Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Posing and Playing!
Posing with SOME of their Webkinz! (Those are Nintendogs out in front.)
Posing on and around the new bar stools:
Here we are playing "Don't Eat Pete!" We also played Phase 10 Twist, Wig Out, Sequence, Zingo, Bingo and Hot Potato!
Monday, February 16, 2009
A Perfect Valentine's Day!
February 14, 2009 was a wonderful day!
We got to spend time with four of our grandchildren!
We survived driving in a snowstorm to get to Salt Lake City!
We got to witness the sealing of our niece, Amy!
I got to spend the whole day with my sweetheart! He took some of these photos of Temple Square--one of my most favorite places!
We got to spend time with some extended family!
We were treated to dinner at a restaurant and later attended a party!
We got to eat lots of chocolate!
And the most special of all: Sister Julie Beck treated the four of us here to a tour of her office and some of the other rooms in the Relief Society Building!
Now that's what I call a perfect Valentine's Day!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Valentine's Day 1984!
Valentine's Day 1984
"This year we had a fun Valentine's Day. We had a special treasure hunt which is a tradition we do every year. The kids exchanged Valentine's at school, and we decorated a 'Valentine's Day tree.' But we didn't want to let the kids have all the fun, so Dan and I had a Valentine's party on Friday, February 10th. We invited four other couples, played games, watched some of the Olympics and had strawberry cheesecake. One game I made up was called Love Song Bingo. I taped small parts of 18 love songs and the players marked in the titles on homemade bingo cards with candy kisses. In another game, we worked as couples writing the answers to questions on slips of paper. Then we all guessed which couple fit the answer. The questions were: 1) Tell a fun date you had before you were married; 2) Where did you go on your honeymoon; 3) Tell something special you did for one of your anniversaries; 4) Tell an embarrassing experience that happened to both of you."
Posing in front of the Valentine's tree:
"Daddy-Daughter Valentine" by Dan
"To celebrate Valentine's Day the Merrie Miss classes had a Daddy-Daughter dinner on February 17th. The menu featured homemade pizza, heart-shaped jello salad and a raspberry sherbet dessert. After dinner the Dads were surprised by a special musical number presented by...the Dads! We sang a modified version of "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." The musical standards were drastically improved when the daughters sand numbers they had rehearsed. We had fun playing a version of musical chairs that included sitting on and popping balloons. Here the Dads had a distinct advantage with their greater weight and wider bottoms. The highlight of the evening was when each girl introduced her Dad and presented him with a special personalized Valentine message. For Heidi and me, it was a very special date!"
(I had a picture of Heidi and Dan from this event, but alas, I can't find it. So this one was taken a few years later and includes Amanda too!)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A Fun Trip Home: Castles and Kings!
We decided to do a little sightseeing on the drive home. We spent Friday night in Cambria at this motel right on the ocean. This is a view out our window. We left our window open all night so we could hear the ocean, but as you can see it is somewhat stormy. So that meant we also needed to leave the gas fireplace on most of the night!
Early Saturday morning we had reservations for a tour of Hearst Castle at San Simeon. This is a view of the castle from our bus which takes you on a five mile journey up the hill.
Here is an overhead shot to show how expansive the grounds are on top of the hill--three guest houses and the main house.
The entrance to La Casa Grande:
Here are two interior rooms we were able to see: the Assembly Room and the Refectory or dining hall:
Every room and every area outside is filled with works of art, sculpture and tapestry from many different centuries and purchased from all around the world. The outdoor Neptune Pool is quite impressive. Our guide revealed that they allow the park employees to swim in it once a year in late August.
I loved seeing all the artwork and beauty which the Hearst family has given to the state of California. But it was interesting to contrast the fact that all of this was built and purchased during the Depression and WW II decades when so many were suffering. One fact they mentioned was that there was a zoo on the property at the time and it cost $10,000 per month (1930's money) just for the ice for the polar bear's pool! I'm glad I'm not rich like that; what a stewardship to make so many decisions on how to spend your money!
We also took a little detour to see the King of the seal family: the Elephant Seals! This was prime time to see them along the coast as the females have arrived and most have just given birth and the males (weighing up to 5,0000 pounds) have been around since December arriving from Alaska.
Although this picture looks like they are just laying around,
there was actually lots of noise and activity! The males like to show off and the babies are hungry looking for Mom. Sounds like home!
