A Simple Woman's Daybook~July 21, 2014

Our lives pass swiftly by! I want to do something to remember

the everyday moments and my thoughts about them.  

That is what this Daybook is all about.

Focusing on the little things that become my life.

One entry at a time.

Just for today~Monday, July 21, 2014 

Outside my window...It is cool, breezy and overcast today.  Just perfect after a few hot days.  Refreshing and comfortable.  It is one of those days that would just motivate me to get a lot done if I wasn't taking a little break from the busyness of last week.  So I'm just taking it easy and doing my favorite thing.  Writing this Daybook on my blog, it having been sorely neglected lately!

I am thankful for....family and friends and especially for those that are both.  I like to think about how with all the many people that have been and will be born in this earth life we are blessed with just such wonderful people in our lives.  It is almost like they have been hand selected to bless us, cheer us and help us become better people.  I am feeling very wealthy in the friendship department.

From the learning room...I am combining this with the next section.

I am reading...The Apocrypha right now.  Very interesting.  I just looked at it this morning after our cousin and friend, Stephen, referred to it in our conversation yesterday.  The Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical books is a collection of ancient writings done primarily during the period of time between the Old and New Testament writings.  The word Apocrypha means hidden and they are not included in many versions and translations of the Bible. So in that sense they are hidden. They do appear in the Holy Catholic Bible.  The word Deuterocanonical means these writings are considered to be Second Canon in nature not canonized scripture in the traditional sense.  Canonized scripture is scripture that is deemed authoritative and has passed certain criterion established by the early church in order to have been canonized and considered as doctrine and authentic scripture.  The purpose was to unify various factions of Christianity.  You can see a simple article on this here:  http://www.tillhecomes.org/canonization-of-scripture/ 

The Apocrypha is not only found in the Catholic Bible but also in some Protestant versions of the Bible.  Although the Lutheran Church is reported to have it I was never aware of it growing up in that faith.  They are not a part of the scriptures of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which includes The King James version of the Bible.  So these writings are new to me. 

I have been reading the Book of Tobias today as that is what Steve referenced in connection with marriage. We were all talking specifically about with how our in-laws become our parents upon our marriage.  I like that idea.  Steve said that was pointed out in the book of Tobias.  

I think the in-law designation should just be done away with (in the non-legal sense) once a family is united in marriage. Then we are all just family.  Plain and simple.  To me "in-law" implied a forced, duty-driven relationship by law. (I know some of you may be thinking "Yep" about now.)  Regardless of the quality of your in-law realationsips... to me it feels like a divisive term rather than inclusive.  I think it is one of the very things that often makes these relationships all  the more difficult.  

One of my many quirks i guess. I've just never liked it and Jim hasn't either.  I view it in the same way that married people say, "My son, my daughter, my house, etc. when the much more unifying term is "our."  These subtle things make a difference in how we feel and act.

From the kitchen...The kitchen has been doing overtime this whole past week so on R and R this week.  Going out to dinner someplace tonight.  Leaving for vacation and so cleaning out the frig.  

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having...I have been thinking a lot about The Pure Love of Christ.  The kind of love that is a verb, is not self-serving or selfish, the kind that is pure and wholesome and good. The kind that just loves another person wholeheartedly and wants whatever they need, not what we need.  The kind of love that just gives and blesses another.  Christ's type of love. The kind of love the world needs a whole lot more of to be healthy.  The kind that brings no pain except when that person is absent through space and time or the temporary separation of death. The kind of love that brings joy for joy's sake. The kind that changes the giver and the recipient for the better.

I am hearing...Over The Rainbow by Eva Cassidy.  Beautiful song and beautiful vocalist.

One of my pleasures...reliving our memories and anticipating many more. Memory is such a lovely gift from Our Father.  May we never lose it!  And should we, He is kind enough to allow us to keep them in our hearts...is what I'm betting. So that when the barnacles of our minds are swept away, only the beauty to which the heart clings will remain and bring us great comfort and peace. 

Pet Peeves...side effects of drugs to cure an ailment that bring on something new to take its place.  Sometimes the cure is worse than the presenting complaint.

I am quoting...Pinterest, love these they are my all time favorite quotes about family, friends and loving one another.

