For years Jim has been known for his humorous drawings, but about a year ago he took a watercolor class at the Bountiful Davis Art Center and let the serious artist emerge from within.
This week he had enough courage to enter two pieces in the Davis County Fair and ended up with a blue ribbon for "Ben", our grandson on a tractor. He also received Best in Division for his colorful street scene, "Recife". I am so proud of him! And how nice for him to receive validation from someone outside his family! Congratulations!
Jim and "Ben"
"Recife"
Another precious blessing has joined our family this past week. Little Joshua Bradley was born on Tuesday evening and is the first grandson to carry on the family name. Where we had so many daughters, our grandsons certainly are outnumbering the granddaughters at this point. It doesn't matter--we adore them all!
The happy family
Joshua with his Great-Grandpa Kirkham
After my friend Kim died, I sort of inherited a large number of her quilt tops--meaning that I saved them from going to Deseret Industries, in the trash, or other suggestions her husband had for them. Her daughters wanted the quilts and her husband didn't want them in the house anymore, so I brought them home to keep until a time when the girls will have homes of their own and take them back. As a service I thought it would be fun to finish some of them, so several of my friends and relatives have taken some to quilt. There were more than 20 finished quilt tops and at least that many more unfinished. I especially want to get the baby quilts done so that Kim's grandchildren can have one of her beautiful creations.
Seeing all of Kim's unfinished projects got me to thinking about my own, so I determined to spend the summer sewing-- that when I'm gone there won't be so much for my family to complete or get rid of.
Although not part of my completion list, this is the quilt I made for little Marcus and even a picture of Marcus enjoying a little time on it. The pattern is Wheels by Sandy Workman. It was quilted at Sew 'n' Save and the quilter included little VW Beetles as part of her pattern.
Today I had the opportunity to be the organist at the funeral of a long time friend--my last act of service as it were.
This has been such a busy week, full of wonderful events and a couple of not so wonderful things. Our daughter-in-law, Emilee, was put on modified bed rest on Tuesday when it looked like her little one might want to come too early, but things have stabilized for now and she just has to rest as much as possible and avoid physical exertion. She is due towards the end of July so we'd like him to stay in the cooker a little longer.
Wednesday evening was spent in the ER with my Dad. He was put on some new medications that really messed with his system, but after a few tests and some re-hydration via IV we got to bring him home feeling better and with good reports from his tests.
Thursday evening was a wonderful one--I got to attend the play that Sam wrote and directed for the Relief Society sisters in her ward. It was based on Dicken's A Christmas Carol and she called it A Mother's Day Carol--all about how all the mothers in the world feel inadequate in their roles. What a wonderful, positive, and sweet message it was to all of us. The music she chose to go with the program was perfect, too. We are so proud of her!
Friday afternoon we attended Stephanie's graduation from the University of Utah with a bachelor's degree in International Relations. Although she's the youngest, she is the first of our children to receive a bachelor's degree. Way to go Stephanie! We are proud of you, too!
We appreciate Danny's support of her and encouragement in reaching her educational goals.
Saturday, we had the special experience of witnessing our granddaughter, Bonnie's baptism. How thankful we are for her choice to become a member of the church and how thankful we are for her!
We are so pleased to announce the arrival of Marcus James, son of Adam and Emily, and little brother to Ben. He was born on Wednesday, May 6th, weighing in at 9 lbs. 7 oz. and was 22" long. He has a strong resemblance to Ben, but his hair is lighter in color. Mother and son are doing fine, which is such a great blessing. We are always so happy to add someone new to our family! 
It has been almost 24 years since we moved into our house and for all of those years only one window in the living room has had a covering. That blind broke several years ago, becoming nonadjustable, but since I couldn't decide what to replace it with, it just stayed as it was. I have always loved the look of plantation shutters and this past week we were able to have them installed on every living room window. I really love them and what they do for the room! They have created a cosier atmosphere in there. Oh and I need to mention the total privacy, too. They have insulating properties also, which will help keep the temperature regulated better (it's always been too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer) and the added bonus is a tax rebate! A new rug and a mirror will finally finish the room to be what I've always wanted it to be.
When I was seven years old my parents gave me the gift of piano lessons--probably one of the best gifts I have ever been given. I don't remember how old I was when I first had the desire to teach piano, but by my early teens I was dabbling in teaching. By the time I was fifteen I was teaching for real. I always loved doing it except for the time when I got up to forty-four students--kinda took the joy out of it. It was a great way to add to the family income and still be able to be home with my little children.
Jim and I have been avid movie goers for much of our life together--that is until recent years when we have been busier than ever and the movies have been less worth seeing. Some time ago (so long that I can't remember how long ago) we determined to eliminate R rated movies as entertainment possibilities. This we did in order to be good examples for our kids and to improve our own lives.
We've come close to even doing away with PG-13 movies! I get so tired of hearing how good a movie is except for this or that offensive thing. Why should I spend my hard earned money to see or hear things that shouldn't be for public consumption? The human imagination is a great thing, but movie makers have decided that we need everything graphically displayed instead of letting our minds fill in the blanks. We recently saw True Grit and thought it was a good movie except for the very graphic violence. There's that "except for" thing again!
A few weeks ago I read an article in the newspaper by Richard and Linda Eyre about Hollywood's movie rating system. Their idea was that we shouldn't determine what movies we see by their rating from a system that doesn't much match our family values. They pointed out that many excellent movies had received ratings that would keep us from seeing them. They also felt that parents should read reviews and see movies first before determining whether they are family fare or not.
Now I'm not sure whether I am in the position of justifying or not, but this weekend for the first time in ages we went to an R rated film, The King's Speech. It was one of the best movies we have seen in a long, long time--rated R for the king's use of curse words in order to cure a lifelong problem with stuttering. Don't get me wrong--I hate language like that, even though it is pretty commonplace now days, but I don't see how they could have left it out. I loved the historical value of the movie, the insight to life as a royal, the story of a friendship thriving despite class differences, and did I mention Colin Firth?
It pains me some to confess this to our children after preaching the "no R movies" sermon for so long, but I have given my recommendation without hesitation and they can decide for themselves. I expect that we will continue to remain extremely choosy about the movies we see and always make sure that it is worth our while and money.
Okay I'm off my soapbox now.
