TINY NOTES

"Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections."

How can leaving tiny post-it notes change your life.......and maybe others?

Caitlin Boyle said "I realized what we write on a note for others is really the message we need to hear ourselves."

I am so excited that I can maybe make a person or two smile or feel better with just a "tiny note". My goal is to leave notes wherever I am each day. Two of my favorite words "Synchronicity" and "Serendipity" will be connected with these tiny notes. I will never know their true effects, but I have faith they will now and then reach the people who need a lift or a smile. I thought long about the name I gave to my new little escapade, "Tiny Notes". A colorful post-it, in a bright color with a small bird stamped on it......signifying it just flew itself into the spot it was needed that day! I ask God each day, in these hard and stressful times, help me make even one person's load a little lighter.

"Serendipity" is the act of finding something valuable or delightful when you are not looking for it or expecting it, ......something good by accident.

"Synchronicity"- what is it? Synchronicity is the process whereby our energy flows easily and beautifully and attracts to us all the ideal people and events that provide the perfect opportunity for growth. Things, people and circumstances come into our path for a reason. Synchronicity is the outward manifestation of our thoughts brought to us by our souls, linking and connecting us with others... With events that serve as meaningful opportunities that we have attracted into our experiences to assist us in gaining clarity or evolving in some way. It represents the invisible, underlying spiritual working of the universe. These two words and their meanings appear as two seemingly disconnected events that are actually beautifully interconnected in a divine way. Syn events are often associated with periods of transformation; for example births, deaths, falling love, divorce, intense creative works or even a change of career/profession.

This I believe....."Things Happen For A Reason...Just Believe."

Saving Money

"Life is like a coin, you can spend it anyway you want, but you can only spend it once."

I was raised with enough....I had a good home, plenty to eat, but not a lot of extras. I learned to be careful with my money and after being married to "Scrooge" for 30 years, I know well thrifty. My grandchildren do not know these things. My three daughters know one-half of it. There is a new guide line I am striving for to make my dollars stretch further in these hard times. I have learned there are four categories:

1. Top Dollar Items..."I really need it, and I really love it."

2. Bottom Dollar Items.... "I really need it, but I don't really love it." ( These would be sale items that entice you because they are on sale.)

3. Remaining money Items: "I don't really need it, but I really love it." (This is where retail therapy is involved. You think it would make you feel better to have one more pair of shoes.)

4. Not One Cent On: "I don't need it, and I don't really, really love it"... (Ends up as clutter or in the next garage sale. Impulse buying.)

I could never become a monk who "has no stuff", but there does come a time in your life when you realize your house is full of "stuff" you don't need, use or want any more. I wish my time would arrive soon, because I really do have lots of "Stuff"! Just think what a great garage sale my kids can have when I die!

My THree Granddaughters

I have three beautiful granddaughters! It is a grandmother's privilege to brag about her grandchildren, sooooo. Tiffany is my oldest granddaughter. She was a beautiful swimmer and got a scholarship to Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. Four years later she came back to Salt Lake with a degree in Geology. Tiff went to work at University of Utah in the Engineering department and has excelled, getting several awards and moving up. She started helping as an alumni advisor with her sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma on campus and just keeps moving up the ladder there. She just accepted a position as Providence Director of Chapters over three states. She will be a wonderful leader and example for many young girls. She has even met a wonderful guy, is engaged and planning an October wedding. She has her plate full in the direction she wants to move, with a partner. Now there is hope I might be a great-grandmother some day!

