Some winter reflection

Everytime I take winter pictures like this, and I have hundreds, I think of the video daddy took out our front porch. "Beautiful, just beautiful" he would say over and over again as he scanned the front field and fences covered in snow and frost.

And, poor as this picture is I had to take it. It was getting dark but I have been trying to remember to take if for months! Everytime I pass this rusty old vehicle, still loaded on the trailer that brought it to the field out by Dots, I wonder why it's there. It's been there for months, maybe over a year and, I know, daddy would have known who owned it presently, who owned it in the past, what the plan was for it now, and how much it would cost him to take it off the owners hands. I sure do miss him. I know you do too. By the time I get home I have forgotten I was going to call one of the boys and ask about it. I've gone on to other memories and enjoy every one of them!

Promised pictures of Kim's piano recital

To the left, Kim and MaKayla. Below Hailey and Brynlee. Does that kid look like she has a Christmas secret to you?

Ashlynn playing "Frosty the Snowman" and Brynlee playing "Jolly Old St. Nicholas".

Brynlee's Christmas Program Dec 2008

This is Bryn "waving good-bye with her nose"! You had to be there, and maybe be a grandma but she was adorable!

And being the cutest kid in the program! You can't see it is this picture but she kept an eye on the whole line to make sure everyone was in sync.

If we could have a Christmas program everyday, in every town, starring our kids, the whole world would be at peace. So, so, cute

Some family news

First of all, Brynlee did a super job at her Christmas program. Grandma got lots of pictures and as soon as Jason figures out my computer for me I'll post them. And, ask about Lynsie and Allen's news, it is so fun! And, are we all getting excited for Christmas? YEA! I heard a lady on NPR this morning, I think it was the singer Julia Hussenbaeck but gotta confirm that name, who talked about growing up in a Jewish family with a Jewish mother who said "Christmas is too fun a holiday NOT to celebrate it. They had a Christmas tree with a Star of David on top and sang Christmas songs and gave presents to the neighbors and each other. She sang a beautiful Christmas song and I was so impressed! How bout we choose a holiday and celebrate the Chinese New Year or Hanukkah or something like that?

AND THE WALKERS HAD THEIR FAMILY PICTURES DONE AND ARE WONDERFUL! You can find them on Stephanie McBride's blog at http://www.stephaniemcbridephotography.blogspot.com/ My favorites are the BW of Misha and the one of the four kids conspiring against their parents! Love it. And, then their is ....they are ALL beautiful and what a photographer!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Kim's piano recital

Tonight was Kim's very first (I think but I could be wrong) annual (I'm not even sure if that is the plan) piano recital! Counting my darling, and extremely talented grandchildren she had 16 kids in all, performing VERY well! I can't believe how well they did. Super, super job. She had each student play two songs apiece, fed them cookies and a drink, gave them all a special treat and had them all out of the church in just a tiny bit over an hour. WoW! Kim is a magician! Well, we already knew that. She keeps Jeff in line. But, really, it was a wonderful night and I love that each student did so well!
Also, I will post pictures as soon as I can figure out how to download them (is it upload? I can never figure out which it is) from the camera. I've always been able to get it done easily before but now it's speaking a strange language. Oh well. Stay tuned for some really, darling pictures.

One Week Closer to Christmas!

And, I'm so excited; aren't you?
Talk/lesson went fine. My lesson was a little disjointed but the sisters are all too sweet to say so. They participated well and it was fine.

Jax, tell mom to read Jessi's comment to you. Cute Jess.

Aunt Lola called and we visited for a long time. She and Donnie are going to Holland in 2010 and invited me to go. They are renting a houseboat! Sounds fun, but I told her I have a sister in Alaska I need to visit before going to Holland again. She says she will go with me as long as I go in the summer which is a given. Anyone want to join us? No, no date planned, just piggybank plans.

Breck and Jason has a hilarious time at the Ward Christmas Party. Make sure you get the story from Rebecca...I rolled but it wouldn't be funny in the typing of it.

Gee...with all the birthdays behind us and everyone on the mend there really isn't a bunch to share. Except that I love you, am SO proud of each one of you, and am so glad we are a family!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...

