. . . feed the birds . . .

. . . watched these blue jays 

out the kitchen window 

of shellene's cabin last week . . .

. . . they're greedy little guys . . .

. . . i couldn't help thinking 

of my dad . . .

. . . how he loved birds . . .

. . . all birds . . .

. . . these would have 

entertained him for hours . . .

 {see the three males?}

. . . females are much duller in color 

and lack the showy crest . . .

. . . what's up with that, chicks? . . .

. . . don't let the boys show you up . . .

. . . accessorize! . . . 

. . . in his own words . . .

. . . two years ago today,

my dad passed away . . .

. . . not a day goes by 

that i don't think about him . . .

. . . i miss him so . . .

. . . i shared these words he wrote 

in a post about his funeral, 

but the counsel contained in them 

seems to be just what i need today . . .

. . . so, dad, 

i am remembering you . . .

. . . and i'm trying to smile . . .

when i am gone away, 

i pray that i might leave

a few who mourn my passing— 

but not for long. 

instead of tears and wounded hearts, 

i would that those who care 

might find solace 

in the remembrance 

that i lived at all! 

may i be known for lasting love 

of wife, children, grandchildren 

through whom i yet live! 

may i be remembered 

for service to others, 

to my community, 

to its children, 

to god, father of my spirit. 

i would be remembered for charity. 

i have not wished 

to be a tinkling bell, 

a sounding symbol. 

i have loved life and living. 

i shall love what lies hereafter. 

may i be remembered 

for those good deeds of mine 

that showed concern for fellow men. 

may those who truly care 

remember me when i am gone away--

and smile.  

 —jack davis

. . . short and sweet . . .

. . . just a couple of things tonight . . .

•thing one: thanks so much 

to all giveaway winners. 

that was the most prompt response 

i've ever had. 

all eight prizes were either 

picked up in person yesterday, 

or mailed today. 

{i also mailed the final prize from last august's giveaway. hi bobbi!}

•thing two: there was 

yet another lizard 

in my kitchen today. 

i was not thrilled.

•thing three: muscle relaxant drugs 

make me soooooo sleepy. 

i was, however, 

able to stand a little straighter today,

and i'm hoping for an 

even better day tomorrow. 

{back pain stinks. it makes me feel even MORE sorry for my husband.}

. . . while hayden was sleeping . . .

. . . at which, so far, 

she seems to be a champ . . . 

. . . eight winners were chosen . . . 

. . . at random, might i add . . .

. . . so ~ without further delay . . .

•nanette merrill {prize mailed}

•donna allen {prize claimed}

•shellene {prize claimed}

•kimberly johnson {prize claimed}

•tyson and kyndall {prize mailed}

•dixie chiles {prize claimed}

•lifeinredshoes {prize mailed}

•sherri {prize mailed}

. . . congratulations!! . . .

. . . please 

~ if you don't live in mesa, arizona ~ 

{or relatively nearby}

contact me with address info 

and oops! preference . . . 

. . . first come ~ first served . . .

{i love to be able to respond to comments. 

half of these winners were notified by email. 

if you won and didn't get an email from me, 

it's because you haven't changed your blogger settings. 

it's sooooooo easy to do. 

click here. 

please make me happy!}

. . . lickety-split . . .

. . . my quilter is so nice . . .

. . . she'll let me put my name 

on her reservation list 

before i even have a quilt 

ready for her . . .

. . . lucky for me, 

my name came up last week 

and once i took yeehaw! to her, 

she got it done lickety-split . . . 

{don't you think the terms "yeehaw" and "lickety-split" just go together?}

. . . anyhow . . .

. . . i picked it up a couple of days ago,

 and i gotta tell ya . . .

. . . it's pretty dadburn cute . . .

{ditto: yeehaw, lickety-split, and dadburn}

. . . must find some time 

for binding soon . . . 

{one last giveaway reminder ~ tomorrow's the day}

. . . ♪♫♫♪♪♫♫♪♪♫♫♪♪♫ . . .

. . . my love of music is no secret . . .

. . . serving in music callings 

at church = my favorite . . .

. . . today i achieved a quadfecta . . .

{aka: trifecta + one}

. . . i was already playing: 

•the organ in sacrament meeting

•the piano in relief society

and

•the organ at the temple

. . . today i accepted a call to be:

•the choir accompanist

. . . i'm so excited . . . 

{today was extra awesome since i substituted for the primary pianist, too}

. . . so thankful to my grandma 

for being my first piano teacher . . .

. . . and to my parents 

who insisted i practice . . .

. . . music really is 

a blessing in my life . . .

{giveaway reminder}

. . . old friends . . .

. . . february 1965 . . .

. . . my dad graduated 

from law school 

at the university of arizona . . .

. . . hallelujah! . . .

. . . we got to move back to mesa 

from tucson . . .

