Spring has brought me such a nice surprise.

I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree. Spring has brought me such a nice surprise, popcorn popping right before my eyes.

I took this picture because Robb wanted to send a picture to the girls in Utah. . . this is an apricot blossom from our back yard.

Spring has come for one day here in Boise but I cannot remember what the day was. Today, April 19, 2008, the temperature is cold again and it is to snow through the week-end. Typical Boise weather - - it cannot make up its mind if it is spring, summer, or winter.

Tonie came home this week-end to visit Grandma Fisher. Grandma Fisher was brought home on Wednesday from the hospital to finish her life at home. She was excited to come home. She is sleeping most of the time now and unresponsive. We wet down her lips and tongue and but she cannot drink or eat anymore. She is comfortable. Most of the family are gathering with Steve and his family coming home from Korea on Thursday, April 24, 2008. He has been stationed in Korea for almost six months now. Grandpa Fisher just went to Korea to visit him in January so this will be nice again for him to see Steve.

Cynthia is graduating next week so Robb and I will be flying down to Provo on Thursday morning and coming home on Saturday. Scott and Sandi are going to Provo on Thursday to see Ian, their son-in-law graduate from Utah Valley State College in Orem. They will not return until Saturday. WE are really excited for Cynthia's graduation. It seems like yesterday when she rode home with me after work looking for the eye on the building we passed on our way home. The building is still there but the painted eye is gone.

I was over in Idaho Falls yesterday for a mediation conference. The flights are not such that I can take Horizon in the morning to Idaho Falls, mediate in the afternoon, and catch the last flight home to Boise. It is suppose to make things easier for me but it sure makes a long day. I was so tired last night!!! Oh, the case settled.:)

Well, I guess we are going for lunch at Mongolian in Meridian. Better go. Love you all.

Grandma Fisher

Grandma Fisher is not doing well these days. She had a stroke almost eight years ago has has been in declining health since then. My memories of her are good. If ever there was a great mother-in-law, Mom Fisher was the person. I wondered when I got married if I would have "the mother-in-law" that was described by so many people. Not me. I have had a wonderful life with her. She has taught me things, she has been patient and loving in all my foibles, and she has helped us out so many times I cannot number them. She has been devoted to her family and was always the first to assist others in the ward or neighborhood. I know that when Robb hurt his back so many years ago, she came and sat up all night with him, putting cold packs and then hot packs on his back. She has come to our rescue so many times.

We had stake conference this week and it was really good. We had the mission president and his wife speak. The mission president is from Escalante, Utah, which is where Dr. Irene was from. His wife is from Panguitch and knows Vaughn and Lenore. Wow, what a small world. The talks were about being good representatives of the Lord by our clothing, actions, language, our homes, and generally every aspect of our lives. By our examples, others may be touched by the Spirit to come to investigate the church. I was really impressed they talked about the clothing we wear and how that sends a message. We have to be careful what message we want to send especially as members of the church and followers of Christ. Robb and I have recommitted ourselves.

Robb has been really busy with tax season. He leaves early in the morning and tries to be at work by 7:00 or 8:00. He then works until about 8:00 or 9:00. I don't know how he does it but he loves it. He is looking forward to May, however. I keep myself busy after work watching the NCAA tournament and the NIT. I am so glad the women's NCAA is going to go on too. I hope we get BYU's game on our channels.

Cynthia introduced me to indexing for the church genealogy program. I was contacted by Ginger Bennett, who apparently is the stake person over this, and received some training. I had gone through the tutorial that is on-line so she was happy that I did. I have done almost 2000 names. I think I am hooked!!

well, off to other things now. bye.

Signs of the Times

This week we had a meteor flashing through the sky and landing in Washington State. Next we had a total lunar eclipse and then Wells, Nevada, had an earthquake!! Apparently this part of the country had the last earthquake in 1904 or sometime around then. We have more snow than we have had for several years and our heating bill is skyrocketing. I am waiting for the spring and summer to even the heating bill out. Washington state and Oregon have had more rain than usual and it has flooding. Then, San Diego had snow!! I think the earth is in turmoil as it says in the scriptures. When Enoch hears the groans of the earth and cried when the earth mourned (Moses 7: 48-49).

We had our humanitarian project yesterday at the stake center. All the stake sisters met to put the school bags together. I think the announcement was that the stake had 502 school bags. I also talked with Sue Perry who is on the stake board. She said that the humanitarian services really needs twin and full sized quilts. So guess what our next project is. Glenna Mavencamp and I talked and we decided that we should try to help in this area by having our ward members meet to tie quilts. I will see what can be done.

I went grocery shopping yesterday: the first time in a long time. I can barely walk and my hips are hurting along with my back. My shoulders are tender. Now I remember why I gave up grocery shopping. Oh well, I need to get back into it and despite the pain, I will press forward. I just come home and rest after the shopping.

Tonie came home last week-end for President's Holiday. It was nice having her back so soon. She and Robbie took us to eat sushi. Robb and I have not eaten sushi for a long time. We are not into that kind of eating. I had eel, shrimp, salmon, some two kinds of fish I cannot remember the name of, all in rolls. I especially liked the tempura vegetables. My taste buds were not working very well because I really could not tell much difference between the different rolls. I guess I will try this again in a few years. On Monday, before Tonie left, Robbie took Tonie and me to Tony Carrinos for pasta. Again I loved the steamed vegetables the best. Robb and I do not go out to eat very much anymore so it is hard for me to decide what to eat. I guess I will need to learn a new habit of ordering vegetables a la carte. Maybe that will work.

