I Woke Up! It's Springtime!

I have been in such a fog lately, I thought maybe I was getting Alzheimer's. I also hadn't been on Reliv for a few months, simply out of casual neglect. Mark ordered some the other day and I've been taking it for a few days now, and guess what?

I woke up! Sorry for the dearth of posts and comments! So what's been happening here? Well, we had an Easter egg hunt last Saturday morning, here at Gables. Melinda was there with the Campbell bunch and Dallin and Hunter brought Hunter. Linda tried to get there, but she was driving their children to a family gathering at her folks' home down near Soda Springs, and they didn't make it (Ben was on call here). We got photos that I'll post asap! We were served a beautiful breakfast spread that the new chef had prepared for us, fruit and yogurt parfaits with swirls of chocolate, and plates of huge strawberries and blackberries, also swirled with chocolate, and our choice of donut holes and warm mini cinnamon rolls too. : ) After we ate, the kids had theirEaster Egg hunt, six and under in one hall and seven and up in the other. I went to the latter to watch, since I really couldn't see the little ones through their grown up helpers. The missionaries had hidden soooo many eggs, and the kids were told to get a max of 15 each, But... we had way more eggs than that, so they were allowed to hunt for the rest and all their baskets were soon overflowing! Some of the eggs were hidden really well, and we knew that 15 "golden" coins were hidden inside some of the eggs, which could be turned in for a prize, so the end of the hunt was longer. That made it so much better! Tristan, Emme, and Alaina all had gold coins! Alex was given Emme's coin, since she didn't really need a huge chocolate bunny to eat, and the older kids obviously did! (She was very excited about the eggs she found, and couldn't care less about the rest.) Hunter searched and search for more eggs, and he found 31 of them, but, alas, no gold coin. After things were all done and most of the families had departed, Kattie told us that one gold coin was never turned in - probably eaten with the rest of the candy by a small child, unbeknownst. Haley found a wrapping from one of the Campbell kids' basket, and Hunter turned it in to Kattie, and she offered to gave him the last, unclaimed, prize: a lonely little basket of Easter candy, all his own. Hunter was delighted, and promptly tucked it into his cute froggie basket. Yay! Everyone went home happy. and all the children and families had seemed very pleased. Kattie and the kitchen and the aides did a great job, and I think it was the best Easter Egg hunt I've ever been to. Well, .not counting my first one, held when I was four or five years old. Our mom got together with our neighbors, Betty Career and Lorraine Hoffman, and did it. They hid hard candy eggs all over the Hoffman's huge yard, which was blanketed each Spring with gorgeous yellow flowers - I realize now that they were dandelions, lol! The hunt was a total surprise to me, a neophyte at treasure-hunting. I was amazed to find that life was even better than I'd thought! Each child also had a hidden basket, made especially for them. It was a little plastic basket filled with green plastic grass, but it held a lovely chocolate egg with the child's own name written on it, in exquisite, cursive white icing. I didn't know about that part, and I was filled with awe and wonder when I found my own beautiful basket, nestled behind a bush near their front steps. My mother must have led me to it first, and she told me it was mine, which I had just known, the minute I saw it hiding there. I'll never forget that moment, and ever since, I've believed in magic and endless possibilities for each of us: You never know when you're going to find a chocolate egg with your name on it. So, Ben came over and ate dinner here with us, which was roast beef that Mark had made for the kitchen, with his own flavorings and techniques. It was delicious, and was accompanied by yummy cooked carrots and mashed taties and gravy, and a little peach-pie dessert. Mmm mmn! That tasted like home cookin'! Phillip called on Easter and talked to Ben. Nothing much else has happened, except that we had 4 new residents move in on Friday! Woo Hoo! Mark is working on the 1940's census program. Bishop Baird pledged our ward to clarify the information on 100,000 names! Three people eventually do this, for each person's info. Mark is so good at just plugging away on projects like this. I really admire that about him. We saw Titanic 3-D for our date on Friday night. It's an amazing movie, although we closed our eyes during the art modeling session: We just didn't want to see Kate Winslet's nipple in huge 3-D! I always cry when Rose dies, after living her long, full life as she promised Jack, and she is re-united with the other Titanic passengers. It's so fitting that they welcome each new arrival with a round of applause, each one now dressed in lovely formal wear. Okay, I'm tearing up now... Yesterday I rode in my wheelchair to our neighborhood store, Wal Mart. How about that? I live next door to a super-store. Isn't that crazy? Anyway, I got a watermelon, 2 pears, and some sweet peppers, along with a To Do list that was half-off. I always buy things like that, optimistically hoping that it will help me corral my time; instead, I wind up with a bunch of To Do lists to corral! Isn't that how it always goes? It's amazing to see that, over the years, things are accomplished. How in the heck did that happen?! And so you know the rest of the story! I'll be reading your posts soon, and commenting too. Thanks for reading my long post! xoxoxo