Sunday Smiles

This has been a hard week for me.
My daughter Lynell is still not well.
Day after day she has remained ill not able to pass the kidney stone.
This worries and grieves me.
...
My dear friend, Marie from Oak Cottage, lost her job as a private chef on a big estate
Marie has served faithfully for 7 years and has gone the extra mile time and time again.
Oak Cottage is her home as well as her job.
How devastating for her to find herself out of work and homeless.
My heart and concern goes out to Marie and her husband Todd.
...
I didn't really feel like doing a blog about smiles.
Then I read Marie's blog today.
In spite of her tears and concerns she is full of smiles.
You can read her post by clicking on the link above.
It is inspiring and sets an example for me.
...

So, If Marie can post her Sunday Smiles so can I.

I have had much to be thankful for and smile about .

I can't believe that this is the last day of February.

How I love the month of February.
After all it is the month of love.
Of course we should be loving during every month...
...But there is something special about a month that is dedicated to love.
I wonder why such a loving month is our shortest one?
It should be our longest month...don't you agree?

These are two of my special Valentine Friends.

This is Kris and Jan.
Jan took us to high tea at Barbara's Tea House.

It was a beautiful experience and wonderful occasion.

We drank our herb teas and enjoyed delicious food and goodies....
...but the best part was being there with such dear friends. Jan has been very sick for most of the past year. I didn't know if I would ever get to see her again...
much less go to tea with her again.

I am thankful and smiling that Kris brought Jan to CA and I could give her hugs again.

Relief Society makes me smile.
I've been called to be the Day Time Relief Society Leader.
I work with the most amazing board of ladies.

This month we had a Valentines theme of course.
It was a lovely meeting and luncheon.
It made me smile.
...
The Young Women in our ward make me smile.
...and so do their leaders. YW is the organization at church for girls ages 12 to 18.

This past Tuesday was our New Beginnings where we welcome

the girls who will turn 12 this year into our YW program.

We had an amazing program to welcome in our 4 new girls.
Our theme was basketball.

Our girls are in the "Mutual" League.
The teachers were the cheerleaders who had a cheer for each new girl.
The presidency were the coaches giving the team advice on how to play the game.

As the personal progress leader I was the equipment manager who told the girls about all the helps we have for them to be successful.

It was a wonderful evening that was full of smiles.
...
E.J. and Claire make me smile...and so does Austin.
Last night was their school talent show.
It was held in the high school auditorium which was full of
cheering families and fans.
E.J. had been really sick all day....but...
... he managed to go do his part in the show in spite of it.
He played a beautiful piano solo.
Claire did an outstanding job singing "In my own little corner" from Cinderella.

John and I were so happy that we could watch these dear grandchildren perform.
I've been trying to post a little video of Claire singing but I can't get it to work.
I will try again later in the week when it isn't so late.
...
I am thankful that I have had all these things to smile about this week.
With the sad news of the earthquake in Chile... it makes us realize how blessed we are
to be safe and sound.
My heart goes out to them...and to my family and friends who are having difficult times.
I pray for them and send love.
May you all have a good week to come.
Hugs, Grammy Lura
...
P.S. I just this minute found another smile.
I just found my blog friend, Gloria, in Chile is alive and safe.
She says it was a terrible earthquake but she thanks God her family is well.
That really makes me smile!!!!

My Sunday Song and a smile

Today my heart is heavy because my dear daughter Lynell is still sick.

Even though she is getting good care from her family,

I can hardly stand not to be there with her.
How I love this precious girl

and the thought of her being sick and in pain

is hard for me to bear.

So today, since I am not up to doing a Sunday Six smiles,

I've decided to do

A Sunday Song and a Smile.

I can manage that.
...
I pray on a regular basis....morning and night and throughout the day.

However, with this dear daughter sick so far away I find that I am

praying with more earnestness.
I am pleading with my Heavenly Father to bless her....
...to be with her...
...to comfort her and heal her.

...

The feelings of my heart bring to mind one of my favorite hymns...

...which is...

"I Need Thee Every Hour"

Written by Annie Hawkes and Robert Lowry.

...

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like thine, Can peace afford.

...

chorus...I need thee; O I need thee;

Every hour I need thee!

Oh bless me now , my Saviour;

I come to thee!

...

I need thee every hour, stay thou near by;

Temptations lose their power when thou art nigh.

chorus

I need thee every hour, In joy or pain;

Come quickly and abide, or life is vain

chorus

I need thee every hour, Most holy One;

O make me thine indeed, Thou blessed Son!

chorus

...

I do need His blessings every hour.

What a comfort it is to know that even though

I can not be with Lynell at this time...He can!

...

This is my smile for you today.

This darling dog is named is Sally.
She belongs to our friends Nate and Emily.
We visited with them 2 weeks ago when we went to Vegas

to see Johnny's gymnastic meet.

Nate and Emily had 5 quail eggs that hatched out that weekend.

The baby birds adopted Sally as their mother...
...and Sally took her parental responsibilities seriously!
Isn't that so cute!
Sally and her chicks make me smile....
I bet they make you smile too....at least I hope so.
...
Thanks to all of you that have remembered our Lynell in your prayers.
Please continue to do so.
With medication she is able to manage the pain but the hardest part is not knowing
when or if she will be able to pass the kidney stone.
Now she is not sure if the nausea is caused from the illness or the medication.
So...I just wait and pray.
Thanks for your support.
I hope that it is a good week for you.
Hugs, Lura

Prayers appreciated

Dear Blog Friends,

My dear daughter Lynell is very sick today.

She woke up in the wee hours of the morning with extreme pain and vomiting.

