Why frown when you can smile.......or better yet laugh out loud!

     Quite a few years ago I had an experience that changed the way I look.  I went to my hairstylist and as I sat in her chair she said " why don't you ever smile?"  I told her " I do smile.  I smile all the time!  What  are you smokin? "
     She had been doing my hair for a couple of years.  She had never asked me this question before and it puzzled me.  I thought to myself does everyone think I don't smile?  I decided to fix that and I started smiling at everyone.
     I have had some funny experiences smiling and saying hello to everyone.  Recently I came out of a store in Farr West, Utah.  As I was coming out of the store a man was coming in to the store.  Well, naturally I smiled at him because I smile and say hello to everyone.  He smiled back and asked me how I was doing.  Then he said " Oh, are you Ginger?"  I chuckled and said " No, I'm LeeLee ". Haha
     The other thing that happens when I smile at people is they take a double take.  Sometimes they smile back and other times they have a questioning look; like do I know you?
     The best thing that happens is that people start having conversations with me like I am somebody they really know.  It happens quite frequently at the grocery store.  I have had people stop and tell me about their families.  I have had people stop and tell me how great I look and ask me how am I losing weight and how much weight have I lost.  (none)  Just last week I smiled at a lady while I was checking out the eggs to see if any of them were broken.  All of a sudden I was in a full blown conversation with her about her husband and family of five.  She was talking to me like I was her best friend and I just nodded my head and smiled some more.  I wonder if she ever figured out that I wasn't who she thought I was.
     The very best thing that has happened since that initial conversation with my hairstylist is that recently someone payed me this compliment I love you.  You always SMILE!

                                                       Smiling with the grandkids!

                                                         Smiling with the Silver Fox!

                                                         Smiling with complete strangers!

                                               Smiling with Georgie and Monica!       

                                            

                                                  Smiling with my daughters!

                                                       Here's to smiling at you!!!

The leaf who was an answer to prayer........aka Cami

Cami's Story

     I believe that God hears and answers prayers.  Last Friday I was able to attend the Bountiful, Utah Temple.  It is a place where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can go to perform sacred work for the living and for the dead.  There is a beautiful room called The Celestial room where people can go and meditate and feel closer to God.  As I was in this room I had a prayer in my heart that my Heavenly Father would help me with some questions I needed answers to.  One of the prayers I took to the Temple was concerning my blog.  As I had experienced some opposition concerning it my prayer was for my Heavenly Father to aid me in knowing whether this was my idea to start a blog or a way for me to be an instrument in his hands to help my fellowman.  I asked Him if it was his idea to let me know who he wanted me to write about.  As I have experienced several times since starting my blog, I, didn't have to wait long to find the answer.

     I went to work later on in the day.  I had been there for an hour when in walked this cutie........

     Her name is Cami.  She shared her story with me and I loved it and I love Cami.  She has a very sweet and innocent spirit about her.

     Cami came in to HairMax to find a product for her hair.  I went over to help her and I noticed that she shakes just a little bit.  I asked her what I could help her with and she said she needed to exchange a product because the one she got wasn't the one she was looking for.  She told me she was looking for a product she used to use when she attended Cosmetology School.  She told me that she had a stroke a year ago on March 17th and things in her brain were still shuffling around a little bit.  She had a can of root lifter in her hands and told me what she wanted it for and I assured her that she was buying the correct product.  I said " How does someone as young as you experience a stroke. "  She said it wasn't a pretty story.

     I told Cami that I had a blog and that I try to write about people who have had an impact on my life.  I asked her if she would be willing to share her story with me.  When she found out that it might help even one other person she agreed to tell me.

     Last March 17th Cami's husband found her on the floor.  She was dead.  She needed action quickly and was taken to the hospital.  She had accidentally overdosed on pain medication.  The doctors told her she had twenty different strokes.  They told her the strokes were so severe and the medications she took were so strong it would have killed a horse or a cow.  Look how tiny Cami is and she survived because God has a purpose for her.

