PStew and Z

Oops! I did it again!

2011-05-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

So every time you go to Michaels they ask for your zipcode. I am so tired of them asking - really? They need to know this for 2 years? So when the lady asked once again, I looked at her and said, "You know, NOPE! I'm not going to give you my zipcode when I've told you everytime I've come in for the past two years and I'm sick of telling you the same thing everytime. You all need to figure out how to track this. So no, I'm not telling."

Yup, rude Z showed up again.........

Dum Dum

2011-05-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

I was a real dum dum today. I hit a new low. I was totally rude to two ladies. Like not just kind of rude - Outright rude and gruff and so unChristlike. If I could find them right now I would apologize. It just isn't my nature to be rude like I was. It was like I have always wanted to say what I said but at the end of the day it made me feel really really bad. Does anyone remember You've Got Mail? Meg Ryan finally says the right rude comeback and realizes it didn't make her feel any better. Yup, that was me!

I was in line at FM with a cart full and was putting it on the conveyor belt. I was in a hurry. I was going to be late to a rehearsal at a high school. And the checker was SLOW SLOW SLOW and chatty to the lady in front of me. These two lovely women came up with a bag of corn on the cob and asked if they could go in front of me because they were in a hurry. I looked at them and told them that I was in a hurry too. They said they had to get to Merrill. I told them I was going to be late to a rehearsal and my obligations were just as important as theirs if not more important. And then I just kind of kept at them. I felt so stupid that I allowed my lack of preparation to be somewhere on time get in the way of me being nice. Arghhhhhh!

So ladies at FM - I apologize!

Superman..............

2010-12-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

This is what some of our kids call Paul and they may be right. He pretty much amazes me everyday and I am hanging onto his coattails for dear life.

Yesterday he called home around 4:30 and said 'Let's meet for dinner'. So we met and he said 'Happy Anniversary'! I said 'What?' He said 'Happy 10th Anniversary'! To which I again said 'What?'. 'Today is the exact day I found out that I had cancer for the first time and I think we should mark this day with a celebration. He went on to thank me for being there during the dark days of cancer and how grateful he felt to be alive. Then he gave me a really nice present. Really? I got the present? He should be getting a present for surviving it all. He's just so thoughtful.............did I mention I'm hanging on to his coattails? Hard..............

Goodbye....You have served us well.

2010-08-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

We bought two of these chairs..........21 years ago! They have moved with us - moved up and down in the house - been laid on - eaten on - and generally lived in. But more importantly, they are our famous 'white chair talks' chairs. Everyone of our children have been asked on many occasions to join us for a white chair talk. We have discussed many things with our kids on those chairs. A few of our in-law kids have had some explainin' to do as to why they were marrying our kids. We've cried in those chairs. We laughed in those chairs. We've yelled at those in the chairs. We've been yelled back at by those in the chairs. I've fallen asleep with my own kids and my grandbabies in those chairs. They are famous in our family circle.

And I will say that only one of our children felt so left out for never having been called for a white chair talk that she asked for one on her own and confessed. What did she confess to? To seeing a movie that was different than the one she said she was going to. What a pathetic confession Alli!

We bid these chairs goodbye. They know more about our family than anyone. They are being adopted into a new home that has no children. They will be lonely for sure. So until we meet again.............

Seriously...........

2010-07-27T02:28:00.001-07:00

Seriously cute, seriously funny, seriously a lot of babies, seriously in love with all of them!

Taytum - 1yr almost, Remi-3 1/2 months, Hudson - 1 month, Jay - 4 months

Andi - 3 , Grayson - 4, Carter - 4, Reece - 1 1/2, Calvin - 2 1/2

Carter, Taytum, and Andi Harmon. Reece and Remi Andrus. Grayson and Hudson Stewart.
Jameson Stewart. Calvin Stewart. Gray, Hudson, and Calvin are brothers.

I love this man..............

2010-06-20T08:48:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband who is truly an incredible father and an example to our boys of how to be a man. I love you Chito!

#9 - Our new addition!

2010-06-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Hudson Grant Stewart
June 2nd, 2010
2:24am
6lbs.3oz.
18.5 inches long
Parents: Ben and Sharon Stewart
Sibs: Grayson, 4 and Calvin 2 1/2
Happy Grandparents: Paul and Suzanne

Best Tatoes Ever!

2010-04-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

So my good friend April, has gotten me addicted, hooked, obsessed, etc. with The Pioneer Woman. This mostly started from April giving me The Pioneer Woman's cookbook. Her pot roast is indeed the best pot roast I have ever eaten and it was the only reason I had to get new pots and pans. Her online recipes are fun to look thru and I seem like I've discovered something new and interesting in my life - cooking! This potato recipe was online and was truly delicious. It may have been so delicious because they accompanied baby back ribs that were truly to die for that Paul grilled up and roasted asparagus! ( Does anyone besides my family say Asper-grass?) At any rate, here is an easy and delicious way to cook potatoes:

12 or however many you want WHOLE red/yellow/new potatoes.
12 fit on the cookie sheet.
Boil whole until fork tender.

Spread some olive oil on a cookie sheet. Take a hand masher and squish them one way and then the other. It's important to have enough oil so the potatoes don't stick. Then brush with olive oil, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and fresh chopped rosemary. Bake at 450 for about 20 minutes or so. Oh and my...............

Let me know if you try it..........

And by the way, kosher salt is my new 'thing'. It is so tasty and pretty forgiving. It just is different than plain old iodized salt! You should go out immediately and get a box of it for your tasty cooking!

Arghhhhhh....................

2010-04-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Carter turned 4 while he was here in Klamath. No 4 year old party would be complete with out pirates. Here is a look at my pirates - notice that Carter has a hook! They all had an earring on as well. Most of you know my oldest son Ben so this story will make you smile. We made a treasure hunt for the kids and the adults just followed along behind them as they figured out where the pirates treasure would be. As we were walking out of my bedroom I heard Ben say to his youngest Calvin 'Calvin, just leave your earring on!'. I never thought I would hear those words come out of my son's mouth!

I can't be outdone!

2010-04-22T13:31:00.001-07:00

I just couldn't be outdone by Nikki's rat story! I was out in the horse shed to get some high fat oats for our horses this morning - they just seem to struggle with weight in the spring - and I saw the saddle move. I just froze and thought 'Well it's probably a pack rat if it was big enough to move the saddle'. I eventually unfroze and opened up the plastic garbage can we keep the oats in and there were two mice in there just stuffing their faces with the high fat oats. I think they looked up at me but I'm not sure because I'm pretty sure I was screaming in a high pitched girly scream and running out of the shed. I'm so NOT girly in any way, shape, or form except when it comes to the mice. Then when I turned back around to look at the shed a wild cat came running out! Glad it wasn't a pack rat. I came and told Paul my dilema and that he would just have to deal with it. So he pulled on his work gloves and went out to the shed in his beautiful suit and scooped them out and threw them over the fence. It just got him a laughin' because as he threw them they spread their hands and feet out and just sailed. Mountain living I tell ya!

On another note, pictures have been found (okay, they were sent by Dani) of the other grandkiddies that didn't seem to make my first post very much. Here are a few other looks at my beautiful babies!

The new family - Sam, Nikki, and Jay

Chito, Carter, and Andi

Carter took this picture of the grownups at the Aquarium!

Deej and me....

New daddy Sam and his boy, Jay

The kiddies at the aquarium!

Happy Happy Tay

G'Nite Carter............

2010-04-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

Bubba Jay.......presh.....

Jay curled up sleeping

Sisters Reece & Remi........can anyone think of a third girls 'R' name? (and no, this is not an announcement!)

Carter, Reece, and Andi in their Easter duds.....Andi thought Carter should NOT be in the picture - "It's just girls Carter!"

I did a lot of this with ms. Remi...............yum for my Gramzee arms!

Good looking husband makes good looking kids which makes good looking grandbabies!

Newbies Jay & Remi

I love this picture of Taytum - Tay Tay - TayWa - Tater Tot - looking interested in ms. Reece!

Easter dresses.......Reece and Andi.........total girls the both of them!

Gramzee and Reece - we got to be best friends while I was there. Grandbabies are so good for the self esteem - they are soooo excited to see you when they wake up in the morning - when they wake up after naps - when you leave and come back - just about anytime.

Somehow I can't seem to find pics of me and Bubba Jay...hmmmmm..........oh where oh where have the pictures gone.....and Tayter Tot was there too! hmmmm.......... And Carter?

One week in Palm Springs with my dear friend Judes, one week in Utah with Summer and Reece and Josh while Summer cooked the baby til perfectly done - one week in Utah being best friends with Reece, one weekend with all but two of my grandbabies, one week with Dani, Carter, Andi, and Taytum, one weekend with Ben, Sharon, Grayson, and Cal added to the mix = happy Gramzee arms, happy Gramzee soul, and happy mom! I sure had a good time. I love you all! mom, z, zan, gramzee, tink............

No name baby has a name!

2010-03-30T06:37:00.001-07:00

Remi Kate Andrus

and 11 days later..........

2010-03-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

I got another one.............grandbaby #8!

Baby Girl Andrus
Born March 27th
7:37pm
8lbs. 10 oz.
22 inches long
(yes, we know...............she is a big baby!)
The people who made her: Summer (Stewart) and Josh Andrus
Sibling: 18 month old Reece (who has no idea how her world is about to be rocked!)
We love you baby girl.............

Welcome to the world baby boy!

2010-03-17T17:11:00.001-07:00

Jameson Paul Stewart
March 16th, 2010
11:43am
8 lbs. 1 oz.
20 inches long
The ones who made him: Sam and Nikki (Peterson) Stewart

Can't wait to meet you baby!

Love - Gramzee

I TOLD YOU SO!

2010-03-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

Paul didn't ask me not to type it, or mutter it to others, or to think it.

He has been sick with cold, cough, and general chest yuck for 4 weeks - at least! - and I have been telling him, as any good wife would, that he should see the doctor to which he ALWAYS replied 'I'm fine, I haven't been sick as long as you think, I'm doing so much better, You're not my mother'

So I get a call last night from the aforementioned and he had a confession to make. He started it with 'Please don't SAY 'I told you so' which was followed by the confirmation that he had pneumonia.

On the other hand, we know he has this because he had his 5 year cancer PET scan and they found his right lung pretty messy with the general chest yuck. The blessing is that we are on our way to knowing that he is cancer free (for the second time we/he has hit the 5 year mark) and the other blessing is that I can feel very vindicated when I type, think, or mutter 'I TOLD YOU SO!'

2010......so far...............

2010-02-18T08:27:00.000-08:00

What a whirlwind of a year it's been already. Paul and I took our annual two week getaway.........we picked Maui again this year. Beautiful. I think I may have taken one picture and I think Paul took one picture. Oh and well.

I hit the pavement running when I got back. I needed to get Sam and Nikki's nursery started and finished. I did - it's mailed. Turned out really really cute. No picures. Then I decided to ask Nikki if she needed a diaper bag. She said yes - I made one of those for her which of course, tipped the domino - I made one for Summer and now I'm going to make one for Sharon. It's an Amy Butler pattern and super super sturdy. I had made one for Dani and she really loves it. Then I made the dress you see. I think it's one of the cutest things I've ever made. You take a t-shirt and cut it off and just add strips of gathered material. I have a pattern for a 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7..........anyone want to look at it? Jaime?

Singin' In The Rain!

2010-01-13T18:32:00.000-08:00

Yup, I have the sewing machine back out and look what it made............raincoats for my three granddaughters! The two matching ones are for sisters Andi and Taytum and the other one is for Reece!

I saw these 'zipper' flowers at a store on a headband and fell in love with them. Here are a few brooches that I have made tonight!

Happy New Year To Me!

