100 post postponed because Prayers are needed

Dear Blog friends,
When I started to do my Sunday Six I noticed that it was my 100th post and in a few days it will be my one year blogiversary. I have learned that there are blog rules.... and that I am suppose to do something special to celebrate this blog event. I set aside my Sunday Six and tried to think of what I could do for a give-away or something special to celebrate post # 100 and year # one.

Then I logged onto Gracie's blog which is Our Little Sweetheart is here. Gracie was born last March with hypoplastic left heart syndrome HLHS. I have been reading this blog and praying for Gracie since she was born. Go to her blog to get the whole story. This precious baby and her family have gone through one procedure and complication after another. She was scheduled for her second surgery on Feb.12th but her little heart was not healthy enough to risk it. She was put on the heart transplant list...... and amazingly they found a heart for her only 1 1/2 weeks later.


This is little Gracie as she waited to go in to surgery to get her new heart Sat. night. Gracie got her new heart... but it is not working right. There is only about a 1% chance that the new heart will be defective..... and Gracie got the 1% heart. They did not realize the new heart was bad until they had removed Gracie's heart and put the new one in. She is now on the heart
re-transplant list.

This little girl and her family have gone through so much.... physically, emotionally and financially. Would you please pray for them. They are asking for our prayers and appreciate the support. They have seen one miracle after another take place since Gracie was born 11 months ago. They believe another miracle can happen if it is God's will. They have not given up.

I will do something to commemorate my 100th post soon... but today all I can think of is Gracie.
I hope that this breech of blog rules will be OK under the circumstances. I think you will all understand.
Love, Lura

My Week with Marie... Her trip to USA post # 3

My Week with Marie

I just had a wonderful week with my blog friend Marie from England.

The main reason for her visit to America was to attend the Special Olympics World Winter Games which were held in Sun Valley, Idaho.

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I made a slide show of the high lights of the Olympic games with Eileen but I can not get it to post. I will try to post it again on another day.

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Today I will give you a day by day account of my week with this special friend of mine. I know that many of you love Marie and I think you will enjoy seeing what she did while in the USA. Some of this I've already told you in my last two posts but as I do this day by day account I will try to put in different pictures than I did before. Marie rarely posts pictures of herself on her blog so this may be the only chance you get to see her. I've told her that all of her loyal readers would like to see more pictures of her on her blog but I don't know if she will take my advice.

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Fri. Feb. 6th Jen and her mother Jean picked up Marie at the SLC airport and brought her to my daughter Erin's home about the same time that I arrived there from CA. Doesn't Marie look great for someone who had been up and traveling for 24 hours!!

It was great to meet these three blog friends in real life.Erin made us a good curry chicken dinner and we visited a little while before tucking a very tired but excited Marie into bed.
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Sat. Feb. 7th

We knew that Marie would be really tired so we planned an easy day for Saturday. We went to visit the campus of BYU where Marie bought a BYU sweatshirt for Todd. After that we all went out to dinner at Tucanos, a Brazilian B-B-Q which is one of our favorite restaurants. I don't have any pictures because Marie is very camera shy. I listened to her and didn't take pictures that first day we were together..... but I ignored her the rest of the trip. Aren't you glad that I did?

Sun. Feb 8th Sunday morning Patrick, Erin, Marie, John and I got up early and drove into SLC to take Marie to the television broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word put on by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. After this wonderful broadcast the choir sang "God be with you 'til we meet again".

Marie and I cried like babies. Even though we had just begun our week together we realized that before we knew it our time together would be over and we would have to go our separate ways again. However, we all loved attending the choir broadcast.

After the broadcast was over at 9:30 a.m. we drove over to Pres. Hinckley's grave. It was touching for both of us to be at the grave of this prophet of God that we loved so much.

Then we drove up the hill to the This is the Place monument.

This was the place that the Mormon pioneers came through the Rocky mountains into the Salt Lake Valley after they had been persecuted and driven out of their homes in Illinois. They traveled with hand carts and wagons across the country to this valley. At this spot Brigham Young look out and told them that this was the place they would stop and make their homes.

