Thankful

Remember how Miles met a new friend in the MTC who is Chinese and told him to call him "Jack."  Well his name is actually Bizeng Zhu.  We got to meet Elder Zhu yesterday!  

This is the background from one of Miles's first weeks at the MTC:

"I am going into my 5th week here at the MTC. The last email I sent out I think was when I had just got into quarantine. Since then I've had some cool experiences. The day after I emailed you guys about Covid I ended up getting a roommate and when he knocked on the door I was pretty disappointed because having my own room was nice. But when I opened the door it was this Chinese elder who immediately handed me a bunch of cat stickers. He didn't speak much English but was super cool. That night my fever was pretty crazy and I wasn't able to to sleep great.  It was super cold and I was shivering a ton. I had also propped my head up with a bunch of books so my stuffy nose wouldn't be so bad. The next day I hear a knock and I assumed it would be lunch but it was actually a worker to bring me a whole bunch of blankets and pillows. It turns out my roommate had noticed the books as well as the shivering and ordered me extra pillows and blankets so I can sleep better. This was so cool I barely knew this guy and somehow he took time out of his day to send an email to the front desk and help me out. He is so awesome."

Jack is from China but moved to New York with his mom when his parents split up.  A few years ago he joined the church and at age 23, with no family support at all, decided to serve a mission.  He was called to Chinese speaking Arcadia, California, and he's learning English in the MTC.  Jack is giving up a lot to go on a mission and I think he made quite an impression on Miles.  We are going to definitely send Jack a nice package in Arcadia.

Miles put the cat sticker on the back of his badge and every time they saw each other after that it was very exciting.  Jack had some funny jokes.  He asked Miles if he had a girlfriend and when he said yes he asked, "How many?"  haha.  He wanted to do this heart picture with Miles.  

Well Bizeng, AKA "Jack" is the sweetest guy in person as well.  He speaks great English now.  And it was so fun for the five of us who were home to have him over for dinner.  We hope to see him again sometime soon.

It's always so interesting to me to hear conversion stories.  And Bizeng's story made a huge impression on all of us.

He comes from a blended family like we do.  He has two older step sisters who moved to New York years ago.  He was living with his dad in China after his parents divorced when he was young.  His dad was an alcoholic who sadly wasted a lot of their money on alcohol and cigarettes and didn't work much.  So Bizeng was starving and neglected with no other family nearby.  

He dropped out of school at 13, just Sorens age.  And started working in a sweatshop to earn money for food.  Which he said was actually a big relief because now he could eat and at least provide food for himself.  A few years later he started work at a restaurant.  Eventually he moved to New York to live with his mom where he worked at a Chinese restaurant.

In New York he was living in Chinatown in Manhattan.  He said there was no need to learn English because they stayed in their area mainly.  One day he met the sister missionaries on the street.

He was soon baptized.  He said that the gospel touched his soul.  It was so sweet to hear him explain this in his own words.  At 23 he decided to serve a mission and was called to serve in Arcadia speaking Chinese.  He studied English in the MTC.  This is fun for me because I have a friend who has 5 adopted children from China.  Her oldest daughter Esther also served in the Chinese speaking Arcadia mission at the same time!  Esther was I think 10 when she was adopted.  But she was focused on learning English and eventually lost her ability to speak Chinese.  So I think it's super cool that she was called to a Chinese speaking mission.  Bizeng knew Esther and that she is really good at doing hair and did haircuts for missionaries.

My friend Carla has a similar background in Korea before being adopted at 8 years old, weighing just 28 lbs.  I am so happy that Bizeng found comfort, friends, and a community to love him within the church. We sent him a package for Christmas that year and also in the MTC.  He said he cried when he got it.  It was cute how he explained this to us.  He sent us the coolest Chinese bookmarks in return which was fun for us too.  We kept in touch through emails on his mission.  One of my favorite things to do is send packages to missionaries.  At home, kids don't really care that much about pens, scripture markers, socks, etc.  But missionaries love getting packages and emails.  So I've tried to send packages to my kids friends and others when possible because its such an easy way to make them happy!

I feel like I've been through some hard things, but I've never known what it's like to be literally starving.  There were a few times as a kid where I didn't like what was in the fridge or cupboard.  I didn't want to eat the apple or cabbage or whatever else was in the fridge.  But there was always something I could have made.   Starving is totally different.  Also I can't comprehend not having a single person to turn to for help.  We have been so blessed to have a huge super-mega-family.  Twenty siblings between the two of us, and that's not including spouses.  The unexpected blessing of blended families and multiple sets of parents.  There have been a few times when we've experienced job loss or other financial stressors.  And always, we had several family members call and offer to help.  Which is really sweet and there is a security there that I can't imagine being without.  I'm grateful for the gospel in my life everyday and for the blessings I get from making and keeping covenants.  I love the perspective that I have on life and trials.  I love knowing I have a Heavenly Father and a Savior who love me, hear and answer my prayers.  

