Thankful Me

For the past year (no kidding!), my youngest granddaughter has been talking about wanting to go to "Jungle Zoo."  Last year, when her mom was in the hospital having a baby, I took my granddaughters to Disneyland.  Youngest granddaughter especially enjoyed that trip, and loved the Jungle Cruise most of all.  Since that time, she has been talking about "Jungle Zoo," even in her sleep!   She will turn three later this year, so I knew I needed to have a grandma date with her quickly, while it was still affordable! (Admission for two and under is free.)   Yesterday was the day!  

Last Friday, before the excitement John and I had later that evening , we spent the day at the zoo with our daughters and grandchildren.  Though I love the zoo, the main attraction for me was my family.  As I was looking through my photos, I realized I didn't take any photos of animals.  I did, however, take some of my grandchildren!  

Well, this week has been a really fun one, and I intended this post to be filled with the adventures of our days.  I've been thankful for:  (1) a get-together with friends to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day , (2) spending time with two of my daughters at Universal Studios, (3) introducing my daughter to one of my friends who also has sphynx cats (4) being able to take dinners to people who were recovering from surgeries (5) a clean aquarium (6) my parents' 53rd wedding anniversary (and my grandson's 1st birthday) (7) going to the temple with John (8) spending time with my daughter and grandchildren at the zoo (9) my association with the women in church (10) John.  We share thoughts, hopes, and dreams.  And sometimes we share emergency response events--like the one tonight, which suddenly changed the focus of the post. We were driving home from our date.  We were in the carpool lane, when we suddenly heard a motorcycle approaching, engine revving. I glanced out m

I love the challenge of Ivy's Six Sentence Stories , and I especially like trying to write a story based on true events.  Some of you might remember this incident from a year ago when I went to help my mom. This week's prompt is "back."

Though it's not officially fall yet, normally after Labor Day I mentally shift to autumn, even if the weather still says "summer." This year is different; while oldest daughter is here between her law school quarters, we're acting like it's still summer.  I keep telling myself that when she goes back to school then I'll settle into a routine.  We'll see. . . .

John and I met a goal today:  we finished our first half-marathon!   Photo:  John and I, holding a sign with our time (2:34)

Something really popped out at me in the visiting teaching message this month:   "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." (Thomas S. Monson) Imagine if every person in every family in every society were able to take this message to heart!  I hope that my children know how much I love them.  Families provide great places to learn. Mistakes will be made (by parents and children alike), but love should be the overriding current of the home.   That handout prints up as a 4x6 print.  It might be cute attached to a book of crossword, Sudoku, logic, or other puzzles.   Thanks for my family.  I love each one of them!

Wow, what a week!  Oldest daughter arrived home this week, and she'll be with us for most of this month, until law school starts up again.  She drove down with some friends, and they all competed in the Disneyland runs this weekend. (Running both the 10K and the half-marathon constitutes the Dumbo Double Dare.) Oddly, this was the first Disney race in years that I hadn't signed up for, so I didn't run with my daughter.  In a way, though, it was good, because I got to experience the joy of being a spectator.  This week's Ten Things of Thankful is filled with observations from Disneyland.