Happy birthday to Jax! He is five years old today. His planned outing to the "arcade" in Huntington got scrapped because when they got there, little friend Conner in tow, the place had closed down! So, they bought ice cream and came to grandma's. Instead of meeting them over there they came here and the boys played, Jax loved his present to me (see picture on the side) and Meinkina loved playing with all the yet to be wrapped gifts that I hadn't hidden yet.
My gosh you kids are growing up SO fast!

A little thoughtful poetry - Don't ask!

I have no idea why I am reading little snipets of poetry when I have a RS lesson to prepare. Maybe knowing my Sacrament talk for Sunday is prepared has given me feelings of security. Afther all, I still have a day and a half to prepare the lesson! Yep, I'll be up all night Saturday night, BUT, I'm a night owl and probably would have been up anyway doing something not nearly as productive. And, I have studied and studied the lesson it just isn't firmed up yet. So, I'm sharing the treasures I found tonight.

AND - your prayers worked! Everyone who was sick is feeling better. Only trouble is, now Chase is puking! Jax came over today anyway for his birthday. See some pictures on the sidebar. He was adorable opening his gift and SO grateful! I love it when I score!

Now for the poetry - Jess still hasn't given me permission to post HER poetry! Jess?

The real voyage of discovery

consists of not in seeking

new landscapes

but in having

new eyes

Marcel Proust

And one of my favorites for a long time:

There are always flowers

for those

who want to see them

Henri Matisse

Prayer Alert!

Let's see...Brynlee has been sick but is feeling better, Jax threw up but only once, Cedar stayed home all one day from school puking, and now Greg is sick.
Steph has strep...AGAIN! Darn it! This is the second time in only...well, in not very long at all! I'm pretty sure she is genius enough, and has a mom nurturing enough that she is taking all her antibiotics SO...sounds to me like this family needs some extra Prayers!
Thanks, most wonderful family in the world!

I'm 63 years old!

I know most of you have been watching me for several years and can easily believe I have reached this more than ripe age but I am amazed! Life is WONDERFUL, if a little more creaky in the knees. The shopping is done, the cards are made out but still need to be stamped and shipped off. I need to mail a few packages but I can't remember when I have been this far ahead of the game with still 15 days left till Christmas. I am still in a wonder at how good it feels to do things every day with no pain in my face and no pain meds! I do think the pain meds covered a bunch of aches and pains because I suddenly have arthritis. Oh well, a more than welcome trade off. And, the whole reason for this post, I am so very blessed with the greatest kids, the very best grandkids, and the best life. I appreciate all you do to make my life happier, better, safer, and more comfortable. And, I thank you for your love. And, I want you to know how grateful I am to the Lord for this good life. I am so glad He is in control. I would have messed things up a long time ago, given my way. I really do love our Lord and I hope in 63 yrs I have let each of you know that. It, I think, Is the most important thing we ever do.
And, I love each of you too!

Sunday Update

We had a family Christmas party/Birthday Party on Saturday afternoon. The scheduling wasn't great; lots of really important people weren't able to make it BUT, it was the best we could do. I work next week end and the next one is so close to Christmas I didn't think that would work either, so we went with it. We began as soon as everyone gathered and the cousins all opened gifts. We took a little longer this year, reminding each child who was giving them the gift and giving thanks and hugs to the giver. Lots of cute pictures and I will try to share those on a side bar maybe tonight but soon for sure.
We had stuffed mushrooms, dutch cheese and crackers, punch made from an old family recipe which the little ones LOVE! Let's see, it's pineapple juice, sprite, and Hawaiian punch. Very difficult but I tried to dress it up with an ice ring of the H. punch, thanks to Angie's freezer. Umm.. we had chicken noodle soup, rolls, salad, cheese stuffed celery, and THEN birthday cake and ice cream after Happy Birthday was sung to McKenna who turned four today! It was a fun day but here are a few of my favorite highlights. Breanna loving on Aunt Melissa. She was clearly a favorite. Chase telling us, "I never thought I would ever get a "tamagotchi"! I've wanted one, and wanted one, but I never thought I would get one!" To say he was thilled is an understatement. Meinkina singing "I'm a rock star" over and over for us. Her little lisp and being so tiny makes the whole thing perfect. And, I know it is probably a grandma thing but her "adlibed" line "And, you're dumb." is so cute! McKenna after church today, receiving a b'd present from Angie saying "Thank you, guys!" over and over again. Steph telling us how her roommate is going to flip over her pink frying pan. And...I guess I could go on and on and on.
NOTE: Jessica organized a charity FHE for their ward for tomorrow, monday! Instead of neighbor gifts they all go to a party (hosted by one of the YW or YM) and donate to a charity. Sounds like a wonderful idea but a lot to take on! We are so proud of you, Jessi.
Brynlee is not feeling well. Has a high fever and her mom thinks it's a UTI.
Jen is singing a solo part in the Christmas choir this month.
And, grandma is teaching RS next week, speaking in Sacrament meeting, and teaching Gospel Doctrine on the 28th. WE COULD ALL USE YOUR PRAYERS!

