AI Couples

 Brian discovered you could create AI versions of pictures in google photos.  He sent a picture of each of the couples in our family that he created.

Ken and Kay (we decided Ken looks too old in this picture.)

Jared and Kristen

Michelle and Brian

Shonna and Blake

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

 

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Fiction Audiobook
I loved this audiobook. Vera’s voice was so well done. She is a strong, bossy character. It is a cute, funny story and was such an enjoyable listen. I rarely listen to a second book in a series, but I am on the waiting list for the second Vera Wong book on Libby. I can't wait!


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Running Away

I ran away from home twice when I was growing up.  I was gone less than an hour both times.  I am not sure that qualifies for “running away.”  First, I must say that it was a different world back then.  A child could go outside by themselves and be safe.  Not true today.  Do not try running away.  It is not safe.  Running Away.

I can’t remember what upset me the first time.  I just remember I was mad and sad and decided to run away.  As I headed out the door, I realized I would need some food if I was going to survive for very long, so I went to the fridge.  I opened it and grabbed the first thing I saw- a big handful of iceberg lettuce.  First of all, iceberg lettuce has very little nutritional value or calories, and second of all, I didn’t even like it.  I mean, it’s okay on sandwiches and tacos and in salads, but not just to eat by itself.  Not a great choice! 

I marched out the front door.   Shermy, my mean next-door neighbor caught on to what was going on and started teasing me. “Oh look, she’s running away.”  “Look she’s leaving a Hansel and Gretel trail of lettuce so she can find her way home.”  I turned around and saw that I, indeed, was dropping lettuce every few feet.  This was not going well.  This was not how running away was supposed to be.  As I remember, I walked around the block.  I was tired and the lettuce was stupid, so I just went back home.  That ended my first running away episode.

The second was just before my 14^th birthday.  I was WAY too old to be running away.  I am so embarrassed by this story that I probably shouldn’t tell it, but here goes. 

Back then, Avon was a large cosmetics company.  Representatives would come to your home and show you a catalog from which you could order.  It took a couple of weeks to get the products you ordered. They would give samples, too.  I loved the smell of roses.  Our Avon lady, as they were called, gave us samples of their “Roses, Roses” perfume.  I fell in absolute love with that perfume.  My mom said she would order me some.  I was so excited.  I couldn’t wait for it to come.  Finally, the Avon lady came and delivered the order.  I asked my mom for my perfume.  She, in the meantime, had decided she would give it to me for my birthday and she told me I had to wait for my birthday.  I was devastated.  I was so sad and so mad.  We had a fight about it.  But she stood firm that I had to wait.  Oh, I was mad.  I decided to run away. 

This time, I didn’t do any preparing.  I just went out and got on my bike.  My sister, Joan was very upset that I was leaving and was crying and begging me not to go.  I just ignored her.  She rode her bike along with me, crying.  Her best friend, Cheryl Hart was there, too.   She turned into a news reporter.  “Girl, age 14 runs away from home.  Last seen on her blue bike wearing pink shorts and a white top.  . .” 

I had discovered a tree up on the College of Idaho campus in my wanderings that seemed like the perfect place to go when one wanted to run away.  It was a large pine tree that had grown very tall and the branches reached downward, forming a “tent” underneath.

I thought it would be the perfect place to hide and think.   I headed for “my” tree.  I parked my bike and climbed inside.  I sat on the cold, hard dirt.  I sat.  I sat some more.  I was wearing shorts and my legs started to get very cold.  I sat. I sat some more.  I was cold.  I was hungry.  I decided running away was stupid.  I climbed out, got on my bike and rode the five blocks home.  No one, except Joan, had even missed me.  Running away is stupid and overrated.

Oh, by the way, I did get the perfume on my birthday and enjoyed it for many months after.  I found this picture of the exact set I got.  I kept the box for many years after, storing things in it.

 

 

A Competition Between Two Cards

 Ken has two cards in his wallet that he uses most frequently.  He always puts the one he just used in front of the other.  He recently confided that his goal is to have the temple recommend in front of the credit card most often.  

The temple recommend wins most weeks!

In Harm's Way

 

This was a really good movie.  We watched it on Prime.

Grace

 "Everything you'll ever need to know about grace can be learned in the following way:  hold a baby in your arms.  (Perhaps while the family is out.  Perhaps in a chair.  Perhaps your own son or daughter.)  What do you feel?  An absolute love.  What has the baby done to deserve your love?  Nothing.  What would you sacrifice for the baby?  Everything."

This is God.

This is grace.

                       Stephen Robinson in the book Original Grace by Adam S. Miller

This is the Way My Life Was Meant to Be!

 
A friend that I work with at the temple recently gave me one of these delicious Werther's Caramel Apple Filled candies.  I loved it and bought some at the store.  They are so good.  When we were tending our grandchildren, we gave them each one.  Nine-year-old Gabe put it in his mouth and declared, "This is the way my life was meant to be."

They are that good!

The House of My Mother

Non-fiction   Audiobook

I think mostly because the arrest happened in my county, I was very interested in the Ruby Franke child abuse case. It is appalling that a mother could do that to her children.  This book was written by her daughter, Shari.  First of all, she (or maybe a ghost writer?) is an excellent writer.  She tells her story.  It is a very sad story, but very well told.  She is respectful of her family, but speaks out against mommy vlogging and the damaging effects.  But her mother was abusive long before she started the vlog.  She is a classic narcissist and Jodie Hildebrandt is the devil incarnate.  I am so glad they are both behind bars and hope they both stay there for a long, long time.

Nathan's Mission "Farewell"

 On Sunday morning, we all loaded in the Cameron's van and drove up to Idaho Falls to attend Nathan's mission "farewell."

Nathan has been called to serve in the Columbus, Ohio mission.  He spent the summer working full time earning all of the money to support himself on his mission.  He is a hard and valuable worker and rises to leadership positions wherever he works.  He will be a hard-working, loving missionary.

All of our family came to support him except for Shonna and Blake who were still on their biking adventure.

I had to snap a few pictures before the meeting began.  Proud grandmas can do that.

Nathan gave a wonderful talk.  He is prepared.  We are so very proud of him.

I took this opportunity to get a picture with all 14 of our grandchildren.  Who knows when that will happen again?  How we love each of these precious souls! (Only one got changed before I could gather them for the picture after church!)

After the church meetings, the Mackrorys hosted us all in their home for a delicious rib dinner.  It was SO hard to get back in the van and leave so many people that we love.  The Cameron kids were so reluctant to leave- they love their cousins- but we needed to get back to Logan before dark.

We love you Nathan and support you on your mission.  Give 'em heaven!

Chilling with the Cameron Kids

 Shonna and Blake recently had a marvelous wedding anniversary trip.  They did a bike trip from Montreal, Canada to Quebec City, Quebec.  They biked a total of 211 miles.

Blake's parents stayed with the kids from Saturday to Wednesday morning.  We drove up after Keynotes on Wednesday (arriving there about 6:30pm) and stayed with them Wednesday evening through Sunday night.  We had such a wonderful time with these great kids.  We love them so much.

Shonna and Blake sent pictures while on their adventure.

Nine year old Gabe.  What a kid.  He is a character.  These kids all have chores to do each day.  If they do them, they get a treat in the evenings.  He decided that to be fair, we needed to do chores, too.  So he wrote us each a list of chores to do each day and posted it on the fridge.

Ken had to read his scriptures, read for 20 minutes, do 20 push-ups and 20 sit-ups.

I had to read my scriptures, practice the piano, and "since you can't do push-ups Grandma, you have to read for 30 minutes!"  "Oh, no!  Don't make me read 30 minutes," (Don't throw me in the briar patch!)  I protested.  But he wouldn't relent.  

Each day, he read through the list and followed up with us. We get such a kick out of him.

During a huge percentage of their downtime, this is what we saw.  These kids are all readers and fill their spare time with books, books, books.  They have stacks of library books piled in the living room and they work their way through them.  They also borrow books on Libby and read on the Ipad.

On Saturday afternoon, Lily and Hannah disappeared downstairs for a couple of hours.  At one point, Hannah came up to get something and I asked her what they were doing down there.  "It's a surprise" she said.  A while later they came back up and presented me with this heart they had made.  That heart touched mine.

