the countdown continues

Bake and freeze cakes for Thursday night's family dinner:

Check.

Plan healthy family meals during wedding week:

Check.

Go with Charlotte to jeweler's to have our rings cleaned:

Check.
Enjoy every minute of having Charlotte at home:

Check.

farewell teenager

Twenty years ago at this very moment I was waddling the halls of Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge, Colorado (pausing every now and then to breathe my way through a contraction). Emily was preparing to make her grand entrance into the world and despite the fact that I was having regular contractions, the nurses were not satisfied with my progress and suggested I walk the halls to speed things along. Suffice it to say that I am really glad it's 2010 and not 1990.

Little did I know at the time that the Lord was sending me one of His most amazing children to call my own.

Two years ago, before Emily left for college, I made a "10 Things I Love About You" book for her birthday. Though there are way more than just ten admirable, lovable, and endearing things I love about my second child, here are the ones I documented in her book:

• You are one of the hardest-working people I know. You don’t mind doing dirty jobs, and you do what it takes to get the job done—be it cleaning a bathroom, finishing a school assignment, or canvassing the streets of downtown Denver passing out flyers.


• I love your sense of humor! You’re not afraid to be a little goofy sometimes, and that just makes life all the more enjoyable.

• You’ve got a great sense of style. I love the way you combine textures, pattern, and color to come up with just the right outfit. I also love that you sometimes plan your outfits first on paper.

• Your priorities are in the right place. I love that I never have to guess on which side of the line you stand. I love you for making time for the things that matter most—you are an example to me and gentle reminder of the qualities I want to cultivate in myself.


• I love seeing your tithing envelope clipped to the strip by your door.


• I love your “Wood Eyes.” They are warm and true—just like your Dad’s.


• While everyone else screams, “SHOTGUN!” while racing to the car, you quietly—without murmuring—get in the back. I love the selflessness I see in you. I am often the surprised beneficiary, enjoying a freshly-mopped kitchen or a Clorox-fresh bathroom. Thank you.


• I love that you enjoy baking treats for our family and for others. You are so thoughtful and willing to go out of your way to brighten someone’s day with a homemade bit of goodness. (Side note--One of our favorite Emily quotes, when we were talking about social drinking: "I think cupcakes are the social lubricant!")

• Nothing is quite as satisfying as making a list. I love that you are a planner—a planner of parties, college financing, cleaning jobs, school assignments—you’ve got it all covered with one of your lists. I will miss seeing them posted by your door.


• I may make fun of it, but deep down I really like your serial-killer handwriting. (If you've seen it, you know what I mean.)


• I love and appreciate your determination to finance your college education. I see how frustrating it is at times—and wish we could do more to help you—but you never complain or express a sense of entitlement. I’m so proud of your hard work and dedication to making your own way.

So--although I miss the darling little girl who danced in front of the video camera in our old home videos and made goofy faces--and I sometimes feel like time passes all-to-quickly--I love the beautiful young woman you have become.

I thank my Heavenly Father every day for sending you to me.

Happy 20th Birthday, Emily!

Operation: Rejuvenation

I think I look forward to semi-annual Conference weekends more than almost any other event or holiday throughout the year--and not just because of Donut Night.

Last night's batch was pretty fabulous, however. My mom decided to throw a new variety into the mix, chocolate cake donuts:

Yes, they were pretty amazing, as is virtually anything that comes from my mom's kitchen.

As much as I love the donuts, however, they are the least of things I love about this weekend.

I love that the Priesthood holders in my life honor that sacred trust and take their responsibilities seriously. I love that John, who is now 15 1/2 (and, as you can see stands a good 3-4" taller than his dad) never balks at attending a two-hour Priesthood meeting with his dad and grandpa twice-yearly on a Saturday night. He in fact goes with a smile on his face. I love seeing the men I love in their Sunday clothes.

(I love that my dog loves my dad almost as much as I do.)

I love having my sister Patricia here for a visit, and I love that she selflessly did the dishes last night. I had been ironing for about five hours (no exaggeration), then cooking donuts for another hour or so. I was exhausted, but satisfied.

Most of all, I love knowing that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth and that I am a part of it. I love knowing that I have a purpose here, I am given direction and guidance, and that the Lord knows me personally and is mindful of my needs. I love knowing that I am sealed to my family for all of eternity. I love knowing that I needn't be afraid in perilous times, I need only hold fast to the Iron Rod and stay true to my faith. I love knowing that other people I love are striving to do the same.

I love knowing that a prophet of God lives on the Earth today and that he receives revelation from God and shares it with us. I love knowing that I find safety and peace in following his counsel. I love General Conference because I am reminded of all of these things and come away strengthened, rejuvenated, and empowered to be a better me.

morale boost

After seeing the gorgeous gardens of blogger friends Shannon and Lee, this post seems a bit pathetic, but if you A) knew how little gardening skill and experience I have, and B) saw what we started with, you might just be impressed--or at the very least happy for me that my front yard no longer looks like something that belongs in a neglected trailer park.

