Images of Meagan's Wedding

The ceremony of Matt and Meagan's wedding was held in the living room of James and Cambers home. It was very touching and personal and a history of their acquaintance and romance preceded the vows. The courtyard was used for the eating, cake cutting and the innovative delight for all, "the candy bar". After delicious snacks of all kinds, there was dancing to a terrific band by the pool. It was a fun, festive wedding that went from 3:30 till 9 pm. Meagan's mother Jennifer had made beautiful place settings and lovely shawls were given to all the women. Terrific toasts were given and the traditional first dance and throwing of the bouquet. As a sidelight, Lea, 8 year old daughter of James, caught the bouquet, just as she did at her aunt Kelsi's wedding...

The House before the Wedding

The kitchen family room--part of it... A view of the house next to the ranch on the south...

The dressing room...

The courtyard...

The pool table/movie room, oops a little blurry...

The dining room and kitchen tables...

Both sides of the living room--this will be emptied and filled with white chairs for the wedding--over 100 guests...

The ceiling of the living room... The other part of the kitchen family room...

The sink in the guest bath...

The pool next to the ranch on the south...

The plush bed in the guest wing...

Christmas 2007 at New Home

Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve was at my son's new home in Rancho Santa Fe and both he and his wife had most of their extended families there, this was a first. There were also the missionaries and a guest from Provo so quite a large group. We played the traditional White Elephant game after a delicious ham and turkey dinner. There was plenty of room for all of us to sit down as evidenced by these pictures!! This is just one half of the living room...

 

Two large tables and two bars make lots of room to spread the food and lots of room to eat it...

Who wants my white elephant present??

Christmas Morning we had the traditional  program with songs and story and then presents...

 

The Sunday before Christmas Jimmy poses with his wife and his Mom...

 

 

The family in front of their new home already for Church before Christmas...

My Christmas Card 2007

 

Northern Lights

When I lived in Glendive, Montana we could see what we called the Northern Lights and they moved back and forth like a light show. This picture was taken in Alaska but what we saw was similar, though perhaps fainter. I just read that scientists think they have discovered the energy source. New data from NASA's Themis mission (satellites lauched this winter) found the energy comes from a stream of charged particles from the sun flowing like a current through twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting eath's upper atmosphere to the sun.

They said there was a two hour light show in March over Alaska and Canada and the geomagnetic storm raced 400 miles in a minute across the sky (equal to a 5.5 earthquake).

I was surprised to read they had expected the existence of these wound-up bundles of magnetic fields but this is the first time it was ever mapped--and get this--mapped some 40,000 miles above the Earth.

It is an amazing world we live in and so much we still don't know about it.

Nice Weekend!

I am surely glad Mitch had a cookie decorating party and Maria invited me, too. I ate both of the ones I did and see how large they are. I haven't done this for a few years with being gone so much the last several Christmases with disasters. They tasted so good! I made some this year also to take down to San Diego for the little ones to frost.

We would put them in tupper ware in the freezer and there was always a complaint that someone had left the lid off, but it didn't matter. They were all gone before Christmas anyway. We still use the recipe I started using in college when I made cookies for my nephews.

Saturday, Maria took me to the Reno Temple and that was an enjoyable morning and then lunch with Matt and his friend Russ at Chevy Mex--they have the best salsa and chips--did you know you can buy them for your own party? Matt and Russ were stoked with all the snow at Tahoe right now and more on the way. In fact it snowed quite a bit in Reno while we were there--but not here yet.

Then we met Kristi and Mike and saw their cute little Kate walking all around. They showed us their house that is being built in the south Reno area. Very nice area and lovely house. So glad they will be close!

Christmas Time again...

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" (Yes, I think in song all the time). Decorations go up right after Halloween because I love the lights of the Christmas tree and other decoration lights along with the burning warmth of a wood fire to make my evenings warm and cozy for as long as possible. Sometimes I don't take decorations down till February. This early prep for Christmas started when we went skiing every year during the Christmas and New Year weeks and so started using an artificial tree to avoid having to take it all down (for safety reasons) just before we drove to Park City. I just have room for the top half of the tree, now...anyone need a bottom only?

