Events

We have 55 qts of applesauce canned now and 35 qts of vegetable beef soup.
All our pumpkins & squash are in the greenhouse 'curing' and the green tomatoes are there also, hopefully getting ripe without rotting. It has been freezing the last few nights so had to get them in before they were ruined. All our potatoes are dug and put away also. I planted quite a few seeds in pots in the greenhouse. I hope they grow.
Ellsworth is very busy now, constantly loading the woodstove and bringing wood to the front porch. It is a huge job. Arlin and Neil and Cindy and Maddy and her friend helped take down the Canopy in the campground today for the winter. It is a relief to have that done.
We are doing ok and hope all of you are also.
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Last night and today, Ellsworth and I canned 34 quarts of apple sauce. A lot of work.
We still have about ten boxes to go. I picked them from our trees - it is definitely a good apple year.
What a good feeling to have food put away for emergencies.

Monday Arlin showed up at our house and when Cindy arrived home from work, she came over also. Up onto the roof they went and started painting again. Yes, the roof needed a second coat of a little different kind of material. I didn't get any pictures this time but I can tell you we appreciate them so much for the kind things they do - not just for us but for everyone within their reach. Today is their 29th anniversary. Wow! May they be blessed with 29 more (at least).

Garth has been gone to Mississippi for 2.5 weeks. He is training other soldiers.
Their 15th Anniversary is on the 16th! They hope to go away for a few days.

The kids are all back in school and things are going well for them.

Wedding

This picture turned out pretty good of the three of us (except for someone's thumb)! We gained a wonderful daughter in law!
She is sweet and smart and special!







Even though the weather wasn't perfect, the wedding was very nice.
We felt bad that some family members who really wanted to attend weren't able to make it for various reasons.
It was so great to see everyone, especially our family members who live so far away. Rohn and Marylyn and Christopher were there from Idaho Falls, which was wonderful and Aaron and Emmylou and Garrett and Gracie from Spokane. Eldon looked so handsome all dressed up as the best man and of course the stars of the show, Grant and Ronda, were wonderful. Their children and grandchildren were there also. We just gained 3 grandchildren and almost 3 great-grandchildren. Wow!
Bill Duncan and his wife Cathy, were there from Tacoma; Bill was Grant's best friend growing up.
Also, Paul Rushton and his wife were there - he is a friend of the family from long ago.
I will post some pictures here sometime today. It is a little time consuming so must wait for that block of time to do it.
Cindy did a good job getting the meal together. We had plenty to eat and then some.
Seven of the 12 siblings were there (Cindy, Grant, Rohn, Eldon, Gordon, Garth, & Aaron); that was wonderful in itself.
Arlin, as always, did a wonderful job performing the ceremony - it was really special.

Congratulations

Congratulations are in order for Aaron and Emmylou - I am so excited!

Well, the wedding is about to take place. We are really excited for Grant and Ronda and especially excited that so many of 'the twelve' will be there. Who knows, maybe all of them. Wouldn't that be wonderful! I'm glad I have a new camera because I plan to take lots of pictures.

