Gorgeous Green Summer and All that Goes With It, Re-dedication of the Idaho Falls Temple, June 4, 2017
What did I do with my time this last month? What did you do with yours?
I want to remind my posterity that I made a "scrap book" every year, the last many years, from my Facebook account posts. They each have lots of pictures and brief writings about my life. I adore my family, so I posted about them a lot. I also love life, and am grateful my ancestors, including my good parents, gave me a pleasant disposition, so I am usually happy, see the good in life and others, and love my life. So, I spend almost all my time being happy, and appreciating all the tender mercies that happen in my life.
Right now, it is the Sabbath Day, we had the grand opportunity to watch the Idaho Falls Temple Re-dedication at our own Stake Center. As I look out my west windows, by our kitchen table, it is one of the most wonderful sights - pure green, everywhere I look! Teton Valley is finally awake with pure summer, in all it's glory! Blaine and I have decided that only those who suffer through the long, long, cold winters here can truly appreciate the blessed summers here.
The weather has been perfect - warm, but not hot. This lovely spell of great weather has lasted over 10 days in a row --- oohhhhh, so nice! Blaine says the farmers will start to worry over not enough rain, but as for me, I cannot mourn the blessed weather.
I'm just on a "high" from life! There is so much beauty on the earth during this summer season here! Blaine and I have put so much hard work in to our yard here. We first lived in the "manufactured home" house just east of where our new home sits. We put our own yard in there - planted various trees, scrubs and flowers. Then we moved up here, so we had to start all over again. I would have loved to move all our trees, etc. from the old site up to our new yard, but we did not have the means, so those trees and shrubs are now fairly big, but down there. Weeds or what I call orchard grass has grown in on most of it.
But alas, we have spent time every spring and summer, putting in grass, leaving space for flowers beds, eventually putting in our own sprinkler system, slowly adding flower plants, a tree here and there, shrubs here and there, battling keeping the orchard grass out of our flower beds, trying to grow 3 of my Grandma White's old weeping willows - so far.
This year, we feel like we've made great progress with our yard. Five crab apple, maybe one sour cherry trees grace the front of our lawn. They spread across the front border. They finally look like they have taken off, and look like substantial trees. I planned for three pink shades in between two white ones, so it really looks pretty when they bloom. We are at the tail end of their bloom.
Blaine used a "Round-Up" like product and sprayed all the orchard/quack grass down, and then tilled all that in all our flower beds. That made a big dent in our weed pile. Our front flower bed, that is shaped like a U looks really nice - it has peonies, columbine, irises, many trees, delphinium, blue coneflowers, bleeding hearts and many, many others growing there.
Our snow ball bush is about to explode with blooms. On the back of our house, the holly hocks that we've worked to get to grow for a few years are finally growing like crazy. They are planted by the hose area. My lilies from Sister McKellar bloomed beautifully last year, and we expect them to again. Our burning bush - two of them look splendid, one so-so and one not looking good at all.
I bought a few hydrangeas, which are supposed to grow here, some coneflowers, some lupines, and some starts of pine trees that ares supposed to grow tall and skinny. We are always working to expand our yard, to make it look professional and filled in. I wish I could get my ground covers to cover the grounds, under the trees and bigger plants, so I didn't have to buy rocks or cover the earth with wood chips, but it's tough to keep the weeds down.
However, Blaine and I get a lot of joy out of our yard and plants. We are so happy with their progress and love working in our yard, when we can.
I love this valley. I have been taking walks, and marvel and marvel over God's wonders in this area. The beautiful Tetons, but also our beautiful west side, the gorgeous spread of mountains I can see from way past McKellars clear down to the end of where Fosters used to live. Oh, how I love those views. How blessed I am to walk, jog, ride a bike any direction and it's so beautiful. I've renewed my belief that I love summer! And my favorite month is June.
Some of the grand things we have been doing with our time:
My Elizabeth, whose 17th birthday is coming up on June 30, finished her Junior year of High School! She was outstanding in every way. She kept a super high GPA, even when she missed a lot of her hard Pre-Calculus class for track. She buckled down and studied hard, right until the day before the last day of school - she had three big exams that last week.
