How Do You Say Happy Birthday In German?

Well -- Happy Birthday to Hilda today.

She would be 96. Isn't that amazing?

I miss her a lot.

It's amazing to me that one person can mean so much to you in such a short time. But she did.

You can read some happy memories of her here...

I remember just two days before she died we were talking about death.

She said, "When I die, you can be happy. It's what I want. I'm ready."
I told her, "I will be happy because I believe you'll be with your family again."
She said, "Ach (waving her hand in front of her face). I don't believe that."
I said, "Well, one of us is wrong and one of us is right and I think you're going to be very surprised."

She laughed with me.

I used to dream about her occasionally but not anymore.

I hope that even though she's busy somewhere she remembers me.

Did you ever know someone that you were absolutely sure you knew before you came to earth?

It was like that with Hilda. I think she was the whole reason I went to Seattle.

There were other wonderful things for me there - but she was the real reason.

I'm pretty sure Ryn got to meet her already.
Lots of times I'll tell Heavenly Father to tell them both Hello and I miss them.
I'm sure they get the message.
It'll be so good to see her again someday.
Thinking about the miracle of Hilda makes me miss her and at the same time,
So Happy.

Break A Leg! (Wait - Not REAL-ly)

{Sigh}

The Melodrama is over...


It was a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Damsel In Distress and The Hero!

Thank you so much to EVERY single one of you that came!
I have the best family and friends in the world!
I'm so sad that I didn't get pictures with everyone that came!


Awesome Brothers and Awesome Katie My Sis-in-Law!


































My Grandma!





















The lovely Brittany and Brianna - miss you guys!!

And the Disney Girls --
it was the kind-of day when you opened your mouth and a song came right out!

My First Favorite Friend Kathy from work!
(She gets to be first favorite because 1. she is and 2. she reminds me SO much of Colleen!)




















I love the Women's Conference Ladies SO MUCH!
And the Tidwell family is perhaps my favorite family this side of the Mississippi -- They're always keeping it real smooth!

And I got 4 bouquets of flowers!!!



From the Women's Conference Ladies, The Jack's and My Mom!

Stacey also sent a gorgeous bouquet that she MADE! And she even sprayed with perfume! I'll take a pic of those too -- they are so so pretty!




















I also had a few little fans!

My cousin's Adorable son Caleb -- I was so happy he let me hold him!
And during intermission he kept saying, "More More!" Love Him!



I'm pretty sure I'll be moving to Disneyland ASAP to become Mary Poppins or Snow White because having the little adorable girls come up to see the "princess" (ME!) was potentially the coolest thing ever.

So opening night -- I completely fell! It was pretty funny -- my dress was so long that I had to hold it WAY up in order to run across the stage during the Pink Panther chase. I kind-a forgot and down I went! I shrugged to the audience and then had to crawl off on my knees whispering, "HELP ME!" as loudly and softly as I could until they dragged me off stage.
I got quite a cheer when I ran across the other way and made it without a fall.

(the lip sync to "Think" by Aretha Franklin -- SO FUN! How'd'ya like the American Idol microphone?)


Being a part of this fantastic show made me SO Happy.
(I may make you all watch the DVD later -- not sure if that'll make you so happy!) :)

Islands in the Stream/Bridge Over Troubled Water

Did you ever have 4 of the best girlfriends in the world? If you did, then you would know what it's like to come home from work and have this lovely package on your doorstep!

I'll give you a play by play.

"I've got a golden (ok silver) ticket! It's ours Charlie!"

The Turkeys are my dear, dear, dear friends from high school. I was so lucky to move to Illinois in my junior year because that's where I met the Turkeys. It still strikes me as funny that we named ourselves - but we sure did and it sure stuck! (I actually don't totally remember how that came to be...
except the vague, general concept.)

