Twelve Highlights of Christmas (3 & 4)

OGDEN CHRISTMAS VILLAGE

In spite of several bitter storms, the family found its way to the Ogden Christmas Village where dozens of lighted cottages and displays dotted the lawn at Ogden's Municipal Park. The effect was truly magical! Our biggest challenge was keeping track of the kids as they ran from display to display, sometimes in different directions! The weather was fairly warm that night as winter evenings go, though, and we had a great time.

Addie, Alicia, Kimberly Natalie, Rebekah, Aaron, Ethan, Emma & Moriah at the Ogden Village

(If the picture looks familiar, you're not imagining things. I'm afraid I hijacked the picture from Michael & Gail's blog.)

A LITTLE THERAPY

Tammy, Justin and I indulged in our yearly need for therapy! :-) In the sunroom Star Trek took on Star Wars but no clear winner emerged! In fact, Captain Kirk and Yoda seemed to be perfectly content to share the same tree. And the Death Star vs. the Borg Cube again tied as ugliest ornament! :-)

Space Tree

Star Trek Enterprise vs. Star Wars

In the front room pink ornaments, pink lights and Barbies dot a small tree in the corner. This is the favorite of all the little granddaughters. They've all picked out the Barbie they think is the most beautiful which usually belongs to Tammy since her collection is in pretty dresses and mine are all old-fashioned Barbie's. This year we added a pink star on top . . . just the thing to make you feel the Christmas spirit! :-)

Barbie Tree

More to come!

Twelve Highlights of Christmas! (1 & 2)

We have had a wonderful holiday season and I thought it would be fun to share a few highlights so here are two of our Twelve Highlights of Christmas! :-)

"TANGLED"
We were so excited when Marian, Ethan and Addie came for a brief visit in early December. The days were busy and included a trip to the local theater to see the newest version of Rapunzel. Through the movie I could hear Addie laughing and whispering to her Mom. When it was over, she was really disappointed and started to cry! Frankly, I wasn't ready for it to be over either! As a major fan of Rapunzel in all its variations, the evening together had been great fun.

"BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER"
Ethan was quite excited to tell me about the book he had just finished reading: "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". As he was relating the story, I remembered our local theater was showing this particular play. One quick call and we had tickets! A few days later the five of us headed to the theater to enjoy this wonderful production. As the kids chattered about the play on the way home, I suddenly remembered this same play about 15+ years ago with my oldest son playing one of the Herdman boys. A quick look in the photo album and there he was! Isn't he cute?

John - 1984 - Age 10

More later! :-)

A Glimpse Into Eternity

During our lifetime we all have moments of clarity when you feel as if you see a moment of eternity. Just recently I was privileged to have one of those moments. It would not be possible to describe my feelings as I watched my daughters walking together in the halls of the Salt Lake Temple. Or seeing many of my other children embrace their sister in the Celestial Room. The moment was truly overwhelming. At this Christmas season, I am so grateful for the gift and blessing of temples and eternal families.

Myself, Ken, Tamara, Marian & Michael

Every foundation stone that is laid for a Temple, and every Temple completed . . . lessens the power of Satan on the earth and increases the power of God and Godliness.
* George Q. Cannon

Sewing Can Be "Sew" Much Fun!

Kimberly and I recently spent a weekend sewing and enjoying every minute of it. For some time, she has been patiently waiting for Grandma to master her new "toy" (serger) so we could sew her skirt together. The pattern was a simple one which made our task much easier and before I knew it, she was modeling her new skirt - lining and all. It was pretty exciting!

With this triumph behind us, we moved on to something that was actually much simpler. Ken has become part of the volunteer emergency team in our area. He keeps an emergency pack in the car at all times which includes 1st aid supplies. His triangular bandages were fraying on the edges so Kimberly agreed to serge around each one. Grandpa was thrilled!

Folding the newly serged bandages
(Yes . . . his bandages are pink!)

And last, but not least, the two of us went digging through my tubs of scrap fabric for pieces big enough to make pillowcases. Our Ward is making fun pillowcases as a humanitarian project. Kimberly became pretty excited and was matching up a pretty large pile of cases and cuffs! Together we cut, serged and ironed seven cases -- 5 for charity, 1 to send Kevin for Christmas and 1 for Kimberly to take home.

