mamabeal adventures

A Couple of Fall Projects

2010-12-08T08:17:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to make an advent calendar that was not about Santa Claus. so for about 3 yeas plus I have been thinking about how to do this. using the Greg Olson picture of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem as my inspiration I have finally made a calendar. It was a challenging project as I had to figure out everything as I went along. So with this introduction here is the finished project. The things that looks like mountains above the calendar are sofa pillows. I do think they add to the image. I hope my grandchildren will have fun with it for many years. Joseph, Mary, and the donkey slide along strings one number per day.

Some very good friends of mine needed a wedding-cake for their sons wedding. Not just any old wedding cake but a french wedding cake since the bride was from France. I wasn't too keen on the project since it involved caramelized sugar and spun sugar which I had never been able to do very well. But Trevor overheard me turning it down and immediately challenged my decision. He looked up on the internet how to do spun sugar and told me that if "that woman on the video" could do it so could I. Needless to say I called my friend back and said I would do it specially after seeing what the bakeries were offering. It was about a 30 hour project and the boys got involved with the technical side of making it so it would be able to be transported without falling apart. I forgot to mention the wedding was 2 days after thanksgiving. Anyway my friends were very happy with the finished result and here are some pictures of how we made it:

this last picture is the underpinnings for adding the cream puffs. the cake was just short of 1 yard tall. My 4 year old grandson got up early and a checked the frosting while we were all asleep, but we were able to repair it.

The blisters on my hand from the caramelized sugar are almost healed up and I learned a new skill and Trevor and I had a fun experience making someone happy.

Gideon Max Beal

2010-10-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

Friday the 29th of October was a special day I have been looking forward to for some time. Holly had her 4th baby a boy named Gideon. Unfortunately I still don't have a camera so for pictures go to Team Beal blog. He is beautiful or handsome as the case may be with lots of very dark hair. He seems good natured and likes to just look around very pensive. Holly is fine thank goodness. The other children were very cute when they came to see the new baby.
Holly asked if I would come and stay with her Sunday morning while the family was in church. I can see why she likes someone in the room, when she has just had major surgery and it is difficult to get to the baby in a hurry. We had a nice time and I gave her the presents I had for her and the baby. About 5 min before I was to leave Holly noticed Gideon waving is arms all over the place. First she though he was just moving, but then realized he was in trouble. I was able to get to him fast and see he was choking and able to suction him out and get the stuff out of his throat. I can see why she wants someone in the room with her. I was so glad I was there. Always listen to a mothers intuition. Congratulations Holly and Jason on your latest addition.

Hazelnut Biscotti

2010-10-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

This recipe has a history. On 9/11 2001 I woke up about 8:30 am. My phone rang it was Jason who wanted to know if I knew where all my children were. As he talked the picture on my TV was beginning to make sense. A couple of hours later my niece Sarah Beal who had just moved to the DC area. Called she told me her room mate had been running near the Pentagon when the plane hit. They were both scared and Sarah wanted to know if she could come out and stay with me till we knew what was going on.
So Sarah and I watched all the horrible pictures together. After we had spent most of the day looking at destruction we decided it was time to do something constructive. So I suggested we try make these biscotti I had seen a recipe for in a new cook book I had just received. It is Italian Farmhouse cook book.
We made the cookies and decided we liked them. Initially I thought they were very dry and probably would not make them again, but they have a way of making you come back for more. I think people usually dunk these in coffee, but dunking in milk is also good. I have doubled the recipe because otherwise they disappear too fast.
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 TBsp butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs and 2 egg yolks
2 cups toasted hazelnuts skins removed coarsely chopped
Cream the butter then add the sugar and vanilla and beat till light. Add eggs and yolks. Now add the flour with salt and baking powder mixed in, mix in at low speed till just folded in. Now add the coarsely chopped nuts.
Preheat oven to 350F. Dough is very soft so handle carefully. Flour table and shape dough into a ball. Separate dough into 4 separate balls. Shape each peace into 12 in long logs. Slightly flatten them.
Bake for about 25 minutes or till slightly browned. Cool for about 10-15 min. Now slice logs diagonally into 1/2 in slices and place back on cookie sheets. With oven still at 350F bake the slices for 15 min and if necessary turn them over and brown other side. They should be a nice golden brown. If you make them too dark the nuts will get a bitter flavor. After they have cooled place in an air tight jar and enjoy.

Old Friends In Texas

2010-10-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a short trip to Texas. I have a friend there, The chair woman of my AFS exchange student committee. We have known each other for almost 50 years. So I thought it would be a good idea to get together before either of us run out of time.
My friend is amazing she will be 87 next month. She still helps run her family business. She drives a red Jaguar, and is interested in many things and people. The only concession I can see she has made to old age is that she walks a little slower, and takes a nap in the afternoon.
We had a couple of very busy days. The day I arrived we went to their Marina for lunch and later that evening we went to dinner at a very nice restaurant run by a real Italian. She belongs to a birthday club and instead of giving each other silly presents they collect a donation at each dinner. The money goes to buy clothes for needy students. It was a very lively group. I haven't been in Texas
for over 10 years, and I had forgotten how friendly and outgoing Texans are. The next day we drove to Dallas to visit the art complex. We made 3 different museums and had lunch. That evening we took in a movie: " Wall street 2".
My last day we went to a super senior recreation center at 6:30 am. It was beautiful and all on a Texas scale. A regular spa would be proud to own this place. Later that morning we went to Arlington to see the new Cowboy stadium. It was really worth a trip. I could not believe we were allowed to walk on the playing field. There were helpful guides all over to explain or answer any questions we might have.
Then we drove to Ft. Worth to see some of their art museums, but due to time restrains we only managed to get lunch. The museums were beautiful and we will have to see them next time I come down. We also drove by a theater that was rebuilt in an art deco style.
We ran out of time because I had to get on a flight and go home. I am really glad I went down there and renewed our friendship. I had a very good time.

Ode to Legos

2010-10-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has been to my house with children know what an enormous amount of legos we have. Also most of my children have followed this pattern of giving legos to their children. If you have legos you will identify with this: You just finished picking up ALL the Legos and put the container away, and then you start to find them in different places. So after doing this one day I wrote this little ode to legos. Please keep in mind I have never had any instruction on how to write poetry, but maybe some of you will identify with my sentiments.

Legos those wonderful plastic blocks that come in all sizes, colors, and shapes.
Legos that help our children develop their creativity and imagination.
Legos the toy that keep children occupied for hours on end.
Legos that make parents spend hours picking them up and organizing them AGAIN.
Legos that get on the table and under the table.
Legos that hide in the furniture and under the carpet.
Legos in my bed and under it.
Legos in the laundry and in the wash.
Legos in the shower and in the tub.
Legos on the floor and under my feet - OUCH
Legos in the kitchen
Legos in the fridge
Legos in the car
Legos in my hair
Legos--- If I see another Lego today I will SCREAM.

RECIPIES

2010-09-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I got a piece of this cake from an Austrian friend of mine. I really like the cake because it is very light and not overly sweet and you can use fruit in it that is getting too ripe.
Plum Cake
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup sifted flour
2 tsp baking powder
Beat eggs and sugar till light and fluffy. Add oil and beat again. Now by hand stir in the flour and baking powder mixture.
pour into a greased form a little smaller than 9x13 or I used a 10 in diameter pan with a high edge. After you put the dough into the pan, put sliced plums all over the top of the cake. Don't panic if they sink into the batter. Pears are also good for this or peaches. Bake at 375 F for 40 min or till toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Make sure you don't stick it into a peace of fruit. Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar.
THE SALAD DRESSING So called by Natalie. Melinda also asked for this recipe so here it is:
2T vinegar, 2 T lemon juice, 1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 T water, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp sugar, 1 clove garlic crushed, salt and pepper to taste.
Wisk everything together. If you keep this in the fridge the oil will harden so take it out a little before you need it.

Cooperstown NY

2010-09-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

Early August Spencer and I drove to Cooperstown NY. It was a beautiful ride about 4 hrs in each direction. Once we got off the highway we had to follow secondary county roads which led us through some very beautiful landscape, but sometimes was a little difficult to figure out. Once we got to our motel on the edge of lake Otsvego and dropped our luggage, we went directly to the Baseball Hall of Fame building. Spencer is a wonderful baseball player and has been able to his a baseball since he was very small. This was his early birthday present. We took a thorough look at all the exhibits and I believe Spencer really enjoyed it. We decided not to waste our money in their very overpriced gift shop and instead walked up the street where there were lots of shops selling baseball memorabilia at much lower prices. Spencer decided to get a baseball bat at the bat shop. The baseball bats are made locally and the price included 2 lines of engraving. I thought he made a very good choice and his parents had given me extra money so we could buy it. We watched a baseball game at a diamond they have close to the Museum. It was just local amateur teams playing. It was fun just to sit and relax and watch the game. Spencer got a foul ball.
In the evening at our motel Spencer got to watch a real professional game on tv. The next day we drove out to the Fennimore Cooper Museum. They have a very nice exhibit of beautiful Indian artifacts. Spencer really enjoyed that. I was surprised to see that he enjoyed the museum as much as he did. They also had exhibits on folk art and a visiting exhibit of women painted by Stuart. I really like that. The museum is located right on the shores of the lake and has a beautiful view.
We drove back to our motel and went down to the lake and took a boat tour up and down the lake. It was just beautiful and they told us about the lake and the history of the town. After the boat tour it was time to drive home. We decided to take route 28 all the way to the highway. It went right through the Catskill mountains and it was a beautiful trip. It was nice to do something one on one with Spencer.
We did take some pictures but they will not display on my computer, so maybe Emily will show them on her blog.

Family Events April Through July 2010

2010-08-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

We had several important and fun activities this spring and summer.
First we had Shania and Sarah's Sealing to their parents. Unfortunately Sarah got sick the night before so only Shania was sealed. Quincy and Natalie, Melinda and Matt, Me, Cousin Catherine and her husband Mike all came for the event from our side of the family. I came up to the temple with Carl's family and grandpa stayed home with Sarah. It was great to be part of this important event for Shania. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can do the same for Sarah.

Here we are on the train we took to the subway.

Next, the end of May we celebrated Elijah and Jonas's birthdays. Jason and Holly had gone all out and rented a room at the Vienna community center, and set it up with all kinds of inflatable bouncing toys and obstical courses. Holly had made capes for all the children and there were at least 30 children.
They had all these games planned for them and then cake an water for the refreshments. Elijah and Jonas got enough presents to make it look like Christmas. It was really a fun party and both Holly and Jason had done a wonderful job.

Here you can see some of Holly's handy work.

One of the blow up toys acting as an obstacle course.

Jason rescuing Eden.

All good things must come to an end, so tired parents can go home and collapse after all the exertion. Here Quincy is giving a helping hand to speed up the process. I am sure the cape around his heck gave him extra powers.

Then I went up to New Jersey to hear Spencer's and Theresa's end of school concerts. They always put on a great program and this year was no exception. They each had their separate concerts. It is difficult to take pictures in the dark and with that many people so you will have to excuse that the picture isn't very good.

Spencer's head is to the left of the C. They used the same set for both concerts. Both Spencer and Theresa did very well in their performances. I am already looking forward to next year.

At home Sarah and Shania also wanted to show of what they had learned in their gymnastics class. They put on a very nice performance.

Then it was Tatum's birthday her very first. Natalie's friend had made a beautiful birthday cake that matched Tatum's dress.

Here you have the birthday girl with her parents and her cake.

Her very own cake before she demolished it. Also Natalie's parent's were there so it was a special birthday.

I had been promising Doug since Christmas that he could come down to stay with me for a few days when he was completely toilet trained. He became toilet trained and we finally found a time when he could visit. We had a very nice time together. He really liked being the center of attention. and he was very good and fun to have. On Monday we went in to the The Natural History Museum in DC. We went by bus and train, which in it self was a treat for him. We went to see the dinosaurs which he liked, but I think he enjoyed the rock collection even better. It is amazing how beautiful inanimate objects can be. We also saw the butterfly exhibit which he enjoyed. We went to the gift shop to get a souvenir for him, but it was interesting that the first one he wanted to buy for was his Mother then me and then himself. We did find a nice lunch box for him which he wanted because he could use it when he started school this fall .

Here he is on the train. He picked out his outfit.

He was more interested in a picture of his "bum" than one of the dinosaurs, so here it is. Enjoy.

He loved this geode of amethysts. He was allowed to sit on it which he did.

This one was my favorite.

Here are the some of the butterflies.
On Tuesday we went to the farm with his cousins and saw all the baby animals.

Petting the goats.

How do you like polka dotted piglets?

We were lucky to see the peacock spread his feathers. And of course a tractor ride is a must before we go. We actually walked through the woods in both directions at Doug's request.

The most popular exhibit. Then the next day it was back to Delaware. Thanks for coming Doug. It was fun having you.

