Happy New Year with Family in Byers

This is our granddaughter, Crystal's, senior photo. Isn't she pretty? She hopes to go on to college and medical school to become a doctor after her high school graduation this coming spring.

This is Heather's dad, Tom, with his grandson, Brendan. If daddy, Brian, was in the picture you could see that all three guys look alike with their red hair and blue eyes.

Joe's daughter, Lori, mother of Heather, and spouse of Tom, with Adam, who is Breanne's little one. It is great to see how Lori and Tom are so good at caring for and playing with our little great grandsons. They seem to enjoy being grandparents.

Here is a photo of the little cousins that Lori gave to us.

We are home from a great weekend at Byers where we had good company, food, and even Champagne on New Year's Eve at the home of our son Doug and his wife Jennie. Here are Mandy, Brendan and Kat enjoying Evan playing the keyboard. 17 week old black pug, Boo, has joined two toned Cooper as our Granddogs.

On Saturday Kat and I took Mandy to Aurora Mall to shop for a prom dress for her to take to Utah when she flew back to her Job Corp School on Sunday. It was fun to watch her look thru the shops and try on dresses. She wanted a long dress that wasn't very frou frou, and the style seemed to be for veeeerrrry short frou frou dresses, but she found a simple long black and white paneled dress that looked good on her. She says she and her friends don't go to dance, they just sit around and talk. Do you suppose they do it face to face or on their ever present fashion statement cell phones?

It was cold in Byers, with lots more snow banks than we have here, and I was wearing my sandals, not expecting having to walk thru snow. I forget that we live in Colorado's Banana Belt, and that they get much more snow than we do. That's why I-70 is often shut down due to blizzards and drifts.

I was washing, ironing and wrapping the kids' pillowcases at the last minute, before we left, and forgot to take photos of the finished pieces. Take my word for it, they were colorful and looked great, even though they are so fast and easy to make. That is the kind of project patterns I like to find.

Thanksgiving Holiday

We had a wonderful time at our son, Carl's for Thanksgiving dinner; staying with daughter, Michal Ann in Wheatridge; visiting the Denver Zoo on Friday with the family; and having lunch in Colorado Springs on Saturday, with family at Guiseppi's (in the old C. S. RR depot); and then visiting Mom with the family on Saturday afternoon. This is a photo of the family with, Gramma Evy, in the parlor of the Friendship House.

There is an album of photos, taken with my new Canon Power Shot camera, on my

Facebook page. Joe says he think I'm becoming a Japanese tourist, taking photos of everything, whether it moves or not.

Happy Independence Day!

The 4th of July is my kind of holiday since I love history and fireworks!

In the Rotunda of the U. S. Capitol Building are a series of paintings of the history of the United States of America.

This one, by John Trumbull, is the representation of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1976. The 5 gentlemen standing in the middle, presenting the draft document to Congress, are John Adams (MA), Roger Sherman (CT), Robert Livingston (NY), Thomas Jefferson (VA), and Benjamin Franklin (PA).

Roger Sherman is important to my family because he is an ancestor of my children through their father's Buck family line. "He [Roger Sherman] was the only member of the Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of 1774, the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1781), and the Federal Constitution(1788)." "[He] was also a prime mover behind the Connecticut, or Great Compromise, which broke the deadlock between the large and small states over representation. "This is why we have both a House of Representatives, which chooses the number of congressmen based on a states' population; and a Senate, which allows each state to have 2 senators.

I find that it helps me interest the youngsters of the family in history, when I tell them about their distinguished ancestor. It seems to help them to relate to what could look like a bunch of boring dates and actions. What a shame that something as exciting and vital as our own history often seems to be taught in such a boring way. It must take a lot of work to turn excitement into boredom. But then, I adore history and spend a lot of time reading and researching it. I hope some of it wears off on the kids.

Hope you enjoy the fireworks as much as I will. We don't set off our own any more, because of the fire danger in our dry climate, but we plan to watch the public display set off on top of Skyline Drive in Canon City.

Celebrations!

