Spring Flowers

I just wanted to share some of the beautiful spring flowers that I've found on my daily walks. And I appreciate my walking buddies waiting for me as I stop to take a picture or two.

Cherry Blossoms of DC

We got to the Tidal Basin at six in the morning. We wanted to get pictures at sunrise. Unfortunately the sun didn't rise until 7:25. We were frozen by the time the sun came up and the pictures didn't turn out as well as last years...oh well.
Look across the Tidal Basin. See the cherry blossoms on the trees...they are so so so beautiful. I wish everyone could go see them in person.
Do I look happy? I'm really freezing to death...but as you can tell, I didn't die. Thanks, SM, for being patient as I complained about being so cold.
Isn't this amazing!! Looking back I wish I would have taken more pictures. But it was hard to take pictures without people in the shots...there were lots of people there but I did a pretty good job.

Relief Socity Birthday

Last Thursday we held our Relief Society Birthday Celebration. We were asked to share our talents. And we realized that most talents are not visible for others to see but they are there and they benefit others every day. Anyway, here I am with my corner of the gym with some of my talents.
This is a picture of my friend singing an amazing song. I wish I would have recorded it on my camera but I wasn't thinking fast enough. They will be singing it again in church but I will not be bringing my camera to Sacrament Meeting. Oh well...
Here are my walking buddies. We all got our hair cut and I think we all love it! I think we are all so beautiful.

Visiting Teaching

Once again the end of the month approaches, and once again I'm scrambling to get in touch with all of my ladies, plus get my partner there. Luckily, I have a wonderful partner who is almost always available to go whenever I get the appointment set up.

Today we visited two of our three ladies. The second lady we visited is an eighty year old blind Chinese woman. Each time we visit she feeds us. My partner is also from China and so the conversation is mostly in Chinese while I'm feeding my face. Well, at least that is what it felt like this morning. Today when we visited Sister H., she had made dumplings and taro pancakes. She started loading up my plate and when she went to do the same to my partners' plate, a whole lot of Chinese started up as my partner managed not to get her plate mounded up like mine. That definitely is an advantage. No matter how much I protested, it didn't change the fact that I was being fed enough for two people, but my partner got out of it. I do have to say that the dumplings and taro pancakes were really good and now I don't have to make any lunch for myself. (My partner was having a lunch date with her youngest son and so she wanted to leave some room for her lunch). Sister H. also made sure we both had a mug full of boiling water. And that's what she drank also. I guess after joining the church, she switched from tea or coffee to just hot water. Luckily, I've had a glass or two of just hot water, so I was able to drink this without any problem. (This is something that would happen on my mission when the people wanted to give you a hot drink but all they had was tea...usually we ended up just drinking hot water).

Every time we go visit Sister H., I really feel like I'm back on my mission. It's the language barrier (though she does speak and understand English), the cultural differences, and the poverty. I feel truly blessed to have a visiting teaching partner that speaks Chinese so that we can find out how Sister H. is truly doing. I also really love that our ward is full of so much diversity. I've been able to learn so many things from others in the ward and from their experiences.

One of these things is not like the other

Look in the lower left corner of each picture. You will see a plant that is not a tomato.
I started growing my tomatoes in the middle of February. It takes them a while to get big enough to plant in the pot so I need to start them early. Anyway, about a week after they came up through the dirt, I was cutting up an apple for SM's snack. (I always send an apple with SM to work along with his lunch). And I found in this particular apple, that one of its seeds' had sprouted. I got this idea and put it in with my tomatoes. I don't have a plan what to do with an apple tree...but I also know that it will take it a while to grow big...so for now, it's growing along side the tomatoes and having a great time.

Snowdrop Flower Fairy

I painted a new fairy...a snowdrop flower fairy. Each fairy I paint usually takes, from start to end, about a week to paint. This one was fun to paint because I had takend pictures of snowdrop flowers this spring. It really is a very pretty flower. Enjoy the fairy above and the snowdrop flowers below.

Baby Blanket

I finished the border and tying another baby blanket. Even though I've done quite a few of these blankets, I have quite a few friends and family that will be having babies soon so I'm racing to get as many done as I can. Plus, they are fun to do in the evenings while I am watching TV with SM.