It was Eden's 2nd birthday on July 24th and I did manage to get a couple of dresses made for her. Unfortunately when Melinda's 3 oldest came to stay with me at the beginning of July and we went to the pool, There was leaking bottle of water in my bag and my camera got wet and it doesn't work. therefore I can not illustrate my blogs till I can afford to buy a new camera.
Melinda and Matt finally went on a trip to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Charles, Emma, and Mary stayed with me for a few days. We had a good time. We went to the American history museum, went swimming every day. Made clothes for dolls, played with legos and watched videos. It was great having them. Then Friday they went to their other grandmother, and Sunday night their grandfather brought all 5 back to me, till Melinda came around noon on Monday and stayed till Thursday. She helped me paint the downstairs bedroom and with out me knowing it They took all the legos home and finished the sorting job, Trevor started and brought them back Sunday all organized and all bins labeled.
Right now I am in the process of redecorating the downstairs. It is going a little slow, but it is coming as I have the money. Trevor has been a great help with the project.

Trip to Denmark for My aunt's 90th Birthday

2010-06-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Girl Anina Pedersen. She is 90 and still mentally alert and gets around on her little motorized scooter. She has been helping me with genealogy over many years. I think she has always felt she was my second mother. After my mother died she has taken it upon herself to keep the cousins in touch with each other.

This is Mogens my brother in law. We don't get too many pictures of him because he is always behind the camera. He and my sister put together a beautiful film about my aunts life and also made a photo album for her of her party.

Two of my sisters: Carla in the corner and my youngest sister Ulla in front.

My sister Anni talking to my aunt in her living room.

Picture from the party at the inn.

We spent the night with my cousin Aase and her husband. They have a small farm, and we were treated to a tour of the animals and the peach trees etc. A very nice place. My sister Carla is in the background.

This is the closest I could get to get a picture of all three of my sisters. This is at my sister Anni's apartment.

After we returned from Jutland. Carla had to go check on her horse. While she did that I had fun taking pictures of sheep and lambs. It was the lamming season and there were little lambs everywhere.

There were so many it was hard to get a picture of them all. It was fun to see the little lambs poke the utters of their mothers so the milk would let down. Then when the mothers were tired of the lambs sucking they would just walk off.

We found out it was possible to go in and see the section of Amalienborg palace that is being remodeled for the Crown-prince and his family to live in. It closes in July when they move in. We went in to see it the day before I went home. It was interesting to see they way they had renovated the place. The Crown prince couple likes modern art and they had had different artists paint murals on the walls of several of the rooms. I don't know what they will do if they get tired of some of the pictures. My favorite room was the big state dining room. They had big panels of mirrors that were made to look like frost flowers. It was very elegant. Of course we could only see the public rooms not their private quarters. The Queen lives in one of the other buildings in the palace. There are four buildings surrounding a large square. The palace in right in the center of Copenhagen.

Top picture is of Carla and her son Kenneth in front of the Queens palace. Here Carla and I are in front of the one The Crown Prince will be occupying. Note that the black windows are the windows into the Crown prince's office. It is just a few feet off the sidewalk where anyone can come. Isn't it refreshing not to have secret service people all over the place.

The palace is close to the harbor, and right across from it, is the new Danish Opera house. Finally I have to make a remark about my trip home. I had not been feeling well most of my time in Denmark and wanted to get home. I had planned to go home on Thursday but the flights did not look good out of Copenhagen. So I decided to go home on Wednesday. My trip was uneventful. The first thing I heard on the news the next morning was that most of the European airports were closed because of the volcanic dust from an Icelandic volcano. Airports were closed for 5 days. I feel someone was looking out for me.

Easter Egg Hunt At Farmor's

2010-06-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

Everyone has big hopes of lots of candy judging from the size of their baskets. Here we have the 3 musketeers: Elijah, Jonas, and Porter, stepping carefully so as not to step on the candy.

Jonas showing off his harvest of candy. It should help him grow cavities for a while.

A cute little pink Bunnie making sure she gets her share of the candy.

Finally Easter egg treats for the adults on their dessert. We did decide that we preferred the Cadbury eggs over the Williams Sonoma more expensive eggs.

Spring events

2010-06-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Charlie with both his grandmothers. congratulations Charlie.

Here with the main characters: His proud parents.

Uncle Trevor taking care of Tatum and Henry.

My 67th birthday 3 days after surgery. Nothing is better than a birthday with family and beautiful flowers. Thanks for making my day special.

Charlies big day delayed by a big snow storm.

Alone again --almost

2010-03-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Quincy and Natalie finally found a house they liked and move out of my house the middle of February. It is with mixed emotions I see them go. I am so happy for them that they can finally have their very own place after having their things in storage for a couple of years, and living under others peoples roofs. It will be great for the children to have more space to play in.
On the other hand I am sorry to see them leave. I have enjoyed having them live here. It has been so nice to have the noise and the company and the activity around here. Most of all it has been great to have the grand children so close at hand and watching their happy little faces everyday. I will miss them.
I still have Trevor living here on and off and that is also nice company, and I am glad he can be here between work assignments.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow -------Uncle

2010-03-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

Doesn't it look like a picture postcard? Our big snow storm in February 2010. It was beautiful, but as you can see from the following pictures it is a lot of work digging out from under 28 " of snow. We couldn't open the doors, and the gutters and down drains were frozen so when it started to melt the water could not run down from the roof and instead came in through the kitchen window for several days till the down drains melted. It was beautiful and most counties ran out of budget for snow removal. But please we have had enough for this season. We are looking forward to some sun and flowers.

While the others are battling the snow Tatum is practicing her crawling. She just doesn't understand why she goes backwards instead of forward.

My garden is a winter wonderland.

There is supposed to be a car under there.

Even the welcome mat is snowed under.

We had many dangerous long ice cycles everywhere. The once on the top roof were twice as long.

Interesting snow formations on my neighbor's deck.

Even the garage light got a load of snow.

My neighbor Te has a snow blower and he came and helped too. He is always good about clearing my driveway for me.

Quincy felt he needed help clearing the driveway and the car, so he solicited help from as far away as Dubai. Actually their friend from Dubai had meetings in DC, and got snowed in and stayed with us till he could get on a plane. Nice visit.

Jason climbed out the window so he could shovel the snow away from the door.

Trevor climbed out my bedroom window to remove a foot of snow and ice off the small roof so it will stop dripping water into the kitchen window. He didn't fall off thank goodness.

Thanksgiving through Christmas

2010-01-19T13:55:00.002-08:00

I had not had Christmas with Melinda and her family for several years, so this year I wanted to go up and see what a Davis Christmas was like. I really enjoyed the whole experience and specially the fact that I did not have to be in charge of anything. It was a very relaxed experience and very enjoyable.

Christmas dinner on Christmas eve.

special Christmas dessert.

Doug and I enjoying the program

The Christmas Angel

shepherds.

Part of the Nativity scene

Christmas eve late Santa and his helpers have been busy getting ready for Christmas morning.

Christmas morning: the presents have been opened.

We rarely have snow before Christmas. But this year we had freezing cold temperatures and on Dec 18 we got a whopper of a snowstorm that left us inside for a few days till we were able to dig out from our 20 in of snow. Natalie and Quincy were supposed to fly out on 19 Dec, but finally got out late on Dec 20. Church was canceled and we got to have church at home.
Enjoying the cinnamon rolls while keeping warm inside.

Tradition on snow days: Cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate.

The storm is raging all night long.

the morning after. Isn't it beautiful.

Our deck. We could not open the door.

It stopped snowing about 20 in. This my staircase.

clearing the drive way the first time so the car can get back in the garage.

We can get out again at least through the garage. Good job Quincy.

One of Natures wonders right here is our own back yard: Great Falls The Waterfalls on the Potomac river before it reaches Washington DC. It was a very cold day to be there, but how spectacular.

November trip to Dubai and UAE

2010-01-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

I arrived the day before Halloween, and Porter was so excited for his first real trick or treat. We got to the party, and here he is sound asleep. He slept through the whole party and the Trick or Treat part too.

We all took an Abra tour at the Madinat Jumeira. it was a very relaxing experience, sailing along the man made canal, the hotels shopping center and apartment buildings and the Burge Al arab in the back ground.

An hour long boat tour through The Marina and then into the Ocean and back to the Marina. a very fun trip.

A beautiful shopping center built in the Italian style.

The villa where we go to church.
We took the new monorail to the Atlantis hotel where they have a huge tank of all kinds of fish.
A foggy morning at the beach.
A birds eye view of Jumeira beach where we live. Para sailing was a lot of fun. I would like to do it again.

All of these pictures are from the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. it is the most beautiful mosque I have ever seen. I would go again if I had a chance.

An oasis with farming among the mountains.

The oldest mosque in the UAE

Old castle near Fujeirah. It is being restored and they are also restoring the village that used to surround the castle.

A resort on the east coast of UAE near Fujeirah. the East coast of the UAE is pretty much cornered by Russian tourists. We had a lovely lunch here and a dip i the water.

More dusty mountains with a little water and vegetation here and there in the valleys.

A few camels and a little dune bashing thrown in for good measure on the way to the Wadis. We kept going across the borders between UAE and Oman all day long, but it was very informal.

We were supposed to see pools of water in some of the Wadis ie dry river beds. This was the only one we found and out guide told us not to go swimming in is as it was poisonous. It was an interesting tour. We saw lots of mountains and dry valleys and some oasis where they grew crops and had animals. The mountains seem very porous and you would probably start an avalanche if you tried to climb it. one thing we learned is that you do not plan a picnic at an oasis where they raise goats unless you want to share your lunch with the whole fly population.

We sailed all day in and out of these fjords. It was absolutely beautiful and spectacular. Out guide would make the sound of a dolphin and shortly after the water would be teaming with dolphins. It is hard to catch them on a picture but I can assure you we saw a lot of them. It was such a wonderful relaxing day with so many beautiful images. It was a long day but very worth it.

If we had not booked this tour through a reputable travel agency a crew like this could have made you a little squeeze. This are of the UAE and Oman used to be the headquarters for pirates.
Old fashioned middle eastern boats

Quincy and Natalie and children

Getting ready to scuba dive

Quincy and Porter having a well deserved nap

Us girls shopping at the old Souk in Dubai

Beautiful Park in Dubai where we had the turkey bowl.

Last Camel ride of the day

Sunset at Jumeira Beach

Is this Christmas?

2009-12-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

Stubborn Senator Ried is holding the senate hostage so they can be forced to vote on a Health Care Reform bill that few people besides him and some Democrats want , just so they can pass it before Christmas. they are reading all 700 pages of changes to the bill at the request of the Republicans. The language is so obscue that I don't even think the people reading it understand it. Who care they can't go shopping anyway!
It is snowing outside it looks like a beautiful Christmas card. We seldom have snow before Christmas, but this year we are going to have at least 20 in.
I went to bed last night and closed my eyes but I couldn't sleep because my mind is going 60 mi an hour and my heart is pounding so hard it feels like it will pop out of my chest. So I got up and did 3 loads of laundry while everybody slept. ( most of the night anyway) I watched the snow fall, took pictures of it and heard the snow plow chase away the flakes on the ground to no avail. Quincy and Natalie's flight to Indianapolis at 8 am got canceled. So we get up or rather the rest of the household gets up. Natalie fixes pancakes. I help her hold the phone while she works. We are on hold for 2 1/2 hours plus with United. She finally gets an agent hurray!! He re-books them for the 5 pm flight. I want to tell her to rebook on the 5 pm flight on Sunday because My guess is all flights today will cancel. Now she has been re-booked for the 10 pm flight Sunday night, at least she and porter. We don't know for sure about Quincy and Tatum. I say my prayers, read my chapter in the Book of Mormon, have a piece of the honey cake I managed to make yesterday. I have one of Natalie's great pancakes and a glass of O.J. I go up and curl my hair that I washed last night so I won't look like a scarecrow, and put makeup on my nose so I won't look like a scare crow with a Rudolph Nose. Now I still haven't read my chapters in the D&C or my book, but I can't go anywhere so what is the hurry. Even if I could get out I can't breathe so I can't go anywhere. I have to stop and get my breath back for 5 min every time I go up the stairs. Quincy and Porter are shoveling the drive way because Quincy got the car stuck there after they came back from the grocery store. A neighbor comes to his rescue and helps him with the push he needs to get it in.
I make a few overseas calls to my relatives in Denmark. They are 5 hours ahead of us and tell me they have snow too and it is freezing there and that they know we are having a bad snow storm. The world is small. The TVs are on with the weather, a kids program, and mine is on CNN. The children are getting over ear infections, but are being very good tempered about it. Natalie does more laundry and talks to her family. I think of a Danish song describing a winter scene and try to play it on the piano, but do an awful job, try to share the words with Quincy, but Porter is getting tired, so I decide to go to bed and get some more sleep. Just then my son in the Mexican Gulf calls and wants me to tell him what I think about his hair-brain scheme of sailing around the World in 5 years, alone. I just told you what I thought of his idea and he laughs when I tell him to at least wait till after I die, so he wants to know what I am planning for the next 5 years. I wish I knew, or maybe not. I finally do go to bed and do some more of lying in bed with my eyes closed and dreaming about sleeping. Now I am up it is after 5 pm. I go down to write this blog since I am fairly sure no one will read it just to tell some one about what it is like to be on 40 mg of Prednisone. Now the rest of the family has caught on to my idea of a nap, except they seem to really be sleeping while watching MNSB. I am envious!

Is this Christmas? or prednisone? you haven't even heard from Quincy and Natalie what it is like to live with me when I am like this ( no wonder they are anxious to go to Indiana) Or am I feeling this way because I accidentally took the cough medicine with codeine instead of Robitussin or is it really a nightmare? Oh yes they canceled the temple and church today and tomorrow.