We had to recreate the MTC shot where Bizeng wanted to take a heart photo with Miles haha.  
Bizeng's friend made these cool pants for him!  They are written on with what looks like Sharpie with the coolest Chinese characters and symbols.  Bizeng was born in 1999, the year of the Rabbit so they have a rabbit and some other cool meanings.

We loved meeting him in person and can see why Miles was so impressed with him!

Mom Grades

Do you ever wish you could be graded as a parent?  I really like the feeling of knowing where I'm at.  When people say things like, "she's just doing her best."  Or Heavenly Father will step in after all we can do (like that bicycle example from some book I read ages ago).  "All you can do" is very hard to pinpoint.  

I can ALWAYS do more.  And that is not a comforting phrase to me.  I just want to know, am I getting an A?  Or am I getting a C?  

Likewise, Soren clearly likes grades as well.  All through elementary school, they kept changing all the "grades" to numbers.  It was very de-motivating.  Because who even knows what that scale means.  Now that he's in Jr High, he likes seeing his grades on Skyward.  And he will go early to school to make sure his assignments are all caught up, and he's got everything organized.  He's that kid I never even have to look at his stuff or remind him of anything because he always has it figured out.  It's always funny to Jared and I when we have kids that are 1. so good at math, and 2. super organized at school.  How did the two of us make these children?  (Side note:  Jared was well-known for being a genius at building robotics and inventions when he was young, and also he was a straight A student until he discovered girls and basketball)

I feel like I would be a better mom if someone was grading me.  And maybe I'd get some extra credit points for doing hard things, like driving my kids to that charter school multiple times per day for years because our neighborhood school was the pits.  

Also, on a random but related note, I've become addicted to caffeine.  When I was little my mom told me  that caffeine gives you a boost of energy but then eventually wears off and leaves you more tired to begin your day than before you started that habit.  So that resonated with me and I always avoided soda and caffeine for the most part.

But then I started driving Simone in the middle of the day to climbing.  I was always super tired.  And I found a little packet of this yummy drink in my water bottle really helped me and I justified it because I want to be alert on the road.  Then it progressed to having a big drink as a reward on my way to the dump (which is a lot) and probably super dehydrated.  And then my Perk hot chocolate that is always yummy.  I love the feeling of being amped up on caffeine.  Like I'm ready to go.

Anyway, my mom was right.   It wears off.   But also kinda wrong.  All those times when I was completely exhausted as a young mom--I could have just cracked open a Coke and felt so much better--and less guilt too.  Because my tired self is not my best self.

Looking back, I would have drunk more caffeine.  But still saved it for those times of desperation so I wasn't reliant on it.

Lawn Rehab

When Simone moved into her new place, one of grandma's duplexes in Salt Lake, the lawn had not been watered for years.  It was mostly weeds, and mostly dead.

So she sprayed the weeds, put down grass seed and some peat moss to help it retain moisture, and set the sprinklers to come on a couple times a day to get it established.  She seeded in mid September.  Which is perfect timing to overseed a lawn.

Within a month it was looking green.  And a couple days ago I brought down the edger and we got it all edged for the first time in maybe a couple decades.  It's been a rental for a very long time.

Anyway, it's been super fun.  Soon we will make an appointment with the water savers plant program to come take a look and hopefully the lawn will be in good enough shape to get a subsidy for doing a xeriscape plan.  

I felt like I was in one of those lawn mowing reels where they pull up to the old overgrown house and mow and trim all the bushes and it looks so much better.  I love those accounts!

The grass was very crispy and mostly weeds in July

Corded lawnmower was actually a breeze to start!  I was surprised it worked.

About 4 weeks after overseeding, it really greened up.

It's already a really cute red brick house.  It's hard to tell in the photos but grandma painted the doors, and did new lights and house numbers.  Edging made a big difference.  Can't wait to plant more evergreen shrubs in front to screen some of the foundation and water meter, etc.

I had some buckets of spring bulbs and Iris I removed from my yard and we threw them in the garden area in the backyard just to have something to look forward to!

Late Summer favorites

Favorite plants I planted this past year that look so beautiful in late summer:

Verbena Bonariensis--so pretty and airy!  Right on the edge of our zone but will likely self seed if it doesn't come back!  I'm going to need a little hedge of these when I put my big garden in.  I love how the path creates a focal point.  

