September Birthdays

We had "5" birthdays to celebrate in the month of September! Dad's birthday was on the September 1st, Labor Day. Dad would have been 92. I love this photo because it shows Dad with the grand kids. They sure did love their grandpa. Gosh look how young all these kids were. Jeramy and AshLyn are on the top row. Nicholas and Harmony, my sister Bonnie's kids are to the side of AshLyn and Jeramy. Mandy and Megan my sister Deb's kids are on each side of Dad and Jordan, Debs son, and Laura Bonnie's youngest are sitting on Dad's lap. It seems like yesterday and now Dad's gone and their all grown up most of them have babies of their own. How we miss our daddy and grandpa.
Speaking of young, look at this picture. 14 years ago on September the 8th we got two bundles of Joy when Raquel our daughter in law, Rod's wife gave birth to two energetic boys. Christopher and Benjamin.
Here are the twins with their older brother Sam. We try to take the grand kids that live around us out for lunch and do something fun for their birthday. Wish we could do that with all the grand kids but when their parents decide to take them and move away that makes it a little hard. We took the boys to see the movie Fly Boys. There was a part in the movie where there were two brothers and one of the brothers get killed, Les and I looked over at Ben and Chris and they were both crying. I think they were crying because they knew how they would feel if anything happened to one of them or their brother Sam. They are very close to each other. They says that twins have a language all of their own and when they were little they really did. The twins are all boy! They love sports, school, Chris is in band and Ben is in the male choir. They are loving, sympathic and just all around great kids. Aren't they handsome young men?!?
September 18th my little brother Burt celebrated his birthday. I love this picture of my Dad, my brother Burt, and my son Doug the little platinum blonde. There is about about a year and five months difference in their ages. What cute little boys.
And our Brynlee celebrated her "9th" birthday on the 21st of September. This was and is one proud Daddy. When she was born Jeramy just kept saying I can't believe she's mine. Rebecca said Jeramy would come home from work or school and go right to Bryn. She said he would change her diapers, take her with him to the library the only time he needed Rebecca was when Bryn needed to eat and if he could have nursed her would have. I love it when you watch your children find out what you already know, and that is that you never thought you could love anything like you love your children, well that is until your grand children come along:-)
Is this not the most tender picture of Papa!?!? Let me tell you these precious grand babies have brought out the most beautiful tender side of Les and I love it. Papa fell asleep holding Bryn while she slept. Here she is our beautiful, sassy, fun loving, tender, talented "9" year old soon to be "13" Brynlee. Happy birthday to all our September Birthdays we love you!!!

144th Ward Directory

Thought I'd share the cover of our Ward Directory with you. Pretty cleaver don't you think? I'll tell ya, these kids are more media and computer savvy then I could even imagine. When it comes to power point, photo imaging, anything to do with computers it is second nature to them. I am so envious! Monday as many of 40 of them will be here for family home evening. Our house will be bulging at the seams with energy, wish us luck!

"Families Can Be Together Forever!"

Jeramy and Rebecca just sent us this gorgeous picture. What a beautiful family and what a beautiful back drop, the Washington DC Temple. It was taken on Brynlee's 9th birthday. They wanted to do something special on her birthday last Sunday and so they took a trip to the temple. It isn't easy raising a family in today's world. The economy has everyone worried about not only their future but just getting by day to day. And everywhere you look Satan is filling the world with filth and corruption. We don't even have to leave our homes it is like a silent thief sneaking into our homes through the Internet,trying to destroy our lives and our families. How can we guarantee that we don't get sucked up into Satan's web of lies??? Stay close to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This brings to mind one of the primary songs it goes - keep the commandments, keep the commandments in this there is safety in this there is peace. He will send blessings; He will send blessings. Words of the prophet: Keep the commandments. In this there is safety and peace. I know from experience that when I have kept the commandments I have had safety and peace, but there were times in my life I did not and I had to suffer the consequences. It doesn't mean that if we keep the commandments and stay close to the gospel of Jesus Christ that we will never have problems again but, I think those problems are less grievous and Heavenly Father helps us to endure. A week from tomorrow we will have the privilege of sitting at the feet of our Prophet and General Authorities and hearing them relate the things that our Heavenly Father wants us to hear and know. I am so looking forward to that. May our Heavenly Father bless each one of us as we struggle to live our lives in these chaotic times and may he bless and protect our families.

