Everyone make a Goofy Face!!

It's all about the Sunglasses

Happiest Baby in the World

A Great Day at Chucke Cheez

On Monday Ivy and I took the kids to Chucke Cheez. We were very thrifty and even printed out coupons to save a few bucks. We had a great time. Lukas was so funny. He would just run from one game to the other and not even worry about the tickets that he won. Henli didn't quite know what to think about the Chucke Cheez Band.........She did do some dancing though. Layni ended up with the most tickets. You get to pick prizes afterwards and they were just these little rinky dinky crappy toys...........What a Racket they got goin there!! but the kids had fun and thats what matters most.

OK Nana...Enough with the camera!!!

All Aboard......................

Baby Henli wasn't to sure about this chair ride...

Let's Bowl !!!!

Baby Henli riding "Puff the Magic Dragon

The Mighty Monster Truck

Tip Toe Through The Tombstones

This past week I did some gravestone research and thought I would share some of the really old unique and lovely stones.

I love the character in the old tombstones.

There are alot of cemteries that are doing "Restoration" to their gravestones. Most are done by

volunteers. When I was in New Orleans in November we got to see alot of how they repair the little house crypts. It was very interesting.

These old stones are always sad for me to see. You have to remember that there was limited materials back in the 1800's to make markers with. The weather mixed with time was pretty hard on them. Luckily most cemeteries have a platt map and they do know who is buried here. Often times you will see a new marker either along side or as a replacement if there is a living relative.

Frei's Fruit Market

Located in a little city in southern Utah is Frei's Fruit Market. It has been a staple in the community since 1956. The kids and I have frequented this place on many occasions. We really have been going there for over some 30 years. I live about an hour away now and the kids are grown and gone ........so I don't get by there like I use to. I probably haven't been there or really even thought about it in three or four years. I was driving by to go to the local cemetery ( remember I photograph tombstones for their relatives).


I was so excited to see it still there. I quickly pulled over and did some shopping. Everything looked so fresh and bright. I ended up buying some sweet corn, purple onion, pattypan squash, melons, tomatoes, and some Anasazi beans.

Oh, the memories came flooding back........All the times we had gone here so the kids could pick out their pumpkins that they would soon turn into "Halloween Art". It was bittersweet. I miss my children being children........but you can't hold back time.

I remember these on the farm and I would somehow connect two of the flowers to make what we called a "Holly Hock Doll".

Pattypan Squash

Yesterday while visiting Frei's Market I stumbled upon these cute little "flying saucer" shaped foods. I had to call someone over to ask what they were. I could almost swear I have never seen these before. Either my memory is really slipping or I am going to have to browse the produce department with both eyes open. Seriously, I really don't remember these. When I was a kid we had a large garden but never grew anything like this.

Pattypan squash is a summer squash and it resembles a small toy top or a flying saucer. Pattypan comes in yellow, green and white varities. I asked how to prepare it and she said the same as zucchini squash. A couple of times a week I saute up some purple onion, green and yellow zucchini, fresh mushrooms, and add a small amount of bacon bits for flavoring- in extra virgin olive oil. It is delicious. So now I will slice up my pattypan and add this to the mixture. I will let you know how it goes.

And besides......I just love saying............Pattypan, Pattypan, Pattypan

There's A New Kid In Town

The other day I went down the street to visit my friend Virginia because I had heard "there was a new baby calf only four days old. It was just too cute. They had bought these two cows at the auction and guess what? They got them home and a few days later there were three.

How about that! Three for the price of two...........

Two Cutie Pa-Tooties.......

My darling grandaughter Henli Christine

and her Aunt Summer.

Very Scary!

North Korea has sentenced the two US journalists to 12 years HARD labor.

The Obama administration said it would pursue "all possible channels" to win the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current Tv media venture.

There are fears Pyongyang is using the women as bargaining chips as the U.N. debates a new resolution to punish the country for its defiant May 25th atomic test and as North Korea seeks to draw Washington into direct negotiations.

I have to say this.

1. Of course North Korea is using this as a bargaining tool.

2. Did they not know the danger involved ?

They are in our thoughts and prayers.............

Twilight

For some time now I have pondered on reading the "Twilight Series" but kept putting it off as I kept thinking it was for the youth.....

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I was simply captivated and at times almost felt "under a spell".

