Saying Goodbye

Although it is difficult, sometimes you just have to let go of someone or something that you love. This can sometimes be very painful, but also necessary. 

Take a baby blanket or pacifier, for instance. Eventually, the child needs to let them go in spite of the comfort they bring.

Mary had to let Christ go even though she longed to save him and the early saints had to somehow let the prophet Joseph Smith go and try to continue on without him.

Children have to let training wheels go before they can completely learn to ride a bicycle; parents have to let their children leave the nest so they can grow into responsible adults; and adult children have to let their feeble, aged parents enter into their next phase of life in the hereafter.

“I don't know how you say good-bye to whom and what you love. I don't know a painless way to do it, don't know the words to capture a heart so full and a longing so intense.” 
― Laura Wiess

So, with that said, let me say that with a sad heart I have reluctantly had to say goodbye to something that has served me well for over 20 years. But don't worry about me! It has been difficult, but I know I will survive. I have known for years that it was time to part ways, but parting is just so difficult. Sometimes in relationships, you just have to bite the bullet and move on. Such is the case with me and my round hair brush. We have been together for so long that it is hard to say goodbye. Finding a replacement took years, but I have finally found a brush that can carry on where she left off. 

Goodbye my sweet love. I will miss you! Enjoy your retirement.

Having Super Powers

I don't know why, but lately I have been thinking about having super powers. I am not a huge fan of movies that portray superhuman characters, but for some reason they have been on my mind. Have you ever been asked which of all the super powers you would like to possess? I have. How would you answer that question? That is a very hard question for me to answer because there are so many great super powers to choose from. 

If I could be invisible, 



it might be fun for a while, but then I would feel guilty if I saw others doing things they wouldn't be doing if they knew I was watching them. They would have no privacy and taking that away from them would be wrong. 

If I could fly,



 I could certainly get places much quicker and it would be nice to avoid traffic jams, but then I might not enjoy the journey as much. I wouldn't take the time to stop and smell the proverbial roses. I would always feel like I was in a hurry. Also, one could also run into the problem of inclement weather. I would not want to be flying around in rain, snow, hail, high winds, or extreme heat. That does not sound like fun at all!

If I could freeze time 



 and continue to move around and do whatever I wanted, but everything else, including people, could not move, it might be fun initially. I could play a practical joke on someone, like moving objects and putting them in their path so they would trip over them, etc. but that is mean and I don't think I could ever do that. I would not want to cause harm to anyone.

If I had x-ray vision


 it might be nice, but I don't really see much need for that super power...unless I had small children and wanted to see what they were secretly doing behind closed doors, or if someone were hiding something from me in a box or a bag I could see what was in there.  But again, I don't see much need for that power.

If I had super hearing, 


I could possibly overhear bad people plotting crimes or hear if someone were speaking about me, but do I really want to know those things? I guess maybe I could prevent a crime from happening except that I don't really hang around bad areas to possibly hear any plotting going on. And then, I don't really think I want to hear the things people are saying about me behind my back, especially if it were something negative. Even if it were positive, would that lead me to become too prideful? 

There are many other super powers not listed here, but I will stop at these five. I think my point is clear...even though having super powers could be interesting at first, I think in some ways they could be a burden. They could possibly make me rich, powerful, and famous, but I don't want to be rich, powerful, and famous. Those things corrupt people unless self control is used and they are used only for good. In that case, I would love it.

One tenant of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I am a member, is that we can, over time, progress to the point of reaching Godhood. (As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.) I testify that God has super powers but he only uses them for good and that's how it should be.

Our Newest Graduate - Dr. Kyle A. Stott

Memphis, Tennessee has been home to Kyle and Emily for the past four years while he attended Optometry School. They actually lived in Horn Lake, Mississippi, which is 30 min. from Memphis, but Kyle attended school in Memphis so it is easier to call Memphis their home. Both of their children (Milo & Clara) were born in Memphis.

Graduation day was held on May 6th, and Alan and I were blessed to be able to travel to Memphis to attend it.

We are so proud of Kyle and his accomplishments. It is not easy to go to graduate school and stick with it for four years. He did a great job in school and discovered that he is truly happy with his choice to be an optometrist.

