"Spring Has Sprung....!

"...the grass has ris......I wonder where the flowers is?"

I loved that rhyme when I was a little kid!!


Last week I started humming the Carole King song "I feel the earth...move...under my feet..." and realized it was the springtime planting rhythm that was rumbling around. The weather here is so unpredictable and my garden patch has not had a good track record so I decided to plant some peas indoors right here next to me in my computer room. They have sprung up like little soldiers. Company P! I'm so proud of them!
Happy Spring!
Mom

Karen no last name

Last week I had my first experience with finding a name on family search and doing temple work for them. Her name was "Karen" - no last name was listed. I don't remember how I ended up with her name either. I was clicking around on the Family Search website and ended up somewhere, and according to the website, there was this person in our family line who needed to have her temple work done. So I printed out a piece of paper with her name and a bar code, and my visiting teacher who is a pro at family history, told me, yup, that's all you need to do, now just take it to the temple and they'll make you one of those pink cards just like you've seen other people have through the years. So I drove over to the Jordan River temple (which is literally within walking distance. True, it would probably take an hour to walk there, but still, it's awfully close). It was a beautiful springy day too. It was a yellow day. As I walked toward the temple awww, there was my first sighting of forsythia blossoms this year.

Then I saw a bright yellow Volksagen bug parked up ahead. I recognized it as belonging to my friend Karen Helton who was chairman of the decorating committee for Stake Women's Conference last year.

While composing this post, I remembered a photo I'd taken of Karen in her yellow bug  last year in the parking lot of the Stake center, and it is copied below. Hey, she even has on yellow sun glasses. If I were the chairman of the decorating committee I would not look as happy as Karen does in this picture. This was taken right before many, many mini-vans began backing into the stalls, loaded to the hilt with planters, quilts, end tables, chairs, couches....... She's a powerhouse of happiness, that one! My counselor Jennie is sitting next to her. You heard me talk about "my counselor Jennie" for the last five years. Isn't she cute?:
 

Now, to return to my original post, and complete my yellow experience, here are photos I snapped of some yellow temple daffodils, a yellow-skirted fellow temple lady, and the deeply yellow angel Moroni.

sideways!

Once I entered into the temple I ended up behind a sister who I overheard telling the man at the recommend desk that she had brought a family name and it was her first time doing this too! So I followed happily behind her to the family name desk and watched as they printed out her card and said "I'm with her! Here's one more!" With all of the cards they print out each week at the temple, I was amazed that the temple worker used a little craft store-size paper cutter, and "slice" "slice" "slice" "slice" neatly cut the page she printed out into a pink index card.  Harry Hale Russell would probably have had something to say about that! There was additional information on the pink card they gave me which indicated Karen "no last name" was christened about 1838 in Denmark. Her parents were Maren Rasmussen Pedersen and Peder Pedersen (so, obviously she is Karen Pedersen, but Karen no last name is much more fun) and she was sealed to her parents in the Manti temple in 1912. This caused much head scratching for the people at the desk, because she should have had the rest of her work done in Manti at that time. Which made me think that either a) it had already been done in 1912 and just not recorded which once again, would not make great-grandfather Harry Hale Russell happy; or b) she really has been waiting around for 100 years, sealed to her parents, but  unbaptized and unendowed, so near but yet so far.  

Brenda Cowdell, the sister who I'd attached myself to, was a relatively small woman. I decided to ask her if she could do the baptism for my Karen and she was so nice to do that. So I waited and watched from the baptistry chapel (where I used to play the organ many years ago). While I waited for sister Cowdell to get changed into baptismal clothes, I listened to the organist and interestingly she played "O Little town of Bethlehem" at one point. She was playing "Abide with Me" when the baptism was performed.Occasionally I've walked into a room where the spirit stops me in my tracks and I felt it walking down the stairs to the baptismal area.  Just as strongly as in Nauvoo last summer watching while Angie's family performed baptisms in the gorgeous Nauvoo temple. It was a sacred experience then seeing Dennis and Forrest and Ethan and Elise and Jonas do baptisms as I watched through the glass, and it was a sacred experience witnessing the baptism of Karen this day. In both instances, there was the pane of glass separating me from the baptisms being performed, and the veil felt as close as a second pane of glass, just one I couldn't see as well. 

