Favorite Things

Here's an old favorite:

I mean the apron, not me!

The Landa Apron. Let me share with you the history of this relic. Andy started working for Landa waaayyyy back when Shanna was a baby. It was a great company to work for and he climbed the corporate ladder there from Senior Accountant to CEO. We have great memories of the company picnics: the PIRATE SHIP! Lemonade in the drinking fountains! And great memories of company trips:South Carolina, Washington D.C., Mexico City....Speaking of Mexico City, here I am on top of the Pyramid of the Sun:

That is Spencer in my belly--I hauled my pregnant self up that VERY tall pyramid.

Wearing my big eighties earrings

 and sporting some awesome sunglasses.

I am woman hear me roar. Or huff and puff.

So, back to the apron. One year at the company picnic, they had the executive team frying up the burgers and hot dogs on the grill. The picnic organizers had these aprons made for the occasion. Dad brought it home and it soon became my favorite apron.

A few years down the road, Landa was bought out by an investment company. Eventually, several of their rivals were also bought by the same company. It became Andy's job to bring them all together and form a "Brotherhood of Pressure Washer Manufacturing" if you will. A "Team of Rivals"

A big task with such die-hard competitors.

One way of doing this was to have them all come together for training and to enjoy each others' company. And come to our house for a BBQ.

So I donned the Landa Apron and cooked up a storm.

As our guests arrived, I greeted each with a smile and a handshake.

Some glared at me, some smiled.

It slowly dawned (do you like how I used "donned" and "dawned"

 in the same paragraph? Gotta love the English language)

on me that it was the Landa Apron!

I was turning my husband's Detante into a Waterloo.

Who knew the power of an Apron.

So the Landa Apron could only be used in neutral company.

Until my husband changed jobs.

 Now, it is no longer a political prisoner.

It's free to shield me from cooking messes at will.

And I wear it often--it is not too long and not too short--

It's Just Right .

And very durable--it's been washed at least a million times and it's still going strong.

So that is my ode to the Landa Apron.

Practical.

Comfortable.

Historical.

Favorites

I have always loved the scriptures--my first "very own scriptures" was a tiny, white New Testament that the Gideons handed out to us one day after school as we stepped off of school property onto the public sidewalk as we headed home.

I carried that little book around with me and read it.

Later, my Hansen Grandparents gave me a triple combination on the

occasion of my graduation from Primary.

I chose the white one and was thrilled to see my

name in gold lettering on the cover.

I carried that triple with me to church and back every Sunday and

kept it on my nightstand to read at night.

I eventually got scriptures for seminary and those got a good workout with all the practice and preparation we did for Scripture Chase competitions.

Those seminary scriptures served me well all through high school and up through the first 10 years of married life.

Then, one Mother's Day morning, my husband surprised me with breakfast in bed

and a beautiful, new set of scriptures:
These scriptures have been hauled around in a diaper bag and
show the wear and tear of those hazardous conditions:
From time to time a leaky baby bottle or sippy cup dripped on my scriptures


You can see I am a person of 'random' thoughts and ideas and my
scriptures serve as the receptacle for any prompting or comforting. The sticky note holds the words of a hymn that has been my anthem through challenging times. Below are
hurriedly scribbled notes of a Stake Conference when Russell M. Nelson spoke
as well a few scripture references.



Some of my sweet little children took the liberty of
adding their own thoughts and "art" to
my scriptures.





And someone even did some abridging.




But I work around all the battering and bruising of my
precious scriptures. I have read and prepared for many a lesson from Family Scripture study and FHE, Nursery to Gospel Doctrine, Youth Sunday School, Young Women Lessons, Seminary substitute, Stake Young Women Leadership meetings, Relief Society Lessons and
most of all,




Many a quiet morning has been spent immersed in these pages
and the words and the feelings and the light and the knowledge
and the peace and the comfort continue to pour out of them.
My cup runneth over.

Favorite Things

Yesterday I taught the Young Women in the Lacamas Creek ward. I was a "Guest Teacher" if you will...it was a lesson about Individual Worth and how we feel good when we do good. I wanted to talk to them about giving gifts with meaning...gifts of the heart.

As Emerson said, "Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself."
I shared with them gifts my girls had made for me --I brought along the box Siara made for me as well as the cd you see here(Siara's box was featured in a past "Favorites"). Sunday morning I got out this cd Shanna made for me a few years back. It's a recording of my favorite Christmas song: "Mary's Lullaby". She is playing the piano and her friend the opera singer (a roommate at BYU) is singing. They recorded her singing all the parts and blended them together.
The youngsters had not straggled out of bed yet so I was alone in the living room when I decided to listen to it for the first time this Christmas season. She starts with saying, "Merry Christmas, Mom...I love you." and then begins the intro on the piano. And I begin to cry like a baby. It gets me every time.

Favorite Things

Today I have an amazing invention to share with you...

...A Marvelous Little GadgetIt looks so simple, yet does so much. This is one of the few purchases I have made

that actually EXCEEDED my expectations!

It peels and slices apples with a simple turn of a handle. No electronics to fail. Nothing complicated to break down.

The best part? Kids LOVE to use it.

It turns them into cheerful little helpy helpertons!

Favorite Things

This is the balcony off of the master bedroom in...you guessed it! The cabin.Our friend Brett refurbished and cleaned the entire roof--now we will be safe and dry this winter.

Andy re-did the decking and we had a log railing made for it. The old one was very low and rickety-- a little scary.

Now we can step out and enjoy a beautiful view of our river. Ok, it's not really OUR river but the part that runs in front of our cabin belongs to us. Not that you can really posess running water that is flowing to the ocean. But it is beautiful.