2010-01-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

I say Happy New Year to Me! I have an awful lot to be thankful for and am excited for the coming year. I have never been much of a resolution maker and I am sticking to that sort of. I have been thinking (weirdly enough) about how hard it is to cook for only two people. You should have seen the pot of pasta I made tonight. It was homemade noodles with my new KitchenAid attachments and there were homemade meatballs involved but it was just too much. I decided that I need to learn how to scale back on my cooking amounts. I'm just so darn wasteful. So that thought process got me to thinking about other goals. I wondered IF I should make them, if I could keep them, and if I wanted the stressers of making/not making a goal. So I decided to keep them simple and pretty generic. So here is a semi-list of goals and things I'm grateful for all rolled up into one. (This is where you click to get out of here because truly this couldn't be very exciting reading to anyone except ME. And afterall, it's always about me now isn't it.....)

1. I am going to read more this year. I am not setting a goal of how many books or how much time to spend doing it but I just need to read more. I love to read. I had an epiphany in the PDX airport a few years back. I was in Powell's bookstore and was about to pick up a book and I thought to myself "I need to figure out what I really like to read" (This reminded me of Runaway Bride when Julia Roberts decides she needs to figure out what kind of eggs SHE likes.) I like books about real events. Especially WWII. I loved reading and am still working on it - it's a hard read - MAO. Fascinating to learn about that time period and the beginnings of communism and the weird turn of events that allowed MAO into power. It has some similar themes to Hitler. I'm going to read more this year.

2. I am going to figure out how to cook for two people and this cannot include dining out as this is the most convenient way to cook for two. I have found a bit of a passion for cooking this past year thanks mostly to my friend April. She's amazing at cooking - however, not baking (this is her opinion - not mine!) I love trying new things and have been quite successful at it except for the amount thing. You should have seen the chop salad we had for New Years Eve. We are still eating on it. Nic and Alli have had to endure it for two nights. There is still a giant bag left. Along with rolls, pasta, prime rib, sausage pies, and the likes. I am not going to be so wasteful with my cooking.

3. I am going to continue excersising. April, my aforementioned friend, and I hiked and hiked for almost 6 months. We did it mostly every weekday morning and averaged 3 -4 miles in the mountains. It was fantastic. My life revolved around getting to bed early enough for the 5:20am wake-up call. I am looking forward to the weather being nicer so I can get back to that. However, in the mean time, I can go to the YMCA with April and do yoga and treadmill - namaste, namaste...........it's such a still activity and I find myself in giggling mode quite often. If the guy behind us just wouldn't breathe so heavily it would help.....

4. I am going to treat my friends better. I feel like the few friends I have are just the best. They are so thoughtful of me and my concerns and I fear I haven't been the same to them. I am soooo selfish by nature and it's the one thing (among many others for sure) that I stuggle with. My friend Judes is the most kind, loving, caring person I know. Always thinking of others. Always stiving to help out where she can. She is an incredible example of how I need to be.

5. I need to enjoy the journey more. I am such a destination seeker. I rush thru the process of getting to where ever my journey may be taking me and I forget to enjoy the journey there. I don't know when this happened to me. I thought I used to be a journey lover but I am absolutely the worst journey lover now. Relax, laugh at the stress, enjoy the journey.

I have many other things to add to this list - mostly about family, music, etc. but I have now gone on for what seems forever and I'm certain if you are still reading this you should have been gone long ago and gotten back to your family......

Here are some things I am soooo grateful for and hope that I always show my gratitude for them:

1. My husband. A.Mazing. Loyal. Integrity. Thoughtful. (He gave me a pencil bouquet on the first day of school when my last kid went off to college.) Loving. Dedicated. Man, I could just go on forever with his qualities. I'm not sure how I roped him into marrying me but I've been riding his coat tails ever since. Recently he was talked about in a negative way behind his back by some people and I thought to myself, "If they only really knew him......." We will celebrate 31 years of marriage this month. Where did the time go by? I couldn't be more grateful that he is cancer-free. I think about it often and I can't believe he/we went thru that twice. It's a life altering event and while I would never ever trade the lessons learned, I wouldn't wish it on anyone under any circumstances.

2. My family. See list above. They bring me such joy. I LOVE being a mom. I LOVE being a grandma. It's just every good joy all bundled up into a family. God really knew what He was doing when He created families. I love them all so much.

3. My beliefs. I am so grateful that I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. I am grateful for the opportunities it gives me to serve.

4. Music. I love that I can listen to it. I love that I can participate in it. I love how much joy it gives to people in general. I love the positive influence and feelings it can give people. I just love love love music. Thank you mom and dad for giving me the appreciation and gift for it. I dragged (tho I hardly think you were really dragging) you along to so many lessons/recitals/performances etc. You paid for all of the lessons - the instruments - and for me, it really 'paid' off. You are incredible examples of how to support your children in their interests. (Even tho you did try to bribe me with money to quit 'banging' on the piano. It didn't work very well did it?)

5. Life. I love being on this earth. I oft times will hear people say that they are ready to move on. Not me. I am staying firmly planted here. I love where I live. I love those who surround me.

Happy New Year to all of you! (If you made it this far in reading, this wish is for you. You deserve it after reading this post I have bloviated on. However, it is my blog and I would argue that I can write for as long as I want - and I did! Afterall, it is all about me......see #4 goal......)

My little turkeys................

2009-12-22T14:02:00.000-08:00

Me on Ambien.......

2009-12-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

I take Ambien for my sleeping troubles. I usually only take 1/2 of the lowest dose. It just hasn't done the trick as of late so last week I took a whole one. You really are supposed to go to bed right after you take them which I always do. Well one thing led to another and it had been about an hour. I needed to send one more email out to my friend April and then I was going to bed. This is the last paragraph I sent to her:

"I've actually been happy all day except when addressing those four things! I would love your thoughts and council on my behavior of the day...............well , maybe not. You are pretty honest.............So share if it's honestly on my side of this!

Hey in jan/feb I want to throw a dinner party for my quilter friends to talk about next years performances and committment..............man my ambien is kicking in. I can' really see the scee very well............eyelids going to close............I'll finish sthissthought.tomorow..............Feel.ing really weird...........thiank pual will haveto get em to bed. wow! I cn't thh]e nos...owow'nighgh.........z"

I'm thinking I had better go to bed straight away after taking my Ambien...........

Mouse-capades!

2009-12-07T17:06:00.000-08:00

So it's colder than cold here today. I think we may have hit 15 degrees. So I'm thinking about my poor old horses and how cold they probably would get tonight. So I pulled out their blankets - three of them - to decide which two I wanted to use. I pulled one out into the pasture and tried it on Rio first and decided I didn't think that was the right one for her. So I dragged it back out of the corral and brought in another one. I put it up on her back and was getting it straightened out. I lifted up the back to re-adjust it and their was SO a mouse on her back wiggling around! I about passed out. Now how Rio didn't freak out I'll never know. I jumped away (I'm such a baby) and waited for it to drop out. Sure enough, it wiggled it's way out and jumped to the ground. What is that for a human - about 20 stories. Then it had the audacity to just sit their by Rio's hind feet and look at me - like "How dare you kick me out of my home" It finally skittered away and I got the nest it had been building in Rio's blanket out and got her strapped up. So the little mouse has no warm home anymore! Oh wait, it has the haystack, the underside of the ATV (I hear this can cause fires.....) the trailer, the shed, and a million other places. Rio and Moose are all snug in their blankies for the cold winter night. Have I mentioned I love mountain living?

Thanksgiving blessings.............

2009-12-04T16:15:00.001-08:00

You're looking at them.................

Chocolate peppermint patty cookies!

2009-12-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

I haven't tried these but found the recipe and more importantly, the picture of these beauties! I can't find a picture of them to post but trust me, they are beautiful. They look like chocolate whoopie pies with crushed candy cane sides. BE.A.UTIFUL!
10 oz. bittersweet chocolate such as Guittard, chopped
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chuncks
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Put chocolates and butter in a medium metal bowl and set over a pan filled with 1" simmering water. Cook, stirrring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. whicsk in eggs and sugar, mixing until combined. Whisk in flour, baking poder, and salt. Chill dough, covered, until firm, about 2 hours.
Let dough sit at room temperature 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1 Tbsp. portions of dough, rolling each into a ball, and put onto sheets 1 " apart. Press into 1/4" rounds.
Bake until they no longer look wet on top, about 8 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.
Filling:
3 cups powedered sugar
4 TB. milk
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
Spread 1 heaping tsp. peppermint icing onto flat side of 1 cookie. Top with flat side of a scond cookie to form a sandwich. Press together to squeeze filling to the edge. Roll edge of cookie in crushed candy canes!

Makes about 20.

Now I'm thinking that you could probably find any chocolate cookie recipe and have this work. You could probably make regular frosting and just add in some candy cane and still roll the edges. You could probably use cool whip mixed with crushed candy canes as well and then just keep them refrigerated..........

Let me know if you try any of this!

Merry Christmas!

Onesie........

2009-11-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

Summer, my daughter, has been adorning baby onesies. She puts lots of things on the fronts. She sent me a link to adorne the back/bottom of onesies. This is my first try at it. Super cute I think. I decided to put pockets on and thought that would be cutie patootie for a boy but alas, no boy material......... The girlie pockets are pretty cute. I just bonded them on and then sewed around them. Be watching for boy bottoms............

Now I just need a baby bottom to put in these! Any takers?

FIRE!

2009-11-12T22:05:00.000-08:00

So I've been at Basin Choral Festival tonight and Paul was SUPPOSED to be having a quiet night at home. Uh, that didn't really go as planned.

Dad fired up the four wheeler to move some horse feed from the garage to the shed. He had to fill it up with gas. He did his chore and parked the four wheeler back by the shed. About 30 minutes later he heard/felt a big boom. He of course, thought I had come home early and ran over something. He said it was a different enough of a sound (it rattled the windows) that he got up and went to the front door. He could see the glow of fire on the front rock pile. He ran around to the side of the house and the ATV was on fire to the tune of about a 12 foot flame. He ran to the hose and then realized it had burned up under the ATV. Then he remembered that we were not getting much water thru that hose anyways and had scheduled that to be fixed a few days ago. It had not gotten fixed. UGH! So he ran to the front of the house and pulled on that hose. It was frozen. NO WATER! He grabbed some work gloves and ran back to the ATV and pulled it away from the shed. The thing is still shooting flames. Why he thought that was a good idea is beyond me. Then he ran into the garage and grabbed a small bucket and ran to the pool. He filled it and ran to the ATV and started to try to put out the fire. He's thinking the house is going to start on fire or the entire mountain. He ran back to the pool and the water that had spilled on the deck had frozen so he slipped and fell and just about went into the pool. The bucket flew into the pool but he was able to grab it back out. He must have made dozens of trips to the pool. He enhaled so much smoke - burning tires, plastic, etc - so he kept throwing up on top of all of that. He's still coughing really hard. This is what is left of our ATV, atv wheelbarrow, and the side of our shed melted too. Dad has a few minor burns on his arm and a boatload of junk in his lungs but he's fine. He came in and called All State. It's all covered thank goodness. More importantly, dad's okay and nothing else started on fire. How that was possible is amazing.

Note to self: Call the fire department when things start on fire. Paul did not.......silly man...............such a man thing to NOT do!

Enjoy the pics!

Crafting.......

2009-11-11T16:05:00.001-08:00

This is my newest craft creation. It sure took more ribbon than I had anticipated. It took about 12 yards for each ball. I cut the strips into 4.5". The ribbon that worked the best is the wired, thicker ribbon. The red stuff was a nightmare. I painted the clay pots black and then covered them in modgepodge for better wear. Then I put black river rocks in the bottom of each of the pots. I wrapped the dowels with gold ribbon.

March Madness

2009-11-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

Two new babies are to join the ranks of our grandkids. They are both due in March. March 18th and the 26th. This will be Sam and Nikki's first baby - a boy and Summer and Josh's second baby - a girl.

Baby boy Stewart - eta March 18 This one belongs to Sam and Nikki.

These next two girls belong to Summer and Joshua.
Baby girl Andrus - eta March 26th

Reece 13 months

These two boys belong to Ben and Sharon.
Calvin almost 2

Grayson 3 1/2

The final three belong to Dani and Jefferson.
Taytum 4 months

Andi 2 1/2

Carter 3 1/2

The baby domino has tipped in our family and we are loving it. So, any takers to tip the next one over? Alli, Sharon, Dani?