Nicci is my second granddaughter. Nicci has her whole life in front of her and is running full bore into it, not backing away for a minute. Nicci's attitude is bring it on, more, faster, better, how much, how soon. Bring it on and I'll handle it and be the best of the best at it. Nicci loves adventure and travel. She was a great little dancer, but knew there was more in life. After four years of college at Arizona State, then a two year stint with her sorority as an advisor, then on to Indiana University to graduate school. She has completed one year and has made us all proud. She never stopped trying for interviews with big companies that could challenge her and help her grow. She preferred Proctor and Gamble, but ended up with an internship this summer with Nestle, turning down Hershey because of no International offices. She is back in IU with an offer for a job when she graduates next spring with a mere $90,000.00 starting fee and an offer for any department she wants......and will turn 25 next month. Will this make her happy? I don't think she will be happy until she is running one of these companies!!!! (Nestle knew she has a boyfriend that just went with P & G, they acknowledged this and said they could probably find a place for Bill, if Nicci would sign on!) Nicci has worked hard, and has earned this. What's more she has some of her grandmother's genes.......not the smart ones, just the Gypsies ones.

Andrea is my third granddaughter, she just turned 15. She is tall, beautiful, smart and sassy! She just passed her drivers test, was in a golf tournament, is a good swimmer and loves dance. Andrea has a great potential for a wonderful life, she knows what she wants. These girls make me a very proud Grandmother...............

Eat - Pray - Love

I loved Liz Gilbert's "Eat, Love ,Pray" story. How I envy someone who is brave enough to just take their life into their own hands and do what they feel best for them. Julia took one year to search out her own self. She began to explore her joyful self by eating favorite foods in Italy. Then she went to India, she tried the soul searching and meditation and learning to be quiet inside. Then on to Indonesia to eventually fall in love. I so admire people like her. I wonder if I could try a chunked down form of this at home? Eating? Well at the present I am on a diet because of my granddaughter's wedding and I have to look good in the dress I bought that is pretty tight! I can write down my dreams, sometimes when you put them in words they can come true. Go back and read them often. Second would be: you need to have quiet times. Living almost alone I have a lot of peace and quiet in my life. Third: Find out what makes you really happy. Connecting with friends, volunteering, learning something new, like to knit, speak Spanish or play the piano. Fourth: Pamper your self. I don't do spas well, but I love having my nails and hair done. I thought about it but I can't see myself mixing oatmeal and honey and covering my face or mixing olive and sugar to make a thick paste and covering my body in it before a shower for an exfoliating body scrub. So I will just turn on my little water fountain and light an aromatherapy candle and have a glass of wine. I think that will do it! As for Love, my family and friends provide me with a lot of love............all I can handle at my age!

I also loved the movie because I have made a journey through the very same places she made. Yes, I have eaten the fabulous foods in Italy and marveled at the culture and sights. Yes, I have been to Bombay and seen the poverty and had the children run along side your taxi wanting a handout. I saw and felt their religiousness. I never meditated there. And yes I loved Bali, Lombac and Jarkarta. Their I loved their little spirit houses at homes or the way they left special things on the steps for the spirits. The weddings and funerals were very unusual. And gosh, I wasn't there long enough to fall in love......I spent all my time shopping.

Busy Weekend

Such a busy weekend......the time is just flying and I haven't gotten in the nap I had planned to take. I got back from a two day trip to Vernal Thursday night, and Friday rushed to get ready to drive to Provo to meet my sister and niece who had driven up from Arizona. We had a fun evening in Robert Redford's Sundance Resort watching "Big River". We went up early and had a nice dinner in one of the restaurants. Met Mike's finance, her sister and aunt. My nephew was Mark Twain, always fun when you know one of the actors. It is a big out door place with seating that goes up the side of a hill. It's quite a climb up but they offer you a ride in a hay wagon looking thing. It was a beautiful night, but when that sun goes down you are glad you have a winter coat and a blanket. Leslie was just getting over pneumonia and the high altitude was making it hard to breath, so at the half we decided to head for the warm car. Of course the hay wagon thingey wasn't running at the half so hanging on to Korina, we old ladies crept down the big hill to the little warm store. I didn't get back to Salt Lake until 1:00 in the morning and I can't remember when I had been out so late! Saturday Leslie stayed with me while Mike and Korina went to the Salt Lake Temple. We shopped for material to make blankets for the kids, and she took a nap. They will leave tomorrow and her visits are never long enough for us to catch up on all our news. I love my little sister and worry about her health. She hadn't eaten enough breakfast and had a diabetic melt-down in the material store, it really scared me. We found some candy and a bottle of water and headed out to find some lunch for her. She really doesn't take very good care of herself...........Off to the Cooks for Sunday dinner.