     Cami was in a coma for two days.  She doesn't remember anything about that time period.  She was in the IMC hospital for over a month.  She wasn't able to eat and wanted her diet coke.  Her family and the hospital wouldn't let her indulge in diet coke until she could get something in her body.  That something was ensure.  As long as she could start drinking ensure she was promised she could have her diet coke.

     Cami was in and out of hospitals until June.  She has neuropathy on the left side of her body so she is in constant pain.  She was told she would never drive a car again.  She was unable to wear socks or shoes for a long time because of the pain she is experiencing.  While she was in the hospital her husband decided to divorce her.  She has a seven year old son who she has been able to see every two weeks but as she is getting stronger she is going to be able to see him more often.

     The first thing Cami started to do was to swim.  Swimming was the only thing she could do at the time that felt good on her body.  She now goes to the gym and is weight lifting, riding bicycles and doing some other exercise to make her body stronger.

     She just got the o.k. for her to get her drivers license back.  All of the above exercises and driving she was told she would never be able to do and she is doing them.  She has tremendous hope for the future.  She cried as she told me her story and I cried as I listened to it.  She had become addicted to several pain medications because of surgeries she had.  Recently she had a benign cyst the size of a 50 cent piece removed from her breast.  It was the first time she took a narcotic in over a year.  She gave the medication to her mom to be her nurse and only took a few for the severe pain.  Her mom got rid of the rest.

     I asked Cami what she would tell someone experiencing the same addiction.  She said that the addict doesn't believe she has a problem.  She said the best thing family members can do is to take the initiative to get the person the help they need.  She said she was in complete denial that she had a problem and that she fought it.  She said if she would have listened to a family member she wouldn't have had to go through the experience she has had the last year.

     Thank you so much for sharing your story with me Cami. You are a beautiful daughter of God.  You have a family who loves you and who hated to see you suffer.  Sometimes the most perfect looking people on the outside are suffering tremendously on the inside.  I am glad you found the inner strength to push through pain and to start to heal.  Your story is an inspiration to me!

LeeLee's Likes.....Hatched another batch of chicks!

     I want to share one of my favorite treats.  I have seen similar recipes floating around the internet.  I started making these treats at least 30 years ago.  It is a recipe my sister was given.  She made them.  I loved them and I make them every year at Easter.  It has become a tradition to have these peanut butter treats as part of our meal we have when we get together for our annual Easter egg hunt.
     Two memories I have from making these treats:  some years we were so poor it was a luxury to be able to buy a box of graham crackers to even make them.  My niece Jessi loves them.  It is one of her favorite treats I make.  She is in Colorado now and won't be able to enjoy them with the rest of the family this year.  Poor Jessi!  Poor us!  We miss her!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies

     In a large bowl blend together one cup butter (softened) and one cup peanut butter:

     After these are blended well, blend in three and three fourths cups of powdered sugar and one and a half cups of crushed graham crackers.  Crush them well with a rolling pin.  They don't need to be super fine like sand.  It's nice to have a little bit of texture when you bite into them.

     After these are mixed together well. Pat the mixture onto a cookie sheet. 

     Next melt one ( 12 0z. ) bag of chocolate chips in the microwave.  Heat in a microwave safe bowl for one minute.  Stir.  Heat again in thirty second intervals until chocolate chips are melted.  Pour over peanut butter mixture.  Let set until hardened.

     Now for the fun part.  I use a metal cookie cutter to cut out the cute chick shapes.  When that is done I put yellow frosting in a decorator bag and outline the chicks.  You don't even need to be an artist to do this part.  Just relax and have fun!  I prefer the treats chilled in the refridgerator but you can eat them at room temperature too.  They will just be softer.  Enjoy!

It's a beautiful day!

     We have had some crazy weather in Utah the last few days.  It has been sunny, rainy, snowy all in the past six days.

