Easter

Happy Easter!  I love this holiday.  I love the meaning behind it and the chance to focus on the Savior and the Resurrection.  This year Easter fell on a very appropriate week where the blessings of the Gospel and the Resurrection have taken a deeper meaning for me.  I am so grateful for the Life and Mission of Jesus Christ, for the fact that on that Easter morn the message delivered was, "He is not here. He is risen." Luke 24:6.

 
 
 Sorry for so many blossom pictures, I just love them.  They were all taken outside our apartment this weekend.  Easter was really nice this year.  Church was very good as usual and our afternoon was quiet.  I got to Skype with my family and we went hiking-more so walking at Cooper Mountain Nature Park.  We also had a fun dinner with Ben Holst who served with JD in India, he is from Nevada so he didn't have any family here either.  We had a turkey that I cooked in the crockpot, stuffing, salad, corn, and other treats it was a really fun and delicious day.

Snakes Instead of Newts

We went and walked to the Lily Pond in Tualatin Hills Nature Park after Portland yesterday, it was 80 degrees and sunny so instead of newts that prefer 47 degrees and rainy we had garter snakes, JD and I were able to spot 4 of them while going on our hike.  It is crazy how much a park can change in just a few weeks. We are loving going on walks through these forests in the middle of the cities here, they are so pretty and it is fun to spend time together.

Springtime in Portland

 We went downtown and walked the Willamette River today, and true to our past Portland experiences, there is always something weird going on.  This time we saw a very strong runner go by us wearing blue bunny ears, a few minutes later there were more runners one with cotton balls around the neckline and a bunny tail.  Another couple minutes passed and suddenly we found out we were completely surrounded by bunny runners, at least they were running slow enough we were able to realize that we were in the middle of an Easter themed race.  The blossoms everywhere are beautiful.  The one below is not a black and white it was actually taken in the Target parking lot when I was doing some shopping for a charity basket for work.

I am really enjoying spring here if you can't tell.

Whale Week

I was looking up the different state parks in Oregon since we now have a pass and discovered that there is a wonderful thing called Whale Week which takes place twice a year in honor of the migration of the Grey Whales to and from Alaska all along the Oregon Coast.  We had so much fun watching a mom and baby whale swim around and trying to see all the whales that the 'expert' volunteers were seeing.  When we got to Ecola the count was at 14 and when we left it was 37.  Not bad for two hours.  After the whales we drove down to Nehalem Bay State Park.  It is kind of fun how much the Oregon Coast changes so quickly.  Ecola/Cannon is very fine sand and flat, Nehalem has a lot of sand dunes that are crested with grass before going to the beach and ocean.  It was a really fun day on the coast, I feel spoiled getting to go twice in a month.  

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Babysitting

I have probably babysat more since getting to Oregon than I did my entire growing up career. Mind that isn't saying too much. I was really busy with school and I had a job at age 14 so when it came to babysitting there were only a couple of families I would agree to babysit.
All of our friends in the ward have kiddos so on my 'yuck' weekends as I like to call them (weekends that JD is studying for an exam). I will often volunteer to watch kids so my friends can go out on dates, to the temple, run errands etc. This is an added bonus because JD gets uninterrupted study time and I am kept busy. I actually enjoy babysitting now. The kids are all cute and being a grown up manipulation doesn't work and the kids know it. It has been fun playing with them and taking care of them. I had to drop off some money to one of my friends today because I kept forgetting to pay her back and upon reaching the door I was invited to 'come play with me' as my hand was grabbed to lead me into the house, for the next little bit we read books and examined my work badge and when it was time to leave there were tears. It is nice being loved like that.
Now I am at another friends house so they could go see their new baby in the NICU I love the forced relaxation and time I have to be still. I will be here through Thursday so we will see if I go crazy from so much peace and quiet, but until then I am loving this.

Spring

Spring is here! The temple flowers were great and there are several trees and bushes covered with blossoms. I'm loving it. It is so nice to have real Spring that doesn't involve snow killing all the flowers and just rain watering them.

Grandma Speth

Edna Bernice Merrill Speth, 99, passed away from TMB (Too Many Birthdays) on March 9, 2013, to join her sweetheart Ernest Speth on their 81st wedding anniversary. She was born in Logan, Utah, on Sept. 18, 1913, to Claude and Constance Eva Brown Merrill.
Mom grew up in Logan, Utah, and graduated from Logan High School. While in high school, she met and fell in love with Earnest Herman Speth and they were married March 9, 1932, in the Logan LDS Temple.
Mom and Dad began their life together in College Ward where they built a home, bought a dairy farm and raised their four sons. Mom worked side by side with Dad on the farm and one of her favorite chores was feeding and taking care of the baby calves.
Mom also worked outside the home at various jobs including Bluebird Candy Co. and Mode O'Day. At the Bluebird she learned the art of making chocolates and was well known throughout the community and her family for her delicious peanut clusters, toffee and other candy. She was a wonderful cook; her family can still taste her delicious roast beef and Yorkshire pudding Sunday dinners.
Mom was a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She had a strong love and testimony of the Gospel and her Savior Jesus Christ. She was always willing and eager to share her testimony with others and she touched many many lives.
One of her choicest blessing was being able to do family history and to have been an ordinance worker at the Logan Temple for many years. She held positions in the Primary, Young Women's and Relief Society, and was a faithful visiting teacher. She was also a member of Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
Mom is survived by her youngest son Brent and his wife Coreen of Providence and two daughters-in-law, Jean Speth of Providence and LaDean Speth of Kanab. She has a loving legacy of 21 grandchildren, 64 great-grandchildren, 67 great-great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. She also leaves behind her "favorite moose" dog Bernice. Mom was preceded in death by her husband Ernest; three sons, LaMoyne, LaMont and Ronald; daughter-in-law Patty Speth; two sisters, Lorraine Kent and Laura Downs; brother Howard Merrill; three grandsons; one great-grandson; and one great-great-grandson.
Mom was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She will be greatly missed by all who were blessed to know her.
Funeral services be held at noon Thursday, March 14, 2013, at the Spring Creek Ward chapel, 2400 W. 2200 South in College Ward. A viewing will be held prior at 10 a.m. Burial will be at the Providence City Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Allen-Hall Mortuary.
The family would like to express sincere appreciation to IHC Hospice for the loving care they gave our mother and grandmother during the last few months, especially Jeanine, Anna, Pam and Shannon.