Rozanne Geranium/Hardy Cranesbill--RHS plant of the centenary!  Super pretty trailing foliage.  Blooms like an annual!  June-November (it's still going!).  No deadheading,  which is a huge win for me.  Not invasive or self seeding.

Tall Garden Phlox--I'm loving my white phlox!  I've had more questions about the tall phlox than anything else.  My pallette is white, silver, purple, wine, pale pink, a hint of yellow.  This has been such a pretty long lasting bloom and just gets bigger each year.

Dark Shadows Echinacea--The deep wine color is a favorite.  It is so much better looking after a year in the ground!  

Millenium Allium-- The spikey foliage and clean mound is perfect, even when the blooms fade, it looks great.  I love the round shape of the flower.

Coral Bells/Heuchera--I love the variegated foliage of this variety.  Super versatile plant that tolerates sun or shade and I love the deep wine colored veins.

Japanese Anenome --Honorine Jobert such a cute flower!  The plant will get big (4' tall and 2.5' wide) and I'm so here for it! It loves shade and is exactly what I wanted in my front.   I think I'll add another layer of these in the back of my front walk garden. Fresh cold tolerant blooms.

Japanese Anenome Harlequin Pastel--Smaller 12"x10" size looks so cute in my late summer, fall garden

Mexican Feather Grass--I love grasses and texture.  This one is more blonde and wispy.   You can actually comb through with a real comb if it gets unsightly.  

Astrantia--I tried this on my shady north fence.  So far it's still so small.  Fingers crossed for next year!  The saying for perennials, is first year they "sleep" and I'm hoping that is the case here.  They need moist soil.  Mine might be a little too dry.

Jack Frost Brunnera--This one is great for the north exposure areas that are mostly shade.  It has the cutest blue forget-me-not like flowers in spring.  The variegated heart shaped leaf is really beautiful the rest of the year.  It gets bigger each year--so excited about this.

Cats Pajamas nepeta--Nice short, bloom covers the whole stem.  Perfect for the front of a border.  Blooms bright purple in spring and then continues more muted til fall.  I love how it looks so brilliant with all the bright spring color, but is more of a lavender like color in fall.  Blooming still in November!  Likes being cut back.  Blooms in areas where lavender doesn't thrive.

Burgundy Bunny Grass pennisetum

Whirling butterflies gaura

Limelight hydrangea

Pink Agastache

This one is a bee magnet!  I love it in front of my hydrangeas cause they look so pretty together as the hydrangeas pink up in colder nights of fall.

Pansies! I loved adding this combo of pansies this fall and think they really pulled in all the colors and provided some fall blooms at the front of the border.  I really love the pansies and they last through the winter.  Sadly the deer have been pulling them up.  Hopefully I can revive them!

Progress Pics

 Of my yard.  Haha. 

We had a wedding here in September!  For the NICEST couple.  It was fun.  It was also stressful when we fertilized our lawn and my husband burned the lawn right before the wedding.  So we did our best to water  it out and sow some new lawn seed.  Talk about stress though!  I wanted it to look great and the lawn was patchy.  Anyway, it was okay and with the tables and things it wasn't so obvious.  All the beautiful details made sure no one was really paying attention to the lawn.  At least I hope.

A nursery load I loved!

Lifesavers.  The Sluggo Plus is for the earwigs that decimate my seedlings.  Such a miracle worker.

There were MANY loads like this.  But less than last year!  I'll take it.

                                          

Just a sampling of the hundreds of plants we installed. They are still tiny!  We are hopeful next year they will be much bigger.

My aspens got iron chlorosis and sadly have been dying recently.  They are a short lived tree down in the valleys.  But they screen my utility pole.  So I want to keep them!  We gave them some Dr. Iron and they definitely looked more green!  We also uncovered the root system more as we had mulched a lot a couple years ago and were worried that was also part of the problem.

Long stretch of nothing along my south fence turned into more flower area.  I may just do more fruit trees here though.  Or another berry patch.  Or a greenhouse.  We will see!

Finally the harvest

The goats hopped the fence to my cutting garden and ate everything except for a few plants.  Dahlias from tubers are resistant.  But cuttings are more tender.  I bought some dahlia cuttings on really hard to find varieties.  These were $30 each for just a tiny rooted cutting.  Crazy.  About half survived!  All were quite stunted.  Oh well!  Next year!

I also got hit with powdery mildew early.  Sad for my plants!  Definitely lots of work and I had fewer blooms that were smaller.  It's okay though.  I'm going to do a bigger garden next year in a sunnier location and I think that will help a lot.

Gardening is the ultimate delayed gratification.  Sometimes the progress takes years to really appreciate!  I'm sure that's the case here.  As many first year plants are just out there surviving.  Excited for the growth that happens over the years.