      I have had the opportunity to travel near and far.  I have been as far away as Sydney, Australia to the West and Glasgow, Scotland to the East and lots of places in between.  One of the most beautiful places I have ever been is my home state of Utah.  Spring in Utah is phenomenal!  Today I had the opportunity to capture these photos on my cell phone.

     We even had hail this week.  But here at the Bountiful, Utah Temple you will only find a little bit of heaven on earth!

My loveable leaves......aka The girls and boys in the hood.

The girls and boys in the hood

     Some of the very best experiences I have in my life are when the girls and boys in the neighborhood come by after school to get a treat from me.  This all started about seven years ago when my daughter Kim still lived at home.  She was a primary teacher to a set of twins in our neighborhood.  They loved my daughter Kim.  They were only four years old at the time and they had an older brother who was six years old at the time.  

     They would come by on occasion to see Kim.  Since I am the queen of treats we always had something for them in the pantry.  These visits lasted while Kim was living at home.  Kim married six years ago but fortunately for me the visits from the M family didn't stop.  Over the years the M family has grown.  The oldest boy has moved on to junior high and doesn't stop by anymore but the twins still do.  Word got out that there were treats to be had at my house and so daily traditions with kids from various families stop by.

     Today I was watching my granddaughter Rae when my doorbell rang.  To my delight the twins, their younger brother, and my loveable L were at my door.  I opened up the door to four smiling faces.  They had so much to tell me.  This is the most important part of being the queen of treats.  I get to hear the best things from them.

     First thing my loveable L  pulled up his shirt high enough up so I could see his badge.  It was attached to his pants pocket and it read  I have the Power.  He was beaming from ear to ear as he showed it to me.  I asked him if he got it at school and he said he did and gave me the thumbs up.  

     Next thing J told me that he got his retainer out.  I asked him if he was nervous about getting it out.  He said he was but that it only took five minutes.  He said before it takes twenty minutes to get his dental work done and rolled his eyes as he was telling me this.

     As soon as he told me about his retainer being taken out loveable L told me about his braces getting off.  ( however that actually happened about six months ago, but, you know he had to keep up with the J's.

     Cute E  she just wanted to talk to Rae and get her to talk back.  Rae loves it when the girls and boys in the hood come by.  She gets so excited and talks and waves hi to them.

     Alas, it was time to get the candy jar.  Being the polite children that they are they asked how many treats they could have.  I told them they could have two.  The next thing I knew all pandemonium would break loose as eight hands all hit the candy jar at once trying to get to the treats first.

     The experience this gave to me today was gosh dang it if loveable L has the POWER well I have the POWER too.  You have it and the person next to you has it and so on and so on.  Let's all put our POWER together and make this earthly experience the best that it can be!!!

     LeeLee

    

Tuesdays Tastebuds.........These bunnies look good enough to eat!

     Recently my older leaf Lori (aka as my older sister)and I got together to craft.  Lori picked out the cute project at a store close by her home in Midvale, Utah.  It is called The Wood Connection. If you live nearby you might want to go and check it out. 

     They supply various unfinished wood projects for peeps like us who love to craft.  We started with the unfinished wood shapes, delta paint, pre-cut vinyl, and of course my favorite invention glitter!  A few hours later we had six of these cute bunny projects finished.
     SURPRISE!!!!!! We are giving them away!!!  There are two ways to enter.  If you are fb friends with Lori you can like and leave her a comment.  If you are a reader of my blog, you, can leave me a comment in the comment section of my blog.  

     I have to say just a few words about my three favorite peeps. They are my family leaves (aka my mom and my two sisters.  These three are pretty much my favorite peeps in the whole world.  We have been with each other from the beginning.  Through thick and thin, through poverty and wealth, ( and I mean wealth in the many blessings we have had over the years as a family )  through happiness and sadness,  through health and through sickness.  You name it we've seen it and we have stuck together like glitter and glue!!!
    I don't know what I would do without these three peeps in my life!  I love you special family leaves of mine!  Lori is the peep in the red and blue plaid shirt.

