Waiting For Spring

When I can't sleep at night because my heart is hurting or my mind is busy worrying, the only comfort I have is my five girls. These girls are everything to me - the five anchors that keep me going and remind me (on those occasions when I think I can't possibly keep going) that there is unconditional love to be found..  I have that from my girls and I am so grateful for each and every one of them!

Another joy in my life is gardening. Two years ago I followed some bad advice and put some harsh compost in my garden and it's never been the same since. (Insert huge sad face here) Although the results are somewhat discouraging these days, I still love to plant things in the earth and do my best to get them to grow. Last Friday was Earth Day. Did you know that?  I celebrated the planet by prepping and planting some spring crops in my veggie garden and by cleaning out my beloved sitting garden. Don't think I did this without any help though! Hubby and the girls were there to help me with all of it and it was a very satisfying day!

I can't wait until it is warm enough to start putting in some lovely annual plants to make this garden burst with color!

Saturday was busy busy! We had made plans to go to Mom's to color Easter eggs with Missy and Ella, but it was also Prom day for Emily and I just could not make our schedules work so that we could color eggs without leaving anyone out. You know me by now... I don't know how many years of egg coloring I have left with my teenage girls so it is very important to me that I don't miss the time I have left. I made the difficult decision to stay home with my girls and color eggs when Emily was available between her "day activity" and leaving for her Prom date. I think there have been times in the past when the girls had more fun coloring eggs than they did this year, but I was happy to be a part of it nonetheless! (I think the girls were really missing Ashley this year!)

It wasn't long before it was time for Emily to get gussied up for her big date. She looked stunning! I am so proud of this girl of mine.. she's growing up so quickly and if I blink then I will miss it! But true to Emily form, she came up with a great idea to have her picture taken in her Prom dress.... jumping on the trampoline! I love her silly side. :) Even better was when she got the other three in her group to join her in some high-jumping hi-jinx! Have you ever seen Prom pictures like these? So fun!

 

I am so happy that I have these girls to remind me of all the important things in life. I love them all to pieces! I even got them Easter treats again this year in spite of the comment, "Mom, you make us feel like we are five years old!"  I know they love it that the "Easter Bunny" still thinks of them and I loved watching them divvy up the treats in the ginormous basket that they have all shared since they were little. *sigh*  I'm just not ready for my little ones to grow up!

  

Anatomy Of A Spring Storm

Spring weather in Utah makes my Hubby crazy... that is not an understatement. He gets so excited for the warmth that even one day of it is enough to convince him that winter is over and done with... and then it snows the next day.  I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that he pouts like a toddler when his sunshine is taken away. I am the opposite because I happen to think that Spring storms are awesome! There is no telling what you will get from one day to the next, or even one minute to the next, and at times the ferocity is nothing short of spectacular!

We have a saying around here.. "If you don't like the Spring weather in Utah, wait 10 minutes!" Today was the ultimate example of that very saying and this photo evidence will prove it.  These pictures were all taken today, from 9am-1pm.  Amazing!

Taken from my bedroom window with my camera phone.

This first picture shows the black, wicked storm approaching from the North. There was ominous thunder and lightening heralding something ferocious about to descend upon us.

 

 I raced downstairs to grab my camera so I could document the exciting weather! Look at the wall of the storm over our neighbor's house! The clouds were moving south very quickly!

These are our pine trees in the backyard. It's important that I show you this photo because you will see this view several times throughout this pictorial. Each picture is vastly different! This one was taken as the black storm was still swirling over us.

Can you see the Robin in this tree? Do you think he was thinking, "Oh Crap!"

I kept calling for Bill to come outside and watch the storm unfold, but he was playing on the Xbox and couldn't hear me with his gamer headphones on. He missed the best parts of the storm!

In the back yard, the clouds were screaming southward. The front yard was completely opposite. Here the black clouds are dipping low and racing to the north! That means the storm was swirling directly over us. How cool is that!

It was right about then that it started to hail. I didn't get a good hail picture though so you'll just have to trust me on this. It hailed! After 5 minutes of cold rocks falling from the sky, the clouds took pity on us and released their fluffiest of white stuff.  The snow flakes were huge and beautiful!

 Hubby and I had some errands to run (to get ready for our Spring camping trip) so I took a few pictures as I was driving.. (don't tell the cops!)

As I reached the crest of this hill I could see that the storm was movin' on out.

By the time we returned home, snow had already melted from the back yard. 

I told you there would be more pictures of this tree.. .and we're not done yet! The sun was working hard to break through the storm clouds.  Queue "Here Comes The Sun" can you hear it?

As I snapped a few pictures of the budding trees and the asparagus peeking out of the soil, the sun continued its journey out of the clouds.... and suddenly there it was!

And remember the pine tree that I told you to keep your eye on?  Well here it is again. This picture was taken at 1pm.. what a wonderful, beautiful and amazing Spring storm we had today!

Today we experienced thunder, lightening, wind, rain, hail, snow, and finally... bright blue sky!  Welcome to Spring in Utah.. you never know what you're going to get. 

PS: Two hours later and it's snowing again.  Haha!