It was sweet to watch the temple worker wrap up those who have just been baptized with a big, white towel and a smile. After the baptism and confirmation had been performed, I asked the woman at the baptistry desk what was next (it is always so daunting to do something for the very first time!) and she told me to just wait a couple of minutes while they record it up in the office, then she will bring me back the card. While I was waiting, Sister Brenda Cowdell who performed the baptism changed her clothes, and came up to me in the baptistry chapel and said "It was neat. I could feel them just jumping up and down. I could feel their joy!" I wanted to write this down so I wouldn't forget it, because it really was a special experience and I was between heaven and earth.


So, to place me squarely back on earth after this heavenly experience, I could smell the faint aroma of mashed potatoes and gravy wafting into the baptistry from the temple cafeteria down the hall. It was noon and I was famished. I thought, "Is it weird to eat alone in the temple cafeteria?" Turns out, kinda. I was disappointed when they told me they didn't have mashed potatoes and gravy. Bummer. I settled for corned beef and cabbage soup. The salt and pepper shakers in the temple cafeteria are always so CLEAN! As I was eating, I overheard someone at the table next to me say "My brother is going to BYU...." and I realized the BYU NCAA game was on t.v. at 1:00. Now, I had not planned to stay and do the initiatory and endowment for Karen, but after witnessing the baptism, I changed my mind. So, I decided to drive home and get my temple clothes, and DVR the BYU game. I looked at my half-finished salad and the thought crossed my mind, "Do they have to-go boxes at the temple cafeteria?" nawww.

I made the quick drive home (all the while telling "Karen" that this would just take a second!), DVR'd the game, got my temple clothes, grabbed two tootsie roll midgets (the colored ones, oh I like those), put one in my pocket and one in my mouth...and pulled off a crown. My dentist, who is my home teacher, has his office right up the road. "Hello, Dr. Dunn's office? I'm in the middle of doing Karen no last name's temple work and just pulled off a crown. Could you work me in?" After all was cemented back in place, I drove down the street to the temple and told Karen, "See? I told you I'd be right back!"
In closing, it was a wonderful experience and it left me with a peaceful, joyful feeling that lingers still.

Before I sign off, here is a photo of the corner of my bedroom where in startling contrast to each other, a rocking chair and an exercise bike sit unhappily side by side. Neither of them makes me happy, and I don't think they like each other very much. A rocking chair? An exercise bike? How on earth did these two end up taking over an entire corner of the master bedroom? If I was left to my own devices, these two would be waiting for another 100 years before I touched either of them - kinda like Karen-no-last-name.

Love you!
Mom/Babette

 

King and Queen of the World!

Today I got to visit with my mom and dad in their cozy condo. We had a great afternoon together eating soup and salad and talking non-stop. After dinner, mom and I retired to the music room and played duets, including "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" which will now be going through both of our heads for the next two days, while dad whipped up a decadent dessert of chocolate cake and ice cream. 

At the end of the visit, they walked me outside to their "back porch." Dad grabbed the red railing and raised his head to the wind and said he always feels like he's on the bow of a ship when he stands there. He faced west, struck a regal pose and said "I'm the King of the World!"

Yes you are dad, yes you are!...and mom is the queen of the world! Here's proof:

Also, last Tuesday we had our monthly ward sealing group at the Jordan River Temple. It's a wonderful experience that we've been able to participate in for the last couple of years. One of the members of our group, actually the one who got us nudged into joining, is Rich Gibbons, the golfer, you know the one. He loves to go to Astro Burger afterward and he and I both get patty melts. It never fails that after the session is finished, before we're even out of the sealing room, Rich comes up to me with a big smile and whispers "Patty Melt!'  He and his wife weren't there last week so Dennis and I just went through the drive-through at Astro Burger alone. The sunset was just cascading over the Wasatch mountains so I jumped out of the car, mid drive-through, and took this picture. Dennis was still driving along in the drive-through line, and when I was finished with my impromtu photo session, I ran up a few yards,opened the passenger door of the slowly moving vehicle and jumped back in. I looked up at the mountains, and the moment I'd captured had vanished as quickly as it appeared. Isn't it pretty?
Have a good week! Love,
Mom/Grandma/Barb/Glerg

John Adams once wrote to his son: "To one who has a Taste, the Poets serve to fill up Time which would otherwise pass in Idleness, Languor, or Vice. You will never be alone, with a Poet in your Pocket. You will never have an idle Hour. How many weary hours have been made alert, how many melancholly ones gay, how many vacant ones useful, to me, in the course of my Life, by this means?

