Wed - Sat Thankfulness list

Wed. - Malinda and Brian finding an apartment so they can finally be back together as a family.
Thur. - To spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. We had a wonderful time.
Fri. - BLACK FRIDAY sales at Walmart. It was totally awesome!!!
Sat. - BYU beating the Utes!!!

I just love the Thanksgiving holiday. I love everything about it. Good food, great times with people I love. SHOPPING at 4:00am and getting some incredible deals. Eating leftovers, spending more time with family and more shopping. Who could ask for more? ..... Well maybe I could ask for one thing. Can someone please take this sore throat away. It hurts to talk and swallow, plus my ears hurt and have a loud ringing in them. Please, just take it away.

Now we are in the official countdown to Christmas. Mine and Dennis' favorite time of the year. Let the MERRIMENT begin!!!

Tues. Nov 24 thankfulness

I am so thankful for good health.

I woke up at 3:00 am with a sore throat. It kept me awake for 45 minutes until I finally got up and did something about it. I gargled, took some Echinacea and went back to bed and blissful slept (until the alarm went off at 4:45 am), promptly turned off the alarm and went back to sleep for another hour. After Dennis left for work I took a hot bath and drank some Yarrow tea to help me sweat out any germs and crawled back into bed with Dennis' hot mattress pad and slept for 2 more hours. I woke up feeling so much better. I am still taking the Echinacea and gargling throughout the day, plus putting on Sen Sei. I just can't get sick right now and miss the Black Friday sales - that would be horrible.

Today I am thankful for....

Flowers in winter. Dennis brought me home a beautiful bouquet of roses last Monday. I have been cutting them back and giving them fresh water about every 3 day, and half of them are still alive and they bring a ray of beauty into our home.

November 23 Thankfulness

Here I am again, 5 days behind. So here is my list of 5 things:

1. I am grateful for my parents. They have taught me so much in my life. They share so much with our family from their garden and fruit trees.
2. I am grateful for Dennis parents also. Mark (Dennis's dad) thought he had a heart attack Saturday night and spent all night Saturday and all day Sunday in the hospital having tests done. They found nothing, which we are all very grateful for. It must have just been stress related. We had been up there all day Saturday helping Steve install the new countertops he made for them. We think that dad must have done too much. We are so glad he is home from the hospital with a clean bill of health.
3. Christmas music. I apologize if I have posted this before already but it is our (Dennis and my) favorite kind of music. I play it pretty loud all day every day.
4. Inflated tires. I totally take for granted the tires on the car UNTIL THAT IS....heaven forbid one goes flat. What a hassle!!!
5. The last of the melons from my garden. I think it is a Casaba or Crenshaw, but whatever it is, it is so delicious. Who would have thought that melons would last until November. It was one of those things my father taught me. (Thanks dad).

Wednesday Nov 18

I decided it would be easier to make a list of things I am grateful for today, rather than try to think back a week.

1- A great, but exhausting 4 day workshop.
2- A new outlook on life
3- Another class on my new sewing machine, this time I learned some basics on machine embroidering. I am so excited. I have all these ideas in my head that I want to make.
4- I finally have ideas in my head. I have felt like I have been on auto pilot for the last year and a half. Nothing to motivate or drive me.
5- I have a new passion in my life, and I am so excited about it. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. I can't spill the beans right now, but watch for great things from me in the next year.
6- A wonderful weekend with 2 of my sweet, beautiful grand daughters. Plus the bonus of - on Family Home Evening watching all the grandkids interact and play with each other. It is truly a piece of Heaven. They really do love each other.
7- Listening to little P. who is 3 years old recite the 1st Article of Faith. His mom has given him an incentive to memorize it. All he wants is a hamburger and a "big corn" (corn on the cob). He is working so hard and it is so sweet.
8- A clean kitchen. Since I was gone for 4 days last week and came home to company (which was wonderful), and then on Monday I picked up a large order of food storage items and it sat around the kitchen until I could get it into smaller packages, my kitchen looked like a war zone. I finally had a few hours last night to clean it and it feels SO GOOD!!!!

Tuesday Nov 10 gratitude

Wow, I am so behind. Dennis and I went to a 4 day workshop last week and I have been running ever since.

Tuesday gratitude:
Looking forward to a 4 day break from the daily grind.

Monday Thankfulness....

