Hello Little Lovelies!

This has been the mildest winter since moving to Utah, which has been ten years now.

We've seen very little of this. 

However, I am still excited for this! 

And some of their friends over here...

And really excited today to have found these sweeties poking their heads up.   

Good bye Mr. Snowman. I wish you well. Maybe you can visit us again sometime. 

We're actually due for more snow later, but I think (hope) my little flowers will weather the storm. 

Our Downtown Date

Thursday was a play day. We ditched the office and went downtown. We had several objectives in mind when we started out. We wanted to get a copy of Bud's Patriarchal blessing, we wanted to wander around Temple Square and take pictures, we wanted to relax in the hot tub at S.L. Sports Complex, we wanted to have a nice dinner out, and we wanted to go to the movie. As we got onto the freeway, I told Bud that I forgot to bring a change of underclothing for after the hot tub. He then asked if I had the camera. Oops. No, I'd forgotten that as well. At least I had both of my purse cameras with me, however, I found out soon enough that one had a dead battery. Still, we pressed forward. We parked and this was the first thing that caught my eye.
Tulips are my favorite.
We walked past the Church Office Building. I told Bud I'd never been inside, so he immediately took me inside! The nice lady asked if we wanted to go on a tour.
This mural takes up an entire wall. The original is painted by Harry Anderson, in case you need to know that for a test later.
This is a statue by Avard T. Fairbanks, showing a young couple burying their child on the trek west.
We went up to the observation deck looking North and East. A cool part about the deck is that even though the viewing area is covered with plexiglass, there are a few strategic spots that have a circular cut-out for your camera's lens.

From here I can see where we used to live, which was in the other half of Bud's downtown office called the Aztec. It's that building, riiiiight there. See it?

The Conference Center as seen from the other observation deck looking north and west.

I'm sure that when the temple was built, the people building it never thought there would be a building taller than it was.
While we were in the C.O.B. (yes, that's what they called it!), they solicited us. They even gave us papers to fill out, should we be so inclined as to volunteer for the next three years to work there. We politely said we'd "be in touch."

The next stop was across the street to the Church Library where we quickly picked up a copy of Bud's patriarchal blessing. If I'm going to "work" anywhere, I'd rather it was at the library than the C.O.B.

Here's a random bride and groom. I believe they were doing their pictures pre-wedding, because there was not a hoard of people hanging around them. I guess they could have all run off to lunch though.

This is an interactive touch-screen board to tell you where you are and help you figure out where you want to go. From this view, that guy almost resembles my firstborn child.

No trip to the temple is complete without few flower shots.

I liked these a lot.

And it is even less complete without a few temple shots. Here are three of my favorites.

This made me think the lion was allergic to the flowers and about to sneeze. I know, it's my own weirdness.
A few more flower shots on the way back to the car (by the way, we stopped at the Distribution Center and bought a single set of a certain change of clothing for my post hot tub experience). All things were good to go now!

Wouldn't it be nice if I could make my yard as nice as this?
Next stop was dinner at Market Street Grill on 13th East. The last time we were there we ran into Senator Orrin Hatch. This time we ran into her...the lady holding on to the handrail.
She was finishing her conversation with the other lady whom she had dined with, and I interrupted them (she probably hates that) and I said, "Sister Dew, can I just give you a hug?" She very politely gave me a small hug (probably while thinking "you should have asked MAY, not CAN"). She thanked me for saying hello. I mentioned that the last time we were there that Bud ran into Orrin, his long-time friend, and she said "Well, then he (meaning Bud) got the better deal." She was extremely polite and very kind.

I promptly went to my car, and felt like a big dork for all the things I didn't say that I should have said and for the things I said that I shouldn't have said. I'd better practice in my head for next time because it seems every time we go here, we see someone cool. I watched her walk to her car. She went towards a shiny silver sports car, walked around it and got in a Lexus SUV, (moss-green in color). Her car is probably more expensive than that little sports car! CEO's have to have class, you know.

After dinner was the hot tub and then the movie. We hit the dollar movie in Sugarhouse, and watched The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon. Very interesting concept- that movie played some games with my head! The next time I misplace my keys only to find them sitting "right there" a few moments later will make me wonder about things I never wondered about before.

My Yard

This is what the yard looked like the first spring after we moved in. Now BOB is gone (Big Old Bush) from in front of the porch. I was happy about that, but still not happy with the yard.
So yesterday, Bud got started on my to-do list for him and did a little more yanking.
Now the bushes in front of BOB are gone too.
I wish I could say that the following pictures are what is now planted there, but no.

Look at how interesting these pink ones are!
I tried hydrangeas to replace BOB, but they died almost instantly.
Wouldn't that have been pretty instead of BOB?
I'm a daisy girl. Always have been. I also love tulips, but they are so short-lived.
This one is for you, Karen! So so so pretty!
Yeah, not going to happen in my yard.
Simple and pretty.
And my favorite of all is this one.
However, I was told that NONE of these flowers are sturdy enough to go in the yard. They are all indoor flowers. I guess I'll have to keep looking for something to replace the other three BOB's. I sure am happy to have them gone!

S'no(w) Fair

In Utah, we expect snow. Some of us even LIKE the snow. But not like this.
When you start messing with my tulips, that's just not right.
How sad. Especially if they die prematurely because of this cold harsh white stuff.
On a happier note...Women's Conference, here I come!

Weekend Work

This is what we did on Saturday. Hey, Karen, can you see the Gerbera daisy just behind the other yellow flower? I bought it to remind me of you, which is does.
And, of course the planting is not complete until I put one of these guys in the ground.
However, it's supposed to be snowing again today and tomorrow. I hope these guys survive the storm.

Those Blooming Tulips!

Recently, I showed you this picture.
Now look at the same spot! Red!!
Those red ones are in the backyard. In the front, I have other colors. I promised Agnes I would show her pink and orange and yellow today!





I'm so happy to have pretty flowers to look at because this one just wasn't cutting it for me anymore.