Mother's Day 2020

We were in the middle of a big project, so the possible Mother's Day camp out had to be put on hold.  The project is worth the wait - a beautiful stone privacy wall between us and the neighbor's back yards.  We like our neighbors, but it's a little uncomfortable to be in each others view every time you go out into the backyard.  They run a home based business plus have a spa in their backyard and are out there ALL of the time.  They man seemed a little miffed, but I think they'll actually enjoy it in the long run.  They don't own the house, so they may not even be there too long.  So, after a long time of not doing anything, Paul had time and got it started.  We needed to keep working on it so that we could get it done enough to move the covering off the grass so it could be watered...so short story long, we stayed home to work on the wall on Friday and Saturday instead of going camping.  And we'd just gone the week before with Supe and Beacher, so it was OK.  Paul made delicious ribs for dinner.  Anna Lou really loved them...along with the rest of us.  It was a nice peaceful Sunday at home and I got to see or talk to all of the kids.  Nothing better than that can happen for Mother's Day!  The kids spoiled me with presents too.  All in all it was a lovely day.  I did feel a bit sad thinking of not having a mom to call myself, so I called both of my sisters on Saturday night and that was a very enjoyable thing.  I need to do it much more often.

Here's a lovely quote about mother's:  To all of our mothers everywhere, past, present, or future, I say, "Thank you.   Thank you for giving birth, for shaping souls, for forming character, and for demonstrating the pure love of Christ."  To Mother Eve, to Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, to Mary of Nazareth, and to a Mother in Heaven, I say, "Thank you for your crucial role in fulfilling the purposes of eternity."  To all mothers in every circumstance, including those who struggle--and all will--I say, "Be peaceful.  Believe in God and yourself.  You are doing better than yo think you are.  In fact, you are saviors on Mount Zion, and like the Master you follow, your love "never faileth."  I can pay no higher tribute to anyone.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

And there were some beautiful songs sung on Music and the Spoken Word that day that really touched my heart:

Home is a special kind of feeling, a feeling of a place where you belong, a feeling that world is left behind you, like a shelter form your cares that seems to want you to be there.

Home is a special kind of feeling, the feeling that you've made it on your own, somewhere which you know is really your place, a place for living, your special place, your home.

Home has a welcome kind of feeling, the firelight, and the warmth of hearth and home, a welcome that you know will always cheer you, like a gentle kind hello, that seems to touch you with a glow.

Home has a quiet kind of feeling, an island when you need to be alone, a haven for the times you spend together, there's nowhere better, no other place like home.  By John Rutter (from Wind in the Willows)

Fill the World With Love - from Goodbye Mr. Chips

In the morning of my life I shall look to the sunrise,
At a moment in my life when the world is new.
And the blessing I shall ask is that God will grant me,
To be brave and strong and true,
And to fill the world with love my whole life through.

(Chorus - between each verse)
And to fill the world with love
And to fill the world with love
And to fill the world with love my whole life through.

In the noontime of my life I shall look to the sunshine,
At a moment in my life when the sky is blue.
And the blessing I shall ask shall remain unchanging.
To be brave and strong and true,
And to fill the world with love my whole life through.

In the evening of my life I shall look to the sunset,
At a moment in my life when the night is due.
And the question I shall ask only God can answer.
Was I brave and strong and true?
Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?

That song reminded me of my mom.  She just had this way of making people feel loved..she loved them.  My kids only got to go out to see her in CA once or twice a year (usually only once),but they felt her love through her kindness, care packages, and just the way she treated them when they were there or on the occasions when they came to visit us.  She was always interested in them and what they had to say and what they were doing.  She wasn't critical or preachy to them.  She just loved them!  That is certainly a character that I would like to have inherited more of from her. We have such different personalities.  Hopefully in my own way and in my own personality I can come to be like her in that regard.  In the evening of my life I would hope to be known as a person who filled the world with love my whole life through...like she did. 

Evening before walk

Our wall in progress...and done!