Christmas at the Tucker's

Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve. Santa came early to SLC so when we visited, we got to see all the kids' toys.

Santa's elves had been busy. The playhouse and the Barbie house were much loved.

When we got there, Trisha and Brandon were exhausted, but Zach and Grandpa were glued at the hip. They went from one activity to the next while the rest of us napped.

Halle showed her true "colors" as she and I watched Beauty and the Beast. I got the running commentary, "Belle is in a blue dress." "Belle is in a green dress." "Belle is in a yellow dress." Through the whole movie, Halle never missed a single costume change. So cute.

My picture taking didn't extend to the other family members we saw over the holidays. Darn it!

Funerals.. a gift of love

It was Floy Scott's funeral today. I actually like funerals. For people in our ward, I often only know them as an old person. I love to learn about their live as a young adult, newlywed, and parent. It is also fun to visit with those who are there to provide the funeral luncheon. Mary Cherrington is such a doll to always bring rolls for 150. I told her she was earning points in heaven. She said, "I really like to do it. While I'm making rolls for their funeral, I think about the person. It is really 'my time' with them." I thought that was sweet. Mary said that her mother made the comment, "I do NOT want a luncheon put on by the Relief Society when I die. I've done FAR too many luncheons for others to want them to go through the effort for me. I've set aside money so you can cater my funeral luncheon." We laughed, but Mary said, "People want to serve. I don't think she is thinking about that part of the luncheon."

At the funeral, one of the sons was praising Floy saying, "If you could think of a single word to describe mom, it would be 'kind'. She was always serving others. When she was in the rehabilitation center for so long, I would call each day. One time I said, 'remember your prayers' - such an odd thing to be saying to your parent who taught you how to pray. She said, 'Oh, I remember them and for the first time, I'm praying for me.'" I thought that was pretty sweet.

Sub for Santa

Tonight was the final Sub for Santa activity. After the auction and two shopping days, we got together to wrap and deliver. I'm officially out of boxes, tape, wrapping paper, and tags. After Christmas sales, here I come.

Not for Young Children

I had to post proof that we did put up a few decorations.

Tuckers said they didn't give us the nativity scene on our front porch - so where did it come from?

Trisha also says the singers are scary - so I guess young children shouldn't view this post. Trish, I'm willing them to you.

Service Auction

We had such a great YSA activity last night. It was a sub-for-santa service auction. The young single adults volunteered their services which were purchased by other YSAs. The proceeds are going to a family identified by one of the area bishops as being in need this Christmas.

The Elders quorum president (Chase) contributed dinner and sledding with he and his two roommates. This was a hot item, going for well over $60. I was a bit surprised at some of the gals that jumped into the bidding. Halfway through the bidding Chase said, "When we do dinner, that usually means we eat out." Then the bids took a jump in price. I can't remember who won, but it was hilarious.

One of the fellows (who teaches computing at Bridgerland) volunteered his services for a hair cut. Nick said he had five years of experience. Then the jokes started in, "So, did you cut your own hair?" He said, "No, but I can cut women's hair, grey hair (looking at dad). I can even do a color job." Jonathan piped up with, "I'll buy it for ten dollars to save others the agony of a haircut by Nick." Everybody laughed.

Sarah volunteered sparkly Gel toenails. Chase could no way figure it out. So is it applied by a brush? Can I do it myself so no one has to touch my toes? I couldn't do that. Ryan (the Athletic VP on campus) said, "I'll buy it for brother Allan, but he's got to wear sandals to church so I can see the results." The laughter continued.

The bishop's 11 year old son got into the bidding. Since he was bidding with his Dad's money, he couldn't be beat. He was so cute about it.

The Fronk sisters (who never come to FHE because they spend Monday nights with their own family) were there with pies, eclairs, sewing lessons, and a beaded choker. Those items pulled high bids, so I was delighted their efforts to support the activity were received with open mouths.

Fred auctioned off his artistic skills to draw a portrait. Nick (our activites chair) offered 15 minutes of TV time on comcast. The bishop bought it, saying we were going to broadcast a ward talent show with the time.

Leslie (our RS president) ended up with several dates she won - one with Jesse (three years her junior).

