Friday faves and catching up

It's spring break from school here in Arizona.  It has been a busy week, since we decided not to travel, but just stay home and get caught up on chore. As the end of spring break from school nears, my to-do list for the week is still not complete, but I am determined to take a few minutes out and remember and be grateful for the good things of the past several weeks.

*Lemon blossoms - as the air heats up here in Arizona (we are 96 degrees today) it also smells lovely with the fragrance of citrus blossoms everywhere.  The lemon tree in our back yard is out in bloom, so the back yard smells heavenly.

*Mom and son hike   - a tradition that Josh and I have had for quite a while is going on a hike together during spring break.

We had to put that tradition on hold for a couple of years while he was in Mexico serving his mission, but now that he is back, it was good to be out on the trail together again.

 We hiked the Littleleaf Trail at San Tan Regional Park which is about 20 miles from where we live.

We went for our hike in the late afternoon.

 It was sunny, but not too hot.

There were lots of flowers on the desert plants, and I love flowers.

My favorite were these lovely pink cactus flowers. 

It was a nice afternoon for both of us, especially considering that between work and school, I don't see a whole lot of this guy during the day. 

Being with my son, walking and chatting in the desert made me happy!

*Temple time - Being able to go to the temple this week also made me happy. I love the peace of the temple. 

The temple gardens were freshly planted with spring flowers.  They were lovely.  I should have taken more pictures.

*Activity day - we also learned about the temple in our last Activity Day. The girls really enjoyed making these plaques with pictures of temples on them. 

The girls always seem to love Activity Day and I enjoy working with them.  I am also happy to have a new partner to help me plan and carry out the activities twice a month.

*Traffic class - not really a fun part of spring break, but this is what happens when you don't reduce your speed in a school zone and get a ticket, like I did.   I am taking this online traffic class instead of paying the fine and getting points on my driver's license.   It is marginally cheaper than just paying the ticket, but it isn't much fun. So far, I am about half-way finished with the ten on-line lessons.  I am looking forward to having this done, and yes, I have learned my lesson, and have been watching my speed in school zones.

*Purging books - I made a goal to go through my big book case and get rid of some more books.  These are just some of the titles I decided that I really didn't need any more.

I sent these books to a friend in Wyoming who is having a hard time financially and wanted to some books to read. She can't afford to buy books, and she loves to read so she was excited that I could send these to her. Book rate isn't that much and it's always nice to make some happy.

*Conference tickets - Josh has been wanting to go up to Utah for the General Conference of our church that takes place twice a year - in October and April.  Lots of people want to go to conference (which is also broadcast on TV and the internet), because it is very special to be right there in the Conference Center when this event takes place. Tickets are free, but are required because so many people want to go, and because demand is great, sometimes they are hard to come by. 

I wasn't sure we would be able to get tickets when Josh reminded me about it last Sunday, but after a few phone calls, emails and texts, we had three tickets to the Saturday Evening session.  We are all looking forward to this event.

*Homework help - I just had to add this sweet picture I "snuck" of Charly helping Josh with some of his college math homework.  It just touched my heart that I married such a good man who is a good father. 

*Letter from my grandson - I got this nice little note from my oldest grandson in the mail yesterday.  It is always to hear from and keep in touch with my grandchildren.

*Spring break - so over all it has been a good spring break, and I feel like I will go back to school this coming Monday rested, refreshed and with a sense of accomplishment, ready for the final nine weeks of this school year.  Life is good land there are always things to be happy about. We just have to look for them.

The thought for the week comes from the bible:

Joining as always with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for...