When we first moved into our home nearly five years ago suffice it to say that the yard was not the thing that attracted us to the house. The main "garden spot" at the front walkway was a mass of over-grown fitzer bushes that may have been pretty at some time (the house was built in 1959), but had long-since lost their appeal and were nothing but a sprawling mass of spider-infested prickles.

With so much work to do on the inside of the house the outside landscaping lived on in continued neglect, brightened only by an occasional seasonal display on the front door. My attempt at gardening was confined to a pot on my porch which was home to a few lonely petunias and geraniums each summer.

Mark finally tired of my incessant complaining about the horrid bushes and pulled them out at the beginning of last summer. Ah--progress! It was like having a rotten tooth pulled. Finally, a clean slate--or so I thought. Oh. Roots. Lots of twisted, deep roots. Roots that must be dealt with before any planting could take place. Alas, another summer passed--this time with a lovely patch of root-filled dirt as our front-yard decoration--which was, believe it or not, better than the bushes.

Fast forward to Mother's Day 2009 (which of course I have not yet blogged about). Mark surprised me with this beautiful rose bush and a gift certificate to a nice local nursery. I know very little about growing rose bushes, but do know that my favorite color of rose is the one he bought:

We had so much fun going to O'Toole's nursery to select our plants. We chose these two bushes, which I liked for their bright green color, two flats of Vinca in shades of vibrant pink and white, and a flat of a cute creeping perennial with little white flowers. Looks like we'll need a few more gift certificates to complete the project.

Next, it was time to involve the whole family. We spent the rest of that day pulling up weeds and digging out the remaining root stumps. (Yes, we use latex dental gloves for gardening and cooking.)

My parents dropped by at one point and my darling almost-ninety-year-old father helped show John an effective method for manual stump/root removal.

(By the way, my dad still mows his own lawn--how great is that?!)

Ta-Dum! Behold--a root eventually wrangled out by Mark:

The next Saturday I went to buy compost and Mark did the honor of first breaking up the existing clay-filled soil, and then working in the compost. Oh, and did I mention the nasty 40+ year old plastic liner we had to dig out, as well?

Finally it was time for planting! Sarah helped me with this.

Mark dug the holes and planted the bushes, as I'm not so handy with a shovel.

I even re-potted a basil plant I bought for summer cooking.

While the finished product may not look like much yet from the street, and we've already started a list for our next trip to O'Toole's, it looks a heck of a lot better than it did before we started!

Best of all is the morale boost this project has given me. I'm no longer embarrassed to tell people which house is mine, or feel the need to make disclaimers about its outward appearance.

How can you not smile when you have rows of pink flowers outside your front door?

battery recharged!

Thankfully I did have my camera's battery charger with me so I was able to completely document our trip to Vail. Regretfully, however, I have had a difficult and frustrating time managing my photos on my computer, and despite the fact that I have sat down to post three or four different times, I have been unable to upload the photos (in the correct orientation) that I've wanted.

After reading Jill's post, however, I am determined not to let our mountain get-away slip by without proper documentation--no matter how frustrating. It's so easy to get sucked back into the ever-whirling vortex of everyday life and forget you ever went on vacation. So here's my scrapbook, if you will, of our trip to Vail. (My apologies to Jessie, in case it makes her sad.)

For starters, here's the photo I had intended to post at the end of my last entry (but couldn't, due to a dead camera battery) showing the grandeur of trees in the neighborhood:

Before continuing, I must remind you that I already made the disclaimer that we are low-level recreators. We love having little projects on which to work, watching movies together, taking walks, preparing tasty food together--I know, we're a little weird.

I was quite proud of the fact that I actually documented my sister Susan in a RARE moment of relaxation. She is quite possibly the most hard-working person I know. We were happy that Sarah had thought to pack both Anne of Green Gables and the sequel, Anne of Avonlea. We watched all eight hours over our five-day stay and I cried at all the same parts I usually do. I LOVE those movies and haven't watched them in years. (Yes, those are in fact my toes comfortably resting on the ottoman.)

Emily has become a knitting machine! She made this hat and began another project--something called "muffitees" while we were there. We were all impressed by her newly-acquired skill.

Charlotte brought along a complicated counted cross stitch project that she's been working on for several years now. I'm impressed that she has kept at it for so long! It's beginning to actually look like something you'd want to frame and hang on your wall. (Don't you think she sort of looks like Hilary Swank in this photo?)

One of our favorite pastimes was playing Bananagrams, our new most-favorite game. I had to document Susan's frustration at getting a poor assortment of tiles one time. We loved playing round after round of this game and even made up a new rule that if anyone sneezed during the course of a game, everyone had to mix up their tiles and pass them clockwise. It actually happened a time or two, though unfortunately for Susan, not in this round.

Almost everyday, late in the afternoon, we would take a walk in the neighborhood and gawk at the surrounding beautiful houses and scenery. There was a great park nearby and even the older kids had fun on the playground equipment.

I think Sarah would love any vacation destination that had a park like this one.