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It was windy and cold and we were freezing. However, it made us even more appreciative of the sacrifices pioneers made in that historic trek.
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After sight seeing we continued on to my daughter, Lynell's home. We went to church with her family and then had a delicious dinner together.
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Mon. Feb. 9th

A blizzard raged outside but we piled into the car anyway and went back down to Salt Lake to do more sight seeing.

We had a nice day together and saw many wonderful historic places.
Here we are having lunch in the Lyon House which was one of Brigham Young's homes.

We also toured the Conference Center and the Beehive House that day.
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Tues. Feb. 10th

Marie's friends Lenis and Dick picked us up early and drove us to Sun Valley, Idaho to attend the Special Olympics World Winter Games.

It is called Sun Valley but it was freezing.

The high for the days we were there was between 7 and 12 degrees.

I think it should be renamed Snow Valley.

That first day we did not get to see Eileen. The Canadian team did not attend the family party and the coach would not let Marie even see Eileen for a minute to give her a hug. We were sad but it all turned out OK because Marie got to see Eileen and have a nice visit the next day. We were so happy when we found out we could see her. It was an answer to all of our prayers.

Wed. Feb. 11th Marie got to see Eileen before her 1k race. It was a wonderful reunion.

She had not seen Eileen for 2 1/2 years.

Eileen was competing in cross country skiing against 200 other special athletes

from all over the world. She did great in every race.

After the race her coach let her come into the lodge and visit with us.

In this shot above Eileen is looking at the pictures we took of her during the race and awards.

Here she shows us the gold and bronze medals she had won in the first two races.

It was wonderful to watch Marie and Eileen together.

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Thurs. Feb. 12

Eileen won another gold medal in the 1k relay team race.

She is such a sweet girl. I was so happy to get to meet her.
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Before the race on Thurs. Lenis, Dick, Marie and I enjoyed sight seeing in the lovely little village of Sun Valley. Everyone was so nice to us.

We had a lovely lunch in the club house lodge and waited for the race.

We were all delighted that Eileen got another gold medal.

Then all too soon it was time for Marie to bid Eileen goodbye.

You can imagine how hard it was for Marie to say goodbye to this dear daughter.

However the memories of this trip will warm Marie's heart forever.

We reluctantly left beautiful Sun Valley and drove about 5 hours back to Utah.

We were all tired and ready for bed when we arrived back at Lynells that night.

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Fri. Feb 13th
(I just now realized that it was Fri. the 13th.... however.... it was not an unlucky day for us. We had a great time.)

Friday we got up and headed down past SLC to attend the open house of the new Draper Temple. Before an LDS temple is dedicated it is open to the public.
We enjoyed taking the tour through this beautiful temple.


Then we went SLC to Temple Square.
We ate a lovely lunch up in the Garden Room.
We enjoyed this lovely view of the Salt Lake Temple from the restaurant.

After lunch Marie wanted to go down and touch the temple.
She wanted to touch the building that the pioneers sacrificed to build and worked on for 40 years to complete. We also took a tour of the humanitarian center. I will tell you about that in another post.

We then headed back to Lynell's to make dinner.

We were excited to have our own personal Chef Marie cook dinner for us.

Lenis, Dick and some of my family come up to join us.

In the picture above Lenis is helping Marie with the salad.

We had a lovely dinner and a great time.

However, it was over too soon.

Marie left with Dick and Lenis.

We cried when we said goodbye. I knew that we would. I had bought Marie some pretty heart covered tissues to wipe her tears.... but I was so sad that I forgot to give them to her...duh.

She spent the night with Lenis and Dick . They took her to the airport the next morning. She got to visit with her friend Nicole from Poppins who had been a nanny in England while she was at their home.

Sat. Feb. 14th

Marie started her long journey home. She arrived back in England Sunday morning.

I was so sad to say goodbye to my sweet Marie but I am happy that I got to spend a week with this lovely lady. She is just as wonderful in real life as she is on her blog.

I will always cherish the memories of this fantastic week we shared.

It was wonderful in every way.

Thank you Marie.... I miss you.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY & Marie trip #2

February is such a special month.

It is so nice that the month of Love follows January.

