Blessing Day

Baby D was blessed on Sunday. It was wonderful.

A few things that are special about him:

He will be a great big brother.

His parents so looked forward to his coming to Earth.

He is loved by so many people.

We had a great celebration. Lots of family, and good friends (who are basically our family) came to the house and enjoyed yummy food. Thanks to L & R for providing the occasion, thanks to Bob, Bec, Brooke, Carolyn and D for helping me get everything ready, and thanks for everyone who came to the party.

I'm grateful to say this again:

my cup runneth over.

There aren't quite enough words to say how I feel about

this little guy.

Fun. Exciting. Cute. Cuddly. Love. Love Beyond Love.

His parents are pretty cool too.

Being a grandparent is a lot of fun.

We made it back from the cabin where the weather was delightful and I slept peacefully each night. Came home to the heat where I was awakened at 3 am by dogs who were too hot under the covers. Now I feel dragged out and don't want to do anything productive.

I re-read Custer and Crazy Horse (mentioned in my previous post). A lot of historical information. The battle of Little Bighorn was over fairly quickly, but it spelled doom to the the Plains Indian way of life. I liked one quote specifically "At the Washita, Custer was serving his nation and helping his nation realize its destiny. Every person who has even taken a train to California, or settle there or in Kansas, or driven an automobile through the area, or eaten the wheat or beef grown on the Plains, has reaped the benefit of the Washita battle. History is not black or white nor is it propaganda. History is ambiguous, if told honestly. It is hard enough to figure out exactly what happened and why; it is impossible to play God and judge the right or wrong of a given action, even the Washita." The Washita battle was prior to Little Bighorn. It was probable cause for other battles -- two peoples defending their rights to survival. The books left me wondering about a lot of things as well as where I stand on certain issues.

Borrowed

George Armstrong Custer

Chief Sitting Bull

(notice the butterfly pinned to his hat)

This week has been a productive week. I worked hard in the yard (repaired the porch and walking path), sewed a quilt top (Yellow Brick Road pattern), sewed the binding on two quilts, sanded and refinished a table (the one my Dad made as a microwave table 28 years ago and now D will be using as a bedside table), finished a book (The Last Standby Nathaniel Philbrick), did my daily exercise 6 days in a row, wrote in my journal, and read the scriptures.

Concerning the book The Last Stand, it was a bit of a challenge to read. There was a lot of historical background. But all of it was necessary to understand the situation. Philbrick does an even account from both sides. He presents Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse as individuals who were trying to save their way of life. He presents Custer with first-hand accounts; what a man he must have been! Full of ego and bravado, and just the type of man to lead a charge into dangerous territory. However, the battle scenario was a bit too graphic. I sort of felt the same way I did after reading Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley --

too much information in some areas.

Haunting information.

But in circumstances of war, it is haunting. Hand to hand combat is not pretty.

I've also read Crazy Horse and Custer by Stephen Ambrose. I will re-read it to see of it parallels The Last Stand. I remember thinking at the time that the historical aspects of Little Bighorn are complex and not easily explained.

There is a little bit of hero and villain in both Custer and Sitting Bull.

Since I didn't have any photos of my own,

I borrowed some photos from

L's blog.

She borrowed some photos from someone else's

so I figured it would be okay.

When you see how cute the photos are,

you will understand why I wanted to borrow them.

Don't you agree these pictures are darling?

Happiness

Now isn't that happiness.

This is more happiness!

It was love at first sight.

L always talks about how sexy it is for her man to hold their baby. I will have to agree, except this time it is my man holding our new darling grandbaby.

We went to the cabin for a week. It was a very lovely week. On one of the days, Bob rode his bike from the cabin to Kamas and then back again (about 90+ miles) Wow! what a guy. The same day, I drove to 3 different states: Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. Lin and I drove to Bear Lake to meet with one of her friends, and while she was visiting, I took the dogs on a little drive. I had heard Idaho wasn't too far away so we drove to the border to see what we could see. I was very proud of the three dogs. It was a lot of time in the car and they were very well behaved. Except for when Buster ate the leftover Twix bar.

We had some of Randy's co-workers over for dinner and I made lasagna with whole wheat pasta. It was pretty good. Yummo.

We have some furniture now: a real bed and a comfy couch. Yeah for furniture. Yeah for RC Willey and their determination to deliver. They couldn't quite find the place but didn't give up all day.

Not much in the way of reading; I'm still working on the book about Alexandria. I plan to read The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver again. Also I am going to do The Help by Kathryn Stockett for a book club in November so I will need to read it again. The next book on the list is The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan. I've read it once before and I know I will enjoy it again.

"To read a book for the first time

is to make an acquaintance with a new friend;

to read it for a second time is to meet an old one."

Thanksgiving

"take upon you the name of Christ;

that ye humble yourselves even to the dust,

and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in,

in spirit and in truth;

and that ye live in thanksgiving daily,

for the many mercies and blessings

which he doth bestow upon you."

So grateful for the past 24 hours. Our whole family together in one spot. Our little spot of heaven here on earth. We took a quick trip up to the cabin to see L & R, and baby D. It was beautiful. We saw sand hill cranes, three different pair. They were majestic. We didn't get pictures so we will have to remember them in our minds. It was fun to see the men work together cutting down trees. R is a good teacher and both D and B learned a lot. While we were on our walkie with the dogs, L and I picked wild strawberries. Little ones, but very sweet. On our way home to the desert, we saw an incredible lightening storm. It was truly a day to see the handiwork of God.

". . . all things denote there is a God;

yea, even the earth,

and all things that are upon the face of it . . ."

The Difference . . .

We tried grooming our dog, Buster.

The clippers stopped working half way through the job

The new clippers worked but only have one setting.

What is the old saying?

The difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is few days?

Something like that.

He seems a little embarrassed, but we really think he is enjoying not being so hot all the time!

Do you want to know what I could do all day? Here's a good example: