Christmas Day

Dad is looking over the wooden music center I gave him. You can record records and cassettes to CD.

Here he is recording a record to CD. The CD sounds better than the record when you play it back. I think we will enjoy this. We have lots of records and a few cassettes. We went over to the Bainters Christmas morning after Noah came and got us so we could see what they had gotten.

Then in the afternoon the Bainters came over to see what we got and we gave them their presents.

While the Bainters were here the Stevens came. We had a full house.

After everyone had opened their gifts we went over to Trudy's and played games and ate Hawaiian Haystacks that Steve made us. It was a wonderful day for Dad and me.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we always go to Tina's for Dinner and the opening of the PJ's. I have been driving by this Amish Farm for days thinking I would bring my camera to take a picture of how the Amish stock the corn in their fields to cure and dry. This was about 5:30 pm and was overcast because of the rain. This is the second panorama picture I have taken and I was sitting in my car on the drivers side waiting for cars to go by.

I like this view of two shocks of corn with the house and barn in the background.

Another view of the shocks of corn.

Tina baked beef brisket and rolls and had made a cheese ball. Yummy. Trudy brought a jello salad and broccoli salad that were delicious and I made a potato casserole. Oh ya, Tina also made a cake from Pioneer woman.

You can tell the kids are enjoying themselves as they wait to get in line for the food.
The adults with their plates full of delicious food.

After the meal we went in to open the presents. As you can see the kids had placed them youngest to oldest and it didn't taken long at all for them to open their PJ's.

I was just trying new angles with my camera and I caught Chancy standing in front of Tina's mirror. I think it turned out pretty good.

Here is Justin modeling his new robe. He looks taller than he is with the angle I took.
This picture is of Dad and me just after he finished reading the Christmas story out of Luke.

I took this picture of Ceci with the only light being the light of the Christmas Tree. I'll have to learn how to do it better. But for the first try it it turned out pretty good.

Monopoly

Yesterday Sid and I finished up our Christmas shopping and did some grocery shopping. It had been awhile since we had done some big time grocery shopping.
I was surprised that the stores were not more crowded than they were. Maybe people were up at those dangerous malls.
When we walked into to Walmart, there where you couldn't miss it was a display of games marked down. Monopoly was only $10.00. It wasn't on my list but I walked right over and put it in the cart. That is one game that we always had, I grew up with and so did Sid.
When we got home I put it on our bed and then Baxter came over to talk to Grandpa and spied the game. Within 10 minutes after he went home here comes Baxter, Zane and Noah for a game of Monopoly. We started the game at 3 pm and when dinner time came they went home for supper and back they came and we finished up at 8 pm. I don't think I have ever enjoyed playing Monopoly so much. There was so much laughter and and teasing. Baxter won, I really thought Grandpa would but when Grandpa explained something about money, Baxter picked right up with it and boy did he take us to the cleaners. At the end it was just him and ME.
FUN FUN!!!!!!

Flashback Friday

This is a picture of our old swimming hole. It was a pond that our irrigation well pumped into before it went into ditches to irrigate our crops. Here is Sid's mother, Emily, Sid Jr, Tina, Me holding George, and Trudy.
This is where we would swim just about every afternoon, the water temperature was about 78 degrees so it really felt good on a hot day. It even felt better on a cold day.
In July 1966 just two weeks before Sid Jr was born, our family and Hal's family were up swimming and Ken came down with the chickenpox. I could just see myself having a baby with the chickenpox. I had never had them. I didn't get them but when Sid Jr was two weeks old he was sure fussy and he has never had the chickenpox so I think he had them as a baby.
We had a dog we called old Blue. When he saw us heading to the swimming hole he would beat us up there and be swimming when we got there.
A lot of other people like the old pond also. The only other place to swim was in the murky reservoir. The only problem was they didn't think the pond was deep enough so they would dam up the ditch and shut off the water so there was no water to irrigate with. Sometime Sid would be kicking out kids at midnight that were there swimming.

46 years today

Can you believe this is the two old crows. We met in 1962. This picture was taken in Oak City Canyon we were just courting not even engaged.

