Ramsey Canyon

Don, my mom, my sister Susan, and I had a fun day down in Ramsey Canyon at the Arizona Folklore Preserve last week. It was a birthday gift to me from my mom. We went to listen to Dolan Ellis, Arizona's Official State Balladeer. The setting was beautiful.



This is the venue.



We went over the bridge where some water was running. There was still some snow on the ground, and the pipes inside venue had been frozen all morning.



The inside was cozy, and the entertainment was delightful. Most of the songs Dolan Ellis has written are about Arizona; our cowboys, our native Americans, the Mexican influence, ranching, and Arizona's "western way of life" in general.



When the show was over, we walked around the grounds and then went to a buffet for dinner.

During the drive drive home we witnessed a beautiful sunset across a barbed wire fence and...a fitting end to a great day.

January

The weeks are flying by!

We had a fun New Year's holiday with friends; we ate, played games, ate, hiked, ate, etc. You get the picture. It was a filling tree days. And then I got sick...not from the food...from a virus. I lived for almost two weeks on the recliner with some sort of respiratory flu. It was miserable. I would not have survived without Don's constant care. I found myself concerned about those who don't have a family member with them, and grateful for the Relief Society (again) that stands ready to help those in need. Our lives are blessed.

Last week I gained strength and got out of the house for a few hours on Sunday. By the following weekend, I was back to myself, for the most part.

And that's when my birthday began. Jennifer, Nicole, and I went to see Wicked on Saturday night. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. (The picture is of us leaving Nicole's back yard.)

On Sunday we had a yummy birthday dinner with my cousins. Cards and gifts have come in from family. Next week I have lunch dates, dinner dates, and plans with my mom and sister in Ramsey Canyon for the week after that. This is the most s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out birthday I think I have ever had. I'm not used to being so spoiled...but I'm loving it!

Nathan and Sarah just found out that they will be posted at Ft. Riley, Kansas, this summer. It will be soooo good to have them closer to home! We are excited to see them again! The grand kids are growing up too quickly!

I'm winding down on the blogging...just don't have much time to devote to it. I am making a lot of progress on my family history, though. :-)

December

December is flying by. The gifts have been purchased , and the last of the packages will go out in the mail today. But it was two other events in the last week that gave me time to reflect on the meaning of Christmas.

The first was the passing of Aunt Dorothy last week. Without the birth, atonement, and resurrection of the Savior, their would be no peace, no hope, and no eternal families. Pondering on the love our Heavenly Father has for us as evidenced by the events we celebrate at Easter and Christmas, left me humbled and awed...again. Try as I may, I have never been able to fully grasp the enormity of that gift.

The second was singing in the Messiah last night with a wonderful orchestra and soloists. I thought about Handel and his acknowledgement that the music was given to him by God, and about the prophesies of Isaiah and their fulfillment. What a blessing prophets are! As Don and I walked into the Stake Center to warm up for the concert, I looked to the west and the setting sun. Below was the scene before my eyes. I wanted to start singing on the sidewalk, "For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Don's dad and his wife Eileen came down from Utah to spend a few days with us.

On Thanksgiving day, Don's brother Paul and his wife Laurie came over.

They brought their son Dale and his girlfriend.



Cali and her husband Steve came over but I didn't get a good picture of them :( They brought their two kids: Trinity....


...and Preston.

Nicole and Jennifer were here, which always makes us happy.

Nicole's boyfriend Matt is a chef and contributed greatly to our meal. He made gravy with veggies and giblets. He also made the desserts: pecan pie and pumpkin pie with whipped heavy cream, and home made marshmallows (that's what he's stacking on the plate in the picture).

Matt's desserts...YUMMY!

The counter was full of food. We had turkey, a cornbread stuffing with walnuts and cranberries, fresh cranberry relish with oranges, sweet potatoes with pecans and brown sugar, white potatoes and gravy, hot veggies, cold veggies, fruit salad, dinner rolls, hot apple cider, and Matt's desserts. What a meal!

Afterwards Don, Paul, and their dad went outside to pitch horseshoes and build a bonfire.

Almost everyone joined in pitching shoes outside behind the wood pile.

We ate and played off and on for the rest of the day and evening.