Happy Birthday to Pam

My first child had a birthday Wednesday......Every year older she is makes me a year older also,that is o.k. Sherrie drove in from Vernal to go to lunch with Pam, Karrie, Tiffany, Andrea and I,so it was fun having all the girls and two of my three granddaughters for lunch. Karrie let us go to the Willow Creek Country Club on her membership. Sherrie drove to Salt Lake Tuesday night and we had fun shopping and she and Karrie and I planning Tiffany's bridal shower for September 18th.

Sherrie had to get back to Vernal by five for a meeting so by three we finished our celebration for another year. At three forty-five Karrie, Scott, Andrea and I were on our way to Vernal to pick up Alex's old truck for Rich to buy,a very spur of the moment trip and my only "out of town vacation" for a year and a half.....wow! The next morning took the truck in to register it and the kids rode horses. All went to lunch and jumped in the cars and headed back to Salt Lake to get Scott weighted in and signed up for foot ball........a must as his father is head coach this year. What a fast and hectic trip and poor Sherrie didn't even know we were coming until she was almost home. We were about an hour behind her. Darren and her boys are on a river trip so didn't upset the household routine too much. Our four August birthdays are now gone and school is just around the corner.......and Fall.

Happy Day

"Hakuna Matata".......There are no worries! Yesterday was Andrea's 15th birthday and the family did the traditional Spaghetti Factory dinner. It has become a tradition since Andrea's mother was a little girl. My whole family love it. I find birthday and Spaghetti Factory are synonymous. The little ones go for Mac and Cheese. THEN, the family and I had tickets to see The LION KING, oh wow, did I enjoy it. I have always loved the music, then put the wonderful story of a father's love for a son into it, with the fabulous costumes, lighting and staging was unreal. There really are some talented, creative people in our world, which give us all a lot of pleasure.

On Saturday I went to Tiffany's first wedding shower. Scott's family hosted it and it was fun to meet his side of the family. They had tons of good food.........and I'm on a diet! She (they) got a lot of nice gifts to start their new life off together. Of course, being the practical person I am, I gave her a pink tool kit.....I knew she wouldn't get too many of those.

Friday Sherrie and her family came to town and we had a swimming pizza birthday lunch for Andrea and Brayden, born one day apart. Brayden is celebrating his birthday today on a river trip with his Dad's family. And my mother would have been 98 today.............Happy birthday Mom. I have so much to be grateful for with my wonderful, fun family and my parents and siblings. I will be singing Hakuna Matata all day.............cute Simba.

Thoughts.......

"There are only two ways to live your life.....One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though every thing is." I was saddened to read today two dear friends have passed away. Gerry Rich was in our Guard Group and Barbara Johnson was a fun friend to party with. Makes you stop and think. As I look at this picture taken this summer with my youngest grandchild out boating with his family, I cherish those moments we have shared and would hope for many more, but life at my age is quite uncertain. I don't feel older everyday, but my family would probably consent they see me getting older......so what, old is good! Too many people don't get the opportunity to grow old........ Read on.

"A Warning" by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple, with a red hot which doesn't go and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves, and satin sandals and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired, and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells. And run my stick along public railings and make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain, and pick flowers in other people's gardens and learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat, and eat three pounds of sausages at a go. Or ,only bread and pickles for a week, and hoard pens and pencils and beer mats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry, and pay our rent and not swear in the street. And set a good example for the children, We will have friends to dinner and read the papers. But, maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised when suddenly I am old and start to wear purple!