This is our wedding picture taken in our ward's cultural hall. Sid and me, and my parents drove from Salt Lake to Manti and Sid's parents drove from Delta. We left at 4 pm in the morning and then everyone drove back to Murray for the reception that night. Boy were we tired. Alva Alan Young, Emily Young, Sid Young, Cecilia Young, Leola Blake and George Blake. My mother is the only parent now living.

This is Sid and me after we were married for six months. Stevie fits into this outfit now. Halley used to fit into it. Between my having Tina and Sid Jr. Sid decided to grow a beard.

This beard picture was years later. Sid grows a beard every ten years or so.

This was one Easter vacation when we as a family were out on the desert. I love this picture of my rugged man.

I think this picture was taken when Sid and Connie graduated from Logan University. It could have been Trudy when she graduated from Logan. At both events we had family pictures taken.

By this picture we had become empty nesters. This was taken at Christmas time about 2003. We look like we don't have a care in the world.

Here we are 46 years later on the 14th day of December 2008. We are just home from Church where Tina had come down from her ward and played the Holy City for us to sing in Sacrament meeting. When we got home Trudy graciously took our picture in front of her tree.
The two OLD CROWS. Sid looks like he has two black eyes but it is just a shadow. He has been working really hard at his new business.

Swathers

To answer your question Halley, I thought a picture is better than a million words. This is your grandpa Sid in the background, your great grandpa Alva with Aunt Sis with their first windrower (or swather). You can see that it cuts the Alfalfa and the alfalfa goes through the machine and puts the alfalfa into rows. Here is Grandpa Sid kneeling in what we called the Sid Jr but your dad named it the missionary. Here is Grandpa Sid standing in the missionary. This is after we started using the Sulfur machine, but here again that is another story.

Flashback Friday

This is a picture of the old ranch house in Skull Valley in Tooele County, Utah. Our family spent some great summers there looking after crops and the cattle.

You can see our shower barrel that we took our showers under but that is another story.

This was in the fall of 1965 and Tina was 3 or 4 months old. There was a good alfalfa seed crop at the ranch so we loaded up the swather at Abraham and drove the long way around on the highway (105 miles). The short way was across Desert Mountain on narrow roads and through deep washes (60 miles). That was a fun way because we always saw antelope and they would race us and cut in front of the truck.

This is Sid standing in front of the truck after we loaded the swather back on to go back home. You can see the wheels of the swather hanging over the sides of the truck. Sid cut the seed to early and lost the crop. We should have waited another week and it would have been a great crop.

There were other years that we loaded up the swather and went and cut the hay and baled it

for the horses and cattle. I loved that old ranch and hated to see it sold.

This is a picture of the ranch in the fall with the beautiful vine in the front with Emily (Sid's mom). They were just getting ready to round up cows. Emily was the chief cook, bottle washer and the best cow hand Alva (Sid's dad) ever had. Alva, Sid, and Emily would stay at the ranch from the 1st of October to about the 20th and then drive the cattle home ( a real live cattle drive 79 miles) and be home on the 31st of October every year.

I took a start of this vine home and had it growing on our fence. It was never this pretty.

Different Christmas Traditions

We have been here in Maryland going on 4 years. This is the first year we have actually seen Santa Claus on his fire truck. Every year the Bainters ask us if Dad and I have seen Santa. Every year we say nooooooo.

This year dad was standing in the kitchen and said " there is a fire truck up the street with all its lights going". I went out on the deck and looked and could see Santa standing on top of the truck in the back. Here it is 32 degrees and Santa and his helpers are riding around the neighborhoods waving.

I went over to the Bainters to tell them Santa was here and they went out and received a candy cane from the ambulance crew that was accompanying Santa Claus. Noah just left here after thanking me for telling them Santa was coming. This year instead of just staying at top of the street they actually went down our street and turned around in the Cul-de-sac . FUN FUN!!!!

snacks that relieve stress

I read these the other day with the pictures that go with them and decided I could start snacking again without having to feel guilty. If they will relieve stress I'm all for it.


http://health.msn.com/nutrition/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100220334&GT1=31041

A pleasant day of Quilting

Yesterday Tina emailed me and asked if she could come out and help me quilt and of course I said yes.

After her piano lessons this morning out she came and was here by 11:00 am. We quilted up a storm. I made lunch for her, dad and me.



