Meridian Magazine - Solving Problems and Helping Things Go Smoothly - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views

Meridian Magazine - Solving Problems and Helping Things Go Smoothly - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views

Milestones and Memories

I know the sequence of photos doesn't make sense, but here's a cute little family enjoying Maddyn's first birthday!










Enjoying a perfect sunset with family......priceless!












The last evening at the beach for the season.....














Here's 6 month old Cole enjoying being "upright".
Can't believe how fast he's growing...







....and that Lucy is 5 years old! Isn't she adorable?















Here's Maddyn French, getting ready to eat her first taste of birthday cake for #1 birthday!













Here's a nother fun shot of something....

When I put my mind to it.....

Fifteen years ago we bought this oak table for our "new" house.Over the years it's had it's share of loving bumps and bruises.....

So I decided to clean it up with a new coat of stain and polyurethane.

Here are some pre-striping photos, the process and the results.

In Memory of our Zazsue

Last week we lost our beloved 15 year old mixed terrier, Zazsue. She had 4 seizures since December 29th, but seemed to bounce back quickly after each episode.

On Wednesday, Feb 3rd, she woke up having a difficult time breathing, but still did her normal activities, ate breakfast, and went outside via her 2 doggie doors. By 10:30am she was quite anxious and pacing, then went out the doggie door and promptly collapsed. Over the next 4 hours she would get dizzy when she walked, only able to go 4-5 feet. We decided to call the vet because she was suffering. As a nurse I clearly recognized all the signs of congestive heart failure. Her lungs were filling up with fluid. It was heart-wrenching.
At the vet's office she was treated with such sweet compassion. I held her as Dr. Wynn put her to sleep... finally getting relief from her struggle. We brought her home and buried her in the southeast corner of our yard.


She has been such a sweet blessing to our family. My favorite memory of her is her innate ability to be reverent. When we would have kneeing family prayer, she would get her "rag bone", bring it to the circle, put it between her paws (like she was praying) and suck on it quietly while we prayed. We have missed her friendly greeting at the door since she lost most of her hearing last year. It was a tender mercy we were home with her these last 18 months since returning from Portugal.

She is gone for now, but will never be forgotten.....

"Plain and Simple"

Funny thing happened this week. I was planning to have monthly book club luncheon at my house. Zazsue our 15 year old mixed terrier had 2 seizures in the middle of the night, so I thought, "this is her swan song, we're going to have to put her to sleep". By the next day she was back to her normal self, so I started getting in gear for Book Club. I decided to keep everything "Plain and Simple", which was the book we read this month. My mother gave me a set of dishes 36 years ago that I rarely use, so I thought, "perfect time to get them out". Now, what can I use for a tablecloth on my 31 year old table? Hmmm, let me call Laura. She told me she had 4 quilts I could borrow. I met her half-way at Target. Lo and behold, a quilt that Ryan's grandmother made, was a perfect match with my dishes. A coincidence? Didn't spend a penny on table decor, even had matching cloth napkins!


The Book Club sisters were wowed, told me I raised the bar! How ironic, I am really lacking in those decorating skills. My good friend Tina made some homemade wheat bread and came an hour early to help. How blessed I am!

A Blast From the Past!

Ken and I took advantage of his long weekend break from teaching seminary to drive up to Atlanta. We stopped in Peachtree City,Georgia to see our dear friends, Carol, Fred and Ashley. Ashley is a celebrity of sorts, having just been to NYC to tape a "Tyra Banks" epidsode to increase awareness for "FOP" a degenerative muscle disease. We hadn't seen them in over 10 years, but they are still as young as ever!


From there we traveled to Cumming, Georgia to stay with Jim and Lynda, our daughter's in-laws, and our former mission president and wife. It was a rainy, cold weekend in Georgia, but we spent hours reminiscing about Portugal and our missionaries.


On Sunday afternoon, we drove to Pendergrass, Georgia to spend a couple hours with Jerry and "Aunt Jackie". They related their 3,000 mile trek out west last summer to Idaho and all the significant Church History sites sleeping in their Jeep until they got to Idaho Falls where they traded the Jeep for a motor home. What an adventure they had!

Finally, on our way out of town Monday, we stopped to meet Lourdes, Noah, and Annalisa, the family of Suzanne's boyfriend. It was a delightful way to spend the MLK weekend!

Da dum, da dum da dum da dum. The enemy approaches........




The culprit. (One of hundreds)









The hapless victim, soaking in WARM water.
The oblivious. Hundreds of sting rays frolicking on the other side of the sandbar.