Visit with the Granddaughters

Monday, on a whim, we drove to Green River. It had been so long since we had seen Makayla and Ellie that I had to go visit. Eugene is so kind and just said, let's go. So we did. We got there before Laura and the girls got home from the library. We were waiting out front in the car. When they drove up, Laura showed Makayla that we were there and she darn near jumped out of the car while it was still moving. :) When Ellie saw us she did that cute little limp wrist wave of hers. It was great!! The girls, Laura included, were so glad to see us. It was fun to visit. Thanks Laura for letting us barge in on your day!

Quote # 5

I read an email the other day that had these simple guidelines for happiness. I thought they were worth posting.

Simple guidelines for happiness:

1. Free your heart from hate.

2. Free your mind form worry.

3. Live simple.

4. Give more.

5. Expect Less.

Aunt Kay's quilt top

Aunt Kay brought me 12 embroidered quilt blocks and asked me to make a quilt out of them. She said she wanted to bring out the blue. I went to our local fabric store and visited with a couple of my friends about how to go about designing the quilt. I took their suggestions and went home and built the quilt on my EQ5 software. I think it turned out beautiful. The pieced border wasn't so much fun, but I think it turned out great.

Quote #4

"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."

Abraham Lincoln

Amish Friendship Bread

I found a piece of paper on the floor in the bedroom today. I picked it up and opened it. I don't know where it came from, but I was excited. It was a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread. I haven't even thought about this fabulous bread for years. The bread is made from a sweet sourdough start that comes with a loaf of bread from a friend. :) The sad part is that the recipe did not tell how to make the start, just how to make the bread from the start that was furnished by the friend. So, I went on a search of Recipezaar.com. I found the recipe for the start as well as the recipe for the bread. I started a start today. It takes 27 days to get the start furmented enough that it can turn into this fabulous, sweet sourdough bread. On March 17th, I will be making Amish Friendship Bread and sharing it with friends. Here is the link http://www.recipezaar.com/153 to the recipe for the start and the bread. If you decide to make it, Enjoy!!!

Anniversary

Today we have been married 31 years. Sometimes I wonder how Eugene has been able to put up with me for all these years. I'm certainly glad he has.

31 years ago today we were married in SLC. That mid-February day in 1977 there was green grass and flowers on Temple Square. Amazing! You certainly wouldn't find that this year!

Last year we were planning a vacation to Belize to celebrate 30 years, then the cancer diagnosis got in the way and the trip was cancelled. I'm still sad about that. I was so looking forward to that trip. I keep asking when we are going on a cruise. The last time I asked I got told, "Don't you think we should wait until you are through with cancer treatments?" So, as of mid-June, we are going to start planning for a cruise.

It has been a wonderful adventure. A neighbor told me recently that a woman is truly blessed if her husband makes her laugh everyday. I am truly blessed because Eugene does make me laugh everyday and sometimes more than once. :)

Relay for Life

The company I work for, Linx Wireless, is sponsoring a team for Relay for Life. My co-worker and friend, Rae Ann, and I are the co- captains of the team. Relay for Life is a fund raiser sponsored by the American Cancer Association. Each team needs 12-15 team members who are willing to take turns walking from 7 p.m. to noon the next day. The relay will be held on June 27-28 at the Soda Springs High School Track and Football Field. At the relay the track will be lined with luminarias, sacks with lights in them. Each luminaria will represent a person who has survived cancer, died from cancer or is currently under going cancer treatment or a caregiver of a cancer patient. Each team member is required to raise $100. In addition, we will have a raffle. We will raffle a quilt, an afghan and several other smaller items. We will also have money jars in each of our 5 locations. The quilt is one that I worked on while I was doing chemo therapy. I will post a picture when I get one taken.

More about the luminaria. Each one costs $10. The sack can then be decorated by the person who purchased it or, if you choose, by the team member you purchased the sack from. If you are interested in purchasing a sack in someone's name, please contact me. I will be happy to decorate the sack for you. I need to sell 10 of these sacks.

Raffle: If you are interested in purchasing raffle tickets, they are $5 each or 5 for $20. Let me know if you would like to help with this worthwhile fundraiser. All monies will be given to the American Cancer Society to be used for cancer research.

Quote #3

The other day I received an email with a video clip from an Oprah show. It was about a man who is dying of cancer. Treatments don't work anymore. He has three small children. He is a professor at a university who, as his last lecture, told about his life, what made it so great and how he has chosen to be happy as long as he is still alive. From the lecture I gleaned these two quotes.

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

AND

There are 3 parts to an Apology:

1- Say "I'm sorry."

2- Say "It was my fault."

3- Ask "How can I make it right?"

I don't have the email anymore or I would post the link. I'm sure you could find it on Oprah.com if you wanted to watch it. It is about an 11 minute video but well worth watching.