After school Ceci and Baxter came in to see why Tina was here. As you can see we were on our last roll. Well sorta of, when Tina first got here I thought I was done with one of the blocks so I told her I would just wait for her to finish. She was hungry and why said why don't you go fix lunch. When dad and her went to roll the quilt they found I hadn't gone around the block so they rolled it anyways and so I unrolled the quilt after Tina left and finished the block. Tina must have gotten me flustered.

As we were quilting Tina said she now realized why women used to get together to quilt. It is quite a social event. Women used to bring their children, who would play together and the kids would crawl under the quilt and just have fun. The women of course would quilt and gossip. That is what Tina and I did today, we just gabbed and laughed and let our cares go by the wayside.

I think that is the one thing I miss about Relief Society work day, or what ever it is called today, is not having a quilt or two on, and sitting around talking and sometimes having the lesson around the quilt. Here I am at my best talking while watching two friends tie a quilt.

Memories

If those in our ward who are bloggers would like to read a flashback of Tina Steven's childhood you can go to her site ( the Lincoln Stevens flashback). We did all this and still had time for piano lessons, practicing, saxophone, clarinet, wrestling (the reason for the cow), all the children played ball, and we went fishing and camping. I think we had a well rounded life and didn't think we were poor. We may not of had money like some, but we were rich in family and the gospel. For a city born and raised girl I have no regrets and loved the life on the farm. I rode horses, helped with the planting of grain and alfalfa, combined the grain and then in the fall combined the corn (my favorite). I also helped with the calves in the spring and fall all in all it was a great life.

Something different and Special

When they first called me as the compassionate service leader, the President of the Relief Society asked me if I would help her dress the dead if needed. Well I worried about that for awhile but during her term of RS Presidency no lady in our ward died.
Then the second lady was called as RS President and she asked me the same thing. Piece of cake right!!!!.

Well Sunday a woman in a care center here died and the RS President called me and another Lady in our ward to go and dress her. You know I thought I would be all nervous and when I talked to Juli Tolson she had never dressed a body either and we didn't know how the two of us were going to handle it. Still I never got nervous and I felt very calm about the whole thing.

Last night Juli picked me up. I had the temple clothes and the instructions of what to do and in what order. When we got there our RS President, Colleen, was there to help.

I have to say it was a most spiritual experience and I would do it again. The three of us worked quite well together and when we needed help the mortician came and turned and held the lady so we could button her dress in the back. When we finished dressing her she was beautiful.

All I can say is, if you are called to dress the dead, do it.

Hair day at the Young's

Yesterday after Trudy, Ceci and I went to Twilight we went shopping. Ceci was tired of her highlights in her hair so Trudy bought Ceci a hair color. Early this morning Trudy and Ceci came over to my place so we could get the hair coloring done early. It had been about 8 weeks ago that I had done mine so it was getting pretty bad!!!!!!
Trudy does such a great job. Noah tried to take my picture with Trudy coloring my hair but the batteries had gone dead.

Here we are waiting for our 30 minutes to be up so we could wash our hair and quit itching.

We're done. All I need now is a hair cut and a new thin face.

Then we caught Grandpa in the bathroom touching up his sideburns. To bad there wasn't enough hair color left and we could have matched.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. There were 14 of us and lots of delicious food. Here we are just getting started.

After our delicious meal it was time to make gingerbread houses. Here is all the candy that we used.

Everyone waiting for the icing to be made.

Tina and Trudy in the kitchen hurrying to make the icing. The kids had been waiting for awhile because Grandpa and Tina had been practicing a song that Grandpa is going to sing in Church on the 14th of December.

And now the fun begins. I hope the rest of the family blog their pictures. I have a bunch more but I think they take better pictures. Zane and Noah.

Chancy.

Justin

Zane

Baxter

Ceci

Grandpa couldn't stand it any longer and got in the act.

Tina gluing hers together with a glue gun.

Lincoln

And the finished product. Grandpa's Tree.

Tina's

Zane's

Noah's

McKay's

Lincoln's

Baxter's

Chancy's

Justin's

Stevie's

Ceci's

The whole village

This is the back view of the village


As you can see we had a great time like we always do.