Kimberly and the 7 pillowcases

All in all . . . a very productive day!

Thanksgiving Day Fun!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! Great food - great company - and great fun! This year was no exception, although there were a few glitches here and there. For example:

(1) Peeling 30 lbs. of frozen potatoes! (Our home grown potatoes had frozen solid in our shed!) You can't imagine how cold they were! It was like peeling ice cubes!

(2) Making a dozen calls to Linda (who was making her fruit salad at home) for everything that had been forgotten. I think she came and finished her salad at the church just so she didn't have to answer the phone!

(3) Or trying to find a potato masher in the many jumbled drawers.

(4) etc., etc., etc.

(5) And last, but certainly not least . . . trying to figure out who was actually going to eat all the pie! (There were at least 15 or more!)

Regardless, I was reminded yet again how grateful I am for my family! (We missed all you Idahoans who were snowed in!)

Here's a few pictures of the final Jenga challenge!

Lots of love to you all!

Fun With My Grandchildren * Rebekah

Rebekah has been visiting this weekend. At this very moment she is cuddled next to Grandpa watching 101 Dalmatians. As the movie began, Cinderella's sparkling castle appeared with the music that immediately speaks of Disney. Rebekah turned to Grandpa and said quite seriously,

"That's just like the castle where you get married!"

I couldn't help chuckling but the deepest prayer of my heart is that one day each and every one of my grandchildren will get married in one of Heavenly Father's special castles!

Lots of love to you all!

"Grandmacar Red"

From the time I was young, I've heard the phrase "slug bug" (and then the color) when a Volkswagen bug drove by. The object was to notice the car before your friends. I remember playing this game with my friends, hearing my kids play this game with their friends and now I sometimes hear my grandkids play with their friends!

This weekend I discovered a new game has been created by a few of my grandkids. Driving down the freeway together, I heard Kimberly call out "Grandmacar blue", with Alicia looking around quickly to find where the car had gone! At first I was startled, and then to the right was a blue PT Cruiser sailing down the road. I burst out laughing as the realization hit -- my car had become my own personal icon! :-)

So if you find yourself a little bored as you're driving down the highway, feel free to play along!

California . . . Here She Comes!

This sounds a tiny bit familiar! Once again we are facing major changes in our family. It appears twins really do come in pairs in more ways than one! :-) Tamara LeeAnn Rimington has received her mission call to the California, San Bernardino Mission and we couldn't be happier! With her twin brother in the northern Roseville, California Mission, Tammy will head the opposite direction and be serving in the southern part of the state.

We love her very much and know she will be serving where she is needed. We are truly grateful for the gospel and pray she will find those who are seeking the very blessings that we already enjoy!

Here's some fun trivia:
Surprisingly, the timing of this call will make it so they will probably both return in July of 2012!

All Our Ducks in a Row

Recently I've been trying to catch up on printing my pictures. I hesitate to publicly admit that I'm about 2 years behind which means a lot of catching up!

In going through some of the pictures for last summer (2009), I found these pictures from the science museum in New York and they really made me chuckle. Ken is always saying I can never make a decision without getting all my ducks in a row and it looks like I've passed that trait on to at least one of my grandchildren! :-)

Ethan and Addie at the science museum

Summer 2009

Lots of love to you all!

Have a Finger!

As we approach the upcoming Halloween witching hour, Ken has again followed tradition and made his mother's famous fingers. Since he is working in a new department (one that's never had the privilege of fingers), he was pretty excited. They're definitely unique and usually cause quite a reaction in those who are brave enough to eat them. Great fun! :-)

Grandma always loved making fingers. She offered them to anyone who came by to visit. When she worked in the library at church, she even took a plate of fingers to pass around on the Sunday before Halloween. (Is that a little like Ammon and the arms in Mosiah?)

For all the little goblins out there . . . HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


NOTE: For those who would like to give these wonderful treats a try, follow the link to What's Cooking for the recipe.

