~~~~~

HAPPY 

HEAVENLY 

BIRTHDAY

tomorrow 

MAY 8TH

to these two

 BEAUTIFUL

 women!!!

The first three photos are of

the boyfriend's dear Mother

Mavis...

we also have a little

granddaughter named Mavis.

She is Dallas and Jill's little one.

What an AMAZING woman!

She was the epitome of the

PERFECT GRANDMA!

I learned SO MUCH from her!

I miss her still!

The last three photos are of

my Grandma Gardner...

my Mother's Mother...

Alice...

Gosh I loved this woman!!!!

She was PERFECT to me!

Because of her I developed my

love of teaching children...

every summer I stayed with her

and she played school with

my cousin Denise and I.

She was an AMAZING seamstress...

my oldest daughter was ten months old

when she passed away...

before she left she hand stitched for

Stephanie a dress and slip...

not sewn by a machine but by hand!!!!

When I married...

and for all of her

grandchildren that married

 in the Temple...

we received a white satin quilt!!!

I still CHERISH mine/ours!

I have never been a big makeup wearer...

but she kind of insisted that I looked

BETTER with a little something on

my face...

she told me

"EVEN A BARN 

LOOKS BETTER 

PAINTED!"

she would say!!!! LOL

Both of these dear ladies

made a HUGE impact on me

and I will be

 FOREVER THANKFUL 

for their examples!!!

To me...

they were both

the true essence of

BEAUTY!

Four Years!!!

It's been four years since I have blogged!!!!!

HOLY STINKIN' COW!!!

I'M SUPER ASHAMED OF MYSELF!!!!

So MANY things have happened and

they WERE totally blog worthy!!!

We have had new grandbabies come

and more to soon be joining us

before the end of the year...

our oldest grandson 

has married a beautiful young woman

that we LOVE to pieces!

I am going to have to catch up...A LOT!!!

These last several weeks have felt like 

FOUR LONG YEARS...

not going to lie...

and yet it has ONLY been weeks

that our 

WHOLE WORLD

 has been on

 SHUT DOWN!!!

 STUCK at home

under 

QUARANTINE 

because of the 

CORONAVIRUS or COVID19

feels SUPER LONGISH!!!!

As I sat here today I started thinking about my

blog and wondered if I even remembered

 HOW

to get on...

OLD and BLONDE is NOT a good combo!

Although now...

 not being able to go to the beauty salons...

I am finding just how GRAY I am!!!!

OLD and GRAY

sounds like a song about a mare...

anyway...

I think I am going to make a commitment

to myself

to get back on here and make a better effort

at keeping up with my blog!

Blogging ALWAYS made me HAPPY!!!!

JOY

is the

HAPPINESS

that doesn't depend

on what happens.

~david steindl-rast

During this wild uncertainty

of a frightened land...

wearing masks, toilet paper shortages,

and MOST ESPECIALLY being separated

from our LOVED ONES...

 etc. etc. etc.

There IS HOPE

for BETTER DAYS ahead...

I am trying to be patient with things

 I have no control over...

reminding myself to RELAX...

NOT to be negative and overwhelmed...

but instead

to be POSITIVE and have FAITH

that things

 WILL WORK OUT

not going to lie...I HAVE SHED TEARS

and acted like a cry baby titty mouse and

even if things are NEVER EVER right again

or at least the way they use to be...

I KNOW 

there IS someone

 BIGGER

IN CHARGE!!!!

I WILL WALK

BY FAITH

EVEN WHEN I

CANNOT SEE.

2 Corinthians 5:7

SOMETIMES GOD

CALMS THE STORM...

Sometimes

 he let's the storm rage...

AND HE 

CALMS THE CHILD.

fingers crossed I come back to blog 

AGAIN

before four years pass by me like

I am tied to a tree!!!!!

We will see....

we will see...

A Sunday well spent brings a week of content!

 Spring fever is in the air!

Doodling some bunnies this

week...

the one above is a filter

from Picmonkey...

I am wanting

in the worst way

to put my doodles

on fabric

and make pillows.

 The doodle below is

request from some friends...

I am loving this

and what it is for!

Dandelions are kisses

from Heaven!

Right?

 This is a photo from

this morning on our way

to the Randolf Center

in Coolidge!

I LOVE THIS OPPORTUNITY

WE HAVE EVERY SUNDAY!

 I love our Sundays!!!

"A SUNDAY WELL SPENT

BRINGS A WEEK

OF CONTENT"

is such a TRUE statement for me!!!

"US"ie number 62!!!

HAPPY SUNDAY

FRIENDS!

Do your thing and don't care if they like it...

 This week's moon

was GORGEOUS...

 The trees are

in BLOOM all over

the valley...

 I LOVE IT ALL!

 This little rose bush above

I planted TWO years ago...

I had a LARGE one in our

last home and it was in FULL

bloom when we had to

L E A V E...

it broke my heart to leave my

plants AND trees...

two days ago my heart leapt

for JOY when I noticed it

was FULL OF BUDS!!!

I am so so HAPPY about it!

 I worked on several doodles...

these are just a few

of the last couple

of weeks...

 "US"ies with my

Mama and the boyfriend..

as you can see I got a haircut...

HATE IT!

I know HATE

is a strong

word.....

it isn't a word

I use often

thank goodness...

A LOT was accomplished

this week...

