Reading...

How do you like to read? Sitting up, laying down, outside or in, at the table, on the sofa or curled up in a chair?
Do you like large print or regular, paperback or hardback? Do you read silently or outloud, with natural light or by lamp? Do you read with an accent or without, if you read with an accent do all the characters have a different voice or do all characters sound the same? Large tomes, medium or small. Which genre do you prefer? Do you save the last page for last or do you read it first?

These are my preferences...sitting up, laying down, outside and in, at the table on the sofa or curled up in a chair, large print, regular, paperback and hard, out loud, any light, with an accent (if it needs one), each character with their own voice. I especially like an Irish accent or one from the South and South of the Border is pretty fun. Large, medium and small bring it on, I like history, mystery, biography, fiction, non-fiction, scriptures, cereal boxes, cottage cheese containers, and liquid soap bottles. I always read the last page first, if I don't like it I don't read the book.
I guess you have figured me out...I love to read and will read just about anything. For the past few years I've been collecting books from my childhood and rereading them with great delight. A few of my favorites are Mr. Bear-Squash-You-All-Flat, The Churkendoose, The Pedlar of Colored Threads, The Boy Who Wanted To Be A Fish, and Granny's Birds. I love the illustrations, the colors are fabulous.
My philosophy is save a horse, read a book....
Have a lovely evening wherever in the world you are and read a couple of pages tonight before you go to sleep.

A Good Read

Have you read it...
Or watched it?
I don't remember when The Secret Life of Bees was published but it was several years ago. I read it when it was brand new. I reread it this past year and fell in love with it all over again. I hesitated to see the movie because most of the time the movie never lives up to the book. Well, I finally did watch it and loved all the characters. It does deviate from the book some but with time restraints it's understandable, that's why I sometimes will not ruin a good read by watching the screen version.
If you read it or watched it did you like it?

Brownies...The Rest Of The Story

I made brownies Friday morning. Dave ate nearly all of them but...he's funny, when there's only one left on the plate it goes to the garbage every time. This little guy apparently has never heard of the 10-second rule, he climbed in, retrieved it, and ATE IT!
He's a feisty little critter. He loves walnuts but he prefers YOU crack them, clean them and lay them out buffet style. Where do they learn these things? Is there a squirrel professor hanging out in the trees teaching this stuff or what?? And are you as amazed as I am how he sits on the rim of that trash can? Somedays I can barely stand on two high-arched-feet. Hmmm.

M-M-M Homemade Salsa

I love the way salsa looks all chopped up and colorful, don't you? It tasted even better than it looked too. Chips are store bought cuz I didn't have any corn tortillas. Now that would've been the ultimate with the salsa, eh?
A pepper from my garden. The cup is for comparison, I didn't grow it. Haha!
After I took the photo I put it on the stove and roasted it. The kitchen smelled soooo good.
We have a potluck tomorrow after church and I made beans and franks with cut up bacon, green pepper, & chopped onions. I cook the franks in a skillet to make them outdoorsy and then slice thin. To the beans I add a bit of brown sugar, maple syrup and a scoch of smoke-flavored BBQ sauce, put it altogether and voila....something good!
I guess I should have taken a photo of the beans but alas it is too late I took them over to church so I didn't have to carry them tomorrow with my bag which weighs a ton.
Have a good evening wherever in the world you are.

Corn and Soybeans As Far As The Eye Can See

Although our portion of the Heartland had a very wet spring and planting was LATE our state planted an estimated 12.3 million acres of corn and 77.5 million acres of soybeans. The soybeans are down but corn is up. These photos were taken from a semi as we were coming back from picking up Sweet Man's load at the yard so he will be ready to leave after church tomorrow. I wish I could have been standing on top of the load and y'all would've gotten a better photo. You can just see the golden top of the corn in the distance. Corn along side the road is so tall you can't see over it even in the truck. I don't think there's anything prettier than a soybean field. The color is such a rich green. Doesn't it look lush?

My Baby Girl is 36!

This is my all time favorite photo of Brandee. She looks like a little rag-a-muffin with that fly-a-way red hair. She is so darn cute with that sweet smile and little pug nose.

My water broke with Brandee about 11:45 p.m. Her dad had already left for work which was 59-60 miles away, my mother was there from the Heartland but didn't drive, so I called my mother-in-law Fern and she drove out to take me to the hospital. I called Norm Soto to come give me a blessing, he was so nervous I thought he would faint. When Fern got there we headed back to Mesa. I wanted to go to her house for a while but she said absolutely not we were going to the hospital. By the time we got there it was about 2-3 mins. after 1 on August 21, 1973, Brandee was born at 1:21 a.m. She was by far the easiest birth I had of all my children. There was no place for her to go but out. We went home the next afternoon. Brandee was a good sweet baby and very cuddly. She loved to be held and sung to. Her sister Jan Ericka claimed her for her own although only 15 months older. Those two were inseparable when they were little. Brandee didn't have to talk because Jan talked for her. I believe Brandee talked in full sentences when she finally began to speak, it was kind of shocking.

