Divine signatures

This past week my boys were at scout camp fishing

and hiking

and earning their man cards and canoeing and rock climbing.

And meantime a young mom I visit teach was husbandless during those 4 days. Home alone with 4 young kids and I figured she would need a little reprieve. I offered to take her to lunch one day and she immediately latched on to that idea. My cute girls stayed home to babysit and we set out for a few hours. She and her husband had talked before he left about how she would get through the next couple of days and she told him how nice it would be if someone in the ward called and took her to lunch and gave her a couple of hours. She eyed me with suspicion as she asked whether I had talked to her husband before he left.

So many times we never know when we are about the Lord's work, but we just heed those promptings and feelings and go and do. Well, this week I got to actually hear the other side. That is such a confidence builder for me to know I was who someone needed at the moment.

Girls camp has come and gone.

It is such a indescribable experience. How can I explain the feelings and emotions that overcame me at our first flag raising ceremony when we got to the part of "one nation under God" in the pledge recitation. Or the incredible increase in love I get for all those girls. It's an experience I treasure every year as I get to step away from the worldly concerns and really focus on God's great eternal plan for all of us. Nature has a way of bringing me closer to my Maker than most things. Well, music too can do that.

My most treasured experience from this camp occurred a few hours after our testimony meeting. One of our Laurels was new to our group, having moved here recently. She has had some questions and quietly disappeared after our testimony campfire concluded. I gathered a few of my Laurels and we went in search of her much like the shepherd going after that one sheep. We found her sitting at a picnic table in the pavilion with her scriptures open and an open dialogue pursued. There were questions and answers and just all around great conversation full of love and the spirit. Several hours later we finally retired for the night. I hope that this girl knows she is loved immensely and that her Father in Heaven is very aware of her and her concerns.

A few weeks later I was reading the latest Ensign and came across an answer that was meant for her.

A prophet of God once offered me counsel that gives me peace. I was worried that the choices of others might make it impossible for our family to be together forever. He said, “You are worrying about the wrong problem. You just live worthy of the celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more wonderful than you can imagine.”

I immediately texted it to her which made her entire day so much better. Again, like with my lunch friend, I love when those little divine signatures pop up in my life letting me know that God is real, that he is very aware of me and those within my circle of influence.

What's happening in my yard

Same thing happened to my tomatoes last year. It's from a lack of calcium and it seems to only occur with my romas. My cherry tomatoes don't seem to have this problem called Blossom End Rot. I bought some stuff to spray on the leaves which I think is just a temporary fix. I wonder if they just need a little extra water. When vegetables are fruiting they need about 1 1/2 inches of water a week. My fruit trees also need a little extra when they are fruiting. I also read about adding egg shells to your soil. Definitely some things to figure out here.

Good things
rich soil
zucchini :)
grandmas

Gould family visit

Our guests who were family, and who became a part of our immediate family, have gone home. There was a touch of melancholy as we all woke up yesterday to a quieter than normal house.

There is talk already of a vacation to visit them sometime in the next year or two.

When Megan first approached Tyler about staying with us for two weeks this summer while they were in town for reunions, he immediately said yes. And then I had to remind him that the very week they were coming into town, I would be at girls camp and he would be in Wisconsin for work leaving them here alone with our kids.

Now I'm going to bare my soul here but just know I've done a complete reversal in the last couple of weeks. 

The first time we saw our Gould family was 2 years ago after many, many years. I wasn't sure how my kids would accept having people here whom they barely knew, and I thought they should stay with someone else, at least for those few days. Goodness, they were coming from half way across the country so why not spend some time with other family. None of my talking seemed to work and my kids assured me that they loved the idea of having them here. Talk about becoming as a little child with no reservations and so accepting. I prayed for peace in the situation and a week before they were to arrive, an email from Emily Freeman, a Time Out for Women presenter, showed up.

"There is one season in our family I will never forget. It was a season that began with a prompting. My girls and I were traveling in the car and we began talking about one of my favorite scriptures verses found in D&C 124:23, 'And it shall be…a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein; therefore let it be a good house, worthy of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord.' I asked my girls if we could try to make our home like that for one whole season. The type of home where people would feel something good when they walked in. I wanted them to come to our doorstep and find a welcoming home. A home where people could come to talk about Jesus."

Hello. Wake up call. Our home was to be a home where they felt comfortable and welcomed and might feel of God's love.

