Throwback Thursday #4

....and here's a couple of pictures that I wanted to post on my sister's birthday post but I saved them for today.....

....simpler times for sure. Mom's holding Joyce and I'm just lookin' cute.....not knowing what fun lies ahead with my sister.

Fast forward a few years....Bruce, Joyce (lovely gloves), me and Clark. The hair courtesy of sponge rollers. Looks like a beautiful Spring day.....maybe Easter. Speaking of new beginnings....

....here's some living amongst the dead. I looked out the window and what did I see.....some popcorn on a tree that I thought was lost. There are just a few branches left of my apricot tree that I have given over to only supporting my ivy which gives me privacy from the tall building behind me. The ivy has died but the blossoms of the tree have come through. The winter frost was really hard on our landscapes around here so whatever life there is, we applaud....and speaking of applause....

.....make some noise for my family that participated in the Dog Town Half Marathon. JoEllen and the kids did the 5-K and Laynee and Kyle did the half....Laynee taking first in the 19 and under category. Read more about her HERE. I'm actually in town a bit to finish getting my basement back together and it's always good to take in some of the many activities my kids are involved with.....

I flew into Vegas last Friday and caught one of Drew's soccer games.....then Monday.....George's piano recital....he did an amazing job.

Wish I could post the video but it was too long. We need to get it on You Tube along with Scott's poppin' and lockin' moves. I'll keep you posted....but back to Throw Back Thursday.....

Here's Seth just a few years ago.......and tomorrow is his birthday.

He plays ball.....(soccer, basketball and baseball) and recently, pickle ball. He's handsome and smart, and has a lot of money (sounds like the makings of a really good husband one day)....but for now, he's lovin' life just being a kid. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SETH.....out of all your many qualities, your awesomeness is what I like the most.....and while we are on the subject of awesome.....

 How's this for beating the winter blues in Bountiful????? Russ took some PTO and they had an FFD (Family Fun Day)......love it. Just wish I would have been there. Actually, I've had a couple of weeks of FMBF (Fix My Basement Fun).....(subject of another blog)!!!!

 So, no matter what's going on in your life, there's always time for a mighty fine FFD.....so get your BFF, your FFW or FFH and have some FUN!!!!! Another way to manage the cold winter, embrace it and.....hit the slopes like Scott and his friend Audrie did today.

This is quite a nice "selfie".....very impressive Russ. Four hours on the slopes and new snow....looks like a lot of fun was had.

Sisters, sisters....

....there were never such devoted sisters. Yep, 60 years ago today, I got my one and only sis....best present ever. You know what they say, "I don't need a therapist, I have a sister". She's the best.....

Go HERE to read a previous post about my favorite sis......and speaking of sisters...

...Molly's pretty lucky to have Lucy. Lauri says this pretty much sums up their relationship and it's Lucy's #3 today......Click HERE to read what her mom has to say about her!!!!!

Happy Birthday to mild-mannered Lucy...such a joy and growing up so quickly. I love how meticulously she worked on her gingerbread house. She just goes about her business so quietly and peacefully. She loves to be outside and in nature. I'm sure she'd pick me a daffodil if she were here right now.......

Not many to pick this year....but I have to give credit to those that did show up. Maybe that wicked freeze had something to do with it. They were popping out of the ground the first of December. I guess they got hit pretty hard but I do love them and watch for them every year.

Throwback Thursday #3....

...but I'm not throwin' it back very far. I found an old 512 MB sd card in my sink when I was home last and almost threw it away....but I let it dry and just checked it yesterday to see if I could pull anything from it. It was my long-lost originals of this classic.....thought I had lost it forever and I think it deserves a throw-back post, don't you.....so precious.

My #1 is going to be turning 15....yikes...and two little ones are missing on the end and tho' it wasn't that long ago, they are changing so very quickly. Here's another version....the silly one, that I love as well.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love these kids....

Found on the card was this classic, four generation mother/daughter shot. I have a mother who has a daughter and I have a daughter who is a mother (actually, we all have two daughters).....love this pic!!!! Lots of love right here.....

...and speaking of love....this was on the card as well. Yep, they all love Kyle....especially when he will be "Scary Dad" with them. Speaking of more love......

....we got to see the Ten Tenors last night. I saw them many years ago at Dixie College before they got famous and even tho' none of the originals are there, they were awesome.....so glad I got to share this evening with Randy.....and speaking of sharing.......

...we've been sharing our pool with the neighbors. Can't blame them tho'....their pond is so muddy and hardly any water in it. Happy to let them have some cool, clear comfort for a while. One more little bit of awesomeness on this "throwback" post.....