Here is a rough translation of the little song i wanted to share:

Plants and bushes are hidden by snow
It is so cold outside.
But outside my frozen window pane is a little birds singing
Give it time and Spring will come.

How to Pay Tithing

2009-12-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

At this time of year when it is time to make an account to the bishop about our tithing contributions, I am reminded of different schemes I have encountered in paying tithing.

1. Don't pay tithing, it is too expensive.
2. Take out a loan at the end of the year so you can be a full tithe payer.
3. Keep your tithing in your account till the end of the year and then pay it all at once.
4. Pay tithing as you make your money.

With the first option you miss out on all the blessings that come from paying an honest tithe.
When we worked at BYU you could actually take out a loan at the credit union at the end of the year to pay tithing if you were lacking behind. Somehow it seems misguided to borrow money to pay The Lord when He councils us not to go in to debt.

I actually tried the 3rd option once. I wrote out my check each month and subtracted the amount from my check balance. My plan was that I would make the interest on my tithing money for the year and then pay it all at once at the end of the year. Guess what? It doesn't work. Fortunately I realized part way into the year that somehow the money I had allocated to tithing had disappeared from my account. I think the lesson to be learned here is that our tithing money is not ours to invest or use in other ways. That money belongs to The Lord. Also do we really want to wait till the end of the year to get the blessings that come from paying tithing?

After my one try at option 3 I decided there was only really one way to pay tithing and that is to pay it as you make your money. That way you don't get behind, and you are eligible to receive God's blessings all year long.

On Enduring to The End

2009-11-29T16:43:00.000-08:00

Several years ago at a Stake High Council Meeting, one of the members of the Stake Presidency gave a presentation on enduring to the end. He drew a long horizontal line on the board, and starting at the right end of the line he began putting markers down like birth, blessing, baptism, priesthood ordinations for the boys, missions, and temple marriage. And then there was all of the rest of the the line about 3/4 of the length left blank. I remember looking at that stretch of plain line without any goal posts on it and thinking: Enduring to the end is a very long process,specially when there are no intermediate goals to encourage you on. Of course the second forth of that line is occupied by helping and watching your children passing through all those markers as well. But when the children leave, even though you stay in close contact with them and any grandchildren, you are now participating in a "one removed" way, and it comes down to how am I personally going to endure to the end.
It has been my privilege for most of this last year to work as a temple worker at the Washington DC temple on Saturdays. Being there and working in different areas of the temple and seeing other temple workers most much older than I, suffering from various physical impairments from brain tumers, to pace makers, a variety of artificial replacement joints etc., has been a real inspiration to me. They come and do what they can, and they do it with a smile and are so happy to serve. In particular I work with one sister, who has scoliosis of the back. Her spine virtually looks like a Z, but she is always happy, always has a smile, always wants to serve.
What inspires me about these brothers and sisters is that instead of sitting and feeling sorry for themselves, and dwelling on all the shortcomings and problems they are inflicted with, they are focusing on the things they can still do with what they have left. Staying busy, staying optimistic,staying active and serving is making them happy and fulfilled individuals. It is wonderful to see these senior couples walking hand in hand to and from the temple, and notice the love and respect they show for each other.
By observing them, I am learning how I am going to endure the last portion of that line of endurance to the end: By having hope or being optimistic in the face of discouragement, finding ways to serve others, loose myself in the service of my family and others who need my help.
I have basically been sick since December of 2001, but when I look back on the last 8 years I am amazed at how much I have actually been able to accomplish in spite of illness.
I am so grateful to our Church leaders for seeing the wisdom in keeping senior members busy with church work, whether it is missions, genealogy, temple work, or welfare work, it is keeping a large and knowledgeable group of members involved in moving this wonderful church on.

Farmor will you play with me?

2009-11-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

When I got here Porter tucked at me. Farmor come play with me. So I did. He was playing with a little repair garage. I touched something trying to find out what he wanted me to do.

P: don't touch it.

Me: OK Porter. Pointing to another ting, What is that?

P: don't touch it. And don't touch this. This goes here and don't touch it!

Me: OK Porter. May I bring my car in to the shop?

P: No!

Evidently I misunderstood the invitation to play. I wasn't supposed to play with him, just observe him play.

Birthday and Baptism

2009-10-29T15:17:00.001-07:00

My oldest grand daughter is turning in to a beautiful young girl. This year she turned 8 years of age and took her first important step on her road to salvation. She was baptized. Here she is with her parents in the same dress her mother wore for her baptism.

With her dad just before the baptism. It was a nice event with many relatives attending

Solo visit from some of the Grandchildren

2009-09-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

This picture should have been at the end of this blog. But here is Porter going back to Dubai ready for the 13 hour trip. I didn't get one of Natalie and the baby.

Here are the munchkins all mesmerized by Mary Poppins. We had a great time and it is satisfying to hear: "When we come again can we do this".

C played with Legos and the girls played with their dolls and anything else they found interesting. Here is an example of C's creativity.

Here we are at the pool. they all know how to swim so that makes it easy.
Holly came over with her children while C.E.and M were here. We went swimming one day, and another day we went to Frying Pan farm to see the animals and ride the tractors and get fresh produce. Afterward we went to Taco Bell, but on the way out Holly took the corner too tightly and got a cut in the tire. We made it to the nearest service station where they put on the spare tire while we ate our tacos in the back of the garage.

Peach picking with Holly and Children.

2009-09-13T14:43:00.001-07:00

Holly and I decided to go peach picking. The peaches were beautiful and big this year. We went out to Heartland Orchards in the foothills of the Blue ridge mountains. Beautiful view from the orchard. Aas you can see from the following pictures, the whole gang got in to the act. We had a good time and got some very tasty peaches.

Cathrine's Wedding in Seattle

2009-09-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

These two pictures should have been at the end of this blog, but I have trouble thinking backwards. On the way back from Seattle, I met Quincy in the airport on his way back to Dubai. He had a long layover, so Trevor checked in for a flight and came to visit too. If you know these two you know it was a couple of continuous jokes and laughter. I am afraid we annoyed some of the other passengers, who were trying to sleep. this was the only chance Trevor had to talk to Quincy before he went back.

Melinda and I went to Seattle to attend Catherine's wedding to Mike Leavitt. Matt was very generous and provided hotel room and rental car for us. We had a nice Hotel room near Pike's Market. The one interesting thing about the bathroom in the hotel was that there was a window into the bathroom, and the water for the tub came out of the ceiling. It was a bit of a shock the first time we turned on the water.
In between wedding events we went sightseeing and shopping.
There was a barbecue the night before cooked by the groom, and the Beal home. The next morning was the wedding in the Seattle temple. Such a beautiful setting for a beautiful couple. Melinda and I went shopping and in the evening there was a dinner at Matt's in the Mart. A fun event with the food cooked where you could watch. Afterward there was dancing. A very nice wedding. We went home Sunday.

Bride and Groom exiting the Temple.

Bride and Groom with her parents.
All the Seattle Beals with in-laws and grandchildren.
Seattle Beal family

Birthday children

2009-09-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

This little girl at one is the happiest little girl you could ever want to meet. She always smiles and only cries when she is hungry, wet, tired or cutting teeth. She is really spoiling her parents.
Here is is with uncle Trevor's funny stuffed animal. She is a delight to be around.

Birthday girl 1 year with Mom and Dad. Isn't she cute?

Birthday girl E. With mom and dad opening presents while big brother looks on.

Notice this little angelic face? Well don't be deceived. The last time I visited, his little brother H was in the hospital and his parents were there too. I had to change DD's dirty diaper. Just to make sure he did not escape I locked the front door. I found all I needed to make the change except I could not find any wipes. I knew his mother kept extra supplies in the basement so I went down to look for wipes. I had barely made it down the stairs when I heard the basement door close and the lock turned. I was locked in the basement by a 2 1/2 year old. I finally remembered there was a basement door and got out and checked the kitchen door to see if it was open, but no luck. Then I went to the neighbors to see if they had a spare key to the front door. That didn't work either. Finally we had the neighbor boy try to see if he could squeeze through the cat door. that worked and we were able to get in to the house again. It turned out the wipes were in the front room all the time in one of his mother's bags. We accomplished the change after a struggle which I won. Then when his mother called, he proceeded to try to bite me the whole time I was on the phone. He got a really good tickle treatment after that. So don't be fooled by that innocent look.

This blond little "Daredevil" also had a birthday on the same day as Sh. He was 3 years old.

Birthday girl, busy on her pretend cell phone.
Sh is a happy little 5 year old. always ready to have fun and very creative in thinking up games to play with her sister Sa. She is always busy and has a smile that make everyone want to smile too. She spreads happiness where ever she goes.

Birthday girl with her Mom.

The family enjoying Sh's birthday cake

My Main Reason for Visiting Dubai

2009-09-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

My main reason fro going to Dubai was to help Natalie after her Mom went home. I was also anxious to see my new little granddaughter, and to spend time with the whole family. The following pictures gives you an idea of what it looks like where they live and of course some cute pictures of the family. We did manage to do a few things besides taking care of the baby.
The Jumeira Resident Tower complex as seen from the beach. Q and N live in the widest tower.

A section of the Jumeira Resident Towers.

Part of the plaza as seen from the apartment window. It is evening so the fountain in running.

Me with the cute baby.

Baby girl entertaining herself so Mom can get something done.

Porter playing in the plaza in front of his apartment tower on the plaza level. In the latter afternoon it cooled off so you could go outside and enjoy yourself. Various shop are also located on this level.

The happy family all together.

Porter keeping busy while mom is caring for the baby.

Mom holding her little sweet baby.

Porter having fun in his singing and dance class.

Dad holding his latest little treasure.

Playing in the sand is a great way to keep busy while Mom takes a nap.

Fountains are great places to clean up after getting into the dirt.

Special Sights in Dubai

2009-08-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

The tall skinny building that looks like a needle is the Burge Dubai. It is still under construction.

Atlantis Hotel on the Palm. It is enormous.

Road to the Palm.

Quincy treated me to lunch at this hotel. The large building with the dome on top. As you can see it was a fancy buffet.

This is one of the Palms ( man made islands). It is very smoggy, so it is hard to see.

This street is called "The Walk" It is where all the locals come to see and be seen. The street is practically lined with cafes and restaurants.

Shopping in Dubai.

2009-08-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

The following pictures are from the Ibn Batuta mall. he was an explorer who lived in the 14th century. Each area in the mall is decorated to look like a country he visited. Unfortunately they don't have a little market square at the entrance to each area where they could sell local wares from that particular country. It would have made it more authentic. But it was really a fantastic mall.

I bought this one, a red Tabriz rug.

I love shopping for Persian rugs in The Middle East. We went to the Madinat Jumeira shopping mall. It is built like an old zouk, and has a lot of atmosphere. It is right down by the Burge al Arab.

Where can you find a shopping Mall with an Aquarium and a waterfall? In Dubai of course.

2009-08-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

One of the things I wanted to do in Dubai was to take P man on a camel ride. Walking on the beach in the early morning I found the home of the camels and their drivers. They lived down the beach in a tent and the camels were tethered outside. A baby camel stayed under a little palm cover. It was a little hard to get a ride because the camels were not always where we were. But finally both P man and I were on the beach at the right time. P man liked the ride very much and protested when it was over. Camels are very docile animals, but the first time you have to get off them is scary. They bend the forelegs and all of a sudden you are sitting at a 45' angle and feel like you are going to fall off. The driver took P man off before the camel knelt down.

There are 4 adult camels and a baby. The camel drivers live in a tent on the beach next to the camels.

Another view of the camels.

P man tries out the seat on the camel.

P man hails the camel Driver, there are 2 camels one for the driver and the other to be rented out.

The camel driver is approching.

We are finally on the camel and riding, and Pman liked it and didn't want it to stop.

2009-07-21T19:52:00.001-07:00

My week at the beach July 2009

2009-07-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

The sand and ocean at Corolla. A wonderful week. here are some of the highlights.

Another in my clothes.

Dress up in Mormor's duds.

My second hand Rose get up.

M and her comedy routine.

Nuzmans perform.

Q and N doing a parody of me on the phone with the robot.

The Davis pyramid.

Michael Jackson in his reincarnation.

The ballerinas perform in the talent show.

The Jedi family

HR out of the closet.

Children wake too early. Dad trying to catch a few more z's.

N and baby with an admiring audience.

The grandchildren getting as wet as possible Sunday evening without swimming. Parents keeping an eye on them.

The sunset of a wonderful week of sun sand and ocean.

Miscellaneous events

2009-07-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

Pam Massaglia and I went down to see The Dutch Cityscape exhibit. On our way back to the Metro we stopped to see an orchid exhibit.

The temple in early morning when it is overcast.

First sign of spring in my garden.

Sunset from my front porch.

This is not a grove of trees, it is ikibana.

One of the exhibits.

Melinda treated me to The Philadelphia Flower-show for my birthday. It was really nice and not easy to have the pictures do it justice.

Denmark Trip April 2009

2009-07-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some images of my trip to Denmark. I went over to celebrate my Moster Anina's 89th birthday. Unfortunately I don't seem to have any pictures of her. I spent some time with my sister Carla and her husband Mogens. We made some nice side trips both in the area around where they live and also to Copenhagen. My sister and brother in law by the lake.