My "adopted" granddaughter, Amber, graduated from Florence High School on Friday night. She has been accepted by Adams State College in Alamosa and has already signed up for her classes and dorm room for next fall. We are so pleased that she has received a very good grant to make it possible to get a college eduation. This summer she is enrolled in a job training program with the Colorado Job Corps and will work as a landscaper at a local golf course. It must run in the family, since my grandson, Jason, has worked as a landscaper each summer while attending CU Boulder. He will graduate in December as the fourth generation of his family to get a degree from CU.

Amber's younger sister, Makayla, graduated from the Florence Middle School this evening, and will be a Freshman at Florence High School next fall. She appears to be a bit happy about her graduation. She is wearing a crocheted throw that I made several years ago and gave to her recently.

Here are Mandy (right) and her friend Amanda (would you believe they are both named Amanda Marie?) at the Prom earlier this month. It tickles me that girls are self confident enough, these days, to go together, when they do not have dates, and enjoy themselves. Remember that old adage, "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle."

This is grandson, Evan, (Mandy's brother) in his Kindergarden photo. He is not as studious as the glasses make him look; he is all boy!

Grandaughter, Samantha, was a seventh grader at a Salt Lake City area school. She didn't come to Denver for Memorial Day weekend, but DD Sharon says she has definitely become a teenager with all that entails. She is a very talented dancer. She is thrilled that her braces came off since this photo was taken.

Sam's sister, Rachel, was a fifth grader and did spend the weekend with us at my daughter, Michal Ann's, in Wheatridge (a western suburb of Denver) with her Mom and little brother, Alex. Rachel is into sports and is a definite brain; the computer game she was playing this weekend was about physics!!? and she played it while watching funnies and music on the laptop, simultaneously. She was also making origami pieces for us and keeping us laughing at her great sense of humor.

I got to visit with all 4 of my children and 2 of Joe's son's and lots of grandchildren and greatgrandchildren over the weekend. It rained a lot and so much of the time the kids had to play, very noisily, in the house. They did get out into the back garden in the intervals between rains.

Here are Miles (GGS), Rachel (GD), Evan (GS), and Kaylee (GGD) playing in the playland corner of Grandma Mike's backyard. It was wet, but they didn't care.

Alex, from Utah, plays Hungry Hippos.

Shaun (greatgrandson) wants to go downstairs where the bigger kids are playing. He doesn't understand that the steep steps are not safe for him to go down by himself.

Granddaughter Brook with Olivia, who will be our sixth greatgrandchild in September.

These are some of the other flowers blooming in our world.

"Pick yourself up,

brush yourself off, and start all over again."

That old song keeps coming back to my mind. A new year, a new start. One of the blessings of being human.

Joe and I spent New Year's Eve and Day in Byers with some of the kids. I was getting over, and Joe was coming down with, miserable head colds, so we dragged home on Friday and have sort of hibernated in the warm house this weekend. It was quite cold and snowy outside so it was a good time to hibernate. Having the new HD TV, that we gave each other for Christmas (the old one was about 16 years old and getting blurry, as are our eyes, so it was a good idea Joe had. Plus we got a great deal on it.) made the hibernating enjoyable, as we watched lots of old movies, which we love better than most new ones.

We especially enjoyed seeing the new babies; our 2 new great grandsons Brendan and Adam, as well as Jayden, the second son of Joe's kids half sister, Shannon. Though Shannon, Bryce and Jayden aren't really our family, they have always seemed like family. I guess they are kids and grandkids-in-law, like Joe's first wife, Frances, is my wife-in-law. Can you believe that a man would actually marry two women named Frances Marie?!!

These two photos were taken at the Mexican restaurant in Strasburg on New Year's Eve.

Mandy (horrible photo) in her funny rabbit skull and crossbones on barbed wire shirt.

Mandy with Jayden. He had his first surgery for cleft palate and lip the first week in December. He has several others to go in the next few years.

Here are some blurry photos; scans from a photo collage that daughter (new grandmother) Lori made for us.

Cody and Breanne with Adam, and Brian and Tabi with Brendan, at the hospital after Adam was born.

Close up of Adam, who looks like his mom, Breanne.

Brendan, who looks like his dad, Brian.

Puppy, Cooper. Remember her from the Labor Day camping post.

