The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Excellent writing, but morally objectional material. If you are conservative, as I am, don’t read this one.

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Nothing Else But Miracles

 

1.     Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus 3 stars

I loved A Place to Hang the Moon, so was excited to read (listen to) this second book of this fine author.  It was of similar theme- three siblings against the world- but this one was set during WWII in New York City.  I didn’t like this one as well.  It didn’t seem as well written and I wasn’t as fond of the children.  But it was still a good story and immersed the reader in New York City and what it was like there during the war.  I didn’t care for the reader’s voice in the audio version- especially the voice of the youngest child.  3 stars from me.

Still Life

 

Still Life by Louise Penny
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn’t know what a cozy mystery was, but now I know. There are lots of tv series that would qualify for that title. But this may not be my favorite genre. The setting made me want to go to that charming village and the Inspector was wise and gallant. But I felt the book to be too wordy and the plot hard to follow. The ending was surprising. It wasn’t a bad book, but just may not be my cup of tea.

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Red Cliffs Temple Update

 The Red Cliffs Temple is completed.  The open house is February 1st through March 2nd.  The temple dedication is Sunday, March 24th. 

 The temple will open on March  27th.  "Excited" is the word most commonly heard around here.  Ken and I have both been called as temple ordinance workers.  We both work Tuesdays 1:30-6 and he also will work on Wednesdays 1:30-6.  We have several trainings and gatherings between now and then.  Ken will actually get to work on the first day it is open as it opens on a Wednesday.

A hot air balloon festival was recently held out near them temple, creating the opportunity for some beautiful photos.

I love this one with the cows.

The Hill

Based on a true story, this is a powerful movie.  It is the #1 movie on Netflix right now.  It is inspiring and thought provoking.  We liked that it was rated PG.  Those are hard to find.  

 

The Gossip

 I have loved studying this Norman Rockwell painting and reading about how and why it was created.

“The Gossips” by Norman Rockwell (1948)

Some say the painting was Rockwell’s revenge on a woman in Arlington, Vermont, who’d spread an ugly rumor about him. He re-created the life of the rumor, beginning with an elderly woman whispering about Rockwell to a neighbor. From there the tale takes wing, speeding through town from one eager gossip to the next, until it comes back to Rockwell himself, who confronts the rumor’s originator in the bottom right.

Painted in 1948, Rockwell had the idea for “The Gossips” twenty years earlier but couldn’t quite get the ending until he thought to picture himself as the subject of the gossips’ circle; he used his friends and neighbors in Arlington, Vermont as the other figures in the painting. Thousands of letters were sent to The Saturday Evening Post asking what the gossip was they were passing along, but an answer was never given.

After this picture appeared on the cover of the Post, the woman who started the gossip not only never spoke to Rockwell again, she actually moved away. The lady in the middle row, both the second and third face from the left, is portrayed by Mary Rockwell, the artist’s second wife and mother of his children. And, of course, the artist himself, Rockwell is on the bottom row, the second and third faces from the right.

The Gossip is a manipulation of Rockwell’s talent of facial expression, despite only revealing heads he is able to perfectly create the persona of each and every one of the conjured figures. So expressive is each face one can completely imagine the rest of the body; such attention to detail is paid, each character is given a token item of dress, a hat, glasses, reflecting of character.

Hands of course are used, consistently betraying conversation as they exclaim throughout the chain of gossip that ends amusingly right where it started. As with much of Rockwell’s art, the image illustrates an aspect of life, humorous and identifiable we immediately connect with the painting, as was of course the advertisement-fuelled aim.

Norman Rockwell

 I don't know why I started getting them, but I started seeing Norman Rockwell paintings on my Facebook page.  They were posted by an A J Hunsucker.  He posts the picture and an explanation of it.  I love them.  I am a long-time fan of Norman Rockwell.  I love how he captures real life in his paintings.  I have one of his prints hanging in my family room.

  I remember a conversations I had when I was a young mother.  In our ward was an art elitist.  I told her I love his paintings and I still remember her rant that Rockwell wasn't an artist, he was an illustrator.  Well, I'm sure I don't know the difference because I am no expert, but I just love looking at the details of his work and feeling the emotions he always conveys in his paintings.  

After I started getting those pictures, I have looked up and read a lot about Norman Rockwell and his works. 

I would like to occasionally post some of his paintings and those wonderful explanations so you can enjoy them as well.  

The Joy and Light Bus Company

 

The Joy and Light Bus Company by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What a delightful book to read to start the new year. The theme of this book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency was “stay in your lane.” It is best to do what you do best. I enjoyed this 22nd book in the series.