Quite a Day

Cindy's 50th BD celebration - We had a nice evening - with lots of chocolate cake - Delicious - I saved 15 points for the event. (weightwatchers.com).
I decided to add these pictures for now & a slideshow later.
Mom and I took moon pictures on our way home from the party. It was so full and beautiful. Click on it for a better view.
Sep 14th- Nice day at Church - Great speakers. We had a nice dinner at home - every meal consists of things from the garden. Then we both had a snooze. I have got to take the time soon to get my pictures and slide shows on this blog organized a little better.
Today I am planning on preserving some of the greens from the garden.
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Sep 13th - Well, I just returned from Josiah's Birthday Party. Julie made the best ice cream cake. Josiah was having a lot of fun with all his family and friends and gifts.
I didn't stay too long. I was a little worried about Ells as he was having a bad evening. I came home and finished the bulletin - barely enough ink to print it. I run out way too often.
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Sep 13th - Today I spent all morning re-arranging our 72 hour kits. I made sure each of our two cars had both a 72 hour pack including 3 days worth of food and an emergency first aid kit.
I also made an emergency kit for Ellsworth's old wood truck just in case he needs it.
Then I decided I better start one for both my mother and the sister I have on my visiting teaching route.
Then Garth called and asked if he and the boys could come over to help us for a while while Julie cleaned the house. Of course, we were more than happy about that. He helped us with the 'Wisteria project' which was to trim it way, way down to a size that we could handle. I couldn't believe he got it all done. Ells took the truck and loaded it up with all the bramble and took it out to the burn pile. The boys loved riding back in it.
We also trimmed down the Star Magnolias and Ells took down the huge shrub in front of the Den windows. That was a big job for him.
Also, Arlin helped me get the hoses reconnected so I could water the garden. I have to use his water as ours will not support the sprinkler for some strange reason. It always did before. We have tried 3 or 4 different ones and different hoses to no avail.
We haven't had to water very much as the rain has been time just right so the garden would get soaked and we could go quite a while before it needed it again.
We canned a couple of boxes of peaches this past week (that is, what I didn't eat-they only have 1 point on weight watchers so I pigged out on them).
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Sept 13th, 2008 - today is Cindy's birthday. Doesn't seem possible it has been 50 years since I brought that sweet little baby home from the hospital. She was two weeks late so I was pretty happy to finally deliver. She was busy all day so other than a phone call to tell her Happy Birthday at 6:45am, I haven't even seen her yet. Will see her tomorrow though.
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I guess I have been tagged and I don't really know what to do but will make a stab at it.

3 joys: Our Family, The Gospel of Jesus Christ and Our Place,

3 fears: As I approach old age (a lot of people think I reached it long ago) I fear not completing my family history, not seeing my family enough, not being completely financially solvent before I pass on to the next world.

3 current obsessions: Our Garden, Finding Financial Assistance for our Students, Completing Christmas Gifts

3 surprising facts: I don't know if there are any surprises left. I will try to think of some.
I had a large blood clot in my leg for the past two months - almost gone now.
I like puzzles but not sudoku or however you spell it.
I joined weightwatchers online also.

Daniel, Rohn, and Grant Arthur; you are tagged by your mother:
Same things as above

Great Weekend

Sunday afternoon our friends, Daniel and Erin Greenlee and their precious children, Corina, who is 4 and Liam, who is 10 months, came to visit us and share a meal.
We had a very nice visit and enjoyed their company immensely.
Dan obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree at Stanford University, then served as a Naval Officer for five years. He went on to receive a Doctorate of Chiropractic.
Erin is a licensed Acupuncturist but is taking a leave of absence while her children are small. They are very caring people and we love them.
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On Saturday Arlin informed us this was the day he was going to paint the roof (meaning our shop roof which was leaking in a dozen different places). Ellsworth bought the paint which is a special kind that you roll and brush on and it waterproofs the surface.


Garth came over to watch the Husky/BYU game and then helped Arlin with the roof. I know they had lots of other things to do that day but they took the time to give us some badly needed assistance.We are so grateful to them both for their help.

Joey got in on the project also. He is very good to help people when they ask.
Afterwards, we all had a little picnic in our campground.

Ralph Knee

My brother, Ralph had a total knee replacement last week. His first knee surgery after his car accident was not successful. He is now at the Good Samaritan Rehab Unit in Puyallup. I do not know when he will be going home.
He has certainly been through the mill and needs our thoughts and prayers for continued recovery.

Great News

We learned last night that Rohn and Marylynn and Christopher are coming for the Wedding! We are very excited to see them - it has been way too long.

Grant and Ronda

Congratulations to our eldest son, Grant and Ronda, his fiance, who are getting married Sept 20th. We are all very excited!

We are looking forward to that day, which will be another reunion of our family.

Curran Reunion Slide Show

What a wonderful visit we had at the Curran Reunion this year - held at our home/campground. We enjoyed so much visiting with family members and appreciate everyone's assistance and how much they wanted to help. When the family comes, they take over and do nearly all the work. It was especially nice because I was not feeling very well this year. Thank you so much!