Some of these photos were taken with my new plaything; my photographer brother, Steve, gave me his Canon Power Shot Pro camera that he no longer uses. It is going to take me a while to get comfortable using this one. I didn't realize just how idiot proof my little Canon Elph was, but this one has many more pixels as well as OPTICAL ZOOM, so it is well worth "doing poorly until I learn to do it well." Watch out birds, here comes Granny Fran.

I will be posting my quilting plans for the year in a few days and sure hope I manage to be more productive and creative this year. In 2008 just surviving seemed to take most of my time and

energy.

Happy New Year

May each of you have a happy, prosperous, healthy, and creative 2009!

Blessings of Love and Light to You

I found this beautiful Christmas card and immediately knew I had to post it for Debra and Barbara, the Madonna Idea quilters.

More Christmas Decor

I especially like this Nativity in lights seen in a neighbors front yard this evening.

Here Comes Santa Farmer

I've been so busy researching genealogy and putting together family history notebooks for Christmas that I haven't had time to blog, or much of anything else that doesn't absolutely have to be done.

But today Joe told me to check out a photo opportunity on Raynolds Avenue. It was so cute I just had to share with all of you.

Family Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving is always a big holiday for my family and this year we had a wonderful time, again. Last year, Dad was in the hospital so Mom, Joe, and I spent the day with him; the kids had their traditional dinner at Carl and Robyn's and then all came to visit the hospital on Friday and were able to have time with Dad before he passed on early Sunday morning. So this year we were really feeling the need to be together.



Derek and Lindsay being greeted by Greg as they arrive with the fantastic soup and flowers.



Joe and I drove Mom to Michal Ann's in Wheatridge (a western suburb of Denver) on Wednesday evening. We now stay at her house since she has two ground floor bedrooms; the stairs at Carl's are too much for Mom and a challenge for me and my oxygen apparatus.





Joe supervises Sharon and Samantha as they prepare Carl's German Chocolate birthday cake.






We have the Thanksgiving meal at Carl and
Robyn's, and since they are vegetarians, Michal Ann cooks the turkey and trimmings, Sharon does desserts and Carl's birthday cake (he was born on the 23rd so we celebrate his birthday with Thanksgiving), Kat makes homemade rolls and sweet potatoes, Robyn does a yummy cashew loaf and fruit and veggie salads, and I fix the whole cranberry sauce and other veggie dishes. This year Lindsay and Derek made a delicious sweet potato and green chiles soup, which was new and a big hit. There were 21 of us at the two tables, from 15 months to 88 years.



Carl and Jason moving second table into foyer, next to the dining room to the right.



Three year old Alex, from Salt Lake City, plays Aunt Robyn's baby grand piano.




In the evening we watched the movie, "Iron Man", which was much more enjoyable than I anticipated. Jeff Bridges did a great acting job in this one; so much so that it took a while to recognize him. The kids have a great time together and make a lot of noise.


On Friday evening we got together at Michal Ann's for a lasagna meal. The children had a great time playing with the family heirloom dinosaurs and jungle animals, that have lived for three generations with Gramma Evy and Grampa Fritz, and have now taken up residence with oldest granddaughter, Michal Ann. Carl presented his Power Poiont show on his trip to Canada this summer in his historic Waco biplane, known affectionately as Old Bar-B-Q in the Canadian northern woods, where it supplied the people at mines and fishing camps on the lakes (on floats in summer and skis in winter) during the 1940s. Part of the presentation was a video of the trip done by the Canadian version of our PBS. He also showed some of his old family photos of us when we were much younger, and some of our forbears who have been gone for decades.




Mandy and Rachel reading together on Aunt Mike's couch. The quilt on Rachel's knees is the one I made for Kaylee when she was born; and she is holding "The Quiltmaker's Journey" which Joe and I gave Kaylee for her birthday this year, to go with "The Quiltmaker's Gift" that went with the quilt. The quilt was made of Quiltmaker fabrics. Kaylee likes to wrap up in the quilt and have Gramma Michal Ann read the books to her.


While this was going on it started snowing and continued all night. It is the first snow we had seen this fall. About a month later than most years, we usually get our first at around Halloween.


