oak leaves on a Sunday morning walk

Went walking with Mom, Dad, and Josh. I spaced taking my camera last Sunday when I went with Dad and Josh, and was happy when I remembered to take it today. It rained last night and I thought these droplets were rather pleasing to the eye. I simply adore Sunday morning walks.

thanksgiving

my day in brief:

2 a.m. finally crash to sleep at Jo's, along with Carrie and Emily, after playing with them and Liz, Nat, and Rachel (remember, "It's from Pier 1...")

7 a.m. attempt to sleep for another hour (I have issues with sleeping in)

8 a.m. roll around and start talking with Carrie. play with the lovely dogs Tori and Emmett. talk with Carrie, Emily, and Jo

I don't recall specific times after this so it's going to be more of a list:

bike with Dad and Josh to Provo pool to meet up with Alistor and Mauri

bike to Springville (Evan and Corinne's) with the boys. I felt like a mother duckling for some reason.

play football in the backyard of my mother's childhood and the now-backyard of my cousins.

play kickball.

eat delicious dinner.

play Candyland and Imaginiff.

eat pie: rhubarb and banana cream.

play hearts.

play speed.

play kick the can.

play mission.

pile into the van and return home.

close eyes.

it was all lovely fun. I am thankful for so many things. Family. Friends. Peace. Sunshine. Mountains. Books. Music. Prayers. Hope. Scriptures. Bikes. Games. Laughter. Earth's beauties. Home. Ukraine. Smiles. Hugs. Understanding. Babies. Sharing. Temples. Testimonies. Trees. Water. Hikes. Runs. Swims. Sleep. Students. Learning. Teaching. Writing. Memories. Faith. Past. Present. Future. Eternity. Encouragement. Comfort. And so on and so forth.

here he is!

the most important news!

Elijah Paul Abel

was born 20 November.

He weighed 7 lbs and will

be going home with Sierra

and Joe today. As soon as

I get pictures from them

I'll put one (or some) up.

I'm a cousin!!! But it seems

I'm more than that somehow

and so I'm honored that Sierra's

dubbed me as Aunty Lynny.

one more: BIG hair

Amber and my hair!

talent?

Last night we had a spancy ward activity. We enjoyed some Thanksgiving dinner and then talents. The whole night was fun. I love experiencing the outright sharing of talents. I got to dance with Amber, Laura, Liz, and Rachel. It was too much fun. We danced to Amii Stewart's "Knock On Wood" (don't worry, I had never heard this song till they played it for me). Here are a couple pre-performing pictures and then most of our dance. My camera's been a punk lately and so I didn't get the whole thing. I love these girls dearly. Enjoy (i.e. feel free to laugh and/or shake your head in disgust)!

OK, it's not uploading my video, so I'll have to figure that out later.

catching up: football with mags

Mags and I went to the BYU vs. SDSU game. I'm not the greatest football fan in the world, but I do enjoy spending time with a good friend. Plus the weather was simply fantastic. We didn't sit in the snow like we did last year, so just that fact made it that much better. We had fun riding our bikes to and from the game.

We also had the lovely luck of being stalked by a binocular-bearing fan who sat totally opposite us in the stadium. Mags received a text stating: "I know where you are." She replied: "What am I wearing?" The response which came astounded us and had us looking every which way to try to find this creeper (ok, he's really not a creeper, just one of Mags' friends). We didn't think he had binoculars and then we realized he must because he texted back: "You're wearing a BYU t-shirt with a long sleeve white shirt underneath. You're friend is wearing some weird black thing on her head. Immediately to your left is a fat guy in gray."

He was exactly right. He had us laughing for a good five minutes. We were much more self-conscious and ceased picking our noses for fear we'd be seen by BinoculoRex.

So why the "weird" black thing on my head? To protect my fair skin.

Maрджи моя любимая!

catching up: Joli's baptism

Joli got baptized 1 November. It was a gorgeous Saturday, and her baptism and confirmation were great. She was so happy and smiling. She had lots of support from family and friends. She's such a lovely dear, and I'm so glad she made the choice to get baptized. Love you Joli!

love=understanding

“To [Granma and Granpa], love and understanding was the same thing. Granma said you couldn’t love something you didn’t understand; nor could you love people, nor God, if you didn’t understand the people and God” (38).

from The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter

your darkest fear: c'est moi

This is NOT me on drugs. This is me after a day of teaching. I promise it really is. But I guess I ought to inform you this picture was taken after all the Halloween festivities of the day. I did some really awkward makeup jazz (which you can't see very well in this b & w photo, but oh well) and did my hair up in almost ten top-knots; I took out those knots and my hair was huge. I know you're thinking, um, Lyn, your hair is already huge. But I'm telling you, think large, large mane of hair. That's my hair Halloween night.