Even though January is the month of new beginnings... which is special in it's own right.... I always feel a little let down in January. It is the month have to say goodbye to family who were visiting for the holidays, .... put away all my Christmas decorations... clean my house... and start on another diet. Somehow January is not my favorite month.

...but.... then comes February.

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I love February!

How lovely that we have a special month dedicated to love.

It is a special time to think of those we love.

It is a time to thank our Heavenly Father for our families and friends.
Our Valentines day started out with a wonderful breakfast prepared by my daughter Lynell.

We also enjoyed some yummy treats that were left by the Valentine Fairy.

There was a blizzard raging outside but we were warm and cozy and our hearts were filled with love and thanksgiving.

Our day was busy. We attended Jalen's soccer game and then traveled about 75 miles to Johnny's pre-state gymnastics meet. Tonight after the meet, we all met at Erin and Patrick's home for a late night Valentine's dinner.

The meet and awards ran late into the night but Erin and Patrick had a delightful dinner of heart shaped sandwiches, made with bread Patrick had made earlier today, and homemade soups waiting for us.

We were cold and tired and this sweet dinner warmed our bodies and our hearts.

My heart is tender as I think of all of the love that
I have witnessed this week.

I am thankful for my sweetheart of 44 years.

He is a good person and a dear husband.
As you know, I have been in Idaho with my sweet blog friend, Marie this past week.
I think that Marie and I are bless that her Todd and my John supported us in our Idaho adventure.

I am thankful for the blog friends that I have made all over the world. It was special to get to meet Marie, Jennifer and Jean this week. I wish that I could meet all of you.
Blog friends touch my heart and warm my life.
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Being with Marie was like watching love in action.
Marie is one of the most loving and caring people I have ever met.
While she has had difficult obstacles to overcome in her life that would make some people bitter, she is filled with love for others and appreciation for all of her blessings. Here she is greeting her daughter, Eileen for the first time in 2 1/2 years. How sweet it was for me to be a part of their reunion.
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I was also blessed to meet Lenis and Dick this week.
They served a mission in England and became friends with Marie while they were there.

They drove Marie and me to Idaho to the World Winter Special Olympic games. This was a blessing because this CA gal would have probably slid off the icy roads and Marie and I would have landed in a ditch in the middle of nowhere.
They are wonderful people.... gold from head to toe.

I feel like they are family now.

I am thankful for good people like Lenis and Dick.
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Everyone we met in Sun Valley, Idaho was friendly and kind.
One restaurant owner saw us standing outside his door, freezing cold, reading the sign that said he opened for dinner in one hour. He opened the door, invited us in to get warm, and served us dinner even though we were there an hour early. I think that the restaurant was called Rico's Pasta... or something like that. If you are in Sun Valley go and eat there. The food was delicious and the service outstanding.


Every one welcomed us and the hundreds of other visitors from around the world with open arms. The smile and graciousness of this clerk was typical of all we met in Idaho.
My heart was touched and I was thankful for the good examples they all set for our foreign visitors.
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The volunteers at the World Winter Games were wonderful too.

This is Erin, one of the many volunteers. As soon as I entered the rest tent she met me with a warm blanket to warm me up. Then she brought me a hot chocolate to drink.

These are two volunteer that announce the winners and give the medals. Like many others they were out in the freezing cold weather for hours. Mind you the temperature was between 7 and 12 degrees all week.... and yet they greeted us all with smiles and kindness on every turn.
Their giving attitudes showed love in action.
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The athletes at the games all showed love for each other.

Eileen brought some of her fellow athletes to meet her mother and us.
They were all so sweet and loving.

No matter who was competing or who won they all were sincerely delighted with each other. If a fellow competitor fell or got discouraged they were there on the spot to encourage and lift.

My eyes welled with tears as I witnessed the love these special athletes had one for another.
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This week I visited the LDS Humanitarian Center and witnessed acts of love on a scale that I never knew existed before.

I knew that our church does humanitarian service around the world but since the church never publicizes it , I never dreamed it was on such a large scale. I will tell you more about it on another post.

This is Sister Rader from southern CA,who is serving her mission at the Humanitarian Center.

I am sad that I did not get a picture of her sweet face. I thought that I did.

