Field of Dreams

Don is such a wonderful Grandpa. A title that he loves dearly. He keeps a recording of Addie's voice on his cell phone month's ago when she left him a message. Every time he listens to his messages he comes across Addie's and he gets this smile on his face.
He suffers from empty nest syndrome and talks of when Beth and Katie were little girls and we were at the beach. I was in the room with baby Scott and he took his two "girly worlies" with him to go across the street to the brightly painted shops. We were staying at Emerald Beach Hotel. The place we stayed was new at the time and now it is already torn down with a newer place , but the memory, that is forever. He tells that story often. He had each daughter by the hand and he wanted them to have bright pretty floats. They danced with delight at going and he smiles as he remembers their joy. He held their hands tightly and told them he had to hold tight to his 'girlie worlies'.
We were so delighted when Addie was born and now we wait anxiously for little Livy... Once again Don will have two little 'girlie worlies' to buy floats for. . .

He likes taking Addie places and just being with her. We have a swing that is hanging between two old pecan trees in our back yard. When his mother was a little girl, her dad put the bar between the two trees, in the Y of the branches. That was long ago and the bar for as long as I remember has been a part of the tree . Tuesday when Addie came over she saw Grandpa drive up, when he came in she ask "Grandpa, let's swing". He will go up and swing with her for as long as she likes. She is our princess, the apple of our eyes.

We will save the wishes for our sweet Addie and for our up and coming new grand daughter.
We count our blessings as the best wishes we could have and at the top are our sweet Addie and soon to be Livy!!!!

Field of dreams :)

ON and On....

I love this picture of this Sunset, every day is a gift. I get up every morning and thank Father for another day on this earth. Every breath we take is a gift also. So if you wake up feeling stressed set back and think of all the things right in your life. My list goes on and on....

Our beautiful flower child and her proud grandpa!

Church and family Cuties!

Desna with her adorable baby

Pretty ballerina!

Hey Cutie Pie!

Angel Doll!

Beautiful Addie!

Aww isn't he adorable!

Angel Face...

Vanessa and her Handsome boy!

5 Ideas for Leftover Bread

When Scott (or was it Katie?) was in middle school he had a project to bring a dish from another country. His was Italy. I called Mara A. and she told me several wonderful ideas. The one I am about to share was not the one we used but it was a great idea. She said that her mother would take their stale left over bread and soak it in water, then she would squeeze it out and crumble it up on a baking dish. She would sprinkle the bread with olive oil and sprinkle spices over the bread and toast it in the over. (Mara if I am murdering this recipe it is because it is from memory). I remember she said it was 'delicious' and did the Italian thing where you kiss your finger tips. I am going to have to get with Mara to get the exact recipe but I saw something in my GH Magazine that made me think of her and her mother's wonderful idea, Here it is;


That half-loaf of Italian or those rejected ends of sandwich slices needn't be bird food, Instead, use them - or almost any variety in your bread box = to make these five fast, tasty recipes.


1. Italian Tomato-Bread Soup in 5-qt. saucepot, combine 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 2 cloves garlic, chopped. Cook on medium-low 2 to 3 minutes or until golden. Add one 28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice, 2 c. water, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Simmer on medium-high 15 minutes, uncovered, breaking up tomatoes. Mash in 2 c. toasted bread cubes. Stir in 1/2 c. basil leaves, sliced. Drizzle with olive oil to serve. Makes 4 c.


2. Croque Monsieur Spread 8 slices bread with 2 Tbs. Dijon mustard; layer 4 slices with 8 oz. sliced ham and 4 oz. shredded Gruyere cheese, then top with remaining bread. In pie plate, mix 2 lg. eggs and 2 Tbs. water. Dip sandwiches in egg to coat well. Cook in preheated 12 -in. nonstick skillet on medium 8 - 10 minutes or until golden on both sides. Serves 4.