“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined
 to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. 
The thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.”
 - Chinese Proverb

If I could change one thing it would be...that we could understand others and they would not ever misunderstand us.  Wouldn't that be sweet?  And if someone's intent was to do harm or deceive their eyes would be red blinking signs of warning and their voices like shrill, piercing sirens to get our attention.   

An enjoyable movie/ TV show we have watched lately...Doc Martin, hands down.  Jim and I have never laughed so much as in this British TV series.  We never want it to end.  It's so dang funny, quirky, amusing!  Once you get in a couple of episodes you cannot leave it alone.

I am curious about...just about everything.  I wish I had been more curious in my youth when everything learned came easier and more quickly. 

Plans for the rest of the week...study, work tomorrow, pack and head east for awhile after getting house sitter all squared away, etc. etc.  Enjoy time with our six grand kids still residing in the USA.  We have not seen the boys for a year so we are plenty excited about that.  And the girls are always exciting.  There is to be a mini-reunion with seven family members not able to attend.  There is also to be a lot of fun things and then camping.  The jury is out on that one for me but I am trying to keep a positive outlook for the enthusiasts in the bunch.  Bugs, dirt, bears...OK I'll not dwell on it.  Also on the agenda a quick overnight trip for Laura and I to Idaho to drop off Ross for a couple of days with his cousins on the other side of the family while Spencer attends classes at the Y.  It will fly by.  Everything that is but that crazy long, boring drive.  It doesn't fly, it crawls.

One of my favorite things...Italian serenades for little 87 years old ladies that bring them joy and a glimpse of their youth.

One thing that made me so happy this past week...entertaining quite a few guests in our home and yard.

The most surprising thing this past week...Having our cousin Stephen be able to come and spend part of Saturday and Sunday with us.  It was the best of the best weekends.

A photo I am sharing this week...a photo of Jim with Steve.  They share an Italian heritage that goes way back to a quaint little village in the Province of Genova, Italia.  Sweet reunion of the posterity some outstanding Ferreras of the past.  What a joy to behold.

UNTIL THE NEXT DAYBOOK,

 BE HAPPY AND CARRY ON!

❤♡♥♡❤♡♥♡❤♡♥s, Bon

Cousins, Cousins Everywhere!

This is my cousin, Bobby.   Well, Robert Michael really, who now goes by Bob but in this picture he is Bobby.  Bob is turning 70 today.  Our mothers are sisters.  As we were growing up they lived a few miles from us in Sacramento. So I love this dear cousin and he is like my brother.  In fact, he is the only person I know today that has been a part of my life since the day I was born.  Of all our cousins, he and his older brother, Billy, were the only ones we ever lived near.

William Kenneth, AKA Billy

I have so many memories of them growing up.  Our moms were close so we were together a lot. All the holidays for sure and many many other just plain ole ordinary days.  It was wonderful.  We lived in a housing tract but they lived in a little paradise for kids. It was rural with acreage and farm animals and a barn and pastures and a chicken coup.  They even had a Grandpa that lived above their garage in a really nice apartment.  It was pure heaven to be there. They had cows and chickens and dogs.  Their family sure loves dogs.  They had a little dog named Perky that was very special to them.  They had a portrait of him on their wall.  In fact, as I write this and have added the photos of my cousins I am pretty sure these same photos were right up there beside Perky, one on each side of him!

I remember some other really unique little things about their house.  Aunt Wilma bought the most wonderful smelling hand soap.  It was green and oval and I loved using it.  We always had the white soap with sharp angular edges at our house and those oval green bars were so fabulous. I loved the feel of them in my hands.

They had those old-fashioned (now) metal chairs in their backyard that were all the beautiful colors and had a rounded shell shaped back on them.  I think they rocked a little, well it was more like they were bouncy.  Do you remember these?

I'd love some of them in our backyard now they are so comfortable and colorful.  I use to love to sit in one of those chairs and look up into the big trees they had all over their yard.  My favorite one was the rosy peach one but I'd take the sky blue or forest green if my favorite was in use.  I think some of the trees were sycamore trees and I loved them.  They had the biggest lawn in the front of their house too.  In the summer it was cool and breezy with those big shade trees.  They made those hot Sacramento days bearable.

