Ford Taurus 2008

You are probably saying have Mom and Dad gone crazy? We drove a Ford Taurus yesterday and liked it but then saw a better deal up in Waldorf. This happens not to be that car though.

This is a limited edition, 22,000 miles on it. It has heated seats, driver seat memory, dual climate controls, little things that I didn't think we would ever have.
I hope we enjoy it as well as we have our other cars. Dad kept the Chrysler so he can experiment on it.

Utah and my mother's funeral

What can I say. It was a time of eating out with family.

Here we are at Sweet Tomatoes. It was my first time there and I enjoyed it. Maybe because I was there with Trudy, Tina and her family.
This was the floral bouquet that my nephew Reza and his sister Jackie put together for the casket.

Meeting up with 1st cousin Sharon that I hadn't seen since Dad's funeral.

My sister Annette and me.

Of course there were many cousins and relatives I hadn't seen for a long time.

My niece Connie. She actually came and did mom's nails.

My sister Linda and her grandson Teague.

My sister Debbie and me.

My sister Barbara.

Sister Annette and Sev.

It was neat being able to get this picture of granddaughter Halley, daughter Tina, and daughter Trudy.

Here we are again eating, this time at Famous Dave's. My two sons, Sid Jr and George with his daughter Hope, and Lincoln were with us.

My dinner broiled Salmon with pineapple BBQ sauce.

Oh sooooo good.

Being able to see brothers and sisters together again.

I haven't seen Hope since last April. We were all at my Mom's house after the funeral. It was one place we could be all together since we were so spread out in the valley.

I think one of the neatest things I did was to be with my daughters, Tina and Trudy, my sister Barbara and her daughter Connie as we were able to dress my mother. I was the only one who had done this before, but what a privilege to do this for my mother. My sister curled my mother's hair and my niece Connie colored my mother's nails.

I would do it again, no questions asked.

The unpredictable weather

As Trudy and I left Halley's place it was such a beautiful morning. Side note: I left my winter coat in Maryland. I said to Trudy it looks like it is snowing in the mountains to the west of us. "No," Trudy says, "it is to warm to snow".

When the funeral was over and we were leaving the church for the cemetery, it was starting to snow and I'll bet it had dropped 20 degrees.

The funeral home had put up this tent with a propane heater that was in back of us and were handing out umbrellas to everyone. They had the chairs covered, they were wet, so we uncovered them and sat on blankets that were there for our use.

My son Sid gave me his heavy coat that he had brought from Oregon.

This is me with my four sisters, Debbie, Barbara, Linda and Annette.

Halley and Ryan with one of the umbrella's they were given.

Trudy wrapped up in a blanket to keep warm. She had left her coat at Halley's. We are standing with the Bishop on left and Brother-in-law Wayne on the right.

Son Sid Jr freezing in his suit because I had his coat.

My son George in the white shirt with the other pall bearers. His coat back at the motel.

Daughter Tina came prepared. Doesn't she look cozy and warm?

Trudy and Me.

Sid Jr and George.

When my dad died in March 3 years ago there was snow on the ground and it was cold. This day was cold and snowy but still a great day. To have family there and know of their love for our mother, grandmother, great grandmother was enough to keep our hearts warm and that is what counts and not the crazy weather that our bodies were enduring.

The RS dinner at Mom's ward

The Relief Society always does a great job with the family dinner after funerals. I always like this time because you renew family acquaintances of family you haven't seen for such a long time.

This is Halley and Chancy who are living out in Utah now. In the middle Mckay.
Then there is Todd's family that live in Idaho.

My sister Linda with some of her family that live in Utah.

Halley with Ryan, and Son-in-law, Lincoln.

It was a great time with great food. What would we do without RS and the sisters of the ward that do the cooking and the service. Everyone's favorite was the funeral potatoes.

Cooking and having fun

When I was in Utah for three weeks I stayed some of the nights with my granddaughter Halley. One of the first things we cooked together was Valentine cookies. They turned out great and were delicious.

Then Halley told me she had some black bananas that her husband thought should be thrown away. She told him no way, that is when her mom made banana bread. We went to the family recipes and found my old recipe and made these two loaves that turned out delicious.

Then my sister Annette had been making sour dough bread so Halley decided that maybe while I was there I could help her make bread for the first time.

This was a recipe off the Western Family yeast packet. Very easy and you can see the loaves raised beautifully.

It also tasted great.

We started at four in the afternoon after Halley had been at school. We had to go shopping to get some of the ingredients but had everything baked by the time Ryan got home from work.

This is Molly, Ryan and Halley's dog. When the bedroom door was open she slept with me. I woke up one morning and Molly's head was on my knees and since my camera was close, walla a picture. She is a Corky and is so much fun, I just love her.

Then at my mothers I decided to take a nap on the couch and Scamp decided to nap with me. Scamp is a Yorky with a tomahawk cut. He just loves my Mom. He sleeps at her side all day long.
When he isn't by her side she is asking where he is.