Today was really warm. It may be February still, but it is starting to feel like spring. My daffodils are blooming. A sure sign that spring is coming is that my granddaughters came to visit and were excited to get to play in the pond. (My poor goldfish). Caroline was soon completely in. Then Holly, who has to do everything Caroline does, had to get in. But she didn't find it quite so much fun. The water was a little cold for her. (Cara said I better give her credit for taking the wonderful pictures!)

New Computer and New Safari Web browser

I just got a new computer. I really didn't want to buy one yet. I preferred to wait until a better time economically. My old Apple ibook G4 is dying and I knew it was a matter of time. I need a laptop to carry to work and back, and over the last 4 years of having one, I just can't stand the thought of not having one, so I decided to go buy a new one. My good husband wasn't thrilled, but he understood. He even understood when I decided to go a step up and get one slightly more expensive than I had planned. So there we were in BEST BUY at the apple section and I was debating which one to buy. I called Ryan, our family expert, and he was giving me advice and telling me what to look for. He had already done some research for me. I also finally got a blue shirted worker there to help me. Between what the two of them were telling me, I was convinced of the need for a dedicated video card and 2 gigs of whatever. You see, I don't really know or understand what goes on inside the computer, but I do know what I need it to do. I deal with LOTS of pictures and video. So I bought my laptop and then went to find my husband, who had wandered off, and then left to go out to eat.
I feel guilty as heck about the purchase, but whenever I get to feeling too guilty I get it out and discover something new and exciting about it. I love the onboard camera. I have been video chatting a couple times with Ryan and Sarah. That is so COOL! All my kids have got to have a webcam so we can video chat whenever we want. Wouldn't it be cool if my missionary son could video chat with us on Christmas and Mothers Day? Well the computers in Brazil barely do anything, and it is not allowed by the church at this point, but I see it moving in that direction some day, lucky dogs.
I just downloaded the new safari 4 web browser. All I can say is - Awesome! Try it out. It works for windows or apple.
It is faster and the start window is wonderful. Read about it here http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/24/apple_releases_public_beta_of_safari_4_browser.html

Download it free here: www.apple.com/safari

So far I am really impressed with it!

Blast from the past!

Dianne, my roommate from BYU just sent me a picture of the two of us hitting the slopes at Park City. Wow was that a long time ago. I grew up skiing, but Dianne (who we called Baggy back then) was new to it, but boy was did she pick it up fast. She was a natural. Those ski trips while a student at BYU were some of my favorites. I haven't gone skiing in years. There just aren't any good slopes in Arkansas. But I can still close my eyes and feel it. I wonder if there is skiing in heaven? Anyway, I sure appreciate Dianne sending me this picture.

Elder Lee got his birthday box!

I enjoyed Matt's emails yesterday. He has had problems with an ingrown toenail over the last few weeks and he thinks it's finally getting better. I sure hope so.

He got the 2nd birthday package I sent and he was excited. He says: "my dl (district leader) keeps telling me my mom is awesome. cause you send me cool stuff like m&ms. he says his mom keeps sendin him nerds. and yes i can buy the pasta here. mom you cant possibly know how much i love your packages. you can just see excitement radiating from my body. its like a part of home. plus i love using the stuff inside. i will be really excited to get the one you just sent though. but still, how many packages are on the way? i just need to know how many to expect. i am still eating the goodies. i already ate the combos. i still have the mandms. i got the package on friday. im waiting till my bday to open the presents. everything arrived well."

As you can see he doesn't capitalize anything! I hope when he returns from his mission and goes back to college he can adjust back to writing correctly. But I'm so excited that he got his birthday package. His birthday is next Sunday. One of the gifts is a photo book I made him. It turned out great. I think he will really like it. It has pictures of him, his family, and his friends. It has pictures from family vacations, camping trips, and holidays. He was wanting some pictures of those times and I thought this would be the best way to send them.

Global Warming hysteria makes me crazy!