They had a big brown cow that I use to watch my Uncle Bill milk sometimes.  They named her Bonnie.  I've never been too sure how I felt about that...even then?  But I'll consider it an honor to protect my self-esteem.  Same with another Aunt and Uncle that named their motor boat after me.  What the?  I see old photos of my Auntie Grace sitting in their boat that had my name in calligraphy "Bonnie Jo" on the side of it. When our little granddaughter was named Hazel Jo I was honored to have a little girl (finally a person) with my middle name.

I remember running and playing at their house and all the cool little nooks and crannies where kids could hang out and not be cooped up like in a tract house with a fenced yard.   I liked the gravel driveway that crunched when you walked or drove on it.  And shooting a real gun at a target when we got much older.  I think the dads supervised that one.

 After that when we thought we were too old to "play"we migrated to the boys' bedrooms to chat about things, play music, etc.  I remember Bob playing his guitar and telling me all about high school.  When he was there and I was only a mere child in junior high.  I hung on his every word not knowing if I was excited or petrified by what lay ahead for me.  He enjoyed being older and wiser and gave me lots of advice.  So did Billy!  I thrived on that role of not being the oldest...like I was at my house. They really helped me a lot.  I knew the names of every cool car, how to dance (or so I thought) and what music was "cherry" because of them.  There is so much more, so many heart prints of those days.

Our Thanksgivings and Christmases with our dads smoking, lounging around and playing cribbage and watching football is vivid still.  I can just hear them saying "15-2, 15-4 and a pair is 8" while they slammed down their cards on the coffee table with a grin!   Meanwhile our moms cooked and prepared these amazing feasts for all of us.  They would chat and giggle a lot as they did this in the kitchen and always with a dress and an apron on...never pants.  And the boy cousins were always trying to sneak pie out of the mud room where they had been set to cool and be out of the way during the dinner preparations.  And if I'm not mistaken I think the boys succeeded a time or two at snatching a taste of the pies and our parents got after them for it.  Good times for sure.  I hold them so close to my heart now. It's funny how the years teach you what is most important. Like those carefree, childhood memories that shaped and bonded us forever.  Just the everyday simple things that make family special.  They were simpler days; the innocence and wholesomeness of them wash over me and I feel very nostalgic.  There are so many more things I could share.

Neither one of my cousin married young.  But when they did they both married such great women. Both Beth, Bob's wife and Leanne, Billy's wife are wonderful.  My sweet cousin Billy died at a young age (56) of heart disease.  That was such a shock, I'll never forget it.  Within 18 months Bob had lost his only brother, his dad and then his mom.   That was very sad, just too much really.  He and Beth don't live too far away and we have done a lot together since then.  They have a lovely family of three daughters and some grandkids to keep them busy as well as happy.

Some things I love about Bob...He is so sweet and I love his laugh. He has an awesome sense of humor and I love the twinkle in his eyes when he finds something humorous, or even better hilarious, and just watching him enjoy it is the best.  He was so good to his parents and helped them through their difficult years while his father took care of his mom and then suddenly died four months before she did.  He is a really GOOD person.  He gives great hugs!  He has a sweet relationship with Beth and is kind and helpful.  He still loves animals so much and if I know him at all, he is still grieving over his beloved Misty after a couple of years.  He use to take her out to sea on his commercial fishing boat and shared a twenty four inch bunk with her. She was a big beautiful lab.

He taught me the importance of following your dreams.  When he was in high school he use to say he was going to build a boat and be a fisherman.  I'm sure he got a lot of eye rolls on that one.  Well, guess what?  It took him awhile but he did it!  And he was a successful commercial fisherman most of his life.  He is a lot like Jim, he knows how to work hard and get a job done.  He is retired from fishing now but still he loves the sea.  He and Beth love to travel all over the world and most times they cruise to do it.

They are so bright and knowledgeable about so many things and are so well-read. We like the same movies, picnics, hanging out together and Cleo Lane, The Straight Story, and Kenny Rankin!  We love getting together occasionally with my brothers and their wives and watching old rock stars in concert on the Big Screen.  It is kind of a hoot to see how old those people are now.   Not us mind you...just them! We spend Christmases together again sometimes and other holidays depending on all the kids and our schedules.  And nobody throws a crab feed like they use to with crab fresh off the boat.  What's not to love?  Cousins are the best.

Have a wonderful birthday, Bobby!  Love you and Beth so much!  Big hugs from us to you today and every day!

Eat Cake, it's your birthday!