"SPEAK NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL!"

Meet the new Bishopric of the 144 BYU Ward. Bishop Mickey Edlefson in the middle, Les on his left and Tyler Blackhurst on his right.

What a handsome threesome don't you think. A little over a month ago Les was called as 1st counselor to Bishop Edlefson, and Tyler Blackhurst as the second counselor. There are about 170 young men and young women in our ward. The people Les works with told him that one of two thing would happen being around all these energetic young people. It would either - make him feel younger or just the opposite make him feel older. I think it is the first of the two. It is so refreshing working with the youth of the church. Offer them a calling and the answer is always, "You bet, I'd love to do that." (Our reaction) WHAT? You've got to be kidding me! I just had to ask people to say the open and closing pray in Sunday School in our ward and I would get, "Hmmmm, I just said it last week or a couple of weeks ago, or in another class." And believe it or not once Les even got, "I think I'm going to be sick, I'll probably be leaving early." Last week we had fast and testimony meeting and the minute the Bishop turned the time over to the congregation there was a line up of kids wanting to share their testimony and there weren't any travel logs. Just PURE testimony! The spirit was so strong you could cut it with a knife. I think Les and I are both going to enjoy our calling there except for me having to teach this Sunday. How can I complain when these kids give of their time and talents so freely. We've had quite a few social events so that the kids could get to know one another and the bishopric. There were only about 15 kids that were hold overs from the old ward. Most of them graduated and are moving on with their lives. Below are a few photos from the outings we've had.

Students Group Hug! (this is just a few in number compared to the many kids who were there)

Bishop cooking breakfast for all the kids. Biscuits and sausage gravy, eggs, and fruit. We had a great turn out.

Swinging on a big tire swing at FHE at the Bishops house. As you can see three was most definately not a crowd.

Roasting marshmellows, look at the guy with six marshmellows on his skewer.

In this game the kids really got to know one another up close and personal. They get in a long line to begin with then, one person at the top of the line starts by curling in with everyone still holding hands. They run around in a circle wrapping around the starting person and end up like this picture. They seemed to love it and it was very fun to watch. I'm sure we'll have more to share with you as time goes on.

Congratulations Jeramy!!!!

I'm sure you all know people who live vicariously through their children and their children's experiences, accomplishments etc...I am one of those people! As my children have grown up they all seem to have done different things in their lives that I wish I would have done or could have done. They seemed to make better choices. One of those things I woulda, coulda, shoulda, is I wish I could have gone to college other then Beauty College the school of cosmetology.

Just a few weeks ago I told you Jeramy was graduating with his Masters of Science in.....tada - INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY!!! Oh Ya, we are so proud, and that is why, we yell so very loud! Way to go Jeramy. We weren't there in body to watch him walk across the stage and get that diploma but we were definitely there in spirit. Jer and Bec sent us some pictures from his graduation and I had to get out the photo album to look at pictures of the steps that got him to this point. The first step toward his goals was graduating from High School. That's where life really begins. Les has always said when you graduate from High School that is not a means to an end but the beginning step towards where you want to be.
Next - was his decision to serve a mission for the Lord and sacrifice 2 years of his life. Jeramy was determined to make this a great experience and it was. His first companion got him off to a great start! He told him he didn't have long before his mission would be coming to an end and he wanted to end his mission with the same enthusiasm that he started it with and Jer took that suggestion and ran with it.Next- was his choice of whom he wanted to walk by his side though this journey of life. As you can see he was pretty excited about that and so were we. Jeramy and Rebecca bring out the best in each other. Years ago I was counseled to find a mate that helps you become the best you can be, and Bec really does that for Jeramy and I feel he does that for her as well.
Next - step on his ladder to success was two steps at the same time - his graduation from Utah State with his Bachelor's degree and becoming a father. Look how little Brylee was and Isaac was just a baby. Kudos to Jer and Bec both for biting the bullet, working, going to school at the same time, and starting their family. Jer taught for 3 years and was an awesome teacher! His first year he received the teacher of the year award in his school.
Tada!!!!! Here is the Masters Graduate, with his buddies from his same program. Can you see Jer? Third man on the back row on the left. I tried to get a single picture of Jer but it wouldn't upload, bummer. But as you can see heres some pretty excited and amazing young men and women. We are so proud of you Jer!!! You did it and I'm sure there will be many more great