. . . i was six and a half years old 

and in second grade . . . 

. . . a new school and a new ward . . . 

. . . longfellow elementary 

and nineteenth . . . 

. . . i was so lucky . . .

. . . true story: there were 

five girls my age 

named julie in my ward . . . 

. . . they let me 

be their friend anyway . . . 

{l~r: julie dastrup, julie pomeroy, koko head, julie ellsworth, stephanie davis}

{maiden names}

{sorry julies. someone had their eyes closed in every photo}

. . . it was a pretty tight knit group . . .

. . . i feel lucky to still be in touch 

with several of them . . .

. . . we were in touch today 

for a three hour lunch . . . 

. . . we laughed, 

we reminisced, 

we talked about grandkids, 

we hugged . . . 

. . . we all still love each other . . . 

. . . old friends are the best friends . . .

{scroll down to enter the giveaway. 
you've got 'til tuesday the 14th.}

. . . tiny fashionista . . .

. . . first photo i ever saw 

of baby hayden . . .

. . . only time i've seen her mad . . .

. . . she was probably crying 

because she wanted someone 

to put cute stuff on her . . .

. . . let's start with a hairdo 

and a tiny bow . . .

. . . instant upgrade 

from standard 

hospital newbornwear . . .

. . . the 'do is still looking good . . .

. . . and the coral floral nightie 

agrees with her, apparently . . .

. . . this party on her head 

is a real eye-opener . . .

. . . ahhhhhhhh . . .

. . . first family photo . . .

. . . please note her blanket . . .

. . . great find, suzie! . . . 

{she's the other grandma}

. . . same headband, but . . . 

. . . but . . . 

. . . in jessalyn's words ~ 

"okay, sure. 

i'll wear a maxi skirt" . . .

. . . with metallic gold 

and silver stripes, no less . . .

. . . this screenshot 

from our facetime session today 

is a little blurry, 

but you get the idea . . .

. . . this baby is an angel . . .

. . . and you'll notice that 

all the spots 

on her cheetah print blankie 

are actually hearts . . . 

. . . please . . .

. . . after she got her first real bath . . .

. . . a ginormous gerbera daisy

 sprouted on her tiny noggin . . .

. . . and she folded her little hands 

on her pink giraffed belly . . .

. . . eight photos 

of our eighth grandbaby . . .

{sorry they're all from iphones. 

hopefully, some "better" camera shots 

are in the near future. hint, hint.}

. . . and here's the part 

you might have been waiting for . . .

. . . it's tradition to give away oops!

 each time a baby is born . . .

. . . eight of them this time . . .

. . . leave a comment 

for a chance to win . . . 

. . . winners will be chosen 

tuesday the 14th of august . . .

. . . she's here! . . .

. . . little miss hayden romney 

made her grand entrance 

at 1:06am 

tuesday the seventh of august . . . 

. . . just over an hour 

past her due date . . .

. . . fashionably late . . .

. . . weighing in at 

seven pounds ten ounces . . .

. . . nineteen and a half inches 

in length . . .

. . . practically perfect in every way . . .

. . . baby and proud parents 

are home from the hospital 

and doing great . . .

{sorry for the delay in posting ~ that'll teach me 

for going out of town to a place where wifi doesn't exist! 

and don't worry ~ more on her arrival 

and oops! giveaway coming soon}

. . . leapin' lizards . . .

. . . these little guys and i 

have a great relationship . . . 

. . . they {and their gecko cousins} hang out 

in my flower beds, 

on the trees, 

on the block fence, 

and around the front porch light . . . 

. . . eating nasty bugs 

to their hearts' content . . . 

. . . i watch them 

sunning themselves . . .

. . . doing pushups . . . 

{pretty sure that's how they regulate body temperature or something}

. . . my philosophy is 

live and let live . . . 

. . . lately, however, 

i'm not amused 

about the four times 

in the past couple of weeks 

when i've found them 

IN MY HOUSE! . . . 

. . . completely unacceptable . . .

{although i can hardly blame them ~ it's hotter than blazes outside}

. . . a couple of times, 

i've been able to sweep them 

quickly out the door . . .

. . . but the other couple of times . . .

. . . bill has come 

to recognize my shriek . . .

. . . he has a great technique 

for catching them . . . 

. . . distract them 

with one hand coming at them 

from the front . . .

. . . then use the other hand 

to grab them by the tail . . .

. . . lizard number two 

was captured and released 

without incident . . .

. . . lizard number one, however, 

{which was the largest one i've seen inside ~ maybe about six inches long}

was a problem child . . .

. . . bill snatched it by the tail 

and then that little booger 

whipped his body around 

and bit bill on the hand . . .

. . . not cool . . .

. . . well ~ that little fella 

got the ride of his life . . .

. . . by air . . .

. . . bill flung him all the way 

to the back fence . . .

. . . where i hope 

he lives out his days . . .