Thursday, June 30, 2011

More Highlights from My Trip to Utah

While I was in Utah, my oldest daughter and I decided to tackle some work that needed to be done in her yard.  Keicha really has an adorable house in a wonderful neighborhood.  The planter near her side door says it all and is a great indicator of the tasteful, colorful, country garden look that she has created in this area of her yard.

No matter how much care we use in planting and caring for gardens, as they grow, we find that there are issues to address.  The lavender grows too big and must be trimmed.  The vines planted by the former occupant of the house keep growing up the brick walls of the house and rock wall built surrounding the house.  So, the two of us put on our gardening gloves and took hold of gardening tools and went to work on trimming and pulling and cutting.  We did this off and on for three days.

Working side-by-side with my daughter in the yard was wonderful.  We both agree that pulling weeds is good for the soul.  We shared some memories of Julie and laughed and cried as we both try to figure out how to live life after the life we knew and loved has been altered forever.  We didn't figure that out.  As a mom, I am just hobbling along trying to set an example of hope while knowing that broken hearts take a long time to heal.

Cutting back lavender and columbines

Keicha supervised by Lucy Lou weeds her vegetable garden

My daughter's vegetable garden, planted near her side door, is doing well despite the lack of sun that they have had in Utah this year.  As I study the photo of her carefully weeding her tomatoes, squash and other vegetables, I am stuck by how quickly life goes by.  I study my daughter, now an adult who owns her own home, has worked at her place of employment for over 20 years, has a daughter who will soon be a teenager, who is working in soil of her home which is located right next door to the doctor who delivered her and all of my other children.  


It seems like life goes by way too quickly.  It seems like just yesterday I was the young mother who just gave birth to this beautiful daughter.  Yet my daughter, now grown, has a neighborly relationship with the older retired man who lives next door who was also the doctor who cared for her before she was born.  




As Keicha works in her garden, I photographed another one of her garden planters.  This one clearly states, "He who plants a garden, plants happiness."  I like the message that this gives.  I like that gardens speak of hope, of joy, of fulfillment, of creativity, and of beauty.  I know that gardens also mean that one must labor and work hard.  They mean that the gardener must be persistent, determined and not be easily discouraged when there is too little sun or too much rain.  We learn much in the garden about life, but mostly I hope that our gardens bring us joy and happiness.  I'm grateful for the little bit of time I had digging in the dirt with Keicha.  I hope I can spend more time in years to come doing just a little work in her garden.  


I must confess we did not spend all of our time working.  We took an afternoon off  from gardening so I could get a pedicure while Keicha ran errands.  Later that afternoon, we went to our favorite spa for wonderful massages and time in the eucalyptus steam room.  We relaxed and enjoyed it so much that we were shocked to find that nearly three hours had passed and it was early evening when we actually left the spa.

We also spent an afternoon at my favorite lunch spot, The Greenery at Rainbow Gardens.  A trip to Utah just wouldn't be complete if I didn't get up to Rainbow.  I had to have a Mormon Muffin for sure.
Keicha
Gillian
Off to Camp
I was also able to spend a little time with Gillian, Keicha's daughter before she went off to church camp. Unfortunately, my visit overlapped the time when she was gone for most of the week, but we had a little time together.  I'm sure she'll be taller than I am by the next time I see her.  I snapped a photo before she headed off to camp with her cool, peace symbol covered bag slung over her shoulder.  Yes, my grandbabies are all growing up way too fast.

16 comments:

  1. What a sweet special time it must have been to spend with your daughter. I wish I had that with my own Mom. what a blessing you must be to them.
    Blessings, Joanne

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  2. Such a beautiful daughter and granddaughter. It's so wonderful that you could have this healing time together. You have such strength, such love and selflessness. You are so like my Auntie Grace who we traveled with. My cousin, Charlotte died suddenly four years ago. I can still hardly believe it. Auntie carried a little bag throughout the trip that had "Char" embroidered on it. I realized then that Auntie keeps everybody else's spirits up, but always keeps Charlotte close with her. They used to always travel together and I guess they still do.

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  3. What a lovely day. Visiting, getting your hands dirty and then a trip to a spa. Pretty darn perfect.
    Time does roll much too quickly. We need to pay attention to today as you did, for it is quickly gone.

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  4. Isn't it amazing, Sally, when we stop and look at our loved ones, our lives, and realize how quickly time passes? Your family is a beautiful one, and you're right: look at that beautiful grandbaby who is standing on the threshold of adolescence!

    Thank you for sharing them with me. I appreciate all the stories you tell about how you are doing. It always makes me happy to hear when you are happy. :-)

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  5. One of my granddaughters just celebrated her quinceanera (although she isn't officially 15 until next month), another is 14 today .... yes, they certainly do grow up too fast. Not to mention that as they grow taller, I'm growing shorter (slightly, but still!!!).

    I love being mom to mature children and Grammy to my babies' babies. I can see that you do, too. Isn't it a good life? :)

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  6. It looks like you had a wonderful time with your daughter. I hope it was a healing time for both of you.

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  7. A lovely post showing how circular life can be -- with your beautiful daughter living next door to the doctor who delivered her! And the healing power of time together, working together, just enjoying each other. How wonderful that you have these moments!

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  8. Hi There, So glad to get home and back to blogging. We did have a fabulous trip--but home is pretty nice also!!!!!

    Sounds like you all had a wonderful trip to Utah.. It's great to be with family --especially the grandchildren. We loved our trip to southern Utah also... Gorgeous state.

    We also love YOUR state ---but didn't have enough time there. Maybe we will return sometime.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  9. I enjoyed reading your reflections on the garden. I worked in my garden this morning and am mostly reflecting on sore knees.

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  10. what a lovely garden and how fun was that getting to spend time with your daughter helping in it. great pictures

    Everyday Life

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  11. I'd love to work in the garden with one of my kids. You're lucky that way!

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  12. Yes, a garden is a symbol of love and care. My father told me he used to work in grandpa's garden after work till dark and about how relaxing that was.

    I hope your daughter and granddaughter bring you a lot of joys. I can tell you're proud of them.

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  13. They all grow up too fast. My baby will be 31 in just a few days and my youngest granddaughter just turned 4. We hope she'll be out of the terrible twos soon! My granddaughter likes the peace signs too, she thinks it's a pretzel. She says "I'm going to wear my pretzel shirt today." It's too complicated to try and explain what it really means.

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  14. Garden is lovel. You are fortunate to have such a lovely family with grandkids.

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  15. So much healing and love to be found in gardening. I'm so glad you had this special time with your daughter and granddaughter.

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  16. Sounds like a wonderful trip and a nice time to have with your daughter and grand daughter. Your pictures made me envious of your families gardening skills. I have no green thumb and kill everything but the hardiest plants. Your pictures were a delight and an inspiration. I'm glad you had a good time.

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