Adventures in Showlow

Showlow has become the place to be for movies this weekend. Our T.V. is broken, so we went exploring to find entertainment. We'll say it was for our anniversary that we went on 2 different days this week to movies. In times past we have been known to do a movie marathon day on occasion. Once in Costa Mesa (long ago and far away) when we were scouting the housing market in sunny So. Cal we did 3 movies in a day. It makes for an expensive date, but we do love movies. This time however, we broke it up into 2 days.



On Tuesday we saw Sherlock Holmes and were pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed it so much. I always gauge how good a movie is if I (1) want to see it again, and (2) want to purchase it for our movie collection when it becomes available. Sherlock Holmes was good on both counts. Next it was Avatar. I tried to have no pre-conceived ideas about it, so went with a pretty open mind. Again, we were both surprised that we liked everything about it. There was a little language at first, but it got better as the movie progressed. Two for Two on that one also.



We've seen two other movies in the last few weeks that stick out in my mind. Earlier in November I went and saw Twilight Saga: New Moon with Summer, Jordyn, Jade, Stacie, Tawna, Taya and Summer's friend Rebecca. Our friend Nancy and her gal pals rented out a theater for the early showing and Summer found out about it and got us all tickets. It goes without saying it was a total girls night complete with Cheesecake Factory before. The only downside was Jade was our driver and someone backed into her in the parking lot leaving the movie. The girl was not insured and that has been a bucket of worms for Jade. I really enjoyed the movie though and am so looking forward to the next installment in the series, Eclipse. I, of course have seen New Moon a few times since. Grumpy was a good sport and went with me once (for my birthday), I went with Robert and I think there was one more time in there somewhere. It was so much better as far as costuming, makeup, direction and whatever else goes into movie than the first one. I find myself wishing they would do a re-make on Twilight. Maybe someday. I'll be getting a copy of that when it hits the stores.



Last to mention, but just as enjoyable was The Blind Side. The previews looked really good and we were not disappointed. I generally like Sandra Bullock's films with a few exceptions, and I thought she did a great job in it. The fact that it was based on a true story just made it even better. This one is must for the movie shelf at home.



I am looking forward to collecting some movies I haven't seen like Inkheart, Amelia, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassnas, and The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry to name a few. I hope they are good. Some coming out I want to see are: The Lovely Bones, maybe Clash of the Titans (I even liked the old one), Extraordinary Measures, Dear John (if it isn't rated R), The Lightning Thief (again, if it isn't rated R), Alice in Wonderland, and Letters to Juliet. So many movies. I love a good story.

Well, back to our exciting New Year's Eve tonight. No T.V., so we can't even watch a DVD. Grumpy is a tired boy and is asleep on the couch sitting up. He is supposed to be reading, but we all know how that goes sometimes. We are going to a New Year's Day brunch tomorrow, so I am making Nana's famous Green Chile for that.

2009 has been a year of ups and downs. But then, aren't they all? More good times than bad, and we are so very, very blessed. Here's hoping 2010 is good and will find us doing the things we should be doing and progressing. Now to work on the resolutions list…

Just a Note to my Sweet Husband…

We just celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary. Notice he didn't smash cake all over my face in the pic above. Not only would my Mom have killed him, but he is just very considerate by nature. He is forever making sure I am happy, have what I need (want, within reason) and always puts me first. I don't deserve it most of the time, but I am eternally grateful for his solicitous attitude with me. A finer man you could not find. I know his good character is indeed noticed and revered by the generations after him because I read all the notes in his jar from Christmas. I love this man and say to him “Thanks for everything.” I am so fortunate to be growing old with him…one of his best attributes is patience with me. This growing old stuff is a bit of a challenge. If I could make a wish for our children it would be that they are as happy in their marriages as we are.

We had a very quiet day as our anniversary was on Sunday this year. We will go to Anzio's Landing for dinner in the days to come and probably go to a movie. We were glad to have the day to relax and enjoy some peace. He is truly the best thing that ever happened to me even though I tell him I am the best thing to ever happen to him! I figure if I say it enough over the years he will believe me.

I have known him almost all of my life. Thanks for the happiest years ever sweetie!



He is still such a hunk!

Feliz Navidad

I hope I spelled that right. Anyway, we were lucky to be hosted by Tawna and Nathan this year for Christmas dinner. She organized and planned the whole thing and just told us what to bring. She hosts about 6 luncheons a year for about 120 people as the PTA Teacher Appreciation Chair and does a great job. Her tree in the pic above was so much fun this year. She was one of the hosts for her ward RS Christmas Progressive Dinner and she had her house looking so cute. No, it was really beautiful. We put envelopes all over her tree for the grandkids to open when the time came.

