Thankfulness, daily list for 30 days of November.

I am grateful for a DVR. I grew up with TV yes, but not videos or any on demand type of viewing. If you wanted to watch a show that came on Wednesday evening, you needed to be parked on the couch on Wednesday evening.

I am grateful for siblings in such a quantity of ways that I can’t even list.

I am grateful for best friends (yes, plural). Couldn’t live without them.

I am grateful for postage stamps. For the mere cost of 55 cents, I can send an envelope to anyone I know anywhere in our country.

I am grateful for nearby hiking trails. Today I spent 90 minutes alone in the beautiful desert winter air, listened to 2 podcasts and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I am grateful for “This American Life” podcast. My favorite.

I am grateful for a super hard working husband who occasionally can slow down and enjoy a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle all day long.

I am grateful for a very comfortable mattress. I realize how comfortable our bed is when I get to a hotel with a hard stiff mattress.

I am grateful for bags of ready made salad in the grocery store. Prepping vegetables keeps me from eating enough salad.

I am grateful for a fresh Christmas Tree in our living room. I love the smell of the greenery and I love the collection of family memory ornaments on it.

I am grateful for old friends. I recently attended a high school reunion. Winslow Arizona produced some good people.

I am grateful for our church family. I love the feeling of community when I walk in the doors of our church.

I am grateful I can play the organ (although I don’t play well and I consider myself a ‘fake’ organist). I recently attended church with Rachel and watched her play the organ. I smiled as I realized that my mother and my daughter and I have been able to play the organ for our church congregations. I love that connection.

I am grateful for a flexible work schedule that allows me to get away on quick road trips. I often sit at my desk doing invoicing at midnight so I can sometimes play during the day, but it’s worth it.

I am grateful for the accessibility of books - audiobooks, hardback books, Kindle books. I love being introduced to an enticing new novel or author in our bookclub that I might never have chosen myself.

I am grateful for a well stocked house. “Hey mom, do you happen to have a set of index cards that have graphing lines on them?” “Well, that’s an oddly specific question, but yes, … yes I do!”

I am grateful for a good set of markers and colored pencils and paints. I love a creative project and having colors handy makes a fun project even more fun.

I am grateful for our air conditioning and heater. I touch a button once every season or so and then never think about it again. Our home just magically stays at a wonderfully comfortable temperature.

I am grateful for game apps on my phone. What did I ever do in years gone by to utilize my moments of downtime?

I am grateful we have been able to run our business from our home. The costs of running an office are lower and our schedules stay more flexible.

I am grateful for friends who enjoy the same TV shows as me and we can text each other on Wednesday nights “Oh my gosh! What just happened? Did you see that coming?”

I am grateful that our kids and their spouses are good people, good citizens, good employees, good parents. I love each of them dearly.

I am grateful for Pinterest. I find most of my recipes and creative projects there.

I am grateful for our very creatively built home (a term a repairman used recently). I look at old videos of our home when we purchased it and during all the construction projects we’ve lived through. A majority of our walls have been moved around over the years.

I am grateful for a stove, oven, microwave, refrigerator, crockpot, blender, bread machine etc. Food preparation really is easy.

I am grateful for sharp knives in the kitchen. (I just wish I always had sharp knives in my kitchen)

I am grateful for an orange tree in our front yard. It is heavy with fruit this year and it won’t be long until the fruit is ready to enjoy.

I am grateful for the wedding invitations that are displayed on our refrigerator door. I love celebrating life events with loved ones near and far.

I am grateful for date nights with Dave. We run opposite schedules so often so I love having some dedicated time to spend with my handsome husband. 

I am grateful for Christmas cards. I got our first one in the mail today. Sending and receiving Christmas cards makes me happy.

Overheard on Vacation

Cynthia: "This valley is so green and pretty, I love how gorgeous this canyon is. 

Oh, wait, my new sunglasses are making everything look doubly green. Dang, everything just looks normal now."

"You watched all the Star Wars? even every single sequel? ALL the quels?"

"Let's get together for church early tomorrow morning."

"Church at 7? It’s going to be a lonely devotional. Jesus and me will be showing up at 9:30."

Dave: "Look at that woman's toe nail polish - it's so bright!"

Cynthia: "And she's so young that all her toes point daintily in the same direction!"

"Who did this and left it here??" 

Dave: "At some point on my mission, I was hungry to roast some hot dogs."

"They have hot dogs in Japan?"

"Of course! But they're made out of fish."

"You liked them?"

"Yeah, after you eat a few."

"How many few do you have to eat before they are good?"

Playing Chinese Checkers: 

"Kyle has definitely played this before."

