Trying to get a good Easter photo

Neighborhood church

I noticed this beautiful flowered cross on my way home from church but didn't stop to take a photo and decided I would stop on my way to Easter dinner with friends.  This is the Community of Christ church in Lexington (formerly the Reorganized LDS Church).

The Easter Jacksons

Emmett at the Easter egg hunt

Easter egg hunt on a beautiful day

The barn near the farm

I drove out to my friend's farm to get a haircut today.  This photogenic barn is just down the road from her house.  I had a great day off filled with errands and friends.

Relief Society birthday dinner and auction

Tonight was our annual Relief Society birthday dinner and a service auction.  It was a lot of fun and the food was great.  And as usual, the decorations were perfect.  There is a missionary couple in our ward who are potato farmers from Washington and they donated the potatoes!  We each filled out a questionnaire and got 10 points for each question.  After bidding on a few items (I scored 2 hours of house cleaning, a floral arrangements, and some crocheted flowers) someone asked how I had so many points and then someone else said, "she must have showered before noon today!" (that was one of the questions).  Someone mentioned to me that their mom's ward did a service auction and it didn't go so well; there were lots of hurt feelings.  Hurt feelings?  Ours was a blast and everyone seemed to be having a great time.  I love celebrating the birthday of the Relief Society and being a part of this wonderful organization.

The back side of Beacon Hill

Shot from the 7th floor of MGH.

Good friends

I drove my friend Judy (R) to MGH today for an appointment and my friend Mary Anne (L) works there and came to see us in the waiting area.  They are both good friends.

Little wooden houses

I saw these little houses on a blog and thought they were so cute.  I sent the link to my crafty friend and last Sunday she gave me a handmade drawstring bag with these in it--a fun surprise!  I love them!!  They're close together like my tract house neighborhood I grew up in -- Van Nuys, CA!

Hopping on the B.T. Express

We're up to 16 years since Robes' brain tumor diagnosis.  I took this photo the day after I flew to Florida to help out.  It was Easter Sunday--he was the bishop and supposed to give a talk in church.  Instead, he ended up in the hospital that day and in surgery two days later.  He lived 18 months and 3 days from the day of his diagnosis.

I'm convinced he'd still be a hot-shot sports writer with a famous blog or TV gig and I would still be his proud (favorite) sister.  I miss so many things about him every day.

Kimberly's Relief Society lesson

Kimberly is a terrific teacher.  Today's lesson was from this General Conference talk.

They've got legs (and boots)

Loving sisters

Armed and glamorous

My new favorite Boston Temple photo...

...that I took yesterday.

It's great to be 8!

I took photos this afternoon of this cute girl who is 8 and will be baptized soon.  Her mom wanted photos for the invitations.  I emailed her asking if she wanted to wait a week since it was cold/snowy and she said they were from Arizona so having snow in the photos would be fun.  This little girl was so nice and extremely photogenic.

Baby shower gift

Baby shower for girls

This morning I went to a baby shower for two gals in the ward that each have two boys and are having girls!  There were lots of nice gifts including diapers and cute baby girl clothes.  I made them each a stuffed elephant.

What Relief Society means to Jean Marie

I can't stop thinking about this story that my friend Jean Marie shared last Sunday in Sacrament Meeting.  The story is very sweet -- and I love that Jean Marie got out and did something instead of feeling bad that she didn't have any friends (speaking of charity).

Here's an excerpt from her talk:

But what does Relief Society mean to us, the men or children who are not members of the organization?  What does it mean to us as a ward or a society?  Well, I believe the lesson of Relief Society is charity and extending that gift to others, no matter if we are a sister in the organization or not.  I would like to use an example to illustrate that principal in practice – it is a story about a man and a man who is not a member of our church. 

I was in Nebraska one summer and I really didn’t have any friends so sometimes I would go down to the homeless shelter and help sort and organize clothes in their donation store which was like the Goodwill.  I was just minding my own business when  I saw a mom come in with a boy about 10 years old.  The boy looked around, dragging a plastic bag behind him.  Apparently he needed some new tennis shoes so he went up to the store clerk who was also organizing clothes.  The boy asked the clerk for some new shoes.  The clerk took the little boy and with utmost respect and compassion showed off the rows of dirty, wrinkled, and worn shoes.  He had the little boy try on several pairs and treated the boy as if he were in Nordstrom (or a high end department store) instead of where he really was: a homeless shelter’s dingy donation room.  I was so touched by this experience.  The clerk had the boy glowing with a new pair of dusty and worn shoes.  I thought about how that store clerk took the time to listen to the boy and treated him like the Son of Royalty – which, in fact, he was. 

I think this man exemplifies the kind of charity the Relief Society espouses.  The Relief Society has shown all of us what a truly loving Father and Savior we have, whose love knows no boundaries nor conditions.  Relief Society has helped me understand that Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, cares about me and my life.  But not just me and my life either.  His mercy and grace extend to everyone on this planet.  I am so grateful for that knowledge.  

Grandma Pitchforth would be 115 today!

This photo was taken on August 16, 1967 after I spent a month with my Pitchforth grandparents in Salt Lake City (alone with no brothers!).  It was a memorable summer.

My favorite things about Grandma Pitchforth:  she wrote lots of letters, she was a great baker, and her beautiful wedding band that I wear every day.  She was a gem.

Click here to read a funny story about a visit to my grandparents.