I'm still learning this stuff!

I just looked at the list of those who could post on this blog and only Jess and Barbara were on the list. Hmmm. I hope inviting the rest of you to this blog party late hasn't hurt your feelings!

Can't wait to see all of you!

Christmas is ringing at the door! I have been decorating my tree...and then the house a little...and back to the tree. That evergreen is looking pretty good but the house is a mess! Boxes of ornaments and decorations all over the place!
I have an appt. for a root canal tomorrow with dr. McKell and THEN, if I feel good enough (I've never had a root canal before) I'm off to Provo for some last minute things. If I am feeling sorry for myself I will stay home and try to organize this place. I LOVE Christmas!
I've cut WAY back this year; nah..nah...nah Jason, you didn't think I could; BUT I am having a delightful time getting ready. I'm trying hard to get rid of old decorations and get them to DI in time for someone else to use them THIS year. Jen helped me drag everything out and she couldn't believe all the STUFF I have. Gotta get rid of part of it. Some I just unpack and pack again every year. Dumb.
What about Chicken Noodle Soup for Saturday? I can't wait to see all of you!
Love and Hugs and Prayers to you,
Pama/Mom

Thanksgiving/Black Friday

And, as always, the holiday was wonderful. BUT first, one minor little catastrophe. Wednesday night there suddenly erupted a loud explosion of expletives from the back of the house. It seems the plumbing in my bathroom was out of control with the toilet running over and coming up the shower and was a major mess for several hours before we could get things cleaned up enough to go to bed. The next morning Jeff, Jason, and Cody took on the mess with a plumbers snake; Rebecca and I tackled inside the house and tried to get dinner sort of ready. We faked it pretty good but if Jason hadn't pitched in inside we would never have made it! We ate on paper plates, no tablecloths on the tables, and even forgot napkins. Oh well, we have our Christmas party coming up on the 6th and I will try to be better prepared. For today, I am really, really grateful for indoor plumbing and even more grateful when it works! And most particularly for children and grandchildren who can roll with the punches. We had a great visit and lots of fun. Jeff and Kim were with the Behlings and Rosanda and her little brood didn't make it up but I think they had a great day too.
Thursday night everyone went on home. I followed Breck and Jason up (really they followed me) and spent the night there. The plan was that I would stay with the little ones the next morning while Jason and Breck did the 4 a.m. shopping dance. Then, they would return and Breck and I would meet the other girls to shop. What really happened was Rebecca was up all night, sick. I got up and met Misha at 7 and we shopped till we met up with Jen and Chris (Bell). Rebecca was able to join us later in the day. Kim was trying to ice fish and fighting off what must have been the same bug. Not sure how those two got sick but they are both fine, as I write. Anyway, we did some fun shopping, didn't buy all that much but had a great day. With the shopping behind us, Jen, Misha, Steph and Jess and I went to see "Twilight" and Misha went on home and the rest of us went out to eat! Those two girls are SO precious! We laughed and laughed and had to finally get Jessica out of there because "Julio" wanted to run away with her! Whew! Close one!
And, today Jen and Breck and I went to Body World. I loved it a second time. Rebecca thought it was really good but Jen thought it wasn't nearly gory enough for her! Oh well. We met Jason and the kids for lunch at The Olive Garden. Breanna has been sick for a couple of weeks but seems back to her sweet self again and entertained her grandma. The Jones' went on home and Jen and I continued some shopping. We hit Mervin's and Linens and Things, both having quitting business sales but they must have spent the last week raising their prices so they could do a 50% off sale. Nothing to buy at those prices at either store.
Jenn and I stopped off at Misha and Chuck's for last minute hugs and loves before coming on home and I took Jen home and caught some hugs there before those little ones ran off to bed (under threat from their mom that Santa had his eye on them!).
Happy Holidays my dearest ones.
Mom