I am not laughing, but I always think twice before I buy something purple, my grandma Goff liked purple, and I remember she was old.

CTR-Choose The Right

In our Mormon Church, when children reach the age of accountability, they are sometimes given a "CTR" ring or better known as the "Choose The Right" reminder. I think the "CTR" ring would be great to be included in everyone marriage ceremony. You could exchange the rings and wear them on the other hand from the wedding bands. It might cut down on the cheating that goes on in so many marriages, and the divorces.........I also think every politician, when they are sworn into office should be given one to wear. Maybe it would help them to remember all the promises they make and make better choices for the benefit of the country. Before anyone could be released from AAA or Drug rehabilitation it would be tattooed on their arm and even give them a ring to help make better choices. If you just give them the ring, they would probably sell it for money for more drugs or booze, so that is why the tattoo.

When my sister and I got divorces, another sister (married), sent us each a pretty "CTR" ring with the message, Just a reminder......Choose The Right One........next time! Consequently we neither one have remarried, and enjoyed a good laugh. Something as simple as Small ringcan become a BIG ANCHOR in your life. Making a hard choice, good or bad, as you wrestle with a decision, always look at or twist that Little ring around your finger a time or to, then go with that gut feeling. Choose The Right! In the end you will know you made the right choice.

The ring came into being nearly 50 years ago. The three little letters meaning "Choose The Right" inset on a green shield. It was an invention of eight church ladies of the Mormon church and incorporated into the churches teachings. The shield represents a shield from temptation in our life and the background was chosen from the evergreen tree. The reason being they remain constant as seasons change. "A constant reminder to avoid bad temptations at all times."
What a simple Metaphor to live by.

Count Down to Tiff's Wedding

We are counting down to Tiff's wedding now and I need to find a new pair of shoes to match my new dress.

It is turning into the wedding of funky shoes! The bridge is wearing "orange" shoes with her beautiful white dress. I do hope people will concentrgte on how beautiful she looks.......not her shoes.

The bride's mother has sparkley, very beautiful shoes, kinda like the red shoes in the wizard of oz. You can't miss them. The bride's father bought himself a new pair of black cowboy boots! So that sparked the competition that every family member has built in themselves, into seeing how outrageous a pair of shoes they can come up with.........that is appropriate. I don't think they make outrageous "grandma shoes". But, I'm on the hunt and will try to fit in and not look to grandmaish............

I have always loved shoes and so do the girls. I think my love and hoarding comes from growing up with one new pair of shoes every six months, as a war was going on and you got a coupon book to buy the family shoes. I remember saddle shoes or loofers and you wore them for everything. Once the war was over and I grew up and got a job, I wanted to buy every fun pair of shoes I saw........and I still do.

Well, maybe I could find a "wowing" pair on Ebay? I already check out KMart an Walmart......no luck. So on to Dillards and Nordstroms! I don't give up easily. I'll keep you posted.

"Old" Friends

Nothing like good old friends.......and some are old! Yesterday at our knitting club, "Witty Knitters", we are a prayer shawl ministry we have some old and dedicating ladies, we had a birthday party at my house for Lorraine who turned 90. She said she thinks of herself as about 75, not really old. She lives alone, swims every day and had driven herself to my house. She climbed my stairs better than I do and has had both knees replaced. She was very grateful for the cards, shawl and birthday cake we surprised her with and had parties planned for the whole week. I said, "Betty you can do that too!" Why not?

