Country Fair

There was a "Country Fair" Enrichment Night tonight at the church. You could tell that lots of work went into the event, from the great table decorations to the handouts to the classes and the food. The evening started by having a car show. Bill & Sue Harms brought 3 of their classic vehicles for us to check out! Then we went inside for demonstrations: Carol J talked about an apple box oven and then had samples of baked potatoes, chicken potpie and cookies that she had made using the cardboard box, tin foil and briquettes. Amazing. Next up was Patty C with her homemade bread and a strawberry rhubarb freezer jam that the young women had made. She even ground enough wheat so that each of us had 4 cups of freshly ground wheat flour to take home to make our own! Next was a fruit crisp by Bev J and then some canning tips from Dorothy S. She had salsa with chips and then berry syrup with french toast sticks to sample. There was also a Sweet Dill pickle sample that Tammy P had brought. Yes, by now we were getting full from all the wonderful samples. So we headed into the kitchen for a live demonstration on how to make Becki S's fabulous cinnamon rolls. Divine!! We rolled back into the cultural hall for a presentation from Cindy P on family history. Then we broke up into small groups for a quilting demo by Bonne K, a doll service project and a Journal Jar (see http://www.christysclipart/com/journal_RS.html for the directions). And if you did not think that was enough, there were beautiful quilts on display that I believe were made by Judy E. There was also some exquisite tatting by Karin M. What a fun night - I'm glad I went! (The young women were invited and Audrey came. I think she had fun, especially all the taste testing. Better than Costco!!)

Are You Sitting DOWN?

For those who know me (even a little bit), it is probably a VERY good thing that most people read blogs while sitting. I'm here to reveal something that will shock, surprise or just plain flaberghast you.

Yes, I've started running...

I've never been a runner, walker or even someone who exercises at all. In fact, I did not take PE in high school so that I could play for more music groups (jazz choir, jazz band) and fit them into my schedule. A few weeks back (end of June?), I started to meet with Angela, Staci, Amy & Audrey at 5:30 in the morning twice a week to run around the school track. I started by walking the whole thing, then the next week I ran for maybe a minute. Audrey was timing me and it certainly felt longer than a minute. Then I started to run the "curve" of the track and walk the "straight" part.

Then I got this crazy, hair-brained scheme about a week ago to sign up for the Cherry Picker's Trot (a 4-mile fun run that goes through Greenbluff). So hills! Up hills, down hills. I kind of went into a mini-panic earlier today as I kept asking myself "What in the world have you gotten yourself into?" And the worst part is I had already mailed in the entry and t-shirt fee, and I'm kind of cheap that way - did not want to waste my money. But boy, the pep talk I had to give myself to even go!!

Once we got up to Greenbluff, we headed to John's folks place. His mom lives up there so that was our base camp. We soon found out that Marcie (John's sister) & her daughter, Lindsay, were running it too! That allowed Angela and Marcie to run closer together, rather than worrying about me holding them back. Lindsay and I ran together - we walked a bit and ran a bit and had a very good time! John was in charge of taking pictures to document this event (in case it never happened again) so below are some of the photos. I have to say that I completely surprised myself by how much fun I had! We walked about 1 mile from base camp to get to the starting line, then did the 4-mile race, then went back the 1 mile to our cars. So even after going 6 miles on foot, I was still pretty refreshed. It helped that it had cooled down (the race did not start until 7pm) and that there were shady spots on the course. We also ran into quite a few people we knew (Ed, Bonnie, Connie, Theresa) so it was a fun event overall.

When I entered the race my goal was to just complete it. Well, I finished in 57 minutes 27 seconds, so basically averaged a 14.25 minute mile. That is amazing to me considering where I started a few weeks ago. Most likely this will become an annual event for our family!

Lacey - Parlour

The front room right off the entry way has 2 sets of pocket doors, one from the entry way and one heading into the dining room. While this house was a tri-plex, one of the pocket doors was boarded over and the parlour was split into two bedrooms.
Do you love the red and blue paint? You can see remnants of Spiderman wallpaper border between the two colors. This is a picture of the door that "was" boarded over when we bought the house. John un-boarded it, fixed the wall, made new trim, and fixed the pocket door. Being in use since 1911, the hardware had started to loosen from the wood holding the door on the track. John never ceases to amaze me! And here is a "during" picture of Audrey and John working on the parlour. You'll have to wait a bit for the final picture, we still have to finish painting the trim, fix one window, haul off the old carpet and refinish the wood floor underneath. Whew!

Mom's Birthday Party

Here is a cute picture of mom and Dakota on Sunday. We went up to mom's house with chocolate cherry cake on Sunday afternoon to celebrate her birthday.

Memory Post (and 100th post!!)

First, I have to announce that this is my 100th post! (drum roll, fireworks)

My friend Janet put this on her blog (and amazingly enough I was the first to post a reply) so the stars must be in alignment today! I was going to post 100 things you did not know about me, but I'm only to 62 and I was not sure everyone would read them all anyway. Janet's post must have been a sign!!

So instead, in honor of my 100th post and to go by the rules posted by Janet, I am doing THE MEMORY post.

Here are the rules.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If you don't have a blog and don't know how to sign in, please comment as anonymous or send me an email.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!

3. If the memory happens to involve my husband, please include him!

4. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺

Can't wait to hear ♫♪ Memories.. of the way we were...♪♫

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mother was born July 6, 1940 at 4pm in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. Here are some pictures I found of her. I think, just like most moms, she was behind the camera most of the time so finding pictures was a bit difficult. I like the one with her and a friend in front of the car. That was taken in 1955, so a few years before she graduated from Mead High School. She married dad in 1960 and has lived in the same house ever since. She enjoys reading in her spare time and has recently taken up scrapbooking. She sews, knits & crochets. She loves music and sings rather well. She currently works at a CPA office full time and then spends the rest of her time spoiling her grandkids. Happy Birthday Mom !!!

Get Smart

We met the Creaghs at the Valley theatre to see "Get Smart". I was afraid that all the funny scenes were the ones we had already viewed on the commercials and previews, but that was not the case! This was a very funny movie and we had a great time.