The twigs trump Moab with Temple Square...

The twigs wait with bated breath for this day to come each year. Yes, one would think I'm referring to Christmas but it's actually the Annual Stake Temple Square Clean-up Day. They even convinced us to give up our Moab vacation in October to be home for this event. We're pushovers for the twigs so we acquiesced and then had the great luck of being able to attend the Clean-up as well.

There was a huge gathering of people from all along the Wasatch Front to clean up beds and pull the summer/fall flowers, then get the beds ready for winter planting. What an operation!

This planter had been completely full of geraniums, parsley, dahlia's, etc. just an hour earlier.
 

We put the plants in garbage bags, then turned over and raked the soil. These handy dandy little trucks would carry our garbage to large dumpsters outside of Temple Square.

Our girlie had a good story about a little truck like this. She had been standing by a planter, opening a garbage bag, when she heard one of the people in charge ask for a volunteer. No one responded so they asked a second time. She's a little shy but was brave enough to speak up and say she'd help. Turned out they needed someone to ride along in the little truck, carrying the bags to the dumpsters. It was the job all the rest of us wanted. Kudos girlie, for speaking up!   :)

There was plenty of fun shenaniganizing going on too, like trying to put things in Hunter's hood. 

Friends helped me catch a snapshot or two.

 

After all the clean-up the kids got to have a pizza party. Good times!  :)

A kleptomaniac named Rascal...

When our first twig made his appearance and we were deciding on a name, I was all alone with my opinion.

I totally loved the name Rascal Striker Branch. What a fantastic name! C'est vrai? 

Yeah, no one else thought so either, which means I've been waiting 18 years to get my "Rascal." 

Recently, we added our new family member (HERE) and everyone agreed he looked like a Rascal!

He's a busy guy being a kleptomaniac of things he finds on beds, in trash cans, by bathtubs, in closets...

...if he's not got us playing "kick the tennis ball for me to chase 200 times a day 'cause I never ever get tired of chasing tennis balls 'cause I'm wonkers for tennis balls!" 

"Rascal" is the perfect name for this guy.   :)

Googly eyes and a grocer's daughter...

We were in our neighborhood grocery store at Thanksgiving time, everyone armed with their list of items to grab then convene in the produce department. As we met up, one by one, we all came with stories of googly eyes. 

They were everywhere! 

That's an excited doughboy! One can only guess that someone with too much time on their hands had a heyday adhering googly eyes to anything and everything in sight.

This one was a little creepy but still pretty comical to us. (Okay, okay, in our defense we had been running on precious few hours of sleep right then so we were an easy audience.)

Our favorite of all was Bessy!    :)

I grew up as a grocer's daughter so have to admit I felt a twinge of guilt for laughing at all the shenaniganizing that had gone on with someone's livelihood...but I just couldn't help myself. I'd totally LOVE to buy cottage cheese with a googly eyed cow on the label - wouldn't you?    :)

The lower lights...

I was writing to my twig, Elder Branch, when the song Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy played on Grooveshark. It's a men's chorus version and I LOVE it. The last verse says:

"Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;

Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor,

In the darkness may be lost."

 

Found this cover of the song online and it even includes the background story - too cool!

Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy 

 

It made me all warm inside thinking of my Zac in North Carolina trimming his lamp, trying to help those who are tempest-tossed find their way to the peace of the Lighthouse Master, The Savior. How I love my boy!

Made me think of all those around us who trim their lamps, trying to do His work. We're grateful for you!    xoxo

"Every boy (child) should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one." -anonymous

We've had the two best dogs in all of history.    :)

"There is only one smartest dog in the world, and every boy has it."      -anonymous

Plaid was a handsome, gentle boy who was balm to our aching hearts when we were wanting children.

 "A house is not a home until it has a dog."     -Durrell

Then there was Kipper. He didn't bark, he bayed. I'd never heard such a sound, except maybe on hound dog movies like "Where the Red Fern Grows." I loved it!



"No symphony orchestra ever played music like a two-year-old girl laughing with a puppy."      -Williams

After Kipper left us to chase cats in that big field in the sky (here) we decided to begin searching for another dog to call our own.

"Every boy (child) who has a dog should also have a mother, so the dog can be fed regularly."     -anonymous

After a few weeks we came across this boy at a rescue shelter. He was just 9 months old which was way more puppy than we were looking for but there was something about those beautiful brown eyes...

"I shall call him Squishy, and he shall be mine, and he shall be my Squishy."     -Dory

He came home with us on a foster to adopt arrangement and was a total keeper! Now we need to decide on a name...oh and get a dozen more tennis balls. He's totally wonkers for tennis balls! 

A Pelton Wheel and a yurt...

UEA weekend we'd hoped to escape to our beloved rock heaven in the desert of Moab but the twigs trumped that plan so we looked for closer and quicker escapes. Our very fun Scottie and April always have at least 3 great ideas ready at the blink of an eye and had carved out a few days to escape with us. They knew of an amazing little place in Southeastern Idaho and away we went to Oneida Narrows Reservoir.

On the banks of the Reservoir is an "off the grid" little hot springs called Maple Grove and was my first encounter with homemade power. I found it very interesting. They used a Pelton Wheel to garner power from water as well as using solar panels and a windmill. Pelton Wheels are noisy! (The Pelton Wheel and windmill are in the bottom left corner.)

That first night we hopped in the hot pool at 10:00 pm and stayed till after midnight. It was perfect! Then we made the mad dash back to the yurt and learned that a little power at midnight to heat a cold yurt is totally fantastic! Did I say Pelton Wheels are noisy - I take it all back, never heard a thing.

