Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday Dear Nieces--
Happy Birthday To You!
Bekah from my side of the fam, and Brooke from Duff's side of the fam. Have a wonderful day filled with all your dreams come true! We love you so much!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
This Just In.....
- Snow, snow, snow! Calls from Shaun, Natalie, and Nancee. 10 inches in Provo and more than that in Midway.
- A survey has confirmed that if a woman eats 1 apple a day while pregnant, her baby will have a significantly higher percentage against asthma and allergies. Also, eating fish once a week gives a significantly higher percentage against excema. We have both of those in our family. Take note. If it does this for babies, imagine what they will do for us even if we aren't pregnant!
- Wall street prediction: 72,000 retail stores will go under in the first 6 months of this year. (subliminal message) Get going on that provident living! (subliminal message)j
BACK ON TRACK
Okay family. We had December off for our food storage/emergency preparedness, and now it's time to get 'back on track'! We've all seen the effects of last year. It really is time to get serious about preparedness and provident living. A little at a time. This can be accomplished! Look to the right column and down. There it is!
This month is all about paper products. If you need to 'get up and get out' these will be essential.
Do you have your containers? Check out all the after holidays low prices at Target and Wal-Mart, etc. You can get a really good deal. We've been gathering for almost a year. So some of this will be familiar. Isn't it exciting to see it grow!
No matter where you are--GET STARTED! It's good to know we can encourage and support each other doing this.
Love, Mom and Dad
Monday, January 5, 2009
January Is:
Did you know that January is National Hobby Month? I didn't.
I think it's important to have hobbies. It helps us keep balance. It helps us grow. It makes us expand our world. I think hobbies are talents being developed.
My hobbies right now: stitchery, crochet, cooking, baking, blogging, reading
Hobbies I'd like to develop: quilting, digital scrapbooking, photography.
What are your hobbies now and what would you like to try?
I think it's important to have hobbies. It helps us keep balance. It helps us grow. It makes us expand our world. I think hobbies are talents being developed.
My hobbies right now: stitchery, crochet, cooking, baking, blogging, reading
Hobbies I'd like to develop: quilting, digital scrapbooking, photography.
What are your hobbies now and what would you like to try?
January is 'Fresh'
- Visiting Teaching Report (it took almost all day)
- Duff to chiropractor and down flat for 2 days
- Return a weeks worth of phone calls (took most of the day)
- Dinner
- Print December blog and file
- Clean and pick up house
- Carpool
- Visited with Meredith and Josh
- Made rice pudding with the left over from yesterday
After I printed out the December posts, I could change over to January. I love a winter look for January. Frosty and cool. I liked that last year too. I noticed that Jennifer and Gwen and I like the same page! It must run in the 'family'! Good taste, gals.
It was cold here again today. Not like the -6 it was yesterday morning when we left Midway, but cold for us. We had a big pot of soup for dinner. I got a lot done and it felt good to be back in a routine with Christine in school. I like January. It feels 'fresh'.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Home
We are home. We woke up and Duff's back was so bad, he couldn't get out of bed. So we got a later start than we wanted. He insisted on starting to drive. Why? I ended up doing most of the driving after all! The trip was non-eventful and we didn't even have very much traffic out of Vegas on a Sunday at 4 pm at the end of a holiday weekend. Unheard of!
We walked in the door to the most delicious aroma! Meredith had made a Sunday roast beef dinner for us to have when we got home. Can I just say how it really hit the spot after a day of being on the road. It was really good and I appreciated it more than I can say. Who wants to think about making a meal after driving all day? She put it in the crock pot and I loved her recipe. Very easy, but oh so good. The meal was complimented with some biscuits and jam which a great touch. Thanks, Mere! Love you!
Mike came by for a while too. It's a little quiet with Shaun being gone after having him home for a year. Always a transition when a family member leaves home. Love that guy!
The guys unloaded the car and Duff went straight to the couch. He will be at the chiropractor first thing in the morning. Already made the appointment. They took the garbage cans out and the tree. Christine is less than thrilled to go back to school tomorrow. But she is a trooper. We'll all be back in the 'groove' by the end of the week. Our mutual night changes this year to Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I like that because Wednesdays are her late start day and she can sleep in after YW and finish up any homework she couldn't get done.
Meredith and I are up late. She is trying to get all caught up on the previous seasons of 24 before the season starts next week. I am too wound up from driving so I've been laying on the couch and we're watching together while she is finishing the binding on Josh's quilt she made him for Christmas. I'll get a picture tomorrow. It turned out really nice.
I still have decorations all up except for the tree, but I'm not so stressed about it. I'll get it done eventually. Oh, the next episode is starting....