I will update that to read "a mother, grandmother and blogger will never be alone with a camera in her purse. You will never have an idle Hour!" 

Jack's Baptism

We were fortunate to be able to see Jack get baptized last Saturday, March 1, 2014. He has grown up so much in the last year! This photo above and the two below were taken on the morning of his baptism. I have a feeling Jack will spend a lot of time in a suit during the course of his lifetime. The photos weren't posed, he was just having a conversation with other people in the room while we were gathering everyone to drive up to the Stake Center. He is so natural in his new black suit. I mentioned that he "happily inhabited" it. Dad said, "You mean unlike me who can't wait to rip off my tie and get out of a suit jacket?"  I think that might also have something to do with differences in the size of your necks when it comes to the tie-wearing!

But here is dad lookin' good in his suit and tie for the occasion (although I can detect subtle body language that is saying "get me out of this monkey suit!").

But oh doesn't Jack look handsome and ready to take on the world?

Jack is a happy, smart, enthusiastic boy with lots of curiosity, confidence and freckles! He seemed to take getting baptized very seriously and is going to be a wonderful new member of the church. Even though he is allergic to being hugged so tight by his grandmother, he realizes that is part of charity, and he must endure it well. He and Ethan are soul-mates in that regard!

Here he is after his baptism, with his friend "Maley" and the missionaries.

                                   Perfect!

And then those two cute little sisters. It is wonderful to be loved by granddaughters! Oh the bursting creativity and delicate beauty and sensitivity of  female spirits. Who can put a price on on it? Macy made us special welcome cards, with dimes carefully taped inside of them, and even wrote something specific in them for each one of her grandparents (grandma and grandma Huish were there too). Dad's card said "I love you grandpa Sweat. I like it when you make tunnels with your legs" :-).

It's so fun to hang out at Amy and Dave's house and talk and play games and play the piano while Amy plays her guitar, and eat their food in their gorgeous newly decorated kitchen! Amy's crockpot dinner with yummy broiled asparagus and Parmesean, making lunch on their island in the kitchen (sandwiches always taste better there), eating peanut butter and chocolate ice cream before bed, and gorging on Dave's fabulous 7-layer dip. All through Fast Sunday I kept longing for it! And it's always a treat to attend church at each one of you kid's wards when we visit. I always learn something new. And it was awesome to peak in the window and watch Amy teaching her Sunday School class of fifteen 12 and 13-year-olds all by herself! The thing I learned at church this time (other than how cute Jack was when he was introduced to the ward by the Bishop as a newly baptized member, and how Jack, Macy and Carly love to sing the hymns in Sacrament Meeting; and how Carly conveniently decides to snuggle down on mommy and take a nap each Sunday since sacrament meeting is at 1:00 pm ) was from a comment a sister made regarding when she fasts. She is a seminary teacher (and a convert) and was saying how when she fasts for her seminary students, she tries to fast so that she is adding her faith to what THEY are seeking answers for. It was a great thought for me to think about when we fast for other people.

And now here are a few additional photos of our visit.


Nothing like being spun by dad!

Cutie-pie brown-eyed Carly and green-eyed Macy at the baptism.

Here is Jack channeling his inner game. Not that he needs to. He whupped me soundly every time we played Stratego. At one point he said "Grandma, I have my pieces go out in teams. That way if a scout is killed, there's a higher number right behind him." How does he know that stuff? I was just trying to learn what each piece did, and it felt like when you kids were in 5th grade and needed help with a math problem and I'd have to go back a few chapters and read up on basic concepts. Pretty soon you stopped asking! I do know that piece 3 can kill a bomb........I think. Or maybe that's piece two, the spy? No, that's piece #1.