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Lombard Street

 Is that our station wagon coming down Lombard street in San Francisco?  I saw this beautiful old picture online and it brought memories.  Our family went to San Francisco on a family vacation when I was a child.  I remember eating at a seafood restaraunt on wharf and ordering a hamburger (idiot!) and I remember drving down this beauitful and famous street.

Bank of Dave

 This was such a good movie.  We loved it.  It's about a man who wants to start a bank so he can help others but faces great opposition.  It is based on a true story.  It is a heartwarming and delighful movie.  We watched it on Netflix.

Prepared Meals at Costco: Street Tacos

 I am always intrigued by the prepared meals I see at Costco.  Because I cook, I usually don't buy them, but I decided that I would occasionally try one and report the results on this blog.  

My first purchase was the street tacos.

It comes with small corn tortillas, seasoned chicken cubes, grated cheese, shredded cabbage, lime wedges, salsa, and Cilantro Lime Crema.

We added tomatoes and Ken made some guacamole.

These were REALLY good.  The chicken was seasoned well- not too spicy.  We heated the tortillas with cheese and chicken on them in the microwave, then added the other ingredients.  The salsa and the dressing were really delicious.  With just two of us, it fed us three times, so it was a great bargain.  We will definitely buy this again.

Stay tuned for more reviews of Costco's prepared meals!

Sometimes We Miss Our Mission . . .

 And sometimes we don't!!

Both Ken and I still keep track of our mission city on our weather app.  We recently were reminded how miserable Tsuruoka could be during the winter.  Ken did a lot of snow shoveling for us and neighbors on days like this one.  

One of the problems for those who worked on snow removal is "Where do we put it all?"  Since we had a vacant lot across the street from us, they used it to deposit the snow.  I honestly don't know what they'll do if anyone ever builds on this lot.

They would form a huge mountain of snow, completely filling the lot and piling it high.

Ken would wear knee-high boots, snow pants, and an ear warming head band.  He had to use this big scoop to remove the snow.

Sometimes we miss our mission . . .and sometimes we don't!

* Added note:  Since I prepared this post, this area experienced a 7.5 magnitude earthquake on January 1st and were on tsunami warning. When we heard, we immediately started contacting those we love there.  We are relieved that we have heard back from everyone and no one was hurt in the quake and the tsunami never materialized in that area.  

Celebrating the New Year

 Truth be told, we didn't even make it to midnight to welcome in the new year, though the loud booms and celebrations awakened us.  

We celebrated with the southern Utah Hintons on New Years Day at Mark and Kathy's house.  We had a potluck soup, salad, rolls, and appetizers dinner and party.  We had fun playing Skyjo together.

It was fun to be together to welcome in 2024.

2024 Books

 For Christmas, Ken gave me 11 books.  When he asked what I wanted for Christmas, I said BOOKS!  I love books.  I opened a wrapped box, and inside was 11 beautifully wrapped books.

I had found a list of good books to read online and forwarded that list to him, eliminating ones I could get on my online reading platform.  He got me the whole list!

Here are some of the books I plan to read this year.  I can tell it will be a wonderful year of reading!

Cheaper By the Dozen

 

Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Published in 1948 and written by two of the dozen children of Frank and Lil Gilbreth, this book tells many of the adventures of the Gilbreth family. The father was eccentric and creative, the mother, very intelligent. They had an even dozen of children- six girls and six boys. It was a cute, funny, and unsettling book. Two movies have been made based on this book.

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A Castle for Christmas

 Brooke Shields and Carey Elwes star in this beautiful Christmas movie.  We loved the scenery.  It was a cute story, too. We watched it on Netflix.

Rock Garden for the Bishop

 Our bishop's birthday is right after Christmas.  Someone came up with the idea that everyone could paint a rock to create a rock garden for him.  Word was sent out to everyone in the ward asking for rocks and where to drop them off.

He is a big BYU football fan, so I painted a Y rock.  Ken painted a thank you rock.

Ken took a picture of some of the rocks at one of the drop off locations.  I think it is a really fun idea.

Happy birthday, dear Bishop Croft!

Lucille Morris Passes Away

 Lucille Morris was my sister Joan's husband Tom's mother.  We knew her as we often attended family gatherings together through the years.  She was a beautiful woman, always dressed so beautifully.  She was kind and loving.  We attended her funeral via Zoom.  It was a beautiful funeral.  Tom is a speaker extraordinaire. His talk had us laughing and crying and reflecting.  As he said, a funeral should make us want to be better and do better.  This one sure did.