We put them up in Nate's room. Nate was kind enough to vacate himself and all his belongings for two weeks.

At girls camp I included in my testimony my strong feelings of the camaraderie and relationships that are strengthened when you live with people and break bread with them. There is a certain bonding that forges deep friendships. I've seen it with girls camp, with Kiersten and EFY, and when me and my siblings end up at home for the weekend. A couple of hours here and there just aren't comparable.

Well, after two weeks of living with the Goulds, I've done some serious repenting regarding the earlier feelings I had (I even told Megan of these feelings I had had and how grateful I was for the opportunity we had to get to know them better). I loved listening to Ash and Alex giggle and giggle with Hailey and Jaden one night . . . late one night . . . as they made up stories. Yep. I finally climbed out of bed to go snap a picture of their late night antics.

I loved watching Alex develop a bond with "his buddy" Megan as they worked out in the mornings and she helped him gather seashells at the beach.

I loved watching Erik take his younger brother and cousin and help them with a lemonade stand.

I loved getting to know Megan a little more through our casual conversations we had in the kitchen. I loved that my nieces Lexi and Maddie stayed for a few days and that Maddie got to come to church with us. I loved our movie nights and ice cream and slush parties.

This is an experience my family will not forget. It was a little strange at first, getting used to having extra people around, but the day they left was just as strange.

We have missed them and my soul is better for having them here.

*I had to pilfer a few photos because the ones I took of everyone on our front porch were so blurry when I opened them on my computer. I might be looking for a new camera.

What's happening in my yard

Loving the daylilies (red=Red Razzmatazz; white=Blueberry Candy) and blanket flower (Gaillardia X grandiflora) that are blooming this time of year when nothing else is. The blanket flowers are self-seeders and are easy to transplant all over the yard. They do not like a lot of water.

Good things
giggling cousins
horseback rides
pioneer faith

7-11

*Our treat for FHE was a trip to the 7-11 to cache in on their free Slurpee for July 11. Oops. Got there a little late and had to actually fork over some cash for our Slurpees.

*I'm off to girls camp tomorrow. This will be my third year and to celebrate I indulged a little and bought me a blow up mattress to sleep on. Last year my envious eyes lusted over Aimee's mattress as my cold, sore body wished I had something similar. I set it up and the kids broke it in for me. Ash thinks she's going to give up her bed for this thing when I get home.

*Josh and Megan and kids have arrived for our Leary Family Reunion and are staying with us for the two weeks they are here. Nate was good enough to give up his room and his space.

*We are six weeks into summer with six weeks left. I feel like I'm going to need a vacation from summer. This one has been a busy one with EFY, tennis camp, TREK, 2 family reunions, girls camp, scout camp, swim lessons.

*I've been reading a little book, almost short enough to be called a booklet, titled, Letters to a Young Mormon. So much of this author's ideas has me wanting to dog-ear so many pages.

"Wanting love and wanting to excel is good. The trouble comes from trying to tie them together. Pursue love and purse excellence -- pursue them with abandon. But you will spoil the joy native to each if you spend your life wanting to be loved because you are great.

Love . . . works only as a gift, never as a reward. It can't be earned or bartered or insured. It is a grace and it is freely given or not given at all. . . . Pursue love by striving to give it rather than posses it."

Good night and see you in a few.

Good things
sunsets
unseasonably cool July days
super glue

Family Reunion in Island Park

So I just took a look at my drafts folder and look what I found. That was such a fun trip. I absolutely love getting together with my family.

JULY 2016
Well, I'd call our Seamons family reunion a success with all of us minus Reed, Brittney, and Jace.

The cabin was a delight. There was no major drama. And the food was good as it always is when we get together. My personal opinion is that when you break bread with someone, you strengthen that bond and that relationship. It's no wonder family meals together are stressed so much today. 

Now I'm sure anything could pass as a meal, but in my family, food seems to rule. I don't know how or why that is, but we all love some good food and we all pitch in to make it come together. Rarely does my mom do the bulk of the cooking, even when we get together at her home in Ferron.

Reed and Britt brought their kids up early to leave them with Grandma for a few weeks and thus commenced our pre-reunion party. My sisters and I all made a point to be at home when they came, even though we were going to see each other again three days later. But for me, my brother Reed is that important to me. If he was going to make the trip up from Phoenix, then I could certainly make a 3 hour trek southward (don't even ask why they just didn't come to the reunion -- too far they said).

