June 23rd countdown,31 yrs

A carrot for me to get through the heat in June is our anniversary on June 23rd. We get to go for a drive to Cloud Croft N.M. It's up in the mtns,& its 20 F cooler. I hate the hour drive thru the desert,it's all flat!! But I luv the climb up the mtns. It reminds me of Zion withs its rocks. I luv the mtn.climb up. @the top is the old part like Park City ,Ut. It has board side walks w/ an old Hotel I like looking@ the old pic's in the hall. there is 1 shop I like looking @ w/the ceramic items etc. We usually pick up my cinnamon pistachios @ 1 place. There is another place we stop
@ that has picnic tables to eat on. We pack a lunch since the food is too expensive to eat up there. It's so nice to eat out in the cool air. I miss our picnic's in American Fork Canyon ,Ut. We go there when it was to hot,& go there to eat to cool off.
It's interesting to think what different b/grounds Allen & I came from. We met @ Brigham Young Univ. I'm a Texan who grew up in small towns,spent my teen summers working on my g-father's ranch,&lived in various states.Allen comes from a blue collar family,he's the 1st to go to college in his family. He always lived in Conn,til he went to Utah He lived in Danbury & Bridgeport ,Conn. He's the analytical one, a programmer, my degree is in Early child,Ed& Elem. Ed. He is very intelligent, I've gotten thru life by the seat of my pants. We have 4 children,twin girls will turn 30 in July,Forest & Laura. We have 3 g/kids that live in N.C.

My desire

A talk by Elder L .Anderson touch ed a spot.He commented how he wanted he would like to be like, Elder Joseph B Wirthlin,"a a spirit void of any desire for personal attention,willing to go anywhere & do anything the Lord's prophet would have me do,applying my full consecration in testifying of the Savior & building the kingdom of God until my final breath"
This is what I hope I can do until the very end!!!!!
"I might be willing & moldable to the Lord's tutoring & corrrection" This is the hard part,as Elder Maxwell said, extra courses in enduring & suffering are hard classes to take!!!!

Faith in Adversity,Elder Rafel E. Pino

again I quote on the topic of adversity,a topic I know too well.
"the only true source of comfort is God. Peace I leave w/ U,I give unto U ;not as the world giveth,give I unto U, Let UR heart be troubled,neither let it be afraid" John 14:27
" The important thing is is not how a man dies but how he lived"
Pres. Howard W. Hunter" If our lives & our faith are centered on Jesus Christ & His restored gospel,nothing can go permanently wrong. On the other hand if our lives are not centred on the Savior & his teachings no other sucess can ever be permanently right"

ADVERSITY,ADVERSITY,ADVERSITY

Those of U who know me My life has had it's share of adversity. Iwould like to share a talk by Pres. Henry B.Eyring from the LDS church.
It's actually an opportunity for us to face adversity & affliction. that H. Father & the Savior love us.we must prepare for a great trust from them by "passing through trying & testing experiences in mortality." ....."He knows from experience how to heal & help us...it may still test your COURAGE & STRENGTH TO ENDURE.
The disciple who accepts a trial as an invitation to grow therefore qualify for eternal life can find peace in the midst of the struggle.
In Alma 34 the humble poor ,"were sent to do for others what they may have thought was beyond themselves & which they needed themselves. They were to to give others what they would have hoped he would give them."
"Age & illness can test the best of us" that is my daily battle I wage. "endure afflictions,I have fought a good fight I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.......I know from my experience that He can & will give us strength to rise thru every trial"
This i s s-thing I pray for each day, to be valiant in my trials w/this body of mine.I really don't how I'm here, I know I have been watched over. That is the only thing that keeps me going @times.

HUMMUS,please!!