One day we went into the village (Vail proper) and strolled along the quaint shopped-lined streets. It wasn't until after I had taken this photo that I realized that my nephew Ryan was carrying his mother's purse--too funny! He isn't really a purse-carrying type of guy, but I thought it was sweet of him to tote this heavy patent leather load for his mom.

Here are two of the more interesting looking store fronts we saw:

Many of the shops were closed, or kept odd hours, as this time of year is sort of between tourist seasons.

After several unsuccessful attempts at group SPs, an amused local offered to snap this photo of us (it was before we met up with Ryan, Miles, and Max). There will always be those people who don't grasp the concept or value of self-portraiture.

This one turned out a little better, perhaps because we weren't trying to crowd so many people into the photo.

Saturday happened to be my brother-in-law Fred's birthday, so Susan make a breakfast tower out of one of his (and our) favorite store-bought treats--mini chocolate donuts (or as we like to refer to the little waxy-chocolately "cakes," feaux-nuts).

One night we made homemade pizzas. Regrettably, I forgot to bring a rolling pin. Ingenuity led me to use this can of Pam to distribute the homemade crust (somewhat) evenly in the pan.

My favorite of the four we made was this vegetable pizza, shown here prior to baking:

We introduced the Taylor and Olivier clans one night to a Wood family favorite dinner: popcorn, M&M's, apples, and cheese. Don't laugh until you've tried it--it's pretty darn good. We went all out and had two kinds of M&M's--dark chocolate peanut and my personal favorite, peanut butter. (And if you try this at home, it has to be real popcorn--not the microwave kind.)

Another night we grilled hamburgers--or shall I say, Mark grilled them for us, fighting vast amounts of leaping flames and smoke to do so. I think he may have lost some facial and arm hair in the process.

Eva provided a constant source of entertainment to all of us (with the possible exception of her mother, who patiently dealt with her sometimes unreasonable--though quite humorous--demands). Surprisingly to me, Eva was quite camera-shy the entire time and was not inclined to favor us with many photo ops.

One of the best parts of our stay was literally watching our beautiful surroundings bud before our very eyes. I swear that there were several trees that were bare upon our arrival and in bright green leaf by the time we left.

If you've made it this far in my post, you're probably either related to me or just bored enough to wade through someone else's vacation photos for lack of anything better to do. While I am very thankful that I did in fact have my camera's battery charger with me and could adequately document my trip, I am even more grateful for the recharging of my own battery. It's amazing what just a few days of total relaxation and escape from the daily grind can do to revitalize one!

I have additional family photos but will wait for another post for those. For now, I'm just thankful for a preserved reminder of an enjoyable time spent with my favorite people. *sigh*

Now, back to Real Life.

Conference Weekend highlights

For those of you who don't know what Conference Weekend is, it's The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints semi-annual broadcast from Salt Lake City, always held on the first weekends in April and October. There are five sessions total on Saturday and Sunday, two hours each, where our church leaders speak about everything from repentance to personal finance. I look forward to these two weekends each year as a time of personal revelation and growth, as well as a time of family tradition and togetherness. I always come away feeling motivated to be better than I am today, and feel an increased love and appreciation for my Savior Jesus Christ.

I also love the feeling of connected-ness (made up word?) I feel with the other 13 million members of my church, including my loved ones watching in faraway places. I love knowing that we're all hearing the same messages at the same time, having the Holy Spirit bear witness to us of the divinity of Jesus Christ and His love for us.

I can't wait to download the talks to my iPod. I didn't take notes because I was working on Easter sewing projects for Sarah and me (to be documented later). Going from memory--which at 46 isn't what it used to be--the messages that spoke to my heart are, in no particular order:

• Start where you are right now to become a better person. Start now.
• Worshipping in the temple with greater frequency and sincerity will bless me immeasurably.
• Learn to say, "We can't afford it."
• We are so blessed to have a living Prophet of God on the earth today, Thomas S. Monson.
• Don't be afraid of changes in life. Embrace them and work through them with the Savior at your side.
• Fear is the opposite of faith.
• We needn't fear the current climate of economic uncertainty. Hold steadfast to the truth, learn to live providently, and we'll get through it.
  
• Gospel principles remain constant and unchanging in a changing world. Standing firm by them is our sure hope for safety, peace, and happiness.
• It's always fair when you get to choose.
  

We had our traditional Donut Night on Saturday night, after the men's Priesthood session. I love seeing the men I love in their white shirts and ties. John changed out of his Sunday clothes before I could get his picture, and for some reason I didn't think to have him pose with his Dad and Grandpa for this post-Priesthood session shot. I love and appreciate the honorable Priesthood holders in my family and do not take for granted having this power in my home.

Mom decided that she felt well enough to help me make donuts at her house (she's the glazer, you know, but has been sick this past week). Since she's still coughing quite a bit, we didn't invite our usual crowd of friends.

If I do say so myself, it was one of our better batches!

We watched the Sunday afternoon session with my Mom and Dad at their house and had dinner together afterwards.

This photo is for Bella. Sorry honey, but we don't want "another dog." Even Grandpa has a soft spot for Moosey!

Until October, then.