She and Charlie had a marriage that lasted 75 years before he passed away three years ago.

Lucille P. Morris July 31, 1926 – December 11, 2023 Lucille P. Morris, of Meridian, Idaho, passed away peacefully on Monday, December 11, 2023. She was 97 years old. She was beautiful both inside and out and loved by family, friends, and all who knew her. Lucille was the second of three children born to Albert R. Price and Sara Jones in Malad, Idaho. She spent much of her early life moving from town to town with her parents and beloved siblings, LaNae Dance and Farrell Price. The family finally settled in Blackfoot, Idaho, a place Lucille would call “home” for more than 55 years. She was a sophomore in high school when she started dating a handsome Greek boy named Charlie Morris. He was an accomplished athlete; she was a talented vocalist. Their high school romance would later blossom into marriage. They both graduated from high school on May 24, 1944, and the day after graduation, Charlie enlisted in the Navy. Lucille married the love of her life on February 5, 1946, in Portland, Oregon, where Charlie was stationed. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Idaho Falls Temple. They were married for almost 75 years until Charlie’s passing on December 24, 2020. After Charlie’s service in the Navy ended, the couple moved to Chicago, Illinois where Charlie attended dental school and Lucille worked to support the family. Following graduation from dental school, they moved back to Blackfoot to start a dental practice and raise a family. They were blessed with four children: Sharon, Susan, Tom, and Stephen. Lucille was a stay-at-home mom who cherished being a mother. She nurtured and blessed the lives of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren with her selfless love. Lucille was an accomplished singer with a beautiful voice. She was frequently asked to sing at weddings, funerals, civic clubs, church gatherings and community events. She was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She held numerous positions in the church and just may have been the best Primary chorister that ever lived. She loved working with the youth and helped many troubled teens successfully navigate the path to adulthood. She enjoyed spending time at the family’s cabin in Island Park. So many great memories were made there. Family was everything to her. She was never happier than when she was gathered with family and surrounded by the sounds of young children playing. In 1995, she and Charlie moved to Meridian, Idaho, to be closer to her children and grandchildren there. She is survived by her sons, Thomas C. Morris (Joan) Boise, Idaho, and Stephen A. Morris (Michelle) Meridian, Idaho; 12 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Charles J. Morris, and her daughters Susan Morris Traylor and Sharon Morris. A memorial service will be held on December 30, 2023, at 11:00 am at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel at 8620 W. Goddard Road, Boise, Idaho 83704. Information about the service, which will be livestreamed, can be found at https://bellavidafuneral.com/obituaries/lucille-morris-2023. Interment was at the Grove City cemetery, Blackfoot, Idaho.

The funeral included beautiful music and talks by her granddaughter Christie, and her two sons Steve and Tom.

All of the girls in the family wore one of her beautiful brooches. Lucille always wore a brooch or pin on her sweater or jacket.

Her passing is a benchmark. Now everyone of us and our siblings are orphans. Everyone on both sides of the family have lost their parents. She was the last.

We are so grateful we got to attend this beautiful service.

Olsen's Christmas House

 We have a beautifully decorated Christmas house in our neighborhood.  The Olsens live really close to us.  They decorate so beautifully every Christmas.

On Christmas eve we looked out our back windows to see a huge string of red lights- cars rear lights in a near standstill line up along Ft. Pierce Drive. From our street to the turnoff to the Olsens home is two blocks.  After you turn, it's another three blocks to their house.  Cars were lined up as far as you could see to get to drive by their home.  Their home is listed on several sites as must-see houses at Christmas time. It was amazing to see all of those cars full of people waiting for their turn to view this beautiful sight. It is a tradition for us to drive by every year.  Thank you Olson's for making so many people's Christmas more full of light!

Neighborhood Games

   I am writing a book of stories from my life.  It is called "Grandma's Stories."  Following is one of the stories from that book.

Neighborhood Games

I grew up in a fun neighborhood.  Most summer days, the kids in the neighborhood gathered to play each day.  During the day, we played army, hide and seek, and Annie I Over.  One summer we dug a huge “fort” in a vacant lot. It took us all summer, but we got it really deep.  We had to use a ladder to get out.  At night we played night games like No Bears are Out Tonight, Kick the Can, and Run, Sheepy, Run.  Because most of my playmates were boys, army was the favorite daytime game.  But because I was a girl, I got last choice on guns and usually got assigned the bazooka.  