All Is Safely Gathered In

When summer 2010 began, Ken was determined to have a garden. In spite of a late start, he decided to take his chances and planted corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Plus, he was hopeful our fruit trees and the strawberries he'd planted the year before would have a good crop. Kevin and I weren't very hopeful and gave a few sighs while we tried to patiently help him plant.

Surprisingly, the strawberries took off! We had several shortcake desserts and made several batches of freezer jam. Unfortunately, our fruit trees didn't fare so well. A late freeze hit our area. In fact, we didn't think we'd have any fruit at all. As it turned out, we didn't have many peaches, but what we had were HUGE! And when we finally stripped the tree, I had enough for one batch of jam and seven pretty bottles of peaches!


We laughed as we watched the corn. The old saying, knee high by the 4th of July, definitely didn't apply to our corn which was only a few inches high at that date. I didn't think we'd ever see a single kernel of corn, but not so. We actually harvested several dozen great tasting ears - but they were tiny!

When all was said and done, we had zucchini piled everywhere. (No surprise there!) Plus a small bowl of tomatoes and one basketball-sized Atlantic Giant pumpkin (and a few no larger than golf balls). :-) I guess our biggest surprise was the onions and potatoes. When Kevin was helping Ken plant the potatoes, he asked how we could possibly grow enough potatoes to eat any from the three seed potatoes they were planting. Well, yesterday we harvested about 75 pounds of potatoes! And the onions, which our grandkids have loved pulling up when they were visiting for dinner, made a small pile as well. We'll be enjoying those for many days to come!





So, thanks for all your hard work, Ken!

A Rose By Any Other Name

Last February my sweetheart surprised me with a miniature rose. With a great deal of effort, I muffled my sigh. I'm not known for my ability to keep any plant of any kind even remotely alive. Consequently, I couldn't imagine this tiny rose plant having a long life in my possession. Regardless, I made a valiant effort at watering but within just a few days it was obvious I should be writing its obituary. Ken was visibly disappointed so in an attempt to appear determined to save it, I planted it out front in the flowerbed near the house. It was late February and still snowing occasionally so I held out little hope for its survival.

To my utter astonishment, the little bush began to thrive! Over the course of the last few months, it has had countless blooms! When one group dies, another is already taking its place! They have been the only thing in the flowerbed that did thrive! Often I've had some of its tiny blooms in a small vase inside, their beauty reminding me of the sweet thoughtfulness of my husband as well as the beauty of this earth upon which we dwell. So just for fun, I wanted to share my roses with each of you! Lots of love to you all!

My Valentine Roses

An Evening at the Theater

With a definite fondness for live theater, it should come as no surprise that I look for any opportunity to attend a play anywhere within driving distance. :-) In the last several weeks I've had three great evenings at the theater.

Annie
The girls and I had a night at the theater together. Our local Heritage Theater was putting on Annie which seemed like a great choice for a Girls Night Out!

Tammy, Emma, Alicia, Me & Kimberly

The Fantasticks
Ken and I had a great time at the Jackson Hole Dinner Theater. The meal was wonderful and The Fantasticks was a play I'd never seen before so it was an exciting new theater experience. (More on Jackson Hole later!)

110 in the Shade
As one last night out before Kevin left, we headed to Orem where 110 in the Shade was playing at a small theater in the round. I have wanted to see this particular musical since high school and was thrilled to finally have the opportunity. They did a fabulous job, even managing to make it rain on stage! Kevin, Tammy and I loved every minute of it!

Wonderful company and great entertainment. Who could ask for more! :-)

Solitude

Life has been different these last couple of weeks. Ken and I are now officially empty-nesters -- something that I've always known was lurking in the background but always seemed very far away. Since we became parents more than 36 years ago, our lives have been very busy so this is a strange and new phenomenon for the two of us. The days are very quiet and actually, so are the evenings. I find myself filling my notebooks with plans for the next day and then struggling to accomplish things in the quiet of my new environment.

Something I've already discovered, however, is this new time is capable of new joys and I'm looking forward to exploring this new stage of my life! Wish me luck!

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.
~Voltaire

And So It Begins . . .

Today was the big day! Kevin left for California this morning. He was able to call from the airport and talk with us for a little while. It was wonderful to hear him talk about his experiences at the MTC and bear his testimony. He sends his love to all of you! Keep him in your prayers!