❤♡♥♡❤♡♥♡❤♡♥s, Bon and Jim

By The Grace of God...

I never really thought in my ordinary life, I would have had an Oprah worthy story to tell.  But I do, and I am...six months after it happened I am ready to share it.  This story is sacred to me and so close to my heart, that I just didn't ever find the exact right time until now.  Today we are celebrating a very special date, time, place and circumstance in our family.  June 23, 1945.

This is a World War II story.  A time when things were so uncertain and lives were put on hold to put up a good fight for freedom.  The young lives of my parents and aunts and uncles were completely fraught with upheaval and distress.  Young people married in haste and hurried off to war.   Often both women and men not going to war, changed their plans for college and instead worked long hours in jobs to support the war effort.

Normalcy did not exist for anyone and especially for newlyweds.  It was not easy.  You were never told where or when your spouse was going.  It was not easy knowing if you'd ever see your husband or wife again, if they would live or die or what the next day would bring. With little contact other than censored letters they knew very little. The mail did not come with any predictable regularity. Often it was delivered in bundles in big piles of 20 or more letters. Once they did arrive they knew virtually nothing still...between the big sections cut out, deemed unacceptable by the military censors or the lengthy delays.   These were very hard times.  Often the stresses of all of this diminished those young relationships until they completely dissolved in divorce.

That is what happened to my Dad's sister my Aunt Grace.  She was 19 when Pearl Harbor had the horrific surprise attack that destroyed most of our fleet, killing more that 3,000.  The warning from Washington came an hour too late for it to matter.  The next few years she followed her husband from port to port when she would get a sudden call to meet him.  In her own autobiography she said, "Of the 821 day we were married we spent 33 days together and never in the same place for long."

In 1944 she found herself in Sacramento, California working for the war effort there and living with my Mom and two of my Mother's sisters.  Towards the end of 1944, my Aunt Grace was expecting a child.  This was clearly not part of the plan.  For reasons only she and the father of her unborn child understand fully, they did not marry.

She moved away and the baby was put up for adoption.  None of the other living relatives ever breathed a word about this and to this day we do not know if they even knew.  If any did, I suspect my mother did.  During the war everyone was scattered all over, Grace's mother lived half a country away, her brother was in the Pacific someplace.  How would it help to tell them one wonders?  What could they do but worry?

Gracie went to live with a family in Chico.  There she gave birth to her tiny son and left him with the family whom she believed would take the best care of him.  As well as I have known her all my life, I know this could not have been easy for her.  On his birth certificate she named him James but he grew up in a loving home and was named William. He did not know he was adopted nor did his only sister.

When Williams mother died his father, William Sr., told both William and his sister that they had been adopted.  At the time William was in his 30s.  Although his sister did not have an overwhelming desire to seek her birth mother, William, was driven to make that discovery and connection.

 For 35 years he searched and at one point he discovered that his mother had given a false name on his birth certificate but she had been born on 17th of June 1922 in a little town in North Dakota. When William searched those birth records for that area, there were some baby girls who had been born that day, in that place, but none with the name on his birth and adoption papers.  He was stumped by that.   But each year since 1967 he had thought of his birth mother on the 17th of June and thanked God for the woman who gave him life.  He also discovered that the people that processed the vital records had noted that they felt the mother had falsified the information at the time of his birth.

Fast forward now to the last few years.  In William and Rita's church they have a good friend named, Nancy, that does a lot of genealogical research.  Upon hearing his story she took an active interest in his case and started to help him.  They were coming up with so many roadblocks because they really did not know his birth mother's name.  Since I do a lot of genealogical research myself this story is all the more magnificent to me.

She convinced William to have some DNA tests run after a class she had taken about how much that can help you connect to your ancestors' surnames.  Maybe going through the paternal line would yield a chance to find her.  William got the test and Nancy was right!  27 possible matches or connections.  William so lovingly refers to Nancy as his Search Angel, and for good reason.

They started to analyze the results and to pick which Hallsted (along with some other surnames with matches) for who would be a likely candidate.  They tried to eliminate some that were perhaps too old but decided to go with all the males residing in California at that time.  Lots of time and effort went into all of this.  Nancy also began her search online for the surname Hallsted and a few others.  One night she was Googling the name and she ran across a blog.