She and Nathan planned the Mexican Food Menu for us:

Appetizers
Mexican Lasagna
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Tamales, Refried Beans, huge flour tortillas (all from a little place in Phoenix called Carolina's)
Guacamole and other important garnishes
Nana's homemade salsa
Chips
Dessert
Drinks

It was quite a spread. She set pretty tables and even had a kid friendly table and chairs outside on the patio for the kids to enjoy.




Everyone got there and just jumped in with last minute prep. Well, there was a little "Let's figure out these things for our kids” time with R.B. and Nathan.




Dinner was enjoyed by all as seen in the pics below. We sat around afterward and opened a few gifts, enjoyed each other's company and listened to the Happy Noise of the kids playing. Most of it was happy anyway. We gave most of our grandkids a weekend with us at the cabin for their gift. They will come with us by two's to enjoy doing some projects and hanging out here with us. We are looking forward to that. We gave the 3 littlest guys some plate painting time as they were too young to participate in that the year the rest of them did. Chance, Aden and Carson will making customized dishes to add to their families collection. Lauren got a beautiful jeweled box that she really loves. I had bought some star shaped boxes for a "Twelve Days" series a few years ago. I had it out on the end table at the cabin and she just couldn't leave it alone. She thought it was the most beautiful thing ever. I gave it to her for Christmas and she was thrilled. Emmy just got hugs and kisses this year. Next year she will love opening gifts, but this year she had more fun watching everyone and everything else.








Tawna and Nathan gave each one of us an invitation to the dinner they plan for all the adults in January or February. Last year was the first annual, and now the second annual is coming up. We all look forward to that night of fun. They work really hard to ensure the food is excellent and the evening awesome. Can't wait.

We got some really nice things from our kids this year and I hope they know how much we love and appreciate them always. I know every year we all say, "Don't expect much this year, we are broke!" This year was the year that was true for most of us. It just doesn't matter. The Christmas season was the best, the time we spent together priceless and the memories will live on forever. What else could possibly matter? It was much easier to keep Christ at the forefront as He should be. 'Nuff said.

Christmas at Robert's

Since moving most of our stuff to the cabin, we don't really have an official home in the valley anymore. Lucky for us we have such great children who allow us to stay with them whenever we need to. Our “second bedroom" is at Taya and Kevin's since they had a extra room, but we have open invitations at all the other homes as well. Since Robert is currently in an apartment, we took advantage of his roommates absence and stayed with him for the week of Christmas. Below is Grumpy relaxing on the couch. It was a great experience to be with him and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.



In the pics below you can see the funny pink tree his roommate (Carol) put up for Christmas. It was fun to enjoy a Christmas tree of a different color for a few days. Santa came to us on Christmas Eve, but we apparently weren't very good as we only got a few presents. Oh well, maybe next year!



The next pics are Robert putting together his yummy Mexican Lasagna for dinner at Tawna and Nathan's. He couldn't remember some of the measurements, so he looked up Nana's Cooking blog on his Droid phone and got 'r done!




I had already done the Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas and they were baking in the oven. Robert was a very gracious host giving up his comfortable bed to us while he slept on a futon bed. He made us waffles on Christmas morning with his new waffle maker from Santa. It came complete with Pancake Mix and Log Cabin Syrup. Good Times! We sat up late and watched T.V., had long conversations and enjoyed being a family. I really do have the best kids ever.

Thanks for your hospitality Robert…we loved every minute.

Christmas Eve '09

Italian Sandwiches

We had originally decided to take a break from our all time tradition of Italian Pepper Steak Sandwiches this year. Alas, our children would have none of it! Taya and Kevin volunteered to host the event and help with the prep. This worked out well as we want to teach the family the whole tradition and that includes lots of prep time. It was a much smaller group this year as it was just us and our kids with their families. That hasn't happened in a very long time. It was good in that we spent much more time talking to each other but I still really, really missed Kevin and Tracy's family as well as Bob and Sydney's family. We have always included anyone else that was visiting in the mix, but we didn't have any takers this year. I was so happy to note that Bob and Sydney decided to do up the sandwiches at Papa's house. Tracy and Kevin's family went and I have heard glowing reports about the evening. Bob and Syd did their Italian Cream Soda's - which I have yet to sample - and did a great job on the cuisine for the evening as well.