And with the DVR I can make sure I have a Christmas Show or a Christmas program to watch every night as well. It's a good time of year...

And earlier this week I had this thought while shopping at the Dollar Store...

When I was a child we would go to an Elks Christmas Program every year and as we were leaving they would give each of us a brown paper sack and it would always have the same things inside. There would be an orange (very precious to us), hard ribbon candy and creme drops. I especially loved the creme drops so when I saw a bag of them at the Dollar Store I was very excited.  I had not had one of those in years.

The front of the package says "Low Fat Candy"--I checked the label on the back and it said 10 calories!! Yea, I won't break my diet! I quickly ate 4 of them --I mean, only 40 calories!! I was curious as to what they were made out of to be a whole bag for a dollar and only 10 calories, so when we arrived at the restaurant I took them inside to read the ingredients. I was thinking "No wonder they could give us so many, they are cheap and made out of something strange, not like Hersheys or M & Ms". The package also said they had been making them since 1919 so I knew they were the same thing we had as children.

Imagine my dismay when I read more closely and it said 110 calories! Yikes, there went my diet. And it is chocolate, sugar, corn syrup and all the usual suspects.

Montana Friends

Posting Santa Claus on my blog reminded me I have a picture of my first boyfriend, George, his wife Susie and son and family so will post that. George and I were best buddies from second grade on and always had fun together. Bill and I were remembering when Bill and Carla and George and I were in sixth grade and we had our first double date. Suddenly, best buddies who could always talk, didn't know what to say to each other. It was funny and fun. Walking home from that date there was a beautiful spring snow still on the trees and I have never forgotten how beautiful Glendive could be with all those overhanging trees.

I lived with Susie in Billings when I was teaching school for one year. She was known as "Beauty and Brains" and still is. Great memories.

Santa Claus

Whoever thought one of your school friends would grow up to be a Santa Claus? Not me, but here he is, Bill, the class flirt, an authentic Santa Claus with a real beard and mustache!! He says he has been doing this for over 15 years so look for this face in those Christmas commercials!!

"The Thick and the Thin of it"

I am only a size 10 but standing next to a size 4, that is pretty huge. Where Melissa is, I once was, never to be there again--but it is nice to remember. She looks so great. Of course, we didn't wear the low necks except at the swimming pool but we did look pretty good in those latex bathing suits. The two piece ones only had a halter going around the neck and I learned the hard way you don't go diving in that kind of a suit! I think in our day the sizes were different. A figure of 36-23-36 (high school days, not now) was a size 9 then, would probably be a size 4 today. Of course, in England, the sizing is different again--I would probably today be a size 14 there. Oh, well, what is in a number? Just happy to be healthy and able to get into jeans and sweaters and still jump out of bed in the morning...

Richard

Yesterday, Nov 27, was the llth anniversary of Richard's death. The song "I Cried For You" is dedicated to him and the way I felt when he passed awy after 37 years of love, marriage, family and sharing all my joys and woes with a wonderful friend and husband.

Bruce to the Rescue

Maria told in her blog about Bruce biting through Bandido's leash and leading him to the back door so we could let him in. I got to thinking about that. Bandido wanted outside at Maria's but I didn't feel I wanted him roaming a neighborhood he didn't know so I hooked him up to Bruce's run. Unfortunately the run is a little way from the house and when he probably started barking to come in, I did not hear him. To tell you the truth, I had forgotten all about him and was concentrating on the dinner.

This just shows you how smart dogs really are. I would give anything to have witnessed Bandido in distress and Bruce figuring out what to do to save him. Reminds me of when my sister Carole was about 2 or 3 and wandered down to the football field. We found her there with our dog Star sitting beside her on the top step of the football arena. Dogs are so smart.