A Very Rosy Lesson on Life

All growing up my Dad had a beautiful rose garden on the side of the house. They were gorgeous and I loved to smell them. It wasn't uncommon for Andy or I to get the task of watering them. The instructions were simple. Hold the hose on a rose plant and count to sixty. Then there were the trickier times when we had to Miracle-Gro them. We got a big metal garbage can and mixed Miracle-Gro in it and dumped a bucket full on each plant. They were well cared for, my Dad made sure of that and since they got so much attention and love, they thrived. I reckon (I can say reckon because I live in the country) that if he would have entered them in the fair they would have won the blue ribbon.
Well fast forward a couple of years. My parents were called to serve and Matt and I lived in their house for two of their three year mission. When we moved in we had a toddler, just over a year, and Matt either rode or drove the ISU bus back and forth from Pocatello everyday. We were like a deer in headlights in that big gorgeous yard. So we did what I am sure any self respecting couple would have done. We did nothing. I mean we had excuses...not that good of ones...but still.
Oh, the roses you ask? Yeah, we pretty much ignored them too. The first summer I had great intentions. I was out there, counting to sixty. I didn't Miracle-Gro...but I had all those great excuses, remember? Oh and not to mention we had cable and my Dad had a big t.v. to watch it on, so... that's a pretty good one too. The next summer I was pregnant with Hank and I utilized the cable a lot. But the only time I really counted to sixty was when I was trying my best to calmly make it to the bathroom before tossing my lunch. The roses were neglected. Then last year we were in the middle of buying a home and moving... the roses were abandoned. I have felt so guilty. Dad, if you are reading this, I know it won't help, but I really do feel guilty. I wondered all winter what I would do. I could buy all new plants, maybe he wouldn't notice. I could leave them there, dead and abandoned and act surprised. "Like, gee Dad. I totally don't know what happened, I was out here every day tending to them and like, they just died?" I was sick.
Then my sister-in-law's Dad, Earl said that roses would come back if you just cut them down. HUH???? There was hope after all. I RAN to the roses and pruned like my life depended on it. I went to check on them yesterday and look at what I saw.


I stood there, counting to sixty as I watered these little beauties, wondering if they would all come back. And then I had a thought. On a serious subject ( I know, it surprised me too). I was struck with a thought of the Atonement. I don't know about you (because it is really none of my business and this is my blog so it is about ME) but I know that there are times in my life (more than I care to admit) that I neglect and abandon the Savior, or my testimony of my Savior, or the daily things I need to do to water and grow that testimony. How much easier in the long run it would have been to do those simple things for the roses. Water and Miracle-Gro. But all is not lost. I thought these roses were as dead as door nails. I really did. But all it took was some pruning and with time and love (which my Dad will be home to give them) they will soon be back to their prize winning glory days. Just like in life, it was no fun to prune those plants down. But there was hope of life, it was worth the work. It is painful to clip away at the thorny mistakes I made. It is hard to admit those times when all is not right. It is so much easier to do like we did and do "nothing." But for those times, there is the saving grace of Christ and what He did for me, for all of us. No matter how far gone we think we are, no matter how shabby and brittle our leaves may be, if we are willing to come to Him and do some work, we can be healed and be beautiful again. He is always there, He will always BE there. It is amazing to me that we are given an infinite number of chances to get it right, to start over. I think I will need each and every one.
So Daddy, I am sorry about your roses. But since this is all about me, I learned an important lesson from them and when you get home, I will be oh-so-happy to help you rebuild your Rose Empire.

Birthday Party!

We had Lindy Lou's birthday party on Saturday. It was fun. We played human Candyland. We set up a big gameboard in our basement (don't get too excited...it was crepe and construction papers...hardly professional). And the kids picked the Candyland cards and went around the game. Every so often they had a challenge and had to dance or keep a balloon in the air for as long as they could. Challenging, challenging activities. I am pretty sure that billionaire business tycoon and thrill seeker Richard Branson was going to come until he heard about some of the stunts these kids were going to have to pull off. Yeah, and the scaredy cat backed out. Whatever Richard Branson, whatever. I should clarify that none of that Richard Branson stuff is true. I am a liar. I lie. It's what I do. Not all the time...just when filthy rich thrill seekers come into the converstation (or if I am ever asked about if I was popular in high school. I will lie right to your face, so watch it, punk). Speaking of high school (can I bring up a subject I first talked about in parenthesis? Any grammatical geniuses out there, Amy? Can ya help me out? Well I am going to talk about it anyway even if I am breaking grammatical rules...because rules, especially grammar ones, cannot hold me down), I saw yet another person from highschool at Walmart yesterday. Email me privately if you want the details because this isn't the kind of blog where I just drop names for my personal gain, unless you count Richard Branson...but that doesn't count because we are great friends with each other (just don't ask him...he lies even more than I do and will probably lie right to your face that he has never heard of me. Whatever Richard Branson, whatever).

Were we talking about something? Oh Right. Child's party...My child... got it. So the party was fun. Lindy did take a spill while (SHOCK) pretending to be a horse. She was barefoot downstairs and snagged her toe on the concrete (and don't give me guff about having a birthday party in the unfinished basement, We put down both Crepe and Construction papers...so let's not get all huffy here). But even though she was in real pain she came back to the party and had a good time. I was at a bit of a loss. What do you do when your child is injured at her own party? Stop the party? Send kids home? We just continued the party and Matt stayed pretty close to Lindy to help her out during her bursts of crying. I hope the kids didn't find it too traumatic. The song, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to," has never made so much sense to me as it did that day. So here are a few pics from the gala.

And yes, I made the Barbie cake, thank you very much. Unfortunately Barbie met with an untimely seperation from her legs. In my day they made a barbie who's legs broke off and then went back on. It wasn't until I had snapped the first ball socket that I realized this was one barbie that all the king's horses and all the king's men would NOT be putting back together again. No worries though. Matt has a plan. We are just going to super glue Barbie's legs back on. I mean how often do you really move a barbie's legs anyway...either that or give them to Hank for a snack.


One of the "challenges" of the Candyland game was to get their picture taken. They were doing their best smile in this one. You should click on this and look at it bigger if you want to see Lindy's grimace of pain. She is trying to smile, gotta love her, she's up for a party even after an injury.


I put this picture in for two main reasons. The first is LOOK AT THAT LOOT! This child made a serious haul. Serious. She has had so much fun playing with all her new stuff, all I can say is WOW! The second reason I put it on is to tell all of you of the glory of drugs. Not the street kind as they have no glory. I am talking about Tylenol. Once that sweet nectar was in her system she forgot (almost) about the toe and really had fun. Thank you Tylenol, thank you. If you ever need anyone to be in a commercial for your fabulous product, just talk to Richard Branson, he has all my numbers.