Again, I was not Johnny on the Spot with my camera and missed getting pics as we cooked and ate. I did get the above shot as Emmy was trying to climb up a chair to join the group. As everyone ate their fill at Taya's we were surrounded by happy chaos. To say it was noisy would have been an understatement - but all was well.

The Gift Game

R.B. had suggested earlier that the cousins get a $5 gift to play the White Elephant Game started years ago at Papa and Nana's after the sandwiches. Our limit was $20 and was our family gift exchange. Those were fun years of buying something nice enough that more than one person would want it, and planning your strategy to end up with whatever you were trying to end up with. In the long run though, it didn't really matter what you took home - the giving and the fun was what we remember most. Stacie got the numbers ready to draw and all the cousins drew a number to start. She explained the rules as they listened intently.



Below is Austin as number 1 opening the first gift. You can't really see his face, but he is less than thrilled with the package of friendship bracelets that was revealed. We again explained that someone could "steal" it from him so not to get too resigned yet.




Above is Ryker opening his fist gift. As the kids realized they could indeed take something already opened - they did. Below is Ryker going for another present has his was stolen again.





Aunt Jade posing as Madison so she would get her gift when she came home. She was spending Christmas Eve with Shane and Erin this year. We saved her a sandwich and I could tell she had a great evening with all her parents.






At last all the stealing was done and everyone got something to treasure (or not). The memory is what they will ultimately enjoy and they all had a great time.



Christmas Eve Birthday

Every family should have someone born on Christmas Eve. For us that is Rylan. We love that he was born on such a special day and besides, we know we will get a great dessert with candles after dinner. This year was no exception. R.B. and Stacie brought a wonderful football cake that was a huge hit with everyone. Especially Rylan.




Happy Birthday Rylan. We love you sooooo much!

Our Gift from our Family

Little did we know that our kids had been working on something fabulous for us! Yes, I said Fabulous! As the evening was winding down and parents were thinking about herding their kids to the cars, we were called into the family room for a gift presentation from our kids. We were blown away by what they gave us. A jar for each of us filled with memories, appreciation, and funny things from our children and grandchildren. There were tears. There was heartfelt emotion for the time it took to put all this together. There is appreciation for the idea for this excellent gift. The jars were so pretty, and look wonderful on our end table at the cabin.



The instructions were to read a note a day and they would likely last the year. I, being the rebel that I am did not do the directions. I read my whole jar the next day, and Grumpy's a few days later. I have to say there are no words to express how we feel when we read our little notes. Priceless memories, insight, thoughts of love and appreciation, and laughter at things done in the past. Even though I have read them, I will get one out a day and re-read as the year goes by. I might even read a bunch on a day I need to feel them close.

We love our gift - Thank you so much.

Goodwin Visit

Taya, Kevin and the kids all came to visit us at the cabin this weekend. I caught a ride with them on Friday and Grumpy was coming up later that night with a small load of stuff in the truck. We got there about 6 pm and we whipped up a fast meal of tamales and quesadillas. It was early to bed for most, although Taya and I were the night owls (up 'till at least 11)! I slept in just a bit the next day, but not Grumpy. He got up, got the camp stove out and set it up in the kitchen. We have a good size griddle for it and he proceeded to make pancakes for the gang. I wish I had some pics of that, but alas…I was sleeping. It wasn't long before the natives got restless and needed to get outside for a while. There was some major bundling involved as most of the natives were various degrees of sick. Daron has “just barely not pneumonia” but had already completed a Z-pack so was doing better. Kaitlin and Lauren had just a little head cold and Emmy had a cold and an ear infection. So bundle we did. They went outside to play in the little bit of snow that hadn't melted off the deck. Emersyn was especially happy to be outside. She loves running around on the deck, so we are always glad we have iron gates at both the stairways.





After the deck snow lost it's novelty, Grumpy decided to take them all for a walk over to the clubhouse here at the airpark where there is a small playground.






Emmy and Kevin stayed at the cabin and didn't go on the walk. I should get a stroller to keep up here as she is a bit small to do the up and down terrain. We watched “The Ultimate Gift” and enjoyed that again. The kids and Kevin decided it was maybe better to go home and get some things done, not to mention Emmy's medicine was still in the fridge at home. It became a short stay. After a great lunch courtesy of Taya the car got repacked and it was time to go. She was singing Saturday evening with Tawna for Tawna's ward Christmas Party. They were performing “Breath of Heaven”. I so love that song. The last time they sang it they were both expecting their girls, Faith and Madison. I got to sing with them that time and I could hardly sing it without tears. It was even more real to me and to them I'm sure to imagine how Mary must have felt as she travelled far with her first child ready to be born.