experiences we will be able to share.

Laybor Day - The Last Hooray for the Summer!

I have always looked forward to labor day because it is the last celebration for the summer. The weather is still nice, it gives you a long week end, and it was my Dad's birthday. Poor grandma really was laboring on labor day. Dad would have been 92. We spent Labor day weekend with Les's Dad, his girl friend Dona and sweetie pie his little Karen Terrier in Evanston Wyoming and Fort Bridger at the Mountain Man Rendezvous. I had never been there before and now that I have I probably won't go again. Once was enough. It was fun don't get me wrong. People come from all over dressed as Mountain men re-enactors. Men and women from all walks of life, white collar, blue collar, homemakers, retirees. These people share a common interest, preserving the past. There were hat makers, soap makers, homemade root beer and cream soda maker, people dressed in leather and fur you name it if it was something from the past you could probably find it there. There was musket ball shoots and frying pan throwing contests. There were Indians dressed in their native dress dancing their native dances. There were men who used this time of re-enacting the past as an excuse to show off their bare behinds, no I didn't get pictures of the bare parts but you can see from the photos you see what I mean. Les's nephew Levi and his wife Lisa and their children Mattie and Chase meet us there also. We had an enjoyable time, and on the day we left believe it or not it was snowing in the mountains!!! I'm really not ready for winter but know it isn't far away. This summer has gone by in a flash. Good bye to those hot summer days and nights and hello to shorter cooler days and nights.

Summer is drawing to and end!

You can't tell by the weather because it still feels like summer outside but there is a feeling in the air that fall is just around the corner. As I leave for work there are children on the side walks, and riding their bikes down the street, and lined up at bus stops, plus there are more cars on the road. This summer we hardly ever saw children out side when we were leaving for work they probably weren't even out of bed yet. Yes, another school year has begun. Isn't it funny how they can't wait to get out of school for the summer but they can't wait to get started again. Maybe it's because we can't stand not to having structure in our lives for very long. I'm sure any mom can tell you that at some point during the summer the kids get bored and you hear, "I'm bored! I don't have anything to do!" I'm sure the moms are just as glad maybe even more so to have the kids back in school and have a little free time just for themselves. Come January when I retire I wonder if I'll be like the grand kids and be saying, "I'm bored! I don't have anything to do!" Na, I don't think so. Jeramy will be graduating in just a few days with his Masters! Can you believe it?!? Professor Cook! What an accomplishment! Les and I are very proud of him. It has been a family effort because the kids and Rebecca have had to make a lot of sacrifices to get Jeramy where he is today. I can't wait to put pictures on the blog of Jer in his cap and gown. So stay tune for the rest of the story.

Here's a picture of Jake, Keagan and Lily after their first day of School. Keagan says, "do you notice anything different" other then she grew up over the summer?

Happy 82nd Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated my Mothers 82nd birthday. My sibs and I, and our spouse all got together at my sister Nancy and her husband Rogers home. We had a great time just visiting with one another, every though it was 103 degrees we had a pleasant evening visiting in their beautiful cool back yard. I thought to myself as I watched each of my siblings, "why don't we do this more often?" And I made a mental commitment that I am going to make an effort to get together with my family more often. Life has gotten to be such a rat race and we need to stop and smell the rose. I think Mom had a good time as well. What an accomplishment to have made it "82" years and she is still going strong. She volunteers at the Senior Citizens, she gets together with her lady friends for club 3 times a week, and she hardly ever misses church. She loves to read, crochet, travel, work in her garden, she has a fun sense of humor and she loves visiting with her friends. We are so blessed to have her in our lives as the Matriarch of our family and to be able to glean words of wisdom from her life and her example. I hope there will be many birthdays to come.