Halloween.............

2009-11-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Ugh - that's all I have to say about Halloween. However, I did bring out the old scone recipe and ditched the Rhodes Roll Dough scones. I forgot just how good a real scone is. Thought I would share the recipe. And for my family - you'll remember that it comes out of that cookbook that I put on the burner and then proceeded to turn the burner on. Half of it's missing now and it's all burned and crunchy around the edges. You know, the yellow one......a Family Raised On SunShine. I would love a new copy of this cookbook. This happened clear back when we lived on Eldorado. Anyways, here's the recipe:

German Scones

Dissolve 2 packages yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add 1 T. sugar.

Pour 1 cup boiling water over:
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 t. salt

Add:
3 beaten eggs
Yeast mixture
2 cups flour

Bear with mixer until smooth. Add 2 1/2 c. flour and stir in. Let rise for 1 hour. It will be pretty sticky so when you go to roll them out, make sure you have lots of flour available to you. Roll out and cut into squares. Fry in hot oil. ( After the dough has risen you can put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.)

Instead of the traditional chilli soup this year, we had Lobster Bisque. It was soooooo delicious. Here is the recipe for that:

Lobster Bisque

Go to Costco.
Go to the back where they keep cheeses (in the open coolers) and look for the Kirtland brand Lobster Bisque. It's fresh - not canned.

Heat it up. Lots of lobster in in. Very inexpensive.

Enjoy

Craftiness.............

2009-10-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

It must just be the time of year but everyone seems to have their 'craft' on! I am probably the least crafty person I know. I have no patience. I want to do it quickly and finish quickly! But somehow I managed to get these done and I think they turned out pretty okay. The pics are mostly for my girls who are always asking to see what I've done!
This is a recipe card holder. I just modgepodged the paper on - embellished it with paper flowers and made the magnets with irregularly shaped glass stones. You glue the paper onto the back of them and then stick a magnet on the back. Nothing special for sure.

These came in a set from the Wood Connection in SLC. We have nothing of the sort here in Southern Oregon. Anyone want to start a business? The set cost about 22 bucks which I thought was a really great price. They stand about 16 inches high or so. Modgepodged paper on them, painted them black and put some glittery sutff on those.

I actually came up with this one. Paul got us a new chop saw and belt sander. He 'chopped' up some 4X4 wood post and a base on it. I painted everything black and then cut christmas paper squares just with about 1/4" of black showing. Modge podge them. Then I cut out some trees, a star, etc. to put on one side of each of the three blocks. More modge podge. Then I stacked them and put a ribbon around them. I really like these.

This was a plate from Walmart. About 4 bucks. I created this tree pattern. Modgepodged it right onto the white plate. I cut out the circles from some scrapbook paper and modgepodged those on as well. It was fun to do and I like the finished project.

I think I've done something else but I can't see it out right now in the mess of all this crafting! Please share your ideas with me! Love to steal away those cute ideas!

Gourmet Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

2009-10-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is what I had for dinner tonight. It was truly the most creamy, delicious, yummy thing that may have ever gone into my mouth. I topped it off with some fresh ground cornmeal (thanks to my grinder and a bag of unpopped popcorn!) and honey butter. Here is the recipe for the mac and cheese. I post this only because one of you will undoubtedly ask for it.

12 oz. macaroni
14 oz. lobster tails uncooked(Fred Meyer sells 4 oz. and 8 oz. frozen lobster tails so I actually used 12 oz.)
5 T. Butter
1 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1 1/4 c. half and half or whole milk
1 T. flour
3 oz. sharp cheddar
3 oz. fontina cheese
3 oz. gruyere cheese

Melt 4 T. of the butter slowly in pan. Take cut up lobster pieces and sautee for apx. 5 minutes over med low heat. Set aside.
Melt 1 T. butter in pan.
Add 1 T. flour and stir and stir until it turns light brown and gets a bit of a nutty smell to it.
Stir in the heavy cream. Bring to a boil.
Stir in the half and half. Bring to a boil.
Turn down and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add shredded cheese one handful at a time and stir and stir. This is just yummy goodness even reading this isn't it?
Your pasta should be finished cooking about the same time the sauce is finished.
Fold in the sauce to the noodles.
Fold in lobster to the mixture. I actually added mine to the top of the mac and cheese instead of stirring it in. Did I mention yummy goodness? The cheese sauce just compliments the lobster. The gruyere and fontina cheese are very mild and creamy cheeses. They are just unbelievable. The sharp cheddar added just enough cheesy flavor.

This was a bit expensive to make but for a special night like tonight (it's Thursday right?) it was just perfect. It makes plenty - I would say enough for four people. You may want to add a bit more lobster or cut the pieces into smaller bites. It is just so rich. A one cup serving is just about right. I think we may have downed about 1 1/2 cups and we are paying the price. I can't even look at the kitchen to clean up.

The rest of the story...............

2009-09-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

After the blessing weekend, we packed up the moving truck and got Dani and her familia moved to Boise. They have a great home and it looks like they will do very well there. Paul flew in on Wednesday night to Boise so he could get a lookie lou at their new digs and make sure those grandkiddies knew that we would be around at their new place. We drove to Logan and then onto SLC and Provo to visit the rest of our family and celebrated our son Sam's 24th birthday and our grandaughter, Reece, 1st birthday! It was so fun to see all of them. On Friday we took Reece and Summer to Hogle Zoo. Joshua had to work so he wasn't able to join us. She loved what she could see - any big animals! She's just such a happy toot and just kind of goes with the flow. It was fun to spend the day with my oldest daughter, Summer, as well!

We met up with Sam and Nikki on Friday night at Tucanos, a brazillian restaurant, to celebrate Sam's 24th birthday. And did we ever celebrate! At 6'9" tall, dancing with a tambourine is interesting to say the least! He really is a good dancer - but he cannot do the worm! I can attest to this! Great food, wonderful family, lots of meat! Delicious! Don't Nikki and Summer just glow with the preggers glow?

Saturday morning Paul and Sam played a links course in Provo and Nikki and I went out and started looking at material for the baby's nursery. No pics of Nikki and I! Sorry Nikki!

The rest of Saturday we spent getting ready for the big birthday party! Cupcakes were frosted (with a bit of a struggle as it was so hot it was melting the frosting!), banners hung, balloons hung, presents wrapped, food prepared, and then the fun began! Reece seemed to enjoy the festivities but not quite as much as the rest of us. She did sit and pose for us! She dug into the frosting of her cake. She opened presents thruout the day. She mostly loved hanging out with her cousins and little friends who joined us for the party. She is very social and independant! It was fun to watch her interact with everyone. She has a very loving family in Josh's family. His parents and sibs just love her. It always makes it easier to leave knowing they are there to love on her!

Then it was finally bath time!

After Reece went to bed we were sitting in the living room and Nikki was laying on the couch. She all of a sudden just sat up and said, "I just felt the baby move!" What a special event to witness. She was just glowing and I think Sam felt pretty jealous. The men just have to wait their turn to feel the baby!

We drove back to Oregon on Sunday. It was an uneventful drive tho we did see JDonks right by the road, wild horses, and antelope. Did I mention I love where I live?

I sure miss my kids and grandkiddies. I love them all so much. None of these fun times and leisure time would be possible without the head of our family. Thank you Paul, yet again, for all you do for all of us. We are all so appreciative!

Whew! I think that about takes care of my past week. Lots of details and pictures were left out but you get the idea! Now onto Institute starting back up, crafts to finish, jazz piano lessons starting, etc............ It is sure going to be fun week! It would be better if all of these people I've blogged about (including Al and Nic who never get blogged about because they live here!) were here with me! My basement is preferable!

Whew!

2009-09-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

This past week has been crazy! It started out with Taytum's blessing day. Paul, Ben and Sharon and boys, Nic and Alli were all there. I was so pleased to see my men folk standing in the circle honoring their priesthood. Her blessing was beautiful and I know that she will feel the power of that blessing thru her life.

Paul finally caught a picture of 'the dimple'! Isn't she just so beautiful!

We hit up OMSI with the kiddies and topped it off with a lenghthy visit to Chuck E. Cheese. I bought 120 tokens and when Paul came up to the table after ordering the pizza, he had gotten 120 tokens as well. It was heaven for the kiddies (and grownups)!

Mother:

Mother In Training!:

I just love this little family of mine!

Clyde.............

2009-09-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

Paul and I swung (is this a word?) thru Logan to visit Paul's dad, Clyde Stewart. He will be 97 in November. He lives in an assisted living place but does really well for the most part. His mind is mostly clear. He gets confused about a few things but overall is doing well. He's physically limited in what he can do but the doctor says he is in the best shape he's been in for a long time. I'm glad that Paul took the time to stop by and visit. We just never know when it will be the last time. I thought this picture turned out really well.

Goodbye!

2009-09-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

These little people (and their parents) are moving away from Oregon to start a new life in Boise, Idaho. I can hardly stand that they will be a few hours extra away from me. I know they will be successful wherever they hang their hats. However, Oregon will never be the same without them!

Holy flies...........

2009-09-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

So I am not sure what the dealio is with the flies today. All of the windows are closed unless they have a screen on them. The screens are secure. In my kitchen alone I have swatted and destroyed over 25 flies. I think I may die. They are making me sick. Where in the world are they coming from? Well, I know where they are coming from (hello, horse poop.....) but how are they getting in? Ugh.................

I get another one of these......

2009-09-13T15:18:00.001-07:00

Yep, this little grandbaby of mine, ms. Reece - age 11 months (who belongs to Summer and Joshua) is getting a sibling! Grandbaby #8 is going to make his/her appearance mid March - about the same time as grandbaby #7! The baby domino has tipped! Bring 'em on!

NYC Adventures..............

2009-09-09T07:25:00.001-07:00

I thought I would share a few pictures and memories from our trip to NYC. I forgot my camera and Paul had lost his small camera so we had to buy a camera and didn't do so until midway thru the trip. So typical of us. You know, once you don't have kids to take pictures of it's just not as important (or fun I might add!) But here are a few!

Paul and I took the subway to Brooklyn and walked back across the Brooklyn bridge which spit us out into lower Manhatten.

The Statue of Liberty via the Staten Island Ferry. After the ferry we walked forever thru China Town and ended up at Katz's Deli which we found out about thru Man vs. Food on the travel channel. And yes, the pastrami on rye is as good as they said it would be! It's also the place where the famous scene in 'When Harry Met Sally' happened. We didn't know this until we arrived! It's an interesting place. Very busy and lots of men behind the counter and their only job is to carve meat and yell at the customers. Paul so got yelled at! It's the most frantic place I've ever been. Men with butcher knives yelling at you, these little ticket things you have to hold onto and give to them and then they have to give them back and if you don't have yours when you go to leave you don't get to leave. For reals. Somehow we survived with our two tickets in hand and a belly full of delicious pastrami.

We went to Harlem two different times. The second time we went pretty far into Harlem and went to another Man vs. Food place called Sylvias. Sylvia moved to Harlem and worked in a restaurant and then the owners offered for her to buy it. Her parents mortgaged their farm so she could buy it and the rest is history! It's such a nothing looking place from the outside. We actually thought it might be closed. We saw it was open and went inside to a very nice place. We ordered the famous southern deep fried chicken and it was spectacular! And the cornbread................well there are no words to describe that! Sylvia was sitting at a table just watching customers come and go. I recognized her so on our way out we stopped and chatted with her. Total humble woman - thankful we came to her place - it was truly a great experience. I loved Harlem.

This is a picture of us just really enjoying our time together. I need to thank Paul for a wonderful trip. To have him all to myself is quite a treat. He turned his phone off and that was pretty much it the whole week! Paul is one of the most thoughtful people I know. I know it seems as tho it's because he takes me on trips(tho this doesn't hurt any!) but really it's just because he's always thinking of me before him. What a wonderful quality in a husband. He was so excited to have me experience the US Open - this was a total bucket list moment for me. He was so excited to have me go to Broadway shows. I feel cherished. So thank you Chito for being my best friend and the best person I know! In all ways..........