...this classic picture was found. One thing about a flood....a lot is lost but a lot of lost is also found. Quote of the day: “You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.” ― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. ...and it's remembrance gives me a lot of pleasure.

It just doesn't get old...

...and tho' I am (getting old, that is) and it's harder getting in and out of this thing, I still get a thrill as I launch out on the water...

...and hang out with the ducks. We are in a drought up here but we always seem to find some water....

The upper right picture shows what the water level should be. It's still beautiful and we pretty much had the lake to ourselves. This was up by Pollock Pines, a lake called Jenkinson Lake, close to a camp ground where the Mormon boys go to Scout Camp.

I'm always chasing sunsets, looking for the most beautiful one. Found this one while out looking at one of Randy's jobs, out past Shingle Springs a few nights ago.

Yesterday, we headed to Dave Moore Park, took the kids panning for gold, fishing and hiking and started our own shoe tree with a couple of floaters we were able to rescue from the water. Then today......

...we took a drive out to Rancho Seco...an old nuclear power plant that has been closed since 1989.  There remains a nice reservoir that we will visit again sometime soon. Some of the sights along the way. Just some interesting information.... "Operation of the recreational area was assumed by SMUD in 1992. In cooperation with the Nature Conservancy, SMUD dedicated in June 2006 the Howard Ranch Nature Trail, a seven-mile (11 km) long trail that follows riparian and marsh habitat along Rancho Seco Lake and the adjoining Howard Ranch that once belonged to the owner of the famous racehorse Seabiscuit."  

************************

That's about it for me....the weather is so nice here, probably break out the beach cruiser and hit the trails tomorrow. Happy President's Day, or Presidents' Day or Presidents Day. I just always figured it was a holiday between Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's.....but some say it's for other presidents as well. It did start out as just Wahington's but whatever it is, to most of us it's just another 3-day week-end. Matters not to me. So whatever it is, have a good one and think of your favorite president tomorrow.

Orange you glad we got some rain?

...and speaking of oranges, I just picked the last one off my tree.

I've been gone from here for about a month and when I got back I was so pleased that I still had one and it was really good. But, the matter at hand is the rain that we have needed so badly....and with none projected in the forecast but with the Catholics, Muslims, Jews and Mormons all praying, we've had a whole lot for the last few days......but not enough. This is Folsom Lake....much improved from a few days ago but still very low.

There's signs like this all over the place so I guess we'll probably be gettin' a little more in the next week or two...

I've enjoyed listening to and watching the rain and my little friends have been coming around a lot lately...

This red one is high on his perch watching over the goods, but there's always plenty for everyone.

Not so in the Olympics tho'.....just not enough gold to go around but it's fun watching success and difficult to watch some dreams dashed when they fall. I only get one channel here (free tv with my little antenna) and I'm so glad it's NBC.

I really do love watching all of the events.....

...but there's one event I just don't get......

...but when it comes to curling, this is what I'm talkin' about.....

JoEllen sent me these pics.....I guess Penny tried these twisty curly things and I think they are cute as a button, don't you?   (The phrase 'as cute as a button' may have originated from several sources. Some say its referring to the Button Quail, tiny and cute. Others say it's as cute as a shiny new button on a shirt.)  So with my flood and all, I've been a little stressed but very blessed....so very blessed, so much so that I'm really trying hard to be a better person. In all of my complaining....I pulled out my old friend......

 ...my all-time favorite book to remind myself that I want to be like Birdie....then I put this where I could see it each time I walked up the stairs of my broken basement.....

I found this quote in a book I started reading that has really helped me as well.....co-authored by one of my favorite Gospel Doctrine Teachers, Bryce Dunford.  He taught the Gospel Doctrine Lessons each Wednesday at noon at the Church Office Building when I was on my mission.

I was so glad I ran across this book and highly recommend it to everyone. So there you have it, a few of my favorite things again; rain, oranges (grown on my own tree), birds, curls on little girls, uplifting reading and the Olympics. With Valentines Day just around the corner, a holiday I just don't get but I'll embrace it (just like Halloween)....wishing we were in Disneyland like last year.....

Valentine's Day has always been Singles Awareness Day (S.A.D.) but no more. I find myself on this day, enjoying a balmy, springlike day, anticipating the week-end rain and counting my blessings. I'm learning from "Some Wildflower" to be more vigilant in seeing the good.....to quote Margaret as she gets to know Birdie.... It was on the seventeenth day of December, a Saturday, that I ceased looking for Birdie’s faults, knowing that even if, or rather when, they appeared, they would be of no consequence.  In short, this is the day that I realized she was truly my friend–not only that she wanted to be my friend but that I likewise wanted to be hers.  At the age of fifty, I at last acquired a friend. (262)