Sorry for the pictures that are on the side. I thought I had turned them.

My niece Annitta by the windows to the baptismal font. The whole area around the temple has been made into a pretty park.

The Copenhagen temple. It used to be our stake center. It is really beautiful inside, and the Church got permission to redo the place in front of the temple, which used to be a hang out for drunkards. They no longer hang out there.

My niece Annitta's children. They live in an apartment right next door to the Copenhagen temple.

Easter eggs my niece Annitta made. Aren't they pretty.

My sister's grandchildren. Emilie and Mathias. They are the apple of her eye.

Borsen, the Danish Stock exchange built by Christian IV. Note the tower: it is made up of twisted Dragon tails.

Inside Holmen's kirke. My sister by the baptismal font. This church was built by Christian the IV for the seafaring people.

One of the Queen's horses getting new shoes.

The Royal horse stalls.

The Danish Parliament meets here in Christiansborg Slot (castle)

This is the original Christus statue by Thorvaldsen. It is in the Cathedral: Vor Frue's Kirke in Copenhagen. The current crown prince was married here.

A huge old tree.

A cute little church close to where my sister lives. I think it was built in the 18th century.

Flower stall at the Saturday market.

My sister Carla is cleaning house for her horse.

Town square in Roskilde. They have markets here twice a week.

This is a beautiful lake near where my sister lives. Isn't it peaceful?

This is a picture from a freeze in my favorite castle Frederiksborg Slot. It is the story of the viking conquests. This particular picture is called The Bloodbath.

Welcoming new grandson

2009-02-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

Here he is one week old. Welcome HR we love you.

Waiting, waiting and waiting for that baby to come. I went up to help Mel on Jan 7. She was feeling pretty miserable. I did go home to see Q and N and P man off to Dubai. Other wise it has been a very cold January made longer by the waiting for the baby to be born. But all the children were very good and did not make a lot of trouble. They kept themselves busy .

Mel is so anxious for the baby to come that she had to show him off, still in his wrapping.

DD is making room for the new baby by learning to dress himself.

Here they are in front of the tv.

These munskins would come down and snuggle every morning. I wasn't fooled though. the tv was next to my bed and they always wanted to talk me into watching kids show while I cooked breakfast.

This picture of HR looks just like his mother when she was a newborn.

Siblings meeting their new brother.

Me and grandchild # 13. Isn't he cute.

Little C had his 7th birthday the day after HR's birth. From now on this will be known as the birthday week.

Em and Bear love their new doll and are finding out he can do all sorts of things.

One week old and growing

First bath for HR

Pictures of The washington DC Temple

2009-01-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

The library sits on a ridge with a beautiful view over valleys on both sides. My friends in san diego were kind to drive me up there.

Finally made it to the Reagan library. They showed me all of Richards papers. There are a few shelves full them. The library is very well done and the view is fantastic.

visiting old College friends in San Diego.

Eden on her new quilt.

One nice Saturday after being in the temple I took time out to try to get some pictures of the temple from different angels. Here are the results.

Wrap up of 2008

2009-01-07T05:42:00.000-08:00

Pregnant and blindfolded. Is there a message here?

Pinada party for Mel.

Bears in her pretty fairy costume minus the wings.

Dd with his back pack doll.

Melinda in her new maternity top.

Farmor's helper

Bathroom conference

Getting toys ready for my granddaughters to play with when they come to my house.

Why can't we go swimming?

Grand children working up an appetite for thanks giving dinner at the Pratts

Ems and Bears in a program for older people

DD playing with a dog at a program at an old folks home

My attempt at being artistic. Rainy day waiting for my piano lesson to start.

Images from Christmas eve:

We had the children do a nativity, and Susan read a story. If you look closely you will see there are 3 new girls. Eden born 24 Jul and Carla and Emily's two little girls Sa and Sh Sa only arrived 23 Dec from Haiti. We are all so excited to have them in the family. Family pictures of each family.

Trevor was home for the first time in 4 years and we also had Holly's mother and sister with us. We had a wonderful evening.

Trying out a new Martha Stewart dessert.

The beautiful lights at the temple seems a fitting way to end the year.

Years end and looking forward to the promises of 2009, and the two new grand children a boy and then a girl.

Get together in Wilmington

2008-09-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

The whole family minus me.

Me with all the grandchildren 11 in all.

This was the ladies day out. We went to the Winterthur museum, where we watched lots of American antic furniture. Then a nice lunch at Buckley's tavern and then to the Brandywine art gallery. An old watermill turned into a museum. They had a lot of Andrew Wyeth's paintings and some other very nice paintings. I could not find a reproduction of my favorite landscape. All in all an enjoyable day.

An example of their flower arrangements.

The guys were in charge of looking after the children. Trevor came home so here is a picture of him in action.

You can see Quincy is just as busy keeping the children in line. Maybe they have a secret to baby sitting that we need to learn.

Home pictures

2008-09-07T18:26:00.001-07:00

E has found a new way of playing runs on the piano. A dump truck run up and down the keyboard does amazing things.

Natalie enjoying her new niece.

This is deja vue: P man looks just like his dad when he was that age trying to drive the car.

Dd turns 2

2008-09-07T18:14:00.001-07:00

Mormor and the birthday boy

Getting help from his sisters opening his presents.

maybe when you turn 2 you have trouble knowing who you are: part duck and part spiderman?

Bashful in front of all those big people.

Mom is great when you are deciding which present to open,

Playing in the water while Dad works

2008-09-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

Boys helping dad paint.

Keeping out of the way of dad by having a water fight with each other.

It is more fun when you can get Farmor soaking wet.

PEACH PICKING

2008-08-19T18:05:00.001-07:00

THIS IS HARTLAND ORCHARDS IN MARCHAM VIRGINIA. IT WAS JUST BEAUTIFUL OUT THERE AND WE COULD DRIVE THE CAR RIGHT UP IN TO THE ORCHARD. THE TREES WERE LOADED WITH PEACHES. WHAT A TREAT TO GET A PEACH THAT TASTES LIKE A PEACH. IT MAY SEEM A WASTE OF TIME AND GAS TO DRIVE 45 MIN TO PICK PEACHES. BUT NOT ONLY DO THE PEACHES TASTE GREAT, IT DOES WONDERS FOR THE SOUL.
I PICKED 7 PEGS IN 20 MIN. THE NATURE OUT IN THE WESTERN PART OF VIRGINIA IS JUST BEAUTIFUL

P MAN

2008-08-19T17:55:00.001-07:00

THESE ARE A FEW PICTURES OF P MAN. HE HAD HIS LIFE REARRANGED WITH ALL THE VISITORS, BUR HE REALLY ENJOYED THE EXTRA ATTENTION. RELATIVES IN ABUNDANCE. WHAT A LIFE.
A LITTLE SUNPROTECTION.
P LOVED THE EXTRA ATTENTION FROM HIS COUSINS.
WITH ALL THE COMMOTION AROUND THE HOUSE P MAN HAS BEEN HOLDING HIS OWN. HE HAS BECOME AN AVID CRAYON MAN, AND ESPECIALLY LOVES TO DRAW ON OTHER THINGS THAN PAPER. WE HAD TO MAKE A RULE THAT HE HAS TO SIT AT THE TABLE AND COLOR. HERE HE IS MULTI TASKING COLORING AND WATCHING BABY EINSTEIN.

BIRTH AND BLESSING OF MY NEW GRANDDAUGHTER

2008-08-19T17:49:00.001-07:00

PROUD MOTHER AND SLEEPING BABY
DAY OF HER BLESSING. AUGUST 3RD. M AND HER FAMILY AND BIG M AND CHILDREN CAME DOWN TO BE PART OF THE EVENT. ALSO COUSIN SARAH AND FAMILY. WONDERFUL DAY.
E 2 BORN 24 JULY 2008. BEEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRLS WITH LOTS OF BLACK HAIR.

VISIT FROM MY NEPHEW TOMAS

2008-08-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

M CAME DOWN WITH HER FAMILY. IT WAS WALL TO WALL BEDS.
FAMILY SIMILARITY
HERE WE ALL ARE WITH J'S AND EM'S FAMILIES ADDED IN
THE CONSTANT GROUP. THE OTHER CHILDREN TOOK TURNS COMING DOWN , SO WE USUALLY HAD 10-12 PEOPLE FOR DINNER EVERY NIGHT. IT WAS A LOT OF FUN. I AM GLAD THAT ALL MY CHILDREN MADE THE EFFORT TO COME DOWN TO VISIT. IT HAS BEEN OVER 10 YEARS SINCE WE LAST SAW MY NEPHEW.
I GOT SOME HELP MAKING TOMATO SAUCE.
WE TRIED TO HAND AROUND THE FOUNTAINS TO STAY COOL.
WE SPENT TWO DAYS SIGHTSEEING IN WASHINGTON. BUT THAT WAS ENOUGHT FOR THE CHILDREN. IT WAS AWFULLY HOT. HERE WE ARE IN THE GARDENS BEHIND THE CASTLE
WE HAD SOME LIGHT REFRESHMENTS TO GO WITH THE HOT WEATHER
WE HAD A BABYSHOWER FOR H.

Fourth of July

2008-08-19T17:12:00.001-07:00

MELINDA AND MATT CAME DOWN FOR THE FOURTH. TOGETHER WITH JASON AND HOLLY WE WENT TO THE MALL. THEY HAD REALLY CHANGED THINGS FROM THE WAY IT USED TO BE AND WE WERE NOT ABLE TO SIT IN OUR USUAL PLACE. I THOUGHT IT WAS A BOTHER AND I REALLY DIDN'T SEE HOW IT HELPED IMPROVE SAFETY. THE ONLY THING I LIKED ABOUT IT WAS THAT THERE WAS NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED. AS IT WAS WE ENDED UP SITTING ON THE GRASS NEXT TO THE STREET ACCROSS FROM THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. WE DID HAVE A GOOD TIME AND I AM GLAD WE WENT. WE FOUND A PARKING PLACE UP CLOSE TO THE WHITE HOUSE SO WE HAD QUITE A HIKE GETTING BACK TO THE CAR. AGAIN THE HAD THE MOST RIDICULOUS BARRIERS SET UP THAT PREVENTED ANY KIND OF SHORT CUT. IT WAS NICE TO HAVE SO MUCH OF THE FAMILY TOGETHER. He finally settled down
Every time I would try to take a nap Doug would come over and pull m y hair or something similar. Note that we have the same hair color.

June trip to Denmark

2008-08-18T08:44:00.002-07:00

Here are some pictures from my trip to Denmark. A last picture of swans. aren't they majestic?
My sister Carla at 63. she is keeping very well
My niece Kristina and her family.
This is a swan with her swanling.
My niece Annitta and her children.
Evening picture of Roskilde cathedral. We went here twice to hear free organ concerts.
Modern day windmills and old burial mounds. See how well old and new go together?
We went to a museum where they had an exhibit of a rare type of Danish embroidery called Hedebo. Every piece was exquisite.
Rosenborg Castle where they keep the crown jewels. This castle was built by Christian4th.
Old fashioned windmill at the museum
Aren't they gorgeous?
My sister Carla near a field of poppies. they were everywhere and looked so beautiful.
View of the ocean from my cousin's summer house.
My cousin doris her husband and mother. we had not see each other since 1960
Having lunch with my cousin Doris, her husband Bent and my Faster Vera her mother. We had a wonderful lunch at an historic inn near Odense.
Old burial mounts. This picture was taken about 9pm
Typical farmhouse in half timber.
Trip ,to Frilands museet where they have transferred several farms from various parts of Denmark and Souther Sweden and one from Northern Germany. Here you have a couple of workers in period customes.
We had a great bonfire once they got it started and you could see other bonfires around the waters edge.
You can see how hot it was on the longest day of the year. I guess that is why they celebrate it with bonfires, so they can keep warm.

June trip to

2008-08-18T08:44:00.001-07:00

Miscelaneous Events April - June

2008-07-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

Since March 15th Quincy, Natalie and Porter have been living with me. You can see we have another mothers helper in Porter.
3 cute little guys playing in the back yard.
Visit from the grandchildren.
As you can see even Doug got into the act. Here he is helping his mother change a light fixture. What a mothers helper.
Melinda replacing the sink in the powder room. I was up helping her get the house ready to go on the market.
Celebrating Jonas and Elijas birthdays. respectively 2 and 3 years. Look at the beautiful cakes Holly had made for them. Aren't they a couple of cute guys?
Jason getting help putting my grill together.
Emily treated me to lunch at Beni Hana when I arrived and the next day she treated us both to Pedicures, not just any pedicure but one with white tea and a long massage. wonderful treat for Mothers day.

I went up to hear Spencer and Theresas school concert. It was very good and too short. I am so glad I got to hear it

The growing family visits Farfars grave on Memorial day
Doug was on the prowl moving the signs in the neighbors yard.
I went up to help look after Melindas children while they went to a wedding in Arizona. Here we are having a "tea party" with the neighbors next door
Easter at Holly and Jasons. Look how nice the table was set and the food was equally as delicious. Jason even checked with Martha Steward on how to fold the napkins

The Garden in Spring

2008-07-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

After waiting 6 years my yellow Magnolia tree finally bloomed. Isn't it lovely? the other spring flowers also look lovely. And how do you like the back yard?