She was a long legged, long armed, RED HEADED little gal with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. Her favorite teacher in school was Mrs. Rye, she would do anything for her.

Brandee has had some really tough times in her life and like this photo she has had to learn how to bend so as not to break. She is very tender hearted and sentimental.

Brandee, I want you to know how much I love and miss you, how much your Heavenly Father loves you and wants to bless you and desires the very best for you and longs for your return to His presence along with the rest of your family. Please do all that it takes to make that come to past regardless of what you have to give up. Your mortal probation is but a moment in time but the outcome of your choices while here on earth will resound in the eternities.

Brandee, you are a daughter of Deity, remember that every day and act accordingly. You are so good and have a heart the size of Texas.
This is Brandee and me when I was the tall one, now she is several inches taller than me. She still has the wonderful head of red hair and she still has that big heart. Use it for good Brandee.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL
I love you to the outer reaches of the universe and beyond!!
Your Mom

Cross Another Jewel Off The List. . .

I found it on EBay for .99! I've been looking for this book for sometime. (see older post)

Late one night when I couldn't sleep I was cruising EBay and there he was. There were a few days left of bidding and I was afraid someone else would discover the treasure but alas it was meant to be MINE, ALL MINE!

The only other place I could find this (2 actually) was Rubylane Antiques on the net, which by the way has a lot of fabulous things. They wanted, if my memory serves me correctly, $24 for one and $21 for the other.

Did Mama get a bargain or are my eyes brown?

My Baby Boy is 39!

Chad Sundance all spiffied up and . . . .

what he really looks like.

These photos were taken by my daughter Jan Ericka. She has a good eye, don't you think?
We were on a camping trip in another state when I started labor on August 13, 1970. As soon as we got home we got things put away, kids bathed, pajamed and distributed. We came back home and waited and finally decided to go to the hospital. Chad was born on Friday, August 14, 1970 at 4:51 a.m. He weighted 9# 10 oz. He was a very cute, sweet, happy baby from the get go and I do believe he was born smiling. We use to call him Happy Jack.
Chad was always looking for an adventure and still is. He was good at whatever he chose to do and he still is. He loves music and plays it constantly, loves movies and watches a lot of them , he loves horses, rock climbing, making things, and his boy Dakota.
When I was pregnant with Chad my appendix ruptured and he and I were in some peril for a bit but I knew we would be okay and here we are today.
Chad has had some tough times in his life but always manages to survive them and come out on top. He has stamina and perseverance.
One of my fondest memories is teaching Chad how to two- step. When he got it down pat he nearly two-stepped my feet off.
Another fond memory I have is Chad's love for Pan Dolce. Dad and I had been in Mexico and brought some home and Chad fell in love with it so I got a recipe and would make it for him.

Chad liked going to Primary to see his buddies especially one little toe-headed fellow whose last name started with a V. I think his favorite teacher was Brother Hobbs. Chad's favorite guy in the B of M was Samuel the Lamanite Prophet.
A not-so-fond memory is hearing, "MOM!" one Saturday morning. Little did I know what I would be seeing when I walked into that room, what I did see made my heart stop for a moment. Let me set the stage; Chad had a remote control car which had a stiff wire sticking out of the back end for the remote control to work. This wire, still attached to the car, was hanging from his eye. He had fallen off the top bunk while attempting to open the window, I think, and voila there he was--wire, car, eyeball!

Of course, it would be a day when Dad was on maneuvers, so I got him in the car and headed for the ER. Mind you, we lived in the foothills with a ways before we connected with blacktop but let me just say we got to the ER in good time. I drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding up the remote control car. Chad was quiet and calm which in turn helped me to remain calm myself.
After the Doctor extracted the wire and did all else necessary we finally headed home with a detour to get his favorite donuts. All ended well with no problems later on.
A few years ago Chad had an accident while rock crawling which didn't turn out so well. His leg was crushed and is held together today with a lot of hardware. He tells me it aches like the dickens when it's cold or rain is coming.
Every phone conversation starts out the same way...MOM!. I always love to hear his voice on the other end of the line. Sometimes he calls me and sings to me or plays a song and wants to know who is singing it. He's a character, a cook, a father, a husband, a son, a son of God, a brother, a dreamer, an inventor, a sweet boy.
Chad is a good man and I'm so happy he belongs to me, he occupies a special place in my heart and I want him to know how much I love and miss him. His Heavenly Father loves him and desires to bless him with all that he is entitled to.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD, I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BEYOND....
Your Mom

Working Trains

Ever see a train yard? It's an interesting place. There are more train cars than you can count. I'm standing on the overpass shooting west in this photo. I didn't cross the bridge to shoot the other side of the yard because of parking and traffic but it is just as full as this side but with more engines.

I wanted to stand up on the railing to be able to see the train cars further back but Dave wouldn't let me...spoilsport!

Anyway, I thought the boys might enjoy this photo since they use to chase trains in Emmett.