We took a picture of this sign to show how big these guys actually are when compared to a human:
A face only a mother could love!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
San Diego Getaway!
Dan has meetings in beautiful locations in California. Over the past few years I've been able to go with him once in a while and it has been very fun! This past week we went to San Diego for the U.S. Communities annual meeting (Dan is on the Board of Directors) at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines hotel:
This was the view from our window. That's the golf course and then the ocean out in the distance.
Torrey Pines is a world famous golf course. While we were there the Buick Invitational was going on. Tiger Woods has won it four years in a row, but he wasn't there this year. We saw hundreds of people out on the golf course watching the progress and would hear reports on the news each night. One evening we walked over to the driving range and watched some professional golfers practice. I have no idea who they were but they looked important.
Here is a Torrey Pine tree. Torrey pines are the rarest native pine tree in the United States. They only grow in two areas, this being one of them.
I also got to see the San Diego temple for the first time. Unfortunately it was closed for cleaning. This was taken from a shopping center parking lot. It's just right there!
And I loved seeing the bougainvillea in bloom in February!
After the meetings we drove to La Jolla and walked along the ocean. They have several tidepool areas which Dan enjoyed very much.
We walked to what is called Children's Beach which is a manmade protected beach area designed for children to enjoy the ocean in a safe spot. Is that a bunch of rocks on the beach?
No, it is seals! They have taken over the beach and now you are not allowed to go down there.
Enjoy your nap!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Hardest and Most Important Job Takes THOUGHT!
I read this passage in a novel many years ago and I have shared it whenever I can because it puts into words my feelings about being a "stay at home Mom." Over the next few days I will be socializing with people who will ask me what I do. I hate that question! I feel like making up business cards with this long quote on it and handing it to people when they ask me that. Or maybe I will put on the card or tell them I'm a "Professional Thinker!" That will give them something to think about!!
Conversation with teenage son.:
"His mother was always there when he came home from school, whenever he came in from play, and when he came in from work. She was there when he needed her even before he himself realized it; she could tell by the way he held his head, by a look in his eyes, by the way he sat. As a boy he often wondered if his mother was a mind reader; it was uncanny the way she always knew when he was troubled—no matter how he tried to hide it from her. His mind went back to a time when, at age eleven, he had questioned her about this:
“Mom, are you psychic or something? You always know things. My friend’s mothers never know when they’re up to something. They can get away with things—I never can!”
His mother smiled. ‘If I remember, Luke, the mothers of your friends work outside the home.”
“What difference does that make?”
It was then that his mother told him something so profound he never forgot it—something that had never before entered his head.
“Luke, there are many women who have to work—single mothers, widows, those whose husbands have health problems and so on. Children understand this. They can instinctively tell the difference between a mother who has to work and a mother who wants to work in order to afford a bigger house, a newer car or nicer clothes.
Nevertheless, those mothers who have to work outside the home and those who want to, both face an impossible task to perform. They have to juggle two full time jobs in one day.”
“So?”
“What do you think is the most important thing they can’t do even if they are trying their very best? Something that no one else can do?”
“Clean house?”
“Can children clean?”
“I guess so. Go grocery shopping?”
“Depending on the children’s ages, do you suppose they could do some of it…or the father?”
“Maybe. I can’t guess, Mom.”
“Try,” she encouraged.
In frustration, he blurted out, “Cook? Oh never mind others can help with that. Uh…I can’t think of anything.”
“Thoughts! Luke.”
“Huh?”
“A mother who is trying to run two different worlds in one day can’t give her children her—thoughts.”
“Sure she can!”
“Luke, listen and listen well because I want you to learn this. When a working mother gets up in the morning, she has to dress for work, see that everyone is dressed for school or for day care. Her thoughts are on getting to work on time. She may have to throw on cold cereal. Maybe she has to iron a dress for work, maybe one of the children can’t find a shoe, maybe a child forgot to tell his or her mother that he or she needed a notebook for school and she has to run to the store before school. What is she thinking about, Luke?”
He frowned, “Ah, Mom, why all these questions? You know—she’s thinking about all the things she has to do.”
“Exactly, Luke, she’s thinking about surviving the crisis’ of the moment and making it to work on time. The same thing happens at night. Driving home, maybe she’s thinking about what to have for dinner, wondering if she has to run to the grocery store and so on. At home it’s a scramble to get dinner on, even if her husband helps, eve if the children help. Maybe she has to go to a school program, or go buy her daughter a dress for a party, maybe she has to iron something for work tomorrow, maybe she has to get after her children to do their homework, and help them with their homework, maybe her son needs some new shoes and so on.”
