Thankful Thursday!

I got the title for today from another blog I read. So the title is not my creation, but it is applicable for today.

This has been an interesting week. Difficult. It was our stake RS leadership last night, and it has been so hard getting prepared for it. All my thoughts have been about Karin, Steve, and their boys...when my thoughts needed to be focused on preparing to teach the sisters. But I was able to focus enough yesterday to finish my preparations as needed, and then I was completely at peace when we met with the sisters last night. The meeting went well. I am thankful that I live in the Rigby East Stake.

Tuesday was especially hard - maybe because that's the day I first read Karin's obituary and some of the online condolences for her. Reality has set in. Having Tuesday night free, I felt I needed to go to the temple for peace and solace - especially if I was going to get through Wednesday night's leadership meeting. I am thankful for temples. They are a place of strength, power, peace.

I am so grateful that over the past few years Karin and I have enjoyed our friendship. It has been a gift. I have confided in her (and in doing so given her some good laughs) and she has been there for me...yet with mutual respect and understanding of the constraints that the busy-ness of life brings. She has had such a significant influence in my life for good. I am thankful for Karin.

What a Weekend!!! (For good and bad)

This weekend has had all the makings for a terrific weekend . It started off with me taking the afternoon off on Friday. The weather was way too nice to be stuck in an office...I've got spring fever to the extreme. After doing a couple of errands, I got home at about 4:00 and went out to work in my garden. (Have I mentioned I want to have a really good veggie garden this year?) I continued working in the garden on Saturday morning by planting the "cool weather" crops.

The weather for the past few days has been phenomenal. Nice, sunny weather....and NO wind. For three straight days!!!!! Love it.

It was also stake conference weekend for the Rigby Idaho East Stake. Stake conference is always very good - and this time was no exception. In addition to the adult session on Saturday night and the general session on Sunday morning, the stake RS presidency, bishops and their wives, and the stake presidency and their wives were invited to a luncheon with the visiting general authority before the Saturday evening session. In addition to that, President and Sister Poston invited me to dinner with them on Sunday afternoon with their family. What a great weekend...with one exception.

The bad part of the weekend - that I will be reeling from for some time - is the death of my friend, Karin. (See post on April 18.) But I am so thankful for the gift of repentance and forgiveness, so that this loss is not a loss with regrets. For the last three-and-a-half years Karin and I have enjoyed a sweet renewal of our friendship. I am so grateful for that. But this is hard.

Birth, Marriage, and Death

Birth, marriage, and death are probably the most defining events of one's life. Saturday, April 18, had a mix of all three of those for me - not personally - but very bittersweet nonetheless.


April 18 is the day to celebrate my dad's birth. 84 years!!! So, Happy Birthday, Dad. I have to say, he is a very healthy man for 84-years-old. I hope we are celebrating birthdays with him for several more years to come.



April 18 this year was the wedding date for a young friend Stuart Campbell. I got to help him and his bride, Bonnie, celebrate by attending an open house for them in the afternoon. May they have continued and increasing joy and happiness - for time and eternity.



Finally, today was the day a very dear friend, Karin Vandenberg, passed away. This was totally a tragedy and freak accident. I am still in shock. She was hiking with her son, Cole, and two friends and their teenage son. Somehow she slipped and slid/fell 1000 feet to her death. The two teenage boys, trying to help her also slid, were very badly injured and airlifted to Primary Children's Medical Center. She was a very young 49 years old, athlete extraordinaire, and awesome wife, mom, daughter, friend. I am blessed to call her my friend. She will be missed!!!

Karin and her husband, Steve, at last year's MS 150 bike ride.

My thoughts are with Steve and their children, Cole (and for a full and quick recovery) and Jack, and her parents and extended family.

Happy Easter!!!!

The link below is to Elder Holland's talk from general conference last Sunday. It's an excellent message about why we truly celebrate Easter!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

So Many Things to Do

I spent Friday night trying to decide how I wanted to spend my Saturday - the day before Easter. I had been invited by friends at work and then again by Jon to go skiing at Grand Targhee. Or, I could have also driven up to Yellowstone to ride the roads (on bike) before they begin opening to motorized vehicles. Cross-country skiing at Harriman State Park was still an option because there is still plenty of snow. I could go to the temple, shopping, or to a movie. However, I opted to just stay home and work in my yard and vegetable garden.

I love spring - especially this year! Maybe it's because we didn't really have it last year here in eastern Idaho. We went from winter - which lasted into June - directly to summer. I love green grass- and the smell of freshly cut grass. I love being able to spend time in the dirt. This year I want to have a better garden. It's mid-April and just the beginning, but here's what the garden looks like so far. Not a seed planted, but getting close. The preparation is almost done.

Visitors from the East

A few days ago my "closest living relative" came to visit for a few minutes. Really, I must apologize to Cheryl & Jason and Ben for not visiting more often. We live less than three miles from each other. We live close enough to see each other more often - without having to expend much time. Is it because we live so close that I don't make a better effort? Whatever the reason I need to change...because these are fun people, not just relatives. (And I could say the same about Jon and his family, too.) Just see for yourself.....