On This Day in History.....

.....Saturday June 5th 1954
my brother Jack who was stationed at Burtonwood USAF base close to Liverpool England came to visit us in Belfast and brought his brother-in-law Alan Marsden to Ireland for his first time and the rest is history :o)


(This picture was taken June 54)

(This picture was taken before he came to Belfast. Look at those shoulders :o))

Field Trips

.....and Granma Days.....
When Lesley posted about her Grandma Days I was reminded that we used to do Field Trips





Well, I guess some of them were vacations :o)





and others were BBQ's at Mueller Park



Sometimes it was ice-cream at the Beach



.....but now the Grandkids are graduating from High School and College



.....going on Missions (this is the 5th missionary)



.....travelling WITHOUT Granma (to Belfast yet!!!)


.....getting married (this is the 4th to get married with another one since)


.....and having babies (this is the 5th great with 2 more since and 2 more on the way)


So now Granma Days include...

.....making breakfast


.....helping make Granma's bed (is that a pillow fight in progress)



.....work in the yard



.....introducing the 3rd generation to the 4th generation


And so it goes.....

My Weekend in Pictures.....

...... I decided to take a leaf out of Lilian's book.

David asked us to have a sleepover at his house for three nights while he took Christine out of town(SL is not WB).
Friday we decided to have tacos for,
two grandparents, and four grandkids:o)

Reality check, 4 visiting neighorhood kids also got invited.



Rebecca made Granma a quesadilla (with a little help from some friends)
(she also lost a tooth but had to wait till Daddy got home to call the Tooth Fairy :o)


Saturday morning Granpa and Uncle Tim enjoying an Ulster fry before watching England's FA Cup Final



Sunday, happy family reunited



Granma doing what she does best, slurping a smoothie, eating Mrs Cavanaughs and reading the Sunday paper aka The Sunday Crossword. Well, after the obits, :o)


AHHHH!!!! the peace of the Sabbath :o)

Time and Distance......

..... go back about 30 years, My Dad was living in Kensington Avenue in Salt lake with my Stepmother. Dad didn't drive and occasionally I would call to see if they would like to go for a ride. I took Lilian and David with me, and after we picked them up we drove to HobbleCreek Canyon in Utah Valley. Who knew it was there? I still don't think I could go back there, but.... that was where we ended up. As we passed the Point of the Mountain and came to a mileage board David said (with disgust as only an 8 year old can)"it's 22 miles to Provo....!!!!!" and his Grandpa said,"YES!!!!! and when I am dead and gone it will still be 22 miles to Provo".
Silence from the back seat. But guess what? it is still 22 miles to Provo and everytime I pass this sign, or David does we call each other to say "it is 22 miles to Provo". Family traditions are created from less. And eventually when I am gone perhaps his kids will call him and say, "it is 22 miles to Provo" I hope so. :o)

Not that I am going anywhere.

PB&J....

.....I ate my very first one........

In 47 years of living the "American Dream" I am finally caught up :o).......
I went to BYU Women's Conference and since there is no time allowed for lunch and you catch as catch can, Lesley brought the fixins' for this American staple and I enjoyed. :o)
According to Lesley it has to be Dick's bread, according to David it has to be Skippy peanut butter, and as far as I am concerned if it is my home-made raspberry freezer jam, YOU ALWAYS WIN!!!!!

BYU Women's Conference.....

.... What a great way to spend 3 days. We went Wednesday afternoon and after getting checked into La Quinta, we went shopping at the University Mall In Orem. We didn't buy much, I had to have chocolate.......
Thursday morning it took us 30 minutes to go 4 miles ............ but the opening talk by Sister Beck was worth it.


We went and did some service so that when they gave the figures of completed projects on Friday I wouldn't feel guilty if I didn't participate :o) The young Sister set a personal goal of 5 blankies, I did 2 and a half. This other Sister from Aspen CO. and I shared the glory on this blankie. Lesley made 3. Not bad for her first time.
The concert was wild. Alex Boye was so awesome in his program someone, commented to me she would never again be able to watch him in the Choir and take him seriously. Hilary Weeks was the Emcee and her theme was laundry. As Alex Boye was acting out someone in the audience yelled, "I'll do your laundry". This, from 10000 Relief Society, Primary and YW workers. It was a lot of fun.
Friday was a real treat as we listened to Elder Oaks as the closing speaker. The closing song was "I know that my Redeemer Lives" to hear upwards of 15000 women sing "I.Know....That.My.Redeemer.Lives." Was unforgettable.

We made some new friends and met some old ones. Lesley met her neighbor and I met my mission president's wife.

Here's to next year. Come with us.

On Winning or Not.....

A couple of weeks ago Lesley created a contest and the prize was a cute candy jar filled with bubble gum, and it reminded me of a promotion we encountered in England when we were on our mission.

(having an understanding of British humour will help)


We bought "Tango" drinks in a 6 pack and our favorite flavour was blackcurrant. Well.... the instructions on the front of the packaging said,"Rip open your Tango 6 pack and scour the innards for a winning coupon printed on the inside. If it's there, Yell,Roar,Shout, run to the hills and back, then exchange it for a free 6-pack of apple, lemon, or orange Tango"

Well I followed instructions, I did not find the coupon, in stead I found this:

"Commiserations.....Not all the laughter of all the children, nor the singing of all the birds, nor the playfulness of all the small animals in all the fields can bring one ray of comfort to the desolation that is in your heart. We can't all be winners, and you have not won today. We will now leave you to deal with this loss in your own way."

That is how I felt when I again did NOT win, in Lesley's contest.

I am dealing with it.