Friday, November 13, 2020

 Through many hits and misses I have found my way back to this blog.  Seven years have passed since I posted here.  With Facebook so prevalent I found myself there when I had a minute.  But I have grown weary of that domain and feel this is a much safer place to record my musings on daily life.  No one to argue a point or adds to annoy or censorship if someone decides your ideas are'nt the right kind for the venue.  When I got here last week I decided to print all my posts into a book and I got it in the mail yesterday and was so thilled with it.  I was so excited that I had recored the little things of life.  There were so many things that I didn't even recall that were said and done by the grandkids.  So I've determined that I will come back.  Blogging seems to have become a way for others to make money but I don't really care if anyone reads it.  This is for me, my safe space.  This will be my journal and I hope I can print  one each year for my posterity and that they will find it useful in getting to know their grandmother. Or at the very least, they may find it entertaining.  I have lots of pages printed in a note book. I started the 100 Memory project a few years ago.  It was supposed to be a hundred memories in a hundred days.  I think I am on number 15. Haha.  I also have daily or weekly entries over a course of years.  But I like this because I can get it printed into an actual book.  So for today, this is my new plan.  Will it go the wayside like all my plans eventually do?  We shall see!

Hello 2013

2o12 Was nothing more than a blur or so I thought until I started organizing my photos. While there were not thousands, there were a few and they attest to the fact that I did go and do while I may not remember it! The highlights were our two trips to Seattle, one in June for Naomi's baptism and one in November for Thanksgiving. While up north in June we went to Glacier National Park on the motorcycle. We went camping in the White Mts. in July and back to Montana and through Yellowstone in Aug. I did manage to have my Halloween Campout for the boys and the Sleepover for the girls. This year Brooke opted for the campout but then felt regret the night of the sleepover. She had fun with the boys even if she didn't remember the night the girls gathered. This year our theme was The Phantom with a dose of Edgar Allen Poe thrown in. We started to watch the movie but all of them were alseep by eleven. Then came Christmas and in a whirl we are here, stepping rapidly into a New Year! I am going to try very hard to be more diligent on posting. Last year I didn't record one entry in my regular journal. For that I am sure I deserve a lashing. And I will probably give my self one or two. I haven't blogged since May. I posted some on Facebook but that was about all I managed and I have no reason why other than pure laziness I suppose! Thank goodness for new starts! So then here we are! Christmas was wonderful as always, to have everyone home for even a day at a time is the best thing in my world. Jared and Krista were here for a week and Ashley was in and out and got to spend a night. We had our party on Christmas Eve with the Swansons and all was right with the world. This post is too long and that is what happens when you never post. So I will leave a couple of pictures and come again another day to visit.

 Naomi's Baptsm Day

 A Motorcycle trip to Heaven

 Camping out At Grandma's

 A Night At the Opera SleepOver

 Making Ginger Cookies For Christmas

On our way to see the Lights

Musings

So beautiful (c.1945)

Mom's birthplace in the Wilds of Eastern Montana

Today marks the second year since my sweet mother made the journey into eternity. It still takes me by surprise some days,not being able to call her and see her,that I can miss her so much. I am coming out of the forest of regret and most days find the sun. But some days I still find myself in the shadows of those towers and then I weep. I am grateful that I believe she is in her mansion in heaven. I sometimes sit and wonder; wonder what it's like there. Do we have our cottage by the sea or our cabin in the wood. Where do we live? I think she must have her heart's desire. She was a righteous woman. I like to look at her pictures and am still in awe of all the goodness and talents and love she had in her. I have only seen now, clearly, those attributes that I took so much for granted when she was here. Why is that, I wonder. I look forward to the day that I will meet her again and be able to tell her all I have learned from her since she has been gone. I wait....