I have so many great Turkey memories. Lots of Allerton, jumping and shaking our booties, Madrigals (in fact, Christmastime sure brings back lots of memories from all those songs) especially The Holly and the Ivy among others. Also, "Sailors", WKRP, "Subway Capitol Hill", Wuscious Wee, Hubway, Carrie-Calls, "SLIPPERS", $5000, American Music, "Hero", putting on lipstick, sheets as towels, duck slippers and oh so many more. We laughed and cried, fought, made cupa-cupa-cupa, went to prom together, graduated and laughed and cried some more before we went away to college.

We lost touch for a while and then found each other again. But, in the meantime, they were there for me during really sad times. Miraculously, even after all this time, it's like no time at all has passed. We're close as always even despite the almost 3000 miles that separate us.

(The fantastic cupcake people actually sprinkled some extra sprinkles on top of the plastic that covered the cupcakes!
So thoughtful! So yummy!)

We live all over the country and the other 4 are all married with 2 (well almost 2) kids each.
I'm so proud of the wonderful wives and mothers they are -- of the contributions they're making in their communities.

They are truly beautiful people.

And they're my Turkeys.

(There were instructions to let the cupcakes sit at room temperature for 4 HOURS before eating them so you can bet I'll be setting my alarm to get out of bed at about 11 tonight to have a little snacky-snack!)

(That's a sweet potato cupcake! So Cool!)

So, not only did I get a fantastic super great job, I got a dozen cupcakes and reminded that I have the best friends in the world.

What's the nicest gift you've ever been given?

How appropriate that in November - well and since I was 16 - the Turkeys make me Soooooo Happy.

Bubbling Over

What a fantastic day! Yesterday, the Toolson's came to see me!

Bishop and Sister Toolson were in my ward as soon as I moved to Seattle and I loved them immediately!

It was so fun to get together and reminisce. I was surprised at how many of my Seattle memories include the Toolsons.

Remember Mike Snow humming Hotel California? (Maria - I know you're doing it right now. :)) Sabrina picking up that last piece of torn paper bag off the floor with her teeth? The Bishop laying on the floor playing whatever game that was just cracking up and making us all laugh so hard! Remember their driveway? :)

I remember too so many things that they taught us. They never have had a fight.
Remember how much Bishop Toolson loved the Bible and his mother and Sister Toolson and us??? Remember the story about her wedding ring?

Remember all the yummy treats and how loved you felt when you were at their house?

What are your favorite Toolson memories?

Aren't we blessed when good people choose to serve the Lord?

Being with them tonight, and the blessing of their friendship always, makes me So Happy.

Calm on the Water

Monday I was disappointed. It's ok. It happens.

But I decided that it's important for me to express my faith before the blessings come.

I mean - I want Heavenly Father to know (if He reads my blog... :)) that I trust Him now. Before a miracle happens.
Not just after I get the blessings.

I believe in miracles. They've happened in my life and in lives of others I know.

So today I made a list of miracles that I can readily bring to memory. I started with scriptural miracles - but quickly moved on to personal miracles and they've just kept coming to memory
all day long.

**Moses parted the Red Sea.
**Moses was found by Pharoh's daughter - of all the women by the river - and what a huge river!
**Crickets and Seagulls.
**Nephi. He built a boat. He shocked his brothers. The Lord made their raw meat sweet. He kept forgiving. Nephi is a miracle.
**Getting UT residency for tuition right in the nick of time.

**Finding $500 after my young woman Ali told me the story of our meeting 15 years ago on a plane when she was 5.
**Calling Carolyn to my presidency before I even had seen her and she was PERFECT.
**Getting a job at the Social Research Institute which paid a huge chunk of my tuition. I saw the flyer for it the day the application was due but I still got the job. Amazing Blessing.
**Becoming friends with the Disneyland Girls.

**Being at the intersection in the right moment to see my young woman need me.
**Being able to go to Europe with Catheryn.

