Thanksgiving at Grandma's

Although there was a lot of cooking going on

(not everything could be done ahead of time), I still found some time to give a "choo choo" ride. It started out as just moving a child on a chair to a new spot, then we discovered how easily the chair would slide across the tile floor. It didn't take long for everyone to pile on! And Alastair helped me push.And the grandkids loved helping vacuum, but with some different ideas of which area of carpet should be vacuumed next.

Then there was playing with Emma & Marta as they took their bath.
We wondered how Emma and Marta would react to Lily, the dog. The rest of the grandkids already like her, and she likes them--at least she likes the food that inevitably gets dropped near their chairs. We didn't need to worry. Marta was happy to see the "puppy dog!" and liked to pet her. Emma liked throwing a toy for her to retrieve. And whenever I sat down, Lily was right there. Sometimes she got to share my lap. She seemed to handle all the chaos just fine.I'll tell you, Grandma loved the whole week!

To Grandmother's House We Go

Thanksgiving, 2008

The fun began at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 25, when Ryan, Jamie, Emma & Marta arrived from Colorado. Since they had driven through the night, mom & dad were ready for a nap but the girls were ready to play. They helped Grandma change the sheets to prepare for other arrivals, but somehow, there kept being "lumps" under the sheets. Along with lots of giggles!

Later that morning, Deborah and Adam arrived from Provo. The party began gaining steam! A puzzle was brought out, Kevin was home from work, and the games began. Emma and Marta liked Grandpa's airplane rides. Then on Wednesday, Catherine, Aaron, Connor, Brenna, & Alastair arrived from Wisconsin. Mealtimes became big affairs!

All the leaves were put in the table, and

it was placed end-to-end with the small kitchen table.

The kitchen became REALLY small.

The feasting began.

I was glad I'd put in all the pre-Thanksgiving work on building a menu.

All the grandchildren got along very well. Maybe it was because of all the fun

going on--

like seeing if Grandpa could lift them as they held on the broom. (He could.)

There was a constant hum of conversation, giggles,

and laughter all week long.

It was all a bit of heaven!

Emergency Training

With all the natural disasters this past year, our bishop contacted emergency personnel in our county to set up some training for ward members; training in all kinds of emergencies like tornadoes, lost children, and so on.

Our Young Women (and some others) got to volunteer one night to be victims in the graduation exercise--simulating a tornado disaster.

We were placed in different rooms around the church, with sheets of paper explaining what our injury was.

Then all the lights were turned out.

I hadn't thought about it before, but a lot of disaster searching is done by flashlight--no electricity available!
The search teams came around and used their new skills in locating, then categorizing victims according to the urgency of their wounds and transporting them to a triage location.

As each room was searched and cleared of victims, a taped X was put on the door.

Elizabeth had a broken arm.

Brother Rogers had a head wound. He played his part extremely well, looking rather dazed the whole time.

Winky Boody had a broken shoulder, but didn't seem to mind being carried by Joe Fagersten and Scott Frodsham (in their green CERT uniforms).
Another YW had neck injuries.

And now we know another use for those long tables at church! (As long as you have lots of duct tape.)
But one Young Woman was able to get the message out on what was really important.


Indeed.

Send chocolate.

Was I ever surprised!

Tuesday evening, I helped out at the church with childcare for couples taking the parenting course. (I haven't helped teach that course since I was called into Young Women which carries a fairly heavy time commitment). As I walked in the door, Kevin was putting the finishing touches on the frosting of a birthday cake for me!

It was fun to look forward to the next day, to be able to taste his workmanship. (It was yummy!)

And what did I get for my birthday? Exactly what I asked for--an electric hedge-trimmer !

I felt like a very loved person. Especially since Kevin had already said that Walmart had no gardening things anymore; everything was changed over to Christmas stuff. So I thought I would have to wait till next spring for my trimmer.

Good thing there are other home maintenance stores in the area. And a lunch hour for Kevin to run over and find what he needed.

And that all makes for a very happy wife!

Happy 89th Birthday, Mom!!

Woo hoo!

Today is the 89th anniversary of the birth of my mom. She was a child in the Roarin' Twenties; and became a teenager during the Great Depression (she is standing, in back).
During World War II, she wrote letters to servicemen, and married one shortly after the war ended. All of us children were part of the baby boom generation.
In the 1970's, her mom turned 80, and her children started getting married.
Then, about the beginning of the new millenium, her grandchildren started getting married,

and great-grandchildren came to the family.

She still goes camping. She still takes care of a large vegetable garden and numerous flower beds. She's amazing!

She's my mom.

Garbanzo Bean Soup

Sorry, no picture, because we ate the soup before I thought to grab the camera.

This recipe has been shared on WHO radio every fall for the past 20 years.

This year, I decided to try it.

2 cans garbanzo beans

1 16 oz can stewed tomatoes (or, 6 tomatoes)

6-8 potatoes, diced (no peeling necessary)

1 green pepper, diced

1 bermuda onion, diced (I used another sweet onion)

1 lb bacon, diced (cut with scissors)

2 C chopped ham, diced

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp sweet basil

3/4 tbsp chili powder (to taste)

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper to taste

Simmer in a large pot 4-5 hours. If it gets too thick, water can be added.

I cooked the soup in the crockpot. I put it on high for 4 hours, then low on 4 hours.

***

It smelled wonderful as it was cooking, but eating it was Yummmmmmy!

PS. The recipe said it would serve 4-6, but in our family, it would be more like 12. The crockpot was FULL.

At least there was an apple harvest...

As opposed to our garden which didn't do very well this year. And the apples taste so good!
There were a few wormholes, despite spraying a few times this summer. Still those apples made good applesauce. Some were dried, some have been enjoyed with cream cheese apple dip.