The next day we took Paul, Don's dad, and Eileen out site seeing and hiking all day. At the end of the day we took a few pictures in Saguaro National Park. I liked this picture the best.

The weather was beautiful, as it usually is this time of year. It was a wonderful few days.

As I took some time to reflect on the richness of our lives--that we have soooo much to be grateful for. We have family to spend time with, a roof over our heads, and plenty of food. Don's job provides us with insurance and the means to meet all of our needs and most of our wants; we live very comfortably. We have health, modern medicine, and modern conveniences. We live in an amazing country with liberty and democracy. We have testimonies of God the Eternal Father and His son Jesus Christ. I feel overwhelmed when I think about how blessed we are, and the many who have sacrificed much so that we can live in these circumstances. No words are adequate to express the gratitude I feel for the life I am privileged live.

Happy 22 Jennifer!

Today was Jennifer's 22nd birthday. Happy birthday Jenna Bear! Josh, Nicole, Mat, and Grandma came over for dinner to help us wish Jennifer a happy birthday.



After dinner Jennifer lit the candles on her traditional cake (chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting)...




...blew out the candles...




...and licked the frosting off the candles.

We hope it will be a wonderful year for her!

So Much to Catch Up On!

OK! Where was I? Oh, yes...the trip to the land.

We had a wonderful, relaxing time...especially me. Don did a lot of the cooking. Yes sir-ee, here's a picture of my personal chef fixing my breakfast on the front porch. I can almost smell the bacon.



This is a pile of T-posts near the cabin that we are going to use to put up some fencing. If you look to either side of the pile you will see fresh dirt scattered around. That's because Mia smelled a pack rat under the T-posts and began digging under them hoping to get to the pack rat. If you look carefully you can see her hind end poking out from the left.



I went back a little while later, and this is all I saw poking out.



Even Trooper seemed concerned at how far under she was.



So he assigned himself to guard duty. Good boy, Trooper!

The land had received a lot of water during the spring and summer, so there were many beautiful wild flowers growing.

The grasses were also beautiful. I love seeing them wave in the wind.

As we explored more parts of the ranch, we came across another large area of petrified wood. Here are some pictures:

This is the view looking south from near the area where the petrified wood was:

A soil feature in that same area:

On another note, Don's soccer team has lost only one game this season. I think the playoffs start next week. He loves playing keeper. That's him in the gray shirt jumping up to get the ball. Not bad for someone who is entering a new decade in a few months. Oops! I don't think I was supposed to let that little secret out of the bag!

I have worked hard all year long to condense my journals. I finally finished, and am now editing, with Don's help. I hope to leave something worthwhile for my posterity. Here are the journals I condensed (14 books, 1 ledger, and 1 three-ring binder):

WHEWWW!!! Big task. Now if I can just get it all edited.....

My brother has been working on scanning some newspaper clippings that he took possession of after my dad passed away in 2004. This is one that was written about my dad while he was serving in WWII (European theater).

And lastly, one of my favorite pictures taken by my daughter-in-law, Sarah, of Nathan and Carter grilling dinner a couple of months ago. I love it!

In spite of some of the difficult things life has sent our way, I have to say that I feel very blessed. I take strength from others of you as you face your trials with courage and faith. I appreciate having the friendship of such stalwart women. You are in my prayers.

No Pictures Again...But a New Reason

I actually have pictures to post. Problem is, the cable that lets the camera talk to the computer is not working anymore. I'll try to get a new one ordered soon.

Summary...We loved watching General Conference last weekend, and then we took the dogs and went up to the land for a week. We are home again and ready to jump back into rehearsals for The Messiah (our stake is sponsoring a community sing-along). It's been a while since I worked that hard at music. The soccer team is currently undefeated...way to go Don! He's the keeper for the team. Actually, he's a keeper in my book too. And Relief Society has also kept me running...there's always something that needs to be done.

I finally finished editing my journals. I got 15 volumes down to 103 pages. Not bad. I've also been working steadily on getting the family history information (that I have gathered over the years) put onto the newfamilysearch.org web site. Maybe one more year and I will be able to complete that goal. So far I have been able to add or confirm a few hundred names and dates. It does my heart good.

The family is well...we are well.