Chicks have hatched at LeeLee's house

     I have wanted to try out a fun new Easter dessert.  I found the recipe for these cute little chicks in the newest issue of Family Circle magazine.
     I thought they were cake pops but they are not.  They are doughnut holes.  How easy is that!

     So to get started you need these ingredients:
     Mini chocolate chips
     Three and a half cups of yellow dyed coconut  ( put coconut and three-five shakes of yellow food color in a baggie.  Shake to the tunes of Shania Twain until you reach the color desired).
     Cake doughnut holes you have purchased from your local bakery
     Frosting
     Some kind of soft, pliable candy to cut into a chicks beak.  I had fruit snacks on hand and so that is what I used.

      Measure out one fourth cup of frosting and save it.  Microwave the remaining frosting for two to three minutes until it is the consistency of honey.  Stab the doughnut hole with a skewer and dip it into the melted frosting.  Cover completely and then tap on side of frosting to shake off excess.

     Roll your doughnut hole into the colored coconut.  Cover completely.  Put on cookie rack to set up while you dip the rest of the doughnut holes.

     After you have rolled all of the doughnut holes in the frosting and coconut you are going to place the one fourth cup of remaining frosting in a decorator bag.

     Now, very carefully, you will pipe a small amount of frosting on an equally small chocolate chip and carefully place it on the little chick-a-dee.  Next roll out the fruit snack in between your fingers as flat as you possibly can and with a pair of scissors cut out a beak shape and place it right smack in between the chicks eyes.  How easy and cute is that!

LeeLee's Likes............I like glitter

I Like Glitter

     I think glitter is a wonderful invention.  It can add so much sparkle and shine on just about anything it lands on.  That is why recently I made a post on my facebook page that I hope there is glitter in heaven.  I think it would be so much fun to shake a handful down on my family and friends if they are sad or lonely.  I have told them if they have something lightly touch their shoulders to shake it off and know that I am thinking of them.

     I recently finished this project:

     It was a lot of fun to make.  The finishing touch I used was glitter.  It was cute without the glitter however the glitter just makes it stand out.

     This is the unfinished wood that I used:

     I bought it at my local Bennion Craft store.  It would be cute in almost any paint color.  I just happen to have a lot of red and black in my house so I decided to keep it in my decor color.

     Here are the other supplies I hand on hand:

     My electronic cricut vinyl cutter, some cute scrapbook paper, paint and of course some chunkier red glitter. I started by painting the flowers red and the borders black.   Next, I mod podged the flowers pretty heavily and shook the glitter all over the tops.  I lightly pressed it down and let it dry before I shook off the excess glitter.

     I than took the little paper circles out of the frames and traced them on my cute checked scrapbook paper.  Once this was done I cut out the letters J O and Y and stuck each one to the paper circle.  Next I inserted them back in the flower and waalaa the cute everyday craft was done.  I love it!  It would also be extra cute as a frame for your favorite pictures.  Next time I'm putting my cute grandkids in a frame.  Have a glittery good day!

  

Tuesdays Tastebuds..........Kristi's Fireman Lasagne

Kristi's Fireman Lasagne

     I love my special leaf Kristi and I love my son Cameron the firefighter.  So I decided to share a recipe that was given to me several years ago by Kristi.  I am not sure how it got its name but every time I make it I am reminded of two special leaves on my tree.

     The reason I love this recipe for lasagne is because it is so simple.  There are no eggs to mix into the cottage cheese.  There is no water to boil to cook the lasagne.  There are no burns on your fingers as you try to get the slippery lasagne out of the water after it is done cooking. The added bonus is its deliciousness. 

Ingredients:  Uncooked lasagne noodles

                      1 lb. ground beef

                      1/2 cup chopped onion

                      1 (26 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce

                      1 (16 oz.) container cottage cheese

                      2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

                      2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded

                      salt and pepper to taste

Brown hamburger and onion in pan.  Drain excess oil.  Mix cooked hamburger and onion with half of spaghetti sauce.  In greased 9 by 13 inch pan, lay down one layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, covering bottom of pan.  Pour half of the hamburger/spaghetti sauce mixture over noodles, making sure to cover up noodles as much as possible. 