Happy 65th Birthday

2008-07-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

The whole family at Jason's house

Unfortunately I tend to go about this blogging the way I do my journal. When I finally get around to it I have to go back several months to get caught up. So today is July 11, and I am writing about my birthday on March 1st.
After I returned from Thailand my health began to deteriorate. I flunked my walking test and had to do it with oxygen. It was hard for me to breathe and I was coughing a lot. When my oxygen goes low I don't think too clearly.
Emily and Melinda told me they were coming down for my birthday which I was happy about and I was told we would have a family dinner at Jason and Holly's. I sort of assumed that was a cover up for us really going out to eat somewhere. then I was told it would be appetizers, and I wondered how I would have energy to feed that many people dinner. Melinda said that she had arranged for us to take a tour of the White House that afternoon, because she didn't want to sit around the house all day. So the day arrived and it was time to go on the tour of the White House. I put on what I thought was nice clothes for taking a tour of the White House, but Emily questioned my choice which I thought was funny coming from her. Emily and Melinda and the children drove in together and we were to meet Jason and family and Matt in town. I drove with Carl. Somehow Carl and I got to DC earlier than the girls. Carl was on the phone with them it seemed all the time. Then we were told to go get some snacks for the children and I thought that was a stupid idea. You can't eat on the White House tour. We decided not to get the snacks and I told Carl exactly how to get to the closest parking garage, but for some reason he was extremely dense or hard of hearing. At any rate he completely ignored my instructions and drove off in the opposite direction. Then after another phone call from the girls he all of a sudden knew just how to get to the parking garage. When we got up on the street the light was green for crossing over to the treasury building and then on to the White House, but no he did not want to go that way he explained he had arranged with the rest of them to meet at the top of the street we were on. I thought it was really stupid to be going away from where we were planning to go, but I followed. As we were going up the street and passing Ebbett's Grill i noticed Jason and Elijah in the window, and then I saw this huge sign with my picture on it and a writing saying: Party this way.
they had reserved a private dining room for us and there we celebrated my Birthday. It was very nice , and as an extra surprise Carole, Abigail and Catherine were also there. And Trevor had flown in for the week-end as well. I had kind of hoped he would show up. The kids gave a spoof on some of the silly things I do, and they were right on. Then several of them said some very nice things about me. At the end they sang a song about food and Danish dishes they couldn't pronounce. The grandchildren had made signs and they were all really good. IT was a wonderful gesture on their part and I really appreciated
Everything they did, I just wish I had felt better. But if I had felt better I would probably also have guessed they were up to something. So I had a wonderful birthday. In the evening we went to Jason and Holly's for appetizers, and had a great evening together. It was also great to see Matt make the effort to come in spite of his hectic schedule.
A couple of weeks later I went back to the Doctor and flunked my walking test again. They put me on oxygen and scheduled a lung biopsy for 12 March, to find out what was going on. They did find out. I have sarcoidosis of the lungs and what is called a MAC infection as well. so now aI am back on medication. Off oxygen, and getting fat on the prednisone. But I can breathe.

Thailand Trip

2008-04-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

The Night Market

The ruins of a past Civilization

The oldest Lana Temple

Nine tons of pure gold Buddha.

Riding the elephant It is hard to hang on to the howda, specially when you are there all by yourself

Elephants taking a bath prior to their performance

Mae Sa Valley resort

I am way behind on my blogs, so I am going to do some catching up. I was able to go to Thailand the 15th of January till 7 Feb. the Quan family, who are now living in Bangkok invited me to come and spend some time. Alice was alone with the girls while Steve was in Kabul. I was able to use some of my miles for a very long trip. 14 hours to Tokyo and then another 5 hours to Bangkok. I had been asked to bring growth hormone for Sarah and violin bows. The bows were $1000 a piece so I was a little concerned that everything went well with that. Just as we were pulling back from the gate in Dulles it started snowing and it was pretty cold at home the whole time I was gone so it was good timing on my part. Alice met me in Bangkok where I arrived around midnight. She kept complaining about her old apartment, but I thought it was very nice. The next morning we got up relatively early. I say relatively because they get up about 5 am to practice their music before going to school. Alice also had a language lesson. Ii had thought I would just stay home and rest but Alice had other plans. She gave me a train pass, a cell phone and a card with instructions on how to get to Jim Thompson's house. It was just a little scary, but I found my way and it was fun. Jim Thompson was an American who helped reestablish the silk industry in Thailand, and he built a very unique Thai house made up of 6 original Thai-houses. It was a very interesting tour. Alice had to go to the dentist and she met me at the restaurant about noon. In the afternoon we went to a shopping mall, and after Alice left to pick up the girls from school I went to another mall by myself, and then found my way home. I also tried to learn a few phrases in Thai. On the week- end we went swimming in the pool at the apartment, and then out to lunch. On sunday we went to the english speaking ward not too far from their house. We also had single members over for lunch after Church. Most of the singles live in small apartments with no facilities for cooking so it is good for them to come in to a real home.
Alice helped me book the plane ticket for Ching Mai and I went up to Ching Mai on Monday. I spent the first 3 days at a little resort called Mae Sa Valley. it was a beautiful setting on a mountain road. Small cabins set up like a mountain village surrounded by a beautiful garden. the only thing was I was the only guest the whole time I was there. the first day I just went to the botanical Gardens and explored the surroundings. The next day I rented a car with driver from the resort, and we went to the elephant camp which was a lot of fun. We saw a show put on by the elephants, and then had an hour elephant ride through the forrest. It was very mountanous and a lot of water falls and very pretty. It was the dry season so it was not as green as I had immagined. We then went to an orchid garden and butterfly hatchery. The rest of the afternoon we spent going to a village where the government had assembled different tribes. the most interesting was the long neck people. They wear many rings around their necks and legs. When we got back to the resort the driver stopped at the bottom of the hill and went out to feed the buffalos. there was a mom and an pap buffalo and their baby buffalo. He fed then old bananas. The food at the resort was very good, and the staff was very helpful. It got cold at night as soon as the sun went down. I found I had trouble breathing when going up hills and just the short walk from m y cabin to the restaurant would make me start coughing. the waitress was very concerned about my health and every day she would give me home remedies to cure my cough. It was lime and ginger in honey water. she even gave a thermus of hot water to take to my cabin. The third day I had the driver take me to the shopping places. I thought the shops were in a certain village but it turned out they were on the road to the village, so I was surprised when he asked me if I wanted to stop at a jewelry factory. thailand is famous for colored stones. I ended up buying a pearl necklace from Puckett. WE also went to the place where they make the pretty Thai umbrellas, and we saw a hot spring, and on the way back stopped at a ceramics factory, where they had some very nice things. The driver drove me in through Ching Mai and showed me the flower market a as much as he could. He was a very nice man and very helpful. After my drives I liked to sit on the front porch of my cabin and read and enjoy the view till the sun set. there was no entertainment other than going to dinner and then back to the cabin. The next day my driver drove me in to
Ching Mai, where I stayed at a hotel near the midnight market. it was a nice hotel. They had a good restaurant and breakfast was included in the room rate. I tried to see the town on my own, and saw some interesting shops, but I never found the temple I went looking for. It was hot and dusty and very polluted. So the next day I took a tour in the morning. We saw all the important sights. I asked to be dropped off at a shopping center I had read about. It turned out the shopping center had all but closed down, and it was difficult to get a taxi, but some nice people at a car dealership helped me get one. I met up with Buela's brother at the hotel and gave him the money Buela had given me. he and his wife were very nice but we couldn't talk to each other, and I was very tired so we just met for a short time. I also went to the night-market, and it was mostly junky stuff, but there were some nice shops as well. they also had entertainment and showed Thai dancing. It was very interesting to see ruins and temples of another civilization, but I wished I had had better information on where to go and what to do. there was no public transportation to speak of and I am sure I missed a lot.
Saturday I flew back to Bangkok, and was able to get back to the apartment on my own. alice an I did a lot of shopping and we went out with some embassy women to the Oriental Hotel to have "English tea" I had lemon grass tea and it was very good. It was a fun thing to do. another day we went back to the hotel for lunch. the hotel lobby is absolutely beautiful, and they have the most marvelous flower arrangements.
I found a silk shop near the Oriental and got some beautiful plum colored silk. I also looked at stones. The whole street was full of shops where they sold semi precious stones. I bought a Mozambiquen turmaline. It is a rare stone they have just found deposits of in Mozambique. The shop was owned by a guy from New Jersey.
At the Jim Thompson outlet i bought several pieces of material. I took a trip to the old capital of Ayyutia. It was a nice trip. We went first by bus up to a summer palace the royal family has. It was very well kept , and all the buildings were in different architectural styles. there was even a temple that looked like a gothic church.
After seeing the palace we went on to the ruins at Ayyutia where we looked a several of the sites. It is amazing what that place must have looked at. It was also interesting to note that the ground was very soft and many of the walls were going up and down like waves. there had also been a lot of vandalism by people who took art objects and sold them. After we had had our fill of ruins we drove down to the rive and boarded a riverboat back to Bangkok. We had dinner on Board. it was a very nice day. I enjoyed hearing the girls practice and it is wonderful to hear how proficient they are. I went home and bought Mendelsohn's violin Concerto , I liked that much. I had a really good time with Alice and the girls. she spends a lot of time by her self, as Steve travels a lot. I would like to go back again. I flew home via Beijing. The new airport is beautiful, but I hope the Chinese learn what to do before the olympics start. They didn't seem to know what they were doing. I really enjoyed my trip and being out of the cold. I have a lot of pictures from my trip, and alice made a nice video out of them with music. No one seems to have much interest in it, so I am not going to trouble myself with illustrating this blog anymore than I already have.

The Night market

The longneck people

The second day I had the car and driver again and we went to Bor sang village where they make the Painted umbrellas. i also bought some other object made of wood. We went by a hot spring and a garden made up of interesting stone formations and bushes shaped into different animal shapes. I was under the understanding that the shops were in this particular village, but turned out the shops were on the road to the village, so that caused a little confusion. My driver took me to a jewelry factory, which I had not planned on, but I did find a beautiful pearl necklace in light pink pearls from Puckett. i also bought some stone ware at another factory and the prices were very good. My driver was the husband of the head waitress at the resort and he was a very kind person. He did not speak much English but he was able to communicate anyway, and he really went out of his way to give me a good tour. On our way home from shopping he drove me in through Ching Mai and through the flower market and China town and showed me as much as he could. He also gave me bananas for the elephants and showed me how to feed bananas to the buffalos at the farm. all the people at the resort were very kind. they were so concerned about my cough and kept giving me concoctions to help my cough. My room was a little primitive, but all in all it was a nice experience. the next day my driver took me to Ching Mai Where I stayed at a hotel close to the Night Market. I was sad to say good buy to my driver he had been so nice. After settling in to my hotel, I walked down the street in front of my hotel heading for the old part of town. There were a lot of interesting shops along the way so it took me along time to get to the old town. i finally found one temple, but realized that I really didn't know what I was looking at, so the next day I took a tour of the city ande we saw the most important sights. the first evening I met with Boulas brother and his wife. boula had given me $200 to give to him. I also went to the night market by myself. It is a large enclosed area with all sorts of things for sale and some entertainment going on as well and also there are restaurants where you can eat. The enclosed musty smell began to bother me so I didn't stay very long. I was exhausted from the long walk. Ching Mai is the center of the old Lana Kingdom wjich was joined with the thai kingdom when one of their princesses married a thai king. their temples are different than those in the south. they are made out of wood and painted. the old ones are very nice. there were also ruins from a much older kingdom. It all reminded me very much of Indian ruins.

