Our Garden 2011

 This has been a cold, wet, and snowy spring! But that hasn't stopped my amazing gardener husband.  The tulips and daffodils came and went without a lot of notice from us, it's been so cool and wet we haven't been outside as much as we like. The forecast is for warmer weather next week, with a chance of rain. But as you can see, the garden is up and running, it's always fun to see those little seeds sprout and grow. We will post updates as things progress.  

 29 March, the daffodils are always such a welcome sight, 

especially when spring is so cold and wet

 3 April, and don't think this was the last of our snow

26 May, lots of berries on these plants

 4 planter boxes of June-bearing strawberries

 lettuce, spinach, chard and carrots

 Bell and Anaheim peppers

 3 boxes of tomato plants Dave grew from seeds

 Red potatoes and Walla Walla onions

Ever-bearing strawberries, they are loaded with blossoms and fruit

Dangers of pornography

I found this article today and want to share it. I get updates on Facebook from Pornography Harms 
and want to do something to spread the word about the damage done in too many families and individual lives, and the widespread effect on society, of this huge, pervasive industry. I took just one paragraph from the article to give an idea of what it is about, I hope you will follow the link and read the whole thing.

Pornography: How to lose your humanity

Published: Monday, May 9, 2011 4:30 a.m. MDT Deseret News

By Roger Stark

Porn, like it or not, is sex education. Some viewers perceive what they see as normal, acceptable and even desirable. Reminiscent of Pinocchio at the fair, some viewers of pornography suddenly find they aren’t little boys anymore. Changed, but unaware of the transformation, they become blind to anything but their own desires. Humanity and its compassion, kindness and unselfishness become the casualties. While searching for an understanding of sexuality, they instead develop distortions and lose humane qualities.

http://desne.ws/iYaLln

BYU Women's Conference

I attended Women's Conference with two of my sisters, and our niece Jenny from California at the end of April. My sister Connie was invited to be part of the "Evening of Service" project and she recruited us to help. We were involved with making totes filled with puzzles and other kid-friendly things which will be distributed to 11 or 12 organizations, such as the local police,  who deal with at -risk children,  and those in crisis.

 Krista,  Jenny, me, and Connie ~ and the darling totes

The service projects were amazing. There were about 8 project centers in a huge room, and women came flooding in to be part of the service. As they sat together and worked, they visited, laughed, made new friends, and made a small difference in someone's life, someone they will never meet. What a wonderful opportunity to show love ~ unselfish, godly love, that which is referred to in scripture as charity.

these preemie hats were another project

this one was called crowns and scepters ~ sorry, no picture of the crown

they also put some journals together

these caterpillars were filled with beans, like a bean bag, and will be used with autistic children

                                          

We also walked through the Sharing Stations, and found many interesting things and ideas.  Handouts, patterns, quotes, directions, etc, will be on the website soon:

http://womensconference.byu.edu

                                 

cute little heart pockets we saw and want to make

The conference started at 9 am with a general opening address by Sister Virginia Pearce. She spoke about small and simple things, basing her remarks on the conference theme ~ Alma 37:6. She focused her remarks on prayer, a small and simple thing that truly brings great things to pass. Here are some of my favorite parts of her talk, taken from my notes so they are paraphrased.

Prayer may not change my circumstances, but it can change me.
Our prayers can be a small part of the miracle the Lord will work in the lives of those we love.
God frequently puts His signature on small events of the day.
The miracle of prayer is not in manipulating events in life, but in developing a relationship with God.

There is a beautiful ennobling spirit at Women's Conference. If you are ever able to attend,  I highly recommend it; it always makes me want to be a better person.