Here is a glimpse of Catsy Huish retreating. (I don't think Catsy has a middle name. I know "Buttercup Kitty-Kitty Hallstrom" had a middle name), but I think Catsy is just "Catsy Huish." Catsy is a beautiful cat! He was invisible the first night we were there. On Saturday I caught a rare glimpse of him streaking from the bedroom into his little cat door to the basement. And then on Sunday he peered into the family room from the hall and then pulled back immediately to ponder us, the interlopers. It was like when a cat goes outside after it's been raining and they put out one paw, then pull it back and shake it, then put it out again. He finally got the courage to curl up under a chair but kept a weather eye on all of us. And then later that afternoon he let me pet him, and even wound himself around my legs when we were sitting at the table coloring!

 I am gah-gah over how cute Macy and Jack look in their school uniforms.

On the last night we were there it was time for Carly to go to bed and she headed into her bedroom out of habit (she was sleeping on a mattress on the floor in Jack's room while we were all there) and there I was on her bed getting ready to sleep in it. She stopped in her tracks for a minute, kinda like Goldilocks,and giggled. Thank you for sharing your room beautiful, goofy Car-Car!!And Macy, I just realized what you were talking about when you were asking for the mints you love! Here they are honey!!! I will make sure to have some in my purse next time I see you!

Monday morning it was time for dad and I to hit the road again. We loved our short visit, although then I miss everyone all over again! Being able to share in your lives is what living is all about. It is everything. And being a grandparent is still something I can't describe. It's like I'm getting away with something. Too good to be true! Kind of like being retired. Seriously, today as I was driving home from an eye appointment, it might as well have been the first day of retirement for me in the footloose and fancy free way it felt. I am still as breathlessly amazed that I have an entire day to do whatever I want to do as I was over a year ago when I first retired.


And speaking of driving home from an eye appointment, I will end on a final, hilarious note.

T

Today I had an eye doctor appointment at 8:40. What was I thinking making it so early in the morning? Anyway, I lost track of the time as I was puttering around getting ready, and as I left, I grabbed my coat and purse and then stopped and contemplated which shoes I wanted to wear. I threw my coat and purse into the car and ran back into the house to get my glasses which I'd left on the counter and then was on my way.  When I arrived at the clinic after a 30-minute drive, I grabbed my purse, reached around to get my shoes...................(I like to drive without shoes BTW)...............my shoes.........were they in the back seat?..............no shoes?.......................NO SHOES!! What to do? I decided to WALK like I was wearing shoes. I was wearing very presentable socks. Ow, ow, ow, ow, across the parking lot. I may have given pause to the young lady who rode up with me in the elevator; however, there was not one other patient in the waiting room when I checked in. When I was called back, I pitter-pattered silently behind the assistant to the exam room. We sat down, and she informed me she'd just had surgery on her foot and so we focused entirely on HER feet. And then she dimmed the lights for the eye tests and I was in the clear! (I may have cataract surgery sooner than later too, but we'll see (tee hee). Then the doctor came in (Dr. Ungricht, the brother to Miss Ungricht who I think was Andrew's kindergarten teacher). He had just returned from doing a month's work of humanitarian aide, which is so cool. Anyway, he never once looked down at my feet. When we were finished, I proudly padded down the hall, checked out at the front desk, walked across the parking lot, ow, ow, ow, ow, got into my car, and drove home.

XOXO
Mom

Daylight Savings Time is a Terrible Idea

Oh my goodness - I was just reading the Salt Lake Tribune online and read the following headline:

House wants study on dumping Daylight Saving Time

Everyone knows my short list of the five things I despise:

1) Daylight Savings Time
2) Round-abouts
3) Dreadlocks
4) Making new Babies sleep on their backs
5) Polygamists (modern-day, not my ancestors). Specifically this one woman in particular who I ran into over and over again for years when I was grocery shopping at the Harmon's in West Valley City. It was unnerving. Early morning on a Thursday? We were both there. Late night on a Friday? We were both there. Our eyes would meet in a cold, stony glare as we sidled past each other in the soup aisle. After we moved to South Jordan, I ran into a polygamist family one day while shopping at Walmart. I decided to be a better person and smile if our eyes met. It was the man who caught me eye. He returned my tepid smile with a cold, stony glare. I quickly changed my smile up-side-down and frowned my smile away.

