Raspberry Days

Oh we have been lucky little kids the past few weeks.  I don't know enough about gardening to know why, but some years are on years and some years are off years for my raspberry bushes.  This year is an on year.  From the oldest to the youngest, we are berry lovers. 

 

It's a fight every day to see who gets to pick the most berries and even little Molly gets in on the action.  I think all this berry picking has been good for her dexterity.  She's pretty good at pinching those little berries and popping them right in her mouth.

 

She's also pretty good at sneaking into baskets and stealing them all in a little fistful. 

 

We've made 12 bottles of raspberry jam and all kinds of raspberry desserts and loved every bite of it.   We don't mind if raspberry days last a little longer this year.

Once

 Little Precious Peanut.  Eleven.  I'd like to say she's just growing like crazy, but she's really not.  We need to break out the cream and butter diet for this teensy babe.  She is, however, getting older right before our eyes.  Life with Molly at 11-months is:

-A lot of stair climbing.  She makes an escape for them every chance she gets.  She's pretty good at going up.  Last night she climbed them while carrying three of Annie's shoes and tonight it was three forks.  She even knows not to go down, but she rocks her little knees right on the edge waiting for someone to grab her and it gives me heart attacks.  This month, we are going to teach her to turn around at the top and go backwards.

 
-She takes a few steps here and there, but is a ways from really being a walker.

-She loves it when we put her in her bed at night.  She grabs her pink bunny, snuggles up to her soft silk blankie, and then rolls over to her mobile so you will turn on the sounds.  She still wakes up some at night, but she goes back to sleep pretty easily.

-She added a new word to her vocabulary - cukoo.  She loves the cukoo clock at Grandma's house and can say cukoo when she wants to hear it sing - which is about every other minute.

-She likes music and dancing.  I always love the bouncing to music stage.  It's just so cute when their little bums bounce up and down.

-Her favorite game is peek-a-boo.  It always makes her smile.  She can also play pat-a-cake and blow kisses and point to people in response to "Where's Dad/Cole/Annie/Ben/Mom?" questions.

Oh Darlin', don't you ever grow up.  We just adore you to pieces, Baby Sue.

-

Things I Miss #35: Childlike Faith

Faith was so much easier when I was a child and sometimes I miss my childlike faith.  It came so easily when you believed all Bishops were perfect, all choices were black and white, everyone who made bad choices was evil, and the church itself, if not the people in it, was perfect.  Sometimes, I think my parents were too good and made life look too easy.  I have a pretty blessed life myself, but it is disillusioning to look around at my friends and neighbors and family and see the things they struggle with.  Somehow, it's easy as adults to lose sight of our faith.  I don't pretend to know exactly what faith is or what the best way to nourish it, but as an adult, I've found my faith is different.  When I was a child, I doubted nothing.  As an adult, I try not to be too skeptical, but some things and some people just pull the skepticism from wherever I've tried to bury it.  

I've been serving in the Primary for almost three years.  I don't really ever want to serve any where else.  I love being surrounded by the faith of children and just teaching the simple doctrines of the gospel.  Last year, we spent the summer memorizing the Articles of Faith any my faith was strengthened as I reviewed the simple basics of the gospel.  The songs we sing teach such profound truths and doctrine and I know the children will learn so much about the gospel through the Primary songs.  We never have to wade into anything too controversial in Primary..  I guess in some ways wading through controversy is necessary, but I feel happier when I focus on the basics and don't worry too much about the details (that's kind of my general approach to life, so I guess it's no surprise).  I know the scriptures teach that we should become as little children and I've found the best way for me to do that is to be surrounded by them.  On my best days, my faith is solid and secure and never doubting.  On other days, I feel tossed about with every wind of doctrine.  Even on my worst days, I feel like I've seen too much evidence of God and the truthfulness of the gospel to deny it and I don't have to look far to see how much happiness comes by choosing to follow gospel principles and the teachings of our prophets.  I'm forever grateful for the lessons I've learned in life, but when I'm surrounded by children, I miss having faith that had never been doubted or tested.

