Ramble on...

So much has happened in the past little while. Kari and Jordan have been married for two months already and I haven't added pictures...mainly because I don't have any yet, but also because I seem to forget that I have a blog! I love to keep a record of what is going on, I just don't take the time to do it.

It has been canning time around our house. That should tell anyone who has preserved food at home what it's been like. Very busy, very fulfilling, and so fun! I love to see the jars all lined up on the shelves with the bright colors and prospects of what they will be like when we open them during the winter. I have tried a few new recipes and I am excited to try them out. Vegetable soup... a little on the spicy side, and spaghetti sauce... a little mild, but just what is needed for certain Italian dishes. Add those to green beans, whole tomatoes, pickled beets, peaches and I will be doing apple pie filling and carrots...I guess we will eat better when it's cold outside!

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My grandkids are growing up. My oldest..Jessie is now 16. I swear it wasn't that long ago when her dad was that age! Now he is 38 and I swear it wasn't that long ago that I was that age! My youngest granddaughters are no longer babies...They are the cutest little things you ever saw. I am so blessed to have the grandchildren that I do. I am also grateful to their mothers for going through the process of having them and raising them...just for me!!! ( I know...I have learned to share them...but it is hard!) I really don't think there is anything better on earth than being a grandma! Not that I didn't think it was great being a mom...Just that grandchildren are different. I do believe they accept you for whoever you are , whereas our kids weren't so sure on the acceptance part! So...if any of my kids are reading this...you know what to do to keep those little ones coming!!!

The ranch is beautiful this time of year. I had planned on having a painting retreat for artists to come up and have a chance of painting outdoors and seeing the beautiful fall colors. I don't think it is going to happen this weekend. It is supposed to snow!!! I am really not ready for that. I am disappointed too. I think I will drive up there anyway and see how it is. I can paint in the cabin and be perfectly content! Maybe some of the artists like to paint in the snow...

We got to go help Gina paint the outside of her house and put some of the rock on the front side of it. It was so much fun being there and working and hugging my two handsome grandsons that I don't get to see very often. It was a fast weekend, but a good one. It was her birthday present from us. It made a difference to the house. I love the color and look of it. When it is finished it will be awesome!

We started the "Party House" in our back yard. I am finally going to get a shop and a place where the family can go to have dinners and parties. We got the cement poured for the foundation and floors last week. Now, if the weather will cooperate, we will start the walls next week.

Life marches on... And I am trying hard to keep in step!

My baby is getting married....I don't know whether to be happy or cry!

I am happy for her, she has found a wonderful young man to spend her life with. It is what we have been preparing her for... being ready to live a new life with someone new and moving on. I just don't know if I'm ready to let this part of my life go.

It wasn't easy with any of the kids, but I have been excited to have them venture out and experience marriage. It's just that she is my last one. The baby. A time to change my life too. I will have to give up on some things that I enjoy.. Calling her anytime I want to talk, meeting for lunch when I am over there, shopping and looking for things we like, going to movies, plays etc. Now she will be having to turn her extra time into being with Jordan and making their lives run smoother.(Which is what I want for her) It's just going to be different and I need to prepare myself for it.

Letting go... sometimes it's hard to do, even if it is the right thing to do.

I wish her and Jordan all the happiness in the world, I hope they can stay as happy as they are right now. They are headed in the right direction and in the right way. I know they are going to be able to work together to make it wonderful.

My mothering days are coming to an end... It's time to direct my attention to focus on the grandchildren and see what with be from now on. ON TO NEW AND DIFFERENT THINGS!!!

What blog? And other things I have let slip by.

It has been awhile since I even thought of this spot on my ever growing computer world! It was once my favorite place to rant, think, play, post and all in all tell about life as we know it. It seems like we get spread in so many directions that some things have to go, and I guess this was one of them.

We have had some great times in the last little while. Curt, Kari, Molly and I traveled to Texas and got to meet with so many of the people Kari made friends with while she was there on her mission. I was greatly impressed by the poeple there. They all accepted us and invited us into their homes with hugs and kisses and gifts of the heart and hand. I learned alot about acceptance and family unity there. It was great! I loved the looks and reactions Kari got when she would surprise the people there. You could truly see the love on their faces for her, which made it much more meaningful to me about how her life was while there.

We had so much fun and we all were relaxed and enjoying it ( except when Curt was driving... and the Navigator would lose it when he would) It's just a good thing that their personalities are somewhat alike and they can take that sort of thing and be ok with it! Molly and I were the quiet back-seat drivers, ok, mostly I was asleep, but that was ok too. I needed the rest of that vacation more than I knew at the time.

We went to the American Airlines Museum.. Kari was in heaven! She saw one of her instuctors there who has gotten a job with them and is at school right now to be a pilot for the company.

We traveled to Dallas and toured the area where President Kennedy was shot, and even though I was young at the time, it brought it all back to me. It was interesting to see it all and realize that we were on the very spot that it happened.

We sampled so many ethnic foods, no Tex-Mex for us! (Ha!Ha! inside joke from one of our new friends there!) I have a new favorite Salvadorian food called papousa.. I am going to learn how to make them. I even bought some of what I needed and then used it in another recipe, so it is back to the store before I try them!