2008-01-13T15:55:00.000-08:00

Pictures from 2007, continued

Spencer's Baptism

A little monkey grabbing a banana

The Thanksgiving table

Spencer at the Turkey Bowl

Watching the men playing the Turkey Bowl

I don't think we made enough desserts

Early Christmas at Quincy's

Dress for Christmas in the new duds

Some important things about 2007

2008-01-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Before the new year gets too far along, I want to put in a few happenings in 2007 that I found important. When we came back from the beach on August 18th, I found out that a dear friend of mine Marge Canto had died and was being buried that very same day. She had been like a mother to me since I came to this country as an immigrant. Fortunately I did get to see and talk to her when I went up for their anniversary in June. Her son John told me at that time he thought his mother had goven up. she had been sick for a long time. I have many fond memories of her. Rest in Peace.
Next big event was the baptism of Spencer Nuzman. It has been great to watch Spencer grow in to a very nice young man. We had a very nice family get together with all his Beal aunts and uncles ther except Trevor, who was too far away. But I think it is a reflection on Spencer that everyone wanted to be there to celebrate with him for that important day.
We had a wonderful get to gether for Thanksgiving at my house. Jason and Holly went to Utah to spend the holidays with Hollys mom and Trevor was able to join them too. The rest came to my house and we had quite a group. but when planning the food I think we forgot most of them were young children, and we definitely had too much food. But we had a great time cooking together and talking and finding out what everyone was doing. A real family get to gether. I fact I was very proud to hear all the things Melinda and Emily were doing. It did help with the bed situation that Quincy and Natalie had their own apartment. It was nice that the children could sleep in their own bedrooms. Actually the girls slept in mine. I overcooked the turkey, and the rolls had trouble raising, but when you use yeast from 1984 I guess that is to be expected. But the desserts and the rest of the meal was great.
I got sick with bronchitis right after Thanksgiving. It worked out well. Carl had meetings down her so he was able to keep and eye on my in the evenings. It is always interesting to me to see how The Lord privides for me when I need it. It is always comforting to have Carl around. After they got me on the right antibiotic and lots of prednisone I got better, but it took me almost till christmas. I had been coughing for about 3 months so it has been such a relief to not cough.
Quincy and Natalie went to Indiana for Christmas, and Melinda and Emily had Christmas at their homes. As much as I enjoy Christmas and love doing all the preparations from gift buying to decorating to baking and cooking and having the family around, I have noticed the past couple of years that it has taken all my energy even though I thought I was taking it easy. Usually with the result that I would get sick right after. This year was really low key because I had Christmas with Jason and Holly. I went easy on decorating (not the presents), and even helped with the cooking, and for probably the first time in years got the Christmas cards out before Christmas. I also had time for reading the scriptures, and decided to read the D&C after I finished the New Testament. The time I spent in bed recovering was a good excuse for doing some long overdue thinking.
Studying the New Testament this year and having to teach it to 14 year olds has really increased my knowledge of The Savior
and most importantly increased my Testamony of Him.
I worked quite a bit in 2007, and hope to cut back on that this year, so I can make progress on some personal projects. I had planned to make a couple more trips, but due to the constant coughing I didn't feel like going anywhere.
I also had fun doing some changes to the decorating of the house. My trip cross-country in april with the furniture we inherited from Richards mother, was definitely a memorable experience of the great kind. Linda Carver was a good sport an d agreed to come with me. We drove over mountains and valleys in rain, snow and sleet. We talked and had a good time, and not once did we gossip, but we found we shared a lot of interests in traveling and our families. In the slow housing market we were all very greatful to sell Virginias house befor having to go too far down in the price.
Finally I have been able to spend a lot of time with my grandchildren, both the once here in Virginia, and the once in Delaware and New Jersey. It is so nice to be able to visit them easily. I enjoyed going up to New Jersey, and Delaware just before Christmas to see how their Christmas was coming along. The flights were full and Emily was generous to drive me to Delaware, and I drove Back from Philadelphia.
I enjoyed my Christmas with Jason and Holly, and also the new year. And just for the record, I did win one game in settlers.
2007 has been a wonderful family year for me. I am greatful for all my wonderful children and children in laws. I don't know how I can be so lucky to have had my children marry such good people. And of course all those wonderful grandchildren. Happy 2008
Now if I can find the pictures I will illustrate this blog.

This is october Conference. This is why we buy the DVDs afterwards, so we can know what went on

Halloween in Delaware

Jonas, Elijah, and Porter, ready for Trick-or-Treating

alone Again Temporarily

2007-09-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time, I updated my blog. It has been an eventful summer. I played hostess to Brian Beal, Bob and Kays son for a week and showed him around Washington DC. In the middle of his visit Q, N and P arrived, and I am sure made thing more lively for Brian. Also in the middle of his visit the clutch on my car went out and I had to take it in to be repaired. $2300 later I had it back and could return the very economical car I had rented.
Brian left, and Q, N, and P-man stayed. They are moving back here permanently and will stay with me for an undetermined length of time till they find an apartment. I enjoy having them at my house. It is nice to have it more lively, and P-man is such a cheerfull and happy baby. You can't look at him without smiling. Q and N basically have the downstairs level as their living quarters. We take turns cooking and I think it is working out well.
On the third of August I thought J and H were coming home so we all went to the airport to meet them. M came down with her four. So we stood there for 2 hours with our cute sign and made many passengers happy. But ours did not come off the plane. Finally after checking with KLM I found out they were not coming till the following day. They just forgot to tell us. We did find them the next day. A week later we all went to the beach. A total of 20 people. We had a great time. The weather was wonderful and the beach was very smooth. There was a pool at the house and the children really made use of it, and the hot tub. I don't have any pictures because my camera broke, just as we were ready to leave home. It was nice to see Trevor again. It has been a long time since he was last at the beach with us.
J and H are busy fixing their house up and the boys are getting aclimated both to new surroundings and a lot of relatives.
I had friends from Wales come in on Labor day. Unfortunately N had left earlier in the day to go out for her sisters wedding. It was very nice to see Pat and Garwin again. We have always been received very graciously by them when we have visited them, so it was great to be allowed to recipricate. Monday evening I came home from a walk, my guests had gone to bed early, due to the time change. I wondered where Q was. Soon after I heard voices and it was Q and J coming up the stairs. I had just filled the fruit bowl with fruit including grapes. While they were talking in the kitchen I watched the grapes disappear as if there was a termite infestation. I thought This is just like old times. I am really greatful to have two of my children living so close to me so we can have get- to- gethers or just pop- in for a few minutes.
Tuesday I had tickets for Pat Garwin, and me to visit Hillwood estate. I have wanted to visit it for a long time. It is the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post. The heiress to the Post cereal fortune. It was a delightful experience. She had a very unique opportunity to purchase many Russian artifacts when her husband was ambassador to Russia. I would like to go again and have a guided tour. We used the headsets this time in the interest of time. After lunch in a small cafe on the grounds, we wandered through the gardens. My favorite was the Japanese style garden. We also stopped so they could see the World war Two Memorial.
When we got home we took Q to the airport so he could go to the wedding. That evening, My 44th anniversary coming to this country we went with J and H to dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. Jason paid for us all which was not my intention. But he was very kind.
Wednesday I drove Pat and Garwin down to Lexington where they were going to stay with some friends. I had never been there before, but it looks like a very quaint little town. Ihad to go home the same day though since I had work the next day, and that is where I am now. It was strange to come home to an empty house after all the company I have had lately. But Q and N will be back in a couple of weeks and P-man. This summer has been very hot and very dry. My garden has been a disappointment. But I guess they were hording all the rain and cool temperatures in England. wouldn't it be nice if we could share a little. Tomorrow hopefully I will get on the morning plane to go upfor theresas birthday party. Unfortunately the flight doesn't look good.

2007-07-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Relaxing after a hard day at church.

2007-07-05T06:36:00.000-07:00

Reading Hans Christian Andersen in De. Sunday afternoon after church.

2007-07-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

An unexpected hail storm in June covered my flower beds like mulch. M was down with all four children for a quick visit, and it was quite a treat for all of us to see this spectacle of nature. For lunch we went to Wegmans , and that was a fun experience for all of us.

The M&M children have their first experience of amazing Wegmans grocery store.

The 9th of June I went up to See M&M because Trevor was visiting. One of the things we did was visit a beautiful park not far from their home. the children took turns riding bikes and the adults walked. Bears finally gort her turn with the bike.

After a while I decide to take the easy way out and shared the double stroller with DD. What fun to have some one do all the work for you. Babies don't realize how well off they are.

On the 16th of June, I went to New Bedford to help Marge and Don celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. For those of you who don't know, this is a family that treated me as an older daughter, first at the end of my exchange year and then again when I lived in Boston. Marge has been very sick lately, so they were happy to see she was around to celebrate this important occation. It was fun to see every body again.

My favorite Aunt Astrid Petersen turned 100 years old on the 8th of June. Her Daughter in law, two grand daughters and 6 grand children were on hand to celebrate this big birthday. Many friends also made the effort to come and visit her. It was a very nice day and it was amazing that she was able to stay awake for the whole afternoon. She is legally blind and very hard of hearing, but somehow she always knows what is going on. There is nothing wrong with her mind. I think her big birthday wish was that she would die soon. She is very lonely and misses her husband and son very much. I am glad I was able to be there. My trip home can only be described as an answer to my prayers. How many times have you been 3 hours late for a flight and found the flight waiting for you? Amazing.

The two pictures of babies are on the left Faster Astrids Great Grand son and on the right m y grandson. I just thing it is funny how much they look alike.
I cant get in to put the text by the appropriate pictures, so let me just say that the last two pictures of M&C' family and the Irises are from my visit to the Nuz family over memorial day week end. One of the things we did was go to a beautiful Iris garden and this is only one example of what they had to offer.

2007-03-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

H , E and J at the fort.

J and R at Emirates Hotel for birthday dinner
Burge Dubai
Emirate Towers
Favorite mosque
Street in Al Ain an old oasis

Getting educated buying rugs

The street where we live

Jebel Hafeet

Old Royal Palace in Al Ain

My first Camel ride

Camels in the desert

Fort in Oman

Old fort in Abu Dhabi only permanebt building in 1960

Dessert Sunset

Falconer and falcon

Dubai shopping

Boys playing in dining room

E and C making a living room out of my shower

Virginia Christmas 2006

2007-01-24T09:35:00.000-08:00

mamabealadventures
I couldn't figure out how to add to my draft so I am doing the text part to the pictures. Lest you think I am great at putting in pictures--- the credit goes to Melinda.
Christmas started for me when Quincy and Natalie said they were planning to come home for christmas. Then I had to get Melinda and Emily and families to come too, because I thought it would be very boring for Natalie and Quincy to spend it just with me.
They arrived late on 20 Dec. after a good nights sleep and a good breakfast we went out to Mount Vernon. It was a surprise to see what they had done. They have built a reception area similar to Williamsburg with an introductory film. It was very nice and a far cry from the old entrance. Ofcourse the house is still the same. We basicallv just saw the house and the view. Natalie was not up to a lot of walking and frankly neither was I. It is the wrong time of year to see the outlying buildings and the farm. That is best left to the summer time. But it was fun to see it at Christmas.
We went home and had a leisurely dinner, and a friendly game of chinese checkers which Natalie won. We also put the tree up and got it decorated. The next day Melinda and Emily arrived with their families, so we had a full house. I got the sofa by choise. I was glad all the US grandchildren were there, because they play so well together. Saturday night we had our usual crabcake dinner, and afterwards we tried to make vanilla cookies. We had to stop because it was so warm the dough kept softening up so we couldn't work with it. Ii forgot to say that we have had an unusual warm December. We had to turn the heat off all together for everyone to feel comfortable.
Sunday was Christmas eve and we had church all three hours. As usual we had a wonderful program in sacrament meeting. Nathan Pacheco started it off and it was a beautiful number. We could all have gone home after that and left edified. I left after teaching my lesson to get home and get dinner ready, so we could eat early and not have the children get too tired before the evening was over. This is the first time when all the children except the baby sat at the big table, and they didn't leave after 5 min. Matt and Emily got the almonds.
Afterwards we had a nice program with every family participating. Then downstairs for the highlight for the children "opening presents" I think everyone was happy with what they got. Thanks to my new camera I was able to get these pictures to illustrate the blog. My teeth are cleaner with the waterpick, and Trevor saw to it that I will not be sporting unwanted hair on my face with the new magnifying mirror, and I have wonderful lotion to keep my skin smooth, and cd's and vidios to keep me company. I was very happy with what I got.
We were planning to maybe play games after the children got to bed, but I think some of the adults fell asleep right along with the children they were trying to get to sleep. But we had a nice time visiting.
Then we got the Santa Presents ready and went to bed. We had to get up very early the next morning so Quincy and Natalie could get to their plane and Melinda and Matt could get to his family for their Christmas.
Fortunately Emily and Carl were able to stay for a couple more days. We had the Becksteads over for dinner, and I think they enjoyed that. The last day Emily and I went to G-Street to get material for the baby quilt for Natalie and Quincys baby. After everyone left I spent a couple of days recovering. It is great having everyone here, but I can tell it takes a lot more out of me than it used to. But it is always great to have the good memories. Thank you for coming everyone.

