Newsy Bits of Note

Life is happening at break-neck speed. My blogging has suffered and may continue to do so. Check in periodically for updates.

Some recent happenings:

My grandma, Delva Ewing Kofoed, passed away on Saturday May 3rd. I’ll miss her dearly, but have many, many wonderful memories to cherish. It may sound weird, but I enjoyed her funeral. I’d been helping to care for her as her health took a quick decline and had also been doing her books since her move to a retirement home. Hearing the funeral talks helped me remember Grandma in her younger years. I learned something I didn’t know – Grandma used to exercise to Jack LaLane. I also came to realize that I am my mother and grandmother’s daughter. I come from a long line of outspoken, vibrant and life-loving women. Thank you, Grandma!

In other news, I’ve been released from my unofficial calling as choir accompanist and from my official calling as a gospel doctrine teacher. I now serve with Sister Carter as a teacher for the five-year-olds in the Primary. Yippee! After being set apart, I warned the members of our bishopric that five-year-olds are notorious for telling everything they know, and that I just might find out ward news sooner than they do. While the kids haven’t spilled any sensitive information yet, I did get a few chuckles at sharing time today. The children were shown a girl with men’s hands on her head. Sister Bushman asked, “What gift is she getting?” Luke Lee hollered out, “The priesthood!” (He was serious.) All the teachers chuckled. Later we had a visit from a member of the Stake Presidency. As he passed the chairs where my class sat, a visiting girl asked, “Do you know who he is?” Jacob Meikle responded seriously, “He’s our next President.” (Oh, I wish!) The day’s nugget of truth came from Garret Robinson. When asked how the sacrament strengthens our homes, he said, “The bread is blessed so we can be blessed.” Amen.

In less than 30 days we’re going on a family cruise to the Bahamas. And I haven’t lost a pound since we booked the cruise. But I did order a rash guard shirt, swim tights and a cute skirt from the coolibar folks so that I’ll me modestly dressed at the beach. (Note: All swim suits – even modest ones with lots of coverage – should come with a vinyl cling warning to post on customer mirrors. “Swim suits in the mirror may look larger than they appear in catalogs.” Sigh.)

We’ve planted the garden: beans, potatoes, onions, peas, lettuce, zucchini, straight-neck squash, cantaloupe, acorn squash, corn, and raspberries (which we’ve had for a few years). The girls planted flower seeds: lavender, daisies, marigolds, four o’clock mix and another I can’t spell. Now the weeding begins.



When I took Lou to play in a four-on-four soccer tournament this weekend, I was asked to fill in and coach her team of four players – the Hot Chillies. It just so happened that Kristen’s mother had a sombrero in the back of her mini-van. Before the games we’d do the Mexican Hat Dance around the sombrero and end with, “Ole!” I even wore it for a while on the sidelines. When the girls would score I’d do a Spanish yell: “Aarrrreeeeba! Aiiiiyaiiiiiyaiii!” You know, loud and shrill, rolling my Rs. One time I even threw the sombrero into the air. But the wind caught it and it almost landed on the spectators on the adjacent field. Oops! We didn’t win any of our four games, but we sure had fun! We even won the sportsmanship award. Go Chilies! Taco! Taco! Taco! (Note: You can get sunburned in cloudy, overcast, cold weather.)

The photos in this post are courtesy of my daughter, Lou. She’s a budding digital photographer.