You have to live so fast now days to keep up with all the modern things that I hope I don't wear out until I am 90......12 more years. I know I have made it to 2010 by the following: I accidentally enter my password on the microwave. I haven't played Solitaire with real cards in years and I can play hearts with a machine. I have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach my family of three girls. I email my family and friends instead of dropping them a letter or a note, and my reason for not staying in touch with friends or family is they don't have emails! Leaving the house without my cell phone, which I didn't have the first 60 years of my life, is now a cause for panic, all the "what if's" come rushing in and I go back and get it. (Half the time I forget to turn it on).....which upset the family. I keep track of many nieces and nephews by reading my face book and now keep my journal on my "Blog". I even know how to work the digital camera my kids gave me. If I go on learning until I'm 90, wow, what a smart grandmother I will be! So move over Lorraine and know you are my inspiration! Maybe the grandkids won't realize what a lousy cookie maker I am.

Pay Attention................

Every time you find a penny, examine it carefully and read the words on it. "United States of America"......"One Cent"...."In God we Trust"...."The date."

If you believe in God, the name of God is holy on a coin. Every time you find a coin you see that inscription. It is written on every United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of us or even into our hands to tell us to trust in Him. Who am I to pass by a coin? Every day we handle dozens of coins which can be a constant reminder if we pay attention and are aware of the message on it, "In God We Trust." It can really make your days better. When I find a coin now, I try and check where I am with God, am I trying to be the best I can be, smile at someone, hold some one's door or let a driver into the line, or just say, "Thank you God for this day." I pick up the coin as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I can cherish this small coin as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. " Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful where I travel."

And did you know? What is the most popular beverage in the world? Sorry, Coke and Pepsi is not the answer, it is tea. Today tea is the most popular drink in the world, except for water. In the United States over 187 million pounds of tea are consumed each year, that is about thirteen gallons per person. Both hot tea and ice tea are popular. Now you know........

I love Dr Seuss

How many people in this land have been entertained by the Dr Seuss books? I know they became part of my household when my oldest daughter was little and she is around 50 now. Our first book was "Green Eggs and Ham".......I love that Dr Seuss (or whomever) , is still on the same page as many Americans when it comes to liking the President, Mr Obama this is for you:

Green Lies and Ham

I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like this health care scam.

I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books.

I do not like when Congress steals, I do not like their secret deals.

I do not like this speaker Nan, I do not like this , "Yes, we can."

I do not like this spending spree, I'm, smart, I know that nothings free.

I do not like your smug replies, when I complain about your lies.

I do not like this kind of hope, I do not like it, nope, nope, nope!

That little green little Grinch kinda reminds me of you know who..............just a different color.

Maybe we just need someone around us to lend a little humor to help us survive these very hard years ahead. You can do it Dr. Seuss.

Oh by the way did you know: where the pound cake got it's name? Originally a pound cake was made with one pound of flour, one pound of sugar and one pound of butter.....hence it's name. And the same logic is true of cupcakes. They are named because the original recipe called for one cup of each ingredient. And you thought it was because they are baked in those little paper cups..................

Why Does Popcorn Pop?

As my blog is named "I didn't Know That?" I am always anxious to be learning something new. How many times a day do you hear or read something that is new to you? I think we never stop having "a need to know". When we do we die..........So many, many things to learn out there like, "Why Does Popcorn Pop?" Well, it is a corn called flint corn, it has small hard kernels that contain only a small amount of soft starch. Each kernel has a moisture content of about 13.5 percent. The kernels contain a food storage layer known as the endosperm. This tough, elastic layer resists the buildup of steam pressure with the kernel when heated. When the temperature reaches a critical point, around 400 degrees, the kernel expands up to thirty-five times its original size and the endosperm violently ruptures. Wow, popcorn! now you know. Do you know the first pencil sharpener was invented by a French mathematician named Bernard Lassimone, who patented the device in 1828?

We all have our favorite color M&Ms, do they taste different? Do different colored M&M's have different flavors? The company assures us, that all colors have identical flavoring. The colors are browns, yellows, red, orange, tan and green. Recently added blue. My favorite is brown......

I am researching many of my questions and will pass them on to you regularly, then we will all know........ Sherrie and Brayden get home tonight......I have been sooooo lonesome.

Lunch With The Ladies

When the waitress finishes tabulating, the ladies start confabulating.