3. Red Pepper Spread In food processor, coarsely grind 2 slices toasted bread and 1/3 c. toasted walnuts. Add one 12 - oz jar roasted red peppers, drained; 1 Tbsp. olive oil; 1 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar; and 1/8 tsp. each salt and black pepper. Pulse until blended. Serve with additional toast. Makes 1 c.

4. Parmesan Toasts Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Cut 4 slices bread into thirds; arrange on cookie sheet. Brush bread with 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with 1/8 tsp. each salt, black pepper, and cayenne, then with 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese, Bake 17 minutes or until crisp and cheese is melted. Makes 12 toasts.

5. Sweet Banana Treats Spread 4 slices toasted bread with 1/2 c. chocolate-hazelnut spread; cut each in half. In 10 - in. nonstick skillet, cook 2 Tbsp. butter, 1/4 c. brown sugar, and pinch salt on medium 5 minutes or until thick and bubbling, stirring. Stir in 2 lg. ripe bananas, sliced; cook 1 minute or until well coated and softened. Soon over toast; serve immediately. Serves 4

The Most Happiest Feeling of All.....

Katie and Scott on Ski lift. (I can not get the stupid picture to go to the bottom so I am leaving it here) LOL!!!!

This is a picture below I took while we were driving away from Gatlinburg on our way home... Since I am not the photographer that Beth, or Alisha, or all of the other young talents we have been blessed with, I thought it didn't turn out half bad, especially since mine is a cheap little digital camera. This trip was one of those kodak moments where every moment was sweet and every memory is one to be cherised. I will post today and tomorrow and share some of these wonderful times!

This is Scott on our way to Gatlinburg, he was fast asleep since we got up at 4 to leave. I took this picture as the dawn was breaking. Yall know how Thomas Kincaid always has a bird somewhere up in the sky of all his pictures....well look out the window. :)

This fellow is the famous Captain Jack Sparrow...he did an amazing job imitating Johnny Depp. He was part of the Christmas parade that we went to see. They also had Forrest Gump and Michael Jackson. Even though this parade was excellent the woman at the hotel says the 4th of July one is better. It starts one minute past midnight on July 3rd and last for at least 2 hours and that starts their day of festivities.


Jarom and Addie during the parade....it was coooolllllddddd!!!!

Don, Jarom, Scott and Katie rode the Zip line. There were 9 lines they went down. Brave Katie for going.

Don


On Saturday we woke up to snow like Huntsville did. Everyone was taking way to long to get up and our so Scott and I went on ahead. He found someone to take our picture.

It is getting late and I am getting frustrated with this blogging so I will post now and do another page tomorrow. Sigh! how do all you professionals do this all the time.....

The End of October
October was a very busy month around here. We have lots of family birthday's this month. Happy birthday to Cindy, Pam, Joan, Jacob and Jarred. My sister Pam moved back to Huntsville this month. Welcome back home Sissy! I love having you here even though you are keeping me humble with the Rook games. I did a Halloween meal for my family/friends/missionaries and had a lot of fun decorating. Our ward did trunk or treating this past week. Last but not least Don, Beth, Jarom , Bob and I took Addie trick or treating. LOL !!! Five Adults and one itty, bitty, precious fairy! Honestly, I do not know how all the grandma's handles all the happiness mutilple grandchildren brings. :) My camera I got for Christmas last year (I picked it out) Stinks!, so I asked Beth to take a few pictures and I am posting them above. One of my 3 favorite months is already behind us but I am looking forward to Turkey month. We have Katie, Scott's, Veronica's, Sam's birthday this month and Miss Addie turns 2. (Sorry I didn't get those birthday's in order) Also my nephew Matt graduate's from basic training! Yeah Matt, we are all so very proud of you hon!And of course this is the month that the long awaited movie New Moon is coming out! Yahoo! Well this is a short post but since I haven't blogged very much, short is better than nothing. Have a Happy Thanksgiving Month!