Here is a list of some of my favorite moments:

1. Flushing Meadows.......
2. In The Heights.........
3. Sitting courtside within about 10 feet of the US Open players and watching the ball go by us at 130 miles/hour.....
4. Dallas BBQ salad at midnight...........
5. John Travolta.............
6. The Gospel choir by the Apollo theater........
7. Walking the streets of Manhatten at 1 am.......
8. Thinking the rat was a squirrel in the subway.....(other than the tail looking a bit different it was totally the same size as the squirrels on our mountain and it lopes the same as well.......)
9. Cupcakes and cokes................
10. Central Park
11. The obsession with the pedometer........we walked 28 miles!
I could continue on with this list forever..............

Thanks for the memories........

A shout-out to Kathy B. in AZ!

2009-09-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

I have meant to write this a few times Kathy/Cathy. Pretty bad that I don't even know how to spell your name. Here are the things that I wanted to tell you:

1. A.Mazing lesson in RS while I was visiting. You are such a real person and you really were able to relate how you felt about having friendships. I have thought about it so many times. Thank you for preparing and sharing! It was great!

2. Love your hair. You are a hair soul-mate. I can tell.

3. Thanks for grabbing me in the hall and confessing your stalking habit. Made me feel good!

4. If I lived there, I think we would become good good friends FAST!

Just thought I'd give you a shout out from sunny KFalls - temperature - a balmy sixty five degrees! Tell that sister of mine to jump on a plane and get here fast - her hot cocoa and fire is awaiting! You could join her................

Stake Conference

2009-09-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

We had the amazing experience of having Elder Perrin Walker from the seventies join us for our Stake Conference. He asked to stay in our home on Saturday night. I wish I could send a piece of the feelings he brought into our home and into our conference to all of you.

I have to admit to being a bit nervous about him staying here. Like what do you do when you come home from the Saturday night session? I figured he would be tired but no, we stayed up for hours talking and having a plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit. He was so gracious.

Here are a few things I learned about church service:

1. There are no limits to what is expected of us where service is concerned. Elder Walker practices law full time and then leaves just about every Friday - Sunday to do stake conferences and other assignments for the church.

2. It takes a really good wife to stand behind her husband when they are asked to serve. Elder Walker spoke so highly of his wife. It was just touching to listen to him re-count tales of their marriage and of raising their family together. I have some work to do..............

3. Serving in the church does not save you from having trials. I already knew this but to listen to Elder Walkers life stories had a tremendous impact on me. They are a regular family with regular distractions and trials. They had a baby die 10 hours after birth. It was a remarkable story that he told us and so spiritual. Was it easy for them? No. Did they suffer? Yes. Did it strengthen their convictions? Yes. Did it strengthen their family and marriage? Yes. Has it given him an added measure of compassion as he serve. Yes. They had a 24 year old daughter die a few years back in an auto accident. Also very difficult but to listen to him tell us what he's learned and how he's grown...........amazing. This is a regular family that has chosen to serve and do what they are asked to do and they have risen to the challenge.

4. I learned that the leaders of the church really do see us as individual stakes, wards, branches, and families. Elder Walker shared the process he went thru as he traveled to our stake and how he spent hours just trying to focus in on the needs of our little stake here in Klamath Falls. It was evident that he had done this by his talks and certainly by our chat with him. He shared with Paul some really special feelings he had coming over the mountain pass that has really affected Paul and me. Again, amazing. He was really here to serve our stake and the individuals in it. He had a profound love when he arrived. It was evident.

What a privelege and honor to be taught by this man of God. I know my life has been 'changed for the better'.

50th celebration finally here!

2009-08-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

How long til NYC?
Today is the weekend so that doesn't count.
It's Stake Conference tonight and tomorrow so tomorrow doesn't count either.
We leave first thing Monday morning so basically we are on our way.

NYC here we come! US Open - here we come!

Thank you Paul for this most A.Mazing 50th Birthday Party!

Can't wait to celebrate for a week with YOU!

Don't Crowd the Mushrooms!

2009-08-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last night I needed to saute the mushrooms to put on our steak. Paul reminded me about Julia Childs advice in the movie 'Julie & Julia'. Julie is sauteing mushrooms and has read in Julia Childs cookbook to 'not crowd the mushrooms'. So I decided to give it a whirl and see if it really made a difference. IT DOES! I just let them have some room to breathe and bubble. They browned up so nicely and the flavor - YUM! So my advice to you - Don't Crowd the Mushrooms!

Dried peaches...............

2009-08-11T22:53:00.000-07:00

Did you know that 16 thin slices of dried peaches = 1 whole peach. So if I ate 32 thin slices of dried peaches that would = 2 whole peaches. And so on and so on...........

They are just irresistible! You can't just have one thin slice. And you can't just have a few slices. They are impossible to leave alone. And you add that to the boxes of fresh picked peaches off of the farm and let me tell you, there are sounds going on inside of me that just shouldn't ever be heard.

Peach season - you gotta love it!

Timing is everything!

2009-08-07T14:21:00.001-07:00

This was supposed to happen.............

But instead, this happened!

A pretty good tradeoff if you ask me! I was at girls camp and the day before the big hike I get a call from Dani that she's a go to have a baby! Not due til the 18th of August. I think I had my truck packed up in about 5 minutes, shed a few tears with the camp leaders, and was off. About two hours into the drive I got the call that Taytum Jean Harmon was born at 6:31pm, 7lbs 5oz, 21 inches long. I spent a week watching over her siblings and enjoying Taytum - aka Tater Tot, lil Spud, Tay, Tater! I would not have missed it for the world. The mountain will be there forever..........Taytums birth only happens once!

Welcome to the world my beautiful grandbaby!

Drumroll please..........................

2009-07-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

Grandbaby #7 is going to make it's way here next year! Sam and Nikki announced that they are expecting their first baby. They came upstairs one morning at Sunriver with t-shirts on that announced it to us! Yay for more babies! And there will shortly be a drumroll for the birth of grandbaby #6 due anytime! Dani and Jefferson are expecting their third child - a girl - named..............up for grabs!

Genius.....

2009-07-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

So my mom is a genius. You all probably knew that but I just figured it out today. While I was growing up my mom always used vinegar to clean windows. I hated the smell. HATED! I vowed to always use a glass cleaner - which I have. Well, my house is windows - I should count sometime just how many. Just in the kitchen, dining, and great room there are 28. And these aren't small windows. We are talking 7 ft tall on some of them. I have had it with the streaky cleaning. So i got online and sure enough, they also knew that vinegar was the best for a no streak window. I tried this recipe and it's A.Mazing! It's not quite as strong as what I'm sure my mom used/uses but it works! Here it is:

2 cups water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon liquid detergent

Just use paper towels - no newspaper..............

You may just have a bird fly into your window!

Thanks MOM!

Might Moki and another story to boot!

2009-07-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

This morning April and I hiked the service road on the mountain near our house. I am pretty sure I showed it to most of you. It is very steep and difficult for humans. So Moki started to follow us. First off it was 6am. Secondly, Moki can hardly stand yet alone hike. He just kept following us and following us. He really bugged me. I kept scolding him to stay home. I finally started throwing a few rocks in his direction to let him know he was not wanted. To no avail..............Moki the Mighty hiked the service road. He stayed right with us (much to my dismay) and on our way home he pooped out around the office. However, I walked in the door around 8:10am and was showered and back out the door by 8:30am and he was already home. How he did this is certainly a miracle. St. Moki!

Just before our hike I was out in the rock pile pulling weeds and setting the sprinkler. I was at the top of the rock pile with my back to the driveway. There was a particularly big and stubborn weed. I sat on a rock and started pulling. Well it did the trick only I wasn't able to stop the motion and tumbled backwards down the rock pile and really banged the back of my head. I now have a giant goose egg and it really hurts. The only thing that made it better is that there wasn't anyone there to see it! I now have an extra measure of compassion for my grandbabies who seem to bump their noggins all of the time!

4am...........

2009-07-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

So this morning I was just done sleeping by 4am. I've been sick for about three days so I guess I had just slept myself out! However, my alarm was set to go off at 5:15am anyways. I left the house around 5:45 and arrived at Alli's place around 6am. We headed across the mountain for an 8am temple session. I just found myself feeling so grateful that I was able to A. get to the temple B. Not have to worry about a job that would keep me from going (thank you Paul for always supporting me being an at-home mom!) C. Be with my daughter as she experienced the temple and D. Know that it could have been any of my children sitting next to me.

I am blessed....................

I'm climbing it!

2009-06-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

I'll be at the top of this mountain the last week of July! 9600 ft at the top!

Blessing Dress!

2009-06-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the blessing dress for baby Harmon! Hope you like it Dani!

Water..........

2009-05-02T15:30:00.001-07:00

I'm an Aquarian. I think this may be the cause and root of all water problems that seem to plague Paul and I. In our old house on Pacific Terrace we had geothermal. This is supposed to be a free way to heat the house and pool. It was not free. We pulled our well and replaced pipes a lot. I figured that when we built a house that we would be water problem free! Wrongo! We have been in this house for 2 1/2 years and we've had the well pulled 3 times! The first time there was a hole in one of the pipes. This well goes down 850 feet. The company had never had a hole in these kinds of pipes - EVER! Enter - the Stewart family. The second time our pump in the well went out. No pump - no water. They couldn't believe the pump would go out. Enter yet again - the Stewart family. For the past week we have been struggling to keep the well on. It stops. We turn off the power to it for 5 minutes. We turn it back on. The water starts back. up. This would go on about 4 -6 times a day. So first they replaced a wire in the well that they thought was burned out. Did this fix it? No. Then they replaced the control panel and thought for sure that would fix it. Did this fix it? No. Yesterday they pulled all 850 ft. of pipe out. Today they put in a new pump. Did this fix it? So far! So while I have water today and didn't yesterday, or the day before, or.......etc........I am pessimistic that I will have water in the morning. Anyone know of some weird water curse going around?

June 26, 2009 Be there or be square!

2009-04-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

93

2009-04-14T15:55:00.001-07:00

I just counted. 93. That's the number. The number of what you may ask? The number of pairs of socks Paul has. How is that even possible. He just cleaned them out and replaced so many with new socks. I don't think he threw any away. 93 pair? I just can't even wrap my brain around that number. Oh wait, there's 94...........he's wearing a pair.............

And p.s. - that's only dress socks. This doesn't count the athletic socks in the downstairs bedroom in a drawer.

Obsessive sewing..........

2009-04-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

I got home today at 10am from excercising and this is the first moment I haven't been cutting out material or sewing. LOVE these patterns! The single ones are capris. The matching ones are long pant for my two granddaughters! Love them!

Crab Pants............Take them off!