Kevin and his companion at the MTC

Sunday Laughs

Today was Stake Conference. After a few long and busy weeks, I was grateful we didn't need to prepare a Sunday School lesson. However, the thought of folding chairs for two hours was not appealing. Talking to Marian, who has been visiting, I discovered she wasn't anxious to corral two young children during that time either. That was when we had a brilliant idea! It would be fun to attend church with Keith and Delores, and since their meetings were at 11:00 am, we didn't even need to rush! After coordinating with Keith, we got ready and headed to his Ward. As we passed our Stake Center's full parking lot, I felt a little twinge of guilt but was looking forward to the soft seats in Keith's chapel.

Pulling up to Keith's church, the first thing we noticed was a very FULL parking lot. With a chuckle, we commented on how ironic it would be if they were also having Stake Conference. Just then Keith and Delores arrived, also looking startled at the obviously full parking lot. Well, you guessed it. It was their Stake Conference! :-) Keith and Delores had been out of town and missed the announcement about conference. We all sheepishly traipsed in and found a seat in the primary room and watched the last hour. Ken just smiled and said apparently we were supposed to attend Stake Conference! :-)

Saying Our Goodbye's

A few days ago the time finally arrived for Kevin to enter the MTC. We had a good morning traveling down to Provo, picking up some deli sandwiches and stopping at Grandma's for lunch. Procedures have changed at the MTC making for a quick goodbye but we did have time for a couple of quick pictures. We're going to truly miss Elder Rimington but we know he will be blessed for choosing to serve his Heavenly Father.

Janell, Kevin & Ken at the MTC

Kevin & Tammy

Hill Cumorah

In September of 1823, a young Joseph Smith followed the instructions of the angel Moroni, and on a hill not far from his home, first laid eyes on the record of an ancient people engraved on gold plates. Today both a wonderful Visitor's Center as well as a stirring monument is located at this site. In 1935 President Heber J. Grant dedicated the granite monument depicting the events that took place in this sacred place. During the dedication he prayed that the monument would be "a testimony of God, of Jesus Christ, and of the dealing of Jesus Christ with the people that lived anciently upon this continent."

During our recent trip, we each felt truly inspired by our knowledge of the events that led to the publishing of the Book of Mormon. We felt the spirit as we walked around the monument and read the inscriptions written there. And the view from the hill was breathtakingly beautiful!


We were also able to spend some quiet time viewing the statue of the resurrected Jesus Christ in the Visitor's Center. I've always loved this statue and it can be found at many Visitor's Centers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This one was unique, however. At every other location the statue appears before a background of the heavens. As you can see, the background at the Hill Cumorah is that of the Sacred Grove! As we looked upon this scene, I felt a strong witness that the young Joseph Smith had truly seen the Father and the Son. I'm so grateful not only for this testimony but for the opportunity to share with each of you.

Lots of love to you all!

Four-wheeling & the Sacred Grove! :-)

More than ten years ago when I first found myself walking through the Sacred Grove, I could not imagine ever having the privilege of being there again. In the last several years circumstances have brought me to the Grove not just a second time, but several times. Frankly, the experience has been incredible each and every time! Traveling with my Mother and sisters brought a whole new feeling to this visit. I felt such a profound gratitude for my eternal family as I walked in this special place.


This particular visit was definitely unique, however! Upon arriving at the Visitor's Center, we were greeted by one of the couple missionaries who immediately offered Mom a motorized wheelchair. To our surprise, the trails in the lower half of the Sacred Grove have been graded to accommodate an electric wheelchair! Mom had been quietly contemplating sending us all into the Grove without her, so this was definitely a wonderful surprise! Since we had been there before, Ken and I sent the others off on their own to explore the upper trails while we stayed on the lower trail with Mom. To begin with, she was a little leery of the speed control but as she became a little more confident, she was off! We definitely had a hard time keeping up with her! :-) The three of us had some really special moments, however, as we stopped here and there and talked about the significance of the events that had happened in this place. Walking alongside my Mother in the Sacred Grove is something I will never forget!

How grateful I am for the Gospel as well as again having the privilege of spending time in this sacred place, especially with those who mean so much to me!

Lots of love to you all!