Kyle: (after first two turns) "I’m about to win this game."

Melanie: "I’ll have to sacrifice."

Jonny: "You know, you can’t spell sacrifice without team."

Harvey, sitting at the breakfast table, hearing someone come down the stairs in the morning. 

Cynthia: "Who is it, Harvey? Maybe it’s Melanie? Maybe it’s Brady? Let’s see."

Jonny: "or maybe it’s Chris, but I 100% guarantee this early in the morning, it’s not Roxanne."

"There’s a difference between micro sweat and macro sweat."

Brady: "Did you ever play Oregon trail?"

Jonny: "yeah"

Brady: "Did you ever get to Oregon?"

Jonny: "Yes. The highlight of my life!"

Brady: "I always got malaria along the way."

Dave: "More cilantro, please... and more cowbell!"

Brady: (taking video for Chris who was hopping into a FREEZING COLD river). "I took a picture of the snow in the background for perspective.  I almost dropped your phone in the river, but I definitely got your footage."

Harvey: "Agua!"

Dave: "Did you ask for ABBA?"

Jonny : "NOBODY asks for ABBA"

Melanie: "Wait, has this pan already been washed?"

Brady: "Just put it in. The Dishwasher will decide what it will clean!"

Savvy: "MEL!"  

Roxanne: "Melanie, Savvy is calling you. You’re the only aunt she knows how to pronounce."

Dave: "No matter how many times you blow your nose, it’s still full of boogers."

Mel: "Sometimes I think I have jaundice. My feet look yellow. Can adults get jaundice?"

Chris: "Are the whites of your eyes yellow?  I really don’t think you’d want jaundice."

Mel: "Why is yellow the color of jaundice? I’d choose violet as the preferred color."

Melanie: "Did you ever put hand sanitizer on your hands and light them on fire?"

Brady:  "OF COURSE!!"

Mel: "I’m going to draw Savannah next to your picture to put the picture in context."

Roxanne: "Make sure you draw her with a mullet."

Cynthia: "What's a story you've never told your parents?"

Jonny: "My mom was usually with me for all my crazy stories."

Mel: (talking about a nasal spray) "It’s just that it tastes like Vaseline."

Jonny: "Petroleum never hurt anyone."

Squishing into a back seat of a RZR off road vehicle. 

Kyle: "This feels like sitting in an airplane."

Jonny:  "THIS is what an airplane feels like to you? Sorry Dude."

The Love shack 

"If the shack is a-rocking, don’t come a-knocking."

"If the shack is rocking, you’ve probably got foundation problems."

Melanie: "Is this a rich candle?"

Brady: (smelling it) "Yes, definitely rich. It’s in the $9-$14 range."

Everyone to Melanie – “You don’t use a microwave????”

Roxanne – (playing cards) "After this hand I’m going to bed. Oh, wait, ….. it’s only 8:30."

Jonny – "Who still looks at catalogs? Well, who under 75 years old still looks at catalogs?"

Cynthia: "Umm,  I have an LL Bean catalog waiting at home on my desk."

"Glitter is the STD of crafting. You can never get rid of it. "

Melanie: (roasting marshmallows for s'mores) "The biggest bummer of a camping trip is when the graham cracker breaks at the 1/4  and 3/4 ratio instead of in half. "

During a LONG card game

Melanie: "Can I take a break and go to the bathroom?"

Jonny: "Depends"

Reasons that one year olds cry: 

I threw the stick over the balcony and I want it back.
Because my cousin has to take a nap but it’s not time for mine yet.

Because I just ate 17 M&Ms, and I still want more.

My mom won't let me walk on the gravel barefoot. 

Because I want to go outside.

Because I want to go inside.

Gratitude on Thanksgiving Day

( This week, I found a half written document on my computer from over a year ago. Apparently I was on the beach in Mexico and the time... but I wanted to finish and post this as I am truly grateful for many many things and people today)

I love social media. I am in another country today and still talking to my kids easily and getting/receiving photos and comments all day long.

I am grateful for beaches. They are beautiful and fascinating and calming and fun and relaxing. 

I am grateful for all of God’s creations to enjoy.

I am grateful for friends new and old. I was on a road trip with a friend of 30 years and a new friend. We got along famously and enjoyed the company of a girl’s road trip.

I am grateful for my husband. We enjoy times together and enjoy independent activities too and enjoy sharing those activities when we get back together.

I am grateful for Google Translate. International travel is survivable when I can read signs through a simple translation app.

I am grateful for hot water. I take it for granted, then whine when I don’t have it.

