Spring has "Sprung" !

On April 18th we went for a walk at the Smith Farm/ Sacred Grove. We were pleasently surprised with all the new "flowers" that were springing up. (The last two pictures on the blog this week are of some flowers too... I just got them out of order!) I hope you enjoy "Spring inthe Grove" this week!

The first buds on a bush. Life is coming back to the grove... Mostly the only green on the ground is ground cover and flowers. It is pretty!

Little purple pansies... no. Little purple violet looking flowers though!

Isn't it pretty... I'm sure Blair (Doug's oldest brother) could (and will) tell us what it is, but we don't have any idea. It is just pretty!

All the flowere pictures were taken on April 18th. It was so fun to see them after a long winter. Since we got here the first part of November... this is the first green we have seen! (New life)

Some missionaries planted some dafodills in the grove many years ago. Some people think it is terrible that they planted something that wasn't there when Joseph came to the grove. I like it myself! It gives you that "Hope of Spring and Easter feel".
Just a beautiful hint of green. You can tell how excited about spring we are...

Just on the outskirts of the Grove we found one bush with some leaves. Yes!! (April 20th)

I think that it will someday have some lovely green ground cover... Anyway, that is what the pictures in books show.

All the trees have buds just opening. I can't wait to see it in a few days! (April 20th)

Isn't it great... this means that Spring is finally coming! (It also means that it will probably snow tomorrow!!!) If you don't like the weather in NY, just wait 10 minutes!
Today the bushes and some of the ground cover are turning green. It is amazing... it has only been two days since we were here to take pictures!

April 20th! You can hardly see it, but the trees are just starting to get leaves. There is just a "hint" of green up there. They told us that the softer trees get there leaves first and then the hard wood trees leaf out.

Sunday, April 30th... Just 10 days and the trees are all getting leaves. It is so much greener than it was. It is hard to believe that it could happen so fast. What a little rain and sun can do!
Unbelieve able... Most of the flowers from 12 days ago are gone... now the green is starting to come out on the trees as well as the bushes.

It is amazing what 10 days can do... The pictures don't do it justice. It is so pretty. We have loved watching the grove wake up from it's long winters nap!

We met Elder Jones coming the opposite way through the grove... He took this picture of us. We so love our missionaries that we work with here. Elder Jones gave me a clock he made to sit on my table. I will have to send you a picture of it... You won't believe it. It is beautiful!

In another week or so, you won't be able to "see through" the trees. You can already tell how "thick" it is going to be.

Just a walk in the grove! It is easy to walk there... especially when you take your camera. You walk 20 feet and stop to take a picture. It is just right for me. Because it is so slow, I can stay out in the fresh air for quite a while. The day was lovely and it was great to see all the changes in the grove.

Elder Evans came to our house the other day to give me a "hospital haircut." I asked him if he could help me get something easy to comb so when I can't move too good, Doug could comb my hair. I think that he did it. It is short, easy to comb, and I love it.

"Short and sassey" new look. It is really easy to comb, so I am hoping that it will that it will be easier while I am in bed for a few days. Thank you Elder Evans!

When my haircut was finished, Elder Evans got Doug in the chair to "Trim him up a little!" He can give a fast haircut... and it is good, too. We both looked better when he left. He is great!

This is an interesting picture... I was making bread when Elder and Sister Evans came to our home to cut my hair. I moved the Bread dough to the washroom so it would be out of the way. When my haircut was finished, I went to get the bread and this is what I found. The lid was so tight that I thought it would crack... The bread turned out great, by the way!

Tim and Michele Toone came to the sites for a vacation. It was great to see them. We had dinner with them and it was so fun to laugh. What wonderful friends we have!

Put these next two pictures to the front of the blog... I got things out of order! The flowers are still beautiful even if they are "scattered" not only through the grove, but on my blog, too.


The next few pictures are of the grove just coming to life. On April 18th we went into the grove and a very few "green things" had started to come up on the ground. The flowers came first and here are a few we saw. I just remembered that the first picture is last... I will start again after the next picture.

Spring is "Springing" and has almost "Sprung". I can’t believe that it has been as long as it has since I published a blog. It seems like it has only been a few days, but as the pictures tell, it has been longer. Over a period of 12 days, New York has started to turn green in earnest. Almost overnight the trees are sprouting their leaves. Every day you go outside and are surprised how much it has changed and how much greener it is. It is weird. After having brown "stick-like" trees for so long, they are starting to get really pretty. I can’t imagine how green it will be when all the trees are leafed out. It will hurt your eyes! I think that I might get a little claustrophobic when all the trees are green and you can’t see long distances. It will certainly be a new look for New York! (for us, anyway!)

These past two weeks I have been feeling better and better. I am sure that it is all the prayers that are being offered in my behalf. Thank you everyone. I have got a lot of strength back and the pills have taken the chest pain away. I still get a "tight" or "heavy" chest when I go walking, and I get some shortness of breath, but it is a lot better than it was. I am going to ask my doctor to double check to see if I really have to have surgery! With all these prayers, I might have a miracle.

We had such a fun couple of days last week. Tim and Michele Toone (some of our good friends from Farmington, and our home ward) came to Palmyra to see the sacred sites. We got to spend some time with them "on and off" the sites. It was so fun. We had dinner at our apartment and laughed and laughed. It was really good for us. Now if we could just spend some time with them on the evening of the 7th of May. (The night before surgery!) We needed to forget our "troubles" and just enjoy life for a few days. It has made it easier for me to look towards the surgery. I am not sure why, but it has. (I’m still hoping for that miracle, but if I don’t get it… it will all work out!)

Elder Evans is a Senior Missionary from Cedar City, Utah. He owns several beauty colleges and has been a "beautician" all his married life. (His wife is also a beautician, but she stayed home with the kids… she would help him wash hair but let him do the cutting.) He is so fast at giving a haircut, you can't believe it! I’ll bet it didn’t take him 30 minutes to cut both Doug’s and my hair. He has been cutting all the missionaries hair since he got here. The Elders have caught on to a good thing and when he says he will cut one Elder’s hair, about 6 Elders show up for haircuts. He seems to love to do it. This is their 2nd mission and they said that they love to do this… it is their favorite thing to do on P-day. Anyway, I asked him what I should do to make it easier to take care of my hair while I was in the hospital. He came over and started cutting. He cut about 2 or more inches off so it is pretty short, but I have to say, it has been easy… I just wash it, put some "stuff" in it, dry it, and go. Hopefully it will look somewhat combed after several days in a bed! After he finished my haircut, he said, "Elder Pack, sit down here and I will trim your hair while I am here!" We had a good time and both looked better for it.

Our senior missionaries have all come forth to take over our assignments in May. I feel bad that they have to do it, but I am sure that if the shoe was on the other foot, I would be happy to do it for them. I hate to give them more work and less time to rest. After all, we are old people… we need our rest! We work with a wonderful group of people here. If I can’t be at home to have this surgery (where my home ward, friends and family are) this is a good place to be. I am sure that they will help Doug and I in anyway they can. Doug is such a good nurse, I know that I am in good hands. Please remember us both in your prayers. We really can feel the blessings that are coming from your prayers in our behalf. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts (no pun intended). We love you all so much. Have a wonderful week. Leave us comments… we love to hear from you! dnd