Visit to Bend

We spent the weekend at the Dodges. They put on this really great preparedness fair at the church on Saturday. They had 8 booths on things such as wilderness survival, water purification, raising chickens, canning, gardening, using wheat, and baking bread. They had samples for people to try. I helped with Sheryl's booth and we gave out samples of the stuff you can get from the church--hot chocolate, fruit mix, refried beans, and potato pearls. She had also made a big pot of black beans.

At the using wheat booth they had blender pancakes I want to try, and a stir fry made with softened wheat kernels. It was delicious.

We watched Jason and Jonathan ride the dirt bikes. Coming over the hill is Jason and the other pictures is of Jonathan in all his gear. He's really getting a kick out of it.


I got to meet Jessica's new friend, Wes. He has beautiful green eyes, a terrific grade point average, and wants to be an engineer. Jessica is turning 17 this week!

On Sunday they needed a chorister for Sacrament meeting so Jonathan volunteered me! He was playing the organ and we were a good team. I liked the songs he chose. Then the choir was singing and their accompanist didn't show up so I agreed to play for them and sight read a Sally deFord song that was quite nice. I was really eating it up because I don't get many opportunities to help with music in our home ward.

Speaking of our home ward, while we were gone we got a new Bishop--Greg Carlson. He'll be great.

A walk on campus

The campus is beautiful this time of year. The rhododendrons and azaleas are in their prime. Some rhodies are two stories high or more!

We wandered around and took a picture of Eldon at his old stomping ground--Covill Hall.

And then we walked over to the Tute so I could get equal time on my old stomping ground. Kind of nostalgic.

Mother's Day 2009

Usually Mother's Day is stressful wondering if all five kids will remember me and feeling guilty after hearing all the tributes at church. This year I tried some positive self talk  and realized I must have been a pretty good mother for our five kids have all turned out quite wonderfully. 

And of course they all remembered me. (They usually do--it doesn't pay to worry in advance.) 

Carl sent a gift card for Amazon.com so I ordered a CD of my favorite singer, Michael Crawford singing love songs. He has an amazing voice. 

Brenda gave me a fingernail care kit which I actually really needed because my cuticles are dry and cracked constantly. 

Sheryl sent me some flower seeds which will be so cheerful when they get planted. 

Neil came for a visit which was a nice surprise. He gave me a potted lilly which looks quite elegant in the parlor. He was up for a race in MacDonald Forest where he took 5th. He and Zach went to church with me since Eldon was feeling under the weather. 

And to top it all off Ken invited us all out to supper which he cooked himself! I didn't know he was such a good cook. He used some good Weightwatchers recipes which was appreciated. He made a spinach lasagna from scratch and also some yummy sweet potatoes with pineapple and cinnamon in them. I think they should replace the calorie laden sweet potatoes Brenda usually makes for Thanksgiving! He also had a yummy fruit parfait for dessert that was only 2 points. That dinner party mushroomed until it was quite a large group with all of Ken's family, all of Neil's family except Esther (who stayed home for prom), plus Jason Campbell, Emily's impressive boyfriend. It was fun to see what a cute toddler Ariana has become.

The only thing to mar the day was Eldon being sick. But he had marked the day by planting an azalea bush and letting me buy the newest MoTab CD, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."

I count Eldon and my five kids as my greatest blessings. I'm also blessed to have great sons and daughters in law and amazing grandkids.  Those grandkids are going through stages just like their parents did but I'm confident they'll turn out just fine just like their parents did. 

I am very happy being a Mom and a Grandma and even a Great Grandma!

PS Polly did a neat thing on Mother's Day. She went on a walk individually with each of her four girls. Not only did she get some good exercise in, but she had a good talk with each of them!

Sydney's dress rehearsal

We got to see Sydney's dress rehearsal for her dance recital. The costumes and backdrop were  gorgeous. Her dance teacher is also the Primary president and Maia's pre-school teacher. It was fun to see nine little girls dancing and singing. 

And also fun to see the proud parents!

Two gold stars!

Is blogging synonymous with bragging?

I earned my second gold star at Weightwatchers. (Ken's already got 3.) That means ten pounds of ugly fat evaporated. 

To celebrate I got a new swim suit. Our water aerobics teacher told us about this website called Swimandsweat  where you can get suits that are supposed to resist chlorine damage. It was reasonably priced, especially compared to the Lands End suit I got last year. The suit was $38 plus $19 for the aqua shorts. It is really good for exercising because it's modest and you don't have to worry.

Now on to the next gold star!

Boondoggling: the ultimate activity for retirees

Grandpa has taken up boondoggling! He went to Michael's and bought a bunch of spools and then got patterns off the internet, most of which were too hard. But Emily showed him a simpler one he likes. Of course he aims to boondoggle with the grandkids at the reunion.

Another thing Grandpa has enjoyed this spring is taking care of the yard. He used too much fertilizer on the lawn and has to cut it every week! Our neighbor's Clematis Montana is spilling over the back fence and looks lovely.