Reflections

Today I attended the funeral of one of my favorite aunts, Bonnie Jean Liedtke Wagstaff. I had not been able to get over to see her at the care facility and she probably would not have recognized me anyway, but I still feel like I missed an opportunity. Seeing my cousins and other uncles and aunts today and hearing about my aunts passing a few days ago has put me in a reflective mood.

Aunt Bonnie

I started my personal history the other day which has also made me reflective.

I have been remember all the things I did as a child with my relatives and friends. I remember going to my Aunt Bonnie's for Liedtke family Christmas parties. They have a home on Dimple Dell Road in Sandy. This home had a really steep driveway and when I was little I was always worried about sliding off the cliff in the snow. I also remember their stone stairs that led from the front door to the upstairs living area and the downstairs living area. They had another set of stairs at the other end of the hall, so us kids would run around and around, up and down both sets of stairs until the adults told us not to.

Remembering these family times also made me remember times when all the kids in our neighborhood would get together and play games. We would be together for most of the day playing football in the street, listening to Battle of the Bands on 1320 AM (Casey Kasem was the DJ. An oldie but a goodie), playing Ghosts in the Graveyard and Monster. What fun times we had.

Then I read Lizzie's blog and started remembering all the times I have had with her, Sara and Doug, and the new ones with Gary and Luke. I remember all the times we went to soccer tournaments for our vacations. I remember going to Disneyland when the kids were little and taking their first airplane flight, and then to Disneyworld. I remember the time I came home from Young Women and found spots of blood all over the wall by the stairs in our apartment. Doug had gotten a hold of my rotary cutter and cut his finger. It hurt so he waved it back and forth and got blood everywhere. I remember the time Lizzie stayed awake with me all night when we were driving us and some other girls to a tournament in California. I was getting tired and all the other girls were asleep, but Lizzie stayed up to keep me awake. I remember time Sara was visiting a friend and the friends parents took her to a concert. She forgot to call us. When we could not get a hold of the girls parents at around 2:30 am (she was only about 12) we had to call the police. When she finally arrived home she looked so sorry that I could not get mad at her. I also remember she sang her 1st solo in choir in junior high. The Spirit was so strong it made me cry. She still does make me cry whenever I hear her singing.

I remember when I met Gary. He was the professor of my history class when I went back to school to get my Associates Degree in graphic design. He told us to watch this piece of a movie. Then he showed the movie, Princess Bride. The part where the guy is testing Wesley with the poison. Then he paused it, put his face near the tv screen and asked if we saw any resemblances. He did look like Wallace Shawn and we all laughed. We became friends and it went on from there.

I remember when Lizzie texted me and told me that she thought she had found the man she was going to marry. Needless to say a few weeks later, she and Luke were up here and we were looking for wedding dresses while Luke and Gary talked in the car.

I am so grateful for all these loving memories and for the many memories to come. What a great life I have had and have now. I am so blessed.

Happy New Year

Saturday January 1, 2011

So today is the very first day of 2011. The year 2010 was a wonderful year. Gary was promoted to a Program Manager at WGU and then made the program manage over the new MBA program which began July 1, 2010. Needless to say we had to postpone our anniversary trip. We were going to schedule it for October, but that was the time of the Columbia College graduation. So we ended up going in September. We went to New Mexico, Albuquerque, specifically. It was a blast.

We moved Sara out of the house in August (it was great to have the house to ourselves), but then we moved her back in in November. Her roommates are moving and she wanted to be able to save some money. She may move to Long Beach, CA and live with her Aunt Melanie. She is doing well and has made so many new friends since she moved back. She has been on many dates and been attending the Singles Ward. She is working more hours at Dairy Queen.

I was put in as the Young Women President in the Adamswood Ward. I am learning so much. With the help of the Lord I am able to do many things and hopefully help each of my girls. It has been a lot of fun and a lot of work so far.

We found out that Lizzie and Luke are going to have a baby in July. I am so excited!!!!! I can't wait to be a grandma. I have two other grandchildren from Gary's oldest daughter, Tasha, but this one will be so special because SHE will be the first from my children. I know Lizzie will be a great mom. She has such a special spirit and will be able to teach this grandchild all about her Heavenly Fathe and Savior. Lizzie is a great example of endurance and faith and she married a very special guy. Luke is wonderful to her and will make a fantastic father. I think they are having a girl, but no matter a girl or a boy, this child will be spoiled by her/his grandparents.

We spent Thanksgiving up here with Luke and Lizzie visiting us (with Luke, Gary and Sara spending the night out in 15 degree weather on black Friday). We headed down to Las Vegas and spent Christmas with Lizzie and Luke.

That was a recap of 2010.

I did forget to mention that Gary kicked me out of his office at the end of December, but I did not finish creating my office/craft room until today. I got a sewing machine for Christmas (I had been using Sara's) so I needed a place to set it up. So I guess him kicking me out was a blessing in disguise.

This is my new office/craft space

Now I have an office area and a craft area.

Craft area: My sewing machine and accessories and my easel. I want to start painting again, too. Now I have room to do both.

My new office area

Gary's new office. Notice the green area? That is the putting green that Luke and Lizzie gave Gary. He has fun with it.

I have also set some new goals. I am still working on my Personal Progress, so I am setting goals all the time, but the beginning of the year is a good time to set more. I love achieving my goals. Last year one of my goals was to read the Standard Works. What a great time I had doing this. I started with the Old Testament, then the New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants and then the Pearl of Great Price. I read the Book of Mormon every day along with the others, so I ended up reading it 4 times. It has made my life better and me a better person, so I am going to do it again this year. Only I am going to read them chronologically, so some of the Pearl of Great Price will be intermixed with the Old Testament.

Anyway, that's about it. I hope everyone's 2011 will be great. I look forward to many wonderful days.

