Remembering the Smile

Is it the smile? Yes, I'm sure it is. The smile that lights up her face and creates a sparkle in her eyes. The smile that says, "I know you!" when she hasn't seen me for ages...years and years. It's the smile that says, "How are you?" and really means it when she asks about you. The smile that cares, the smile that loves. Aunt Tina's smile. I love you and I'll reflect and remember. I'll mourn and I'll celebrate. It's the smile that will live in my heart always.

I'm so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of His love and mercy. I pray for my Uncle Billy and all of his family that they'll find solace during this difficult time.

Aunt Tina passed away earlier this morning. My heart breaks that Aunt Eleanor and Aunt Kate had not been able to visit her before her passing but I know they will recall and celebrate times they've had together over past years. Especially Aunt Tina and Aunt Eleanor...they are such a hoot when they're around each other! Although separated by miles, they could pick up as if together all the time whenever they were with one another. Aunt Eleanor somewhat filled a void for Aunt Tina after my mom died. They had been such good friends, more like sisters than sisters in-law. I love how she has cared so much for so many. RIP Aunt Tina.

Spring Rolls

Okay, so Z never did get back to me but I'll give her the details anyway. The Vietnamese Rice Wraps are used to make spring rolls. :)

You'll need a plate with warm water in it. Lay a rice paper in the water and allow it to soften. Once it has softened up, just a minute or two, move it to another plate where the roll will be made. Be careful! The wrapper will be very sticky at this point. If you wad it up or anything, it will stick to itself.



Add the veggies and shredded chicken to the roll. Jodie didn't add the snow peas in this picture. Spoon a bit of the Hoisin sauce across the roll.

Carefully roll up the wrap like you would a burrito but remember to get it a bit snug to hold everything together.



Then, enjoy!

Say Z...

New recipe for you. Did you ever try that last one? :^P

You need to pick up the things pictured above:
bag of coleslaw veggies
bag of shredded carrots
bag of snow peas
---above items are prepared and in the bagged salad area
Peanut Sauce (Bangkok Padang show above but you can use any)
Hoisin Sauce
---both sauces are in the ethnic foods area - near Chinese noodles/foods, etc)

Additionally, you'll need:
a couple (2 or 3) chicken breasts
---I use boneless, skinless but you can use regular and just remove bones,skins
soy sauce

Let me know when you have your food stuff assembled. We're going to take a different approach to the "try this" dishes. I'll wait til you have things together to give all the details. :^P

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

I sent a box off to my sister yesterday and have been waiting for her to respond to the challenge I made for her to guess some of the contents of the box. Since she hasn't posted just yet, it is time to challenge her once again.

Something in the box is cotton candy pink.

Something in the box is cranberry red.

Something is icy blue.

Something is translucent - sheer and white, brittle at first but best pliable when wet.

Something is red on white.

Something is burnt orange, in a reddish kind of way (okay, on second thought...far more reddish than orangish) , and has a lot of creamy white.

Any ideas on what any of this might be?

Remember, Mike helped look around for things to put into the box...so it could be anything! Anything at all. :)

Homecoming

Jodie and Mia reaturned from their travels. It was a cold and sometimes perilous trip over to Holbrook...pounding rain at times and at one point near blizzard conditions with blowing snow and limited visibility. We waited for the bus and I could see Jodie holding Mia waiting to disembark the vehicle. As they started down the stairs, Mia spotted Mike waiting near the bus and called out to him, "Poppa. Dares (there's) Poppa. Hi Poppa" as she reached out to him. And then it was, "Momma. My Momma!" as she reached for me.


She was full of smiles all the ride home...and hanging on to TJei even after T went sound asleep next to her in the back seat of the truck. She missed her sister. She missed Grandma and Grandap...and we missed her. We're so glad they've made it home.

Davis & Daphne

Oh what fun! I was able to spend the evening with Davis and Daphne at the W's. The little ones came to SJ Monday with their grandma. Spence and Christine were going to BR for Spencer's game...it is his birthday, too!


Daphne wearing the little cap that I gave her. The above photo is natural light - although, it was actually evening so not as much light as needed for a super picture. The below picture was after she drifted off to sleep, then I used a flash.