Cara and I went to church in Greenwood today. David went to Mena where, as the High Councilman, he got to preside over the yearly audit. It took him awhile after church to get that done so he was home pretty late. Cara left to go back to her apartment about 4, but it was nice to see her for awhile.

I spent awhile reading articles online. I read George Will's article about the Global Warming scam. I just can't believe that so many people have been fooled so badly. How can they fall for such flimsy evidence? Climate change is a constant and important part of the earths cycles. To think that man is causing it to warm too much, because of CO2 emissions is crazy. I remember all to well the scares about global cooling that were being blared all over in the seventies. I have more faith in God than to believe that he would create a world for his children that couldn't survive the ongoing progress and development of His children. What nonsense. Climatologists can't predict the weather with any accuracy for more than 10 days out, and often not even that, and yet we are to believe the computer models they put out that the earth will suffer severe harm in the warming that they say will get worse. They claim that we are going to hit a tipping point that will bring on death and destruction that no one can stop.
Oh please. They must think we are idiots. (Actually they do, but that's OK because I think they are idiots!) I have read a lot of stuff and it seems to me that there have been some pretty big flawed studies and reports and graphs (think hockey stick graph) that they use to push global warming on us. I believe that their motive is to gain the ability to gain more government control and strip away more of our freedoms. The sad thing is that the poor people of Africa are the ones really suffering. The radical environmentalists push real hard to stop them getting geoelectric power which would help those people so much.

Well enough of that. I just had to sound off.

Watching Lil Abner with Ryan

It's Friday night and I was thinking I would be home along tonight, because David had to go to Johnson County Westside and be the Administrator on duty. But Ryan and Sarah came to spend the night. We are watching Lil Abner, the old musical which I recorded off of Turner Classic Movies the other day. Ryan and I are having fun - we were both raised on musicals, but poor Sarah isn't too crazy about it, so she went to sleep. But Ryan and I keep laughing through the movie. There area some great lines in this movie. We sing the songs too. It's fun.

cool sunrise

The other day I took some pictures of a really cool sunrise. David and I were getting ready for work. It was still dark outside, but as we went into the kitchen to get our breakfast, I looked out the big kitchen window and saw a very unusual cloud. The sky was just starting to be painted pink. Of course I immediately grabbed the camera and went outside to take some pictures. I really don't know what the wierd cloud is. I've asked some people, but while they all think it's cool, no one knows what it is. How about you? Do you know? Let me know if you do.

It's 6:00 am and the wind woke me up at 5. We have some big storms moving in. The weather reports say that there is a high level of probability of damaging winds. There are 50 mile an hour wind gusts with this storm. We have also been warned that since we just had the ice storm that a lot of tree branches have been damaged which could increase the risk of damage with this storm. We need the rain - we are currently under a burn ban, which is strange since 2 weeks ago with the ice storm we were soaked. So I'm glad we will get rain, but I don't think we need the wind.

My biggest worry is that the wind will interrupt our internet connections at the school. That will make everything harder. Especially if I can't watch for Matthew's email!

I have been reading about the horrible fires set by arsonists in Australia. I am horrified by it. How sad that so many people were caught by these fires. How could people do things like set these huge and tragic fires?

A great day!

Here are a couple pictures. The first one is of Diana and David and the 2nd is of Ryan and Sarah.
Today I had a treat. I got to go with my husband when he went to speak in the Fort Smith Ward of our church. He was the High Council speaker. Diana, David, Ryan, Sarah, and Cara were there, since they all live in Fort Smith, so I got to sit with them. It was wonderful. All too often lately I'm having to go to church alone and when you used to have a family with you that filled a whole row, it is a little sad. My Relief Society Presidency counselors were able to cover for me in Greenwood - Thanks Sister Rieske and Sister Webster - so away I went with my husband, feeling a little guilty, but enjoying it very much.

David spoke about the importance of unity. We as a church should have the unity that the Savior and our Heavenly Father had. It is important for our progress in the Kingdom. How can we do our Father's work if we are not united in love. It was a good talk.