Science With Tiny

While I neglected the camera again and have no picture of us to document our time, I need to record the day so I will always remember how much fun Tiny (Strider) and I had experimenting in the kitchen. On Thursday this week Tiny came to play with me for a few hours. We spent over one of those in the kitchen with a glass pan full of soda and cups of colored vinegar, an eye-dropper, straws and our fingers. About half way through, some little green army men joined in the fun. We built up volcanos, rocks, tunnels, and whatever came to Tiny's mind. We tried cooking the concoction in the micowave and ended freezing an army guy in a cup of goo. We had great fun, fizzing away the time! According to mom, he told everyone about the "experiment" and when I visited later, he retrieved his "freezed army guy" to show me he still had him safe! See you next Thursday, Tiny, when we will try making "gak." I will try to remember to take a picture!

Birds On The Brain

While this week was a busy one, with a trip to the temple in Mesa on Tuesday, home Wednesday evening, a fun day with Strider on Thursday, Monday was spent in my cave, music softly playing in the background, creating a new feathered friend and Friday found me returning to my newest passion, birds! Today I finished my second in the flock who's home will be in Ashley's favorite spot, wherever that might be!

This little one is entitled "All Dressed Up and No Where To Crow." She is all lace, velvet and glitter with turquoise and purple feathers, nesting amongst her bottle of glitter, spool of rhinestones, a key to the city, handmade paper-covered eggs,and other assorted treasures. She is indeed, "dressed to crow." I am having such fun!!

More Crafty Business

For some reason the following post that I just posted moments ago would not let me download my pictures. So the following pictures are of my little bird and her nest. Read further for more on subject!

Crafty Business

Ashley and I had some late night fun a few weeks back. Her friend needed a quaint bouquet and we said we could make one. Ashley went shopping and brought her finds and I dug through cupboards and boxes and added mine to the mix. Then we put our hands and heads together and this is the bouqut we came up with. We love it! And now Ashley is thinking we could sell these!!! So if anyone reading this blog is interested, leave a comment!





We also had some fun with birds and nests. And these I am excited about and have plans for the birth of a few more. I have been dying lace black for my next one. Each bird will be an individual creation with her own story. This first one is entitled " A Bird in the Hand." If I could have my wish, it would be to go into my little room and sit and create, with no interruptions each and every day for at least 6 hours. You know what they say...If wishes were horses.....

Something Wicked

Off to find the yellow brick road! Ashley and Sabra were my companions for the journey and we arrived just in the nick of time. They roped off the door behind us and we took our seats as the lights dimmed. What a wonderful time was had by all of us. The play was fabulous, the costumes magnificient, the music inspiring!I loved the story, the sets, the comedy.It was one of my best times. Thanks to Sabra for wanting to go see Wicked for her Christmas present this year and for Ashley getting the tickets ordered. We had a wonderful couple of days full of laughs, shopping, and of course the highlight, Wicked! I would highly recommend it to all.

Bowling HIGH

Too bad it wasn't for dollars because I would be rich. At least for that one game. I broke my top score, I broke Tom's top score and I bowled 4 strikes in a row. That score board was sweet! First frame was a spare, then my turkey, and then another strike. I was yelling by this point! Then another spare. Finished out with another couple of spares and a strike in the tenth! Holy cow! I was excited! Final Score? A 213 Baby!!! Now my average has been around 125 but since the holidays I have been lucky to break 100 so tonight brought back my confidence. Of course, the game before was pathetic and the one after likewise. But I will always have that One! WhooHoo!