Things I Miss #34: The Blazer

When Floyd was in high school, his family restored an old Chevy Blazer.  It was a fun vehicle.  While we were dating, we went on many mountain rides in that thing, sometimes even with the top off.  It was a lot like riding in a jeep.  It was a beast.  I'm sure the gas mileage was horrific, but I had a lot of fun on those drives.  It got sold somewhere along the way and I miss it.  Maybe I don't miss the actual Blazer as much as I miss the freedom to just take off on a three hour drive on hidden canyon roads snuggled up next to my boyfriend - it's hard to say.  Either way, I told Floyd that for my 40th birthday, I'd like a jeep.  By then, I think our kids will be old enough to sneak away on a drive together.  Of course, the bad news is that by then I will also have teenagers and it won't be long until they try to borrow my jeep to take their friends on rides, a thought which leaves me with heart palpitations.  So maybe my 55th birthday when they are all grown up.  I guess we'll see. 

Things I Miss #33: Back to School

I don't know that I actually miss going back to school, but I definitely miss the preparation for it.  I loved back-to-school shopping.  New notebooks.  New Trapper Keepers.  New colorful pens and pencils.  New bags or backpacks.  New shoes.  New clothes.  Even new underwear.  It was just so much fun to get all that new stuff and lay it out.  In our family, back-to-school shopping always involved a trip to Ogden and both the Ogden City Mall and the Newgate Mall.  Sometimes we made it to Layton and even Salt Lake.  I loved those days.  I loved stopping by the bank to cash our hard-earned farm money on the way and having a whole wad of cash that was mine all mine.  I loved planning out new outfits and choosing the all important first day of school outfit.  I loved the back-to-school fashion shows my sisters and I would hold for my mom and grandma.  I loved organizing my bag and supplies.  And I really loved imagining the new school year and all its possibilities.  Really, it was a great time of year.  It's been so fun to have kids and get to participate in the back-to-school shopping fun again.  I think I go a little crazy, especially with the supplies - they are sooooo cheap during back-to-school shopping.

Things I Miss #32: Grandpa Johnson

My two grandpa's were so very different.  While my Grandpa Max seemed larger than life, Grandpa Johnson was like a calm summer breeze.  He was such a quiet strength and a peaceful influence in my life.  As a child, I enjoyed his easy-going nature and simplicity.  As an adult, I'm amazed at his life and some of the things he did.  He lived his life as a farmer and worked hard to support ten kids and when a fire doused those dreams, he and my grandma started over.  I can't imagine the courage they needed as they left the only life they'd ever known and moved their family to a new state while they pursued college degrees.  If I'm ever frustrated by my life not going my way, I always reflect on the choice they made when dealt a tough hand.  

 

 

He never sought the spotlight, but lived his life quietly doing good deeds.  He had a big smile, a great laugh, and always something nice to say.  I never saw him speak a single cross word.  I never saw him grumpy.  He calmly faced whatever challenges came his way.  He was such a sweet and kind soul.  I'll never forget the last couple of times I visited with him when he knew his time left on earth I was short.  He was so happy to be reunited  with his parents and other loved ones.  When my time on earth is short, I'll be happy to be reunited with him. 

Things I Miss #31: My Room

I kinda like my privacy.  Actually, I really like my privacy.  Growing up, I spent a lot of time down in my basement room just thinking or reading or who knows what.  I really liked having my own little domain.  I remember being so excited when my dad finished the basement and I got to have my own bedroom.  I loved my own space and I especially liked decorating and re-decorating it and re-arranging my furniture every couple of months.  I loved it down there.  For a basement room, it was actually bright and sunny and nobody really bothered me down there.  One spring, I got sick of the shrubs outside my window and ripped them all out.  After that, I always planted Geraniums out my window.  I loved looking at them.  Kelli's room was right next door, but she was really scared of the basement pretty much the entire time she lived at home, so it was often just me in the basement.  I liked that. 

When my kids are all demanding - I mean politely requesting - my attention at the same time, I really miss my old room and the quiet of it.  I could really use a place like it some days.