Weighty Matters

I am having some success in my ongoing saga of weight loss. It is amazing how much time and effort I have put into it since I was in my early thirties. Lose, gain, lose, gain, lose, gain, gain, gain..... I even did a biggest looser marathon for about three months with friends and had huge success. I worked hard every day two four mile walks on tread mill and journal what I eat. This was great the weight melted off, almost like it does in the biggest looser except once the "fun" was over on came the weight. So now I am doing something different. I am not beating my self up over every time I "blow it". So this is what I am doing that recently in the past couple of weeks netted 5 pounds off. I wear my pedometer and try to log in at least 10 thousands steps a day. I journal. I know that is one of the most important steps. You don't realize how much you are eating until you right it down. If you lick it bic it. If your bite it write it. (The first phrase I made up, catchy huh?) Drink water. Use common sense. But what has helped me with the bloating, and so forth is food combining. Oh and lay low on your sweets. Honestly they are horrible for you. Even though they taste great they will age as fast if not faster than the sun. This is something simple I do....( my sissy Joan sent this to me).

It is long but very informative:

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths....It is not as easy as you think. It is important to know how and when to eat. So what is the correct way of eating fruits?

It means not eating fruits after your meals! Fruits should be eaten on an empty stomach.
If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.

Fruit is the most important food. Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so.

In the mean time the whole meal rots and ferments and turns into acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil.....

So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! ( I googled how long it takes to digest fruit and it says some fruit as fast as 15 min other a little longer) You have heard people complaining - every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat during my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet, etc. - actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you bloat! Ewww...

This stated that graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes all these will not happen if your take fruit on an empty stomach. (That I don't know about but the other stuff I have tried for over a week and my 'basketball' stomach is deflating.)

When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice (This is kinda hard to do unless you have a juicer). Not from the cans. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste. Cooking destroys all the vitamins.


Okay there is more wisdom from this stuff sent to me but I won't bore you. I do not know about all that it claims I do know that for me it is working on my weight and my stomach. Just thought yall might enjoy this. :)

I'm Sorry

Okay, I just read Beth's post and was laughing my head off! Good idea! So here goes:
Beth: I am sorry that time in kindergarten when it came time for pictures, and I wanted you to have curly hair so that the night before I washed your hair, gelled it, rolled it in sponge rollers, sprayed it and let you sleep on it that night. The next morning for good measure I sprayed it again. You ended up with a huge 'fro' (your hair was really long). Your teacher Mrs. Wolk, said that she broke her brush trying to get the kink out....

Katie: I am sorry I decided to cut your hair myself. I kept 'trimming' the side to make them even. At one point I knew I couldn't go any further and you had one side obviously longer so I parted your hair over from the longer side. That didn't help much so I told you to keep your head tilted to the short side.....

Scott: I'm sorry I butchered your hair one day trying to give you a hair cut but heck all the other Molly Mormons were cutting their kid's hair and I thought I could too....

Beth, Katie, and Scott: I am sorry your dad and I took you to the cheap Santa Clause, You know the one that had bad teeth.... bad breath.... Scruungie beard.... the picture is priceless. Your all straining away from him...... I have to post that picture and the one of Beth's do.

Don: I am sorry that YOU insisted that I keep your hair trimmed to make your hair cuts last longer. I finally got good at it but boy did I do some butcher jobs, One time I paid Beth and her friend Elizabeth Eva a buck a piece to tell you how good the back looked......

Scott: I am sorry that when I sub for P.E. I did the funky chicken dance in front of the whole class and worse yet had all of yall do it too!

Joe Ikard: I know your in heaven Joe but I'm sorry that when you came the family would run and hide when you knocked on the door. Especially the time all five of our family hid in the little closet and you walked on in our house and found us..... I don't remember what we told you we were doing but you got us back....next Testimony meeting you told the whole ward about it....

Danny: I am sorry when we were little I would slap my arm over and over again and then run and tell Mom you did it..... I was trying to get you back for stringing up my doll by the neck..... or the time you and Jeff woke me up yelling, "GET UP, GET UP AND GO SEE WHAT SANTA BROUGHT YOU!" I was groggy but I jumped up and ran into the living room and nothing was their....it was Christmas Eve.....Hmmmm, You two might want to do a post.