A New Year

Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went in a flurry of fun and here we are a good third of the way into January of 2012. I already have a long list of should have's like should have taken some pictures to post on this blog. But alas, I didn't so am going to just go ahead and post anyway. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with all of the family at Bob and Sabra's. I even Indian wrestled Ashley and won I might add. Check post on Sabe's blog for pictures of that day. We had our usual Christmas festivities, looking at lights with the grandkids. You know I did take pictures that night. (I will have to put them into this computer. I got a laptop that I am still learning how to use.) Anyway, that was a fun but very cold night. Christmas Eve brought the annual party with friends and family. We had a fun time with pinatas, too much food, and the gift exchange. Then Christmas morning....a first for Tom and I in a long time. We woke alone, just the two of us in the house. It was sweet but sad in a way. We got up(later than a usual Christmas morning)and exchanged our gift to each other. I gave him the same wallet he took back last year. Maybe next year he will keep it!!! Then we got ready for church and I love going on a Christmas to hear all of the music that we only hear this time of year. I enjoyed it immensely. Then we all came back and had our annual Christmas breakfast, just had it at lunch time this year. We gave our gifts to the kids and enjoyed each other until the evening. I missed my mother, thinking I needed to call her several times during the day. Then New years blew in and here we are. I didn't write any resolutions down yet but have been pondering on it. I have lots of them on my mind. I am going to have a special day with Strider every Thursday and I am looking forward to getting closer to him. I think we shall have some fun!! I am looking forward to changes that may come this year, hoping they do. Life is good and I hope I can be a source of goodness in the lives of those I love and serve. And I hope I get better at taking pictures and blogging entries in this cyber journal of mine.

Second Annual Halloween Camp Out

The Arrival

Last year, with so many grandchildren having reached the age of invitation to the Halloween parties, I decided it would be best to do two of them, one for the boys and one for the girls. So began the annual Boys Halloweenie Camp Out. I never did get around to posting last years activites so I wanted to make sure I got it done this year. For the boys, Grandpa pitched a tent which we decorated with spiders and webs. This year we all went bowling. Last year we did a movie at the theater. They were more interested in getting back home to hunt for ghosts just like last year. We ate pizza at the bowling alley and consumed enormous amounts of junk once we got home.

This year instead of ghosts, we had a pumpkin hunt amongst the trees in the back yard.


They loved it all. They ran and yelled and jumped and rolled!





And when they began to wear down, we lit the fire and roasted marshmallows.



They were ready to lie down by ten and entered the tent. The weather was still so warm, even though it was the 12th of October. The wind was whistling and the humidity was dense. By 2am Tiny wanted to sleep in the house. He was followed by Buddy sometime later and around 5 Dawson came staggering in. I slept in the recliner once the first one gave it up. Grandpa stayed all night on the patio in his cot. Lino woke up sometime before the sun came up and took my place in the lounge chair next to Granpa. All of the boys were no worse for the wear come morning and all left to go to other activities by seven except for Lino. He hung out with me until around two in the afternoon and we had a great time, playing games and watching a movie. Even though they had to leave early, I think all had a lot of fun and they are already thinking of next year.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

And Down the Yellow Brick Road, we had the 5th Annual Girl's Halloweenie Sleepover on the 28th of October. And I had the best time, planning and hosting all of my beautiful girls, excepting little Lexie who isn't old enough yet. This year however, she realized she didn't get to stay and cried, breaking my heart. I am sure she will be ready to attend next time around. Our festivities began in the Emerald City with a buffet of scrumptious tacos, rice, and all of the favorites of my girls. At the table they found their annual sock all wrapped up like cupcakes with a rainbow sucker for a topper. (Thanks to Brenda Hall who always has the best ideas.)


Grandpa made a perfect hourglass for the table. This is a story in and of itself! Suffice it to say, he made a special trip to the store after he broke the first hour glass the night before the party and I was of course a little upset! As always, he saved the day! He called to say they had an orange one but no, that wasn't good enough! After all, the whole color scheme of the table was red and black. I am so bad!! So he called Ashley and bless her little heart; she dropped everything and scooted over the the El Centro Marshalls and found a red one. So now we have an extra orange hour glass for the next occasion I need one! (I should be and am a little ashamed!! Poor Tom!!After all I had green plates as we were in the Emerald City and originally I was doing the whole table in green! And he actually chooses to live with Me? I should have been sent to my room!)


