Belated Mother's Day...

Doesn't that look simply delicious? That is a picture of the best breakfast dish in the world!  I found the recipe for Baked French Toast in the newspaper several years ago when Ron was my stay-at-home-house-husband.  At the time, my campus was having a breakfast pot luck once a semester and Ron would whip this up for me each time.  Now that we are both working again,  we seldom have time to make it.  Ron asked me what I wanted for dinner on Mother's Day and I told him, "Forget dinner! I want baked French Toast and Razzleberry Pie.  I don't care what goes with it."  He ended up making this for breakfast and then fixing Chicken Enchiladas for dinner (with Razzleberry Pie for dessert)  and fed "all the beautiful mothers" in his life. Unfortunately, Becca was sick, so she missed out on a great dinner.

Scott was working on Mother's Day, so he stopped by on his way to work with this crazy card.  I have to give some background information or this will seem pretty pointless.  When Scott was in Kindergarten, he made me a cute little card that had little doors on the outside and when you opened the doors, there was a picture of Scott.  The inside of the card said, "Happy Mother's Day! I love you, Name."  You see, Scott forgot to listen when his teacher said, "Copy these sentences, but put your first name here."  So, when I opened the envelope I read this....

 But when I opened the card, I read this.....

 It cracked me up!  Of course, I loved it and it would have been perfect even without the $50 gift card to the ebook store.  Well, actually I kinda liked that a lot too because the Sony Reader Ron got me for Mother's Day needed some books.

The girls decided to take me to Austin as their Mother's Day gift.  We didn't want to go down on Mother's Day weekend, so we went today.  Our first stop was at Sam Moon's for some jewelry.  I have decided I really like shopping for costume jewelry because you never have to worry about whether or not it fits.

 Next, the girls treated me to lunch at La Madeline's.  YUM!!  We asked one of the other customer's to take our picture so I have this great shot of my beautiful daughters.  After lunch, we went to the new outlet mall in Round Rock and finished off the shopping trip at Ikea.

We would have had a perfect day if the weather hadn't decided to be muggy and humid.  When we got home, we called in an order for Papa John's pizza and watched the grandkids play catch in the front yard. Thanks girls, it was a great belated Mother's Day.

Daisy...

When Rebecca was a junior in high school, she went into the garage one morning and discovered a stray dog.  She ended up adopting the stray, calling her Pepe, and falling in love with the thing. Pepe proved to be a wicked little mongrel that drove everyone crazy except for Becca.  Unfortunately, Pepe was hit by a car and it devastated Bec.  We decided to try to help her overcome her grief by getting her a new dog.  We hit the shelters one weekend when the local shelters were having a Fuzzy Friends Adoption weekend.  Becca didn't find a replacement for her dog, but I found Daisy.

Daisy was one of a litter that had been abandoned at the front door of a local vet clinic.  When I saw her, I thought her markings reminded me a lot of Pepe.  I picked her up and carried her around while Becca looked at the other dogs.  She never found one she wanted, but by the time we were ready to go, Daisy had snuggled her way into my heart.

She wasn't a small puppy, by any stretch of the imagination; but, from the moment I picked her up I knew she had a gentle soul.  Her enormous paws were dwarfed by her huge, sad eyes and sloppy kisses.  

We had Daisy as part of our lives for 12 years, which is unusual for a large breed.  We used to joke that she was immortal.  Unfortunately, for the past few months I have had that nagging feeling that Daisy's time with us was coming to an end.  I think it was the Spirit's way of preparing me for Thursday when Ron came home from work and found her laying on her bed as if asleep.  Sweet Daisy had decided to stay asleep. 

I don't understand many of the mysteries of life, but I believe that all things were created spiritually before they were created temporally. I also believe that God places these gentle souls in our care to make us better people.  

I will be forever grateful for picking up that special little puppy so many years ago. I miss her, but know that she is cavorting with Burgess and making friends with Pepe, Bodo, Jack, Tara, Charlie, Molly, and all the many other furry friends that have passed through our lives.  

Daisy, you are loved and missed.

The family with Daisy at Christmas, 2009

Always mindful of the grandkids, Daisy patiently endured their wrestling and romping.

Even as she aged, and the number of grandchildren increased, Daisy remained forever patient and gentle.

We used to joke about how she was a big, furry, bag of duh.  I think she was much wiser than all of us.

Daisy often endured many moments of humiliation for the sake of the grandkids.

When I walked her, the leash was pulled so tight, I wondered if it would snap.  But with the grandkids, she simply plodded along.

Daisy, and ever present and watchful playmate.

Sometimes, a little too affectionate.

Sleep well, Daisy girl.

Friends, fun, and changes...

One of the biggest changes that has taken place in our lives was the splitting of the Killeen Texas Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We have been members of the stake most of the past 35 years.  When we moved from Killeen to Temple, we were still able to stay in touch with friends at stake activities.

Now that we are in the Waco Texas stake, we don't see old friends as often.  However, we have made some wonderful new friends right here in Temple.

Recently, we attended the annual High Priest Social at the McKinley farm near Academy Little River.  

Historically, the social has been attended by between 100 - 200 people.  Because of the split, the attendance is much more intimate and enjoyable.  Below are a few pictures I took Friday night.

Marilyn and Rick Stoner are also transplants to Texas, but didn't come here because of the military. They are originally from Pennsylvania, but moved down here to be closer to their grandchildren.  Their daughter met a local boy through an online dating service.  They met, married, and now have 2 little boys.  I think we were as lucky as their daughter because we met some wonderful friends.

Other friends from church include Elizabeth and Richard Grindstaff (on the right) and our wonderful Bishop Jim Prescott.  His sweet wife, Shanna somehow managed to lean back just as I snapped this picture.

In addition to the Prescotts, we simply adore Tim and Vicki New.  Tim and Vicki live on a little piece of heaven near Rogers.  I have the great pleasure of being Vicki's visiting teacher and Tim is one of our home teachers.  We think getting together for dinner might be the best way to get our 

monthly visits taken care of ;-)

 But, back to changes: you see that big smile on my Sugarbear's face?  That is not only because of the wonderful food and companionship we enjoyed at the social, but because he was recently released as the High Priest Group leader.  Which leads me to the third big change:  Leslie was recently called as our ward Relief Society President.

Today was her first day and it happened to coincide with the week that is traditionally reserved for the Presidency Message.  Her lesson was touching, heartfelt, hopeful, and filled with laughter and tears.  I think she will serve our ward graciously and compassionately.

And continuing with the theme of changes; I am coming to the end of another school year.  At times it is hard to believe that I have been teaching for almost 15 years.  But, as I looked at this picture below, I was reminded of that by how plainly the fatigue shows on my face.  I am looking forward to the summer and the time it affords me to rest, focus on the things that are important, and find new enthusiasm to begin a new year.