The doctor thinks it is kidney stones.

I can relate to what she is going through because I had kidney stones last Sept.

They are very painful even with medication.

I am so concerned about her.

I can't think of anything else.

I can hardly stand to think of her suffering.

I wish I were there with her.

Please remember her in your prayers.

Thanks, Lura

A Valentine's Sunday Smiles

I think that February is such a nice month.

February makes me smile.

I love everything about it.....because it is the month of Love.

John and I always try to be loving with each other....

...No matter what month it is...
...But in February it is especially nice to know

I have a special Valentine that loves me.

I am so blessed to have a sweet husband to

enjoy my retirement years with.
John's love makes me smile.

No mother or Grammy could be more blessed

with dear children and grandchildren than I am.

How I love each of my sweethearts.

I always feel amazed that two ordinary people like John and I could have such beautiful and amazing children and grandchildren.

(And I am not a bit biased...heehee)

They make me smile on Valentine's day and every day.

I love getting together Valentine cards and goodies for friends and family.
I don't give fancy gifts,
but I enjoy taking little gifts of love to those who are dear to me.
I am thankful that I can do this.
It makes me smile

Having Valentine's dinner with Mindy and her family

makes me smile too.
We are thankful that this one daughter lives near us.

All 10 of our other precious grandchildren live out of state.

We miss them terribly. We have to love them from afar.

We feel very blessed that we have this family close to us...

...and...

....we get to be a big part of E.J., Claire and Austin's lives.
...

Most of all I am thankful for the love my Saviour has for us.
I feel His love and support with me every day.
I see little miracles take place around me.
I am a recipient of His "Tender Mercies".

We have a hymn called
"I Stand All Amazed"
which was written by Charles Gabriel.
This hymn expresses exactly how I feel.
I would like to share it with you.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.
Confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me He was crucified,
That for me a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died.
...
Chorus...Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me,
Enough to die for me.
Oh it is wonderful...wonderful to me.
...
I marvel that He would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine;
That He should extend His great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify.
...chorus...
I think of His hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love, and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at His feet.
...chorus..
I do stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers to us.
It is truly wonderful.
That should make all of us smile.

...

You blog friends make me smile too.

Thank you for your support and friendship.

You mean a lot to me.
Have a blessed week.
Hugs, Lura

Sunday Smiles from Las Vegas

I am smiling today because I know that the Lord blessed me this week.

I was the recipient of His "Tender Mercies"

I am thankful.

...

My stomach was misbehaving last Thursday.

I felt yucky....but we serve in the temple each Thursday.

I prayed that I would get my IBS under control so I could do my temple shift.

...

I was blessed and I made it through my 6 hour shift just fine.

I know that was an answer to my prayers.

I am smiling about that.

...

My 13 year old grandson, Johnny, was in an important National Gymnastic meet

this last Fri. in Las Vegas.

I called my daughter, Lynell, Thursday morning

and told her that I was sick and we probably could not make it to Vegas.

However, after making it through our temple shift Thursday,

I prayed that I would feel like traveling to Vegas the next day.

I woke up Friday morning....feeling better...so we started our drive to Vegas.
When we arrived there about 4 hours later I was feeling fine!

We made it to the gym just in time to see all of Johnny's meet.

I was really smiling!

This was the Blackjack Winter Cup.

It was the first time that Johnny has competed at level 9.
It was really an exciting meet for Johnny because he got to watch the

US Olympic team practice and complete there.

He was competing against 65 other boys from all over the country in his division.
It was the first National competition Johnny has been in.
He did well enough at the state level to go to regional last year.

He did well enough at regionals to compete at the National level.
I am so happy that we could be there to support him.
His mom, his sister and John and I made up his cheering section.


This is Johnny on the high bar.
Lynell took better pictures than I could get.
I will post those when I get copies from her.
I was not that close so you have to look hard to see Johnny.

...but if you really try you can almost see him in his red gymnastics's
suit up on the rings.

He did his best routine ever on the rings.

He also got his best score ever on his vault and floor exercise.

However, the competition was fierce....

...a fraction of a point was all it took to place or not place.

He ended up getting 2nd place on the rings....

...and fifth place on the vault.

We are so glad that we could be there to enjoy this special event.

We think it is great that he got two medals at such a big competition.

However, Johnny might have been a bit disappointed.

He is used placing in every event.

I know he tried his best.

I think he would have placed on the high bar ...

...but...

he went for a difficult release move where you let go of the bar and flip over

and catch it again.

None of the other boys I saw tried to do that move.

Unfortunately, Johnny's fingers just missed the bar after his flip and he fell.

He got back up and finished his routine well but

that fall knocked him out of competition.

He probably would have won if he had landed that move.

He can do it when he practices at his gym at home.

It is harder to do in a big competition.

I wonder...

...Is is better to do a solid routine and not fall....

or go for the gold and give it all you've got even if you take a chance of falling???

What do you think?

Our little 597 was one tired boy after the meet.
Needless to say...
We are very proud of him.
...
I have more to tell you about our Vegas trip.
I will do that next time.
I was feeling fine until we started driving home last night.
My dumb stomach started misbehaving when we were about an hour from home.
I was pretty sick again by the time we got home.
I was able to go to the first hour of church today and then
I came home to curl up in bed.
However, I have to smile.
I felt this bad last Thursday morning and thought I would have to stay in bed all day....
but I was blessed to get well enough
to be able to go do my temple shift..
... and go to Las Vegas to see Johnny's meet.
I am thankful.
I have a funny story to tell you next time when I feel better.
I hope this finds you doing well.
Hugs, Lura