Or walk by a Lilac tree

                        We had Lilac trees at our last home and I knew they would be blooming right now. I missed them, I missed their fragrance coming through my kitchen window in the morning until this past week. As  I was walking around the garden around our new home I caught a whiff, a familiar smell. I looked up and there growing along the border of the garden were several Lilac trees in bloom.

 

I was so happy I missed them so much.

 I immediately got out my garden shears and cut some

to make this bouquet. I placed them on the table on the front porch and as 

the breeze comes through, you can smell the beautiful fragrance

of the Lilacs. The Lilacs are a springtime type flower and so I'm savoring

every moment while they are in bloom.

The Lilacs that we had before were purple so this is a nice surprise to have
white ones.

When ever I hear a song of a bird or walk by a Lilac tree........

I love that song and I love these.

"georgie" 

Heaven is here.....

So last November as I was reading one of my favorite blogs,  Nienie Dialogues, she shared to us about her new upcoming book telling her story about her almost tragic death but triumphant recovery.

 I knew then and there I wanted to order her book. So I pre-ordered the book and  decided why not get two because I knew my mom would love it too. It finally came in the mail about two weeks ago. And to my wonderful delight, I couldn't put it down.

                                              ( I mailed my Mom's copy to her for Mother's Day.)

                                          I read it every chance I got, I didn't want it to end.

 She tells about her fairy tale love story of meeting "Mr. Nielson" and then it takes us by the hand through her whole ordeal and survival of her miraculous recovery from her tragic accident.

 It is truly inspiring. As I was going to work, the other morning,

 "I usually pray when I'm in the car", I couldn't help think about all that Stephanie Nielson went through, and compared them to my trials, which when I think of it, are no comparison at all.

 I don't think I would have survived.

 Only she could, this was her miracle and only hers, and also because of the great love of her husband, Parents and surprisingly all of her siblings not to mention the wonderful doctors and prayers on her behalf.

 I was so impressed with her two sisters, one taking 3 of  Stephanie's older children and the other sister taking her youngest almost 2 year old into their homes and caring for them several months.

 You could just feel the love of her siblings for their sister.

 It was all very touching. This story is a 2 Kleenex box book. This is a great reminder that we are stronger than we think and the great power of love that our Heavenly Father has for us.  A must read. 

I know that we have a Heavenly Father who knows us each individually, he truly knows our fears, our joys and our individual personalities. And what's so comforting is that we can go to him

anytime, any minute, any hour and he is there listening to whatever we need or

want to say. I love that. 

"georgie"

Family and Easter a perfect Combo

This Year we were able to celebrate Easter with almost all of our family, it turned out

to be a gorgeous day just perfect to be outdoors.

Our granddaughter Chloe couldn't wait to color eggs, Aunt Cece and her

did most of them. They started getting creative towards the end.

They made enough so that we could make devil egg sandwiches. Although it was kind of sad to break open these lovelies.

We got to capture some impromptu pictures of daughter Cheri and son-in-law Chris and their girls Jenna and Chloe.

I just love this little girl, her facial expressions can change in an instant. We had fun getting to know her better, I could kiss those cheeks forever!

Auntie Cece planned games for the kids, one was Pin the Tail on the Bunny.

I made that scrumptious Lemon cupcake recipe and then tried making the Vanilla cake recipe. Instead of frosting the cake I used whipped cream and did fresh strawberries but..

with a twist. I used "Giada's" recipe. She puts not only sugar in the strawberries but some red wine vinegar. It gives it a twang, Try it! Everyone seemed to like it. I'm going to do it from now on.

Our Menu: Ham and potato casserole (every one's favorite) my sister Dawn made her Fiesta Green salad, my sister Rhonda made her absolutely wonderful homemade dinner rolls and Frog eye salad and a special treat of 3 kinds of homemade cookies with different fillings. One Lemon with lemon marscapone cream, Pistachio and pistachio cream and I can't think of the other one, someone help me out here.

I made two different coolers. (no alcohol here). One was Made with Limeade, Sprite and apple juice and limes. The other was a Peach Cooler, with lots of real peach nectar, apple juice and maraschino cherries and it's juice with a little sprite. That one was a sure winner.

Derek and Cecelia playing badminton.