"Mine was the Chef's Surprise" Let's see,

"The tarts were a quarter and I had three...."

"Mine was a dollar-twelve, I think.....was the salad extra or just the drink?"

"No wait, if Joan had the Shopper's Plate,and three cents tax and five makes eight." "The way I figure, mines ninety cents"---And they never split the difference.

"And a tip would be?" What offers such mental aerobic ts, as femimine lunch time, mathematics?

How many times in our lives have we endured this scenario? Men just split the bill two or three ways and leave it at that. But ladies either ask for separate tickets or go through the little scenario above.

Why? I don't know. I guess we are just ladies.

This is what is left of our birthday club started many years ago and I mean many years ago. Pam was little and she is 52, so I would say close to 50 years. Originally there were eight of us.

Elyce Hutton, Ruth Raymond, Joy Brown, Bev Peterson, Lavern Leonard. The first four have since died and Lavern is house bound with a sick husband. This picture was taken on for my birthday at the Town Club: Elaine Sorenson (92), Pat Noall, and myself. Elaine and I are now single. Funny what a difference 50 years make. Elaine is real goer and works every day at their bank, she will probably out live both Pat and I. But I promise there is nothing better in life than old friends!

Write It Down

"A story can travel without you and inspire many." "Every word a woman writes changes the story of the world, revises the official version."

The way I look at it, every woman is a Journey of her own life. Some one once said "in our journals we are in search of the real self, of what really move us, what we really think, what we really feel." My journal is the witness I have lived. It is an unconditional friend that I can complain to, cry to, brag to, show anger, or tell my secrets and it never tells anyone.

When I talk to my Journal I can have a conversation about private things and it gives me a chance to work out my problems. I think of the many stories I have heard that have inspired me----to be me. Stories told or read help people find their own meaning in their life..I have stories to tell someone of my wonderful life.....I tell someone of my wonderful days growing up in a small Colorado town, or going through a miserable divorce after 30 years of marriage or the challenges of raising twins or about my many travels around the world and people say, "I can relate to that" and many of their stories I assure them "I can relate to that."

If others stories can teach me, up lift me, remind me, give me permission, reassure me, inspire me, give me strength or allow humor......then why can't my stories do that for others? I love, love, love to write and am into blogging. I have my blogs printed into books for my family to share some day in review of my life. This is just my journal in print.

I am excited about my friends in China who read my blog and leave me comments. I have finally figured out how to translate them then I don't have to just imagine what they are saying.

So yes Betty.....people do read your blog. So I will tell more stories , it's my therapy, and maybe, just maybe the stories will touch another. You cannot know the effect your story might have, but you can hope someone is helped. inspired, reassured.

Karrie ventured out today, I took her to register Scottie in the 3rd grade, to the bank and store.

I think she is feeling better. She can drive again in one more week.

WORRIED MOM

A child having an operation no matter the age is a fearful day for any mother. Last Wednesday Karrie went in for a female operation and any time there is an operation there are many dangers, known and unknown. Hundreds of hysterectomies are preformed everyday, but when it's one of yours........it is different.

Rich and I waited it out together. She was scheduled at 10:30 and finally was taken in at 3:00. So still a "long sit" till she was back in a room for us to see her, about 6:00. She was really sleepy and kinda came and went until about 8:00 when Richard brought the kids in to see her. I couldn't believe they were going to get her up in the night and let her go home the next day. That didn't happen in my day and age.........Rules were laid down.......no driving, vacuuming or lifting heavy things for two weeks. It has been a miserable summer for her and I hope this clears up some of those problems. She has good helpers, Richie 16 and Annie 15.......then there is Scott 8......and grandma in a pinch. I'm glad to report, she is home and happy to be in her own little bed. I got the honor of taking Annie school shopping and help out with the driving to the swim meet and conference. Been a busy week. Pam said Laura Ruiz died. She was (Don's sister and his last sibling to die). I think she was 94-95. My cute oldest grandson called last night and wanted to come and swim with his girl friend and another friend. Mighty hot so I jumped in with them.