While it was short, but sweet, I hope they had fun and will come back again to see us. We love having the kids come and spend some time here.

Christmas Mice

Long ago and far away Grumpy and I were having a really hard time financially right after we got out of the Air Force. It was close to Thanksgiving and we knew we weren't going to have any money for Christmas. I bought this little stuffed Christmas mouse and thought I could take the idea and improve on it. Maybe I could sell some for Christmas. I paid about 15.00 for it, so figured there would be someone that would pay at least that for what I considered an improved version. I worked out a pattern and made a few up to see if there was a market for them. We were living at Nana and Papa's and she had neighbor who loved to buy stuff for her house. Nana took a couple of my creations over to her and she ended up buying about 10 of them. I was shocked and thrilled. I made up some more and another lady in the ward saw them and bought all I had. Back to the sewing machine and before you know it I had made a little money for Christmas.



In the pic above the mouse on the right is the original one I got the idea from. The Thanksgiving mouse is a larger version I did a year or two later. In the pic below are mice I made for Grandma Schnepf and Nana the next year. Anyway, back to my story. I only got started that first year. I so appreciated the ladies that purchased mice from me that year. It made such a difference to our small budget.


(Side note here: the little wooden calendar in the pic that counts down to Christmas was a birthday present from Tawna this year. She did a great job on it.)

We were living in the middle of a wonderful ward that year. To our great surprise a few days before Christmas someone came by the house and left an envelope for us. We didn't know who left it, but when we opened it there was a considerable amount of cash in it. There was a note telling us to have a good Christmas from our anonymous friends in the ward. We were speechless and so very touched. I still tear up thinking about it. We never found out who was so generous, and I learned a great lesson from that. I realized you never know who is willing to help you and I tried so hard to be a better friend and servant in the ward after that.

The next year Nana, Tracy and I decided to do a boutique in Nana's home. We called it "The Borgata” sort of after the shopping mall in Scottsdale. It is supposed to mean “a little village” in Italian and seemed appropo for a little village of vendors for a holiday boutique. It was a great success and I made lots of things for it. Lots and lots of mice. I think I have made about a thousand of those little ladies. Nana made many things and Tracy too. We did everything from painted folkart objects to perpetual calendars, all manner of sewn holiday things and even some baked goods. The Borgata years were fun, profitable and crazy. We even had sweet corn from what is now Schnepf farms that my Aunt Thora would bring in and sell.

We took special orders and it seemed I was always swamped right up until Christmas every year. I even got pneumonia a couple of years from staying up too late trying to get it all done. I don't miss that part. I must apologize to my children for the years of Zombie Mommy during the Christmas order times. We made lots of friends during those years and I still have items I bought or bartered for that I get out for the holidays. Good times.

My little Christmas mice were so good to me, I'm glad a few of them survived the years and I can remember what a help they were on one of our leanest Christmases ever. I am thankful Nana taught me to sew and encouraged me always.

Snow! And it's really, really cold.

This is what it looks like from the cabin deck this weekend. We arrived Saturday to white snow everywhere. And surprise, surprise… no heat in the cabin. That high wind last week was enough to blow out the pilot light on the propane fireplace/heater that is our primary source of heat. We couldn't get the ignitor to work, so ended up calling the propane company to come help us out. They were there in about a half hour. We now know the trick to getting the pilot light to light after being off for a while. I think the fireplace was on for about 7 hours warming up the place. It was about 30º when we got here.

Crazy as it is, I think I actually like all the snow. So far. Grumpy unloaded all the firewood he brought back from their elk hunt. I will let him post about all that, except to say he did get an elk. A happier man I've never seen. R.B. got one too and was pretty excited about it. I like knowing we will have meat to store that is steroid free and very lean. You guessed it…I'll be canning some of it.



I spent the last two days here trying to finish up decorating the tree. Tawna, and Jade helped me get most of the Christmas stuff up on Thanksgiving weekend, a big THANKS to them. I got the tree finished this weekend and am savoring it as I sit and take in the peace of the season. I love it.





Tawna and Jade did the fireplace up for me and did a great job. I ended up putting up one more stocking because I like odd numbers. They also helped with the garland on the stairs and wrapping the cabinets. We had a great time talking and laughing and getting it all done. I am including two pics of them from a different day, but thought they worked here because it was such a great weekend.




Thanks Girls. I love you so don't be mad at me for posting these cute happy dance shots.