I am grateful for parents who taught me so many things through word, and through example. I had the wonderful opportunity to have several parents and I love them all dearly.

I am grateful that when I plug a cord into an electrical receptacle, electricity automatically (and because I don’t understand it, I will also say “magically”) courses through the cord and makes my clock/vacuum/tv/charger/lamp/fan/computer/washer/dryer/shredder/mixer/breadmaker/sewing

machine/ etc etc work.

I am grateful for good comfortable shoes to walk and walk and walk in. I can hike all over the hills and my feet stay protected and comfortable.

I am grateful for ice. (my friends and family know how much I want/need ice)

I am grateful for a printer and ink.

I am grateful for good memories. (our dogs, the kid's trampoline, my red cars, our first apartment)

I am grateful for kind people in my life.

I am grateful for a well stocked toolbox.

I am grateful for my camera. I love the collections of memories my photos provide over the years.

I am grateful for my bookclub, Books yes, but mostly for my friends in bookclub.

I am grateful for my children. It is harder and harder to get them all together in one place at one time. All I want is a family photo, with all 11 of us in the frame, but I know they are all busy getting smart, and doing good in the world. 

I am grateful for good company sitting around a Sunday evening meal.

I am grateful for sisters in such a quantity of ways that I can’t even list.

I am grateful for grandbabies that warm my heart every single day. (family texts, pictures).

I am grateful for the FedEx delivery man who drops cases of products to my doorstep. Even though I know I recently ordered  a case of toilet paper and paper towels, it’s still fun to get a delivery.

I am grateful for a good pedicure.

I am grateful for insurance, peace of mind knowing we are generally financially protected from disasters.

I am grateful for a winter lawn in Arizona. There is nothing prettier than that beautiful lush green in our backyard through the winter.

I am grateful for our dishwasher. Although I have a love/hate relationship with it as I fill and empty it, I find I enjoy the fact that it is washing my dishes at this very moment, and I’m not in the kitchen to do it myself.

I am grateful for our piano, which is old, gets horribly out of tune, is nearly impossible to maintain the integrity of pure musical notes, but is a wonderful connection to my mother who played it 50 years ago.

I am grateful for my dining room table as it brings back memories of our family of 11 sitting around it during my youth and the meals, the  homework, the FHE lessons, all the activities that happened around that table.. I am so grateful my parents passed it on to me.

I am grateful for my son-in-laws who are good and kind men. 

I am grateful for girlfriends in my life who always bring balance and wisdom to my sometimes crazy life. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Easter

I've been loving our Easter get togethers these past few years. This year, it was a SUPER busy week and month, but in the end, food was made, table was set, Easter eggs hidden, baskets were prepared so all was well.

Rachel, Kyle, Roxanne, Jonny, Curtis, Laura, Dave and I were all here. (Jonny reminded me there were actually 10 here with the 2 little bambinos). It was good, we had enough food that EVERYONE could have eaten for two!

We ate at about 5:00 and had a wonderful meal of Ham baked in chopped apples and raisins, potatoes (made by Curtis) with carrots and onions and I'm not sure what else, but I need to get the recipe , an asparagus tomato parmesan dish, rolls, deviled eggs, green salad with candied nuts and strawberries and poppyseed dressing, Basically a typical Easter meal, but oh so beautiful and oh so delicious. For dessert, Kyle and Rachel made popcicles -- fresh raspberries and guava? One with a citrus juice and cilantro. I'm not sure I remember the combinations, but again... oh so good!

After dinner, we did some arts and crafts while Dave went out in the backyard to hide the easter eggs. We had way too many eggs and not enough hiding places. So there were handfuls of eggs around in the hiding spots. Four of the eighty or so eggs had prizes. Curtis is on a roll for winning the easter prizes and once again was a winner. I hope it keeps him coming in future years!

We chose to all bring an Easter Basket and have an exchange. Each person drew a name and that is who received your basket.

In other family news, Roxanne and Jonny just came home from their anniversary camping trip to Sedona. They have been married 4 years this month. Roxanne has passed her halfway mark in her pregnancy. They are having a girl!

Kyle announced that he accepted a new job offer in Utah and is leaving next month. Rachel will stay here an extra 3 weeks or so to finish up the school year. Rachel is nearly halfway through her pregnancy too. I can hardly stand the fact that this baby boy will be so far away. But I am happy that their plans are going forward successfully. They have talked about Utah for some time now.

Melanie is in Utah, enjoying school and everything social. She came home for spring break and Easter weekend is too short to make it home. She finishes up her semester in a couple weeks and life will be more relaxed for her for the summer.

I forgot to take a group photo, but here's a super cute picture of Dave. Happy Easter!

