Afton

Isn't she beautiful !

Ending and Beginning

Saturday, August 7, 1982
"Our baby finally made it! He was born on Thursday August 5th at 12:34 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. We named him Austin Marshall Cruze. He is a beautiful baby so plump and pink!"

Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Our baby finally made it! Austin and Katina were married in the Temple today! It was a very tender moment to see their love for each other shinning in their eyes. They were pronounced husband and wife and a new family was born.

Ending...
This is it, the last one,
There are no more left.
Austin is the caboose, kaput!
May you, "Live long and prosper." (Spock)

Beginnings...
Waking up to morning breath, stinky!
Seeing true love as it really is...oh, the possibilities!
Cooking 101
Crankiness, testiness, irritability, good days, bad days etc.
Laughing, teasing, private jokes,
Happiness, tenderness, kindness, compassion...
Growing and learning to be a family.

But don't worry, "All you need is love!" (The Beatles)

It was a beautiful day!

The Rule

I made a rule for myself: If I find money in the washer it is mine to keep. When I do find money, I smile with excitement and gleefully think, ah ha, 5 bucks! I don't tell anyone when I find the money, and since nobody knows about my rule nobody has ever asked, "Mom/Kay, did you find $5 in the washer?" If they did ask I would have to say, "Finders keepers, losers weepers."

I kept the nickel, but the pocket knife...I just put it in the basket on Shane's dresser, and a new rule was born.

Finders weepers, losers keepers.

What's This!

I reached into the washer this morning and felt my hand brush against something that felt wispy soft. Wondering what I touched, I looked inside and found myself to startled to make a sound. There was this spider inside the washer! INSIDE! It was just a little bit to comfortable sitting on its web in my washer. It didn't even move when I touched it and it didn't look like it had any intentions of moving either. What a nervy spider! Unfortunately for him, he had to leave and was unceremoniously removed as I mumbled to myself, "Take that you wispy, nervy spider!" I can't believe I touched it!

Milestones

I remember when I was pregnant with the twins; I was totally overwhelmed with the thought of having two babies, wondering how I was going to take care of them. When our two beautiful babies finally came they brought a love to me that I didn’t know existed, an immense, deep, abiding, sacred love. When I became pregnant with Eldon I didn’t think I could love another baby as much as I loved the twins, but again love showed me there is no end or beginning or a set limit to our love. My love has grown with each child we added to our family. With each marriage of our children we gained another child and our love widened to encompass them. We looked forward to the birth of our first grandchild, ready, willing and able to love some more, and we discovered yet again another dimension of love. Grandma and Grandpa love, just as rich and fulfilling as all our other loves.

Today is a milestone. It is the last day I will be caring for Thomas every day. He will be going to the babysitter now. It feels like the day the twins started Kindergarten, they were thrilled and I cried. It feels like experiencing the kid’s high school graduation, leaving for college and missions and getting married all rolled into one. You would think I would be use to this by now, but I am not. It has been such a lovely experience to care for Thomas.

So here I am full circle. I will be lost without Thomas for a few days, the house will be so quiet and I will miss him.

I have been so blessed to have love so abundantly in my life.

Lucky Me

This is Spidey Girl, she has been hanging around for about 4 days. I know she is a girl because there is an egg sac on the leaf beside her. She is a nice looking spider, as spiders go, but I'm not as impressed with her as much as I am my photography. The name of this photo is "Lucky Shot." I'm lucky I have a camera that takes nice pictures with or without me and that Spidey Girl was at the right place at the right time. What luck!

The Truck!

sundaY morning shane had a flat tire; he was going to take the truck but I gallantly told him, "take my car, i'll drive the truck." he gave me his winning smile and was on his way.



i had a nice leisurely morning getting ready for church. my hair cooperated and looked great. i had on my brown straight skirt, a cream colored sweater with its matching jacket, brown alligator heels, anniversary pearls and diamond wedding ring - I was ready to go!

but then...
i walked outside, saw the truck and was immediately horrified.



it was filthy, nasty and FULL of trash! i became aware of the wafting stench that subtly tickled my nose. i said to myself, NO WAY! but, myself said, "you must." i had fleeting thoughts of having a quiet sabbath at home; but they fluttered and then died. swallowing my pride, but not my embarrassment, i faced the challenge head on, accepted the fact that i would be smelled a mile away and that people would think all sorts of stuff - because i was!

i opened the door, hitched up my skirt, and climbed in.



i put my skirt back down where it belonged, buckled my seat belt, started the truck and while looking out the dirty windshield, i laughed at me, sitting in trash and filth wearing my pearls and diamonds.

i parked as far away from the building as i possibly could, like next to the dumpster hoping to blend in.

and, you know i did! i snuck out of church five minutes early so no one would see who the trashy people were that drove that truck!