A Marriage Made in Heaven

 If you could go back and live one week of your life, what week would you choose?  We loved this movie on Prime Video.

When Twilight Breaks

 

When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was another exciting, well-written historical fiction book written by Sarah Sundin. Set just before the outbreak of World War II in Germany, it illustrates how awful life became there, even for Americans living in Germany. It is a page-turner for sure. There are subtle Christian overtones in this romantic escape- from -Germany story.

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The Remains of the Day

 One of the best books of the decade” it says on the front. Winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. I expected a lot. But as I read, I felt I was just reading about the quiet, methodical, structured life of a butler (Stevens)- a man wholly dedicated to his profession; A man who virtually had no private life. It was all so understated. It was sad. But as Stevens drives on a once-in-a-lifetime road trip, he reminisces on events in his life. Each experience he shares is poignant and gives so much food for thought. This is a book I will keep and I will reread. As I finished, I realized I had truly been in the presence of greatness. The lessons are subtle, yet profound. I can’t stop thinking about it. It made me want to use “the remains of my day” to the fullest. I hope Stevens will too.

Social Studies Repentance

 

In 8^th grade, I had Mr. Roeloff for Social Studies.  I had heard about him and had so hoped I would not get him for my teacher.  He had a reputation for being a very difficult and demanding teacher.  He also hated Mormons, but that is a different story for a different day.  Well, maybe not.  I will just tell it now:  He put a question on a test every year: “It is legal to kill a Mormon in the state of Missouri.”  True or False.   At that time, it was true.  The law was changed in 1976.  He also put another question on a test once that caused me great consternation.  I knew what answer he wanted me to put, but that answer was wrong.  I don’t remember the whole question, but I remember that part of the wording was “Joe Smith” instead of “Joseph.”  He knew that his question would cause dilemma for his Mormon students. Do we answer to get points or to be right?   It was his passive aggressive way to punish Mormons.  Anyway, back to my story:

  Mr. Roeloff’s goal was to teach us Social Studies, but also to teach us a study technique that could bless us and help us study even through college.  He told us this was the technique he used all through his college education.  He assigned us chapters to read each day.  But besides reading, we had to outline what we read.  He spent a great deal of time teaching us how to outline in his special method.  We all had spiral notebooks in which to do the outlining.  When we came to class, I think it was on Fridays, as I remember, we had to get our notebooks out and open to that week’s outlines.  He would walk around the room checking them and marking our grade in his book.  That outlining notebook represented a certain percentage of our grade.  The rest of the grade was made up of weekly quizzes and midterm and term tests.

I did the outlining for a while.  But then I fell behind.  Each day I got a little further behind.  Then it just seemed overwhelming to try to catch up. Each week, as Mr. Roeloff came to my desk, he would mark a 0 for not doing the assignment in his book.  I can still remember that horrible feeling as he came to my desk each week and marked another zero in his book by my name.

When midterm grades came out, which included our outlining assignments, I had a D-.   A D-!  I was so embarrassed to show my parents.  I explained to my dad why I had that grade.  He and I worked out what I could do to get that grade up.  My dad set up a card table for me in the living room.  Each night, I would work and work to make up the outlining I had neglected.  It was a struggle and way harder than it would have been to just do the assignments in a timely way.  But, cheered on by my dad, I was determined to get caught up.  I would sit alone in the living room, night after night, writing and writing.  I could hear the television on in the other room and wished I could be in there with my family.  But I diligently worked on getting caught up.

One day, just before the term grades came out, Mr. Roeloff stood before the class.  Believe me, I will never forget this moment:  He announced that at midterm there were 15 (as I remember it) students with failing or near-failing grades.  But only one of them had worked hard and pulled that grade up.  He didn’t announce who that was, but I knew.  He smiled at me.  Sure enough, when I got my report card, I now had a B+ in Social Studies.  I was so pleased with myself, and so was my dad.  I had learned a lot about Social Studies, but, maybe more importantly, I learned about keeping up in school and about repentance when I mess up.

 

Note:  I never used his outlining method again.  I had my fill of it that year.  But I did alright in high school and college anyway.