What a great weekend!

The Jones kids were here for the weekend. They arrived on Friday and Breck hurried off to the Craft Fair to be with Jen. They sold signs and tutus and made a haul! Better than the money, I think they had a great time just being together. Friday night Jason hurried and made them separate business cards and by the time they were through Saturday night they had a new request. They decided to do this craft thing together, name themselves "The Ugly Stepsister" sub-line "She's a silent partner!" and Jason set them up on a spread sheet, the whole tax man thing! They are looking into craft fairs that still have booths available before Christmas. It was fun. Jason and I went over Sat. afternoon with the little ones, Greg met us there and we ate at Joe Begay's. Greg isn't thrilled with their Navajo Taco's but the rest of us eat them up!

While here, Jason tweaked my computer and printers and got them all in ship shape again. Now, I have NO excuses left. I HAVE to learn that Photoshop Elements program!

Jessica shared the most terrific poem with us this week. It was an assignment in English and she better have received an "A". It is so good. Maybe she'll let me post it here...whatcha think Jessica? It really is an excellent poem and this grandma didn't even know she liked poetry! Perfect! I think it was a Halloween task and written with E.A. Poe style. She really, really is very good at this.

I found some new relatives in my Family History search! A little bit of a mystery trying to find out why two little ones, listed as 'niece and nephew' to the head of household are living there. The house next door holds a home with people with the same last name as the children but the couple there are too old to be the children's parents and their only child (at least the only one living with them) is not really old enough to be their father. So, where did they come from? And, why are they there? Still searching.

Sunday I gave my first RS lesson (recent calling) and it was on the Second Coming of the Lord. Dot is in Washington with Katie and so she had me "practice" on her SS class by first giving my lesson to them. Actually, it felt better with the kids, they were great and I seemed to have more time. But, the RS sisters are great and it went fine. Jen went to church and found she was an hour early and at the wrong building for Stake Conference so she came over here and went to church with us. It was fun having both girls in RS with me. Jen and Breck and I discussed the Second Coming for the rest of the day.

We had Sunday dinner. Have I mentioned how much I love our dinners? Breck and Jace were the only "out of county" kids here, Jeff and Kim were in Ferron and Cody was off picking out a new dog so our little crowd was even smaller but Carley came along and we love her so that was fun. After dinner Sidney made a cake, the kids ran off again to play and the Jones' family had to get back to S.L. Before they left Angie brought over a scrapbook project and we all helped her put packets together. That is the way to do them; lots of hands and fun visiting, and the best kids!

Friday evening the kids came in SO dirty! They really looked like little coal miners. Upon questioning they had been out on the hill, rolling down the hill, INSIDE a barrel! Breck said, "Just don't let the little kids in the barrel, ok?" and Chase said, "They love it!" They play so well together and it doesn't seem to matter which kids are here. If the natural partner because of age or sex doesn't happen to be here, they just rearrange their play sets and it still works for all of them. I am so proud of each of them. I must be the most blessed grandmother alive!

I will be in S.L. for the EMS conference the 19-22. We plan to take in the Body World exhibit and I'd like to get a session in at the temple while there. We will be staying right near the Salt Palace so Jim can be our chauffeur and we don't have to be up at dawn.

Off to bed - this time change is killing me!

We have a new president!

And, he isn't my first pick...or even my second. BUT, he is now our president and it is kind of exciting to think we have elected a black man in this nation. Not many years ago I wouldn't have thought it possible. My mother, were she alive and clear minded would be having fits! She was a dyed in the wool democrat but never thought a black person could "measure up" to a white standard. I think in the end she would have been pleased.
Love you my dear ones.