Did I say yurt? Why yes, yes I did. Sleeping in a yurt has been on my bucket list for years and it was so much fun I may have to do it again, sans boxelder bugs.   :)

We went for a little ramble out yonder and met this big friendly dog named Diesel. He helped ease our longing for sweet Kipper and made us think maybe we could love another dog.

Scott and April know how to play and come well prepared!  (The Mr. and I think that's the cutest little trailer for two.)

They are also completely generous which tickles the twigs who didn't stop smiling.

Thanks Scottie and April for your rockin' ideas and for being fabulous you!   xoxo

December roses...

There's a saying that's been much on my mind the last few days, something about roses in December. I looked it up and this is it's origin: “God gave his children memory, that in life’s garden there might be June roses in December” (C. Anketall Studdert-Kennedy).

Our June (actually October) roses looked like this.

 Our December roses are yummy and in bottles.

The very best thing about our December roses is that they are soft so this little girlie can eat them.

She was cursed with incredibly obstinate teeth. None of her baby teeth wanted to make their appearance and once they were here they just wouldn't leave. Now the permanent teeth have picked up the obstinate ball and are running with it.

She's had surgery on her mouth 4 times this year to hook all kinds of buttons and brackets onto "said teeth" so they could be coaxed into place. The last surgery was the day before Thanksgiving so she's back to eating those December roses.

What a curse I keep thinking...but I've watched enough of you, dear family and friends, endure and grow through great difficulty, heartache, and pain, to make me wonder if this is...dare I even say it...a blessing.

I noticed our girlie's wall in her room when I was putting something in her closet on Monday. It looks like this...

It's filled with sayings like, "If God brought you to it, He will bring you through it" and, "If life gets too hard to stand, Kneel."

Might it be that this pain and hardship is her catalyst to continue building her relationship with God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus the Christ.


I also noticed that the only "guy" picture hanging on her wall was Him.

(Thanks, Sister White, for the beautiful picture!)

I'm grateful for my sweet girlie, for our December roses, for Acetaminophen, and for Him. xoxo

Christmas village...and the Gift...

The Mr.'s leg has been doing well enough we were able to make our annual Christmas Villlage - hurray! This tradition started many years ago when the twigs were just tiny.

 
We've had many "guest villagers" join us and have loved their creative ideas.

Like Grandma, and Katie...

and Liz...

and Joe...

and Katie...

and Katie.   :)
Don't know where Keith was in this picture but it looks like little Charlie is making a "bump" appearance.


We've had a wide variety of themes, like our  "Tree House Village" pictured above for the year we went to Oregon's Tree Houses on vacation and the "San Juan Islands Village" below, for our Washington adventure.

The "Redwoods Village" the year we were going to explore the Redwoods in Northern California...

and last year the theme was "guess where Zac will be going on his mission."

This year the theme was "Yellowstone in Winter" (not for an upcoming vacation though it's for sure on our bucket list). Our favorite part this year was our "guest villagers." We had our fantastic Sister Missionaries and some of Hunter's friends join us!

Sister Fortin and Sister Nicolasora stopped by tonight to see the finished project as we were still going strong way after the time they had to leave.

Some of our favorites village creations were Nate's cabin even after it plummeted to the ground. It turned out looking the most "rustic and woodsie" of all and ya gotta dig that wreath.  :)

Old  Faithful was well represented and had a little river flowing out from it complete with a guy on a raft, thanks to Nate.

There's too much to say about Rachel's cabin with her hilarious "domesticated bear pen" and the cutest mailbox ever. Don't ask about the sour patch kids holding hands...     :)

If you know Hunter well, you probably know he loves goldfish crackers, like he believes they and carrots make up a food group all of their own...the "orange" food group, so of course his cabin has goldfish on it. He also made a chariot pulled by...what else...bears!     :)

Liam's circular entry way was the boss! He also had a little slide in the back of his house. Nothing like a little playground to say home in the woods.   :)

Vanessa had creativity all over the place. I love a campfire on a cold evening, and I love village campfires - we've had many - her's was one of my favorite! She also had a slide out of the back of her house complete with her initials.   :)

Em's pretty pathway added lots of interest to an otherwise sparse field of snow but my favorite of her creations...

...was her reindeer on their own little pretzel bench. So cute!!!
Speaking of cute, check out that bomb of a "Grand Prismatic Spring." Sister Fortin came up with the idea of melting Jolly Ranchers in the oven to get the gorgeous color. Beautiful job, Sister Fortin!!




The Mr. had a very manly chimney and some cool roof tiles this year. 

I copied ideas I'd loved from years past with my chairs and porch. Love a nice porch! Oh, and there's my copy of Vanessa's fire - thanks Vanessa.   ;)

Sister Nicolasora is from Manilla, Phillipines so snow and Yellowstone were foreign concepts to her but she got right into the white stuff and made an awesome cabin. Love her sweet little door.  :)

Sister Fortin got us all going on the chimney idea this year - thanks Sister Fortin! She made a sweet fence around her cabin too. The little skiing sour patch kid in the front of her cabin was Nate's contribution as this was the best ski hill around.  :)

Put it all together and here is our "Yellowstone in winter village!"

Before the Sisters left for the evening, they shared this video with us, because as fun as the holidays and villages and presents for friends and family are...the very best gift...the first gift...was Him.    xoxo

He is the Gift