We learned from one friend what a coconut is... she calls her husband that! ( Brown on the outside, White on the inside)

We visited with the mission President and his wife, they gave up some of their time to have breakfast with us. They are wonderful people.

We went to a Flea Market that was 100 acres of booths and goods, we only stayed a while though, it was soooo cold that day. Curt bought me a $2.00 scarf to wrap my face from the biting wind, and that was the only thing I got from there. Of course we couldn't have packed much, so it was ok. Molly got a coat and her monkey hat, which is darling. She had so many comments on it from adults and kids alike! She is a great traveler, we had fun with her with us!

We went to the temple one day and did a session. It was a nice break for us. Molly did homework in the visitor area while we were there. What a trooper she is...

Curt's favorite place was the stockyard in Ft. Worth. So much history and lifestyle that he loves. We went with some of the Solis family and learned alot that day. There is a fun maze there that the kids tried out. I had Molly try putting her left hand on the wall and following it and it worked! I read that in a book at one time and wondered if it was true! Now I wonder if it would work to use your right hand???

It was great getting back home to the snow and cold and blizzard... If you believe that I will sell you some good ocean front property in Bear River! I did enjoy coming home and seeing everyone again. I missed my family and was glad to hold those cute little babies again.

This month (January) has been mostly getting over pnuemonia and feeling better. It is almost gone now, which I am so grateful for. I am so tired of the cough. I will appreciate my health so much more when I get over it. I guess I never realized how tired in body and soul that you can get when you are weak and sick. Hopefully I will stay clear of any more of it. (And I hope no one else gets it!)

Well, this has been a long and probably boring for some of you, blog. I had fun, and I guess that is what matters! Now, on to remembering to keep this up so that I have somewhat of a record of our life. I am trying to be better at recording things, it is so much easier to remember when you read back on them....

Cinnamon Rolls and Ronda...

Today I am making cinnamon rolls and thinking of a good friend that taught me so much about bread dough when I subbed for a person missing on her team of school lunch cooks...years ago! I am amazed at what brings up memories in this weird mind of mine. I actually am missing her so much and thinking about how good of a friend she was to me while she was alive. I guess she still is a good friend, or I wouldn't have these moments... She left a hole in many lives when she passed on to be with Jesus! I am thankful that they moved into our town and I had the privilege to tend their youngest daughter and get to know them so well. Her family is as awesome as she is, thank you Ronda and family! I dedicate my day of baking to you and what you taught me about letting dough rest, it has stayed with me all these years!

I'm hooked on making quilts...

I know that if there is anyone out there that reads these anymore, you are all probably saying " Oh, not another quilt blog"...

But, I am going to do it anyway! I finished a bedspread for Kari and I have a top pieced and ready to quilt for our back bedroom, and one being quilted at the church on the first Tuesdays of the month, plus.. I have some in the planning, cutting out stage. I just have to say... I wish I could get them done faster, so I could go on to the next one.

My family is probably tired of them too, but I just like the creativity I can use in changing the patterns and making them my own. There is something about the smell and feel of the fabric and the anticipation of how it will look when it is done. It is a wonderful hobby, although I am finding out; not an inexpensive one.

I wanted to do something to make Kari's new room in her apartment her own, so she picked out the fabric and I made the quilt. When I laid it out, it was somewhat blah... too many of the same tones in the quilt. I had some friends that know a lot about quilting, so I took it to them and showed it to them. We discussed some things I could do with it, and I decided to do the Minky flowers on the four corners. I think it made it just right! It isn't at her apartment yet, because I just finished it today, but I hope it makes it more like home to her when she gets it.

The other quilt on here is the one that is not quilted yet. It took a long time to finish it because I did so many other ones in between. I think I got a little tired of it, for some reason..:0) It just was laying around TOO long! So, I finished it up, but I won't have it quilted until after the first of the year. I have others that I need to get finished first!

I know I must be obsessed with this hobby. I really was looking to find something that I could leave to my kids and grandchildren, that would remind them of me when I'm gone... (If they want to be reminded, that is!) I want them to be able to wrap up in their quilts and know that I made it with love for them. I want them to realize that a piece of me is in every quilt I have made. I want them to feel a part of me with them every time they look at them. That goes for anyone that I have made a quilt for. A sense that they are loved and cared for... I hope they will feel that from me, now and after I am no longer here!

Ahhhhh... There is nothing better than a new grandchild in the family! Little Bentlee D Christensen was born on September 21st. 22 inches long and 8 lbs. 8 oz. I guess not too little! She is so beautiful and it is instant love all over again! I always like to watch the proud parents of these little ones. You can tell which children are loved and are going to have a good life, by the reaction of their parents. So far, all of mine have been loved and anxiously waited for. It was so fun seeing her in the hospital and how Doug and Em responded to her. She is a wonderful new addition to our family. We love her and hope we can be good grandparents to her! That makes 13 for us... 5 boys and 8 girls. We are so very LUCKY!

Betty's Poppies

I finally finished the painting that I was commissioned to do. I hope you can all tell that it is poppies. I did it for a friend of mine, that wants it for her sisters' birthday. I think it turned out pretty good. Although, flowers are not my favorite thing to paint, I did have fun with this one. It's on a pretty big canvas, so it was fun to work on a larger scale. (30 X 40)