Annual Army Ball

I was privileged to take care of the 'Awesome Six' Thursday night while Garth and Julie attended the annual 'Army Ball' dressed in their finest attire.
Here are a few pictures

Here is Garth in his full dress uniform wearing all his decorative medals etc.

Garth and Julie - What a wonderful couple they are and awesome parents

You may be wondering about this picture. I wanted to take a picture of Garth's feet because he is actually wearing stirrups - he is in a calvary unit.

Denise, Crystal & Baby Noah Visit

What a wonderful time we had visiting with our family. Our wonderful daughter Denise and her daughter, Crystal and her son, Noah who is almost 9 months old came from Oregon. Then there was our granddaughter, Nicole and her two children, Camdin and Logan from Utah and then Anthon and Jennie surprised us (at least me) and came up also from Utah. It was great fun.
Here is a slide show. I wrote captions for each one and none of them showed up. I am not sure what I did wrong.

What a good feeling!

Here it is - ready for the freezer. (Those freezer bags I ordered by the case from Aaron & emmylou's store sure are wonderful and a great price also). What a good feeling it is to be somewhat self sufficient and to know we have enough food to make it through the winter. The Lord has truly blessed us.

I am adding a couple more garden pictures. I spent some time today getting the cauliflower ready (there is still lots more not quite full grown) to put in the freezer.

This pan belonged to my grandmother Pearl Harris. I think of her every time I use it, which is quite often.





Here are the latest garden pictures and greenhouse pictures. I don't know what happened to my camera but these pictures are not good. The settings must be wrong but I am not sure what to do about it. Any suggestions anyone? Would the resolution setting have anything to do with it?
I love digging potatoes out of the garden. It is such fun and they taste so great.



Keeping the weeds out!

Ellsworth is still working away on the greenhouse and it is nearly complete now. This picture does not do it justice as it is beautiful

Family History Discovery

I found out the link I had posted only worked on my browser. There are a number of steps I still need to take to actually bring up my genealogy web page. I will try to do it today.

I just finished entering all the information (I hope) and am printing out the pedigree charts (28 pages) It is so interesting to read about their lives. the thing that struck me the most was how many people lost their babies and little children. It seems it was very common in those days for a lot of different reasons. I am exhausted. I am going to do my best to make a document you can all look at.
I have Garth and Julie's 2 middle children for 3 days. They finally have a chance to get away alone. I hope they have a great time.
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July 29th Just another note on this: I had emailed the gentleman (Bo) in Sweden who had posted the information about our relatives. Yesterday I received a very nice letter from him. He told me he had met my parents when they were over there in the 60s. Isn't that interesting? He is my 2nd cousin; my father's 1st cousin. Anyway he sent me several documents in Swedish and thanks to Sherry, I found a site that you can enter one language and it will translate it to another almost instantaneously, which I did (Could only do 150 words at a time so it took awhile). As soon as I convert them to a pdf document I will post a link to them on this blog so you can all look at them if you would like to. My Grandmother Julia Sophia was a sister to Bo's Grandmother.
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Mon July 28th -Yesterday was a very exciting day for me!
I have tried for so long to find some information about the Dahlberg line to no avail. Recently I signed up with a new Swedish site that prints info in English also. Yesterday I was able to find hundreds of names on my father's direct line. I will get them entered into a database asap so that anyone who is interested can have the information.

So Good I had to Post it!

Posted in July 7th, 2008 by jeff in Mondays with Mac

The Root Word for “motivation” is “move,” and movement is change. Ask yourself right now…Am I moving forward or am I standing still? Do I have a career that I love? Am I pleased with the relationship I have with my spouse, my kids? Do I have a healthy lifestyle? Is my energy level, my attitude, where it should be? Is my relationship with God where it should be? Is there a hobby, an activity I want to pursue?

Truthful answers to these and other questions will tell you whether you want, or need to change.

Although answering such questions truthfully is critical to begin the change process, we all know the tough part comes later. According to John Murphy in his book Think Change, the key to successful change is discipline and “reprogramming beliefs.” A cautionary inner voice will tell you not to rock the boat, to stay on the path of least resistance, but your heart is telling you otherwise.