Yummm...Chocolate! Davis was going to try a mad dash across the table to get with TJei and devour some more of that extra, extra chocolatey cake. He was in heaven with that piece in his mouth ...it should have been about three or four bites, he managed to get it all in there at once! :)


TJei was enjoying the cake, too. It was a bit rich...she left a good portion of it sitting there for "later" but Davis managed to make a dent in how much was left. (That boy is fast!) :)

Houses @ Roosevelt

It was good to catch a glimpse of the houses we'll be staying in at Roosevelt Lake next month. It's been a long time since we've gone down and it will be good to have a couple days just kicking back with the family.


The houses were constructed years ago for employees working on the dam project along Salt River. Aunt Ruth has shown us pictures of her sunning on the grass in front of the lodge house when she was a youngster and visiting her aunt and uncle living there on-site. Several years ago they were commissioned to be recreational use and we've had many, many fun days at the lake staying in these houses.


The newly constructed arch bridge is a short distance from the houses.

A slight view of the houses from the other side of the waterway. There's a bit of light reflecting on some of the roofs.


Don't forget...Need bed linens and towels. We need to plan for meals. :) Any suggestions?

Floating Along

Highway 188 took us along Roosevelt Lake. It's been a while since we've driven through there and there have been some changes. I think this was an unexpected change.



You know it's a bad day when your motor home becomes a houseboat!

Snowed In

Mike drove down to Globe to pick me up after getting TJei from school. We stayed the night since the highway to Show Low was closed due to the weather. The next morning we awoke to a foggy blanket of white covering the town.


That's our pick-up to the right of the tree in the parking area.

The insurance company wanted Mike to check with local businesses about repairs for the truck. He made a list of places to try making contact with. The phones weren't real reliable because many areas had interruptions of service. This is one of the shops we tried to visit.


Did you notice the aged CLOSED sign in the window? The phone number on the door lists "call 425-372 for business inquiries" ...gotta love small, rural towns. :)

TJei is holding up a fortune she revealed after opening a leftover cookie from last night's dinner.


It's upside down but reads, "It's fun being a kid." She thought that was a pretty impressive statement. :)


This is the reader in TJei's school backpack. Each day there is a new reader in her bag. The teacher now advises to allow TJei to do the reading instead of reading to her. She read this book and did a good job, too!

By midday, the highway still hadn't opened and a worker said it probably wouldn't for quite a while due to rockslides. (ack! Another tender mercy keeping me off that road?) The worker suggested we try Highway 188 to 87, then to 260. He said 260 would be open a while for those with chains or 4-wheel drive. We decided to give that a try.

The Accident

Okay, so I know everyone is looking forward to seeing pictures of the accident. I'm looking forward to getting them posted...in a weird therapeutic sense. :)

The inside wasn't too messed. Some stuff that had been on the seat was off onto the floor on the passenger side. The grapefruit was still sitting in the cup holder. The airbag stank something terrible!



The backend of the truck doesn't look too bad unless you make note of the left side being about 6" higher than the right side when it should be sitting level. The buckle in the vehicle seems to have occured in the middle of the vehicle, between the cab and bed.



Detail of the driver side view of the truck.



The front view. The bumper was laying across the highway and was picked up and put into the bed of the truck.



The guard rail held up pretty well although the posts shifted quite a bit. There is a couple inches gap on the front side of the posts as result of the impact.



On the backside of the post, you can see where the asphalt buckled. With the ground so saturated, the guard rail just acted like a big old bumper pad absorbing the shock and bouncing back. Still not much fun. Everyone who knows me knows bumper cars are not my thing!



I've no idea why there isn't a more clear indication of the path my vehicle traveled. I even had to explain it over a couple times to the officer and walk back to show one what I was saying and point out tell-tale signs of the path my vehicle traveled. This is the embankment the truck climbed onto. If you just look at the picture, there isn't anything real obvious showing the path.



A couple closer looks reveals small signs of the path traveled. This is a detailed view of the above picture. The arrow points to a tell-tale trace of the drivers side tire tracks. The tree left of the arrow had been upright. The trunk broke in two but the base of the tree also shifted in the saturated ground lessening the impact to the vehicle.



Another detailed view of the above picture shows another tell-tale sign of the tire tracks just above the arrow. The tree at the left of the arrow, laying on the ground, is the broken off part of the tree struck higher on the embankment. You can see the broken trunk with a closer look that direction.



A view of the entire scene. See? Nothing real intimidating. Just a plain old wet roadway. :( The accident was just that, an accident. It wouldn't have mattered when I left out to head home. If the road was wet, there was an accident waiting for me.