I could not put the book down. It was enchanting. I am so glad that I waited to see the movie after I had read the book and I did watch the movie the day after I had finished the book. The book was 100 times better than the movie. (Which is the case with most books versus the movie.) The same thing happened with "Love in The Time of Cholera.

I will start the new book tonite and then I guess the 2nd movie "New Moon" will come out in November. I do understand now all the "Hype"......You must read it...............

Homemade is "Always Best"

Last year I started seeing these darling little creatures on Ebay. They are called "Primitive Ornies" or "Primitive Bowl Fillers". After investing in a few sets I decided ..........Why couldn't I make these? I thought.........I do sew and I am crafty.

It took me just a short time to figure them out. The toughest part was trying to get the mixture for "rusting" the bells and safety pins. But like the chemistry set my brother had when I was little, I mixed up some potions and managed not to blow up my apartment !... Ha Ha Ha............

Well, I think they turned out pretty darn cute.......

All Because of War....

This is what appeared in the Washington Examiner today and it is Shocking..

www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/46583992.html

Canyon Offerings........

The past several days we have had the most amazing storms roll into the canyon. On friday we had two or three rain down pours that actually turned into 'pea size' hail. Hearing the thunder and lightning brings "joy" to my soul. Growing up in the midwest made me appreciate all the moisture and the storms from mother nature.

But.........for us here in the canyon the threats that a storm can bring can be very dangerous. First of all we are always in a drought. Thus............dryness, so when it lightnings that means "fire" in the park and in the mountains of our little town. Two years ago at the 4th of July celebration the fireworks set the whole mountain on fire and I actually had my car loaded and was ready to evacuate. That pretty much ended the "best fireworks show in the state".

The second threat is the sudden down pour of rain. We have alot of deep canyon hiking trails and this means that when the rain comes fast and swift the bottom of the canyon fills up fast. This means that you are deep in the canyon and the only way out is up. I can't tell you how many past "rescues" and "deaths" we have had in past years.

So the joy of the storm is needed for the moisture and yes, I love the beauty but the dangers are often sorrowful.

Memorial Day Holiday

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died serving our country.

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their grave. It was first observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, and organization of former sailors and soliders.

In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo - which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866- because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soliders with flowers and flags.

It is now observed on the last monday in May.

It is customary for the president or the vice-president of the United States to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of The Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery. About 5,000 people attend this ceremony annually.

'Flags In' - Memorial Day

Today, as on each Memorial Day, there are flags flying in front of every grave at Arlington National Cemetery. The Army calls it "Flags In" day.

It's a big military operation, conducted by the 3rd U. S. Infantry - known as the Old Guard, based at the nearby Fort Myer.

About 3 p.m., when burials are finished for the day, trucks bring out big wooden crates and drop them off at each section of gravesites. The crates are full of flags. The flags have a sharp point on top and are pushed into the ground by hand, about a foot away from the front of each headstone.

About 6 p.m., an officer hears the faint notes of a bugle and calls his company to attention.

Taps is being played as part of a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, on a hilltop at Arlington National Cemetery. By tradition, soldiers stand in respect at this sound.

On Tuesday, before Arlington National Cemetery opens to the public, members of the Old Guard will retrieve the flags and put them into storage for next year's Memorial Day.

Soldiers of the 3rd U. S. Infantry continue 'flags in' mission at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 60. Awaiting headstones, Soldiers killed on patrol in Baghdad flank a group burial site for four members of a World War II bomber crew whose remains were identified through mitochondrial DNA.

In the distance from my view of Arlington House you can see the Columbarium section where my father in "Inurned".

The graves to the left were the first soldiers to be buried beside General Lee's beloved "Arlington House" to make sure that the home would never again be occupied by the Lee family.

Straightening the Stones is done on a regular basis.

A view of Arlington House from the winding road below.

Services at Arlington

In August of last year my mother and I visited Arlington and there were several services that passed us along our journey to visit my father's resting place. As I read now on the web site there are approximately 25 to 40 burials a day. If you figure 365 days a year that would be about 14, 400 burials a year. Observing these ceremonies was an experience that I simply could not have imagined. There is a great stillness and sadness. It takes you to a place that one could never imagine without having known the reality of it. It left me at times nearly as if "I could not breathe".......and for a moment it felt as if "I were choking". The tears were rolling down my face.

God Bless all who have served and are now serving that we as "Americans" can continue to live a "free" life. Let Freedom Ring.................