Can't publish my post

Hello blog friends.  I just wrote my Sunday smiles post in Windows Live writer and for some reason I can not get it to publish. I will publish it as soon as windows will let me.  Please check back with me later on.  Thanks

Until then I am sending you hugs.  Have a good week.  Grammy Lura

Happy Birthday Smiles

All of my smiles today are extra special….

…. Because they are Happy Birthday smiles for our dear daughter

Melinda….. or Mindy…. as everyone calls her.

No parents ever had a dearer daughter than our Mindy.

Mindy is beautiful inside and out.

She is truly a rose in the garden of my life.

It was fun planning a birthday dinner for her…. She is easy to please and would have been happy with anything but I wanted to do something special for her. Our menu was…..

Appetizer- Chicken teriyaki lettuce wraps

Strawberry Jell-O cups and fresh pineapple

Grilled Rib eye steaks

Baked potatoes and corn on the cob

Home made rolls and strawberry jam

Grampy’s special guava juice frosty

Birthday cake and ice cream

It was yummy and enjoyed by all.

It was just a small family gathering….. but there was lots of love.

Each child had picked out cards and gifts for their sweet mom….with some help from their dad….

  Mindy loved each one.

She couldn’t think of anything John and I could give her. She needs a new purse and new exercise shoes but she wanted to pick those out herself…. so we gave her a new wallet with some cash.  It was a small package but I wrapped it up 10 times so it took her a while to get it unwrapped.

Our birthday evening ended with us singing happy birthday and Mindy trying to blow out the candles before the kids did. You may have noticed that this is not the same cake as in the first picture. I got her a chocolate fudge cake and Ernie got her a Cold Stone ice cream cake. We decided to eat the ice cream cake and save the fudge cake until later..(unless I eat it first)

I had so much fun planning for Mindy’s birthday this past week. It is wonderful that she lives near by, unlike our other children,  and we can be with her on her birthday.

She is a wonderful daughter….wife…. mother….sister…. person… daughter of God.

She is smart, hard working, loving, religious and kind.

It took Mindy 9 years of trying to get pregnant before she was blessed with her first child. During that difficult time she kept herself busy getting 2 bachelor degrees and a masters degree. She works as a speech therapist helping and teaching children at the same school her little ones attend. That way the kids get to go to school/work with her each day. It is a great arrangement for them.

HAPPY BIRTDAY DEAR DAUGHTER

YOU FILL MY HEART WITH SMILES

I hope that all of you blog friends have had a good week too.

Many hugs, Grammy Lura

 

Sunday Wedding Smiles

We packed a lot into our 10 days in Utah. As you know we got to welcome our Justin home from his mission in Guatemala. The following Friday we also got to attend my great nephew’s wedding and reception.

We all met at the Draper temple on that beautiful Friday morning. The last time I was in this beautiful temple was a few years ago during it’s open house before it was dedicated. My dear blog friend, Marie was visiting from England. After spending a wonderful week with her watching her daughter, Eileen compete  the Special Olympics in Idaho, we took Marie around Salt Lake, showing her as many of the church historical sites as possible. We really enjoyed being able to go through this lovely House of the Lord while she was here.  Being in the Draper temple made me smile.

It was wonderful to be with this sweet couple as they were married for time and all eternity.

After serving as a missionary, Derek joined the military…. and then met Jenessa. They make a darling couple.

Derek is Betsy and Bob’s next to the youngest child. They have one younger son who was not at the wedding because he is serving as a missionary in Thiland. However, the rest of the family was there.

It was great getting to spend some time with my niece, Betsy and all of her family. I don’t get to see them near as often as I would like to… so this day with all of them was special.

After the morning wedding and pictures  at the temple were taken, the family met together for lunch where we visited some more.Three of my nephews and their wives came from Arizona. I was so happy that we got to visit with Tom and Terri, Richard and Cindy……. and…

 

Jim and Joan…. and some of their children. What a treat that was for us because we rarely get to Arizona to visit them. That evening we all attended a beautiful reception.

 

Erin and Lynell enjoyed seeing their cousins and Arizona family too.

At the reception we enjoyed the good food and delicious cake…. and then we had fun dancing the night away.

Of course the bride and groom were darling and the stars of the show….

But I thought Lynell, Loni and the rest of the family were pretty darn cute too. I just loved watching Chad dance with his little boy…..

And Grampy and Loni cutting the rug.

I am happy that we could spend this time with my niece and nephews and their families. It was simply a wonderful day…. and as you can see I was grinning from ear to ear. Smile….smile….smile

I feel really blessed that the kidney stone which had been so painful just the week before had settled down and behaved itself so I could make this trip to Utah and enjoy these special times with family.

I hope that you are all doing well. I’ve enjoyed catching up on reading your blogs this week.  I’m sending hugs to you and wishes for a great week.

 

Sunday smiles

This weekend was a special time for our LSD Mormon faith. It was our semi-annual General Conference where we get to hear from President Monson (pictured above)  and other church leaders. We hear inspiring talks that encourage us to be more Christ like and loving. Conference makes me smile. I love listening to our leaders. If you would like to listen to some of these talks you can do so on your computer by going to lds.org . Everyone could benefit from listening and following their counsel.

One announcement at conference was a big surprise. The church has lowered the age for our young men to become missionaries from 19 to 18 and from 21 to 19 for young women.  Wow! Now our boys can leave right after high school graduation and not wait a year. That means that our Jalen can go sooner if he wants to…. and then get back earlier… and then get into college.

This change of age makes me smile.

As you know we just got back from our wonderful trip to Utah. We got to welcome Justin home from his 2 year mission to Guatemala and visit with family and friends. On top of that, we got to attend my great nephew’s temple wedding. I haven’t down loaded the wedding pictures yet but here are some other things that made me smile.

We arrived on Friday evening. Saturday Erin and I went with our friend, Vicki to visit one of our other friends who has moved from California to Utah. She had a nice home here in CA….. but nothing like the home she has now. It took us over an hour to walk through her huge, 44,000 sq. foot home and look at all of her art treasures.  I am happy that my friend can live in such a beautiful home.  However, after being in her home, my 3,200 sq. foot home seems like a tiny hut in comparison.

Her many acre yard is like being in a park…. complete with a water slide into the pool. I’ve never seen a lovelier home and yard…. and yet my sweet friend would trade places with me. She recently lost her dear husband who was her best friend. All the wealth does not bring her the joy that being with her husband did. She knows that family is far more important than are things. We need to all remember that. No matter what our circumstance, we need to treasure each day that we have with those that we love. Knowing this makes me smile.

We always enjoy being with our grandchildren. Eleven of our 14 grandchildren live in Utah. We can never get enough time with them. Every moment is precious.  I have lots of other pictures to show you. I thought they were in my computer but they aren’t . I will have to find my camera and get them downloaded for next time.

After Justin’s homecoming talk, our grandson, Johnny had a special event take place too. He was advanced in  the Aaronic priesthood. In our faith, worthy young men  receive the Aaronic priesthood at the age of 12 and can be advanced as they learn and serve. We were thankful that we could be there for this advancement. To learn more about the priesthood click here.

I hope that you are doing well. I am doing pretty good. I have pain off and on but I’m doing well in general. Thanks for your concern. I’m disappointed that my kidney stone zap surgery got postponed until November 1st…. but what is….is.

Have a good week.  Many hugs, Lura