Virginia Christmas 2006

2007-01-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

mamabealadventures

2007-01-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

mamabealadventures
Carole and I ahve speculated that Virginias mental problems started a long time ago, and that some of her strange behavior was simply an attempt to cover it up.
She could be generous from time to time, like she helped all of us out with moneyfor our homes. But if she gave you something of sentimental value, you might as well not unpack it because she would invariably want it back. If she did not like something you gave her, it would eventually be returned to you.
WE finally came up with the formula for having Virginia visit. i would pick her up at the temple and drive her home to our house. I made sure we had plenty of toilet paper, and I mean plenty. She used it for everything: drying her hands wiping up spills etc. and ofcourse we had to have lots of orange juice. Eventually we got so that she would get her own breakfast, because she had very specific foods she wanted to eat. Monday morning before work Richard would drive her home. It worked well and prevented a lot of unpleasant situations, because you knew when the visit would come to an end. Carole started to do the same, make the reservations for her so she stayed as long as George and Carole wanted her to stay and not a month at a time.
Her reasoning was rather different too. She told me she had cancelled her drivers license when Robert didn't get his. Ofcourse that meant tha Max had to do all the driving, and he ended up doing all the grocery sopping too. Just what he needed with his busy schedule. While we were living with her shile waiting for our house to be built, richard and I were sitting in the library, and grandmother was upstairs. the children were all playing in the street. It was a nice quiet street. she came in to the library and said: " I don't suppose that you want to know that the children are letting Quincy roll down the street in his stroller without anyone guiding it?" Why had she not run out to stop it immidiately instead of coming to tell us first?
She always procrastinated till the last minute. when Grandfather got a Fullbright to Norway, grandmother was supposed to get things packed and ready for the trip. the last day before they left Grandfather came home to find that nothing had been done. So he and the boys had to carry all the furniture up into the attick, because they were renting the house out and get the car packed. It was late in to the night before they were done. they drove up to New York where they were to take the boat to Oslo. In New York grandfather got sick. They think he had a small stroke. Richard said he never regained his former agility after that.
Grandmother would ask me to send measurements of the children so she could make them an outfit. I sent them and I even sent a pattern, but nothing came of it, so eventually when she would ask for that sort of things I would ignore it.
In those days people did not admit if anything was wrong with them mentally, and it seems apparent to all of us that something was wrong. we all somehow learned to live with it, but how much nicer it would have been if we could have had a much less strained relation ship.
There were things we enjyed doing together. Grandmother loved china dn beautiful table linens. and we could have a good time going out and looking at that sort of thing. she loved the dishes I had bought for our home and we could spend much time together talking about what table linens would look good with them etc. She is the one who got me interested in the Red Aves Dishes. We also developed the tradition of going shopping the day after thanksgiving for the children, and we would end the shopping day by going to one of the pizza places in the mall. We also could share books we read. One time I had read this book about a mideval woman, and I thought grandmother would like it I lent it to her. Next time she came over she was so excited about the book and talked a lot about it. I don't think grandmother liked to take responsibility, and it was probably because she was afraid whether she could handle it. She tended to get upset to her stomach when she was under pressure. She simply couldn't handle it.
She also had a funny view of priesthood authority. She always claimed her brother was her priesthood authority, not her husband or sons. When Richard and I got married we ofcourse wanted his parents to be there. Well grandmother made a fuss about how they couldn't afford to travel to Utah and pay for the wedding breakfast. We had invited a total of 27 people at $6 per head. So for some time we did not know whether his parents would come. then his mother decided that her parents were getting old and she had better get out and see them. So as side event she would come to our wedding. She hurt richard a lot that way. They never came for his graduation even though he got two degrees in one. But they did come for both Roberts and Georges graduation. Fortunately Richard's dad made up it. He arrived a day before the wedding and you could just wee in his countenance how pleased he was, and he was excited to bring us a couple of suitcases full of present from their friends in college park.
I think that is enough to give you a general view.
My hope is that Virginia will now have the full function of her mental capacities so she will be able to be the person she was not always able to be here on earth.

mamabealadventures

2007-01-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

mamabealadventures
My reflections on Grandmother Beal;
When a person dies you always examine your relationship to that person. It is hard when you have not had the kind of relationship with the deceased person you would like to have had.
When we were at the funeral in Seattle I got a few more puzzle pieces to understand grandmother. A phychologist in their ward said grandmother had The Queen syndrome. That means she deigns that you can be in her presence or speak to her. I have many times in the past said that having grandmother for a visit was like having The queen Mother visiting. When you had a conversation with grandmother it was not a coversation, but an interview. She as ked the questions and you answered. Sometimes if you succeeded in asking her a question, she would have very pat answers for you. She did not like getting questions she did not have ready answers for. She loved to talk about her, but as far as I know she never did any genealogic research. She had some stories she told about her ancestors, but if you went outside her parameters, she would become dumb.
Virginia was a very intelligent woman. She loved to read and travel. But somehow all the knowledge she gained, she was not able to transfer into action or meaningful contributions. She was one of those people where she felt that ifmshe was the overdog she would treat you awful, but if she felt like she was the underdog she would bow and scrape. She was a snob and a hyopcrite. Her husband and Richard always tried to be nice to her, which she persived as having the upper hand, and consequently their relation ships were not always very good. I have only one time stood up to her, and after that I couldn't do anything wrong. I only wish I had done it much earlier in our relationship. The reason I didn't is that I don't like having that kind of relationship with anyone.
The other puzzle piece I found in Seattle was that in a conversation with her visiting teacher, she said it was like Virginia was two people. I have felt that often. We could have a pleasant enough "conversation" and if you happened to say a wrong word, it was like a switch was turned on and she turned in to another person, usually a nasty one. After you have tried that a few times you become cautious, and watch very carefully what you say. She had great difficulty making decisions and it could be very embarrasing to go shopping with her when she would take several hours to make up her mind about a purchase. She also could not handle complicated tasks. she definitely could not multitask, and soon when she would ask the obligatory question what can I do to help the answer would be: Why don't you just sit and talk to me while I am fixing dinner. She much preferred to sit in the front room. she did not seem to have a very good concept of time and what needed to be done. Like when richard had his surgery, and I came home after a whole day at the hospital, she would say: Now why don't you come and sit in the front room and tell me all about it. Well that would have been nice if I had a maid to cook and look after the children. but I had to fix dinner for the children and see to their needs as well, so could we transfere this to the kitchen while I also take care of my children.
I never liked to tell her my inner feelings or anything intimate, because you never knew when she would throw it back at you when she went in to her nasty personality.
She had funny ways of doing things. She painted the walls but painted around the furniture. she made drapes but hung them up with safety pins. Most of the sewing she did was never completely finished. I think she was only capable of doing one task at a time. I presume there was a time when she could.
They did not have family prayer in richards home and after witnesing one such exception I could see why. Virginia gave a very long prayer and it was so hypocritical.

mamabealadventures

2007-01-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

mamabealadventures

2007-01-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

mamabealadventures
I had just written a whole account of the funeral and had gone on to reflexions on grandmother when I lost it all. So here we go again.
As you all know Richard's mother passed away on 9 November , 2006 in woodinville Wa. She had live there the last 14 years.
I flew out on Friday to see if I could be of some help to Carole with arranging everything about the funeral and all the cousins that were coming. As is was all the grandchildren except Jason( who was in Abu Dhabi) and 2 great grandchildren showed up during the week end, which kept George busy driving to the airport to pick them up. Carole and I went to the florist on Saturday and picked out a beautiful spray for the coffin in assorted white flowers which we hoped Virginia would like. After that we went to the funeral home to dress the body in temple clothes. I had offered to do this since I felt it was one thing I could do. Carole and I had a prayer before we went in. I had kind of dreaded the task as I have never had to do this before. But it turned out to be a very nice experince, and I hope Virginia felt we did it with love and respect. I felt it was the last service we could do for her. Carole had had a hard time finding the temple clothes. When we looked in the box we found several pieces of clothing with the stamp of the temple on them. Obviously a long term loan. We had a hard time locating true white nylons and finally agreed that off white would have to do. I had ironed all her clothes , but we left her dress the way it was with the loose lace attached with safety pins, because that is how she wore it when she was living. We got everything to look very nice.
George had a very hard time realizing that it was finally over with his mother, and he had trouble making decisions about what had to be done like the program etc. Carole and I mapped it out and then gave it to him for final approval. We got it done. Our family stayed at grandmothers house. It was a good experience, and gave us an opportunity to look through her things. I know that sounds terrible, but as Trevor put it, it was a very liberating feeling. When she was a live you never felt like you could ask her about her things, and parts of her house were kind of off limits. Sunday morning I had trouble sleeping so I got up and organized all her china and silverware according to patterns. Aalso to sort of see just how much there was to go through. It gave me peace of mind, and I felt that clearing her things up would not be that difficult. We also had a good time going through her pictures. Trevor had the task of making a collection of pictures for the foyer in the church. We found a lot of pictures we had never seen before. It was fun to come across a picture of Virginia dressed as a flapper, and a glamour girl. A whole different view on her.
We enjoyed the time we had to spend with the other Beal cousins. When we get together and realize how much fun we have we always wonder why we don't do it more often.
Carole had planned some fun meals that everyone could help prepare so we had a lot of good kitchen talk.
On Monday there was a viewing from 10-12. There was a family prayer offered by Quincy, and Carole and I finished putting on the veil and the casket was closed.
The funeral itself went very well. George said he did not want to talk as he felt everything he would say would be an apology. Gill gave the eulogy. It was long and can best be described as a travel log with the theme: "She was always there to meet us" he did permit him self one humerous anecdote: One time when they were together Beth was playing on Grandmother's organ. Grandmother came in and said: "Would you play my favorite: " How Great I am?" We were glad to hear that, as we had chosen "How Great Thou art" for one of the songs at the funeral.
Grandmother's visiting teacher of 14 years asked to talk at her funeral and she did a marvelous job. She was able in a loving way to talk about Grandmothers peculiarities with out sounding critical. She would say: she like to display her pictures around the floor. We could all fill in the unspoken words. One story I liked was when she talked about taking grandmother shopping. She said she would come to her house to pick her up and grandmother would be in her black skirt and blouse and black raincoat. Black shoes and a shopping bag with her black handbag and an alarm clock inside. They would go to the mall and agree on a time and place to meet. So grandmother would set her alarm clock so she would be on time. Then they would go their separate ways till it was time to meet again. She said on one of those trips when she got a call from a clerk in a store that grandmother could not remember where to meet, that it would be their last shopping trip. That was when grandmother started to loose her memory. There was an organ solo. Then Melinda representing the grandchildren spoke. She did a great and loving job too, and I hope you have all had an opportunity to read her talk. The bishop spoke last and he too did a great job. Most of the family was represented on the program in one way or another. David Smith, and Stepen Smith both came from the east coast. 3 of Gills children came and Beth, grandmothers sister. After the funeral there was a luncheon provided by the relief society complete with funeral potatoes and several varieties of Jell-O. The food was very good.
When we got back to the George and Caroles, George pulled the grandchildren and me aside and told us about the disposition of the will. He stressed a couple of times that there was nothing worth getting in a fight over. I agree. Basically he wanted all the grand- children to give him a list of anything they would like from grandmother things, and we would try to share it according to monetary and sentimental value and try to do it as equitable as possible. The only thing grandmother left was her house. It is paid in full. repairs need to be done before it can be sold, and the value will be split evenly among George, Robert and me.
Tuesday morning I left with Quincy and Trevor and flew with them to Salt Lake. Marni met me at the airport and Susan was kind enough to put me up at her house. Wednesday she drove me up to Fielding for the burial. There was a nice turnout here as well. Robert and Kay, and their children and grandchildren except John, who is in Central America. Several of grandmothers Nieces and Nephews showed up. the surprice guest was Rosslyn Beckstead and her children. I am sure she had hoped to see some of you guys. She had read about the funeral in the paper and decided it was our family.
After the burial there was a nice get-to-gether at Gills. Gill also gave us copies of a book he has been writing about his Danish ancestors.
I flew home the next day.
I am going to stop here and do another entry about my reflexions on grandmother.