We love you Lexi

It's a sad day at the Hale's house. Our little Lexi passed a couple days ago. It was somewhat unexpected and I am clearly not ready to have such a quiet house.

Lexi had some medical issues. We visited the Vet just last Monday. The prognosis was not good, but I thought we were looking at our last year with Lexi, not our last week. Her health took a downturn very quickly last weekend, and she ended up having hard afternoon and passed away in my arms at midnight.

She was breathing noisily late in the evening, but still wanted to go upstairs to her bed. I sat beside her bed for a while to make sure she was settling into some restful sleep, then I went downstairs. An hour or so later, she stumbled down the stairs obviously in distress. I scooped her up in my arms and she passed away about 10 minutes later. I woke Dave up and we rocked her and had some tears together. It's a heart breaking thing to experience the end of life.  I went to get a blanket to wrap her up in, and my sweet husband went outside in the middle of the night and built a little wooden box to rest Lexi in.

Our wonderful dog Lexi has been with us for 9 years. She absolutely loved our kids.
Weirdly, she was kind of a man-hater. She came to us like that as a teeny tiny puppy. There doesn't seem to be a reason for it, but she doesn't care for Dave, nor any male that comes to our door, in our house, house guests etc ... it doesn't matter, just doesn't like men. So we got her as a puppy while Brady was living in Flagstaff. We already established that she doesn't like men. So a few weeks after we got her, we were out of the house for the evening, and came home to a surprise visit from Brady. And who was curled up on Brady's chest? snuggling into his neck? our man-hater puppy! Go figure. She loved and adored Brady, only him and no other man .

Lexi also waited 2 years for Brady's return from his mission, and a year and a half for Melanie's return from her mission. She was super excited for both of them to walk in the door after such a long absence. She loved Sunday nights when all the kids would come for Sunday dinners. When the house was empty, when I was home alone working at my desk, she would often spend a lot of time upstairs by herself, or in the backyard. But the minute the kids came in the door, she was all over them.

We will miss you, little Lexi. you'e been a sweet part of our family.

(this is our last photo of Lexi)

Amazing Middle Child

I promised myself I would write in this forgotten blog more this year. As it ends up,  really don't have much time to be writing and journaling, so I am just going back to see what unfinished drafts I have in the archives. Here is one from years ago that I wrote. These few lines are the entirety of the post.

Roxanne - masters degree age 23! even took one semester off after bachelors.
Bachelor's degree 3 1/2 years.
Been in school steady and strong 1997 - 2015

I'm not sure why I didn't hit the 'publish' button. Those facts sum up a great accomplishment. This amazing girl not only whizzed through her education, but she is now married, has a wonderful husband, has a solid career, is a homeowner, and is now carrying a teensy tiny baby inside her!

So since there is not much else to say, I'm just going to throw a few of my favorite pictures of her over the years. . . . in no particular order.

 

  

Back in time with Delos

I recently ran across this unfinished draft. I think I had jotted down a few notes when Delos stayed with us the last time 2 or 3 years ago, he was in his early 90s at the time. He was born in 1922, so his reminiscing is from the depression era up until and through WWII in 1945. We were talking about how different life was when he was young and when he remembered things changing over the years. Some things check out, others might seem like the times are off, but probably because he was living in small town Idaho where some modern conveniences were slower to enter the scene perhaps.
Here is a list of some of the things he told me, as well as some added notes.

There were no bathrooms in the house.
Shredded wheat was basically the only commercial cereal available, followed later by Wheaties.
Milk was delivered to your door, there was no milk sold in stores.

Indoor plumbing introduced in 1940. (in their house in Idaho)
Car tires needed to be replaced after 5000 miles.
Soles wore out easily and often on shoes.
There were no electric shavers or electric clippers.
Four LDS temples in the world.
There were actually 5 operating temples the year Delos was born, 7 temples by the time he was age five and through his youth when he would have been learning about temples. The 8th temple was dedicated just months prior to Delos and Betty being married, They were sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple during its first operating year. 
Common mode of long distance travel was trains.

No passenger planes until WWII.
No TV.
Slower paced life.
Catalog shopping - Sears Roebuck

No toilet paper.
Bottle of ink, dip in pen.
Pocket pens, age 9 or 10 (leaked in your pocket)
Ball point pens sold during WWII time.
Farm boys deferred from the war at first.
Young age for marriage was common.
Canning your own food from the garden was common and expected.

Times definitely have changed. Although there clearly are changes in my lifetime, I don't think there has ever been a time of more change than the 1900s, from horseback to space travel in one lifetime.