Halloween 2008

That first pic is of Cedar; she is already at school and I couldn't get a lot of pictures of her. She was really busy running after and being chased on the playground. The next is Jax and his friend Connor. Jax is the cutest pirate and Connor is Daniel Boone. And then there is Meinkina. Is that a princess or what?

Halloween pictures 2008

My Senior moment. Week? Life?And Halloween!

Hey! Look who signed on and left pictures behind! Barbara gets the prize for posting first. Course, my prizes are always hugs and kisses so get over here girl! The kids pictures are so very cute.

Halloween was great. We need to post more pictures. I will try to get Jen's youngest's pics up before I sign out. I spent the night the night before with the Jewkes fam (Jen was gone to state volleyball) and got Cedar in her costume. The prettiest little princess! Jax dressed as a pirate and went off to preschool and Meinkina and I went down in time for her to be part of the preschool parade as a princess herself. It was fun.


My "MOMENT": I went to Walmart this week and bought a gal. of paint and didn't get home with it. I looked all over the house and even cleaned out the car and it just wasn't here. So the next morning I called to see if I could have left it at check out and they told me if I still had my reciept I could bring it in and they would remix a new gallon for me. I thought that was neat of them and my opinion of Walmart immediately went up. So, I went in, they mixed new paint for me and when I got home from work that night I carried it in and put in down right by the first gallon! Dumb! The part I hated was going back to Walmart, third day in a row now, and paying my "dummy tax". They were really good about it but I still felt pretty dumb.

Quint & Bente give you big kisses from Naarden, Nederland! Love you!

You guys can post now!

Hey, I should be in bed but my computer is home, up and working or at least doing it's own mysterious thing, and I couldn't resist. I figured out how to all all of you to the post so you should be able to post from your place now. I hope you will!
Hugs and loves and tons of prayers
Mom

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Grandma Sammy moment

Hey! Sunday night again. Misha was down mid week with all the little Walker kids. It was wonderful! UEA got the kids out of school, Jessie cheered at their game Wednesday instead of Friday because of it, and Steph had the days off as her doctor (boss) was out of town. Everyone except Chuck and he had to work. Mish and the boys went back thursday but the girls stayed and on Saturday went hunting with Jen and Greg and Hailey girl. Church today and dinner afterward and now the house is feeling very, very quiet and ....

Any of you remember grandma Sammy's story of "walking toward the light"? I had my own experience this week. We had had a full moon and I always walk the garbage down to the road or pick up the can w/o a flashlight;Well, when it isn't done for me which isn't very often but it is always so bright outside. However, the other night it was BLACK. I should have gone back and picked up a flashlight but well...anyway. I made my way down the lane, guiding myself by the feel of the lane and looking back at the house occasionally to make sure I wasn't goint to tumble into the barbed wire fence. Yes, it was that dark. And then, I was standing in front of a closed gate. I knew if I had wandered left or right of the lane I would have been able to tell but I was so disoriented untill I figured out I had crossed the street and was up against the Snowballs gate! It was the most weird experience because I could sort of get my bearings by looking back at the lights of the house but couldn't really tell how far from the light I was. Then a car came by and illuminated the whole area.Which is when it finally dawned on me what I had done! Then, walking back to the house, pulling the garbage can behind me with the light in front of me, I couldn't get off path. Proving Grandma Sammy's advice, "If you are heading in the direction of light and truth your way is clear. It is when we turn our backs on that light and truth that we get lost."

Did I mention Rebecca and I watched "Emma Smith My Story"? It is SO good!
Love you each of you. Can not tell you how much you are loved and appreciated.
Watch for more pictures as soon as my scanner is up and running.