Ymmmm....

Oh, the bathroom

We were a bit leery of tackling the bathroom--there was so much that needed to be done. The door was stripped and ready to be painted.

That part was easy.Then there was the left-over glue from some old plastic tiles on the walls.
New wallboard was brought in to cover it up. When putting in the tub-surround, the men ended up having to take out the plaster down to the studs--a messier job than we'd hoped for.
But once the new sheetrock was in, and then the tub surround and shower put in, wow! Did things look different!

The pink paint was covered up with a nice beige, to contrast with the white, and a new light fixture was put in over the medicine cabinet. And now, the bathroom is a brand-new room.

It was a miracle!

Making progress...

Finally, some pictures of the home makeover I've been helping with.

1. Dining Room, after the drapes were removed. The oak windows were in good shape, the walls were not. I got to learn how to spackle and texture to repair the cracks. The piece of furniture was getting one of its legs repaired--that's why it's propped up at an odd angle.

2. Dining room with new colors and curtains.
Another view. Without the drapery, the room is so light. The other two walls are the light, buttery color. The living room still has the lime green that used to be in the dining room as well.
3. The front entry way, done with the same two colors. They brought out the nice color of the oak!
More pictures to come.

Coming soon...

to this spot, pictures of the major project I've been involved in the past two weeks. I've been having fun!!!

Back to School

Wow. It took me almost a month to post the back-to-school front porch picture. School began on Aug. 20th, but Alice still wasn't feeling well from her tonsil surgery. She went to school for a few hours each day for the first 3 days of school. Our picture actually was taken on the 3rd day of school. My "little" girls are getting big! They are both now taller than I am.

There were some good times as well...

On the swing at the school playground...or reading with Grandpa...
or spending hours and hours with Alice building an X-wing fighter...
or spending hours and hours on the trampoline, with and without the sprinkler.
Even Alastair loved it, along as the rest of the kids didn't bounce too high.

I'm so glad when Brenna comes to visit...

What would I have done without her when we were baking cookies?Or mopping the floor?
(notice the gardening gloves)
Or dusting the furniture?
She even helped pick up all the apples that had fallen from the tree.

What a great helper!

On a short trip to Wisconsin...

Now that school has begun, it's time to post some recent happenings. Like the quick 3-day trip to Wisconsin to celebrate Catherine's birthday (a major milestone one that ended in a zero) and have some fun.

Unfortunately, Kevin had to work and didn't get to go with us. But Lily, the dog, can now recognize when we're getting close to Catherine's house and she gets so excited. Afterall, this is the house where food "falls from the sky". When we arrived, the dog didn't rush to check the smells on the trees left by other dogs--she ran into the house and checked under the kids' chairs for any tasty morsels that had fallen.While Connor was at a tennis class, the rest of us cooled off by wading in the creek.

Later, Catherine taught us how to make cool jewelry.
And on a warm afternoon, the slip-n-slide was fun for big and little kids. All of this was prelude to the next phase--taking Connor and Brenna home with us to Iowa!

When Tonsils Turn Against You

On Friday morning, I took Alice to have her tonsils removed.

"No food or drink after midnight. Arrive at 7:20 a.m."

The outpatient surgical unit is attached to a group of doctors' offices, so it isn't in a hospital, and doesn't smell like a hospital. The nurses were very nice and spent a lot of personal time with Alice, addressing any concerns she had. They used a topical anesthetic before putting in the IV. They did everything they could to make this as easy as possible. They even let me go with her into the operating room and be with her until she fell asleep with the anesthesia.
Then it was only a half hour before the doctor came out to tell me those tonsils had been HUGE and there was no option but to have them removed.

Also, the adenoids did not need any further work.

As Alice came up out of the anesthesia, she would give such big grins at me, but she wouldn't let me take a picture post-surgery. I fully understand. I wouldn't want any post-surgical pictures of me either! (It would look worse than any passport photo!).

She's been surviving on popsicles, pudding, ice cream, applesauce, instant mashed potatoes, soup, and fruit smoothies.

The doctor prescribed liquid Lortab, so she has been a bit on the loopy side, but the pain is better that way.

On the up side, on Saturday she watched a marathon of Fred Astaire movies on TV.

On Sunday, she didn't want to stay home by herself and went to church with us. After the first hour, she said she could make it through the whole block. And she did! But after a quick lunch she slept 4 hours straight.

She's hoping to be able to attend school when it starts on Wednesday.

Where did the summer go?

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted. After our Idaho vacation, I looked forward to lazy days by the pool with a book in hand, and I think maybe I've had one or two of those days, but nothing like what I was hoping for!

As usual, it is the schedules of others in the family that seem to dictate what my schedule will be:

Elley's orthodontist appointment;

Girls' Camp;

a school physical for Alice that led to a Ear, Nose & Throat specialist, which led to a visit to an allergist AND to having her tonsils removed;

Elley going to EFY;

back to school clothes and supplies shopping;

going to Wisconsin for Catherine's birthday;

bringing back two grandchildren to spend the week;

Deborah coming to visit;

Catherine coming here to pick up her children;

helping with school registration

and

Kevin leaving for Mexico for a week.

Whew! Maybe when school starts this week I'll get to relax and read that book.

When the canal is too cold...

...for floating, go to Warm River! There is something about crystal-clear water that invites the toes.Whether throwing rocks at a certain target,
or floating by, the water is almost magical.


And afterwards, you can wrap up in a warm towel.
(What is Grandpa looking at?)

Alice and Emily made many, many trips down the river. Still, the shade of a tree is sought after in the
middle of a sunny afternoon.

I hope our kids remember that Grandma Beth still goes camping at nearly 89 years of age!