My kids picked up right where they left off with their cousins and that is huge. In a few years it might be different as they get older and less involved with each other. Ash and Cohen enjoyed swapping hats.


I'm not so sure his dad would have approved. And I'm not sure Ash should have been making faces at a buffalo.

There was hot tubbing

and acting like we were at a spa.

There was a trip to Yellowstone

Lunchtime tailgating

and reeling in the big "fish."

Fun nights of card games


and all the grandkids minus one.

Tennis

The tennis season for Erik didn't come to an end with a state tournament in May. We sent him to a tennis camp at Utah State last week in hopes of making him an Aggie yet.

Tyler and I dropped him off and then celebrated 19 years of marriage by exploring a new nursery in Logan. Actually it's been there quite a long time, but it was new to us and so darling. It instantly became a favorite as we loaded our van with new plants to incorporate into our yard.

(Kiersten tagged along with me later in the week to pick Erik up. We both made a stop at the Logan Temple and then had to indulge in Aggie ice cream after.)

When Erik couldn't get any friends to buy into the hefty price tag, he chose to go it alone. Our family policy with any big ticket items like this or EFY, is we will pay half. As a kid I would have loved to go to EFY but knew my parents couldn't afford it. They might have been more on board if I had proposed paying half (ya, that never even crossed my mind). So I didn't want my kids to miss out on some good experiences simply because of expense. If it was worth it to them, they would save their pennies and we would help.

Tennis is worth it to Erik and he had saved his pennies. Although he now needs to earn a few more of those pennies to put back in his piggy bank.

"Was the camp worth it, Erik?" Definitely. He made some friends and had some younger tennis campers wrapped around his finger. That is an Erik trait at its best. He is so good with younger kids.

The state tennis tournament was in St. George this year and I thought it would be a good excuse for a weekend getaway. I booked a room in March knowing how that town fills up so quickly. Tyler and I hopped a plane early Thursday morning for Vegas and got there in time for breakfast. Ty then hit the casino for some gaming (he has a favorite he likes to play on certain machines) and I discovered the Vegas Temple.
We bummed around in Las Vegas for the day, exploring the wax museum and Bellagio's flower gardens.

This one's for Kiersten:

This one's for Erik:

The next day we left early for St. George to catch Erik's first and only tennis match. Unfortunately, he was seeded against a player who was supposed to win it all. Erik maintained his cool like he does which got under this player's skin. Erik actually won 3 games on him which this player wasn't used to. It bothered him so much that he even reported it wrongly to the official, and Erik had to track down a coach to get it fixed.

As I sat watching the match, an older gentleman was kind enough to stop and talk to me about Erik and his potential to be good at tennis. Just the few minutes he watched him play, he was impressed with Erik's ability to keep his head in the game.

It might seem silly to spend the time and money to travel to watch a game that was only going to last an hour tops. But I'm glad we did. To Erik it meant the world that we came (even though he may not admit that).

Later Ty and I visited a conservation garden where he fell in love with cacti and this amazing bush that simply won't do well in our yard.

Overall, it was sad to see the tennis season come to an end. I love watching my kids compete. It also meant back home to several end-of-school crazy weeks.


Good things
trek
water
ice

Tooele Garden Tour

Build it and the people will come. 

Several years ago Tyler and I toured yards at the annual Tooele Garden Tour and decided that one day we'd like to be a part of it. Tyler is on a first name basis with owner of the local nursery, and Wade recommended our yard to be in the tour this year.

The Friday before the tour, my Fitbit told me I had walked 36 miles in the last 5 days and that was just in my yard, trying to get it ready to host. I just really wanted the weeds to lie low and the grass to be somewhat green after a week of 90 degree temperatures.

Projects got put on the fast track but I also didn't let it stress me out. Our yard is what it is . . . a work in progress. I was looking at photos from just a year ago and am stunned at the growth and change that can happen in such a short amount of time.

Tyler talks about "all the people" when he's creating walkways and paths in our yard. "The people are going to want to walk over here . . . " We like to jest him about all the people who are going to come to our house.

Well, he wasn't kidding. Last week, in the rain, we had 230 people visit our yard. I ended up changing into pants and shoes and turning on the outdoor fire pit. It was such a drastic change from the week prior. "The people" appreciated a little warmth and some fun conversations were held around that fire.