Listen to your heart. Filter out the old static and tune in something new. Challenge your assumptions, identify and study people already doing what you want to do. Read books and listen to tapes that will you motivate you to break away from the notorious “comfort zone.” Confront your fears. When one unsatisfying day just blurs into the next – your life is begging for a change.

Comfort zones put padlocks on the doors to growth, discovery, and adventure in your life, but three keys that will unlock those doors are discipline, hard work, and faith. When it comes to progress, when it comes to change…Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard. Unlock one door at a time, enjoy small successes, and soon you will have achieved your goals.

Some key points to remember:

1. No pain! No gain! There will be some setbacks.
2. Fear is a human emotion. The absence of fear is not courage, it’s brain damage.
3. Give your fear a name and it becomes a problem. It’s easier to solve problems than conquer fear.
4. With each obstacle you overcome, your confidence will grow. Every time you conquer any fear…no matter how small…you are better prepared for the next challenge.

Change can truly be a wonderful gift. It can recharge your emotional battery and nourish your soul. Just do it! Choose change and let it make a positive difference in your life.

Neil and Maddie Vacation Trip

Neil and Maddie just left for their trip. They are going to stop at the dance festival on their way and leave right from there to head for Idaho and Utah. They will stop at Rohn and Marylyn's place and then on the way back at Aaron and Emmylou's.

Dance Festival

It is Sunday, Aug 27th and yesterday I rode with Garth and Julie to the dance festival. It was wonderful. 2600 LDS kids filled the Tacoma Dome with dancing and music. The costumes were fantastic and the organization of the whole program was terrific. Although many kids at first did not want to perform, they did it and they were so thankful they did. It was a grand production. Cindy is exhausted but thankful to have been able to do all that she did; making costumes, organizing, transporting kids, etc. etc. Of course, Arlin was right there assisting through the whole thing.
We couldn't take pictures with a flash so I didn't get any. However they are making a DVD and hopefully, somehow we can a link to it on this blog. If there are any computer geniuses out there that know how to do that please let me know at ellsann@hotmail.com
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This is such a wonderful thing! There are several thousand LDS youth dancing in this festival. It will fill the Tacoma Dome. I can't wait to see it tomorrow. Neither Ellsworth or Grandma feel like they can set for two hours on the bleachers so aren't going.
I know it will be fabulous.
A big congratulations to Cindy for all the hard work she has put in to this. She has made many, many costumes and spent untold hours working on this festival. I'm sure she is feeling a great sense of accomplishment. She loves the youth and they love her from the little ones on up to the teenagers.
Congratulations to Jesse, Kesley and Dallin also as they are dancing in this program.
When the girls were young, Sherry and Denise danced in a festival; Cindy was too young; and then when the younger boys were teenagers, Garth, Aaron and Josh danced in one and Daniel was too young. It is such a mammoth production, they don't put them on very often.
I hope to get some pictures tomorrow and I will post them as soon as I can.

Birthdays

I decided to highlight each of my children's lives a little bit on or near their birthday this year. I am starting with Daniel because he just had his BD. Sherry, Denise and Rohn have already had their BD this year so will play catch up soon. Unfortunately, I just thought of this idea.
I am going to create a pdf file for each child and make a link on the left to it. Hopefully, I will have a few pictures in it also. Those are my plans. However, I have a lot going on so it may take a while to actually get this done.

Garden, Orchard, & GreenHouse Progress

The apple trees and pear trees are pretty loaded-We will have a busy canning season! We have a problem with our water - it still won't turn the sprinkler. We are blessed to have good neighbors who helped us to hook up to their water hose. Thank you Cindy and Arlin!

Ells is meditating on his next step.

He just about has it all framed for the windows.

As you can see, I am trying to get in on the act.

Bronze Medal

(He has received & wears it now)
It is true although you may not have heard it from him. Garth earned a Bronze Medal while serving in Iraq. He hasn't received it as yet because he was in WA DC when they had their ceremonies and since has been on leave. I asked him if I could post this. It isn't anything he brags about but I wanted to share it with all of the family. I will post a picture if he will let me take one after he receives it.

Old Time Fiddlers Picnic 2008