Friday was our school district's last day of school, so our Carl and Elizabeth are free, so to speak
Elizabeth ran cross country, later track,
I want to remind my posterity that I made a "scrap book" every year, the last many years, from my Facebook account posts. They each have lots of pictures and brief writings about my life. I adore my family, so I posted about them a lot. I also love life, and am grateful my ancestors, including my good parents, gave me a pleasant disposition, so I am usually happy, see the good in life and others, and love my life. So, I spend almost all my time being happy, and appreciating all the tender mercies that happen in my life.
Right now, it is the Sabbath Day, we had the grand opportunity to watch the Idaho Falls Temple Re-dedication at our own Stake Center. As I look out my west windows, by our kitchen table, it is one of the most wonderful sights - pure green, everywhere I look! Teton Valley is finally awake with pure summer, in all it's glory! Blaine and I have decided that only those who suffer through the long, long, cold winters here can truly appreciate the blessed summers here.
The weather has been perfect - warm, but not hot. This lovely spell of great weather has lasted over 10 days in a row --- oohhhhh, so nice! Blaine says the farmers will start to worry over not enough rain, but as for me, I cannot mourn the blessed weather.
I'm just on a "high" from life! There is so much beauty on the earth during this summer season here! Blaine and I have put so much hard work in to our yard here. We first lived in the "manufactured home" house just east of where our new home sits. We put our own yard in there - planted various trees, scrubs and flowers. Then we moved up here, so we had to start all over again. I would have loved to move all our trees, etc. from the old site up to our new yard, but we did not have the means, so those trees and shrubs are now fairly big, but down there. Weeds or what I call orchard grass has grown in on most of it.
But alas, we have spent time every spring and summer, putting in grass, leaving space for flowers beds, eventually putting in our own sprinkler system, slowly adding flower plants, a tree here and there, shrubs here and there, battling keeping the orchard grass out of our flower beds, trying to grow 3 of my Grandma White's old weeping willows - so far.
This year, we feel like we've made great progress with our yard. Five crab apple, maybe one sour cherry trees grace the front of our lawn. They spread across the front border. They finally look like they have taken off, and look like substantial trees. I planned for three pink shades in between two white ones, so it really looks pretty when they bloom. We are at the tail end of their bloom.
Blaine used a "Round-Up" like product and sprayed all the orchard/quack grass down, and then tilled all that in all our flower beds. That made a big dent in our weed pile. Our front flower bed, that is shaped like a U looks really nice - it has peonies, columbine, irises, many trees, delphinium, blue coneflowers, bleeding hearts and many, many others growing there.
Our snow ball bush is about to explode with blooms. On the back of our house, the holly hocks that we've worked to get to grow for a few years are finally growing like crazy. They are planted by the hose area. My lilies from Sister McKellar bloomed beautifully last year, and we expect them to again. Our burning bush - two of them look splendid, one so-so and one not looking good at all.
I bought a few hydrangeas, which are supposed to grow here, some coneflowers, some lupines, and some starts of pine trees that ares supposed to grow tall and skinny. We are always working to expand our yard, to make it look professional and filled in. I wish I could get my ground covers to cover the grounds, under the trees and bigger plants, so I didn't have to buy rocks or cover the earth with wood chips, but it's tough to keep the weeds down.
However, Blaine and I get a lot of joy out of our yard and plants. We are so happy with their progress and love working in our yard, when we can.
I love this valley. I have been taking walks, and marvel and marvel over God's wonders in this area. The beautiful Tetons, but also our beautiful west side, the gorgeous spread of mountains I can see from way past McKellars clear down to the end of where Fosters used to live. Oh, how I love those views. How blessed I am to walk, jog, ride a bike any direction and it's so beautiful. I've renewed my belief that I love summer! And my favorite month is June.
Some of the grand things we have been doing with our time:
My Elizabeth, whose 17th birthday is coming up on June 30, finished her Junior year of High School! She was outstanding in every way. She kept a super high GPA, even when she missed a lot of her hard Pre-Calculus class for track. She buckled down and studied hard, right until the day before the last day of school - she had three big exams that last week.
Friday was our school district's last day of school, so our Carl and Elizabeth are free, so to speak
Elizabeth ran cross country, later track,
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