The Birthday Girl - Still as beautiful as ever.

Murphys law.

This week end Les's nephew Dreson raced his BMX bike in the nationals in Salt Lake City. Sean, Sarah, Owen Dreson's little brother, Susie Les's sister and Les's Mom were all coming to watch him race. Les and I were planning on going also. Mom spent Friday night with us and we were going to drive her up the next day. Wouldn't you know it Saturday turned out to be one of the hottest days we've had all summer. Mom and myself do not do well in the sun so we stayed here. They moved Dreson up to a harder league and Saturday he didn't do his usual best. Probably because he was a little intimidated by the older more advanced bikers. Last night after the race they came to our house for a Barbecue. As I was preparing the salad and Les was setting up the tables outside we noticed some clouds rolling in, all summer long we have been praying for rain to cool things off but we would only get a sprinkle or two. I told Les maybe we should set the tables up down stairs in our family room. "Are you kidding, he said, It's not going to rain!" Famous last words. Just as we were sitting down to eat our delicious steaks and salmon it started. First just a few drops but all of the sudden it turned into a down pour. "Now don't you wish we would have set the tables up in the family room? No one ever listens to me." We all grabbed the food and the tables and moved under the deck and just inside the garage. Sean and Sarah's last name is Murphy, Sarah said, "If it can happen it will happen when were around. It's Murphy's law!" Get it? We had an enjoyable meal visiting and watching the rain come down and wouldn't you know it. As soon as we finished our meal it stopped. Today Dreson raced again and took home first place and the trophy. Congrats Dre! That's awesome dud!

Theres something about things you've grown!

Don't you think that there is something exhilarating about looking out and watching something grow that you've planted and tended to with your own hands. And then comes the reward when your able to enjoy the fruits of your labors. Les is really the gardener. Just the last couple of weeks we have enjoyed tomatoes, cucumbers and squash from our garden. It's a little early for the peaches yet but it will be nice once they're ready. It's really true that the simple things in life bring you the most joy.

"STADIUM OF FIRE" 4th of July

Yesterday was the 4th of July so I thought I'd just catch you up on who got to take the kids to the Stadium of Fire if you read my previous blog. Last week one of AshLyn's friends who had bought 17 tickets and thought she'd make a bundle on them found out people weren't willing to pay the big bucks like she thought they would so AshLyn was able to buy three from her for what she had paid for them and we all went. Ash, Dave and Jake sat together and by the way, their seats were much better then ours. We bought ours the first hour they went on sale, go figure. Les, Keagan, Lily and I all sat together. The first thing to get us off to a negative start was I brought bottled water for all of us and a large bag of cheese puffs. As we entered the gate the security people told us NO FOOD OR DRINK! You've got to be kidding me, not even WATER??? Nope, you can pour out your water and take you empty bottles in. Why would we want to do that. We couldn't find one drinking fountain that worked, and this is at BYU, LAVEL EDWARD STADIUM! I wanted to give ole Lavel a call and ask him if he knew that they did things like that in a stadium that had his name on it and represented him. Lily had the bag of Cheese puffs and I saw the girl look at her like she was going to say you can't take that in little girl but then turned her head and didn't say anything. How could she do that to a little innocent girl like Lily, we should have let Lily carry in the water too. Then we found out we were on the far side of the stage, but at least we could see well on the large screen. As people started to fill in and take their seats we discovered we had 8 little excited girls sitting behind us. They screamed when the Blue Men Group came out but nothing compared to the screaming when Miley Cyrus arrived on stage. All four of us had to cover our ears it was deafening. How can a 16 year old make the kind of money she does???? That should be illegal. And to see all the little Miley Cyrus want a be's, I just hope she won't turn out like Brittney Spears! She jumped around on stage like Mick Jagger from the rolling stones and from the way she wiped her head around with that long hair I'm surprised she didn't have wipe lash. All of her songs sounded alike but I guess now I'm just showing my age. At least the girls loved seeing her. I asked Jake this morning, "If I get tickets to the Stadium of fire do you want to go again next year," his reply was, "if it is someone that a 6 year old girl would want to see NO." But he did enjoy the Blue Men Group. Glenn Beck is always entertaining and had some great things to say about our country and being patriotic. The fireworks were spectacular! All in all we had a good time. At least the kids had a good time and maybe when their older and have children of their own they'll tell their children that Nana and Papa took them to the Stadium of Fire and they had a great time! How I wish Brynlee could have been there because I know she would have been screaming just as loud as those 8 little girls behind us and Isaac and Jaron would have loved the Blue Men. Happy 4th of July and hears to making wonderful memories with our children and grand children! Isn't that what life is all about, really.