Erik was our sidekick for the day. I mean he seriously hung out with us all day long. He claims he wanted to see how many people were just as crazy as his parents. I secretly thinks he likes us :)

After a long week of weeding and mulching and projects and then a long day of nonstop people, we treated our kids to Golden Corral. That place brings back memories of my papa bear and his silly antics which of course I had to show my kids.

He loved to take the sugar packets and and pretend to snort them. Don't even ask. For his birthday this year we all pitched in for a shotgun and of course, in true dad fashion, he had to redneck it for pictures. That would be a birthday candle in his mouth. No one who really knows him would believe he was a seminary teacher by profession. He certainly doesn't fit the mold.

Well coming back from my little digression there about my dad (it is father's day today), this week's local newspaper had a write up about the garden tour and even though yards weren't mentioned by name, you kind of knew if Jay was describing your yard.

Good things
rain
Aggie ice cream
my van

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

June 16, 2016
Things I learned from some great gardeners
By Jay Cooper

The 2016 Garden Tour is now in the history books, and what a great event it was! Tooele Valley residents (and quite a few visitors from the Wasatch Front) showed up mightily to support this great community event.

It was the first time the Tour was expanded to include the “Summer Blast” at the historic Benson Gristmill, and the community gave a resounding “YES!” to this happening. The venue was packed with approximately 800-1,000 people. The sights and sounds were fantastic, as were the aromas from the food trucks! We look forward to doing this all again next year. 

My wife Maggie and I always look forward to the Tour because it’s exciting to see how hosts step up each year to put their yardscape on display for all to enjoy. As past Garden Tour hosts ourselves, we understand it’s a bit nerve-racking to work so hard and then open your yard to guests, hoping they will like what they see! Each time we visit the tour locations, it’s a marvel of creativity and ingenuity as these homeowners find new and innovative ways to design, arrange, surprise and delight the viewer with hardscapes as well as varieties that have been around for centuries and newer cultivars.

So, we’d like to feature interesting, unique and amazing things we learned from this year’s Tour.

One of my new favorite terms is “whimsy,” as it perfectly describes the use of “found” materials in the garden to create an emotional or “wow” reaction. We saw this technique at many of our 2016 locations. One tour host put hinges on a wrought-iron headboard to create a gate in their garden. We also saw an old wooden chair that had a hole cut in the seat big enough to house a
potted plant.

We’ve seen old boots, small wheelbarrows, ornate screen doors or even metal wash tubs placed randomly in garden beds with flowers or ground cover flowing out of them. They look as if they were tossed aside in an unplanned way and just happened to sprout life from within! Other gardeners went searching in unlikely places, like junkyards or metal recyclers, to find items that would lend themselves aesthetically to a particular garden design. We saw three-foot-tall metal springs from machinery standing proudly in flower beds, large gears painted and displayed on posts and even fin assemblies from aerial fuel tanks or bombs that were used as planters!

Hardscapes were another popular mainstay on the tour this year. These are elements of a yardscape that will tend to last a long time and be essentially the same from year to year. You might say they are foundational to the overall garden space. There were a variety of surfaced paths that were delightful to stroll on. Water features are always intriguing and ranged from a simple fountain to a complete waterfall with a flowing creek bed.

We saw several homes with a fire pit area, created from various materials. Some included informal seating while others had padded porch swings or large benches around the pit. Sitting outside on a cool night, in the dark, around a crackling fire is almost irresistible! One homeowner even installed gas logs in their outdoor fire pit for ease of use (not to mention not getting smoke in the eyes!). Other hardscape elements incorporated at sites were large boulders, arbors, retaining walls, pergolas, and benches.

Varying elevations was a common theme in many of this year’s locations. Some owners had naturally sloping lots that easily lent themselves to elevation changes while others created elevations by mounding up large amounts of soil to create giant islands in their landscape. Many of these mounds not only had trees and plantings but pathways, as well, that meandered around or over them and often included a bench or other seating to allow visitors to stop and enjoy the beauty for a while. Still others achieved the look and feel of elevation by their planting arrangement — contrasting very tall plants and shrubs in the back of a bed with smaller ones in the front. 

Another design element common to some of the homes was placing ornamental and edible plants in the same garden bed. Some of the edibles we saw included strawberries, rhubarb, dill, basil, lemongrass and other good-looking veggie plants that were enjoying life along side a wide variety of perennials.

It’s a great way to add “practical” plants to your garden that not only look beautiful but taste good as well. Cabbage, turnips, and kale are also great candidates for placement in ornamental areas.