2009-04-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

For some unknown reason, I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Now I don't think that happens very often - in fact, rarely! (Paul may have other ideas about this) He asked me to meet him for a morning beverage (aka diet coke!) and I went but was a crab the whole time. Not the kind of crabby that I acted mad at him, just the kind of crabby that everyone and everything was on my nerves! I can't for the life of me even think of what it was. Paul asked if something was the matter. I told him I just had on crabby pants for some reason. He asked if he could help. I told that asking me made me feel crabbier so please don't ask. He tiptoed out of Mac's with the question to me "I think I have a break between work and high council meeting?" Pretty bad when your husband is basically asking if it's okay to come home! Well, it just got worse as the day went on. I was crabby about CStar. An attendance program for my institute class. Don't ask as I may get crabby again. I couldn't keep anything in my hands. Things just kept dropping out of them. Crabby. Went to Michaels and tried to pull a cart out and three kept dribbling out after the one I had. So I went to a different line of them. Same problem. Some guy that worked there started laughing and made some jovial remark - he did not see that I had on crabby pants. I may have looked at him and said something along the lines of ......... well, let's just say that it was rude. Crabby. I also had returned to me in the mail an opened envelope that used to have a gift card in it for my dad. Someone had stolen it! Crabby! I had scheduled to go with my friend April on our daily hike/walk. I thought about calling her and telling her to forget it. I thought about calling her and telling her we were just going to sit and sip on a hot chocolate instead of walking (to which she would have said yes as I would have said it with an edge in my voice!) Alas, she showed up - I told her I was crabby. She asked why. I told her I didn't know. She then told me that perhaps she had left her 'ear muffs' in my house to which I told her that if she put them on I would be crabbier.....she left them in the house. Well, we went on quite the walk. We both sweat like pigs. (It's one of the things that I love most about April - she's an equal opportunity sweater like me! There aren't many of us out there.) We marched down the mountain and right back up it. We sucked air for a bit (especially me as I'm 20 years her senior. Ouch. Crabby.) But by the time we finished I felt great. My crabby pants had been left somewhere on the hike - not to worry......I wore workout pants just in case. I felt a kick in my step. It was fantastic. I had great conversation. I felt like I listened and shared some thoughts. A great combination. So thank you April for walking/hiking with me everyday. Thank you for not making me feel so old. Thanks for helping me with the dreaded crabby pants that I wore for so much of the day. What a waste of my energy. I look forward to our walk tomorrow at 8:30! (And by the way, I made my dear husband a delicious quiche filled with swiss cheese, whipping cream, brocolli, french fried onions, cayenne pepper and threw together some oatmeal/peanut butter cookies that he loves to send out the door with him. I hope he can forgive my crabby pants. I'm pretty sure he will.........last time I checked, he's near the perfect husband category!)

Gramma Zee + grandkiddies = LOVE!

2009-04-08T17:04:00.001-07:00

Andi seemed to do just fine after eating the paint! I think she looks a bit like ninja turtle. They look pretty cute in their craft shirts!

Swinging at the park

I made super hero capes - Andi loved carrying hers around. She WOULD NOT put it on. Carter pretty much lived in his. He wore it to the playland at McDonalds. He wore it to OMSI. He wore it to the park. I didn't let him wear it to church, baths, or sleeping. He busted out some pretty awesome moves when he wore his cape and mask. He ran fast like 'Dash'! (What is The Incredibles!)

Absolute angels on Sunday morning - even thru church! I could hardly stand to leave them at the nursery. It just seemed forever til I got to see them again!

This was Andi's idea of getting herself dressed. I drew the line on this outfit!

Loaded up and on the way to OMSI!

To say they were soaking wet may be an understatement! Andi loved the fish and struck up many conversations and saddled up to anyone who looked like a mom!

Our last stop at OMSI was the sandbox. Carter wasn't too sure about getting his toes in the sand but once he figured out there were sifters, it was a done deal.

So pretty much, I had the best week ever. I sure hope I get to do something like this with all my grandkiddies. It was so fun to just play and play and be there 100% for them. It's an experience that has changed me forever. Thank you Carter and Andi for making me feel like I was the best grandma in the world! I love you!

sewing projects

2009-04-08T16:23:00.000-07:00

Theses are projects I did once the grandkiddies were asleep!'. I made two dresses for Andi. I made a matching one of the coral one for Reece. The kimono pj's are like a previous post that I had made for Reece but this is for one of Summer's friends who is having a girl. She picked out the fabric. She paid me in a bottle of diet coke, black licorice, and a package of chocolate necos! The skirt was a very difficult project. I had seen it on display at Fabric Depot and knew that this was a skirt I must make. It's floor length and when Andi put it on, she just floats in it! Dani is hoping to get some pictures of Andi in it by her professional photographer friend, Heather Ward! Such fun projects! Glad I have some little girls to sew for and one more on the way (which I've already purchased material for her blessing gown!)

I made up these flip flops today. They were one buck at Michaels. I purchased about 3 bucks worth of ribbon and cut them into 6 inch peices and burned the edges so they didn't fray. Then I just tied them on. My friend April thought this would be a fun project/gift for her little girls. I couldn't agree more.

Happy Birthday Summer!

2009-04-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter turned 29 today. Happy Birthday Summer! She is a super great daughter and I thought perhaps I would list a few of my favorite things about her!

1. The smile! Honestly, you just can't beat her contagious smile!
2. Generous spirit! She is really generous is her giving of time and talents to others.
3. She is a worrier! She worries about Reece. She worries about Joshua. She worries about our family. She worries about her Dad's health. She worries about her young women. She worries about her siblings. She worries about her nieces and nephews. It's all good worry. She just really loves her family!
4. She is a good good mom. Ms. Reece is really blessed to have her as her mom. She is so attentive. She is so patient. She knows hers limits and makes sure that she walks away when those limits are met. She just knows she has the most perfect, most beautiful, most wonderful daughter! She appreciates being a mom so much. After losing two pregnancies she really appreciates being a mom in a different way.
5. She loves to connect with our family. She calls often. She asks about everyone. She loves her sibs, their spouses, their kids, her parents, her grandparents. She writes her 95 year old grandpa who is......well, just really old....a card every so often. He so appreciates that.
6. She appreciates living a clean wholesome life. Nothing else to say about that!
7. She is a good daughter.
8. She is so talented. Crafty. Plays the piano beautifully. And she is the meanest soccer player I ever watched. Mean in a good way of course. I'm pretty sure she talked trash with the best of them in high school! I lived for her games!
9. She doesn't like confrontation. This is mostly a good thing I think!
10. She is so non-judgemental - to a fault! She just doesn't judge people by anything. I think she really respects others and their choice of life-style.
11. Strong sense of right and wrong.

Well, I could keep going with my list. And I'm sure my other kids will expect a list on their birthday too! I hope I remember! Remind me will ya?

Happy Birthday Summer! You are just a blessing in my life. I wish you lived closer. I love you as a daughter, sister in the gospel, and friend!

Love, mom

Not just surviving..........THRIVING!

2009-03-28T22:09:00.001-07:00

I had forgotten how much I love being a mom until I arrived in Portland to watch two of my grandkiddies for about a week. I love taking care of them and figuring out what they need and how to make them happy! Here are some of the things we've been up to:

1. Going to Target for popcorn and toy isle looking. I love this because when I was a mom to a bunch of young ones, I could never really take the time to spend an hour just looking at toys. I LOVED it!

2. Playing with toys. I have eaten more meals of pretend food than you could imagine.

3. Playing super-heroes for hours on end. I made them superhero capes. Andi doesn't want to wear hers but Carter won't take his off. He actually wore it over his coat today and he got comments let me tell you! It was so funny. I made him a mask as well so the combination makes him invincible!

4. Going thru the bedtime rituals. Marching to the bathroom for teeth brushing.....singing the same four songs everynight while they fill in the words and run around me in circles. I get corrected if I get the order wrong! 'Grandma, what do you want to sing?' gets asked over and over. If I say the wrong song out of order I get, 'How about ___________'. We kneel for prayer.....this is just such a sweet time. then we sing I am a child of God. Then the lights get turned off, the fan gets turned on. I hear 'Make a silly face'. So I go out of the room and then I open up the door with a silly face. I hear laughter just spilling out of their beds. Priceless............

There are so many other things we've done but mostly it's just been about love. It doesn't really matter what we are doing or how we are doing it or where we are doing it. All that matters is that I am madly in love with my grandbabies - all of them!

Going to Target for popcorn and a lemonade: $3.00
going to McDonalds to play in the playland: $8.00
Buying new toys: $28.00
Being Grandma Z: Priceless

The Annual Palm Springs trip!

2009-03-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

Me and Judes have begun an annual tradition of going to Palm Springs the week before spring break. The first year was under the guise of an art show she wanted to check out. However, we discovered that we had missed the art show all together. Now we just go to go! The pictures show you what happens on little sleep, late nights, crocheting, over shopping, and driving around in the convertible all night.............we put on these anti-wrinkle strips thinking we could erase our 'lines'. You be the judge.......

The Harmon Grandkiddies!

2009-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Paul had a meeting up in Portland for a day so I tagged along and got one day in with the Harmon family! We played hard for the day. Mac's is always a great place to visit. Carter just loved sitting in Ronald McDonalds lap. He figured out how to climb up all on his own. He was so proud of himself. I had a hard time getting a pic with ms. Andi! She's such a mover and wiggler. She did find a treasure or two on the floor of the playplace. She brought us a piece of chewed gum complete with the longest black hair you could find. For those of you who don't know our family, loose hairs are on the top of the 'nothing grosses me out more than this' list! Thank you to Carter and Andi for being such good sports about going to FAbric Depot. They were perfect angels. We also went to an old pancake house the next morning. It was soooo old. We dubbed it the breakfast shack. I'm pretty sure that the grease they cooked the food in was the original grease from about 1928. It was full plates of just good old food. I felt pretty yucky afterwards...........

The Stewart grandboys!

2009-03-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ben had a hearing in Medford so he and his family came to visit. Ben's hearing got cancelled so he headed up to Salem until the weekend. So Sharon and the boys stayed and visited for about 5 days and we had such a great time. Ben came over the weekend so it was good to see him too! Never enough time with them! We went to the sports park open gym and let the boys run wild. They really enjoyed it. There weren't too many kids there so they got the run of the field. Grayson just loved the big yoga ball. He bounced and bounced on it. He bounced off of it. It was really funny to watch. Calvin just wanted to do what his big brother did. We went to Mac's and let them run around as well. Grandpa loves to meet up with us there for a little libation and a lot of his grandboys! Gray loves to play at the computer desk. He gets in the desk drawer and organizes things for me. Sounds a bit like his dad to me...........

The Andrus Grandkiddie!

2009-03-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

I had such a nice visit with Summer, Joshua, and Reece and Sam and Nikki! I went to Utah in February and spent a weekend with Sam and Nikki and then up to Sumo's house and spent a few days there as well. Ms. Reece is just adorable and it was so much fun to get to know her better. I sure wish they lived closer! Grandkiddies and kiddies! Thank you to my kids and in-law kids and ms. Reece for a really great week. I am so bad at taking pics of them so I didn't get one single one of the grown-ups!

Fabrack Addict!

2009-03-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

Paul has dubbed me a 'Fabrack Addict' This would be a play on the word crack addict. Only it's fabric. Has anyone ever been to Fabric Depot in Portland? It's the largest fabric store in the US. 7000 sq. ft. of beautiful, glorious fabric! Thank you Dani for introducing me! They have designer fabrics. They have designer patterns. I was truly shaking when I walked in! It is amazing! I also learned about the Puyallup Stiching Fair held in Puyallup WA every Feb. I just missed it. It's four days of demonstrations, designers, fabrics, quilting, crocheting, etc. I'm going next year - anyone coming?

Now the funny part of this story...........Paul was so excited for me to be getting fabric and patterns. He was excited that it makes me so happy to have a creative outlet. He asked me how much I spent - any of you who know Paul know that I don't really track what I spend very often and Paul is just happy to 'keep' me! I told him an estimate. He said 'Good. That makes me feel better.' I asked him why. He sheepishly told me that he won a bid on Ebay for a new set of golf clubs! I'm so happy for him! Just as long as he stays happy for me!

Giveaway - I'm playing!

2009-03-03T10:45:00.001-08:00

My girls - two of them - have posted this on their blog and I went to play on theirs and they are booked! So I wanted to do this so here it is! This is the copy of On to the details of the giveaway...

The first THREE people to respond to this post will get something made by me!

My choice.

For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.It may be a story. It may be a joke book, autographed picture of myself, handmade bag, or a little invention of my own! I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows?

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me... it may blow your mind.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog.

The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Sounds like fun, right? So, let's play!

This is why I was in Utah - 'nuff said!'

2009-02-27T10:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-02-19T10:40:00.001-08:00

I had the nicest birthday ever. I had awakened in the morning with a firm conviction that this would be a great day - 50 or not! I had a regular day with rehearsals and shopping for food, etc. I had people facebooking me happy birthday. I got phone calls and text messages all day from family and friends. I just felt so great. It's amazing how just a few kinds words during the day just energized me. A good lesson learned I think!