God really paved the way for them to end up where they are in Northern Idaho. Things couldn't have worked out better for them. When they first arrived in Memphis 4 years ago, they purchased a home because it made sense financially. Their monthly payments for a 3 bedroom house was about the same as renting an apartment. It just made sense to purchase and build up equity in a house instead of throwing money down the drain by renting. The problem four years later was timing when to sell so as not to sell too early and have to move twice, or selling too late and leaving behind an unsold house. As it turned out, they sold the house 1 month before moving, which could have been a big problem, but fortunately, it was bought by a rental company. They were able to rent back the house for a month so they wouldn't have to move twice. In the end, they made money in the deal and that couldn't have happened if they had rented instead. Huge blessing!

Another blessing was that during the summer before Kyle started Optometry School, he worked at Hayden Vision Source in Hayden, Idaho. At the end of the summer just prior to leaving for school, he was told to come back in 4 years and a job would be waiting for him. About 6 months ago, Kyle was able to confirm that he, in fact, had a job there but that it would only be a part-time job. He planned to work there part time and find another part-time job. However, he later got great news that another optometrist in the practice decided to go work at another place, so that opened up a full-time job for Kyle. Score! That was another huge blessing.

God was really watching out for them.

Another thing we did in Memphis was to help Kyle & Emily load the truck with their belongings to make the move to Northern Idaho. Milo & Clara LOVED the truck and spent a lot of time running up and down the ramp and through the truck.

Eventually, it was time for Emily, Milo, & Clara to say goodbye to their house and life as they knew it and head to the airport for their flight to Spokane.

The kids are all buckled up ready to go to the airport.

To celebrate his graduation, the Crandall's took Kyle and Emily to Hawaii (they own a condo on Maui). I believe this has been their only get-away without the children since the kids joined the family. I am glad that they were able to go and I am sure they are having a great time there as I write this.

We are so pleased that we have another doctor in the family. I know that he and Emily will thrive together as they begin this new chapter in their life.

Raining Flowers

On my birthday this year, I received two bouquets of flowers - one from Alan, and one from my friend Sylvia. 

Four days before my birthday, I received these flowers from Tami Crawley (Stake President's wife) after a dinner on a Stake Conference weekend with Elder Falabella.

With these three bouquets decorating my kitchen, it almost felt like I was in a florist shop, but I love flowers and their wonderful aroma so I really enjoyed them while they lasted.

Then, about a month later, on May 10th, the doorbell rang. Upon answering the door, I discovered these flowers (not in a vase, but in a box). 

Curious as to who sent me flowers, and why, I couldn't wait to open the box. Inside, I found a note from Jared that said "Mom, happy birthing day - May 11, 1981, Love Jared."  I thought that was so awesome. I had never known anyone who sent flowers to their mother on their own birthday thanking her for giving birth to them. What a great idea. I wish I had thought of doing that when my mother was still alive. Thanks, Jared!

Pinching Every Penny

We have been having problems in our home recently with ants and cockroaches. Ewwwww, I know! It never got super bad, but bad enough that I would complain now and again. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to talk Alan into hiring a pest control company to  spray, but he didn't want to fork out the money for that. I think he takes after his mother - he pinches every penny twice! In order to save money, Alan came up with the idea of setting off bug bombs in our family room, kitchen, laundry room, and hall area at one end of the house. In order to prepare for this, Alan laid plastic drop cloths all over to try to prevent any damage to our furniture. It looks a mess, but it served its purpose.

Alan also purchased these roach motels and placed them throughout the house.

All of this seems to have worked. I am just happy to have gotten rid of the ants that were perpetually in our laundry room and our kitchen pantry.

The ants are gone now, thank goodness. Now, I wonder what or when our next battle will be.

May's Year of Dates

Today is May 1st, so we got to open our next date night. This gift had clever, fun packaging. This is what the container looked like:

Inside was this note, money, and three cleverly folded paper cats.

Inside the lid was a note that said to open the cat that matches the box. 

Upon opening the matching cat, the note specified that our date is to go to the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound which is located in Mojave.

Alan has never been there before, but I went once with Ethan, Ella, and Olivia. It will be different this time, however, because we will be doing the "twilight tour".

This date should be a lot of fun.  The next "twilight tour" isn't until June 25th, so we will have a while to wait, but I am really looking forward to it!