Life is grand!

Thankful Thursday on Friday

November 19, 2010

I just read Lizzie's blog and it made me realize that I too had not done my Thankful Thursdays for a very long time.

I am thankful for Gary. He is always helping me and telling me to take care of myself. Sometimes I don't slow down and end up sick, like I am now. He tells me to relax. He does laundry, dishes and cleans the house, among other things. He is so great.

I am thankful for the holidays coming. Lizzie and Luke, Sara and Doug are all coming for Thanksgiving. I think this will be a first in a few years. I can't wait for them to all be here.

I am thankful that Lizzie is doing well in school and the she is almost done with the fall semester. Then only one semester to go and she will be graduated. I am so proud of her.

I am thankful for Luke. He is so good to Lizzie. How lucky we are that they found each other. I am grateful he got his new job at another branch.

I am thankful for Sara. She is going to come back on Monday and stay the week. She is such a great daughter. She is trying to learn to budget, so she can live in a place by herself. She is learning how to live with others in an apartment, but would love to have a small place of her own. I am proud of her, too.

I am thankful for Doug. He is growing and learning about who he is. He has a new job at Target and is going to the singles ward. He is making new friends and having fun. I am very proud of him.

I am thankful for all my young women girls. They are such a great example to me. They are striving to live the standards in this crazy world. What a great time to be the Young Womens President!

Well thats all for today. Can't wait for Thanksgiving. It's going to be fun.

New Bed for Our Spare Room

November 13, 2010

I just completed the stripping and restaining of the bed frame for the bed to go in our spare room. It took my entire week off. I started on Monday and this is what the headboard looked like.

It took me three days to finishing just the stripping. It was hard work and then there was a lot of sawdust everywhere. I had to sand and use stripper to finally get all the polyeurethane and stain off. My hands felt like I had sand paper, too. This is what it looked like when the old stain was all removed.

On Thursday, I was able to apply the stain. It is a dark walnut stain. I was going to go lighter, but then I decided not to. I am glad I didn't because some of the spots would not have covered. As I was sanding I found out the frame was not solid wood but wood veneer over MDF. I accidentally sanded too much off in some spots, so the dark walnut worked better to cover those spots.

Thursday afternoon and Friday morning I applied two coats of polyeurethane to protect the stain and the bed. It took until today to completely dry because of the cold. Gary and I placed the bed frame in the room this afternoon. I think it fits well. Now all we have to do is get a mattress for it.

My New Great-Nephew

I just found out today Sunday November 7, 2010 that I have a new great-nephew. His name is Frederick. I am so happy for my niece, Emily, and her husband, Nate. I can't wait to see pictures of him. I hope I will be able to visit soon. They live in Boise, ID, and my schedule is really busy, but hopefull at the end of the month.

Frederick joins his sister, Allison. She is such a cutie that I know Frederick will be a cutie, too. His mom already told me he is. Of course, she is prejudice, but then so am I when it comes to my family.

Congratulations to Nate and Emily Jensen on the birth of their baby boy, Frederick.

What a great testimony to me of the Lord's love for all of his children.

Getting Ready for Winter

It was such a beautiful day today that we decided to work out in the yard. We put out the bricks around our yard to keep the grass from growing into the area we cleared during the spring. We also got a jump on the holidays and put up our Christmas lights. We are not going to turn them on of course, but it is going to start storming next week, so we wanted to be prepared. I hate putting up the lights when it is snowing and cold.

Gary got up on the roof to do it. The lights actually go around the both sides of the house and the front. I was glad that Gary did it because when I did it last year I was scared to death getting so high up in the ladder. So now we are ready for winter even though I am not quite ready for it.

I also cleaned out the garage so when Lizzie and Luke come there will be a place for their car. I know we are so nice to them. We are very excited for them to come up for Thanksgiving. We have so much planned. We are going to have Thanksgiving dinner and then maybe see a movie on Thanksgiving evening. Luke, Lizzie, Sara and Gary (maybe me) are going to be out on Black Friday. I still have not decided if I want to. Then we are going to go see Savior of the World on Friday night.

With Lizzie and Luke in town, we are going to have our family Christmas party the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We are going to have a Polar Express party. I have made tickets, we are going to wear our pajamas and have lots of fun. I am looking forward to it.

September Vacation

Monday September 27, 2010

Days 1 and 2

Gary and I took a vacation to Albuquerque, New Mexico, this past week. We had such a great time. We saw many different things, but made sure to relax. That was what is was all about.

There is so much to tell that I think I will have to do it in a few blogs.

We left on Friday Sept. 17 and drove to Monticello, UT. We stayed there for the night. We did not do much, but relaxed in our room and went to sleep. The next morning we got up early, had breakfast and drove to the Monticello Temple. We took pictures, but did not have time to go through it.

It is a beautiful temple.

We drove to Mesa Verda, CO to see the cliff dwellings. We went on three tours. Two were with guides and one was self-guided.

The first tour we took was to the Balcony House. We had to climb up this really tall ladder and for those who know that I have a fear of falling from a great height, you know that this ladder was hard for me. By the time I got to the top, my hands were shaking and they would not stop.

The ladder from Balcony House

From the Balcony House, we went on a hike to see Balcony House from afar. It was a fun hike and the view was amazing.

Cliff Palace was next. This is the most photographed dwelling in the park. It was neat, but not as neat as Balcony House.

We went to the Spruce Tree House next. This was cool. We got to go into a reconstructied Kiva. It was neat because you got the real feel of how a kiva would have been so many years ago.

We drove around another road where we could see the Cliff Palace from a different angle. We also saw a few of the other 600 dwellings in the park.

We loved the park. We did get tired though and made our way out of the park and drove to Farmington, NM where we stayed for the night.

Day 3 Coming Soon...