It was big and heavy.  I don’t remember exactly how army was played, but I have vivid memories of hiding under evergreen bushes in cold, muddy dirt, waiting for the enemy.  My favorite place to hide when we played hide and seek was in our shed in our back yard.  I would hide among the tools and breathe in the smell of cut grass and gasoline as I hid.  My playmates were my sister, Joan, Sherm Gigray, Bill Balding (along with his German Shepherd, Lady- loved that dog,) and Janis Blacker.  (This is a picture of some of the neighborhood kids.  Janis is in the purple dress and Joan and I are in the matching outfits in the front.

 

 

  Others from the area would join us occasionally.  In the autumn, we would make “houses” out of the raked leaves.  We would spend hours creating the walls, doors, windows -like a blueprint on the ground.  I can almost feel the chill and smell the leaves.  It was so much fun.  I have a specific memory of my mom calling us in for dinner as we played in our house, and me being very reluctant to leave my beautiful leaf house.  I was afraid it would be gone by the next afternoon when I was free to play again. 

On that occasional day that it snowed in the winter, we had so much fun playing in the snow, having snowball fights, and snowman building.  But summer was the best.

In the summer between 6^th and 7^th grade, there was a very important tradition in our town and neighborhood. In the summer between 6^th and 7^th grade, you were required by the 7^th grade science teacher, Mr. Teichert, to prepare an insect collection.  Mr. Teichert would come into the 6^th grade classes at the end of the year and give all the 6^th graders the assignment with instructions on how to kill and mount the bugs.  He gave us a list of the things we would need to complete the assignment: insect nets, fingernail polish remover, jar, cotton balls, mounting board and box, etc.   You had to collect so many bugs to complete your collection.  I don’t remember the exact number, but fifty is in my mind.  A certain number of them had to be butterflies, beetles, etc.  He would tell you at the end of 6^th grade, so you had the whole summer to do it. He gave us a chart of the different kinds of insects.  He taught us how to kill and pin them into a collection.  I still remember the excitement of him coming in to our class.  But I hardly needed the instructions because I had helped so many of the kids in my neighborhood get their collections and pin them, that I already knew what was expected.  But this would be MY summer.  Everyone would be helping me.  It was so exciting!  All of the neighborhood kids owned collection nets already.  We had spent our summers for several years helping each other get our collections, so we already had nets, and the older kids helped the younger get them killed and pinned properly.  I remember roaming through the vacant lots/fields in our neighborhood, chasing insects.  I can almost hear the sound of the grasshoppers, or see the pretty swallowtail butterflies as I chased them with my net cocked.   My collection is long gone, but the memories will last forever.

We also swam a lot during the summers.  We most often swam in Janis Blacker’s pool, but occasionally in Bill Baulding’s.

 We loved to play Marco Polo, colors, and race.  We had diving competitions and races. My favorite was to see how far you could swim underwater in one breath.  I think I liked it because I usually won this game.  I could hold my breath for a very long time and I was a pretty fast swimmer, so I could usually swim two laps in Blacker’s pool before having to come up for air. 

(This is our family at Blacker’s pool, not the neighborhood kids, but it is a good shot of the pool.)

Summer evenings were the best when we would all gather to play night games as named above.  They were so fun.  I love that, now I am a grandma, the neighborhood kids in our neighborhood gather in our yard to play some of those very same games.  We are not sure why they choose our yard, but it is fun to hear their shrieks and giggles as they play the very same games we used to play.  Sometimes there are many, many kids, including teenagers out there playing.  I think a text goes out, “Meet at Hintons at 7” and they come in force.   We aren’t crazy about the broken sprinkler heads or the pilfered unripe peaches, found on the ground with just one bite gone, but it is worth it to be surrounded by happy children.

As we got older, we were reluctant to give up our games.  We played them well into our teens.  After that, we often just sat on someone’s porch or grass and talked.  We were all good friends.  I feel very blessed to have grown up in such a fun and safe neighborhood.

2023 Audobon Bird Counts

 Ken, as usual, participated in three Audubon Christmas bird counts this year.  He was the director of the St. George bird count.  Each of the three areas has a director who divides the area into smaller areas, assigning a leader over each.  Each leader has a team.  They identify species and count the birds in their area.  That information is reported to the Audubon Society who tracks birds nationwide.

Saturday, December 16th was the Zion National Park Bird Count.  This is probably Ken's favorite of the three.  For years, his group goes to private property called Pareaunaweep.  The current owner and his father join them.  It was quite a large group this year- 12 people.  Ken, his brother Don with Don's son Darren and his two sons, Marshall and Seth Topham and Seth's daughter, and three Roth boys (they used to live in our ward and are excellent birders.)  They got 54 species in their area, including a Hammond's flycatcher and a Lewis' Woodpecker, both of which are quite rare and exciting finds.