**Meeting Anastasia in Germany.

**Aidan.

{That kid is a genius and I'm not kidding or exaggerating!!
He knows his opposites which we were practicing here while he played my favorite exercise game of up and down (which consists of him riding on my leg while I move his like 20 lb body up and down. I can go about 4 times before my leg dies.)}

**Finding my condo (on craigslist!) And it didn't sell before I bought it. MIRACLE.


**Being called as YW President on the very day I was going to change to the single's ward.

**Being inspired to do the project for Sister Beck.
**The project worked!
**Running into Sister Beck on Temple Square with all the YW.
**Colleen's family waited long enough to have her FUNeral that I could come during my fall break.
**Going to see Luella after Women's Conference 2006, even though she was already a pumpkin, and that was the last time I saw her. If I wouldn't have gone I wouldn't have seen her the whole time I lived in Salt Lake.
**Linda Johnson came to Temple Square. (Pictures soon to come!)
**Getting called to the BYU Women's Conference Planning Committee.
**The Turkeys. Connecting with them initially. Reconnecting with them recently. Totally worth more than $5000. (So glad Cora made it into the pic with us!)

**Working on the Thursday night shift at the Temple. It was perfect. Those were my people.
**Getting my job at Life Care at Home so I could move to Utah.
**Feeling inspired to move to Utah.
**My money that should've run out in January of 2008 has lasted until now (with a little left still).
**Getting my first job at ManorCare.
**Meeting Hilda.

**Making the connection from Hilda to Jan Conger.
**Getting to do Hilda's (and her family's) Temple Work - and the Burnham's were there for it all!
**Being in the Temple with Elder Scott.
**Getting to introduce Sister Kapp and her husband in Seattle at a conference. To the conference participants - not each other. ;)

**Sister Kapp sitting in front of ELJ and me at the concert two weeks ago.
**Visiting teaching assignment that let me be friends with Maria.

**Maria and I deciding not to move to that FANTASTIC apartment because we didn't know I'd be moving here. Then I moved here.
**Sitting by Elder Wirthlin on the plane on the way home from Ricks College.
**They found Catheryn and Steve.

**Seeing Dolly in the park. What a miracle.

**The Blue Notebook.
**The Antipas recipe.
**My mission president and his wife being here for dinner with ELJ, EJR and their husbands.

**Getting to be in the Solemn Assembly session for President Hinckley and President Monson.
**Picking the very right songs for Stake Conference May 2006. Wow.
**Being in the foyer of the Temple so I could see my friend Sister Chris when she visited Seattle.
**Being called to the Argentina Neuquen Mission.

**Totally embarrassing myself on the phone with President Monson - the miracle is I didn't lose my membership in the church after calling him a liar. Ask me sometime.
**Getting to be with President Hinckley in the Salt Lake Temple for a devotional.
**Being friends with ELJ. Of all the people she knows, I get to be one of her friends. (One that gets to sit at her kitchen counter a lot and eat ice cream and one that calls me when I have blind dates to see if I need rescuing and takes me with her to the symphony - oh how I love her.)

**Being friends with EJR. Of all the people she knows, I get to be one of her friends. (one that she shares jokes with and buys dresses for and watches The Golden Girls with and lets read her manuscripts and plays dominoes with even when it's hard - oh how I love her.)

**I was born! Into my family at the very time I needed to be born.

(Come on that is an awesome picture.)

**I was born into a family that embraces and lives the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!

**So many Luella miracles.

**Luella herself was a miracle.

**Thinking to call the American Cancer Society about the job posting and finding out about the other available job.
**Just deciding to send my resume to Caresource even though there were no job openings.
**Passing the Social Work Licensure Exam.

My dad always says, "The Lord loves a coincidence."

I think it's true because you can choose to see His hand in all things or not. He never forces. So I want to be a part of the righteous generation - not seeking a sign like the wicked generation - but seeing the signs of His Love everywhere.

I doubt not the Lord nor His goodness.
I've proved Him in days that are past.

So while waiting, I will not doubt. I will be patient. I will be hopeful and I will live my belief that if I have to wait until eternity for some blessings, the blessing of the Atonement is enough until then. More than enough. And the amazing thing is - that's not the only blessing He has given me. See above list for proof.

What miracles are you most grateful for?

Past, Present and the Promise of Future Blessings make me,
So Happy.