God Bless the USA

     On September 11th, our family visited the Healing Fields.  This is a display of flags in honor of the victims of 9-11.  Each flag represents a person that lost their life on September 11th.  While spending time viewing the flags, we stopped at a booth that was dedicated to sending messages to the troops.  They had postcards for you to send, or you could write a message on butcher paper. 

So send a message to our troops,

and let them know how much 

you appreciate them!

Say Hi to 25

     Someone was recently telling me about a college professor who challenged his students to say hi to 25 new people on campus each day.  The students took him up on the challenge and they noticed right away how much friendlier and happier the campus became.

     Saying hi doesn't seem like that big of a deal, yet all over,  people are caught up in their own little world.  Talking on their phone at the check stand, not taking the time to wave at the neighbor as they drive by, unable to smile and say hello to a stranger on the street.

     Well this is my challenge to all of you "Say Hi to 25".  I can't wait to try this myself.  

Sharing the Road

While driving home from work today, I decided that my little give for the day was to let all the truckers over... This really is a big give... I hate driving behind truckers for four reasons
1. They drive way slow
2. They flip up rocks at your car
3. They smell really bad
4. They are ugly to look at while you drive

Wow, can you tell I'm not a huge trucker fan... Although while I was driving... I thought everyone is so mean to truckers and nobody ever wants to let them over. So I did and that was my 20 minute little give of the day.

* If anyone reading this blog is a trucker this is not directed to you personally. I'm sure you're a really nice person...I just don't like the vehicle you are driving!

Little Black Wagon

     We went to Lake Powell for a some summer fun in the sun, and sun we had!  It was over 100 most days, you could really feel the heat pouring down on you.  As we got to the boat dock, we had to search up and down the long rows looking for little black wagon's to transport our stuff in.  They were so hard to locate.  I finally found one about a mile away, only to find out that it was filled with someone's belongings.  (I resisted the temptation to throw their stuff in the Lake and take it for myself, of course I am joking.)  We finally located two carts and got all of our stuff loaded on to our boat.  I asked my nephew Nelson to help me take the carts back to the parking lot.  We walked them to the parking lot and gave them to some men that had just pulled up. They were very grateful and a little bit in awe of our kindness.  

     It really got me to thinking that there are so many tasks that we can do for each other, that really aren't that big of a deal to us.  Looking for that little black cart up and down all the isles took forever, yet returning it to the parking lot for someone else to use only took a few minutes, and it felt so good. 

 Thanks for helping me with my Little Give Nelson!

Old folks.

So this was my "Little Give" for the day. I rushed in the grocery store to pick up just a few things, rushed up to the check out. I realized a bit annoyed, there was just one check out opened. As I got in line, here comes a little old man, pushing his grocery cart AND trying to push his little old wife in a wheel chair as well. Their cart was piled to the very top ( how can two little old people possibly eat that much food?) So, I just said to the man, please, go in front of me. He seemed so happy, he could hardly walk himself, let alone push the cart and his wife in the wheel chair! So what if it took me a few more minutes than planned at the grocery store, it was worth it for the nice feeling I had inside the rest of the day!

10 ideas for Summer Giving

1. Take someone fresh flowers from your garden.
2. Invite friends and neighbors over for a Barbecue.
3. Go for a walk, and take time to visit people around your neighborhood.
4. Offer to help someone with yard work.
5. An ice cream social is a fun way to get to know new neighbors.
6. Organize a fun play day for all the children in your neighborhood.
7. Brighten someone's day by cleaning their windows.
8. Take the time to play outside with children.
9. Share what you are growing in your garden, (or if you are gardenless like me, buy extra stuff to share)
10. Look for any special way to do some summer giving and then share your ideas with us!!!

Hope you are having 

a Happy Summer!

Giving Grandma

My sweet Mother-in-law comes to my house once a week and watches my kids for me. It is so nice to be able to get a break for one day to do what ever I want.

While she watches my four kids, she also gets all the laundry caught up. The kids love it when Grandma comes!!! They get to play with her all day and she always brings them a little treat!!!