It was so good to spend a little time with some of my family too. I miss them all during the time I am away from them. I know kids are supposed to grow up and leave home, but an empty nest is hard to get used to. But hey...there is a lot less laundry, the house stays cleaner longer, and the grocery bill is less. So there is an upside.

And now it's time to write a big email to my missionary son. Elder Lee has his p-day tomorrow and I can't wait to hear from him. Byeee......

pictures of family and ice

Copy and paste this link to see some of my pictures of the family and some of the ice.
pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178135@N02/

A video of the family singing Happy Birthday to Caroline

    We all sang to Caroline and she blew out her candles. 

Don't pay any attention to the bad singer behind the

 camera. It is obvious that the camera distorted the 

voice, right? 

    We had the party at Carol and Buddy Pennington's house 

They are Caroline's other grandparents. The party was 

supposed to be at her house, but the big ice storm of 

2009 changed that plan. Michelle and Ethan were hit 

hard. They lost 3 trees and had no electricity for 

several days. 

    In the background you can see the 2 grandpas standing

together. Holly is sitting with her mom. Michelle made 

Caroline an adorable Tinkerbell cake. 

Elder Matthew Lee is walking down the street in 

Sao Borja, Brazil and what does he see in the store 

window? A shirt with Arkansas on it.... He had to 

stop and take a picture. You can see the reflection 

of Elder Meireles in the window with the camera.

Caroline opens her gifts on her birthday. 

Holly and Cara with a buddy. 

That's some wild hair Holly!

      I decided the time has come to start my own blog. I don't know if anyone will be interested, but I can send my thoughts, ideas, and pictures flying out into cyberspace and maybe they will land somewhere. We are enjoying some really nice weather today. Cool and breezy, with a few clouds floating in a blue sky. After all the cold and ice, it is a nice change, especially on a Saturday. 

      I am missing my son Matthew, who is serving a two year mission in Brazil. He is loving his mission, so I am happy he is there, but my heart aches for a hug from him. Last night was homecoming at our school, which he graduated from just a year and a half ago. I saw some of his friends who asked about him. He has been gone for 7  months, and has just under a year and a half to go. We hear from him every Monday by email. I live for those wonderful emails. 

     I also wish I could see my 2 little darlings that live in Springdale, Arkansas - about 2 hours from here. I saw them last week, but I'm ready for another visit. Caroline just had her 4th birthday and Holly is about to turn 2. They are the cutest, busiest, most curious girls in the world. I love them sooooo much. Their parents Michelle and Ethan are busy trying to clean up their yard after the ice storm last week. I wish we could get there to help. I'd watch the little girls so they could work. (Big of me isn't it? )

     Our youngest daughter Cara is in her senior year of college at University of Arkansas Fort Smith. Today she is in Oklahoma City with her older syblings Ryan (and his wife Sarah) and Diana (and her husband David). They drove over yesterday and stayed in a hotel, that they got a real good deal on because Sarah works for the hotel chain. This morning they are attending the Oklahoma City Temple. We were supposed to go with them, but since homecoming was scheduled for yesterday, we had to be here. My husband, David, was an administrator on duty and I am the yearbook sponsor and had to take pictures. 

      Speaking of yearbook -- I have been working really hard on pages due by next Friday. It is our biggest and hardest deadline. My staff was mostly useless this week. Homecoming is a huge distraction. They all had to be out of class to paint banners, or decorate, or practice, or watch their friends doing those things. I just worked away and let them get this whole homecoming thing out of they systems. But this week will be a doozy (or is the doozey?) . They better be ready to work next week. 

      Sundays are different for me now. We attend church in Greenwood, about 20 minutes from here, but my husband has been called to the High Council so he must travel most Sundays to attend at other units of the church in the area. I would go with him, but I am the Relief Society President of our unit. I have to be there. We only have one car, so most of the time Cara comes home on Saturday night to go to church with me so I will have a ride. She is a sweetie. Of course we pay for her car insurance, so maybe she knows which side her bread is buttered on...Just kidding Cara! She lives in Fort Smith with Diana and David. 

     I'm hungry! I better go see what I can eat! Till later....