I am so grateful for the tender mercies experienced in those few minutes. The saturated ground absorbing the shock of impact with the tree and the guard rail, having a cell phone signal that far out of town, a milepost marker within eyesight, my cutting board in the vehicle to block out the cold rain, a Good Samaritan stopping within seconds after the accident, no vehicles on the highway when my vehicle traveled back across the road, dry clothes to change into when I got back into town, a calming voice and quick response when contacting Sis. Pennel* for help...there were just so many things that could have been far worse under different circumstances.

Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15). ~Elder Bednar, Ensign, May 2005

*Sis. Ladonna Pennel is Matthew Pennel's mom. He and Jacob served together on a mission in Venezuela. She came to my aid immediately when I called her from the restaurant where the tow driver had dropped me off. Many thanks!

A Little Smile

Okay, it's labeled dumb ad only because that is the only label I have for ads. This sign along the drive-thru lane of Jack-in-the-Box is in fact pretty cute in a sly sort of way. It brought a smile and caused me to reach for the camera. :)

Superior Rains

The creeks and boulders around Superior make for captivating scenes when it rains. Below is a picture of Queen Creek, just outside Superior. The creek is dry maybe 358 days a year. Today, it is filled with raging water.



The massive boulders covering the landscape shed their water and create impromptu waterfalls at every turn. The picture below is looking back, toward Queen Creek Tunnel, from Highway 60.



A closer look at the waterfall above.



Other impromptu waterfalls...





I love Arizona! I love how the landscape changes so quickly and spectacularly. I love what Heavenly Father has given us.

“And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.

“And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments” (D&C 59:20–21).

Desert Rain

I love when it rains in the desert! Low areas become ponds in no time at all. The ground cannot absorb the water quick enough and the landscape is dotted with little, or not so little, pockets of water.

Ribbons & Lace

The picture was taken a couple days ago but it works for writing about little Davis going with me to do some errands. I stopped at a ribbons and lace store in Mesa and he was so stinking cute! They didn't have shopping carts, just baskets and he carried the basket around the store the entire while we were there! He loved being grandma's little helper. A couple times he tried to help too much. He'd set the basket down and pick up rolls of ribbon to add into it at times. Little stinker.

I loved spending that time with him!

Oh, and Davis weaned from a bottle to a sippy cup while we were out. Grandma had forgotten to take a bottle and decided to try a cup to give him a drink. Mom and Dad liked the idea and continued with the change. :)

POTD

My picture of the day for this date shows Baylee standing in front of the computer at Jacob and Maria's house. They use the computer to view television shows since they don't have cable or satellite service. I missed a good pic of Baylee and TJei sitting together on the loveseat watching the "little screen" but this pic catches Baylee in all her cuteness. I love this little girl!

A Fun Day

For Christmas, Davis' other set of grandparents gave him a rocking horse. It's a little big for him right now but his cousins, TJei and Baylee, had fun playing on the horse.




Isn't it funny to note how kids have picked up on things? TJei started doing a bucking bronc routine while she was riding the rocking horse.



Kelly let me take a "belly shot" of her working in the kitchen. Kelly is due in May and it's okay to say now, she's having a baby girl. She revealed the gender to John during a phone call earlier in the day. Ooops!



Kelly had prepared a special meal for Mike to celebrate his birthday the day before. She had prepared meatloaf and all the fixins (his fav) and even a special dessert...apple pudding. It was the first time either of us had this treat and it was yummy! Mike had help from a couple of the grandkids to blow out his candle. Luckily, Kelly just added a single candle instead of all 55!



Yeah, he was feeling the love.



Jacob holding little Daphne.

Sweet Little Daphne

Finally, I have been able to see her and hold her again. She is so sweet and she has the most adorable smile...of course, I didn't happen to catch an image of that just yet.

Cute Even When Pouting

They are so cute! Even when pouting! The folded arms was their own doing...I didn't tell them to fold them or anything. Baylee had pulled TJei's hair and TJei was upset because Baylee wouldn't apologize. Baylee was demonstrating a little stubborn streak (wonder where she got that from???) and wasn't about to apologize. I think she realized she couldn't get timeout while strapped into her carseat. :)

New Rubber

Does he look happy? Yeah, I think so. Mike put new tires on the truck today and he's pretty pleased with the result. They look great.

Make My Day

John just loves Baylee's reaction when she sees him as he comes home from work. She loves her daddy!