So anyway, HIP HIP HOORAY that the house is doing a study on dumping Daylight Saving Time (which I've always pronounced as "Saving(s)." When we get home from our fun trip to Denver this weekend to celebrate Jack's baptism on Saturday, I am going to join the movement.

Who knows, next year there may be a headline:
"Activist wants House to study dumping Round-abouts"
Associated Press: Political activist and leader in the "Dump Daylight Saving Time" movement, Barbara Sweat, led a sit-in at a round-about in South Jordan Utah yesterday, demanding that the house study dumping Round-abouts. She was joined by three other middle-aged women in patterned polyester blouses with poor eyesight and slow reflexes. Their theme "Come 'round, it's all about about safety!" has not caught on. Sweat stated, "This isn't Europe! We are all just fine with stopping and looking both ways instead of being flung into a flying centrifuge of split-second traffic decisions, not knowing where we're going to end up when we shoot out on the other side. " Her husband Dennis was not available for comment.


XO
Mom

Here is the rest of the Tribune article:
Do you hate switching to and from Daylight Saving Time? The House endorsed a bill Thursday that would allow people to sound off, and weigh in on a study about whether to keep it, dump it or at least avoid the switching.

Representatives passed HB197 on a 54-14 vote, and sent it to the Senate.

Rep. Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, sponsored the plan to require the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to hold a meeting on the issue, and invite "parents, senior citizens, and representatives from the agricultural, public education, recreation and business communities."

She said constituents have pushed her for 10 years to find a way to avoid the twice-a-year switch to and from Daylight Saving Time. But bills to do that have been consistently killed, so she is calling for the meeting to seek a solution.

"They don’t mind if we have Daylight Saving Time or regular time, they just don’t want to switch. They don’t like the disruption," she said about constituents.

Rep. David Lifferth, R-Eagle Mountain, said Daylight Saving Time "is a terrible idea and has been since it started."

My cup runneth over...........

The little Sweat brothers

Last week I got to babysit the six big/medium/little Sweat kids while Tony and Cindy were in Hawaii at a youth conference speaking engagement! What a a sweet gig (for them and for me)! I love the photo above of Eli and Calvin. They play together really well. It's like Calvin has grown up over night and he's a real buddy for Eli. The photo below was taken while we were making Sunday dinner. I needed four cups of water to make a rice dish. (Funny side story - the kids like something called "Peas and Shells" which is made with boxed shell pasta in a white sauce with frozen peas added right at the end. On the night when I was making the peas and shells, Reagan was helping and said, "Grandma, are you only making one box?" "Why, yes." "Um, I could eat one box by myself, (although I wouldn't), so maybe you should make two boxes?....or maybe three?" Good point Reggie, good point, I am not cooking for two..... Anyway, in the photo below, Calvin and Vivi are "helping" me measure four cups of water (with Jane supervising). At first I was seriously striving to have them measure exactly four cups of water into a pot. Not surprisingly, it wasn't working out in a way that Julia Child or Ina Garten would approve, and seriously grandma, a 3-year-old measuring water? So I thought, oh what the heck, look how much fun Calvin is having carefully pouring the water into the pot. So I got out a second pot, filled it to the top with water, and those kids poured 1/2 cups of water back and forth from one pot to the other for 15 minutes. I got out a third pot and was about my business with that exact four cups of water thing for my recipe. My cup runneth over with delight.Those bright eyes and curly hair and dimpled elbows (but not Jane's dimpled elbows). Jane is a woman. She did Vivi's hair every day, set out Vivi's clothes each night, picked a cute ribbon for her hair for Valentine's day, and watched the Olympics with me at 8:30 every  night when I was ready to be done.  There is something about Jane that reminds me of my Grandmother Nan, so I have great respect for her and treat her with dignity.

I've learned that it can be kinda stressful to go places when you're in charge of little people. So, on day one of this adventure, I purposely didn't plan a thing. Here are some photos of day one of my "Stay-at-home" grandma experience!~


I love the back of the necks of little guys. Eloise Wilkin illustrations come to life.