Tied to each of their chairs was a broom that they later used to play a game I called The Flying Monkey.(I could barely walk by Sat. afternoon as I was the flying monkey gone bad!) They each put their broom on one end of the yard by the witch. I, the monkey, stood in the middle and they were at the other end of the yard. The object of the game was to retrieve their broom before the monkey tagged them. If they were tagged before they got back to the Emerald City with the broom, they fell asleep in the spot they were tagged. Then someone who had a broom and made it back had to come rescue them by tagging them with their broom. It was the best tag game I ever played. I had more fun than a "barrel of flying monkeys"


I usually do a ghost hunt but wanted to mix it up this year. Last year we had a treasure hunt in addition to the Ghost hunt and it was a favorite. So this year we we hunted for the Ruby Slippers. I went to Goodwill and found the perfect pair of heels to turn into a pair of Ruby Slippers. They were part of the centerpiece for the table when we began but ended up hidden in the haunted forest, filled with a crystal heart for each of my "pretties". The hearts were wrapped in damask sacks and later each girl made hers into a necklace. While I was out hunting for the perfect shoes to turn into the slippers for the table, I hit the dollar store and found 5 pairs of little gold slippers that were meant to decorate a tree. There the idea for my treasure hunt was born. Although I searched every dollar tree from here to El Centro, I could not find 2 more pairs. We made do. I turned all said shoes ruby red with a little paint and glitter. Then each was tied with a line or two of a poem that contained clues. They had to find all of the little slippers and put the poem together to figure out the clues.
It was a little harder for them than I expected but with a little help they soon figured it out. The first place they were sent was through the field where poppies cannot grow, up the vertical mountain, though the long dark tunnel where the witch was melting on the castle floor. They made it to the playhouse out back where they found a pile of witch's clothes on the floor. Under her cape they found another clue with a magic wand that lit up. They had to light their wands and then find another clue that was hidden somewhere on the castle walls. This led them into the haunted forest where the Ruby Slippers lay hidden amongst snakes and spiders,(all plastic of course.) It was great fun to watch them figure it all out.



Each girl had her picture taken in the Ruby Slippers and and Rainbow Tshirt. (Kaylie and Syd had pink spider shirts. It's hard to find 7 of anything when you need it!!)











We also had our annual crafting session and it was heard that it was the best craft we ever did. They each painted a board that Grandpa cut in their color of choice and decoupaged the letters HOME in rainbow colors of paper. Then they applied lime green vinyl words that said "there's no place like" over the top. A hook went into the bottom and a pair of Ruby Slippers used in the hunt were threaded with ribbon and hung. Very Cute!! And thank you to my good buddy Renae for cutting all of those letters and vinyl on your trusty Cricket before you left! What would I do without you??) Small problem encountered was the fact that we were short two pairs of slippers so Grandpa, who is always there to lend a hand, said he would hand carve each pair for the two oldest guests. So they are still waiting patiently for their slippers.

While crafting we had a surprise guest that illicited a round of screams and much chaos. He remained all night and in the morning we escorted him from the garage, back into the wild from whence he came. Isn't he a lovely green? And he had the biggest eyes!


There are always unplanned activities that come up and this year was no different. Kaylie and I were talking about costumes and she was wearing a headband in the manner of the 70"s so I told her she should wear a red velvet dress I had that was pure 1968 vintage and in beautiful condition. I had it in a box in the closet. So out came the box, which also contained my wedding dress. The velvet dress fit her perfectly and for some reason I didn't get a picture of that. But one thing led to another and all of the girls began to try on my wedding dress and that led to all of Ashley's prom dresses and they modeled and laughed and we had the best time.






We ate and played and painted until we were all worn out and ready for our movie which of course was.....The Wizard of Oz! Most of the party goers were asleep before Dorothy made it to the Emerald City but Brooke and I saw her wake up safe and sound back in Kansas. In the morning, we finished up our craft, ate pancakes of course, with scrambled eggs, always the favorite. Then Kaylie and Syd played on the computer and cleaned the kitchen, (bless their little hearts) and the other girls played in the yard, dressing up and making believe, my favorite thing to watch them do. Sydney did join them and I finally coaxed Kaylie out for a picture.


They all went home by one, I mopped the floor, took a pain reliever and slept on the couch! I LOVE HALLOWEEN SLEEPOVERS!!! And a most excellent and heart-felt THANK YOU to my wonderful and beautiful daughter Ashley who made this all happen. If she had not been with me every step of the way, from planning to cooking to crafting, none of it would have happened! Thank you sweetheart! I love you!