loved the moon and the flowers

and LOVED today at the

Randolf House...

the spirit was amazing

as I observed the youth

spending time with those

with

inabilities...

but DAAAAANG

THIS WEEK FELT

LIKE A TEST

THAT I DID NOT

STUDY FOR!!!!

IT WAS A HARD WEEK!

CRY A RIVER...

BUILD A BRIDGE...

GET OVER IT!

Happy Sunday...

 I never thought

following my dreams

would lead to so

MUCH clutter and

such FULL days!!!

It's all good!

HAPPY SUNDAY FRIENDS!

Another Sunday spent at the

Randolf Center...

I LOVE MY DAYS

DOWN IN COOLIDGE!

Sooooo thankful

for this calling!!!

Time together this evening

with our children...

eating carne asada tacos...

playing games and

visiting with our family!!!

The day was pretty much

PERF!

Happy Valentine's Day

 Our son Dallas and his wife

Jill invited us over for a

DELICIOUS

Valentine dinner...

absolutely YUMMY!

Their little Mavis

LOVES strawberries!!!!

 The weather was

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS

today...

HAPPY

VALENTINE'S

DAY

FRIENDS!

WILL YOU BE MINE?

Happy Sunday Friends!

HAPPY SUNDAY FRIENDS!

Just minding my P's and Q's...

 Some of my work

these last two weeks...

I forgot to take a finished picture

of the one above...

I made a doodle for my niece

Colleen for her new daughter...

the chalkboard and the

canvas were for my daughter in

law Jill's birthday!!!

 I forgot to post our "US"ie

from last Sunday

{the Cardinal

game must have made

me lose my mind}

and then these are

the "US"ie's from today...

the boyfriend felt like going to Coolidge

today! YEAH!!! I was soooooo

HAPPY for the company

on the long ride!

YES I KNOW I KNOW

I AM IN NEED

OF A BEAUTICIAN!!!!!

My oldest son calls it a flare up

hahaha gotta love getting old!

REAL LIFE FOLKS!!!!

 Tonight while we were visiting

my Mom and brother...

he had mixed up

peanut butter AND

marshmallow crème and

we set and ate spoonfuls...

SOOOOO BAD AND

YET SOOOOO YUMMY!

There you have the last two weeks...

LOTS and LOTS of work!!!

My job, doodles and boot camp!

Trying to stay out of trouble!!!

Sunday...

 Sooooooooooo

HAPPY

HE IS HOME!!!!

 Love my Sunday evenings

with my Mom...

and brother...

My morning view as I drove

to Coolidge this morning...

different songs played

over and over again

in my mind as I pondered

life's difficulties...

even with the bumps in

the road I know

Heavenly Father

hears and answers our prayers

and knows the desires of

our hearts...

Have I said I LOVE

my/our calling down at

the Randolf House?

Thankful for blessings seen and unseen...

 What a week!

This poor guy has been

SOOOOO SICK!

He spent four nights

in the hospital...

BEYOND HAPPY

TO HAVE HIM

HOME

TONIGHT!

Thankful for the kind

words, thoughts, meals, texts

and especially prayers!

 This shaggy dog

was beside himself

when his Dad got

HOME

from the hospital today...

under that

I NEED A HAIRCUT

freshly bathed face

he IS one HAPPY kid!

The sunset was beyond

GORGEOUS tonight...

painted by my

FAVORITE artist!

Storms DON'T last forever...

one of my very

FAVORITE doodles

I have done!

Gordon B. Hinckley said

"Don't be gloomy.

Do not dwell

on unkind things.

Stop seeking out

the storms and

enjoy more fully

the sunlight.

Even if you are

not happy,

put a smile

on your face.

'Accentuate the positive.'

Look a little deeper

for the good.

Go forward in life

with a

twinkle in your eye

and a

smile on your face,

with a great

and strong purpose

in your heart.

LOVE LIFE."

This is one of my

FAVORITE quotes...

LOVE IT!!!

I AM SO BLESSED!

Great Week!!!!!

 Today marks 63 years

that my Mom and Dad were

married!

I hope if my Dad was

allowed to visit her

from Heaven...

that she knew!!!

She misses him so...

 The boyfriend is still

pretty sick...

so I went to Coolidge

alone

but just had to stop

and take a few photos

of all the beauty

Heavenly Father

gives to us...

loved the snow capped

mountains

and the sunrise and

even those

nasty turkey vultures

to the side of my car hahaha

I am thinking they

were sitting there because

I AM OLD!

 Last night we

celebrated our

daughter in law

ASHLEY

for graduating from

NURSING...

I doodled her a little

picture holding a

baby boy

because she is carrying

our fourteenth

grandchild...

a little son!

Ashley will be

a

FABULOUS NURSE!

And...

MOTHER!

 This last week

has been so

BEAUTIFUL

with all the rain

and clouds...

this one ↑

was Friday

and this one↓

was Thursday...

I LOVE OUR

ARIZONA SKIIES!

Yesterday was our 41st

Anniversary...

the boyfriend has been

pretty dang SICK!

I did grab us a

breakfast and lunch

from

Kneaders and because

he loves dilly bars

from DQ...

41 dilly's!!!!

I love him

to the moon and back!!!!!

Here's to

ETERNITY

together!!!