Counting the days until Sherrie and Brayden get home from Africa.

My EAGLE SCOUTS

This week in Washington DC they are celebrating 100 years of scouting in America.

This Grandma is so proud of her two Eagle Scouts! Can you believe this picture? I'm surprised their mothers (my twin daughters), didn't just take them in the house and flush them down the toilet! I would have, but then I never had any boys. I think they were probably stripped down and hosed off before anyone could touch them. By then everyone had probably cooled off.

Richard Cook is on the left and Alex Christenson is on the right...... (in case you couldn't recognize them.) Some time has passed since this picture was taken and yes, they are growing up to be wonderful young men, not just because I'm the proud grandmother, but also because they have caring, loving parents guiding them.

Alex will be a senior in high school this year. He is a hard worker and interested in cars, mechanics and welding. He knows his cars and wants one of his own. Last summer Alex spent three weeks in Europe with the Young Ambassadors Group. I think traveling is a must for all children, the best of educations. The boy's mothers were fortunate to travel a great deal when they were young and know the importance of it. Alex is a sweet boy, shy boy and thinks girls are a waste of time and are expensive, of course, that will change as he is only 17. He is very good to his grandma. For Alex's final Eagle project he organized a group to clean up a camp ground at a near by lake. The guys shored up the dirt around the bathrooms with railroad ties and the girls picked weeds and picked up trash.

Richard is 10 months younger than Alex and will be a Junior in high school this year. He loves sports. He plays football and LaCross. He was 16 last December and loves driving. He started a new job this summer at the "Firehouse Subs" and is working hard and saving for a car. However, when school was out in June he and his father and another father and son did a back-packing trip in Europe. It was the first trip to Europe for both he and his father. He comes over and helps me with yard work and we have good visits. He has discovered girls, but is pretty busy with working and sports, so no time to get serious. For Rich's Eagle Scout project he organized a group to repaint the parking stalls, curbs and fireplugs around his church.

And, as I write this, I have a third grandson in Kenya Africa building school desks and benches for a new school they will be dedicating while he is there. That will complete Brayden's Eagle Scout requirements......So then I will have three ES. Brayden will be 15 in a couple of weeks and starts driving. Brayden and his mother went to Kenya with the "Koins for Kenya" group. He worked hard to help earn the money to go and what a great experience , not in books. Brayden is an inventor, and has a head full of wonderful ideas that I know will make his grandmother proud some day. He is so good and caring to his Grammie and to everyone, a joy to be around.

Yes, I am a very proud grandmother......wonder how many of the boys badges would also apply to their dedicated families that were very involved with time consuming details?

I'm Back

I bet you thought I had gone on vacation. You could see me lounging on some exotic beach, with palm trees, trade winds messaging my whole body with a tall cool drink in my hand!

Sorry Cupcake........My Quest modem died and I switched to Comcast which took a whole week or 5 working days if I wanted to keep my old number I have had for years. Of course I did-----how else wold my kids and friends find me? It was over the 24th of July Holiday and everyone I knew had left town to celebrate, but the dogs and I stayed home to hold down the fort. I could have really enjoyed my computer for the long weekend, but I found out bad things do happen to good people........?!?

Sherrie and Brayden had left for Kenya Thursday morning. Delta cancelled their trip which was the first leg to Boston about an hour before departure time. There were 20 in the Koins for Kenya group and there were put on other flights out of Salt Lake City. So my family were scattered for the weekend. Cooks in Bear Lake, Panniers in Schofield and part of the Christensons in Kenya, Darren and two boys in Vernal. Thank goodness for friends. Shirley came over Saturday and we swam, on Sunday we went to a movie and dinner. Anyway I am so excited to have my blog and face book and email back!!!!! Now to catch up on the last 10 days.