OH HOW LOVELY WAS THE MORNING

I feel something so amazing as I look at these photo's! You who have been here are so blessed. This is the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.

FREEDOM 4th of JULY

This is Baby Brock Balmforth's 1st Parade. He didnt ever smile while I was there but he sure was a good little boy.

Isnt he just soooooooooooo CUTE.
This is momma Jessica and Brock. She is a beautiful gal. We love her.

Just too tired for anymore parade. Look at those chompy cheeks. Have to kiss them.

Awake again for the last half. How come that chub isnt so cute when you are an adult?

Happy fourth of July!! Let FREEDOM RING!! I have always been a patriotic person.. The sight of the Flag,the Pledge of Allegiance, and Star Spangled Banner always send a chill down my spine and a tear of gratitude to my eyes. This year Ashley and I attended the parade in Idaho Falls. Its just not like when I was a kid when the floats were real floats with hours of paper stuffed into chicken wire and unique and complex ideas were created into interesting formations to stimulate service and effort and hard work. And times change~and things as they were wont ever be thee in some ways. So here are a few photos randomly shot, kind of as an after thought to send to my son Taylor in Missouri, who is in basic training for the Army Reserve. Today patriotism means even more knowing our son could soon join other military oversea to be a part ofthering the freedom of this Great country, the United States o

Ashley and I painted rocks last year and here are a couple that remained after the wint

What I need to alot of!!

Pretty cool to find a heart shaped rock..

This was just a shot of the crowd on the street we were on. Dont know any of them just folks.

Oops!! Same folks. Havent figured out how to delete pictures.

This vehicle was confiscated from a drug dealer. Now the cops drive it. CRAZY!

This is a picture of the cottoncandy Ashley WISHED she could have but she left her money in the car so I took a photo of it for her. Later we bought some in Target.

Always a few horses.

And I love the military. I lived on a military base for 3 years in Colorado and the guys wore green. So now its desert gear.

This was an interesting float. Some thought went into it. Good job guys!

Got to have an OLD RED fire truck. That always is fun and interesting.

This is baby Brocks Spanish relatives, his grandma is in the purple shirt looking away. And his great aunt is in the pink~nice people.

Perserverance

This is from editor@ezinemagazine.com really an awesome site to get uplifting information.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other."~ Walter Elliot (1842-1928)
"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained."~ Marie Curie (1867-1934)
"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."~ John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)
"Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragement, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak."~ Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

TRUE STATEMENT

To get what you have never had, you have to do what you have never done.

We All Have STUFF!

SURRENDER

Surrender now, pretend no more,

God is here just open the door.

Ego lay down, take a rest,

We've always thought you were the best.

Edging God Out isn't the way,

You seem big and strong,

but you can't stay.

Surrender is strength,

placing all in God's hands,

admitting to him you don't understand.

I'm willing to put myself in his care,

because something tells me, he will always be there.

Surrender, let go, release all the ties.

Step outside the box and you'll see blue skies.

God is just waiting for you to let go, to realize you're

really not running the show.

This is baby Brock. He is 3 months old now and an amazing delight. So using him as an example of the innocence of all of us it becomes hard to believe we could ever have stuff. So what is stuff? Stuff in my opinion, is the illusions we have created over the span of our earthly existance. Not to be minimized because for most of us we have come to know these illusions better than the real innocense of who we REALLY are. We hold them near and dear and to some it becomes such a secret we must not ever reveal. So look deep into the eyes of this sweet little baby. Except see if you can see you. Yes, you. Our natural man becomes our enemy. An enemy to our goodness and true self. Ego is another word we could use to describe the natural man. A great acronym for ego is Edging God Out ! Cool huh? We do often only reveal the good stuff, and then others begin to think less of themselves, or feel like everyone else is better, richer,more talented. We are so good for each other. WE are all teachers, and we didnt even know what a great job we were doing. We are the FAMILY separate and collective. We need each other with our innocence, our pain, our STUFF.

LIFE IS WHAT WE MAKE IT~ALWAYS HAS BEEN ALWAYS WILL BE...

Law of the Garbage Truck

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We weredriving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of aparking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on hisbrakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver ofthe other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxidriver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was reallyfriendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruinedyour car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi drivertaught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run aroundfull of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full ofdisappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump itand sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbageand spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks takeover their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,so....Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

HOPE

"Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive.... If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired."~ Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
"Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living. Out of our overconfidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress."~ Bruce Barton (1886-1967)
"A very small degree of hope is sufficient to cause the birth of love."~ Marie-Henri Beyle (1783-1842)
"The pure, the bright, the beautiful that stirred our hearts in youth,The impulses to wordless prayer,The streams of love and truth,The longing after something lost,The spirit's longing cry,The striving after better hopes-These things can never die."~ Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

"Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living. Out of our overconfidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress."~ Bruce Barton (1886-1967)
"A very small degree of hope is sufficient to cause the birth of love."~ Marie-Henri Beyle (1783-1842)
"The pure, the bright, the beautifulthat stirred our hearts in youth,The impulses to wordless prayer,The streams of love and truth,The longing after something lost,The spirit's longing cry,The striving after better hopes-These things can never die."~ Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Beautiful flowers

Well, I tried to capture a little of the out of doors at the Balmforth quarters without exposing ALL of the other stuff. This is out by a pond Joel created. He carved this owl with a chainsaw many years ago.

Flowers he planted that have come up voluntarily this year!

This is part of his corn in his square foot garden. However it incapsulates much more than one square foot. Ha

Here is a more frightening view with a bunch of this's and that's including the ol farmer tractor.

And more of the same. Joel uses whatever is handy for the purpose at hand.

See what I mean? Old pallets,wood, and pvc pipe, oh yeah and tires.

Raspberries!!

More Corn.

More raspberries...

Rubarb. YUMMY!!!

Guess what this is? The compost pile. While I was cleaning the yard off the other day so I could mow. I found a waist high contain of old wet coffee grounds that he has collected for something???

More Rubard. Anyone want strawberry rubarb pie?

This is an upside down tomato grower. I think the tomatoes are confused~they arent doing so well. Oh wait~maybe because there is more rain than sun..

Tools of the trade!

An arbor he built out of this and that!

His mothers favorite flowers.

The quakies are really getting tall..

Oops! Got the same picture twice and I didnt know how to remove it. So you aren't really seeing double.

These flowers we planted about 4 years ago in two or three clumps. They have seeded themselves and are just beautiful this year probably because of the rain. Notice I have been weeding. Also I tried to keep it a tight shot so as not to distract from the flowers. The outer perimeter is very interesting. I would have to show you the cow that is grazing in the front yard due to no interested parties in mowing it. Oh well! Got to love it. At least I have grass. For so many years I didnt. So there you have it. Right as I am complaining I am into gratitude. God bless America~~

Love of America

I love America, I love the chill that runs down my spine when I see the flag and say the pledge of alligence. I love that Moroni was a captain in the Lords army and stands at the pinacle of our temples. I have an even more vested interest in that our son Taylor is training in Missouri now for the troops. I can't even imagine him going to war. My prayer is that he will never have too. And I am so grateful for the great patriots of our country who stand in harms way daily to defend the freedom of this great land!! May we all in the coming weeks have a special prayer in our hearts on behalf of all the troops, and for those who have been killed while defending this great land of America. In God we trust. May Old Glory FOREVER Wave!!