As I was walking out the door in the morning I was talking to my sis - Jayne - and telling her that the perfect day would be watching HSM3 but that I was forbidden to buy it so I couldn't watch it. Paul and I went to breakfast and his first present appeared on the table - HSM3! So any moment I was home I had it on!

As we sat down to dinner, another gift arrived at the table. It was a shirt that said 'I've done + the mathe = I'm Old! and a tiara that lit up. Yes, I wore it proudly for the evening. Pics to follow. Paul, Alli, Nic, and I made a scrumptious dinner with one of the best salads I have ever made - I'm pretty sure it was the feta cheese. We had bread with olive oil and toasted garlic, Rib Eye steak, and jumbo shrimp - boiled to perfection. I ate way too many of those! mmmmmmmmmmm!

Then onto present opening. I got a book with fifty things to do for your 50th year of life. They are funny, poignant, and interesting. It should be a good read! (I did have to buy new reading glasses today so I could see it better - I can't keep track of the 3 pair I already have!)

Then I got a gift bag with a note that Paul had worded very carefully. It was all about 'fun' and 'don't take this personally' 'it's intended to be fun'. I LOVED it! It was a bag with wrinkle creams, hair dye, lotions for old skin, reading glasses, etc. This will be used a lot and I took it how it was intended.

The next gift Paul had written in yet another card about all of the things that happened in the year 1959. Like Alaska and Hawaii became states. Like it is Simon Cowells year of birth. The first astronauts were introduced. And the list went on. The end of the list was that the best thing that happened that year was that Suzanne Jensen was born! The gift that followed was a bag full of movies released in 1959 and some fantastic cd's released in 1959. Like Porgy and Bess. Some Like It Hot. Sleeping Beauty and many more! Loved it!

Then Alli gave me the gift from the kids. They had a book published from shutterfly. Each of them took two pages and filled it with pictures of them and their families and a top ten list of why they love me! I laughed and cried and felt so humbled to be their mom! The pictures are priceless and the lists so kind.

The next event was a survey that Paul had sent out to each of the kids and inlaw kids. There were six questions for them to answer. For instance: What's the dumbest thing you've ever seen mom/zan do? Answers ranged from 'watching her try to do DDR' to 'attempting the worm'. Funniest thing I've seen mom do? Answers included 'Being thrown 12 feet in the air as she flipped her four wheeler and she broke her elbow. I tried not to laugh but it was really funny! to 'nuggie pants'! They were asked their favorite things about me. 'Best friend' 'Love for life' devotion to family' 'selfless' 'passion for life' etc. I would never have put those words to me so that was really sweet. Happiest I ever saw mom? It ranged from 'when she has a diet coke' to 'when she is looking at Dad'. There were just lots of answers. I had to guess who said each one. Paul had written up a survey for the four of us that were there to write down our answers. He emailed all of the kids the same thing of course, without answers. It was fun to see who said what and I actually guessed lots of them right! That was so thoughtful and I know it time away from everyones busy lives. Thank you thank you thank you! It was soooooooo fun to read.

The next gift - accompanied by a card of course - was a custom made mothers ring. Paul had gone to Main Street jewelers and had them make up a white gold band and had each of the kids birthstones put in them. It's beautiful and stunning. And sooooo unexpected. Here are the birthstones: diamond, amethyst,topaz, sapphire, and ruby. I will cherish this ring forever.

And the final gift - if you can believe there was more and it was accompanied by a card - read something along the lines of "Turning 50 is memorable and happens once in a lifetime. So I thought I should get you a once in a lifetime gift" I almost didn't want to open it. It was exciting! I made a few guesses. It was a trip. Not just any trip. A trip to go to NYC for the first week in September. Why in September you may ask? BECAUSE ITS THE US OPEN! He got us a package to spend the week at Flushing Meadows to watch the us open! Holy Smokes! Wow. I just can't even come up with the adjectives to express how excited I am! Also tickets to Mary Poppins and one of my super favs, West Side Story!

I know I got lots of gifts but truly the thought that went into each gift was so touching. Thank you to my beautiful family - my children, in-law kids, my sweet grandbabies, and last but certainly not least - the orchestrator of all of this, my best friend and hubby, Paul! I love all of you and can't express how grateful I feel for each one of you. You made me see that even thru some tough times of being married and of raising kids, the payoff is now! We get it as a family. Loves wins every time!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I Have One Great Ward!

2009-02-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a Sweetheart's Dinner at our ward. Ladies from the Relief Society were asked to set a nice table with their best dishes. We had enough for 8 tables and ended up with 10 tables set because we had so many people show up. Members brought their friends and neighbors. It was decorated just so nice and it made you feel like you were in a nice restaurant. The food was delicious - there was a Chinese theme for the evening. We had egg drop soup, schezwan wraps, chicken chowmein, beef and broccoli, house fried rice, homemade key lime pie, and homemade angel food cake. My quartet sang - E.Q. - and they all came with their spouses!

Now the food and decor was lovely but the people are what made the evening. Here's a shout out to April, Tiffany, and Rachel for all they did. Thanks for letting me be a part of the evening! And to my ward family - I love you all! You make our ward a wonderful place to worship and fellowship!

Enough about poo!

2009-02-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

This is the new Amy Butler patterns that I have discovered. I spent an eternity in the Hawaiian fabric store buying and looking at fabrics. Sorry Paul! I brought home about 25 yards of fabric. This bag is really sturdy - it's interfaced and I also used fusible fleece for extra padding and heaviness. Love it! Afterall, what's there not to love about a new bag!

This is a picture of a Tiki that was carved for us that we shipped home from Hawaii! A word to the wise - always check the prices of shipping before you commit to buying something in Hawaii! However, it was worth every penny of it. Paul just wanted a tiki to set on a rock by our pool. Maybe it will replace the owl that the birds sit on! The man who made it for us was probably late 20's and was a fourth generation carver. He would sit on the floor with the wood between his feet and just carve away. This tiki represent luck and happiness. It's a unique piece as it's multi colored and it has two 'trunks' coming out of the top which made it much more fun for the guy to carve. He recognized us from going to church so that was an added bonus that he's LDS. Can't wait to get it out on a rock! We got the surnames of all of our family carved into the back as well. And yes, the boys who share our last name got their own line with Stewart on it!

Walmart bathrooms.

2009-02-07T10:36:00.001-08:00

I've sworn them off forever. Now mind you, I try hard not to have to use public bathrooms. It just seems un-natural to have women lined up next to each other with a half wall between them........... However, I had to go to Walmart to exchange something and when I got there the diet coke that I'm not supposed to be drinking and that I have sworn off but apparently only half-heartedly decided that it was indeed a diuretic. So I walk into the bathroom and the stalls were full but besides that I looked down at the floor and in front of the sink was a womens - full size women's - pair of undies in front of the sink full of poo! And there were many paper towels in the same disrepair next to them. Who is poo-ing and leaving their undies on the floor? At least put them in the garbage can. How about you just leave the store next time and take care of things at home. And who were the women who were in the stalls as if nothing was going on in there? Sufficeth it to say, my gag reflex kicked in - I gagged and walked - no, ran out..............Honestly, what is the matter with people these days?

Sewing projects!

2009-02-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

While we were in Hawaii I visited two fabric stores that specialize in Hawaiian fabrics. I bought some to make me, Andi, and Reece matching mu mu's for the summer. Not sure I spelled that correctly! However, in the process I found a new designer named Amy Butler. She has patterns and fabrics for really great purses, baby bags, etc. She also has a line of clothing, bedding, toys, etc for 0 - 12 month olds. I made this up today for Reece. A little kimono p.j. set! I loved how it turned out and can't wait to make other things from her line.

Hawaii 2009!

2009-02-02T14:10:00.000-08:00

Me and my sweetie celebrating 30 years of happily married bliss!

This is the Iao Needle. The King was trying to take over the island of Maui so that all of the islands would be united as one. So he sent his warriors to the top of this peak (how? I could not even imagine!) to watch for attacks from the people of the island that didn't want to unite. We had a nice hike to see this and many other beautiful sites that day.

This is just one of the many many beautiful sunsets we were privileged to see. We made sure that each night by 5:30 we were somewhere on the island that we could see the sun set. Every night was a testimony to God's creations. We also saw whale after whale jumping out of the water. Lots of moms and babies............quite remarkable!

I was hiking in front of Paul and pulled out my camera and shot him backwards. He was apparantly enjoying the hike! Smiling. We were at some falls above the Seven Sacred Pools. An amazing hike. The road to get there took 2 1/2 hours and 2 of that was spent on 30 miles! It is a road that has 300 curves - like hairpin curves - and 62 some odd one lane bridges. These are bridges that I am certain were built by Christopher Columbus. It was one scary drive! No wiggle room at all. Just a cliff on one side and a rock wall carved out of the other side! There was a lot of jungle as well. It was stunningly beautiful! The road to Hana is one incredible memory!

This is Paul and I during our first week there! Yay!

You know we have decided that two weeks away is just about right. It gives Paul a chance to really relax and let down. Thank you Paul for a most memorable trip! I will never ever forget your generosity and kindness and love towards me! Here's to the next 30!

This may gross you out but ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

2009-02-02T08:48:00.000-08:00

Aloha! We are back and I will try to post some pictures in the next few days. However when we got home last night we had a wonderful night with Alli and Nic. Lots of good food and hot tubbing. Love them! But then just as they were leaving we let the dogs in. Chaska, a girl, ran over to Paul and I'm looking at my floors and there is blood drops all over the floor. Paul checks her paws. Nothing. And he checks her over as best he can. Nothing. She doesn't act like she is hurting or anything. She is sitting and so when she gets up we can see some blood. So we are thinking that she must have scraped her tail or something. WRONGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chaska is so having a period! Are you kidding me? I have never had a girl dog that wasn't fixed. I had no idea that they could have periods. I'm just so seriously grossed out! So I'm calling the vet in a few minutes to set up getting her fixed. EEEEEEWWWWWWWWW................

More from the wedding!

2009-01-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

A look down at the reception. The picture was taken from the loft looking down into the great room. I love this picture..........

The original Stewart kids!

Mr and Mrs. Phair!

2009-01-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

The Newlyweds right after their sealing in the Medford temple.

Eulogy...........

2009-01-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

A man in our ward died over the holidays. Frank Hustead. Such a good man and he's married to one good woman. I went to his funeral on Saturday and listened to his son's talk about him and his life. I've only known Frank as the man who sits next to Louise every Sunday. I didn't know anything else about him. It was so wonderful to listen to his sons tell about his life's experiences. He was a singer, a well respected man in his profession, a wonderful dad who led by example, a man who was truly in love with his wife...........and the list could on. April was sitting next to me and she said "I wish we would do eulogy's while we were still alive". How true that is. I wish that I would have known more about this good man. I wish I would have taken the time to know him and his family better.

I'm sure that there are so many people who I only know as the one who sits at church every week and that there is much to know about them. I wonder how many people who don't know me well at church think that I'm widowed or have an inactive husband - people who may think I have no children etc..........

So I'm going to write something about Paul - a small piece of his 'living' eulogy. He never reads this so he won't know!

Most people know Paul from the community. His job is far-reaching. His service in different community organizations is widely known. He sits on boards - lots of them. Professionally he is well-known. But if I were to give his eulogy, I wouldn't really care that people knew that about him. I would want people to know that Paul is a good man through and through. He is thoughtful. He really cares about others. He fiercely loves his family and is always trying to find ways to serve them. He has integrity beyond belief. He is honest to a fault. He always remembers my birthday, our anniversary, and all holidays. He likes to celebrate these. He doesn't raise his voice. He's calm. He gives liberally to others out of the goodness of his heart. I would hope these are some of the things that people would know about Paul. It is the Paul I know, respect, and love.......