I let Calvin direct the rhythm of the morning.After I got him dressed (around 10:00 a.m. :-) we went into his bedroom and he picked the Toy Story book and we read it three times.

 
Then we retired to the upstairs play room/family room (which is where the big screen theater is too!). Sorting his cars by color was actually MY idea. We had heated debates about where to place cars that were equal parts red and green. I am afraid that I won, which is not grandmotherly of me at ALL.  I was actually kinda sad when he lost interest in this. Plus, it meant I had to stand up after sitting on the floor for awhile...look away children, this isn't going to be pretty.........she's almost up, come on grandma, you can do it, unbend that right leg.........

Then Vivi got home from kindergarten and read him The Three Bears. I love her expressions!

In this next photo, Calvin is trying to pick off a hangnail on his big toe. He worked and worked at it, and finally he looked up at me and said "I'll just leave it." It's just fun to hear him learn to express himself. He also busts out singing "Jingle Bells! Jingle Bell! Jingle All the way!" out of the blue. Kind of like his version of making small talk. If things get a little boring, out comes "Jingle Bells!"

One fun thing about moving is you rediscover the dress-up bin! Do little girls come programmed to pose like this?

They had a ball with that box of costumes.

 Calvin is at that age where he still needs a nap, but it ends up he doesn't take one and then falls asleep on the floor at 4:30 pm. Then he's up until 10:30! It got to be 5:00 pm and he was getting pretty whiny but now it was too late for a nap, so I told the kids their job was to make sure he didn't fall asleep. The next photo is the time on the microwave clock when I discovered both Calvin AND Vivi sound asleep in Tony and Cindy's bedroom.

The big girls relaxing after school in Tony and Cindy's bed. I think it's the only picture I got of Lauren. She was gone all one day babysitting, and all day Monday visiting her friend in South Jordan.
 

Eli after being out in the rain.

This is a picture of Reagan and their next-door neighbor Abbey playing their ukeleles! I got to play the piano as they learned the chording to "Reindeer are Better than People" from Frozen. It was so fun.

Family room view into Tony and Cindy's bedroom with a new crop o' kids in the bed.

Okay, this is the most hilarious picture of all. Calvin is still in the process of deciding to be potty trained, so I brought a prize for him, and he was all over it when I asked if he wanted to put on his Toy Story underwear! There is nothing cuter than a slim little bum freed from diaper-dom! We read 10 books, drank a glass of orange juice, chatted a bit, nothing came of it. So I put his pants on him and set the buzzer for 30 minutes. We tried it again, nada. I kinda lost track of time there for awhile, and pretty soon Calvin comes walking into the kitchen bow-legged and looking kinda shocked and announced "I need some wet wipes." That was the end of the potty training experiment. :-)

It was Valentine's Day while I was there. Jane made this all by herself. I thought it looked so professional!

Rats! Grandma is making me do my homework! Isn't that the classic homework pose? I think Tony used to do the very same thing.

I wanted to take a picture of their under-counter lighting, but forgot to turn off my flash on the first one. I thought it was a great picture of the kitchen though!

It was a wonderful week. To go from my usual routine, to running a household of 6 kids is startling! And they're not little kids, they're self-sufficient as all get-out! We only lost three of the six of them during the time we were in charge of them. We found them.

Well, that's my latest adventure. With 16 adorable grandchildren, my cup truly does run over. I love each one of them individually and deeply. But lest you think I am all about my cup being half full (which is usually the case), here is what happened at our house this week: the microwave broke; the disposal broke and dad smashed his finger installing the new one (he says next time he's paying the guy $40 to do it); I was making a lazy turn and mashed the front tire into a median at Walmart and we had to buy a new tire; Dennis and I have had four crowns and a root canal between the two of us; and I have a little carpel tunnel from making name badges, and I don't even BELIEVE in carpel tunnel - see? Here's proof, can you see how carpelly my wrist looks? Oh, and I lost my glasses at Disneyland and replaced them with the world's most unsightly pair of bug-eyed specs ever created, as you can see. (I'm getting them re-done).
Love you all!! Blob