Then spread half of cottage cheese container over the hamburger/spaghetti sauce layer.  Sprinkle one cup of Mozzarella cheese and one cup of Cheddar cheese over lasagne.  Repeat layers being sure to cover lasagne noodles completely.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cover the lasagne with two sheets of foil.  This is what helps cook the noodles.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.  Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Thanks Kristi for sharing the recipe with me and Cameron I hope one of those dang calls doesn't come in right when we're ready to sit down and eat! 

LeeLee's Likes.........Spring is here and I can hear the Robins chirping

Spring is Here

     I am so excited for the warmth of the sun and the beauty of the flowers.  I can spy the buds on my trees and hear the birds chirping.  It can only mean one thing.  Spring has sprung.

     To celebrate I made some cute birdhouses.  I like birdhouses.  I like them in all shapes and colors.  I like to create a few birdhouses each Spring.  These are the two I made the last few days.  I love the colors.  They remind me of all things Spring.

These are the supplies I used.  I found my birdhouse and paint at Bennion Crafts in Kaysville.  I had the small wood items in my craft stash.

Next I painted my birdhouses in these fun colors.  I also painted the cute wood shapes at the same time.

Next I sanded my birdhouses and wooden shapes.  I spray painted my wire green for the flower stems.  Using tacky glue and some hot glue I glued on my wire, wooden shapes and Spanish Moss.  I think they turned out pretty cute!  I hope it gets you excited for Spring.  I know I am!

St. Paddy's Day Craft

     Here is another idea that I came up with for St. Patrick's Day.  You can go to my LeeLee's like post I made last Saturday the 8th of March.  I used the technique for wrapped Hershey's Kisses and put them in jars.
     After I spray painted the lids green I sprayed gold spray glitter on the lids for some added bling.  I bought a cute stamp at Bennion Crafts in Kaysville to make my cute personalized tags.
     There is still time for some last minute crafting so I hope you enjoy as much as I enjoyed making them!

Thoughts for two special leaves on my tree.......

     Yesterday two of my friends lost loved ones.  Brent lost his brother and Cindy lost her mother.  I have never experienced the loss of a sibling or of my mother.  The closest I know of how they are feeling is because I have lost my grandmother and my father.  Reading their posts yesterday made me sad and I wrote a poem for them.

I think about the life I have known,

The tender mercies the Lord has shown.

The times when I have needed a hand,

He has given me experience, I know it was planned.

When I was small and afraid of the dark,

He gave me comfort, he left his mark.

When I was a teen and felt all alone,

He walked beside me, I didn't need to moan.

He walked beside me each step of the way,

Even with illness when I didn't want to stay.

I thought dying would be easier than all of my pain,

If I knew only happiness what would I gain?

Many times I have felt love when others would blame,

We are all here to learn not to feel shame.

Where have they gone and why so soon?

Are they among the stars or shining singular like the moon?

Each life is given so we can share,

We are not alone even though the time doesn't always seem fair.

That is why we need to have help from God above,

By so doing we can feel of His love.

     Cindy and Brent and your families you are in my prayers at this time.