Today I am thankful for my new sewing machine. It took me a year to decide to fork out quite a bit of money for a new one. The money was a big deal, but not as much as the worry of learning how to run a new "computerized" machine. I knew my old machine inside and out. I guess that happens when I have had it for 33 years. Now that I have taken classes and worked on the machine I am not so afraid of it anymore. It is so fun. So far all I have done on it is make quilts, which is my new hobby. It's great fun. HATS OFF TO BERNINA! Now if I can just get to actually quilting the quilts.

Sundays are the best and I am thankful for....

the opportunity to attend church today. I was sick the last two Sundays with the flu and I missed partaking of the Sacrament and feeling the sweet Spirit that fills each and every meeting. I wonder if we understand how truly blessed we are to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. I know I don't even fully comprehend it. It is too much for my mortal brain to understand the concept of "Christ like Love". Never having a bad thought or worse speaking those thoughts to or of others.

Nov 7 - Thankful for.....

Paint, paint brushes, health and the ability to paint. I repainted the downstairs bathroom (we didn't like the other color I chose before) and painted the finish work Steve put up a few days ago. It is now complete except for handles on the vanity. Our guests no longer have to share our bathroom upstairs. I was giddy with excitement when I put the shower curtain up. Just plain wonderful. 41/2 months of working and waiting. YEA, it is now over. YEA!

Friday Nov 6 Thankfulness

I am grateful for all of Steve's hard work to get out basement bathroom nearly finished. He put in the finish trim (baseboards and door moldings), caulked around the tub and shower, and cut out some tile for the shower thing to fit in. THANKS STEVE - I APPRECIATE ALL YOU DO FOR US!!!

Thankful for...

Being it is November I am going to try and post something I am thankful for every day.
Today I am thankful for.....
The beautiful fall weather.

Who can not be happy and thankful for 70 degree weather and beautiful fall colors. It seems the world is in its full glory. I just love it.

Halloween 2009

Despite having been sick for a week with the "dreaded flu", I got to enjoy some of the Halloween fun. Friday night found us at the Whitlocks annual Halloween party which is always lots of fun. Saturday all the kids and grandkids (except for Mark's family)came to our wards Trunk or Treat. I just love Trunk or Treat. I never was a fan of opening the door every 2.5 minutes. Now it is all over in about an hour, the kids get more candy than they can carry and everyone can go home and enjoy the rest of the night....For Dennis and I that meant watching the new Transformers Movie.

School season means CANNING season!

I have been reading posts from many about their kids going back to school. Some are quite sad to see their kids go and others are ecstatic. When I had school age kids, I fell into the later category. I loved having my kids around, but being a working mother it was hard to leave them during the day - and they always fought with each other so much more when I worked. I also loved having a clean house for 3 or 4 hours and the peace and quiet - well that was Heavenly.

BUT

Fall not only brings school - it also brings CANNING.

Last Week: 28 quarts of peaches
Yesterday: 6 quarts and 40 pints of homemade Spaghetti Sauce

My canning shelves are now overly full...and...I still have stewed tomatoes, apples and grapes to do...oh well, I guess I will have to the find room somewhere. Forget the freezer - it is filled to overflowing as well.

Thanks to my dad for the sharing of his harvest.

Prologue - Springville Folkfest

Saturday August 8th

Today was the last day of the Bountiful Summerfest and we had decided earlier in the week that we wanted to go. We had never been before and we wanted to see how it compared to Springville's Folkfest....but most of all we wanted to see "our girls" again. We left a wee bit early from my family reunion and headed North. There was Dennis and I, Alisha and her two boys, and Amanda & Steve and their 3 kids. Bountiful's Summerfest was different in two big ways that I could tell. The first was all the vendor booths they had. Close to 100, if not more (where as Springville only had about 20 or less). The second big difference was the stage where they had their program. It was set up much like a concert in the park and if you were not in the front, it was very difficult to see. Springville's is on a hill (like the Scera Shell) and is so much easier to see. I liked the vendor atmosphere in Bountiful, but really preferred Springville's amphitheater. The sound, view, basically everything was so much better.
Waiting for the performances to begin:





As soon as we got to the park we went in search of the Koreans. We found the area where the dancers go to get ready and hung around until we found someone from the Korean group. It was one of the boys and I asked him for "our girls" by name and in his very broken English he pointed to the pool and said "swimming". We thanked him and went to pick a place to sit for the evening. We decided to walk around the vendor booths and go back to the dancers entrance later to inquire about them. On our last row of vendors we run into one of the other Korean girls who was always hanging out with "our girls"....she was so excited to see us and told us to stay and ran off towards the dancers area. So we hung out there and pretty soon here comes "our darling girls". They were kind of surprised to see us, but almost as excited as we were to see them. It was a sweet reunion. We visited for a few minutes. I asked them what they had been doing all week and they said in unison "swimming". They were so excited that they had been able to swim everyday they had been in Bountiful. Then they had to leave to get ready for their performance. The highlight of the evening performances was see the Chinese do their "1000 Buddha Hands" again. It is just amazing.

