Happy Birthday to Mom

My Mother is an angel!  As a young girl I always thought she was superwoman (and I still do!).  My mom could do anything and at times she juggled phone calls, kids, baking bread and laundry all at the same time!  There are 9 children who call her Mother, but we share our mom with many others.  Growing up we all had friends who called our mom for advice, the need one of her famous hugs, help with a project or just to hang out in our kitchen to be close to mom and "feel" of her love and comfort.  Our home was the meeting place for everything and everyone.  I'm sure everyone wanted to be in our home because of the feeling of love and harmony.

My beautiful Mother - Marcine C. Price

Mom making the Wedding dress for

her Granddaughter Ashely Price

My mother is beautiful, creative, a mother hen, industrious, a fabulous cook and a sought after seamstress!  Her sewing skills are impeccable!  She has hemmed pants for golf pros to creating a wedding dress and brides maid dresses for the full wedding party.  Mom made the song leader dresses for Jordan High School one year.  Mom gives the best gifts because they have been "homemade by Marcine"!  They are treasures!  I feel that mom is very happy when she is creating for her grandchildren and great grandchildren.  She has a twinkle in her beautiful brown eyes as they open their gifts with wonder.

Dad and Mom- walking home from church services-

always hand in hand

My mom has a jest for life!  She loves her husband, her children, grand children and great grandchildren.  She has friends far and near.  She has a heart of gold and a peaceful nature.  My Dad always says he fell in love with her beautiful deep brown eyes and they are the windows to her soul.  My mom's eyes twinkle when she laughs and smiles.  Mom loves the Lord and is happiest when she is in the service of her Father in Heaven.  She loves life and lives the life she loves.

Dad and Mom - Eternal Sweethearts

My mom is queen, sweetheart, partner, lover and best friend to my Dad.  They love each other today as much as they did when they met.  They will celebrate their love affair of 60 years in October 2010.  They are the perfect example of true love!

I love my mom with all my heart.  She is my best friend, my example, my confidant, my rock.  She continues to lead, guide and direct me so I can become the woman she knows I can become.  She is patient and kind.  I love being in her presence.  I know and feel of the love she has for me.  Happy Birthday Mom!

Trees

I have had a secret crush on trees my whole life.  I love how beautiful they are - regardless of the season, there is always something beautiful about trees.  I love the fresh smell of pine as I drive along the roads in Oregon and the dense forest with moss hanging from the branches.  I love the shade they provide.  I love the tree outside my bedroom window which provides shade to the north east corner of my home.  I have watched this tree grow over the years.  My tree and I began our growth at this address about the same time.  My tree was young and newly planted and I was starting out in my new home - new adventures for both of us ~ ~  and look how we have grown!

Janet's Tree - front yard

I love springtime when trees take on their brand new growth and beginning.  I love that they resemble "popcorn popping", and I sing the song every year when my tree blossoms with full blooms.

I looked out the window and what did I see

popcorn popping on the apricot tree .  .  .

I love the change of season and with this change comes my favorite time of year.  Fall!  I take myself  for a drive into the mountains to see the changes and smell the change in the air.  I love to walk along a path and feel the crunch under foot.  The colors are beautiful to my eyes!

I love the first dusting of snow and the excitement of winter fast approaching.  I feel like I am in a winter wonderland when the air is so cold and the ice hangs onto each branch as a fragile piece of glass.

Trees are so beautiful as they sway in the wind - I could swear they filter secrets and whispers through the branches and leaves, the sounds muted just enough so the whispers thrown to the wind are still safe.

Am I like a tree?  Do I change with the seasons of my life?  Is my foundation (trunk) strong and does my core center stand firm?  Do my branches get heavy as I take on worries and burdens but hold fast as I sway with resolve?  Am I a chameleon and change with the seasons of bright and colorful to bland and barren as my moods change?  Does my shade give comfort and relief along life's path, not only for me but others? 

This I know for sure!  My roots are solid, my roots are firmly planted.  If I am to be compared to a tree I know for sure that my family tree is noble and wonderful and I thank my mother and father and so many grandfathers and grandmothers for their courage so many years ago for being a part in molding me into who I am and will yet become.  Our family tree may shake at times, but I know we are firmly planted!

My Sister Nancy- Happy Birthday!

I have a younger sister Nancy and today is her birthday!  There are so many things I love about my sister Nancy - just look at her in this picture!  She is so adorable!  I have a memory of her when we were both so much younger, she would take her hand and push a stray hair from her face, just the way she did this was magical to me.  And she had the cutest smile!