Quote #2

Sarah has this awesome book she keeps in her bathroom. I read some really great quotes in the book, but since I didn't write them down, I don't remember them. I'll have to use one I have.

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again

more intelligently."

Henry Ford

Fun Times

Laura and Kasey and the girls weren't able to make it to our house for a visit. We were sad about that, but so glad they made it home safely.

Eugene and I drove to Ogden Friday night. Emigration Canyon was pretty scary. Blowing and drifting snow had narrowed the road to about 1 1/2 lanes. So glad there wasn't much traffic. We spent the night at Sarah and Eric's. Eric and Eugene went to the Sportsman's Expo in SLC with Glenn, John, Warren and boys. They had a good time. Sarah, Emery, Evan and I went to JoAnn's and picked out fabric for their new baby's quilt. The boys were very good and thought it was cool we were buying stuff for the new baby. This evening we had dinner with Debbie and Glenn and had a nice visit.

Debbie had a new quilt book. The quilt on the front was beautiful!!! It was log cabin blocks with friendship star blocks. I can't wait to get it built on my EQ5 quilting software. It was made with red white and blue fabrics, my favorite!!!

Bear Laker

Holy Cow!! We haven't had a winter like this for years! Eugene made it home from work, but just barely. They closed the road from Soda to Montpelier shortly after they left to come home. He was 15 minutes late getting home. He went to gas up the work car in case they can get to work tomorrow. He said he learned at Maverik that all roads leaving Montpelier are closed. The wind is blowing hard. There were two avalanches in Montpelier Canyon today. Someplace in the valley a baby was born at home because the mother couldn't get to the hospital. An ambulance was called out to take baby and mom to the hospital, but the ambulance couldn't get to the home. I was supposed to be to a meeting in Soda tonight at 7. Needless to say, I stayed home. It will be interesting to see what happens in the morning. Eugene has been snowed in at work several times, but never snowed in at home when he needed to be to work.

Hobby

I love to make quilts. I used to love to hand quilt them, but it is so hard on my back that it takes forever to get them quilted. I have a friend who owns a quilting machine. She does absolutely fabulous work. This picture is of a quilt I made for Michelle, our daughter-in-law.

Fun Times

Laura, Kasey and the girls are coming tomorrow. Laura and Kasey are getting taxes done and I get to watch the girls. I am going to make valentine cookies with Makayla. Ellie too if she's interested.
Next week Sarah, Eric and the boys are coming to get their taxes done. How fun is that! All the grandbabies are coming for a visit in the next two weekends. Woo Hoo!!!!

Scarlet Macaws

Here is the picture of the Scarlet Macaws that Eugene took when we were in Texas in November.

We drove down to visit with Charlie and Michelle. They moved to Texas in August. Charlie had to go back to work before we were able to go to Houston so Michelle drove us down. We went to a place called Moody Garden in Galveston. There was a rain forest area that was beautiful. It was full of birds and other creatures and plants that live in a rain forest. There were several other kinds of macaw's, but the Scarlet Macaws are Eugene's favorite. (Click on image to see a larger version.)

Now that was a snowstorm

Last night Eugene was moving picture files off the desktop computer to his external hard drive. I was sitting in the family room when I heard "Mom, come and look at this." (yes, he calls me mom and I call him dad.) I went into the office and he was looking at pictures taken on Jan 9, 2005. Now that was a snowstorm. He was out on his old wheeler plowing, I was taking pictures to send to Lizzie, who was on a mission in Ecuador at the time. I think there must have been a foot of snow on top of the Cruiser. When Laura teaches me how, I'll post a picture.

When the kids were still all at home, we had a snowstorm that dumped 3 feet of snow in 24 hours. It was on Feb 14th. It must have been right around 1994 because the 4-wheeler was new. I had been complaining about the 4-wheeler payment. After that, I didn't complain any more. I was just glad that we didn't have to shovel all that snow by hand.

SNOW

Oh My!! We got three + inches of snow last night which doesn't really sound like a lot. It wouldn't be if we didn't have to shovel the bank left by the city snowplows. (Not complaining. Just glad they plow!) I didn't get up to walk this morning because my walking partner has the flu. Besides, I figured I'd get plenty of exercise shoveling snow today. Eugene got home from work just after 7 and started the job. I went out to help him shortly after he started. That was better exercise than I ever get walking. I will be soooooooooo glad when he gets his new 4-wheeler!!! I don't mind shoveling the walks, but I don't like shoveling the bank because the side banks are getting too high for me to toss the snow over. If I can figure it out, I'll post pictures. I know, Katie. You are probably thinking "Big deal. Three inches." Where she lives they got over a foot in 24 hours. That would bury our Cruiser! Ok. I'm rambling now. More later.