A cool idea for landscape design is a tool area where gardeners can keep their commonly used garden tools readily accessible. Gardeners spend a lot of time weeding, watering, pruning, planting and fertilizing their landscape. Having tools and gloves close at hand, while not exposing them to the elements, is essential.
Several homes incorporated that need into their yardscape in clever ways. We saw a mailbox on a post in one garden with the word “Tools” painted on the outside. Others had small sheds or neatly kept buildings that housed shovels, rakes, fertilizer and the like in an attractive way that became part of the outdoor decor. Being practical doesn’t mean it needs to be ugly!

Another great idea is instead of potting annual flowers to decorate your porches and other garden spaces, use perennials that you want to add to your garden beds and enjoy them as potted plants. Then plant them, towards the end of the season, as a permanent part of your landscape. Get them in the ground early enough that they can get established before their winter’s sleep. Step and
repeat this process the next year and so on. We are currently adopting this practice with lavender and blue flax that are potted on our porch right now.

We also saw quite a few outdoor rooms on the tour this year. These rooms ranged from uncovered seating with minimal support structures to permanent outdoor covered spaces with roofs and floors and lots of places to sit and relax. Depending on your budget and what you are trying to accomplish, there are unlimited ways to create an outdoor room space in your yard that will not only meet your family’s needs but also fit nicely in your yard’s design.

And speaking of family, kids were king on this year’s tour! Many homes had large, dedicated spaces in the yard for their kids and other playmates. One home actually built a meandering lowspeed ATV track complete with hills at the bottom of their sloping property. Another home not only incorporated beautiful landscape for the adults including an outdoor room, vegetable gardens and a backyard deck with fire pit, then made it fun for the kids to live there as well! They are kept engaged with a sports court, enclosed trampoline, tetherball area, club house and — get this — a fountain set up just like the dancing waters at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City. When turned on, small holes in the concrete floor squirt water into the air at random intervals and heights. The neighborhood kids love it so much that the owner has installed a flagpole in the front of the house and, only when the yellow flag is flying, the neighborhood kids are welcome to come and play in the water as well. Wow! You know that will be a great childhood memory for all the kids in the neighborhood when they grow up! 

Congratulations to all of the tour hosts for making the 2016 tour remarkable and memorable! We broke attendance records again this year and work has already begun for next year’s event. Our thanks as well to our title sponsor — the Tooele Transcript Bulletin. They really helped us get the word out and were great to work with!

The 2017 Garden Tour will be June 10 with the Friday night Summer Blast being held on June 9. Mark your calendars and, if you were inspired by this year’s homes and take some of these ideas to heart, maybe YOUR home will be on the Tour in the not-so-distant future!

Lazy Lazy

Wowers! I was so not motivated to do anything last week. Summer break hit and I loved it. I read a lot and worked in the yard a lot.

But cleaning the house? Ya, didn't really happen. Piano lessons? Those didn't happen either. Meals? My poor kids starved. Tyler and I did self-diagnose and fix our geothermal unit that quit working on Friday and Saturday. That's always a nice feeling knowing you're not putting money towards a service call.

This coming week may not be much better. We are hosting our yard in the annual Tooele Garden Tour on Saturday.

No pressure to get our yard looking somewhat decent, but I think we've come a long ways with a long ways more to go.

Seriously, I'm not stressed. Any true gardener knows that gardening is never done.

You're always changing and tweaking things.

Our yard will always be in constant motion. 

Our biggest accomplishment this year has been the weeds. We've been here 6 years and are just feeling like we've got a handle on the weed control.

One of Tyler's biggest accomplishments was learning how to do masonry work. When a bid came back to fix our stone walls that was simply outrageous, Ty figured he could save some money and figure it out himself. And he did. I'm quite proud of him for that.


And now for something totally unrelated. Or maybe two. Nate and Kiersten have started summer running miles. Nate wants to run 500 and Kiersten is 700 or 750. Anyway, Nate was complaining one day about what he was eating and told us how it was going to give him crappy runs. I know he had know idea how funny it sounded, but Tyler and I could not contain ourselves. I'm afraid it's one of those sayings that will go around our family for many years.

Alex came out of the bathroom after his bath only wearing his towel last night and told Kiersten how people used to dress like that in the 1900s or the 1800s or maybe it was the 1600s.

I love kids and their humor.

Good things
air conditioning
fresh garden strawberries and peas
sprinkler system