Spring in Washington and Spring in Utah

I recently accompanied my mother (and my sister) to visit my aunts and uncle who live in Utah.  Typically, spring in Washington is well underway and the temperatures are around 60 degrees in the day time. Flowers are blooming and the trees have leaves and blossoms by now.  This year, spring is very late and when we arrived in Salt Lake City, we were delayed in getting to spring as I suspected.  Normally, Utah is at least a month behind us in with spring -- not this year -- we're in the same place.

We arrived at 10 p.m. on Friday night in Salt Lake and went to our hotel near the airport.  The next morning we picked up the rental car and headed up over Parley's summit to Henefer to visit our Fawcett relatives.  We spent a couple of hours visiting with them.  Then we headed down Weber Canyon to Ogden to visit my mother's sister, Aunt Leah.  She is very ill and her health is deteriorating very quickly.  It's hard to see my mother and dad's siblings in declining health.  They are ill and I'm reminded that this life is in actuality, very fleeting.

Saturday afternoon we headed to the hotel where we would be staying for the next 3 days. On Sunday we had a delightful visit with our cousins and aunt in American Fork.We have a great deal in common with them and we have always enjoyed this relationship.  Again, my Aunt Helen's health is declining rapidly. It's fun catching up on the family news.

Monday brought a wonderful treat.  We were able to go to the BYU Museum of Art to see the Carl Bloch exhibit.  What a beautiful experience and what a treat! I didn't want to leave.  We rented the iPads which enriched the experience immensely - allowing us to learn more about Carl Block and the paintings.  I am so moved by such beautiful paintings.  The huge altar pieces are painted on copper. Bloch's ability to capture emotion, detail, and meaning in the paintings is inspired. You could see that he had a deep understanding of Gospel principles (although he never heard the restored Gospel as far as I know) and the capacity to capture the meaning and the significance of the teachings of the Savior. This was the experience of a lifetime.  I feel so privileged to have seen these wonderful paintings. Previously I had seen the painting of the Pool at Bethesda and to see the other paintings and altar pieces was even more amazing.

Words cannot express adequately the feelings I had as I viewed these paintings. I appreciate how these works strengthen my testimony and satisfy my deepest longings and feelings.  Beautiful music and beautiful art is a gift from our Heavenly Father. 

After we left the BYU MOA, we again spent time visiting family.  A quick and successful trip to Tai Pan Trading Company made a complete day.  Tuesday, we went to the Joseph Smith Building (Hotel Utah) and went to the Joseph Smith movie at the Legacy Theater.  We had lunch in the Garden Restaurant and enjoyed the spectacular view of Temple Square and the Salt Lake Temple and then headed to the airport.

We realize how important it is for Mother to visit these relatives and have time with them during their final years on the earth.  I appreciate that we have the capacity and the means to accommodate her.

All in all, a very satisfying and productive trip!

March: In like a Lion and Out like a Lion!

The title says it all -- March came in like a lion and went out like a lion! We've had double the normal rainfall for March in Western Washington!  I'm tired of it!  I was never bothered by the rain until we lived in Southern California for 2 years!  That ruined me -- I LOVE the sun.  When we left SoCal, I had a huge adjustment coming back to the cooler, rainier weather but I adjusted.  This past month has reminded me of how hard that adjustment was. Anyway, most of the time I love living in Washington.  It's green and cool and beautiful. When the sun shines -- it's spectacular.  Mt. Rainier to the southeast and the Olympic mountains to the west.  Lake Washington, Puget Sound, and the trees make it absolutely spectacular.  But when there are too many gray, rainy (I mean really hard rain -- not the soft Oregon mist) I start to crave the sun again. I honestly am starting to check for moss growing between my toes! It was hard to find a dry day to have a fire drill at school.  (The principal has her principles about fire drills in the rain -- too hard on the hair and shoes! Priorities, you know.)

It's been a pretty good month.  I've worked too many hours each week but the work is good.  We're working on creating a school-wide system of interventions for reading and math for our struggling students.  The system is called RTI (response to instruction/intervention) and it's designed to help kids who are lagging catch up.  Very research based but it requires a significant change in practice for the teachers.  We're on track and I'm excited about this.  I know it's important and I know it will make a difference.  I have a GREAT team of teachers to work with to create this.

This past month I bought a series of tickets to the Seattle Symphony.  We went to the first concert a couple of weeks ago and I loved it.  I had forgotten how much I loved doing that. When I was first married we had tickets to the symphony and went at least once a month.  After a while with the expensive babysitters and the challenges of taking care of a young family we didn't do it very often.  My former spouse was very talented musically and it was something we shared and loved together.  When our marriage turned out to be so seriously flawed and had such serious problems I found myself not wanting to have much to do with music and those things we had shared and loved together. My husband used music to escape and to avoid and he ruined it for me.  It's taken me a long time to return to something that I've always loved so much and to embrace it again. I can't wait until next Sat. when I get to go again.

                                               Lorena and Grandma, March 27, 2011

Lorena visited last weekend. She's such a little doll! Oh my, the stuff she says and does absolutely charms me and cracks me up!! She's totally my girl.  Even though I hadn't seen her since Christmas, she ran to me with open arms when she saw me!  She says, "Uh Oh!" when she has a little accident or when she's done something she shouldn't.  I gave her a cute pair of bunny ears and she now talks about bunnies as she wears them.  She loves Easter eggs with a couple of fishy graham crackers.  She also likes peanut butter easter eggs. She's a climber and will stand up on the kitchen table if you take your eyes off of her.  She minds quite well and when she wants to do something she shouldn't she will look at you to see if you mean it and if you do -- she obeys! She has to sit on her Daddy's lap until the sacrament is over and then she is allowed to have something to do or play quietly next to her parents on the bench. She shakes her head no and shakes her finger at other babies and children when they are noisy in church. She calls the cats "gatita" and she's got a great pencil grip! At 22 months, she's doing great and I can't believe how absolutely cute and sweet she is. Her temperament is sweet and easy and she's a joy to be around. So much growth and development for a little girl who came into the world weighing 2.5 Lbs. Ok, enough about the joy of my life.

This weekend I'm loving General Conference.  The words of living prophets and apostles refresh and renew. Lots to think about! More later.