Still Here

I am sitting in my favorite chair, wasting time, or should I say catching up by visiting blogs and facebook. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly life moves for everyone. It would take me a month to send out congratulations to everyone on the wonderful events in their lives from weddings to new jobs, babies, and accomplishments. That's what happens when you stay away from the computer world. So let me just say it here. Congratulations to each and every one of my beloved family and friends on your life events. I thrill for each of you when I read of your accomplishments and good fortunes. I wish nothing but the best for you. We are still in the house and supposing we may never sell in this market. But way to busy to worry much about it. I have been planning activities for kids, and Relief Society, and having fun doing it. We had our second annual Halloweenie Campout with our little boys. Four of them came this year. I will post pictures soon. I am on my nook at the moment and haven't loaded any photos on here. I should do that I suppose. It would be so techie of me! Anyway, we had fun and when I do get the pictures up, I will tell all about it. I am afraid the pictures will be horrible and not exactly self explanatory as usual. I took a bunch of pictures on our bike trip to Yosemite in Sept. So will have to post a few of those also. This week is the fifth annual Girls Halloweenie sleepover and I have much to do for that yet. I think I am running out of energy just planning these events but I can't seem to stop! Well, it's time for church so will post this for now, call it my journal entry for the year, and be back with pictures another time. I never even got around to posting last years Halloween festivites and here we are again. How is that possible? Or maybe I just don't remember posting about it. I will have to check on that.

Movin' On

I knew the time would come to sell our house. It always does. And as always, my feelings are ambivalent. I swing from " how exciting, a new adventure to "Ugh, I can't stand the thought of packing and storing! But to use one of my daught er-in-laws most detested phrases, It is what it is. So today I choose to be optomistic that it will sell and when it does, I will think of it as a blessing. After all, it's just a house. I can take any four walls and make it home as long as I have my family around me. But I probably should take a few more pictures so I can "remember when"!

Families Are Forever

This past Thursday, June 30th, became a red letter day in my heart. I finally made it to the temple to do my mother's work. I had planned to be there in May and that didn't work out. Then we decided to go on her birthday and that didn't work out. Because Salt Lake had no record of her death, I couldn't print her cards. After finally tracking down the problem and getting it resolved, I printed the needed records and we were on our way. To say that it was a spiritual experience is an understatement. Suffice it to say, I was where I needed to be and so were my parents. I felt of their love for me and for each other. I felt my mother's excitement as the thought came to me that now she could go to places she had not been able to go before. I am at peace. Tom and I were able to do the endowments for her, her uncle and have her sealed to her parents, her parents to each other, my dad and her sealed to each other and then me to them. It was overwhelming. Some years ago I had the temple work done for her brother who died in the Korean War. As I came away from the alter my thoughts turned to her sisters and brothers. I felt like I need to get the records in order and get them all linked together and soon. Only one of the seven children is still living so I have lots to do. I am so grateful for this opportunity that is mine, to do this work for my family. What a great blessing in my life. The picture here is of my mom and her family when my mom was a little girl.She is the second one on the left in the middle row, with the little curl on her forhead, in a striped sort of dress. They were homesteaders in Montana and all but the youngest of the children were born in the one room log cabin that my grandfather built. It is still standing in the fields of Montana to this day. I walked through is back in the 80's. The second picture is of all of her brothers and sisters and their father at a reunion in 1981. Grandma had already passed away and of course Uncle Arnold. I was named after him as he died right before I was born. His middle name was Lee. I became a Lea but then the nurse that filled out the birth certificate thought it was misspelled and put an h on the end, making it Leah and that's the story I was told of how I came to be known as Patricia Leah. Just a side note there!! Well, this post is getting a little lengthy isn't it? But I couldn't let this special time go by without sharing it in my little blog world. I am happy!

Les Miserables!

Thanks to Sabra for the picture. We had a fabulous time on our girl's weekend. Lots of shopping, eating, and just enjoying being together. Thanks to all of my daughters for a fun time!