 

 

 

Our Granddaughter is Very SMRTE

 Lisi is in kindergarten.  She is brilliant.  Her family was teaching her how to spell words.  They taught her some of the rules of spelling, then they were quizzing her- giving her words to spell.  They said, "You are so smart.  Spell smart."  She thought for a minute, then said, "SMRTE" The E tells the R to say his own name.

See, she is very SMRTE! 

Happy New Year!

 

Worth a Thousand Words

 Some pictures just are . . . .

Last veteran of WWII battle group marching in Victory Day Parade.

Keynote Christmas Season 2024

 Shonna's family left on Sunday and our Keynote performance season started on Monday morning with a two-hour final rehearsal.  We did nine performances, ending with our concert on December 11th in the tabernacle.

Bottom:  Val Jones, Kalynn Snow, Cindi Witt, Marsha Brinkerhoff

Middle: Jen Pusey, Kim Meyers, Kyla Lawrence, Connie Spilker

Top: Tami Peterson, Cindy Alton, Lydia Fisher, Kay Hinton

At one of our performances at a rest home, we found Mary Dawn Cox- an original Keynote.  Keynotes started 61 years ago!  Her daughter and granddaughter were with her to hear us.  It was such an honor to sing for her. 

I spent many hours preparing cheat sheets, mic maps, position charts.  Being the leader is a huge job.  These are just a FEW of the many charts, etc, I made.  I learned a lot and have written notes on what I've learned.  Hopefully next year will be easier.

We were asked to sing for the Red Cliffs, Utah temple sealers and wives Christmas social.  Never have we had such an attentive audience.

Star Bright with the guitar

Our tabernacle concert went very well, with only minor glitches.  It is an honor to sing in that sacred, historic building.

I love each of these dear ladies and could write a whole post, talking about each of them- their fine qualities and what they contribute to our group.  They are my Keynote sisters.

Outside, the lights were so beautiful!

I am the leader for Christmas. I have already started planning and choosing music for next Christmas.   Kim is the leader for the spring season.  I happily turn over the leadership reins to her for a while.  I love being a Keynote!

Thanksgiving Week: Saturday

 The Mackrorys left at about 5 am on Saturday.  Nathan works at Chick filA and had to be to work at 4:00 pm.  He made it!  But we had the Camerons for another wonderful day.

In the morning, each of the kids played for us.  It was a beautiful recital.  They are all getting so good!

As Shonna has been homebound after her surgery, she has practiced the piano a lot.  Wow!  She is really good.  She made her mama cry.  

Then their whole family sang a beautiful Christmas song for us.  Blogger won't let me post videos, but I wish you could have heard it.  They are all so talented.  Here is a link to the song:  born to be a king - Search

We had fun playing Skyjo

We went out for dinner at Costa Vida

It was a fun day with the Cameron family.  We love them all so very much.  They went to church with us the next morning, then headed for home.

Thanksgiving Week: Friday

 Friday was a mini Christmas.  We exchanged gifts.  We gave everyone a copy of the book I published this year, "Grandma's Stories."  It is stories from my life.  Camerons had Mackrorys for Christmas this year, so the Mackrorys opened their gifts from them. 

Checking out Grandma's Stories.

All of the Mackrorys got shackets from Camerons.

Three beautiful granddaughters: Lily, Hannah, and Audrey

Everyone loved their new shacket.

Thank you hugs are always a part of a Hinton Christmas.

Ken and Kristen went on an early morning walk each day.

Yep!  Back to the Red Hill.

Kristen made homemade cherry chocolates for Ken- his favorite.

The adults went out to lunch to celebrate Shonna's birthday.  After her jaw surgery in September, she is finally able to eat a whole meal.  It takes a while, but she did it!

Nativity at the temple.

Blake reading from Summer of the Monkeys to the kids.  They always have a good book going at their house.  

Playing the game again.  So fun!

The boys playing a game downstairs.

Score!

We did a special sealing session at the temple that evening with Ken as sealer.  It was wonderful.  We sealed a lot of our ancestors.