Here she is telling Marie and me about the work that goes on in the center.
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I witnessed love in action in my own family.

Can you find my 20 year old grandson, Jordan in this picture?

We had a snow storm over night.

We woke up to this scene.

I looked outside and found my Jordan out shoveling snow for us

without even being asked.
That is love in action and I appreciate this sweet young man.

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As you can see, I have had love shown all around me this week.

I am blessed and I am so thankful.

I will post more about my week with Marie on a later post... so stay tuned.

I started this post last night while we were at Erin's home.

It is now Sunday Morning and I must get ready for church.

This will have to do for my Sunday Six this week. That is o.k. because I am sure that you can tell from this post that I have had much to smile about.

I hope that all of you had a joyous Valentine's Day too.

Please tell me about the love you have witnessed in your life.

Have a good week. Love, Lura

My Sunday Six with Marie trip # 1

Okay....Okay.... You don't have to tell me.

I know it is not Sunday.

It is Wednesday.

So I am either 3 days late for my Sunday Six or 4 days early. You can decide which it is. Actually it could be either because I wasn't able to post last Sunday and I may not be able to post next Sunday.

However I am with Marie, my dear blog friend from A Year from Oak Cottage and I have been smiling so much my cheeks are sore. This week has been a dream come true for me. Let me tell you about some of the things I have been smiling about

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1. Friday night I got to meet not just one but three blog friends in real life.

Marie flew into Salt Lake City from England last Friday evening. She came to see her daughter, Eileen compete in the World Winter Special Olympics. Jennifer of Tatertots and Jello and her mother, Jean of Quincy Cottage picked Marie up at the airport and brought her to my daughter Erin's home about the same time that I arrived there from CA.

It was a WONDERFUL meeting.

My 3 blog friends (and my daughter )are just as sweet in real life as they are on their blogs. I was smiling from ear to ear. If you don't know these ladies hop on over to their blogs and meet them. They are lovely people. Knowing them will put a smile on your face too.

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2. Tuesday we arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho to attend the Special Olympics.

Enough said..... smile...smile...smile3. Two of Marie's friends, Dick and Lenis ,drove Marie and me from Utah to the Idaho games.

This was a great blessing to me and really made me smile. A blizzard had come down in Utah on Monday and this CA girl was really nervous about driving to Idaho in the snow on icy mountain roads. Marie's friends volunteered to drive us and I was smiling the whole 5 hours of the trip.
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4. Every thing about the Special Olympics makes me smile.

We arrived safely and are so excited to be here.



This is a great event. All of the volunteers are amazing. It was 12 degrees today. They may have been freezing out in the cold all day but their spirits were warm and friendly.

Eileen is competing in cross country skiing. There are 34 countries represented. It is really exciting to be here and be a part of this wonderful event.


Marie, Lenis and I are like three peas in a pod. I have been delighted getting to know these sweet ladies better and amazed at how much we are all alike.
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5. Hand warmers and hot chocolate make me smile.

Before we left Utah my Erin told us to buy hand warmers. THANK YOU ERIN!!! They saved my life today. These amazing little packets stayed hot all day long. I had them in my gloves, my snow boots and under my earmuffs. We were at the venue from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. I surely would have had frost bite if it were not for these warmer-upper thingies.
Hot chocolate helped a lot too. I must have been looking like an icicle because a nice man from the lodge came out to the patio and brought me a hot chocolate. It warmed me up and made me smile.

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6. Eileen makes me smile.

You will never meet a sweeter person than Marie's Eileen.

After winning 1st place in the Canadian Nationals she has trained 2 hours a day all year long getting ready to represent Canada in these world games.

Yesterday she won a gold medal. Today in the 1K she competed against 200 other athletes and won a bronze medal. We were so happy for her.

Here she is with her mom and her coach.

Here she shows us her medals.... Can you tell than mom was bursting her buttons?

Tomorrow she competes in the relay race. After the race, Dick and Lenis will drive us back to Utah. I am sure that all of us will be smiling for years to come as we think about this wonderful event that we have shared together.

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I may not get much computer time for a few days but I will be back soon to drop in on you and say hello. Until then I am sending all of you my best.

Love, Lura