 My blog! This very blog!  I have written well over 2,000 blog posts since the end of 2007.  Sometime I would get discouraged and say, why do I do this?  Is anyone even reading it?   Well, on December 19, 2013 that question was answered in full.   Oddly, I had just asked my husband, Jim, those very questions the night before.

In 2008 I had gone to my Aunt Grace's funeral with my brother, Steve, and had taken lots of photos of the church where the funeral was held, and at the burial and I retold the story of the three days we spent with our cousins.  That time for reasons unknown to me then, I even included the obituary word for word on the blog post. I added several pictures of my beloved aunt both as a young woman and before she died.  There were also several photos of my cousins.

Nancy was overjoyed because she had been to Carl Hallsted's grave via Find a Grave online and had seen that he was buried beside a woman name Grace and they shared a common headstone.  But the name Grace had never been a part of their research until then.  It was not until she read the obituary and saw Grace's birthdate that she knew she had found William's mother AND his father, AND his five full siblings!  Nancy called William but they were not home.  She left a message for him to call and read my blog posts.  He has related to me that he felt very emotional and overjoyed during those moments after the discovery that was so much more than he had dreamed or hoped for all these years.

 Now I have no idea how William must have felt but I can pretty much relate to how Nancy must feel.  This work of connecting families on pedigree charts and family group sheets that are our ancestors is pretty exciting, but to actually unite an entire living family, now that is indeed something else! A once in a life time story.  A human interest story that makes total strangers weep because they feel something special and their heart is touched by stories like this. We all love a  little good news because it lifts us.   Just the imagining of it is a thrill.

After the elation he felt, William had the task of wondering how to contact his siblings and tell them his story.  There must have been much trepidation not knowing how they would react.  He compiled a letter with his story, and some pictures of himself as he was growing up as well as how he looks now.  Each of my cousins received their letter on December 18th in the evening.

At 6:00 am the next morning our phone rang.  It was my cousin, Chuck, the first born, or so I thought.  The call gave me quite a scare at first until I realized everyone was quite well and then he told me what had happened.  He was absolutely thrilled and sounded like he was five feet off the ground.  Each and every one of my beautiful cousins felt exactly the same way.  What a Christmas gift!

One look at William and we all knew his story was true.  He looks like my Aunt Grace, and all his brothers, and MY Dad.  I would have given anything to see each one of them as they first discovered each other's pictures. Most of all I would have loved seeing William's face when he saw his mother.  It wasn't long before this picture below was sent to me.  I love it.  Someone had photo shopped William into this picture of Grace with her other five children on the beach.  He is the one in the Hawaiian shirt~right in the middle where a place seemed to have been purposely left for him.

David, Grace, Jake, William, Chuck, Jan and Judy!

The real reunion of the sibling occurred in early January of this year.  With their spouses and each other they spent four days, hugging and talking and sharing and loving each other.  They have a life time of catching up to do and they are enjoying every minute of it.  These are six of the most important people in my life.  I love each and every one of these cousins with all my heart.  In each of them I see my beautiful Auntie Grace, my Grandmother, my Dad.  Along with our DNA we share a rich heritage.

 We hope to meet William and his wife in person sometime this year.  People wonder why I love family history and genealogy so much.  Maybe now they will understand a little better.  Next to God there is no one more important in our lives than our family.  Each person is like a special petal on our own person flower.  Each one adds to our lives and enriches us in ways that only they can. These are my people just as your family members are yours.  They contribute to who I am and who I will eventually become.  When they are happy~I am happy too.  I surely did learn that lesson this year.  They multiply my joys and divide my sorrows.  This story is more than an Oprah story by far...this is nothing short of a divinely inspired, modern day miracle and I am so grateful for it in my life.

Grace

Carl and Grace

Grandma and Grampa Yeasley 
With Grace in Sacramento 1946

The joyous reunion of all the siblings
January, 2014

The Profiles of Four Brothers!

Our Beloved Grace in her last years!

Today, as I said is my new cousin's birthday.  The first one we have been able to celebrate with him.  Happy Birthday, dear William, we love you.  We are so thrilled to have been united with you in this life.  Finally, a wonderful gift of Grace for all to share.  May this be your best birthday ever!

