A Birthday To Remember!

In honor of my Grandma Spjut's birthday, June 17, 1900

here are a few favorite photos. I have many wonderful memories of spending time with her.
Here she is with her sisters in Sweden; she's in the upper right corner.

This is her engagement photo.

Here she is with her three daughters in her Salt Lake City home:

And here she is in San Jose with my Mom, myself and Heidi:

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad!

Here he is working at Grand Central in Salt Lake City!

Many years later he bought his own pharmacy in San Jose!

We worked with our Dad in the store on many occasions. We had the opportunity to see how he went about his business which many children in today's world don't get to see. He was always honest in his dealings, fair and kind to everyone, meticulous in his inventory and a wonderful example in every way. It made a big impression on me as a teenager!

Thanks, Dad!!

P.S. to Dan: If you want you Father's Day gift which you see pictured below, you will find it in the hall closet behind the vacuum! Happy Father's Day to you too!! You're a great Dad!

Brain Exercises!

Earlier this week I listened to a report on TV about the importance of exercising your brain to keep it in top shape. Scientists believe working out your brain -- just like you would your body to keep in shape -- could ward off the dulling of mental faculties and strengthen connections between newly-generated brain cells, which people make throughout life. Sounded good to me! They talked about brain aerobics or neurobics. These are brain exercises in which you do familiar things but do them slightly differently. The one they suggested was brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Basically, what that does, apparently, is strengthen those pathways and connections in the opposite side of the brain. I mentioned this to Dan as well. Last night we discovered that we both have been brushing our teeth with our left hand for this past week! I decided that deserved a picture for my blog. This was taken looking into the mirror so it looks like we are using our right hands. But don't be fooled!

Just a little brain exercise for you!!

Another thing they suggested was trying a "safe activity, like eating or showering, with your eyes closed. That forces you to use and strengthen your other senses. Most of what your brain does is process what your senses are bringing in. So, closing your eyes forces the brain to process that information in new ways. I don't think I'll be posting any pictures if we try one of these!

Two other things they suggested were:

1) Play Games: Games help you strategize, but the brain is particularly stimulated by multi-tasking. So, play games with other people that require you to strategize and interact socially at the same time. Examples include board, word and card games

2) Don't Get Repetitive, Do Something Different: Introducing novelty is crucial. Your brain doesn't need anything complicated; it just needs something new. So, take a new way to work, or sit in a different seat. (Hey, sit in a different pew at Church!) It forces you to look at the world from a new perspective.

Happy Brain Exercising!

(Are bloopers allowed on blogs? Here are two of ours. You can see my brain is really out of shape!)

A Fun Memory!

Five years ago at the end of June I was in Wichita, Kansas.

I took the girls to the park and we made the local Derby newspaper!

"Sisters Emma and Julia enjoy an afternoon at the park with their grandmother while their mother stays at home with their new baby brother."

The End Result!

Both cars are in the garage!


The grandkids are back up!

The bear is back in the camping room and the BYU bathroom is ready for action!

The curtains are hung and the books are all on the bookshelves!

The clocks are in their places...

It's time for... COMPANY!! Looking forward to visits from many of my readers!!

A Perfect Evening!

Dan is very good at planning Date Nights! Last night he was in charge and here is what we did:

in the backyard enjoying everything pleasant about it!

Then off to the Community Center to see a Broadway production of:

And finally a little treat at the end of the evening!

Thanks, sweetheart!!

Diaper Daze!

I have been wanting to do this post for a long time--just to give myself some credit. No, I don't need to buy anything and I want to charge it. I need some applause! I need to feel like I was some kind of a good mother at least when it came to diapering! After fumbling now for years with all the new gear for babies (ie. high tech car seats, strollers, pack 'n plays, high chairs, bouncy chairs, and yes, even the diapers, etc. ) and not knowing all the new "rules" for parenting, I have sometimes thought my daughters and daughters-in-law must think I was an incompetent Mom.

But on one account, I can do a slam dunk and a touch down dance around all you disposable diaper divas! In this one area, you really are spoiled!! Here is what life was like for this Mom of six kids (in less than 10 years=most of the time 2 in diapers!):

Cloth Diapers! Yes, 6 kids in cloth diapers!! That means washing a load of diapers at least twice a week and usually a lot more often than that. Now maybe that doesn't sound so hard. But before those diapers could be washed, each diaper after it came off the bum bum (thanks Hannah!) had to be rinsed in the toilet. Right! You took the "dirty" diaper and swished it in the toilet to get as much as the "dirty" off as you could before putting it in a diaper pail. Just think how many dirty diapers a new baby has each day! Wipes? We never heard of them. They were called wash cloths. And we washed a load or two of those every week too. Plastic Pants: These were plastic thingys that went over the diaper, and often got leaked on since cloth diapers don't fit close around the upper thigh. These also had to be washed but they couldn't go in the dryer. And don't even get me started on diaper pins! Ouch!!
The Church bag: I get a kick out of those travel wipes containers and changing tables in the church bathrooms. We took cloth diapers, a wet wash cloth in a plastic bag, another plastic bag for the dirty diaper, and had to change our babies on the floor or counter. Same thing for outings and vacations. Ok, Ok, I admit disposable diapers had been invented near the end of my diapering days, and every once in a great while, I would SPLURGE and buy some very expensive disposable diapers as a special treat to take on a trip or slip in a diaper bag. But disposable diapers were considered a luxury. (When did they become a necessity?) By the way, they were NOTHING like the disposable diapers of today--they leaked almost every time.

Oh, and I didn't even mention that prefolded cloth diapers were more expensive than regular cloth diapers, so for many years not only did I wash diapers regularly, but I had to fold them as well! Would I do it all over again that way? Of course! Do I think today's diapers and wipes are great? You bet! But sometimes as life changes so quickly and what I was good at doesn't even exist any more, it's nice to reminisce...

...and thanks for the applause!