The Koreans were the last on the program and since we had such poor seats, we went up front and sat on the grass so we could take pictures.



After they were done we went up to the stage and gave them all hugs and said goodbye for the second time in a week. Hye Jin was especially sad to say goodbye. Then they were gone. All the performers went back stage to get their stuff and go back to their host families, so we gathered up our stuff and headed for home. It was great seeing them one last time.

Another week has gone by and the Korean's are now all home. We have had several emails from Hye Jin Lee. We don't get much more than a lot of Thanks very much and I miss you (because of the language barrier), but we are thrilled that she even remembers us and wants to stay in touch. I will definitely do this again next year, and would encourage anyone else who wants to have a wonderfully unique experience to give it a try.

2nd Annual Nash Family Reunion

Yesterday was the day for the infamous (but fairly new) Nash family reunion. This year it was my sister Nancy and her families turn to put it all together. Because we don't have enough funds in the reunion pot yet for a REALLY COOL PLACE we met at my sisters church's pavilion. Thanks Nancy (and family) for doing such a great job and having some really fun activities.

First of all we ate a great meal.

Mom and Dad Nash - The patriarch and matriarch of this great family

Why did the chicken (I mean children) cross the road(fence) Well that was where the playground was - THANKS Jason (and others) for hefting them over.

Boys will be boys - even when they are grown!


There was the treasure hunt for the kids...with a bag of candy and bubbles at the end

Water balloon volleyball - Yeah Lisa and Tony, good throw. If you read this and know Tony, you should ask him about his "water balloon boobs", which started a major water balloon fight.










We had a great time, but 2 things would have made it perfect: 1- If all of our family could have been there (we missed those of you that weren't able to come.
2- the weather (a cold front decided to roll through just before we started and it felt more like winter than summer).
Thanks again to Nancy and her family for such a great time.

Lindon Days 5K

Dennis and I had been wanting to run another 5k, but up until Saturday hadn't been able to. I was going to run without paying money just for the experience and to time myself. Dennis always pays so he can get a shirt (one of these days I will make him a quilt out of all the shirts he has acquired). But today, when I found out the price was only 12.00 and that included the shirt I decided what the heck. I start out running, then do quite a bit of walking, and run again when I catch my breath and feel like pushing myself. I do this the whole 3 plus miles.

Usually I have been the one taking pictures of Dennis while he runs, so this is quite a change. BEWARE - I look awful without my hair done and no makeup.

I finished in 35 minutes and 23 seconds and felt really good. Notice the lady running behind me - it was my goal to beat her and I'm glad I did because......


......I took first in my age group 50-60 year olds. WOOT, WOOT!!! Only in a small town race would that ever happen. The second place runner in my category was the lady who was right behind me. It was worth the extra effort to push myself at the finish. (Huge pat on the back for me - Yeah Baby)

The 2 runners and 1 run/walker

Springville World Folkfest - GOODBYES

Sunday, August 2

Parting is such sweet sorrow!!! Whoever wrote that hit the nail on the head. They had to be there at 8:30am to be bussed up to Bountiful for their Summerfest activities. We exchanged emails and hugs and said our goodbyes. I didn't cry until the directors of the Folkfest had the host families sing "Until We Meet Again", then the Koreans were ushered on the bus and they were gone.

GOOD BYE DEAR FRIENDS - TILL WE MEET AGAIN!!!

Springville World Folkfest - Day 6

Saturday, August 1st

Today there was a swimming and pizza party at the Springville pool for all participants and host families at 10:00. My girls were super excited to go. After a quick breakfast we headed to the pool and while everyone swam (My Koreans, Alisha and her two boys, and AnnaLynne (David had to leave yesterday to go back to for work), and Amanda and her 3 kids. The Mexicans didn't swim. I didn't swim either, I figured I would be there if Amanda needed help with her little ones, which she did. Her children are not little fish like Malinda and Alisha's are. At 12:00 out came the pizzas (there were like 150 of them) and they were devoured within minutes. We had a good time just chilling, eating, and visiting.






