Thankful Me

A sweeping view of pine covered mountains under a blue sky I spent most of this past week at a church camp in Running Springs, California with 84 young women, ages 11-18, and a bunch of adult leaders. My bunkhouse cabin home for the week, decorated with festive pendant banners. The day before I left for camp, I got an emergency alert text, informing me that my house in Utah was under evacuation due to a nearby fire. (Sorry, Mom, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry.) Within 20 minutes of receiving that text, I received another text saying the evacuation order was lifted and the fire was under control.  1. I'm thankful for the firefighters who put the fire out quickly. 2. I'm thankful that no people were hurt nor homes were damaged. 3. I'm thankful that the whole incident was over before I left for camp, so I didn't spend the week worrying. The camp theme was UP, as in Speak Up, Look Up, Cheer Up, and Rise Up. The girls were encouraged to make new

  Baby me, sitting on the floor, looks up at my dad sitting on the sofa, as he smiles down at me I've been extremely fortunate in my life: my parents provided me and my siblings with a very stable childhood. We had a roof over our heads, food on the table, physical and emotional safety, books, music, and lots of love and laughter.  Probably 3 or 4 year old me looks at a photo or small piece of paper with my dad My parents are humble people, quickly giving credit to the contributions of others, and although they won't toot their own horn, they are amazing people. One of my dad's favorite lines is, "The best thing I ever did was marry your mother." While I agree with that, as today is Father's Day, I'm going to focus on some of the things I've learned from my dad.  My dad taught me through example to dream big, work hard, and be responsible. Just because something is unusual doesn't mean it's impossible.  As a junior high school science teacher,

  Drexel wanders down the hill in our Utah backyard On Monday, I loaded Drexel into the car and we drove to Utah to spend a few days at home and take care of some errands that needed to be done there. The drive was ultimately uneventful (thankful #1): even though I apparently unknowingly stepped in gum at a gas station, I was still able to "unstick" my foot from the car floor when I needed to brake. I pulled over at the next rest stop and removed the glob of gum. After getting back on the road, I managed to avoid hitting a blue plastic water storage container that fell off a truck in Nevada, as well as a red gas can that was just sitting in a lane in Utah. We arrived to our Utah home while the sun was still up, so we were able to enjoy exploring the backyard. According to the old adage, "First year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap," our poppies (planted in 2022) are merely creeping this year. I can't wait to see how they look next year!