Tuesdays Tastebuds.........Denni's Chicken Cream Cheese Soup

     Denni is one of my best leafs (friends).  In fact you could say we are blls, bestlastingleafs.  I met Denni twelve years ago.  She was a newlywed and her and her husband moved into my neighborhood.  It took me about six months to win over her heart.  She was shy back in the day.  I kept running into her everywhere I went.  I kept saying hi to her and I tried to have conversations with her.  Being that I am 22 years older than her, I, can understand her hesitation.  She just had to find out that I am a young person in an older persons body.  Once she caught onto that she knew I wasn't going away anytime soon.
     I will have more Denni stories as my blog evolves, but, today I wanted to share a soup recipe of Denni's that my family loves. She introduced it to us two years ago and it is delicious!
     1 1b. chicken ( breasts or combination meat )
     1 small onion, diced
     1-2 Tbsp. butter
     2 cups of carrots sliced small
     4-5 small potatoes, diced small
     1 cup milk
     1/4 cup flour
      8 oz. cream cheese
1.  Put chicken in a pot and cover with water (about 4-5 cups) boil until cooked.  Take chicken out of water, but keep the broth.  When chicken is cool, shred.
2.  Saute onion in butter.  Put onion in pot and add carrots and potatoes.  Add four cups of the broth or enough to cover vegetables. ( some of the broth will have evaporated when you cooked the chicken so you may have to add some more water).  Add the shredded chicken.  Add bouillon cubes to flavor ( I add four bouillon cubes).  Bring to a boil and simmer until veggies are tender.

3.  Mix flour with milk and add to soup.  Soften the cream cheese in the microwave, then add to soup in little pieces.  Stir until melted.  This is what makes the soup marvelous!  Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Sunday Satiables......aka Banana Sour Cream Pie

Banana Sour Cream Pie

     I was laying in bed this morning minding my own business when tears started rolling down my cheeks.  It came upon me suddenly and unexpectedly.  I was just thinking about the pies I needed to get up and start making.  One thing lead to another and soon I began thinking about my leaf I call my dad.  My dad loved my pies.  It didn't matter if it was a pumpkin pie, a blueberry pie or a banana cream pie he loved them all.  He would eat them as fast as I could make them.  I lost my dad almost six years ago.  I haven't had a chance to make him a pie in a very long time.  Somehow thinking about pie and thinking about my dad made heaven seem just a little bit closer this morning.

     I have been making this pie since I was 17 years old.  One of my friends Jane Mead used to make it and she shared the recipe with me.  It's my families favorite.

     You need to start by making the pie crust.  Put 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp. of salt in a large mixing bowl.    Stir them together with a fork.  Add one cup of shortening to the flour and while dancing along with Alan Jackson singing Living on love you want to take your pastry blender and mix the shortening into the flour and salt.  It is an uplifting beat and really helps to get the little particles of flour and shortening mixed together.

     Once you have this mixed together well the particles will look the size of coarse cornmeal.  You will add one third to one half cup of water to the mixture.  Toss lightly with a fork and get it well mixed.  Don't add too much water or it will be sloppy and soupy.  You don't want that!  Now you will roll  the dough out to fit into the pie pan or you can take the easy way out and buy a pre-made pie shell and bake it.  The recipe will make three single layer pie crusts or one single and one double pie crust.  Be sure to flute the edge of the pie and prick the dough with a fork before baking.  Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
     For the pie you will need the following ingredients:

     Prepare one 5 oz. pudding with two cups of milk. I have enough ingredients pictured for two pies.  Stir one half cup sour cream until smooth.  Fold sour cream into pudding.

     In pie shell, slice up 2-3 bananas, pour pudding over and top with cool whip.  Serves 6-8 depending on size of slices.  Expect a yummily delicious satisfying taste to melt in your mouth!

     This shows what it will look like as you are smoothing the pudding over the bananas. Before you eat it look around the room and cherish those who are there with you.  One day they might not be and you're going to miss them.  Enjoy!

 

    

LeeLee's Likes

     Last week I mentioned that I am going to post a blog once a week titled LeeLee's likes and I am going to feature the stuff I like.

     I like chocolate and I like crafting.  When I can combine the two together, I, really like it a lot.  I am going to show you how I made my cute give-away I had on my fb page earlier this week.

     First of all, you start with Hershey Kisses.  I had a couple of bags left over from Valentines Day.

     It is always a great idea to have a stash on hand, especially, when you can get them half off after the holiday you just celebrated is over.  This way, you, are always ready for your next big craft or for those moments when nothing will do but a little kiss here or there.

     Next you are going to unwrap all of those bad boys.

     See that wasn't too hard and you can reward yourself with a little bit of chocolate if you work yourself into a sweat.