We walked in the door to the most delicious aroma! Meredith had made a Sunday roast beef dinner for us to have when we got home. Can I just say how it really hit the spot after a day of being on the road. It was really good and I appreciated it more than I can say. Who wants to think about making a meal after driving all day? She put it in the crock pot and I loved her recipe. Very easy, but oh so good. The meal was complimented with some biscuits and jam which a great touch. Thanks, Mere! Love you!
Mike came by for a while too. It's a little quiet with Shaun being gone after having him home for a year. Always a transition when a family member leaves home. Love that guy!
The guys unloaded the car and Duff went straight to the couch. He will be at the chiropractor first thing in the morning. Already made the appointment. They took the garbage cans out and the tree. Christine is less than thrilled to go back to school tomorrow. But she is a trooper. We'll all be back in the 'groove' by the end of the week. Our mutual night changes this year to Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I like that because Wednesdays are her late start day and she can sleep in after YW and finish up any homework she couldn't get done.
Meredith and I are up late. She is trying to get all caught up on the previous seasons of 24 before the season starts next week. I am too wound up from driving so I've been laying on the couch and we're watching together while she is finishing the binding on Josh's quilt she made him for Christmas. I'll get a picture tomorrow. It turned out really nice.
I still have decorations all up except for the tree, but I'm not so stressed about it. I'll get it done eventually. Oh, the next episode is starting....
January 4, 1981
I'm feeling a little 'funny' this morning. We are getting ready to drive home. It is Sunday, January 4th. Twenty-eight (28) years ago today, on a Sunday, Duff's dad died. He had just turned 50 three days prior. His mother had passed away in the morning after a battle with old age and being in the hospital. He was driving down to Price to meet with his sisters to plan the funeral, etc., fell asleep at the wheel and drove off a steep embankment and was killed.
We were all in shock. Ended up having 2 funerals a day apart. I fell and broke my leg the day of his funeral when I was going downstairs to put baby Josh's blanket in the washer and saw all his muddy, bloody clothes at the bottom of the basement stairs that the police had brought to the family. It startled me and I took a wrong step and fell all the way down. I guess I'm lucky that's all I broke. I walked on it all day thinking it was only a sprain. Not.
We had just moved to California. Duff had just graduated. We had just moved into our first little apartment and Duff was starting his brand new job the next morning, Monday. Our phone still wasn't connected. We could call out, but not get calls in and this was long before cell phones. My dad had come over to help get the crib and beds set up so we could sleep there finally. We had a nice dinner and he left for the 30 minute drive back to Torrance. An hour later a knock was at our door. Who could it be? We didn't know anyone. I opened the door and it was my dad looking awful. No one could get a hold of us, so they called my parents. My dad had to drive all the way back.
He quietly came in the door and told me Duff's dad was dead. It wouldn't register. Duff was in the bedroom playing with the boys before they went to bed. It had been a hectic week with the holidays, moving, and now starting a brand new job. It was awful standing there taking in the scene of my dad telling my husband that his father had been in a horrible car accident and had died. There is just no good way to do that. We tried the phone. We providentially could get a call out. Yes, it was true. Well, we weren't going to spend our first night in our new apartment. We packed up quickly and drove back to my parents where we could use the phone and make plans to get back to Utah.
(side note: our 'new' car had broken down and was in the shop. We were borrowing a car from my mom and dad. Could anything else go wrong?)
Duff flew out the very next morning. I stayed a couple more days to try and get some things taken care of with the move and his new job. They were very understanding and accomodating. Talk about crazy! He was supposed to start work and was now on a plane.
He came back home after the funerals and went to our apartment that wasn't even unpacked to stay so he could start work. I was on crutches and in a cast with a toddler and a 5 month old nursing baby in bitter cold, snowy Utah, with a grieving mother-in-law and the twins who were 16 for an additional 10 days until the swelling could go down and I could get a walking cast. Writing it down now it's hard to believe all that happened and the circumstances under which they did. But we did survive and were stronger for it.
We were all in shock. Ended up having 2 funerals a day apart. I fell and broke my leg the day of his funeral when I was going downstairs to put baby Josh's blanket in the washer and saw all his muddy, bloody clothes at the bottom of the basement stairs that the police had brought to the family. It startled me and I took a wrong step and fell all the way down. I guess I'm lucky that's all I broke. I walked on it all day thinking it was only a sprain. Not.
We had just moved to California. Duff had just graduated. We had just moved into our first little apartment and Duff was starting his brand new job the next morning, Monday. Our phone still wasn't connected. We could call out, but not get calls in and this was long before cell phones. My dad had come over to help get the crib and beds set up so we could sleep there finally. We had a nice dinner and he left for the 30 minute drive back to Torrance. An hour later a knock was at our door. Who could it be? We didn't know anyone. I opened the door and it was my dad looking awful. No one could get a hold of us, so they called my parents. My dad had to drive all the way back.
