little cutey took off and hasn't been seen since.  But I knew it was time for a cat.  I watched websites, visited the cats at Pets Plus, and animal control.  One day I went to see this one cat and a few minutes later my daughter showed up and saw my name in the sign in log.  "Did you see Stella?"  She asked.  No.  "You need to go back and see her"  I did and I thought, wow, she is big but so great!  Took Scott back and the next day she came home.

She was wonderful.  Loving, polite, cuddly.  Even pretty good with the grandkids.  The next week we took her to the vet for a minor thing.  Later that day I got a call that she had passed away while they were checking her out.  Yes, I was heartbroken.  Maybe a cat was not for me.  A couple weeks later my daughter and I had some time on our hands and decided to go in to the BIG Gwinett Animal control to show the grandsons kitties and puppies. No intention of actually getting anything-just having fun.  And there he was.  A huge bundle of yellow, purring love.  A little while later after some consulting with hubbies  we both left with cats!!!

  Fred 

Fred just wants to lay around on you all day and purr and knead-perfect!!

And Lena's  Bravo plus the 2 cutest and happiest little boys in the world.

It has even been researched how cat's purring lowers heart rates and blood pressure and other wonderful health benefits   See link here  <http://www.pawnation.com/2013/07/19/cats-purring-proven-to-help-human-health-in-numerous-ways/>

So, I am a cat person-I love it, I embrace it!  Catch you later while snuggled up on the couch with my new buddy!