     The next part is the fun part.  You are going to cut squares from the gold foil you have purchased at your local beauty supplier.  It is pictured above.  It is manufactured by Spilo. It is a lightweight foil that your very talented hair dressers use when they weave your hair.  I use it to wrap my kisses so they are golden.  Any kiss can be silver, but, it takes a special one to be golden.

     This is what the foil looks like when you have cut it into the squares.  Use your silver foil for your pattern.  My grandson was spending the night and he loves trains.  Hence, the train book in the background.  See the clear glass in the background?  I purchased it for one dollar at the Family Dollar.  Cut all of your foil into squares and wrap them around your kisses.

     You are now going to put your golden kisses in the clear glass.  Next, if you own a cricut vinyl cutting machine you are going to cut out a cute St. Patrick saying and some cute polka-dots.  Adhere them to your clear glass and viola you have a cute St. Patrick day gift for the golden people in your life.

     Remember, a chocolate kiss a day, keeps the moodies away!

Teri and Paige.......Aka The Tale of Two Sisters

The Tale of Two Sisters

          I met Teri back in high school.  The class of 1976.  We were the Bountiful Braves.  I was a cheerleader and she was in politics and drama.  By this I mean she was a class officer and she was in all of our school plays.  

         She was one talented girl.  She could sing and dance but what I remember most is her ability to make people laugh.  I well remember our pep rallies and the little skits the officers would come out and do and how funny she was.  She was also beautiful.  

     When we graduated from high school we went our seperate ways and I wouldn't see Teri for many years.

     In the meantime; I got married to the Silver Fox and started a family.  We moved to Kaysville, Utah and lived in a small house in the heart of Kaysville City for 17 years.  Nine years ago we moved just down the road about two miles to a bigger home still in Kaysville, Utah.

     One of my new neighbors name is Paige.  Paige is a cutie too.  She is funny and has long blonde hair and has a bubbly personality also.  I had been friends with Paige for five or six years.  I thought I knew her well.  We are facebooks friends and how much better can you know a person than on facebook. (lol)  As I started paying more attention to Paige's facebook posts I started noticing that my friend Teri from high school would make comments on Paige's comments.  She was showing up on them all the time.  I finally asked Paige how she knew Teri and she said she is my older sister.  I couldn't believe it! I had to tell Paige how I knew Teri from high school and that we went way back.

     Skip to the summer of 2012 ( I believe it was the summer of 2012 it could have been 2011 ) the Silver Fox and I enjoyed going to some concert series at a park in Layton, Utah.  At the end of the concert series a play about a diner was going to be performed.  We attended the performance and wouldn't you know one of the leads in the play was my cute friend Teri.  After all of these years of being out of high school she was still singing and dancing her heart out.  She was still as cute and talented as ever.  I don't think she knows that I saw her in that play, but, Teri you are amazing!

     Teri and I became facebook friends a few years ago.  Lately I have been having give-aways on my facebook page.  I always see her name as someone who just likes my pictures or she will even make a comment on my status.  She has now moved to the Maryland area.  It is fun to share in her adventures as she posts pictures of the Washington D.C. area.  It is fun to see her living strongly as she participates in races, travels to North Carolina and tomorrow night as she is going to be hearing the Dalai Lama live and in person.

     The thing I love most about Teri though is she has HEART!  I received this in the mail last Saturday:

     It came all the way from Maryland.  Teri had been to a church meeting and the writer of this book was a speaker.  She listened to him and thought about me and bought me his book.
     The card reads:  This author spoke at our church last week and his thoughts on giving made me think of you.  It's good to bring joy to others and you do that through your facebook page and blog.  Hope you have a good day. God bless-Teri.
     Coincidence that Teri and I would reconnect by means of facebook through her sister Paige?  I don't think so.  God knows how to bless us and how to lift us and how to give us the encouragement we need to believe in ourselves.  Most times He does it by bringing special people into our lives.
     Teri and Paige thanks for being two special people in mine.  I love you both!