Party, Live and Learn Vacation

Marriott Center~BYU

A few weeks ago we went to Utah for what is known in our Church as Education Week.  I spoke about it briefly in my last Daybook entry a week or so back.  This is held every year between summer and fall semester at BYU in Provo, Utah.  It runs from Monday to Friday for that one week.  When our kids were teens we had a long standing tradition of going back and letting them have a feel for what college might be like at BYU.

There they hold lots of wonderful youth classes on the Savior, dating, music, etc.  All the classes are geared to uplift the kids and helping them make wise decisions in those most crucial years between 14 and 24.  And they also have many classes for adults.  Over 1,000 classes offered in all, with classes running all day from 8:30 am to 9:00 at night.  They also have a variety of plays and concerts in the evening that are delightful if you are not too exhausted from the day.  We did attend the Scarlet Pimpernel production one evening with Robert, Ross, Spencer and Laura.  It was pretty fun.

Most members of our church pay tithing, ten percent of our increase to the church.  This maintains and pays for all of our chapels and temples, and many other programs of the church including a substantial amount to our church universities to help families better afford a top rated, wonderful and more reasonably priced education for their children.  We also fund a perpetual education fund to help young people in struggling nations attend colleges and universities in their nations and to receive vocational training in many aspects of life that they might better support their families later.  The monies also support our humanitarian aid all over the world to people and places when disaster hits.  There is more, much more but you get the idea.

 Education Week is very reasonably priced to attend so I would imagine the price we pay only covers a portion of the cost to the University.  There are usually about 30,000 attendees.  It is one of those deals where a lot of the locals hide out at home until the throng of visitors goes away at the end of the week.  Can't blame them...just the traffic alone is overwhelming.

One night we thought we'd go here!

Mistake, there must have been 100 Ed. Week

Attendees in front of us in line.

Anyway, Education Week this year was special for our family because Spencer got to go all week and Piper accompanied him on Monday and Tuesday.  Her time was cut short as she started high school on Wednesday so it was a pretty exciting week for her all the way around.  It was fun having part of three generations there attending classes.

A class by Randal Wright that Carol and I

 attended on Happy Families.

I have been attending Randal's classes over many years.  He is like an old friend. This is the immense Ballroom at BYU and holds about 800 seats for Ed Week participants.  (Best part~being with Carol!)
And that is saying a lot as the class was excellent!  But there is nothing quite like being with a wonderful friend doing something so uplifting.  I wish you all could know her like I do.

Richard Eyre~another excellent and 
long time friend and teacher at Ed Week. 

 Love this man for his wisdom and faith.
Jim and I and Carol and Laura attended his classes.

The teen kids had so much fun being set free all day to attend classes they chose in a wholesome and safe environment.  Robert was out in Utah at the same time taking a class for his work and so all of them came out.  Kids under 14 are not permitted to attend so Ross spent time with Aunt Jen, Aunt Missy and Robert's parents so we could do this.  We could not have done it without all their help.   Jim and I and Laura and Spencer stayed in the college dorms as I had also previously mentioned.  Spence loved that!

Spencer and Piper having a ball?

At 14 it must be irrevocably decreed that when your mother is taking the photo you are not allowed to smile and act like you are having fun.  But if it is someone else it is OK?   Spencer did have a great time, I promise you because I witnessed it!  And he confessed to it when no cameras or recorders were visible from his vantage point.  Sheesh!

So even though it was not our official year for our family reunion it turned out to be a mini one anyway.  Anytime we are all in one place we call it that anyway.  Some of the family had not seen Robert since August of 2011 before he deployed to the middle east. 

The first Sunday we were there after church in the late afternoon we went up to Mt. Nebo and had a BBQ with Jen and Laura's family at a camp grounds near Payson Lakes.  Talk about gorgeous.  It is about 7000 feet in elevation and the forest is just remarkable the air is fresh and the view spectacular.

Auntie Laura and Hazie reunion!

Chloe Jo and Uncle Robert

 

 Ross getting his Grampa group hug with Julia

Hazie and her Grampa.  The lighting was so weird

 up here with all the shadows and the setting sun in our eyes.

Julia and Piper sharing Girls' Camp songs~ 

While Piper plays the ukelele.

Chloe, Piper and Spencer around the campfire

Uncle Lowell tending the BBQ
while Chloe and Hazie watch at a safe distance.

Cooking and keeping a nice hot fire
 for S'Mores after dinner!

Sadly Chris and family could not be there but we had a great time with them the next weekend at a BBQ they held in their beautiful backyard.