I don't know what it is about me getting my Hummus out to eat. George is right there by my side waiting for some. He waited so patient today to have some on the spoon to eat & lick the plate clean. It has no real smell compared to meat. yesterday he kept scratching me when I was eating my Mango. I offered him some,he quickly turned away!! The other night I had an Oriental salad ,he started pawing me,I showed him the dish,he started lapping up the dressing. It had vinegar in it,I didn't want it to upset his stomach,I took it away from him. He's the strangest dog I have ever had when it comes to food.

Coloring time

I'm getting out my Prism color pencils,w/color pencils,& my clip art to color in front of the a/c unit. Laura sent me some of her old oil pastel crayons. They are expensive new. this is a media haven't tried. I was up early this morn. needed s/thing to work on. I started coloring on s/thing that I wouldn't care if I ruined. It wasn't until I got out the Q-tips to try to blend the crayon together did I see the effect. The friction of rubbing must make the crayons blend together. This was fun to do.I also tried color pencils w/ them on some whimsical c/art by Dover .
I also tried Sat.,the Generals chalk pastel pencils. They work good on printer paper where I can't use the w/color pencils. the Q-tips worked great blending them into my colored pencil work. It softened up the look on the paper.

4th of July cards

I finally d/loaded my vintage 4th of July c/art & printed it out Fri. I did it w/out Allen's help.I made sure I got ones I could print from the site instead of having to save it & having to have it reformatted. This is what I wanted the color printer cartridge for. I used up the 1st on alcohol ink pages. Allen used a gift certificate as a surprise for me so I could have it for my cards.
I doing my 1st swap,I needed s/thing Vintage. I used my Ranger Distress ink pads along the edges of the c/stock. I used the walnut,new Fired Brick pad & remembered I had denim in my drawer.Even analytical Allen thought they looked sharp.
I used the Stickles,gold,silver,Starry night on some firecracker patterned paper. It really added a pzazz Ialso used an old f/cracker stamp that I embossed,used some Stickles on it for the spark. I showed Allen these,so he could see why I wanted some more Stickles. He wanted to know how I did the f/crackers.

Living in El Paso

This is an interesting town to live in. It's heavily Hispanic,also a melting pot of other cultures. Ihave observed how dedicated they are to their elderly parents. They are always there in the Dr's office w/them. Sis. Jensen,our stake president's wife is an excellent example of this. She is a tiny lady,her mother is in a w/chair. she takes her to all of the activities. Plus she's busy w/her daughters & g/kids. Her name in English means angel. I don't think you could find someone else who is an angel like her. I admire her for her devotion to her family. On top of it her husband is a Stake Pres.,this lady has a full tray. She was one of the 1st people to see me the C-mas I was in the hospital ER twice. She came & visited me in my L.Rm. The busiest lady in the ward took the time to come & visit me. This visit meant alot to me.
I live w/chronic health problems,my daughters don't want to deal w/them. My twins turn 30 yrs. old, this July,Laura is 23 yrs old. I'm only 59 yrs myself. In the last 7 yrs I have been on death's doorstep 3 times. The way the Mexicans take care of their parent's isn't lost on me. I just pray that Allen outlives me. I'll be SOL w/out him. No benefits,no insurance ,I get no SSD.I don't want to move,I don't think I can handle another move health wise.
The interesting thing is I worked w/ the Indians on my mission in Kamloops, B.C, Alaska,
Four corners, Utah I substitute taught in the H.S.,driven by the reservations in N.M. & Arizona. The prophecy that the Lamanities shall bloom as roses in the desert is being fulfilled. There are 2 stakes here in El Paso. There is a Spanish speaking ward that meets in our chapel. Juarez , Mexico has it's own temple,not us!
I find interesting after all these years after my mission, I'm here in El Paso. I have seen alot of poverty. We have aways to go to help them w/ literacy. This is their ticket to make a better living for themselves. The LDS Church perpetual education fund is a good start to help them became self sufficent,provide for their families& be able to stay in their countries.
I lost my blog entry on my 1st trip to a reservation in B.C. I'll retype it later.

Bloom as a Rose in a desert