Pam: I am sorry everything you did I had to do it too... but I must say you got me back when you went and got the London shag......

Joan: I am sorry you got stuck being the oldest sister, it must of been rough, especially when you were dating and you brought W.T home to just sit and visit in the living room and I made myself your personal watchdog.....

Beth, Katie, and Scott: I am sorry that I would scare the heck out of yall and your friends when you were little with my stories....especially Beth the time you had a sleep over and yall wanted me to tell you a scary story and your friend Elizabeth told me when I finished that that wasn't scary. I'm sorry I took that as a personal challenge and fifteen minutes later when the rest of the house was suppose to be asleep. (Yall were talking in the dark in the sun room on the hide a bed). I snuck down stairs ever so quietly and went into the closet and put on Don's jacket with the thick shoulder pad and put on the mask from one those creepy shows and slowly made my way into the laundry room, and then slowly got under the open window that was right over your hide a bed and sprung up..... I was sweating like a dog underneath that heavy jacket and mask but the way yall were screaming and one of the girls was trying to crawl under the sheet was hilarious, I was laughing so hard I almost wet my pants. Admit it yall enjoyed it too....except for the one girl whose mom would never talk to me after that.....

Okay, that does make one feel a little better, even though my list could go on and on..... Thanks for the idea....

"Yesterday is already a dream and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope." Sanskrit Proverb

Merry Christmas :)

Monday, December 8, 2008

25 Christmas Questions
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, I agree Beth it is more fun to open, plus it is sooooo fun shaking the box trying to guess what the gift it is.
2. Real tree or artificial? Real, really I love the real ones. I have both though. The artificial one in the living room and the real one in the sun room
3. When do you put up the tree? The Artificial one goes up the first or second week in November. Yes, I know that is early but Christmas goes by so fast. and the second one goes up the first Sunday after Thanksgiving. It is a hoot looking for the tree. This year as we all got out of the car and Scott started to run and yelling, "There it is I found it, I found the perfect one!" Jarom was running behind him yelling ,"Trip him, Trip him,"....ha, ha, ha, I like the way he thinks.
4. When do you take the tree down?Between Christmas and the day after New Years. If the tree is really dead, it goes down day after Christmas.
5. Do you like eggnog? LOVE IT, but it loves my bottom better, have you ever looked at the fat grams in that stuff.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My Cheerful Tearful Doll. Santa brought me and my sister Pam the doll and a cradle a piece and tons of clothes. I found out later that Mrs. Santa sewed a long time while we was at school making the clothes. That was a fun year... of course they all were.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yeppers I do. My dear brother Jeff made me the stable and I bought the rest. Love my brothers... and my sisters too.
8. Hardest person to buy for? What about the hardest gender...Men, women love everything, men are tricky.
9. Easiest person to buy for? My girls, especially Katie bug. Sorry Bethie, you don't like my taste in a lot of stuff.
10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? One hundred percent Mail. It's fun to go through the old ones from year to year.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Beth I hear ya about the school gifts, for two years in a row Angela C. got my name. She received elaborate stuffed animals and I got a ten cent pack of crayons and a twenty five cent coloring book....I never was crazy about A.C.
.12. Favorite Christmas Movies? Santa Clause and Christmas with the Kranks...I think I like anything that Tim Allen is in.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?Black Friday
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?....Every year... that is part of the fun.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Piling up on the couch with my loved ones and eating popcorn and Christmas fruit and the eggnog.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored, for me whites are pretty but colored is beautiful.
17.Favorite Christmas song? Mary Did You Know and O Holy Night.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home Sweet Home.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph...?
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The time, it races by.
22. Favorite ornament theme or color?I love green and red...
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I agree Beth, The whole spill... ham, deviled eggs, casseroles, sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, greens, rolls, j. p. salad, dessert.
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? A camera, mine is broke and really I don't care, whatever the kids and Don comes up with, I am easy to please.
25. A favorite Christmas Tradition?Finding and cutting the tree. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day. This year we are starting new traditions with Addie, one night while Beth and Jarom go out Gramps and Grandma is going to take Addie shopping for her parents gift at the dollar tree, (that is an old tradition when my kids were little) and out to eat. Yeah for being a grandparents! For all of you grandparents out their with lots of grandchildren, I envy you.