Nancy Price - Draper Utah House

Nancy loves where she lives.  She and her husband Jim live in Portland Oregon.  The have close access to the beautiful ocean.  Nancy has created a very loving, comfortable home where you always feel welcome.  When I walk in her front door I have always felt safe, warm and comfortable.  The phrase "My home is your home - welcome" describes the Clark Home.

Erin Clark and Alison Clark - Visit to Utah

Nancy and Jim have two adorable daughters.  Erin and Alison.  I love these girls with all my heart!  The are fun, smart, caring, lovers of nature, easy to laugh, always aware of the beauties around them, hard working - they are a carbon copy of their mother!

Jim and Nancy Clark with Ozzy and Dash

Cannon Beach - March - 2010

Happy Birthday Nancy!  I want you to know how much I love you and that I appreciate who you are and who you are yet to discover.  You are pure.  You are devoted.  You are a great listener. You are my sister!  I love you and I want you to always know and feel that!

My Sister Bonnie

It's my sister Bonnie's birthday today!  Happy Birthday Sis!  Bonnie is the 2nd child, 1st daughter of Elden and Marcine Price.  I got to come into this family after Bonnie and she always tells me that she was so excited to have a younger sister.

Bonnie and I had such fun growing up!  When Dad built our home in Draper we shared a room together.  I was the neat-as-a-pin occupant in this room - Bonnie, not so much!  We have so many stories and memories in this house and in our shared room.

Bonnie Ann Price - Draper

Dad and Mom made it possible for every child in our family to earn money doing chores, weeding rows in the garden, etc. and we were very good at saving our funds to buy Christmas presents for each other for gift giving.  One Christmas Bonnie and I were sitting on our beds in our room and we decided that we were going to give each other their Christmas gift BEFORE Christmas Day.  We opened our gifts and we both started to laugh because we had purchased the exact same thing for each other.  We re-wrapped the gifts and put them back under the tree - then on Christmas morning we made such a big deal about our gifts.  Oh goodness!  We thought we were so clever!

Bonnie Price & Janet Price - Draper Home at Christmas

I was quite the seamstress and I could sew up an outfit pretty quick and wear it to school the next day.  Many times I would buy a piece of fabric and Bonnie would tell me she thought it was ugly - funny thing, I made the outfit and Bonnie would tell me how cute it was and want to wear it to school.  We had a pretty great wardrobe between us!

Bonnie Ann Price Jones - Daisy the Clown

My sister Bonnie loves to have fun with her grandchildren.  She reads to them, bakes with them, watches movies and enjoys spending time with each one.  Bonnie teaches a pre-school in her town of Idaho.  They learn so many things, go on field trips and even learn about bugs, nature, colors and shapes.  I don't know if Bonnie has introduced her alter-self to her classrooms, but she has been known to become Daisy the Clown and conduct reading time in the local library.  How much fun would that be!

Bonnie in Sedona Arizona - 2009

Bonnie writes a letter to each of her grandchildren every month.  She loves her husband, she loves her children and she adores her grandchildren!  She makes a killer pizza and cinnamon rolls (NO raisins!). Bonnie has a zest for life, the retelling of a story, and discovering new and exciting adventures.  She loves her Dad and Mom and her family.  I am so grateful for my older sister and the love she has for me.  Happy Birthday dear sister!

Get Up!

There are nights after I get home from work that I get so caught up in what I am doing (and sometimes NOT doing - couch potato) that I stay up waaaay to late!  I have friends who say they are a "morning person" and some who prefer being a "night hawk".  Well, I don't think either of those describe me because I can stay up late and get up early.  However, if I do that to many days in a row I get sluggish.  It's a known fact that I need my beauty sleep!

So I trick myself and set 2 alarms in the morning.  One at 5:00 so I can shut it off knowing that I can sleep for another 15 minutes because my "safety" alarm will go off at 5:15!  Aren't I so clever!  But wait!  I then proceed to reach up and hit the snooze for another 15 minutes and don't really roll out of bed until 5:30!  Why!  Why I ask myself don't I just set one alarm at 5:30 and get up promptly???  Well, one answer is I have staid up way to late and can't open the eyes and the other is .  .  . what is the other answer?  I do not know because I continue with this silly game over and over!  I need to figure me out and fix it!

I'll bet Big Ben would R.I.N.G. me right out of bed!  And I'm sure Big Ben does NOT have a snooze button!