Sisters of the heart

July brought a visit from my sister, at least she's a sister in my heart! Debra and I have known each other 10 years now. After Mark's graduation from BYU in 2000, our first assignment with his company was on Vancouver Island in Canada. I distinctly remember looking at the map and picking the town of Duncan to live in. I knew it was the place for us! My first friend there was Debra. She took me under her wing and welcomed us all. She is the mother of 6 kids, super woman organized, generous, loving, and an inspiration to me. We've been through real ups and downs and our friendship has been made stronger each time. The things I've learned from her are too numerous to list here!

There is no substitute for a friend that is a sister of the heart! Needless to say, it was the best way to start my summer. Debra and her crew (minus 1) arrived just in time for 4th of July:



Then she took our Family Photos, see previous blog entries.

Next we delivered 5 excited teenagers to week long EFY in Tacoma:


Then we played all week long! We met my potter friend, Leah B., spent way too much time shopping for Fiestaware!, pottery and Pandora bracelets. Treated ourselves to pedicures and explored with the kids we had left at home. Needless to say we visited my favorite Seattle spot, Pike Place:

My boys

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh





The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom.
- Henry Ward Beecher





It's easy to pick children whose mothers are good housekeepers; they are usually found in other yards.
- Unknown





You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes. ~Walter M. Schirra, Sr.





"Happy is the son whose faith in his mother remains unchallenged."
Louisa May Alcott

My life in pictures

I am grateful to have a daughter who is confident in her abilities, strong in her testimony, creative and happy. She is an example to me!



A daughter is a gift of love. ~Author Unknown



A mother's love for her child is like
nothing else in the world. It knows no
law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes
down remorselessly all that stands in its path.
~ Agatha Christie





Sometimes the laughter in mothering
is the recognition of the ironies and
absurdities. Sometimes, though, it's
just pure, unthinking delight.
~ Barbara Shapiro



A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart. ~Author Unknown

My life in pictures

My Family - Photos by DM Photography


"The family is a haven in a heartless world." ~Attributed to Christopher Lasch



Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts. ~Author Unknown





"What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories." ~George Eliot



"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together." ~Erma Bombeck





And finally, "Time passes quickly. Many parents say that it seems like yesterday that their children were born. Now those children are grown, perhaps with children of their own. 'Where did the years go?' they ask. We cannot call back time that is past, we cannot stop time that now is, and we cannot experience the future in our present state. Time is a gift, a treasure not to be put aside for the future but to be used wisely in the present." President Thomas S. Monson

To be continued...