It was just a great week with the family and with our friends the Holladays.  It completely wore both Jim and me out but we loved it.  All the walking and the altitude takes its toll on this old lady as you know. I'll be fully recovered about the time I go back next Saturday.

Jim took a day and spent it with Ross (because all the other kids had started school) and they rode their bikes for 20 miles.  He is one amazingly physical person.  All that and needing a hip replacement in a couple of months.  He claims though that riding does not hurt his hip at all.  So good deal.  Ross says his Grampa wore him out.  I could only smile and nod and think I get it one hundred percent!  Been there, done that with Grampa!  He was also able to squeeze another trip in with Spencer on the Saturday before we left.

Good job Rossie!

A rest along the way~20 miles is not easy!

Alpine Coaster at Park City

 They went to Park City for this particular ride which was extremely fast and fun.  3 hours in the car for a 180 second thrill.  But Jim's says the driving conversations were robust though.   One topic...How Life is Like a Chess Game!  That is Ross in a nutshell.

Spencer ventures back onto a bike.

He did great but his leg was sore 

for a few days, particularly his ankle.

It was Spencer's first time riding a bike since he broke his leg last spring.  That was one nasty break he is still wearing a brace on his leg.  That brace, by the way, is most intriguing to Hazel!  If she ever saw him without it she would admonish him to get it on!  So cute.

They stopped along the river at the big swing so

 Spencer could rest and put on his brace for awhile. 

 Hazie would be so proud! 

We have learned one thing for sure...we need to travel less between May and September in the future.  Since that is basically the only time we usually travel...it means traveling less in any given year.  This whole year has been a big blur, if it wasn't for my occasionally blogging about what we do I would be hard pressed to recall it all.  Far too many days living out of a suitcase.  They were good days though, nonetheless.

The new North Heritage dorm 
where we stayed ~ #25 on campus!

The Invention Prototype

The dorms are very new and very modern and extremely industrial to maintain their niceness as long as possible.  One things about Spencer is he is a born engineer.  He is always thinking of things that people need to improve their living environment or life style. He and Grampa had a little project going on the entire time we were there and this was what they invented for the showers in the dorm.  There is no place within the shower stall for a bar of soup.  So they got some PVC pipe and created this.  Actually it was quite awesome.  Now Spencer and Connor are thinking of marketing it at BYU for the students.  It will be very inexpensive and quite serviceable.  And the best part...a new crop of students every semester!  Sweet entrepreneurial opportunity for two young teens.   I am sure they won't have too much trouble finding a willing backer/investor.

We had to be out of the dorm by Saturday so Laura and her kids and Jim and I moved over to a Comfort Inn for a few nights which was barely a hiccup in our fun with family. That same day Jen had planned a surprise party for Julia, our granddaughter, who turned 13.  Funny she was surprised out of her mind considering she had been asking for a surprise party for three years.  Isn't that so cute?  It was special to have all her cousins from our side of the family and many friends too.  It was a bit crowded in the condo as it was threatening a big thunder storm that night.

Julia's Birthday table display.

This is kind of what I use to do for
 our kids when they were growing up.

  It is fun to see Jen has kept that 
tradition from her youth.

 

The sky after it rained cats and dogs!

 

Finally we got a chance to go outside and have

 cake and ice cream which helped keep 

some semblance of order in the condo.

Jewels in the goofy glasses her

 Mom bought her for the party!

  It was "condo cozy" but very fun and everyone

 was dancing and it was just perfect for her.
They are actively looking for a new house now.  Yay! 
Space is the ultimate luxury Jim and I have discovered.

The Whole Bunch

For some odd reason when we all get together we usually do end up dancing at some point.  I am forbidden to publish those videos on punishment of death from Jennifer.  I believe her threats are real, but oh how I do want to!    The dancing is usually brought on by our hilarious daughter, Jennifer.  She can make our grandkids laugh like no body else.  She is usually doing some funny antics when we take their group pictures and it is the only way we can guarantee all of them laughing (not necessary in a synchronized way...note above) not just smiling to the clicking shutters.

We had fun with every one of our grandkids and you know what?  It had only been a few weeks since I had seen some of them and they still all seemed older and more mature for some reason.  Maybe a new school year??  Even Hazie seemed more grown up but then she did start kindergarten after all.  Can you believe she will be SIX on September 24th?  Me neither. Sigh...