New Mattress - So Far So Good!

Well the new mattress arrived Thursday. The first night neither one of us slept very well but you know how it is when you get a new mattress it take a few days to get use to it. One good sign is I woke up the next day with no aches or pains! Les took the salesman's advise and listed the inteligel mattress on Craig's list Friday. Friday night when we got home from work a guy called asking if he could come see the bed Saturday. The man and his wife got to our house at 11:30 we took them down stairs and showed them the mattress, we had to put the box springs and mattress on top of our guest bed to show it. We were frank with them and told them why we didn't like the bed. They climbed up on it and tried it out and decided to buy it. Guess how much Les sold it for???? I know you are thinking the way Les wheels and deals we made a good price right? Wrong. He pretty much gave it away. He asked $250.00 dollars for it. AshLyn said we were crazy to let it go for that. She said we should have got rid of the bed we have in the computer room and put that bed there for the kids and guest to sleep on and maybe she is right. Les didn't have the heart to try for more on something we had been ripped off on. He was ready to pay someone to take it off our hands. So the inteligel mattress is gone and heres to more nights of restful sleep.

How do you decide what mattress to buy???

In Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale the Princess and the Pea, a princess is unable to get a good nights sleep because a pea has been placed under her mattress, actually 20 mattresses, piled high! The moral to the story is that the quality of what you sleep on really does determine the quality of sleep you receive. Believe me, I can testify to that. For the past 9 months I have had very few good nights sleep. I read somewhere that when we are asleep our body is compressed by gravity in a different way then when we are standing upright, and we need to be fully supported by the mattress and it's supporting structures. We spend more time in our beds then on any other piece of furniture in our homes. We spend about 24 years of our life in bed. About 9 months ago Les and I decided we needed to purchase a new mattress, our old mattress of 20+ years I'm embarrassed to say was not as comfortable as it use to be. I kept complaining of being tired and ache when I got up in the morning because I tossed and turned all night trying to get comfortable. Les got tired of hearing me complain and one night after work he told me he was taking me over to buy a new inteligel mattress. He had heard it advertised on KSL by Doug Write and he's a pretty reputable guy right? The nice salesman showed us a sample of what the inteligel looked like and how it was suppose to support your body, it looked good, sounded good and for the 5 or 10 minutes we tried the bed out it felt pretty good. Les wanted to get the mattress THAT night but they didn't have any one to deliver the mattress from the wear house until Monday. Les told the salesman he would even go and pick the mattress up him self if he could get it Saturday. Everything was set up and on Saturday Les and our two twin grandsons went and picked it up. Les said the first clue that this mattress might have problems should have been when the guy at the wear house told him we needed to rotate the mattress once a month for the 1st 6 months and then once every 6 months there after. Why would you have to do that???? The first couple of months it was pretty comfortable BUT the gel holds your body heat!!! When you get to that wonderful age where you turn into a flasher that is not a good thing. The next problem is it started to make depressions in the mattress even though we rotated it every month and believe me that is not an easy task! The sucker is one HEAVY hunk of jel. Les and I could hardly rotate the thing and try doing it with a bed skirt on, the bed that is. Are you getting a mental picture here? It is not a pretty sight believe me. We went back to the place we bought the mattress and they said, "if you were having problems you should have brought the bed back within the first 2 months and gotten part of your money back BUT because you waited so long there really wasn't much we can do." How ever they agreed to send someone out to examine the mattress...so tweedle dee and tweedle dum came out to check out the bed and of course you guessed it, they are Spanish. Not that there is anything wrong with that other then the communication problem. You speake Spanish???? Thank goodness one could some what speak English . We were told the indentation was not an inch and a half , (how did they measure that? We didn't see any tools to measure with.) Needless to say we are stuck with this mattress and sleeping in a hot, hole. Les and I had to go last Saturday and spend most of the day looking for a new mattress. Hopefully we didn't pick out a new lemon. It will be here next Thursday and we'll give you an update. The sad moral to our story is that we paid $1000.00 for a mattress that we hate and the companies suggestion is to list the bed on Craig's list or KSL and oh, they told us that the bed we got on sale for $1000.00 is now going for $2000.00. Does that make our miss fortune any better? Stay tune and we'll let you know how the new mattress works out. Wish us luck. And heres to peaceful sleeping:-)