I better go. Love you all.

Sun Valley

I went to Sun Valley for Valentines Day. It was for work. I scheduled a mediation conference for Friday morning so I needed to go over the night before. I wish Robb could have come along but he is putting in long hours at the office. Maybe someday when it is not tax season, we can spend the weekend in Ketchum, where I stayed. Ketchum is right next to Sun Valley. It is so expensive there that one has to save money to spend a week-end there. Of course this time of year it is expensive and it is a holiday week-end. My room for the night was $161.00 per night. I got some fetticini alfredo with nothing but the sauce for $18.00. It was so expensive!! Then on Friday morning, I was able to get a breakfast wrap, but I did not get to eat that until I was finished with the mediation conference and on my way back to Boise.

Last week the roads were closed to Sun Valley because of snow drifting. I worried about the roads but they were clear. I worried that I would be going over the pass into Mountain Home at sundown and I had been warned about black ice so I did not stop anywhere. I just drove straight to Mountain Home to make sure I would be off the mountain roads at dusk.

After I got home Friday night, I received a text message from Tonie saying she changed her mind and she was coming home for the long week-end. She and I have Monday off as we both work for state governments, me in Idaho and Tonie in Utah. Robb, of course has to work. I think Robbie is snowboarding up at Bogus Basin today. He is settled into his new apartment. We have not seen him for about a week although he calls and lets us know that he is still alive and doing well. He is so busy at the Bank. I am sure Cyn and Kyle are busy with their activities. I don't know if they get Monday off from school or work. Buster just lays around in the sun so it is a normal day for him.

Well, I am involved in doing Humanitarian projects again. I was called as the ward humanitarian co-leader with another sister, Glenna. This time, our ward was responsible for making 70 school bags. The bags were all assigned to different sisters so they could sew them together. I am starting to collect them now from the sisters. We also needed to collect 1500 notebooks for the school bags. When one looks at that number, it seems overwhelming. The notebooks could be about $1.00 per notebooks but ShopKo gave us a good deal. They sold notebooks at a discounted rate of 2 for $1.00 to participate with the project. Glenna does not sew so she took charge of gathering the notebooks. Since I sew, I was in charge of the bags. WHAT TEAMWORK!! :) On February 23, 2008, our stake will meet together at the stake center and assemble the bags. I love doing humanitarian work!! It is exciting to see people's faces light up and want to help.

Tonie and I are going to watch the movie, "No Reservations" today. Tonie bought the movie at Target so we will watch it at home. It is no longer in theaters, I guess.

Oh, one last thing. The last time I renewed my driver's license was eight years ago in Coeur d'Alene, ID when I discovered that I could not rent a car at the airport because my driver's license was expired. Well, Guess What?!! I did it again. I went to rent by car to go to Sun Valley and discovered that I could not rent the car because my driver's license was expired. So, I had to renew is on Valentines day before I could get going to Sun Valley. Now I do not have to renew it for another eight years - at age 63. Boy will I still be able to drive at that age? I guess so. Many people do.

Well, I better go. bye.

My Birthday

Tonie, Cyndie, Kyle traveled up from Utah and surprised me for my birthday. They all met at Robbie's new apartment and Robb and I went over to see the new apartment. When Robbie opened the second bedroom door, there was Tonie with a balloon and flowers wishing me happy birthday. Then Robbie had me open the closet door and guess who jumped out: Cyn and Kyle. What Fun!! I cried, of course. It is so nice to see my children. Robbie was so good to pull this off by asking me to see his new apartment. He and Tracy, his girlfriend, were planning this for about two weeks, I guess. Robb was in on it too. We visited and had carrot cake. I had not seen Cyn since Thanksgiving so this was a fun day.

For the rest of the week-end, Tonie bought a new car, a VW beetle with a rag top, silver. It is really pretty and she loves it. Cyn, Kyle and I went shopping for china. Cynthia selected a Vera Wang pattern that is so simple and beautiful. So, you all know what I am getting for the next couple years of presents for Cyn and Kyle. It will be nice. I want to get new china since the set I had when we got married is losing parts/plates but that will wait for awhile.

On Wednesday, when it was my actual birthday, Robb took me to a movie, "The Bucket List" and we went to dinner at "On the Border." This was a nice treat since we seldom go to movies or dinner anymore. It seems a shame to pay for that much food when Robb and I can only eat a little bit. We brought home half of the meal and used it for lunch on Thursday.

well, I gotta go. I wish I had pictures to add. Oh well, as I learn how to use this blog, I will add more fun stuff.

New Blog

Well, we are new to the blogspot stuff so you all will need to help us learn. Robb is my husband and my name is Sarah, in case you could not tell by the names above. Our daughter Cynthia and her husband Kyle have a blog like this and they suggested that we get one going. It is really fun if you know what you are doing. I tried to get a space on Hotmail but not everyone was able to access it. Maybe they can access this one.