My next post will be about some of our time with Chris' family and his new book and his award from President Samuelson at BYU the day before we left.

I Am My Own Grandpa

Meet my Birthday Twin, Ross.
Gramma and Ross a few years ago on our birthdays.

This is our Grandson, Ross.  He is 11 years old today.  I was that plus the old speed limit 55 yesterday.  He has been a special boy to me since the minute I witnessed his birth. Well actually probably longer than that.  I have always told him we are birthday twins and he is the best birthday present I have ever gotten. In four more years he'll be 15 and getting his driver's permit and I can claim the number in the middle as my own.

Not wanting to speed that up any...

but I would like to take my time

 and land up there in one piece,

with as little work in the body shop

 as possible between now and then.

My own birthday was very full with wonderful things and people yesterday and working, so Ross and I were having trouble connecting so he could wish me a happy birthday.  He wanted to call me at 6:00 am but Laura didn't think that was a good idea.   3:00 am our time! So we finally got to talk at length today.   So fast forward to this afternoon when I was sending out some thanks to friends that sent good wishes yesterday.  One of them was Ross' Aunt Debbie, his Dad's sister.

I was saying to Debbie that we recently learned that our family and theirs are descendants for the same ancestor, Stephen Hopkins.  So I was saying isn't that funny..Laura and Robert are cousins, 14 generations removed.  Hee hee.   And then I had the funniest thought come into my head. 

 Oh my gosh, not only that but I am the cousin of our grandsons, Spencer and Ross!  So I just had to call Ross back and tell him that not only are we birthday twins and grandson and grandmother but we are also cousins! 

 Loooooong pause...

"So what you are saying then Gramma is that, I'm your grandson and your birthday twin, AND your cousin?"

"Yep and your Dad is my son-in law and my cousin, your Grandpa Bryant is your grandpa and your cousin and he is your mother's father-in-law and her cousin and your brother's cousin and grandfather.  And your Grandpa Bryant is my cousin.

Dead air as he ponders and I can see that brain of his in motion......... 

"That is really cool Gramma but you forgot one?

"Really, what?"

I can hear him smiling through the phone....

"We are all brothers and sisters!  We have the same Heavenly Father!"

Hmm, I hate it when they are smarter than me, that was supposed to be my line! 

Then he said, " I only have one thing to say about all this.....this marriage between my parents was definitely meant to be!"

******************************

It has been a delightful couple of days.  I don't regret getting older even a little bit!  It is a blessing!

 http://youtu.be/4_K9H9mdNeg

 

And if you are still here, the best song of all below if you didn't see it on Facebook yesterday!

http://youtu.be/IpINczqQWOU

Cousins and Photos

Julia, Hazie, Thomas, Chloe and Piper

2nd cousins

Yesterday for Easter our great-nephew, Thomas came by with his Dad to say hi.  Thomas is the grandson of Jim's brother.  It was quite fun to see them for a few minutes before they were off to another branch of the family for dinner.  They were not here too long but we did manage to get in a few photos.

Here is the interesting part about this. Yesterday morning we did a photo shoot of the girls.  They were pretty funny.  You know how it is.  40 shots and someone looks goofy in each of them.  Eyes closed, not smiling, looking around, easily distracted...think little boy in the outfield. 

Well, we only took a few photos with Thomas and all are adorable.  Solution to previous problem...  Always have a handsome older boy to get the teen girls to pay attention, look beautiful and smile with their whole face.  And since they hadn't seen Thomas in years...a little blush on the cheeks makes the color all the better as well.  It was precious.

Wedded Bliss

Remember This?

Check out picnik.com to do this with your photos

The Cutest Thing I Have Ever Seen!
The wedding party
Zach and Chloe~the lovely couple...
Piper, Aynslee, and Julia~Bridemaids
Connor, the Priest (?) performed the ceremony!

All the Utah grandkids were playing together at Jen's today. The big kids decided to have a wedding for Zach and Chloe. Jen sent these over~can't wait to see the whole album of photos! Jen's personal favorite is the sock for Zach's tie but I think the off the shoulder bridal gown worn by Chloe is pretty cute too~not to mention the nosegay bouquet of wildflowers to complete the ensemble. And like a good little LDS girl she is being modest too!