Father's Day

Today was Father's day and I don't think the fathers I know went on a guilt trip when they got to church today like us Mothers do. My father passed away just shortly before fathers day 10 years ago. Wow, I can't believe it has been that long but I sure do miss him. I miss his sense of humor, his wisdom, his kindness, his beautiful tenor voice, his honesty and integrity, his understanding, his commitment and loyalty to our mother, their marriage, and our family. As I listened to the talks about fathers today there was one universal theme, fathers play such a big part in shaping our lives. There were 3 P's in the roll of fatherhood. They are to PROVIDE, to PRESIDE, & to PROTECT. I would like to honor the men in my life this fathers day. My father, my husband and my sons/son in-law. My father was a great provider, he wasn't rich but he made sure we had sufficent for our needs. He worked hard and he taught us to work hard and to always do our best. he was very frugal. His motto was make due with what you have, wear it out or pass it on, and if you don't have the money you don't buy it. I know he was always going with out, sacrificing for us kids. Les my husband is a lot the same way. My dad always presided in our home giving prayers and blessing and always letting us know that our Mom was the most important thing in his life and we needed to always respect her. What a great example my Dad has always been to me. He was our great protector. You better not mess with his kids.

I also pay tribute today to my own husband. Les, like my father makes me want to be a better person because of him. He is my best friend. He is a great husband, dad and papa. I don't know where me and my children would be today with out him. From the look on his face in this picture, doesn't it look like he must have been saying to himself, "What was I thinking?"He looks like one scared guy to take on this family! Can you blame him? :-)
I would also like to pay tribute to my sons and son in-law who are now fathers of their own families. They all are hands on dads. I want to thank them for being such good fathers and let them all know how much I love them and wish them a very Happy Fathers Day!

Did I say it was Spring????

What did I say about the winter that won't die? Mother Nature is playing a crappy trick on us Utahans! She teases us with a nice day here and there and then it's cold and rainy the next day. Les and I came home and turned on the heat. I know that must be hard for our kid that are in Texas where it is HOT HOT HOT! Some times I wonder if Summer is ever going to get here. But one thing about the rain is we get the reward of a beautiful rainbow afterwards. Wouldn't you agree? If you look close you'll see a double rainbow.