2006-11-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

I am back and I thought I would give you a resume of my trip. I left sunday night 22 Oct, and landed in London Monday morning. I was able to get a bus right from Heathrow. It was a 7 1/2 hour trip, but some how it didn't feel that long. We drove through a lot of country I had never seen before, so I tried to stay awake and enjoy the scenery. One reason it took so long was because they made a lot of stops. When we were almost in York I had to change to a local bus. My B&B was only a 10 min taxi ride away from the station. It was very nice and I quickly changed clothes and went out to get acquainted with the city. Coming in I had noticed people on the city walls so I decided that would be a good idea. so I walke a good distance on top of the midieval walls that surround the whole older part of the city of York.
You probably wonder why I picked The city of York to visit. Well I read a book that was set in York once and I thought it sounded like an interesting place to visit. It was. The city goes all the way back to Roman times, in fact there are ruins of the Roman city under the city. On top of the ruinsof the roman city are remnants of a viking city. York happened to be the center for the viking operaqtion in England. They have a big viking dig they are excavating. York is the only city with a complete mideival wall going around the old city. There are gates through the wall toget into the city and they call them bars. Today those gates are too narrow and low for anything but foot traffic. In many places you can still see the Roman foundations of the wall.
the inner city is very old and is full of midieval buildings bordering narrow cobble stoned streets. When walking down those streets you almost expect to have the contents of a chamber pot dumped on you. but fortunately they no longer do that.
The next day after a harty English breakfast I went up to the cathedral, the largest gothic cathedral in Europe. I went on the tour, and we had a very good guide who took over 1 1/2 hour to guide us through the edifice. We learned a lot about the magnificent midieval staineed glass windows, and how they had taken them down during the war and stored them in various places. We also learned the the york cathedral has the only carving showing the baby Jesus being bottle fed. Restorations were done during the Victorian times and they could not show the natural way of feeding a baby. Also they have Roaman soldiers sporting full beards and large mustaches, Roman soldiers were clean shaven. They had a large font for Holy Water and it was guarded by a dragon ( the symbol of the Devil) I though that was rather interesting. they talked a lot about the damage done when England converted to protestantism. They sent these crews around that plundered the Catholic properties and destroyed faces and effigies of saints and anything they thought Catholic. Because of this you see many statues with out heads. In Lincoln cathedral some one tried to remidy this by putting faces back on the statues. they were all male faces, But it so happened they were saints he was improving and some of them were women.
I climbed all the way up in the tower to see the view. 275 steps on a circular staircase. But the view was great. I then took a tour of the city, and he showed us a lot of things that we would not have seen on our own so it was definitely worth while. There were a lot of tourists in the town because it was a school holiday (potato harvest holiday We used to have that in Denmark too and I actually helped pick potatoes).
I found a very nice bakery /pastry shop, where they had wonderful pastries. They had pastries shaped a ghosts black and white, pumpkins and apples.
In the evening I went on a Ghost tour. The following is not rated PG.
I will only tell you the worst of these stories. There is a road leading from the cathedral toward the city. Under this road is an old roman road. The road is up against a large building. One day a young man was asked to dig a hole in a storage room that is under the road. All of a sudden the young man shot out of the room all white in the face and shaking. The man tha was there said: So you saw the ghosts? What he later told was that he saw a roman soldier on a horse and he was followed by several soldiers all marching a long. He could only see them from the waste up except for when they moved through the hole he had dug, then he could see the whole body.
Next story. When they excavated for a large taxbuilding they found all these skeletons. the peculiar thing was that they ere all missing their rib cages. Noone could understand the mystery till an expert in viking history came forward and told them. It seems the vikings had a punishment where they would attach a small hook to the bottom of the ribcage and with a set of pulleys they would move the ribcage back and forth till it came loose. the lungs would wxplode and the ribcage would pop out. Grusome. But lest you think the Christians were any nicer here is a story about what they did to vikings that would not embrace their religion. the viking was invited into the church and then he was hung upside down by the feet. They would than take knives and skin the person. He was alive when this process started. When they had all the skin removed, they would sew it together and hang it up as a warning to others.
I think that is enough.
My last day in York i spent visiting various sites. I went to a museum where they had created a timetunnel you went through to see life at various periods of time. I went up in an old tower from viking times. At roman and viking times you could sail up to York. i also saw the Fairfax house. another branch of the Family thatn the onces settling Virginia. It was a beautiful Georgian house, and furnishings. I also saw the Adventures guildhouse, a very old building still in use for ceremonial functions. Of course I spent a good deal of time roaming through the old streets and by the end of 3 days I felt like I knew my way around the old city. It was a welcome relief to come back to my hotel the third evening and find that my new room had a large bathtub. My feet were just killing me as were my knees. York is the second largest city after London. Also the archbishop is only second to the one in Canterbury.
I watches a couple of interesting shows. Of course they had a debate about how much free speach was enough specially in regards to the Muslim community, which is very large in Great Britain. They had a show featureing the actress playing Lydia in Pride and Preduduce. She was trying to find her gemealogy. It turns out she comes of Hugenot stock from France on her mothers side and from Jordan n her fathers. It was very interesting to watch.
Next morning I took the train to Lincoln. again I had to change trains to a small local line to get to my destination.
Lincoln is divided into two parts: the upper and lower part. the land around Lincoln is almost as flat as a pancake, and then you have this large elevation popping up.
The Lincoln cathedral sit on top of this hill. The reason I wanted to see Lincoln is becauser of a book I read ages ago. Katherine by Anya Seton. Kathrine was a real person, the mistress and later wife of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and she is buried in the cathedral.
It was very hilly, just walking from my B&B which was also on the hill up to the town. Again this is a midieval town sitting atop roman and viking ruins. I again took a tour of the cathedral. They have built a much larger church around an already excisting church. it was interesting to see how they had joined the two together. The chapterhouse was used in the movie The Da Vincy Code. I later found out that the pictures I ahd seen in the Chapter house and found out of place since there were no other paintings in the church, were made by Hollywood artists for the movie. when you look at the Cathedral from the outside you can see the towers are leaning slightly. I also saw the old bishops castle, which was in ruin. I found the house where Kathrine had lived. Lincoln has the oldest roman arch still in use. They have special markings in the pavement where they found the entrance to a roman Forum.
The second day I was the Castle where they house one of the only 3 copies of The Magna Carta. One of the signers of the chartes was names, Saen De Quincy.
I walked down to the lower part of town on a street called Steep Street and that was an understatement. It was steeper than any street I have encountered in San Francisco. There are still traces of the vikings too, as in Dane gate Etc. It got quite cold when I got to Lincoln, and the second day it rained in the afternoon, so I took a boat trip which turned out not to be that interesting. I am glad I made the trip to both York and Lincoln. I found it even morre interesting than London, except the shopping was not much.
Saturday i got up early and took the train back to Kings Cross, from where I took the tube over to Heathrow. I was the only standby for my flight and got the last seat in First. As I was waiting to get on board who should show up but David and Irene smith and their son austin, who was returning from his misson to Estonia. Small world. I am glad I got first, we had strong headwinds 127 miles so the trip took over 8 hours.

Next morning I took the train

2006-10-22T05:01:00.000-07:00

Before I start new adventures, I thought I had better get caught up on the last ones.
Oct 11, I went to Utah, and I feel like the Lord blessed me to get on my flight out of Denver. I got the last seat, and the plane was overbooked by 8 people. The thing is if I had not made that flight , I would hardly have had any time to spend with Trevor since he only was off on wednesday.
I rented a car and drove up through Parley Canyon and then through Heber Valley. the trip was so much more beautiful than I remembered. even after I got out of Heber valley there were several reservoirs and much more vegetation than I remember. On my left side I could see the Uintahs and the buttes. Richard and I drove over to Colorado the first year we were married so he could go to summer school in Fort Collins.
We took route 40, but I remember it as being very barren and the only interesting thing we saw was a lot of prairie dogs along the roadside.
Got to Roosevelt by 1 o'clock. Trevor took me out to see an oil drilling site. It was very interesting and the first time I have seen one. We had to drive a long way on unpaved roads full of pot holes. Just like going on safari. Trevors truck is very nice and definitely the right vehicle for that area. Where we drove it was definitely desert and rather drab. It was nice to see that Trevor and his roommate keep a clean house, in spite of having to put up with the oil they invariably bring home on themselves and their clothes. I also got to see one of the trucks they used and they are rather interesting vehicles. Later in the afternoon we visited a couple of places where they sell Indian artifacts. One store had a section where they had antique Indian jewelry. But the best part of the trip was having a chance to sit down with Trevor and have a good visit. Now when I talk to him I will have a better idea of what his surroundings are like and what he is talking about , when he talkes about his work. The next morning we got up and went to a little cafe, where we had a hardy breakfast. The best scrambled eggs I have had at a cafe. tThen Trevor went to work and I got ready to drive back to Salt Lake. I had plenty of time before Quincy and Natalie got home from work, so I stopped in Park City, and spent about an hour walking up and down the old historic Main street. I looked in at a copule of the art galleries. I particularly liked a gallery, that exhibited photos of nature both landscapes and animals. the photographer was named Mangelsen.
I wish I had wallspace and money enough to buy a few of his pictures, they are so restful to look at, but I don't.
It was such a peaceful ride back to Salt Lake, and I stopped to take a picture here and there. In Salt Lake I visited a very good friend I havn't seen in years: Nola Lowe. We used to do name extraction together for about 10 years. I like visiting with older people and see how they are navigating old age. It is like looking at a road map, and get renewed hope that it is possible to be useful and independent, even when you are on the wrong side of 80. She is 86, and had just come home from the temple when I arrived.
Then to Provo to visit Natalie and Quincy. They must have the best furnished student apartment and the cleanest in all of Provo. Natalie has done such a nice job of decorating it. Quincy and I went to the grocery store and talked the whole time. They are both very busy, but still had time for me. Natalie is looking pregnant now, but she looks very well and very happy. Natalie was shopping with her mother and they came back a little later in the evening, so I also had a chance to see Susan again. That was nice. Friday morning I tried to see The Hillams, but they were in their cabin at Sundance, so I tried to find their cabin. Things have changed so much up there it is almost suburbia with paved streets and street names. I couldn't find it, but I had a beautiful ride in the canyon. I remember when they were planning to widen the road going through the canyon. There was so much opposition to it. Richard did the surveys for that project. But I think it has really improved the looks of the canyon and it has sertainly made it safer than it was then. I don't know why people always fight progress. Just think how much better the traffic would be in this area it there was an alternative to the beltway to get in to Maryland. But they can't agree on that either.
I even got a little christmas shopping in. When Natalie came home from work we got ready to go back to Salt Lake for her baby shower. We had a nice conversation on the way up there. I dropped Natalie at her grandparents apartment, and then hurried out to my motel to check in and change my clothes.
The shower was great and it was nice to meet Natalies family again and some of her friends. Susan and Natalies sisters had really gone all out to make it nice. I particularly liked the centerpieces: Blue receiving blankets with a bowl of water and yellow ducks floating on the water. I can just see their little boy taking a bath surrounded by lots of small yellow ducks. The food was great too. The party games were fun, but I will always think differently about candy bars from now on. Natalie got a lot of nice presents for the baby. All in all it was a wonderful evening and I am glad I came out for it. My motel was nice and to my surprise I slept like a log. I usually don't sleep well when I have to get up early.
I tried to get on the early flight to Denver, but I think the gate agents were playing favorites rather than follow the seniority list. So I didn't make it . I remembered there was a flight through Chichago, so I went over to that gate and got on. When we left Chichago, the weather was beautiful and we had great tail winds the whole way. But when we got on the runway, the captain informed us there was a ground stop in Newark because of those winds. So we sat on the runway for almost 2 hours. But they put on a movie: " The Devil Wears Prada", a movie I had wanted to see, so I felt I got a bonus out of all this, and with the shades down and the engines running It felt just like flying.
Emily picked me up in Newark. I went up there so I could be there for the week- end and help celebrate Spencers birthday.
So I had the rest of Saturday and Sunday to get reaquanted with Spencer and Theresa. I have been neglecting them a little this summer because I have had to go and help Melinda out, but I will have to make up for that. It is always interesting to go to church with them, because their little branch is so diverse. They had a little foster boy,Jose, and they have performed wonders with him. When they got him he was withdrawn, because he had been neglected in his previous foster home. When I saw him he was smiley and interacting with everyone in the family and crawling all over the place.
Hew --- That was a long message, but it should keep you busy reading it till I get home from England. I leave today and return Saturday I hope.

mamabealadventures

2006-10-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

mamabealadventures
Just an update. I went back to work this last week, and spent two days at the Pimmit Hills Senior center, working on their registration date. One day the computer was wacky so I ended up spending time with some of the seniors at the center. I spent time playing rubics cube and got beaten every game. They have a lot of chinese people there and also Persians. It is very interesting to watch how the different nationalities interact. I met a lady from New Delhi and we had a nice talk about the issues of being widowed and staying with children versus not staying with them, and the need for privacy. She is very nice and smart.
My face continues to improve, and I have started walking. I think it is going to look very good when it is all healed up, but it is like road repair: It looks great when it is finished but it is a mess while the repair lasts. This is the second time I have had my face operated on for skin cancers in one year.
I really enjoyed conference. I have made most of the dresses for humanitarian services. I cut them out in May, I would say it is about time. I also found time to help my neighbors get started on fixing the rotten wood on their pillars. I think they can handle it from here.
This week I am going up to Delaware for Marys 2nd birthday. I am also having a skincancer taken off my leg before I go up there. The weather is wonderful clear and cool.

mamabealadventures

2006-09-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

mamabealadventures
I am back home again, and cintinuing my medical saga. Monday 19 Sep I had another baselcell carcinoma removed from my nose. It was less than 1/4 " but it made quite a havoc of my face. It was deep and they had to do a skingraft. the surgeon Dr Braun is very good. He took the graft from the smile line and swung it up to fill in the hole. You are supposed to keep your eyes closed but I had mine open just a little bit and could see them swing the little worm of tissue around and cut it to size. It took five hours with the interuptions to have the pathologist examine the edges to make sure they got it all but it beats having to go in several times and not know if they got it. Dr Braun gave me orders top be a couch potato for the first week and not talk so the incitions could heal up undisturbed. I have looked respectively as a victime of domestic abuse, and an alcoholic with a swollen bulbous nose. It is a little scary when you take the bandage off and your whole face is swollen, red and blue. I could hardly see out of my right eye for several days. But it is amazing what a week will do. I almost look like a normal person again. I plan to return to work on Tuesday.
I have pigged out on TV. They had a marathon of old Westerns, and seing that beautiful countryside in southern Utah has made me determined to go out to see it. We lived in Utah for several years but we only got to see Zions National park briefly. My thanks go to Lynne and Linda for driving me to the drs office which is in Dc. Linda drove her convertible. It has been years since I have been in a convertible so it was quite a treat specially since the weather was lovely.

2006-09-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Here is an update on my stay with M and M.
this Picture could be called: my cup runneth over, and I feel greatly blessed to have so many cute grandchildren and the two not pictured in the picture. But I wouldn't want any future grandchildren to think they were not wanted. So keep filling my cup to over flowing. I love it.

The last day I was here we went to Longwood garden. What a lovely visit. It was like a brief visit to paradise.

Now I am on my way home and they expect me at work tomorrow. It will be strange not to here little highpitched voices all ove the place. I shall miss them.

2006-09-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

The last part of August and first half of September has been full of adventures with my grand children. First little over a week with J and H's two cute boys E and J visiting at my house.
Then late August I went up to M & M to help with the children while their new baby brother was born. It is a lot of fun and brings back many good memories of when I was in that situation full time. I know I have been accepted when the little ones allow me to help them even though their parents are present. Going to get the baby from the hospital M and I were a little overwhelmed with all the things happening and completely forgot to bring a baby seat and a blanket for the babys trip home. So he sat in E's seat and was covered with my sweat jacket and M's jacket. Modern day pioneers. The little guy is cute and good natured and I love to hold him.
It really is an adventure to have all these little grandsons coming. I am enjoying each and everyone of them. Of course I love the girls too. Little M loves to parade in my sandals and handbag.