Guest Post: Sweet Violets by Drama Queen

Yesterday was a pretty crazy day!  Most of us slept in for part of the morning, but then we were up and working hard to help Mom and Dad clean and organize their bedroom.  My job was to go through our insanely large game collection and toss out the games missing too many pieces or that we just never play.  We went from about 200 board and card games down to about half that.  (Told you it was insane!)

After lunch, some of us went back to work and the little kids all ran about to their Jr. Jazz games.  I got sent to run an errand while Princess cooked up dinner and the family went to clean the church, then we all packed into the van to scurry down to our cousin’s Senior Ballroom Dance Showcase.

 It was awesome!  Twinkle-Toes (Mom’s not the only one who gets to come up with Blog names, right?) and his lovely partner did a fantastic job.  They planned the whole night and did a great job.  Baby Doll was on my lap most of the time and she was totally fascinated – it’s a completely different style of dance than she usually sees, after all.  It was a great experience. 

On the ride down, Mom and Baby Doll had been singing some of her songs from pre-school when I piped up that she should sing “Sweet Violets.”  It was a song that Mom’s Mom taught her and that I’ve never heard anywhere else.  Since we have smart phones now, we of course had to look it up, and found out that it was originally sung by Dinah Shore.  I love listening to Mom’s version, but I couldn’t get her to sing it for my camera, so here’s the original. 



The only thing it's missing are the words that we sing that actually rhyme. Like in back of the barn he gave her a kiss, not a lecture...

The best part of days like today is that it’s a simple day that will inevitably linger in our good memories – it had all the things that are most important to our family: service, supporting each other, sports, and sharing memories. It was a good day. How has your weekend been?

Birthday Lunch

Teach had the day off because she is working on Saturday this week. When she found out her schedule, the first things she said was, "Want to go to lunch for your birthday?" I don't know about you, but I love going out to eat for several reasons. First of all, I don't do it very often, so it is still a real treat. Second, it means no cooking and no dishes, two of my favorite things! Third, when one of my kids invites me, I feel loved and appreciated because I know how hard they work for their money.

Teach even invited along Baby Doll and Drama Queen and we all headed for Jason's Deli. I had never been there before, but Teach had and she said the best part was the salad bar and the free ice cream. I definitely have to agree with her. I wasn't all that fond of the sandwich I chose, but she brought me back a little bowl with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. Then Drama Queen slipped back to the salad bar and got me a little cup of crushed almonds to spread over it.

Love those mandarin oranges!

OK, I confess, I ate two little cups of ice cream and wrapped my sandwich up and brought it home for my sweetie. (He ate it right up, so I think it was just me.) Next time we go there, I think I will just take the salad bar and even forgo the croutons so I can eat the ice cream.

Did I mention the ice cream is free with a purchase?

My favorite price. Thanks, Teach! It was a lovely lunch.

Guest Blog: Testimony Almost Built By Elder Dog Walker

I know it's been a very long time since I got to guest blog about how my mission is going. It's going really successful as I feel pretty sure that's all what you expect. I may have already told all of you before that I extended my mission to go from January 2014- June 2015. For a Service Missionary, it's usually a one year mission, but I decided to extend because it would be awkward to end it right in the middle of the school year with the seminary children. So I decided to serve until the end of their school year. That would work a lot better than ending in January. What do y'all think?

Anyway, I also wanted to tell you that throughout the mission, a testimony is starting to build up. I want to explain it, but it'll be the same thing as I written to my mission president. I hope you don't mind what I said and I also hope you enjoy the letter.

1/28/15

Dear President Happy,

Here I am again. I promised to you that I would tell you more about my testimony and this will be the one that would work for this week. The mission is going really great. It feels like it’s been a blessing to me. The seminary kids really like it when I come. I wish there were a time that you would get to meet the children, but I know you’re busy with other Church service. I paid my tithing, but I didn’t give it to Heavenly Father’s servant yet. I just need to remember to give it to him.

My family and I are reading Ezekiel as the last one and counting that as reading all of the Old Testament. It was amazing last night when we were reading Ezekiel 40, it was talking about how a temple should be built. After we’re done reading Ezekiel, we’re going back to reading the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is true and it’s another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that families are meant to be together for eternity.

I should at least know that I can be able to change the world more and so can every other servant of Heavenly Father. Most times, I feel like I’m doing the wrong thing, probably because I’m being tempted every time. But sometimes, I feel like I’m doing the right thing. Maybe I just need to listen more to the still small voice and then I’ll know how I’m feeling each day.

I just want to testify to you, President Happy that I know that the Church is true and I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live in the Celestial Kingdom and my family and I want to go there together forever. I’m also grateful that Gamer and Bossy would be sealed for all eternity, like Heavenly Father had promised. I’m also grateful that I’ll be able to know that I can do temple work for the dead, especially endowments and initiatories. Hope to hear back from you soon.

Sincerely,

Elder Dog Walker

P.S. Sister Drama Queen’s getting prepared for a mission.

 

Medical Surgery Dolls

Last week Drama Queen spent many hours at Beauty and The Beast's house while they were in Florida on a work trip. She was just hanging out with the dog and cat and cutting out little brown people for me. Well, they aren't really for me.

She took the fabric we used to make Goblin Valley for the Engagement back in November and cut over a hundred little people to be used for surgical dolls. It was quite a task that made her fingers ache, but she was happy to help with our service project.

It's actually 3 little service projects. Tomorrow my Activity Days girls are going to stuff and sew the openings closed of as many little dolls as they can in just over an hour. Then on Friday we will do the same thing with the Girl Scouts.

On February 13, Princess is going to take all the dolls we have left and use them for her FACS introduction project at Bingham for her FCCLA Star Event. I've never actually done this project before, but I understand that Primary Children's Medical Center uses them for each child who has surgery and they mark out the procedure on the doll first with a Sharpie.

This helps the children understand what is happening to their bodies. Thankfully, I've never had to receive one of these. Have any of you?