Charlie (ex), Sharon (spouse), and Mom at Giuseppe's
On Saturday we drove to Colorado Springs to meet my kids' father and stepmother for lunch at Giuseppe's in the old railroad depot. The seventeen of us had a small room to ourselves and were fortunate to have a great waitress, who took good care of us. We have an interesting family in that Joe and I get along with our ex's and their spouses and have family get togethers that include us all. Time has a way of softening the earlier emotions, and we do share a number of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. (And hopefully, we gain wisdom!)


Carl and Robyn at Giuseppe's (out the windows you could see the coal trains running south full, and north empty. (There goes more of Wyoming!) Alex, Shaun, and Kaylee loved watching the trains.

We drove home from the Springs (through fog on Monument Hill), and the kids drove back to Denver (my ex and his wife now live in Pueblo). I am so glad that we didn't wait for Sunday to drive home, because it snowed heavily and made for slow, dangerous, stop and go driving on Monument Hill, on I-25, between Denver and the Springs. Sharon and her little ones had to stay over an extra day in Denver and drive to Salt Lake City on Monday. Here in Florence, we had enough snow early Sunday morning to turn everything white, but it stopped and melted off by noon.


I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving family (even if some of us agree to disagree on politics)! That's what Thanksgiving is all about.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving

A Merry, White Christmas

Mom, Joe and I drove to my daughter, Michal's, home in Wheatridge (a northwestern suburb of Denver) on a warm, sunny Christmas Eve. We enjoyed watching 2 of the great grandchildren, Miles and Kaylee, make and decorate sugar cookies and later got to see their parents, Brooke and Donnie, Lindsay and Derek, and Kaylee's 4 month old baby brother, Sean, when they came to pick up the children. Sean was sleeping in his baby carrier so I wasn't able to get a photo of him.

Our contributions to the Christmas celebration were roast beef cooked with potatoes and carrots for Christmas Eve dinner; red grapes, layered bar cookies that I made; Joe's fantastic peanut butter fudge from his Mom's famous recipe; and a pumpkin and a pecan pie from the Village Inn (I seldom do pies).

We had a quiet Christmas eve with Michal Ann and woke up Christmas morning to a sky full of snow. It snowed all day and was gorgeous to look out at; I'm just glad we didn't have to drive in it because there was a lot of black ice under the snow on the streets and highways. Kat, Greg, Ben, Mandy and Evan and then Carl, Robyn and Jason arrived around noon. We ate my homemade cinnamon rolls and Michal's egg, bread and sausage brunch casserole, and sipped Mimosas, while Michal and Mandy chopped mushrooms, onions and peppers for the three pans of lasagna (one vegetarian).

With the lasagna we had Robyn's great green salad with rasberries, pine nuts, and glazed pecans; garlic bread; and vegan Robyn's Cashew loaf, which is a family favorite. After the meal we opened the presents from under the traditionally decorated Christmas tree. I lucked out with a set of crystal Chardonnay glasses, a soft, charcoal gray wool granny shawl, and a set of Bible commentaries wrapped in a yard of Ricky Timms' dyed fabric. Robyn went into the Longmont quilt shop and asked the lady for suggestions and she told her to get the Timms' fabric because I'd know what it was as soon as I saw it. Joe surprised me with updated Photoshop software to help me make my quilt fabric better.

Watching Ben and Jason help Evan make his Lego Star Wars creature and then Robyn playing Transformers chess was quite entertaining. Everyone learns quickly that you can't win when you play against Evan because he makes up his own rules(4 year olds can get away with that.) But Robyn gave him a good run for his money.

Mother strung beads for the granddaughters and the quilt on her lap is Kaylee's "Quiltmaker's Gift" quilt that I made for her. She is very fond of it and loves to have Grandma Michal read the book to her while she snuggles in the quilt.

After our sad Thanksgiving it was so good to have the family together for Christmas. We just wish Sharon and her family could have been here but we all talked to her a couple of times on the phone.

This morning the sky was blue and everything was coated with a thick layer of snow as we drove back home; everything looked beautiful. It hadn't snowed as much here as in Denver but the ground was covered with pristine snow until we drove into our back driveway. Cho Cho and Ditto were quite happy to have us home again and Cho is sitting on the desk, keeping me company, as I type this.