“I don’t want to hear all of this, Mom,” he complained.
“It’s tiring, isn’t it?”
“It sure is!”
“Can you see why maybe your friends get away with things?”
He thought a moment, the light dawning. “Yeah, mothers don’t have time to think about what they may be up to.”
“That’s right, Luke. She can only manage the bare necessities of their physical needs. Do you think she can give any thought to their emotional and spiritual needs?”
“Housework is boring, Luke, but it gives me time to think about you, Amy and your father. I can stop anytime and kneel down and pray about anything I’m concerned about. Thoughts are powerful, Luke, and children can feel them. It takes a lot of thought, pondering and prayer to raise children.”
From A Butterfly in Winter by Alene Roberts pp. 143-145
Conversation with teenage son.:
"His mother was always there when he came home from school, whenever he came in from play, and when he came in from work. She was there when he needed her even before he himself realized it; she could tell by the way he held his head, by a look in his eyes, by the way he sat. As a boy he often wondered if his mother was a mind reader; it was uncanny the way she always knew when he was troubled—no matter how he tried to hide it from her. His mind went back to a time when, at age eleven, he had questioned her about this:
“Mom, are you psychic or something? You always know things. My friend’s mothers never know when they’re up to something. They can get away with things—I never can!”
His mother smiled. ‘If I remember, Luke, the mothers of your friends work outside the home.”
“What difference does that make?”
It was then that his mother told him something so profound he never forgot it—something that had never before entered his head.
“Luke, there are many women who have to work—single mothers, widows, those whose husbands have health problems and so on. Children understand this. They can instinctively tell the difference between a mother who has to work and a mother who wants to work in order to afford a bigger house, a newer car or nicer clothes.
Nevertheless, those mothers who have to work outside the home and those who want to, both face an impossible task to perform. They have to juggle two full time jobs in one day.”
“So?”
“What do you think is the most important thing they can’t do even if they are trying their very best? Something that no one else can do?”
“Clean house?”
“Can children clean?”
“I guess so. Go grocery shopping?”
“Depending on the children’s ages, do you suppose they could do some of it…or the father?”
“Maybe. I can’t guess, Mom.”
“Try,” she encouraged.
In frustration, he blurted out, “Cook? Oh never mind others can help with that. Uh…I can’t think of anything.”
“Thoughts! Luke.”
“Huh?”
“A mother who is trying to run two different worlds in one day can’t give her children her—thoughts.”
“Sure she can!”
“Luke, listen and listen well because I want you to learn this. When a working mother gets up in the morning, she has to dress for work, see that everyone is dressed for school or for day care. Her thoughts are on getting to work on time. She may have to throw on cold cereal. Maybe she has to iron a dress for work, maybe one of the children can’t find a shoe, maybe a child forgot to tell his or her mother that he or she needed a notebook for school and she has to run to the store before school. What is she thinking about, Luke?”
He frowned, “Ah, Mom, why all these questions? You know—she’s thinking about all the things she has to do.”
“Exactly, Luke, she’s thinking about surviving the crisis’ of the moment and making it to work on time. The same thing happens at night. Driving home, maybe she’s thinking about what to have for dinner, wondering if she has to run to the grocery store and so on. At home it’s a scramble to get dinner on, even if her husband helps, eve if the children help. Maybe she has to go to a school program, or go buy her daughter a dress for a party, maybe she has to iron something for work tomorrow, maybe she has to get after her children to do their homework, and help them with their homework, maybe her son needs some new shoes and so on.”
“I don’t want to hear all of this, Mom,” he complained.
“It’s tiring, isn’t it?”
“It sure is!”
“Can you see why maybe your friends get away with things?”
He thought a moment, the light dawning. “Yeah, mothers don’t have time to think about what they may be up to.”
“That’s right, Luke. She can only manage the bare necessities of their physical needs. Do you think she can give any thought to their emotional and spiritual needs?”
“Housework is boring, Luke, but it gives me time to think about you, Amy and your father. I can stop anytime and kneel down and pray about anything I’m concerned about. Thoughts are powerful, Luke, and children can feel them. It takes a lot of thought, pondering and prayer to raise children.”
From A Butterfly in Winter by Alene Roberts pp. 143-145
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