Hye Jin, I wish the picture of the other girls had not been blurry


After all the morning fun was over we stopped by where Dennis was working and gave him some cold pizza. On the way home I took them to the Dollar Store so they could buy (Chinese made) trinkets to take home with them. Then we headed home to chill until 4:00 when they had to be at the Springville High School for dinner and other evening activities that were only for the dance participants. So Dennis, I, Alisha and Amanda had 4 hours until we had to be back to the closing night ceremonies (actually 3 hours given the 1/2 hour trip each way). We found the performances tonight for the most part were repeats of dances that were performed sometime during the week. The highlight was an encore performance of the Chinese 1000 Buddha hands. That was my all time favorite performance of the entire week. The Koreans played the same music (at least it sounded like it to me), but for tonights performance all the kids had their drums tied to them by some of the sashes they wore. The poor things were wearing their drums for hours as they were close to the end of the program. They told us (rather showed us through language barrier sign language) earlier that their shoulders get really sore. Some of the Korean girls are such tiny little things and their drums are pretty good sized.


But it was spectacular to see them marching on stage playing their hearts out. It was a bittersweet moment when the folkfest ended. On the one hand we were glad for all the driving to be over and ready to get back to a normal life, but sad to know that our new friends would soon be leaving and we would never see them again.

As was the case all week, they fell asleep in the back seat on the way home. I would have thought them utterly exhausted and would go right to bed. Wrong again. They went down to their room and I went about folding the clothes I had washed and dried for them to pack. When I took their folded laundry downstairs, they made a fuss that I shouldn't come into their room, so I stood outside the door until one of them came and got the clothes. I caught a glimpse of them sitting on the bed writing on the cards they had bought at the store that afternoon.

A while later they came upstairs and told us to sit and gestured to the couch. Then they brought out gifts. Each one in turn presented us with a gift and a thank you card. After reading the first card the other two girls told us "not read now - tomorrow". It embarrassed them to have us read the cards in their presence. We in turn gave them each a journal and told them it was for them to write about their experiences here in America. We all hugged each other and headed for bed as it was going to be an early morning wake up call in a few hours.

Springville World Folkfest - Day 5

Friday, July 31

We got to sleep in again today. Thank heaven for small miracles. They did have a performance at the park at noon, but another small miracle, it was at a park only blocks from my house. The girls were getting worried that we were not leaving a half hour early, but I kept telling them this performance was very close to my house. I don't think they understood. The Koreans and Belgiums were the only two groups to perform. That meant that Alisha had to be there also. Amanda decided to bring her 2 Mexicans and come watch. Then afterwards we all went up Provo Canyon and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. None of our guests had ever had an experience like this before and they all enjoyed it. Then off on a short walk to Bridal Veil Falls because the Belgiums nor Mexicans had been their yet. We spent quite awhile there. The highlight of the afternoon was when Porter (3 years old) decides to pull his pants down and pee right there in the pond at the bottom of the falls. Talk about humiliating. Amanda must have turned about 5 shades of red.

Baby R and Baby A (cousins) enjoying the picnic


Cousins K & L, both love to eat.


Hye Ji and Se Hyun enjoying a good old American SMORE!


Se Hyun roasting marshmallows


2 men from the Mexican dance group (not the 2 Amanda hosted), they just came along for the fun.


Some of the group at the falls

Amanda and Baby R who loved the water

Malinda and Baby A who did not like the water, but isn't this picture precious


Hye Jin and Little Miss L (Hye Jin took a real liking to L and they got to be good buddies)


I sure hope he is not drinking that (and to think that some little boys pee in it:))


Malinda, Annalynne and David (Belgiums) and Little K (she is crying because she wants to get in the water)


Hye Ji, Se Hyun, Amanda, Baby R, Little L, Tyler, Hye Jin



They had to be at the Arts Park at 6:45 and Amanda's Mexicans had to be there at 7:00 so I returned the favor (to Amanda) and took them all down so she could have a blissfully longer evening at home. Most countries had different dances every night and that made it worth coming down to watch. It would have been boring with 5 nights of the same thing. Some wore the same costumes all week, but most changed them up.
Again, after the performances, the girls fell asleep in the car on the way home, but were wide awake once we got home, and HUNGRY! I think tonight is when they ate ice cream, which was weird, as they ate hardly any sweets all week.