Wait, I Can Explain!

So, I will admit that I haven't been the best at blogging lately. We have been busy, and I have been full of the best of intentions but have found even doing the simplest of household chores a bit difficult.  Notice the date on my to-do list: March 2.  Yes, I was so ready to get so much done that weekend when we got a phone call that our friends needed to go to the hospital to have a baby and we got to watch their 20 month old and 3 year old overnight.  So this weekend I am getting caught up on the things I didn't do and the new things that have cropped up since that time.  I will be going backwards in the hopes that eventually I will be all caught up again.  By now there probably aren't many who are even reading this, but I still print this blog into a book at the end of the year for my makeshift journaling. Thanks for those who are still around. :)

Ecola Beach Day

 
 
 
JD passed his test yesterday which means we get to have a play weekend.  The past few have been wet, and spent getting caught up with chores and studying for quizzes, so it was very exciting when we had a 60 degree sunny forecast.  We ended up going to Ecola, Cannon, and Tolovana beaches.  We also got to buy and use our Oregon State Park Annual Pass.  We received half the cost of the pass as a Christmas present from JD's cousin Jovi/Aunt and Uncle, but we have been holding off on getting it until we could start going a little more often.  Most parks in Oregon are completely free, but there are some close fun ones that do have a $5.00 day use fee.  JD fell asleep by haystack rock, we ate chowder at Mo's, and had fun walking around and relaxing a bit.  We are looking forward to many more sun-shiny days.

Mad Hatter Party

My ward is pretty awesome.  We had our Relief Society Mad Hatter Unbirthday Party and it was so fun.  I have no idea how long it took them to decorate but the cultural hall was amazing.  There were lanterns strung across the ceiling, and we got to have a delicious dinner, but it was important to fill your plate because every once in a while the Alice in Wonderland background music would stop and you would change tables if you met the criteria such as eating breakfast, wearing glasses, or having fruit on your plate, once you moved you got to meet/eat with new people.  The cake was delicious and fancy and it was a good night getting to know people better.

Tons of Tulips

Once upon a time I pinned a project on Pinterest that involved growing tulips in glass jars with only water.  One day, while out shopping for Christmas I saw a bag of 50 tulips on sale and thought it would be worth getting a bag to give my pin a try.  Amidst all that was going on, I forgot to remove the tulips from the back of my car.  There they stayed for months until I found them while looking for something.  To my great surprise I discovered upon opening the bag that all 50 tulips were budding and growing!  This week has consisted of trying to find ways to plant the tulips.  I gave some to friends, put some in a vase of water per my original Pinterest plan, planted some in a pot and took them to work, and I still have many more to get into some soil this week.  Moral of the story: why bother planting bulbs in the fall when you can just grow them in the back of your car?

Hanging out with the boys

We have made some great friends while here in Oregon.  One couple is the Whitings.  Our second week in the ward JD and Tyler saw each other and were confused and excited to see that we were both in Oregon going to school.  Tyler, who is here for dental school, served in India at the same time as JD, we have actually found out of a few others that have migrated to the Portland area for work and school, it is just odd because for such a small mission, especially for non-natives, it is crazy to have people from Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Idaho all here for different reasons. Anyway, we love hanging out with the Whitings and their cute boys Cashen and Tate.  We got to watch them after church on Sunday while Mommio and Daddio went to the hospital to "get the baby out" as Cashen termed it.  They are cute boys and they love playing with JD.  I just thought it was so funny to turn around after cleaning up from dinner and see all three of them watching Cars and JD being stock piled with balls, trucks, cars, and planes.  We played outside for a bit and noticed that Cashen had been staring at the same plot of dirt for about 10 minutes-an eternity for a 3 year old.  Turns out they had planted flowers the previous day and he was waiting for them to 'pop their heads out, and for the worms'.  He was disappointed when we told him digging out the worms would ruin the flowers.  We had a fun sleep over, and are excited to meet baby Reed soon.

Temple Waterfowl

The temple is open again! While it is a study weekend, JD and I were able to go and also had some delicious soup from the cafeteria today.  I am super excited for Spring, you can see a ton of flowers that were either planted while the grounds were closed or that are getting ready to grow, it will be super pretty when they all pop out.  There were even a few daffodils out.  I noticed a pair of mallards when we were walking past the pond that were preening their feathers.  I thought it was a funny and rather large bird bath for the ducks to choose and also that they chose the spot were the water falls to a lower pool.