Knights in Shining Armor

10/14/08
I got up this morning to a note from Barbara saying she loves our new blog and wants to know if we can somehow add names to the pictures of the grandkids so she knows who is who. I am sure we can and as soon as I can figure out how (are you listening Jase?) we will 'geter done!'
Sunday was wonderful. Jason and Rebecca were still here with their kids. Jason snuck out of meeting and was on his way home before I even got a hug. I told him he would have bad dreams but he didn't seem worried. After church Jeff and Kim, Jen and Greg, Cody and Angie, Breck and all their respective kids came over and we fixed daddy's spare ribs, funeral potatos, jello salad, fresh tomatoes and cukes from the garden (the last as it froze last night) and a big birthday cake with all the birthday girls names on it...Hailey, Brynlee, and Meinkina. I took tons of pictures so watch for them. And, we need pictures of Rosanda and Barbara's kids and many more of the Walker kids.
What do you think of a corner for 'grandkid quotes'? Brynlee crawled into bed with Jeff and Kim the other night as she often does and realizing it was a little crowded asked her mom if the next time she came in if Kim could please just take a blanket out to the couch! Funny little kids.
Rebecca and I got SO much accomplished while she was here. Even with the little ones we were able to replace that piece of sheetrock in the basement where the water damage was, paint the basement, fix the kitten holes in the wall of the hall, (perhaps that would be a good story for the blog..just for history sake. ) and didn't let Breanna fall down the stairs even once! She rolled down the stairs at home and now stands at the top of the stairs looking like she is trying to figure out the process and then begins to cry. So cute. Our sheetrocking skills left a ton to be desired but we were sure we had both helped daddy drywall often enough we could do this. Even though the piece wasn't square and needed a cut out for a wall plug, how difficult could it be? Well, after inumerable cuts, one Menco "fall apart" from Rebecca, and staying up till after three in the morning we got it up and off to bed!
Knights In Shining Armor
Rebecca and I went to Price to pick up a few things for the 'fix it up' projects and typical of me (I'm not sure what was wrong with Breck) we took Rebecca's car for the carseats and not mine for the things that needed a truck to haul them. I went into Sutherlands and was picking out the stuff-2x4's, flashing, etc..all 8feet or longer when I regained consciousness and realized we had no way to get the stuff home. About then Breck, who was in the car with the kids called on her cell to tell me there was a guy in the parking lot who needed to be looked at to see if he needed stitches. So, I left my things on the cart; didn't know what I was going to do with it anyway, and went outside. There were two men with her, one causing a mess from a head wound, one standing around trying to look concerned and Rebecca handing baby wipes to the bleeding man and trying not to look at him or his blood. By the time we finally got him cleaned up enough to look at his cut be had told us he wasn't going to the ER for stitches, didn't have insurance and had done this bending over by his pickup and hitting his head on the mirror. He had a quarter size wound where he had scalped himself but not very deep and the skin hanging on one side was surely going to fall off in the healing process. Anyway, after determining he really was not willing to go get stitches he bought some super glue and we sealed him shut. That little catastrophe out of the way it was on to the super problem of getting our materials home. Rebecca and I decided I would go in, buy the things we needed plus some twine and do our best to tie it to the car. We knew our men would be disgusted with us and would say we needed to wait till we could return with a truck but we REALLY wanted to get the rest of our project going and so decided to trust the Lord to helping us somehow, someway. Heaven knows we have given Him pleanty of practice! And, faith (or stupidity) paid off. We were in the midst of tying knots around the mirrors to hold the long metal to the doors and beginning to think perhaps we had made a huge error in judgement when not one or two but THREE knights showed up to rescue us. The first man was a complete stranger and he was trying to help us, the second was Johnny Jones and he began helping tie knots and the last one was Casey Lofley,who had a truck, and he told us he had one or two errands to do and then would drop the stuff on my front porch. Which he did later that same day! Prayers really are answered and Heavenly Father doesn't hold it against us when we are stupid! Rebecca made me cry when she reminded me of the Casey Lofley story and said "what goes around, comes around. That story for a later post.

WELCOME!

I'm going to give this blog thing a try. Jason and Rebecca have been down for a few days and Jason has me all set up and going. I think it looks wonderful and I hope it is a place our family can gather, and share information. Still tons to do to make it "ours" so any suggestions are welcome. I'm trying to do one for the Ward RS as well. Any helps in that direction would be great too. I have been playing with this for hours and it is now far into the sabbath. I need to go to bed.