The lighting caused a blurry picture, but this is the heart with Hannah and Lily in the background.

Another fun picture of Blake and Shonna.

Caleb is on the high school mountain biking team.  On Saturday, Ken drove him up the mountain to compete in a mountain biking competition.  They were gone all day.

Caleb did really well, improving his time considerably and moving up in his placement.  He was so happy when he got home.

He told me later that he didn't want to be an adult and have all that responsibility.  He just wanted to eat and ride his bike!  

He said that, but he is a very responsible kid.  I watched him take a lot of responsibility with his parents gone.  He had things under control when we arrived on Wednesday night.  Each night he made sure the house was locked up, the dog fed and in his crate, and the lights out.  He is a good kid.

Grandpa was Caleb's cheerleader.  He enjoyed the day on the mountain and getting to know Caleb's biking friends.

That evening, after Caleb and Ken got home, Caleb showered and then he and Lily went to their Chinese teacher's house for a huge Chinese party with all kinds of delicious Chinese food.  I guess she puts on this big party every year.

On Sunday, we all piled in the van and drove two hours to Idaho Falls to attend Nathan's mission "Farewell."  Stay tuned for the post on that.

Habits of a Happy Couple

 Habits of Happy Couples

• They laugh together
• They make sacrifices for each other.
• They keep date nights alive.
• They say "I love you" every day.
• They respect each other's space.
• They never forget a goodnight kiss.
• They openly communicate their feelings.
• They make time, no matter how busy.
• They always protect each other's back.
• They learn and speak each other's love language.

Educating a Mother is Educating a Nation

 Maybe you saw this.  These pictures went viral and traveled around the world.  

Here's the story:

In the middle of a quiet university lecture, Professor Sydney Engelberg was speaking with his usual calm enthusiasm when the sharp cries of a baby broke the stillness.  The sound came from the back of the room- a young mother, one of his students, holding her restless child.  

Embarrassed, she rose from her seat, ready to slip out so the noise wouldn't disrupt the class.

But before she could reach the door, Engelberg paused his lecture, walked over, and-without a word-gently took the baby into his arms.  Then he walked back to the front and continued teaching.  He held the child as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

For the students watching, it was an unforgettable moment.  This was not an isolated moment.  Engelberg was known for welcoming student mothers into his classes, encouraging them to bring their children, breastfeed them when needed, and never make them feel like an inconvenience.

He often summed up his philosophy: "A mother should never have choose between her child and her education.  Educating a mother is educating a nation."

Lonesome Dove

 

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Historical Fiction Physical book
Is this the longest book I have ever read? I think it might be. Westerns are not my genre of choice, but so many people said that this was one of the best books they had ever read, I had to read it. It won the Pulitzer Prize. I see why. It is so well-written. Its outstanding quality is characterization. I feel like I would know these people if I met them on the street. McMurty also is an amazing storyteller.
It is a saga with intrigue. It immerses the reader in the lawless and rough culture of the old west.
It took a long while to read it, but now I’m done, I miss the characters. I miss their rough ways and their fortitude.
Now I have a decision to make. This is one of a series of four books. Will I read the other two? I’m not sure. I do want to know what happens to the characters and what happened before the big cattle drive, but I’m not sure I want to be immersed in their world again.
I will give it some time and decide. In the meantime, I will try to find the movie and watch it. I hope it doesn’t spoil the picture the author has painted in my mind. It is a detailed and vivid picture. I like it the way it is.


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The Most Reluctant Convert

Honestly, I fell asleep during this movie, but I saw most of it.  It was interesting to learn more about C S Lewis.  But I have read his autobiography, "Surprised by Joy" and felt that the movie told things differently than he did in his book.  I think we watched it on Amazon Prime.

Ken's Annual Camping Trip

 Every September, just after Labor Day, Ken likes to go up on Cedar Mountain and camp for a few days. There are few people camping then , and it's just before they close the campground for the season. He enjoys fishing, hiking, reading, and just enjoying the mountains.  

Cedar Breaks