Spring is FINALLY here!?!?! :-)

Last Saturday I was saying, "I love this time of year!" After the long cold never ending winter and having the house shut up I can finally open up the windows and let in the nice fresh warm breeze. As I was getting dressed that morning I was enjoying the warm breeze and the smell of spring. Isn't that something, that you can actually SMELL spring. It brought back a flood of memories. Memories of my childhood when we lived in the country the smell of new mown hay. How is it that smells, sights or sounds can take you to another time another place bringing back a myriad of memories to you mind. Les and I are enjoying working in our yard planting the vegetable and flower garden. Among the perennial flowers that come back each year is my Columbine. When I worked for JB's Restaurants many years ago I had a wonderful friend who was my boss. His name was Harold Freeman and he and his wife Valerie had a beautiful home in Oregon. Harold moved to Utah for a few years and one year for my birthday he gave me a columbine plant. He and Valerie grew them in their yard and I loved them. Each year as those Columbine return I think of Harold who passed away just before his 50th birthday. I remember the great things about Harold and what a great friend and fellow co-worker he was.

Another Year Older and not as deep in debt!

Another birthday has come and gone which usually I just want to forget but this year even though I can hardly bring myself to say just how old I am it is one that will be a mile stone in my life. Why you ask? I hate to say it but I turned 62 May the 27th and can now take an early retirement if I choose to do so. Yahoo!!! Lately I have been day dreaming of what I might do with my leisure time. Taking photographs, gardening, reading, genealogy, working in the temple, taking an English class, maybe a cooking class, spending more time with my mother and sisters, children and grand children. If I want to go visit someone I won't have to worry about getting back to work! The sky is the limit, as long as it doesn't take a lot of money because I won't have as much as I use to. However I could pick up a part time job just for FUN:-) Just the thought of getting the heck out of the hospital and customer service where I take phone calls all day long from grumpy, ornery, mean tempered people as well as kind people brings a large smile to my face and makes me trunky. I'll miss the people I work with as well as the pay check but I definately won't miss the job itself. Wish me luck and if you have any suggestions on thing I can do to fill up my days let me know.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

As a tradition our family has always gone to the cemetery on Memorial Day week end to decorate the graves of our loved ones. As a small child I have pictures of me and my little uncles playing among the head stones while my mother, grand parents, and other relatives visited and reminisced about our family members. It was like a family reunion of sorts, many times we would pack a lunch and actually have lunch there as we visited. Through the years Mom always makes sure that grandma and grandpa Wanlass's graves are decorated as well as my fathers. Les and I always take flowers for my fathers and our little grandson Andrews grave but this year it was a little different. I didn't even make it to the cemetery. The group I dance with, "Jeans Golden Girls" were performing in Jackson Hole Wyoming. They perform there every year for OLD WEST DAYS. I wasn't particularly interested in going with them because I knew it would probably be cold. Then we got a call from Les's sister Susie saying she, Les's Mom and her twin sister Dorothy, and Susie were going to be in Star Valley Wyoming and wanted to go to Jackson to watch me dance. Les said, "I don't think Judy is going to Jackson," to which Susie replied, "She has to go! Were going to see her perform." So I signed up to go and there were 5 dances to learn. As the time drew closer I thought, "What was I thinking?" Practices almost every night and I didn't really feel that confident about one of them, plus the weather has been so out right crazy! Snowing one day, raining the next and then a couple of days before we left it got up to 90! The day we arrived in Star Valley it sprinkled off and on which was okay but the day we performed...was cold and rainy. We got there and ran through our routines before we had to go and line up for the parade. When we got to the start of the parade route it was windy and cold. Just before we started in the parade it started to sprinkle. The parade route wasn't that long and it only took us about 20 minutes. Thank Goodness! When we got to the square to perform the sun was actually out for a few minutes and we thought maybe our prayer was going to work and we would have sunshine for the performance - WRONG! Just as we were about to perform it started raining cats and dogs but the show must go on and there were actually people there smiling and cheering us on even in the rain.


Can you find me?





Les's family starting right, Les's mom, Sabrina Les's sister, Mattie his niece, Sandy his sister, Sierra Sandy's daughter, Aunt Dorothy Les's moms twin, and Susie Les's sister.

And the next picture is of Levi, Les's nephew yours truly and Les.
We had a lot of fun spending time together.