He quietly came in the door and told me Duff's dad was dead. It wouldn't register. Duff was in the bedroom playing with the boys before they went to bed. It had been a hectic week with the holidays, moving, and now starting a brand new job. It was awful standing there taking in the scene of my dad telling my husband that his father had been in a horrible car accident and had died. There is just no good way to do that. We tried the phone. We providentially could get a call out. Yes, it was true. Well, we weren't going to spend our first night in our new apartment. We packed up quickly and drove back to my parents where we could use the phone and make plans to get back to Utah.
(side note: our 'new' car had broken down and was in the shop. We were borrowing a car from my mom and dad. Could anything else go wrong?)
Duff flew out the very next morning. I stayed a couple more days to try and get some things taken care of with the move and his new job. They were very understanding and accomodating. Talk about crazy! He was supposed to start work and was now on a plane.
He came back home after the funerals and went to our apartment that wasn't even unpacked to stay so he could start work. I was on crutches and in a cast with a toddler and a 5 month old nursing baby in bitter cold, snowy Utah, with a grieving mother-in-law and the twins who were 16 for an additional 10 days until the swelling could go down and I could get a walking cast. Writing it down now it's hard to believe all that happened and the circumstances under which they did. But we did survive and were stronger for it.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Moving On...
Shaun is moved in. It's a really nice apartment. Small, but nice. Moving always takes time. More time than you realize. But I think he can manage the rest.
Didn't get nearly the things done we wanted to. Didn't get nearly the relaxation we wanted to. But we are going home tomorrow and real life starts again. I'm already talking myself through walking back into a house still all set up for Christmas. One step at a time and it will be down and packed away for another year. I think I want one more day and night with all the soft mini-lights glowing.
Didn't get nearly the things done we wanted to. Didn't get nearly the relaxation we wanted to. But we are going home tomorrow and real life starts again. I'm already talking myself through walking back into a house still all set up for Christmas. One step at a time and it will be down and packed away for another year. I think I want one more day and night with all the soft mini-lights glowing.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Icicles
If I had a better camera or knew how to do anykind of photo program these would be better, but use your imagination! These are outside our bedroom. The snow is just hanging on for dear life to the roof and the icicles are beautiful. I keep waiting for the whole thing to fall down, but so far it hasn't. Isn't it gorgeous?
I wanted to take off the screen and take the picture through the open window. I didn't dare to try it because if it fell, I wouln't be able to get the ladder to put it back up in all the snow.
This one is through the screen.
But this one I took by holding up the camera to the top half of the window w/o a screen. I couldn't see what I was doing so I think it turned out okay.
Ditto.
I wanted to take off the screen and take the picture through the open window. I didn't dare to try it because if it fell, I wouln't be able to get the ladder to put it back up in all the snow.
This one is through the screen.
But this one I took by holding up the camera to the top half of the window w/o a screen. I couldn't see what I was doing so I think it turned out okay.
Ditto. Another storm is forecast for tonight!
New Puzzle
It's finished! Natalie worked tirelessly on it and I did most of the sky myself. It was a 'bear' to do. But it felt sooooo good when I put that last piece in! I have a fondness for the puzzles by Charles Wysocki. They just capture the things I love.Guess What?
We have wireless internet at the cabin! Who knew?
Shaun came home with the 'stuff' to set it up and we found out we already have it! All the laptops are working fine all over the place.
Yahooie!
Happy New Year, 2009!
Happy New Year!Hurray for a fresh start. I'm looking forward to 2009. Last year was one of the best and one of the worst years of my life. We had 2 children get married to GREAT people. We got to support our favorite college team a lot. We made a LOT of progress on our emergency preparedness. We got to visit the cabin more than we thought. We had great experiences with family and friends. We have no debt except for our house. But we had some of the hardest times this year too. I guess now that I am typing this I could probably count those as 'best' things in a sense. Because we grew.
We learned. We stretched (big time). We gained knowledge. We felt. We became more flexible. We juggled more. We became more acquainted with grief, compassion, humility. We had to place things in God's hands after all we could do. We had to 'let go'. We embraced. We prayed more and mightily. We leaned on each other. We rallied. We trusted when we didn't know if we should or could. We fought. We cried. We laughed. We made up. We served. We lost family. We gained family. We rejoiced. We celebrated. We closed chapters. We opened new ones. We became more educated. We loved.
We gained experience.
Guess we are ready to start it all again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)