Granddaughter Chloe on the swings.

Jenna very happy playing in the Playhouse.

I love this one of Chloe. She is such a sweetie.

Derek, I can't believe he's going to be twelve this year, just next month.
He is such a handsome young man!

Another one of our youngest granddaughter, little Jenna, she's getting a little sister this summer and she won't be the youngest any longer. We were savouring the time with her, she is so cuddly!

And our oldest angel of granddaughter's Miss Tacie. She found these wings in our Halloween box and wore them the whole day. She is growing up too fast. We love you Tacie!

It was one of the best days because all my grandchildren were here with us.

My new saying;

The staff of life is.... Grandchildren.

I live for them. Cecelia and I were talking this morning and we were just thinking about the kids. We miss them so much already. Even though its chaotic with them here, we just miss their little faces when we would come in the kitchen in the morning or reading story time books and making sure the night light worked, saying prayers, tucking in with "just one blanket" that was Chloe's instructions; or singing all primary or nursery songs and only the ones that Jenna approved. Her number one favorite, "I love to see the Temple" (now it makes me cry every time I sing it because I think of her). She would either tell you "gain', gain' or "No"No'. You knew when you were singing the right song when she nodded her head in approval. Calling you to come back to her bed at night, so Chloe could tell you one more thing, like. "tell.. my.. mom.. that .. I.. Love.. her... She said it like that. When her mom was just downstairs. And she wasn't called 'mother' she was "mom". Per Chloe's exclamation. I miss

the marathon bubble baths and toys in the tub, and dancing and singing to "Elmo" or as Jenna calls him "lala". Tacie is our dare devil, she swung and slid outside and played for hours outside to Chloe's delight. Finding Snails and putting them on flower petals and Chloe keeping an eye on them as cousins Tacie and Derek find more or look for that elusive frog in

in the creek that was in the "Secret Garden". And late at night they watched all of

Grandma's old Disney movies that are on VHS, yes VHS, like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Sword and the Stone and The Grinch that stoled Christmas. They loved these. It was

one great Slumber Party, lots of Goldfish crackers, Aunt Annie's graham crackers, popcorn and snuck in Easter candy that mommy didn't know about.

I wouldn't have traded these times for all the riches in the world.

Love you my precious ones!!

grandma

"georgie"

Loving these......

These and Peony's are my absolutely favorite flowers

in the whole wide world. I love Spring and what it brings......

New born baby bunnies, chicks and lambs and

everything lush and green with bulbs full of colors popping

all over.

"georgie"

p.s. Congratulations to Nie nie and the Nielsen family

on their new baby girl!!

Feasting upon the word literally

This weekend was rainy and windy so it was a great time to stay indoors and
watch General Conference see: lds.org and cook and bake. I loved that I could stay in my sweats
all weekend long..

I made this Lentil white bean soup and "Marie Calendar" cheese biscuts.

The biscuits were semi-homemade but they turned out nice and flaky.

The next night, I decided to make more comfort food, like these
mashed potatoes and fried chicken thighs. Nothing beats comfort food on a
cold and chilly evening.

Cooking can be dangerous, because I'm always tasting, especially baking. Lately I've been in the mood for baking and normally I'll watch the HGTV channels and not
watch the Food Network, but sometimes I'll get pulled into watching my favorites
like The Barefoot Contessa and Giada and then ...... Anywhoo
today my wonderful trainer, Jessica Miller from Action Potential gave me
two great recipes that use 93% lean ground Turkey and ground beef.
I made her Turkey burgers tonight and they were fantastic. The key is the spices and
ingredients in the Turkey burger itself. I'll share the recipe:

3/4 pound ground turkey (I doubled the recipe)
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 medium carrot, grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 large egg
3 tablespoons olive oil
mix all the ingredients except for the olive oil
use 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium hear. Cook the patties turning once until no trace of pink remains 4-5 minutes. (I cooked them until golden brown on each side)
Meanwhile take the remaining olive oil and brush slices of whole wheat bread and broil the bread on a baking sheet until golden brown. Transfer the bread to individual plates. Top
with lettuce leaves and what ever condiments you prefer. (This made a lot so I took half of the uncooked turkey mix and put it in the freezer for another day)
They are very tasty!

Enjoy

"georgie"