Angel Food Cake

2009-01-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

Last fall I visited my parents in Mesa, AZ. One of their best friend couples are Jay and Fern Cocherhan. Just the nicest people. I went to a 'village' social and Fern had brought her imfamous angel food cake. Now I had never tasted a homemade one. I thought the ones from Safeway were pretty tasty. Boy was I ever wrong. I have never tasted anything quite as delicious as Fern's angel cake. I asked her for her recipe. She graciously agreed. I went over to her home and she took me thru step by step on how to make this cake. It was such a nice thing for her to do. I tried this recipe on New Years Eve. And I may add that it turned out fantastic! I will never go to Safeways for another angel food cake in my life. Thank you Fern!

Here Comes the Bride!

2009-01-04T07:27:00.001-08:00

Here is my married daughter! Congratulations to Alli and Nic on their temple wedding December 27th, 2008. (photo by Becerra Photography)

Shame, shame, shame................

2009-01-02T12:03:00.001-08:00

http://kurtelling.com/music/ Why have I not known about Kurt Elling? Someone should have told me about him! He is one incredible jazz vocalist! So whoever didn't tell me about him - SHAME ON YOU! You can catch a snippet or two on ITunes. Wow!

PS I will be posting about the wedding/reception/openhouse/Chirstmas soon!

Once it's over, it's over.........

2008-12-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

Once Christmas Day has come and gone, I'm just done with holidays and winter. January and February are not my favorite months to say the least. However, Paul and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary and my 50th (ouch!) birthday in those two months. So we decided to do it up right and go to one of our favorite spots in the world. We are headed to Kehei in Maui for two weeks in January. I will be laying in the sun, reading books, driving around in the convertible, and enjoying Paul's uninterrupted time! Aloha!

Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep........

2008-12-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

I have really been blessed in the past month and have truly experienced the 'tender mercies of the Lord'. I have spent much time in gratitude over those mercies. I wish I could share with you all of the wonders of this past month. It's been amazing. I'm so grateful that He is aware of me. I'm so grateful that He knows me and worries over me. I'm grateful to be surrounded by such good people, starting with my family. My ward family is so kind and generous with their gifts and talents and I so appreciate them. People are so willing to lend a hand and be there for you when you need them the most. I have many blessings and as I go to bed tonight I'll be counting......

Happy 1st Birthday Calvin Jay!

2008-12-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe an entire year has passed by since 'old blue eyes' came into this world. He came early and it was such a wonderful Christmas present to our entire family. He has the bluest eyes, is so quick to smile, and does love to give a hug to his Grandma! We love you Cal and wish we could be with you and Gray and your parents to celebrate!

My 'Rents!

2008-12-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

I just have to say that I may have the cutest and best parents around! My dad just turned 80 last May and mom turns 80 this May! I just wanted to give them a shout out and tell them how much I love and appreciate them. They have been temple workers for ever stinkin' ever until just recently. However, my dad maintains his calling as a sealer for the temple. He has performed the marriage of my 4 oldest children in the Mt. Timpanogas, Salt Lake City, Bountiful, and Mesa temples. He will complete my children with the final sealing of Allison to Nicolas on Dec. 27th in the Medford temple. How blessed I feel that not only do I have worthy children that can all be at the temple for Alli's wedding but that my parents are alive and well and also worthy to be there with them. To have 'grandpa' seal them to their spouses has really been a unique and beautiful thing. So thanks mom and dad, for being shining examples to my kids and to me! Can't wait to get you here next week for the festivities!

Christmas decor!

2008-12-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

I saw this idea on HGTV. They had asked people to send in their best Christmas decorating ideas and this was one of their top 25 ideas. The picture doesn't do it justice. I bought a fake wreath and attached it to the bottom of my light fixture. Then I took fake garland and wound it from above the lights to the top. It took about 27 feet. Then I tied silver ribbon on it and hung some silver balls. It's just a stunning look! Enjoy!

I Love To See The Temple, I'm Going There Someday!

2008-12-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

What a great day we had at the temple with Alli. She was so prepared and ready to take the commitment it requires. I was so proud of her. She was so supported by both sides of the family so thank you to all who could join us. It made for a special day. It was great to have all but one of our grandbabies there as well! (even tho it was just outside!) It gives an eternal perspective like no other!

Congratulations Alli. You are a wonderful daughter!

I'm Sick........

2008-12-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

I have avoided being sick for a little over a month. I have just been putting it off for various reasons and I guess I just don't have a good enough one anymore. However, I think I still have some good reasons but nobody seems to care. Here is a list of my symptoms...........
1. I'm achy.
2. My nose is completely stuffed up.
3. I sound like a man. I could actually hit 1 1/2 octaves below middle C today at church.
4. My throat feels like garbage.
5. I cannot sing and can barely speak.
6. I have a roaring headache. This has been with me for about two weeks now. Why? I'm not sure but I certainly wish it would go away. You know how I just love pills.
7. It hurts behind my eyes.
8. I'm so so tired.
9. I'm coughing up a lung.
10. Let's not go there.........

So I'm looking for some sympathy. I have a week like no other and being sick does not help this situation at all! Here is my week:
1. I have rehearsal all day tomorrow.
2. Rehearsals Tuesday
3. Rehearsals Wednesday, pick up Summer Wednesday in Medford, and have a show Wednesday night
4. Thursday brings yet more rehearsals both day and night. One of these I am supposed to be singing........right.......
5. Friday is set up for the ward Christmas party, show in the afternoon, party that night, rehearsals after the party.
6. Saturday......goodness, I don't think I have anything booked! Anyone want to book that day? I'm open........
7. Sunday.....ward Christmas program that I'm in charge of.

So, is there any sympathy out there? Oh yeah, there's the wedding too! Now that should be the icing on the cake to get me some sympathy!

Freak out!

2008-12-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

So tonight I totally freaked out. I was summoned via phone call to come and see Alli's new apartment - no, wait - not Alli's new apartment - Alli and Nic's! Holy smokes! My daughter - my baby is getting married in about two weeks and that means she'll be living with a man! I've been so fine with it all and I'm still fine but it really hit me like a ton of bricks tonight. I will say their place is brand stinkin' new and really great. I brought her a roll of toilet paper as a house warming gift! I figure as they move in they may need to use the facilities. So all of my kids will be married in about two weeks. How does this happen? How do I get to be almost 50? I just really feel grateful for every day and every breath these days! So ms. Alli, welcome to the marriage club. This will be the best club you will EVER join! And thanks for the total freakout!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

I have so much to be thankful for and I thought that perhaps I would list a few things that seem to float to the top of my list:
1. My husband. He is such a good man. I feel privileged to be at his side.
2. My children. They have grown into these wonderful adults and I know how blessed I am to have such loving relationships with each one of them
3. My in-law children. It's like they are my kids! I love each one of them and they are perfect partners with my children.
4. My grandkids. I had no idea the kind of fierce love I would have for my grandkids. They have added such a wonderful layer in my life.
5. My parents and siblings and their families. I come from such a good home with terrific parents. I will always say that I grew up like a princess. My sister is just the best and you would all be privileged to know her. I am soooo grateful my brother is alive and well!
6. The gospel of Jesus Christ. I have such a firm testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. I feel so overwhelmed by the blessing it is in my life.
7. Music. Music defines so much of who I am. I am grateful for the appreciation I have of it and for the gifts I have to participate in it. Thanks mom and dad!
8. Where I live. Not the house (tho I love my house!) but the mountains, the abundance of trees, the constant blue skies, the seasons we enjoy, the small town living where we still wave to those people who pass us on our road and in any neighborhood. I love the wildlife that we see everyday here. Bald eagles, hawks, deer, etc. It's just a beautiful way of living.
9. The opportunity to serve. I love what I do in the church. I love that I get to see my institute kids every week and have meaningful gospel discussions. I love my sunday school kids. They are so full of energy and questions.
10. America. Yes, I am grateful to live in America because for all of it's flaws and hard times we are in, it's still the greatest country to live in. I am grateful for all those who have fought, who are fighting, and who will fight to maintain the American way of living.

I hope that we all take a moment to pause and think about the things we are grateful for this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

The finished product!

2008-11-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

So this gives an idea of what our tree looks like finished. It feels a bit pretentious to me! I'm much more of a homespun, needles on the floor, ornaments from 1985 kind of gal so this seems a bit out of the park. However, for Alli's reception it will be stunning. I wish you were all here to see it in person. The picture just doesn't do it justice. Click on it to see a bit more detail!

Alli and I stayed up late one night to get it all decorated. It was quite the ordeal. The ladder was cumbersome but we managed to move it around and around. I should have done an ornament count! We did use 50 yards of metallic netting and it wasn't enough!

Enjoy! Oh......and Merry Christmas!

Enough Turkey Day!

2008-11-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

Okay I tried to keep up the turkey day template thru Thanksgiving but I just couldn't do it! I don't know what it is about Christmas that I just love. It makes me feel happy. It makes me think of others. I don't know - I just LOVE Christmas. This is a picture of our undecorated tree in our living room. SWEET!

Merry Christmas.........

2008-11-17T16:18:00.000-08:00

I know that I put a turkey day template up but FYI - Our 1st Christmas tree is up with more to follow............Yay for Christmas!

I've succombed!

2008-11-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

I have been pestered long enough for 'the end' story of the poor pack rat who lived at 1050 apogee way. So if you don't want to be grossed out, please don't read on. (Now I know that you will all read on because you are all just curious and sick enough!)

Let's back up to many weeks ago. We had a propane leak in our house. We could smell it like no other. But it was weird because it wasn't by our appliances or fireplace. We called the gas man to come up at 11 at night to do a pressure check. Bill #1 - $$$$$$$$$ He found nothing.

A few days later it was so strong I thought we all may die and I didn't think we should even stay in the house. I called the gas man again. He came up yet again and did yet another pressure test. Bill #2 - $$$$$$$$ He found nothing. He did mention that perhaps we should check our septic tank. We've only been in our house for not even two years and it's only Paul and I! How in the world could we fill a septic field!

So we called the septic people. Bill #3 - $$$$$$$$ He found nothing. He did mention that perhaps we should bring up a plumber and see what he could find.

We called the plumber. Two of them came up. Bill #4 - $$$$$$$$$ They went all over the house smelling. They put their noses by the drains, by the toilets, by every place imaginable. They could find nothing...................

Then the heat kicked on. It hadn't really been on at all before this. They said, "Hmmmm, the smell seems to be stronger when the heat kicks on." And then Paul had a light bulb come on over his head. We had set rat poison in our crawl space. Yes indeed, the smell we were smelling was a dead rat! Oh so disgusting and so gross. I'm totally creeped out just by remembering it. This was on a Thursday. I had 8 missionaries coming to my house Friday night and a bridal shower on Saturday morning. Our house reeked!

We we had to figure out where it was. So the plumbers opened up one of our heat vents and pulled out gobs of nesting material. Oh my gosh I'm so embarrassed writing this 'outloud'! They opened up another vent - you guessed it - nesting material.

So we called a vent guy to come up with his vacumn and try to suck out the dead rat in my heating vents. Bill #5 $$$$$$$$$$ Didn't have equipment to work in the vents. So the dead rat will now forever be in my heating vent and because we have soft vents, it will embed into it and eventually make a hole and we will have to tear down walls to find it and replace the vents!

I hate pack rats. It's official. I never want to see or for sure smell another one. We did figure out how it got into the crawl space and that's forever fixed.

Here are the lessons we learned that just may come in handy to some of you:

1. Always close the door to the crawl space completely. I had not done this as I was packing out wedding tubs for a wedding I was doing.

2. Pay as many people as much as you have to to figure out what the nasty smell is in your house.

3. Use the product Odor Killer (only available on line and found by others stories on the internet about how they got rid of the smells of dead pack rats in their houses. Paul had typed in google something along the lines of the kind of venting tubes we have and something about smells. He found nothing. I typed in 'Dead pack rats in my heating vents' and it brought up a world of information! Guess this is more common than I thought. There are apparently a lot of rednecks like us who have to figure out things to do with dead animal smells.)

