Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tending Gracie

Those that have followed our blog long enough might remember a post from May called $59 and a Really Wonderful Husband. It told this sweet story about Danilo following me through a nursery picking out flowers and tools for our first "garden" on our front porch. Well, folks... except for the toughest of the tough, the flowers are dead. Here's a little before shot of our freshly planted flowers:
And here's a picture I took today before I toss them... the picture is slightly crooked because I was holding Gracie in one arm.I was so excited the day I planted my flowers. I told my mom, "These are going to be the best taken care of five flowers in the world," because that's about how many I planted. Well, here's how it all went down.

The petunias were flourishing until my water broke and I didn't get back to our house until four days later. They were crispy brown when we got home.

The gerber daisies needed more sunlight than our shady porch provided, and I watered them to death.

The violas were in a pot with the gerber daisies. After several revival attempts, I finally tossed the whole thing.

The vincas are the only flowers that have survived. There have been a couple of occasions when I've been sure I've lost them. They'll be drooping and looking super thirsty. I water them and when I see them later that night, they'll be chipper and upright again. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

When I told my mom about the sad state of my garden, she told me about a book she'd read called Tending Roses. It's about a young wife who goes with her husband and family to live with her grandmother and the lessons she learns there. Here's a pretty line from the book, "The best times in my life, the times that have passed by me the most quickly, were the times when the roses grew wild." The woman had been wishing she had more time to prune her roses. She's not able to tend to them as she'd like to because she's raising her little ones. That's the lesson she learns from her grandma. I wish I had wild roses instead of dead flowers on my porch, but I don't know, tell me. Is she worth it?


Thursday, September 10, 2009

Sweetest Day

Gracie was blessed this past Sunday and as I look back I realize what a truly special day it was. She was blessed in the same dress my Grandma Parke made for my blessing 25 years ago.

Her dad gave her a wonderful blessing. I truly felt like the heavens were opening and Danilo was speaking to Grace on her Heavenly Father's behalf. He wasn't wearing a t-shirt and shorts at the time. That was after, when we got to the park. The men in their black suit coats were a little jealous he'd had time to run home and change. My parents said this picture belongs in an aftershave ad... tough yet soft.

Gracie had all of her grandparents there...


I had all of my grandparents there...I am so fortunate to still have them! (See Grandma Parke above, apparently Grandpa Parke didn't get dragged into any of the pictures.)




All of Gracie's adoring aunts...
And Uncle Andrew.
Thanks to my aunts and uncles and cousins who helped with the luncheon afterward and made the day so meaningful by being there. We love you!! Y tambien mandamos saludos y mucho amor a nuestra familia en Chile.