Happy Birthday ADDIE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ADDIE, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Happy 1st Birthday our precious Addie! It seemed like it was yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting your arrival. We knew we would love you angel but we had no idea that our lives would be turned up side down with the joy and happiness you bring to all of our lives. What can I say but thank you sweet baby for making me a Grandma!

(P.S. I would have published more pictures but my computer is not cooperating. )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday To My Sweet Sisters!

If we got to choose our family than I get an A+ for mine! I am so lucky to have the two sister's that I have. Remember: Joan, 1105 E. Clinton St..... "If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening, all over this world....." . You taught me the power of unity in rough times. Or maybe getting rid of my uni brow, or letting me borrow tons of your clothes. Maybe it is the fact that I was spoiled rotten and I had all my brother's and sister's mad at me...(mom and dad was gone somewhere) and I went out side and sat on the front porch. You told, I think It was one of the brother's that is enough and came out and sat beside me and put your arm around me. Sis, I didn't deserve that hug but it sure was appreciated. You taught me, compassion. Possibly it is for the fact that you have always been there to listen, to laugh, to sympathize to encourage me, and all the rest of your siblings. You are a fantastic Sister, and I love ya tons, so Happy Birthday Sis, I hope it is one of your best. Love you, Sherry

Joan

Pam

Hey Pam, You can not believe what a hard time I had posting, so I didn't get to blog on your birthday a couple of weeks ago. Even though I miss that chance to blog I don't want to miss this one: Remember Pam: "A sailor went to sea, sea, sea, to see what he could see, see, see, but the only thing he could see, see, see was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.... ,Or the long hot summer nights setting up eating cucumbers and watching old movies like "Seven brides for seven brother's. You shared with me the joys of being young and carefree. I remember one time setting something on fire when I was a little girl in the bathroom and dad was mad, when he asked who did this you looked at my frightened face and said you did. I know dad knew better because I remember the look he gave me. When I tell you my dreams and my inner thoughts you believe in me and bought me my beautiful necklace that has believe engrave on it. It has come to symbolize so much to me. And I also remember the laughter, tears and confidence we always share. I miss you tons sis, the light in this tunnel is that I know that it will be soon that you are going to move back to Huntsville, Yeah!!!

Pam

Joan with our brother's Danny and Jeff

Pam




Sherry

I am glad I have You two for my sisters!



My sister's are the wind beneath my wings, love ya sissies. I hope we have many, many, more years of laughter, long talks and sharing. HAPPY, HAPPY, BIRTHDAY'S

Fall, At last!

These last few weeks have been stressful to me until my husband brought me back into focus when he ask me to read Alma 10:22 -23. At that point I decided to put my trust in the Lord and enjoy this world we have been given. We have a tree that is always the first to change every fall, and the first to loose it's leaves. This tree has always brought us alot of joy. It's old but never fails to delight everyone with it's beautiful leaves. Here are some pictures I took:

Boggie

This is pictures of either Boggie or one of her brothers or sisters as a pup. The two bigger dogs are Boggie parent's. Aren't they gorgeous?! The next picture is of the Dad. Boggie has been with us for a week and she is a sweet, frisky, adorable pup! Scott thinks she is his but honestly she loves everyone she comes in contact with. :)

Good ol' days

Okay, Look at that adorable face, what is not to love. So, I was thinking the other day at church, "hmm, Addie is now ten months old, pretty soon she will be in her twenties. " With that thought I looked around and realized what a lucky girl Addie is... there sure are some cute, adorable little boys out there. One may laugh and think, "gees mom, don't rush it,"
but it was just the other day (or so it seems) that my two little girls were just babies. Hold on to these hectic days girls, they are wonderful, packed, and exhausting, but they will be something you will smile at as you get older.