4. Never ever put out rat poison! Only use traps. This would have saved us a world of trouble. I may have suggested this to Paul but I would never give him a bad time about it as I was the one who left the little door open a crack..........On the other hand he should have been helping me get the buckets out and he would have made sure the door was closed!

5. Rats can get thru the smallest of spaces.

6. The smell does eventually go away and we learned the best thing to do was to put a dryer sheet in each vent and it helped immensely.

7. We still love living on the mountain and have chalked this up to a weird story in our family history!

So there is the story. Please don't tell anyone as we may never see another visitor again...........

NYC!

2008-11-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

Paul and I just returned from the glorious city of New York! It was fantastic to say the least. However, we did not take one single picture! Bad doobies! I thought of Shauna a number of times and we gave a shoutout to the building she'll be working in.

We never took a cab (except from the airport). We walked and walked and walked. And how we wish our familia would have been with us. We have done all of the touristy things so we just hung in NYC and enjoyed being a daily part of the hub bub! Here are some of the things I love (and tolerated) about NYC!

1. Driving in a cab from the airport. Scary - fast - like a roller coaster ride. Paul laughs and I close my eyes!
2. The Fantastiks! What a great show. A very small theater like the Linkville. We loved it so much. I would recommend this show to all. It reminded me of Dad (Jay) being in this show in Logan when we first moved back.
3. FAO Shwartz - well, we may have spent our children's inheritance. Thank goodness they mail! What an experience. I would have loved to have had Carter and Gray there running from one thing to the next!
4. Central Park. It was the perfect day to spend there. We walked for 6 hours that day. It was brisk. The colors were beautiful. The sky was blue. The leaves were trickling onto the ground. Absolutely stunning.
5. Radio City Music Hall Rockette Christmas Spectacular. That is the most incredible theater I have ever been in. And what a show! There was snowing, flying, fireworks, legs, a live nativity with camels and even a JDonk! We loved it so much that we went back for a second show! And if you catch Paul at the right time he will show you his favorite step they did. He actually did this IN THE THEATER AS WE WERE WALKING OUT!
6. Bagels.........why can't KTown figure out how they do this!
7. 4.00 cans of diet coke.
8. Macy's! Need we say more. 10 glorious stories of shopping and eating. We did both - a lot!
9. Really sore feet - we never got back in a cab.
10. Hairspray. This is a show never to be forgotten or as Tom Monson says: Always to be remembered - never to be forgotten! It was opening night for Harry Feinstein. He is taking over the role until the show closes on Jan. 4th. He was by far the ugliest 'woman' I have ever seen. And that voice! He certainly got a bit naughty and that part wasn't so good. A fantastic show on so many levels!
11. Diane Keaton. I had gone back to FAO for a bit more shopping while Paul had a meeting. He met me there and we had a little over an hour til show time so we just wanted to sit and chat. We went across the street to The Plaza and found a couple of comfy chairs about 6 feet in front of the elevators. We were chatting and the elevator doors opened and I thought to myself 'My that lady looks like Diane Keaton' and turned back to Paul and then I heard the voice. Sure enough, Diane Keaton was standing in front of us in the ugliest dress I may have ever seen. But she pulled it off. Tiny woman that Diane............. We did not see McCalley Culkin..............tehe...........
12. Cheap purses and scarves! Love them.........
13. Dale and Thomas' popcorn. This is by far the best popcorn I have ever eaten. Yum. Right at Time Square so you can always get some coming and going!
14. SEeing Angel Moroni hanging out in Manhattan! What a beautiful site!
15. Virgin Record store in Time Square. Could there be a more fantastic store for music? You could find anything and everything you could ever listen to. I think I got 6 cd's. Yes, mostly Christmas! However, Paul could not find the Tennessee Ernie Ford Christmas cd. He was very saddened by this. He love his rendition of Little Drummer Boy.
16. Madison Square Garden. We didn't go to the game on Sunday but I love seeing it. It's NBA baby!
17. Spending time alone with Paul - without work and church obligations. It was so fantastic and he is just so fun to be with. One word for you Paul - Oneders..........gig............
18. Paul getting a towncar ride back to the airport this morning.
19. Leaving NYC. After 5 days there I was ready for no smoking, no crowds, no surface street noise, no sirens, no people asking for money, no people stepping in front of me, traffic, etc. I have never been so happy to be back on my mountain with the moon shining over the lake and the sound of..............of..........oh wait, it's quiet! Ahhhh.............

The End!

2008-11-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

Well, the rat story has come full circle. I won't go into the gory details because you would be tooooooo grossed out by the true story. However, we know the packrat is dead. How we know this we will keep to ourselves.........it's a mortifying story and just disgusting......and it may keep you from visiting. All is well on top of the mountain yet again!

On another note, I had to laugh to myself as I went to bed last night. It was Halloween of course. All of you were with your kids, grandkids and enjoying the festivities. Ours was the most different and most wonderful Halloween ever. We had all 8 missionaries up to the house for our traditional chilli and scones dinner. They had a district meeting after that and then we, the missionaries - Paul and I - Alli and Nic - had a testimony meeting. It was such a beautiful thing to watch 8 19-20 year olds sharing their feelings about the Savior and His impact on their lives. We all got a chance to share our feelings as well. And as I went to bed I thought to myself - 'Only in the true church would you find eight young men wearing white shirts and ties and talking about the Savior of the world on Halloween night." Smile..................

Don't forget the small stuff!

2008-10-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to come home from church and bake up a pumpkin pie for Paul and Al and Nic. It looked absolutely beautiful...................but man did it taste bad! Everyone was very polite but it was just bad. Forward to about an hour after the ordeal of gagging down bad pie - I remembered I had forgotten to put 3/4 c. sugar into it! A small amount relatively speaking but a good lesson learned for life. Don't forget the small stuff! Those things add up with the other good things we do to make a most tasty dessert!

Critters...........the final chapter.........we hope.........

2008-10-19T22:36:00.001-07:00

Well, we have not found our critter but I thought you may want to take a look. This picture makes them look almost cute and cuddly...........not when they are scratching at my walls at night! However, we haven't heard it for many nights and we are presuming the poison worked. The poison causes them to want to get out for air so we are hoping Paul finds it under the house when he goes there tomorrow. One can only hope! I promise to put up some pics of our fantastic weekend at the pumpkin patch in St. Paul, OR. Did I mention I love love love my grandkiddies?

Critters...............part 3

2008-10-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

There is evidence that the 'thing' has eaten some of the poison. However, Paul bought a true rat trap. Not a baby mouse trap. This thing is HUGE! It will definitely snap the head off of anything that gets near it..........maybe tonight.............(imagine a haunting ghost sound............) If we catch it I may just take a picture of it to gross all of my readers out. And I know you'll be watching for it now because we just can't seem to NOT look at the bizarre, gross, and generally creepy things of the world!

Critters.................part 2......

2008-10-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

So Paul set 5 traps - mouse traps - under the crawl space where we suspected the rodents may be. He checked last night and all 5 traps had been tripped and the peanut butter licked clean off! So whatever 'it' is, is too big for the mouse traps.........eeeeeeewwwwwwwwww........So now we know where it is - we put out poison. Now we'll have delirious rats...............great............ However, on a good note, Paul is just thrilled with himself and his self esteem is on a high! You know, keeping his family safe from the big, bad things of the world! You just gotta love it.........

Critters........

2008-10-10T08:36:00.001-07:00

When you live on the top of a mountain with nobody close by, you can expect critters. I would love to put up a night cam on the property and just see what is lurking close by! (I think anyways...) So here is the critter watch on my mountain.....

1. Deer coming and going thru the property. Sometimes it's only two and sometimes there are 20. They are beautiful and I wish they would just live at my house all of the time.

2. Resident animals - Moki, Chaska, Toots, Rio, Bear, and Moose. There is nothing quite like sitting up in bed every morning, looking out the windows and seeing my horses! There is nothing quite like letting Moki and Chaska out every morning - they are so genuinely happy to say good morning. Toots - we'll just leave her out of the beautiful morning...............

3. Hawks flying and hovering over the house - LOVE IT!

4. Yesterday Alli and I were driving up the mountain and there were two bald eagles just soaring overhead. We stopped and watched them for quite some time. It never ever gets old to see a bald eagle in the wild. For those of you who don't know, Klamath Falls is one of the biggest nesting grounds for bald eagles. We see them all of the time. Two soaring overhead was just picture perfect.

5. Cougars and Bobcats. I have not seen the cougar or the bobcats this year. That is probably a good thing. I did have a run in with a bobcat a few years ago. He walked across the road about 25 feet in front of me as I was returning from the mailbox. AMAZING!

6. Coyotes - we have a few that come thru our yard on occasion. They are a little frightening looking sometimes but mostly they are just jogging thru the back of the property minding their own business.

7. Jack rabbits. These are not your ordinary rabbits. They are the size of small horses - I swear it! They are so fun to watch chasing and hopping. And those ears...........

8. Squirrels - we have some resident squirrels that live in the rocks. They run out on occasion and take a peek at the world - steal some oats from the horses - and run back to their rocks. Too cute.

9. Magpies - not such a fan. They eat the dog food and it drives Moki crazy - crazy enough to bark at them but not crazy enough to chase them. This would take way too much energy.

10. Bluejays. There is nothing quite as beautiful as a wooded jay. So big and blue.

11. Mice. These are definitely on the bad list of critters. If you recall I had quite the time with some of them last year. I had a bin with a door on it full of horse oats. I went out one day to open it up and about 25 mice came pouring out. It was totally the grossest thing ever. However, there was one that had just overeaten and he was hanging on the door - swinging with the door. He was too fat to do much of anything. He just looked at me like 'Have some pitty.' I know that feeeling after Thanksgiving dinner so I just let him hang. We've had a few in the house but Paul is the expert trapper. You would think he was hunting big game!

12. Pack rats/wood rats - Now we had a cat that loved to bring his treasures to us each morning. (This cat has since been the bottom of the food chain for a coyote!) He would bring them to us in many different parts. There were inside parts laid out for us sometimes. And sometimes it was just the head. Lovely cat - he made us proud! However, we have one (we think) in our walls as of a few days ago. Paul went a-hunting for it under the house last night but can't quite figure out where it has gotten in. I know this sounds so horrible to all of you but it's just part of living on a mountain. He will be caught in a few days and this will bring great pleasure to Paul.

I love mountain living. I love that I have fresh air every morning. I love my critters - all of them. I love watching the storms come across the lake. And most importantly - I love the human critters that live with me!

Blog stalking........

2008-10-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, someone in my familia (Jayne) told me how inspired she was by one of Dyans (and kind of an acquaintance of Dani's) friends. Her name is Susan. I have never met her and only have seen a few pics of her on her blog. Well at any rate, she is 25 and has stage 4 liver cancer and it's not a good prognosis - medically speaking. However, we can never underestimate the miracles of God now can we............She is newly married and I can't even begin to imagine dealing with this the first year of marriage. Paul and I dealt with it 8 years ago for the first time and that was 22 years into marriage. It was hard. The second go round was 3 years ago - 27 years into marriage. It was hard.

She is a strong young lady and has lots of people praying for her. However, I would just love it if you would all remember Justin and Susan in your prayers tonight. I know that Heavenly Father does listen to our pleadings and it will give her strength. You can feel it when a concerted effort is made in your behalf. I never really understood that until this last round of cancer with Paul. It was a tangible feeling that others were praying over you and pleading to the Lord to lessen Paul's suffering. I don't know how to explain it other than we could literally feel it. I don't know the Lord's plan for Susan and Justin but I do know that there will be lessons learned in their lives that they can get no other way. Don't we all look back at hard times and feel a sense of gratitude that the Lord allows us to feel joy afterwards? That He allows us to really understand and learn from those times. Only a loving Father would do this for us.

Matthew 11:28 -30

Sibs!

2008-10-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

I just LOVE this picture of my brother Dave! I've never quite seen him so at peace with life. Welcome back Dave!
This is Jayne and I attempting to take a self portrait! Take 1!

Take 2! Sisters....sisters....never were there such devoted sisters..........(add the tune....)