Friday, December 22nd was the St. George bird count.  Ken always is in charge of this one, though if anyone would like to take over, he would be more than glad to turn it over!  It was a rainy day, but they still had fun.  They had a young man with them part of the day, but mostly it was just Ken and Don in his area.  They got 57 species in their area.

Saturday, December 23rd was the Silver Reef Bird Count.   Ken's group had Don for half the day (he was called into do a sealing session at the St. George temple in the afternoon), and Ken's friend, Paul Hicks who is an excellent birder, and that same young man came for a couple of hours.  Ken took Paul to meet Justin Neighbors who rehabilitates raptors.  They had a most interesting visit with him.  They got 56 species in their area and had a wonderful day of birding.

December Temple Visits

 December was a great month for temple visits.

On December 7th we visited the Cedar City temple for the last time- at least for awhile.  We will miss our trips there.  We always listened to a podcast on the way up and back.  The workers there were kind and friendly and dealt with the big crowds graciously.  For most of the time we went there, they had five temple districts coming there: Cedar City, St. George, Red Cliffs, Manti (theirs was closed for remodeling) and Las Vegas, which was closed for an extended period of time for repairs.

We will miss our after-temple dinners at Lupita's Mexican restaurant.

Sunday, December 10th was the rededication of the St. George temple.  Stake centers in the area were turned into "temples" so we could all be part of that special meeting.

The temple reopened on December 13th.  We went on December 14th.  It was so nice to be back in the temple.  I have to admit that it was a bit chaotic as everyone was learning the new temple.  We did an endowment session, then a sealing session.  Sealings are on the 5th floor, but only one of the elevators goes up there.  None of the workers could tell me how to find the correct elevator.  I was wandering all over.  I did finally make it.  I'm sure things will settle down after we all learn our way around.

Thursday, December 21st- Initiatories

Friday, December 29th-Sealing session

We love having our beautiful temple open.

Christmas with a View

 This was another fun Christmas Romcom on Netflix.  

More Blasts From the Past- 3

 Are you ready for more blasts from my past in Caldwell, Idaho?

Chalet amusement park was owned and operated by members of our church.  It was such a fun place to go.  We loved to ride the go karts and jump on the trampolines.  They had 8 trampolines buried ground level.  They were so fun to jump on.  I'm sure I played the miniature golf as well, but I don't remember it.  Inside, they had foosball tables.  I spent many an hour as a teenager playing on those tables.  Such happy memories!

Gem In and Out and Kwicurb Drive-in were across the street from each other.  I don't know when it started, but these two places became the hot teenage hangouts.  Especially on weekends, but really every night, teenagers could be seen "dragging the curb."  They would drive through one establishment, drive across the street and around that one, then do it over and over and over again. I know it was the tradition when my older sisters were growing up.  I remember one of my sister Patty's boyfriends had a red convertible.  He came to see Patty and invited Joan and I to come drag the curb with them.  We were SO excited to ride in the back of that convertible and drag the curb.  He stopped at Quick Curb and bought us both milkshakes. What a happy day and memory!

By the time I was a teenager, I don't remember doing it.  I do remember occasionally getting a hamburger at one of the places.  Maybe I just wasn't in the "in" crowd.

Penny- Wise Drug Store is a huge part of my growing up years.  Huge.  My dad set up an account there, so we could go there and buy stuff and charge it. We bought all of our prescription and over the counter drugs there. We bought most of our Christmas gifts there, toys, candy, etc.  We rode our bikes there very often in the summer.  I have such happy memories of Penny-Wise Drug Store.  The employees all knew us and knew to charge my dad's account.

Probably the best fast food place in town was the Red Steer Drive-in.  My dad certainly thought so.  After I could drive (age 14) he often sent me there to buy dinner for our family.  I LOVED two things there:

1) Their grilled hot dogs.  They were long and delicious. They would split that delicious hot dog in half, grill it until the edges were browned and crispy, and put it on the bun.  I would always get mine with mayonnaise, ketchup, and tomatoes.

2) Their finger steaks.  I didn't know until I was an adult and moved out of Idaho, but finger steaks are an Idaho-only thing.  And they are SO delicious.  Especially at the Red Steer.  That is what my dad always ordered.  They were like chicken fingers, but they were delicious, tender, breaded and seasoned beef.  They came with dipping sauce and fries and they were so good.  Oh, how I miss finger steaks!

There will be more blasts from the past.  I keep getting more nostalgic pictures.