They must have contacted local businesses for donations as well as there was a gift certificate to Olive Garden, movie tickets, and ski passes that were also auctioned off.

It was a great activity that netted well over $800. Next Monday we'll wrap and buy the presents. I've seen service auctions in a regular ward, but it was really fun in a singles ward.

The hardest conjugation

Carol Lynn Pearson said about death...
Putting you
In the past tense
Was, I'm afraid,
The hardest
Conjugation
I ever made.

I saw that today as Steve and I went to his Aunt Kaye Rees' funeral in Salt Lake. Before the funeral, we talked to Uncle Vincent. Steve had shown me the home they used to live in, but it was different than I remembered so I asked Vincent their old address and where he lives now. He kept saying "We live..." and "They take care of us really well there" and "They come into clean for us once a week". He is 99. They have been married for 71 years. Past tense is going to continue to be a tough conjugation.

A funny thing someone said at the funeral: I find myself thinking a lot about the hereafter. I go into a room and ask, "Now what am I here after?"

Magic

For Thanksgiving this year, everyone was home except for Greg (who was dearly missed). With cousins to play with and aunts and uncles to entertain them, the grandkids were in a state of bliss. Thus, I was surprised one evening with Zach said to me, “Grandma, can you play with me?” I was flattered, but had a twin in one arm, was heading to the basement to help Brooke with a computer game, and to grab something from the storage room for dinner. I told him, “Yes”, but it was several minutes before I made it to the cars and little people he was playing with. Savannah was thrilled to be included in the play, and kept jumping in my arms to get a better view. I clearly didn’t understand the rules of playing with cars. We were playing a game of chase, but I wasn’t limber enough or quick enough to ever catch him and kept resorting to flying cars, which was evidently illegal.

After a while he said, “Are you good at trains?” The train set in the basement spans two tables at different levels. Playing trains invariably means constructing tracks with bridges, lifts, and curves. While I’m not good with a single table, two tables make it twice as hard. You have to manage the gap and level change, in addition to making the parts connect and stay on the table. Zach and I have played trains before, but I’m really BAD at it. I do great in the first half of the assembly, but for some reason, the track pieces that I need to finish the task just haven’t been invented yet. His father, on other hand, is a pro – making elaborate designs that would make the toy catalogs jealous. [If Brandon gets bored as a civil engineer, I think he’s got options with Thomas & Friends. ]

Anyway, when Zach asked, “Are you good at trains?” I responded honestly, “No, I’m pretty terrible at trains.” To which he responded, “You just put the tracks together like this until they connect. It’s easy to me.” I loved it.

It got me thinking about my relationship with my grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Lasson lived on a farm in Birdseye, Utah. The, then, three hour drive to Spanish Fork canyon seemed unbearable, and was filled with carsickness and lots of “Are we there yet?” and “He’s touching me”, but the pain of getting there was the only negative. The house was heated by a wood burning stove, but the warmth of their adoration was even more intense. Everything I said was treasured and (nearly) everything I did was admired. Grandma was always willing to teach me a new card game while Grandpa played an unending game of Solitaire, with cards so warped I wondered how he could shuffle them.

Like my mother, Grandma was a candy addict and a great cook. We quickly demolished the salt water taffy she always kept on hand and relished the cookies she prepared just for us.

My grandparent’s home was small with memories embedded in the architecture – the ice house was transformed into a shed and the backyard was graced with an outhouse which still functioned if you couldn’t quite make it to the small bathroom inside the house. There was much laughter as Grandma and Grandpa reflected on out-house pranks and remembered weekly visits of the iceman.

A bedroom had been added to one corner, eliminating the need for the three sisters to sleep in the living room on a pull out bed. Mom would laugh that her sisters abhorred the fact that she was a bed wetter, yet they still had her sleep between them. There was no basement, but a cellar had been dug out under the kitchen. The only way to get to it was to lift up a section of the kitchen floor. For a child, the house was magical.

Grandpa was a farmer, raising chickens, cattle, and hay. They had horses for us to ride and haystacks that we would climb and slide down. I never heard one complaint about the mess we made of the hay stacks, though they must have secretly been happy when our car pulled out of the lane that connected their home to the highway. My cousins lived a stone’s throw away, so there was always someone to spur an adventure to the “Old Place” to catch pollywogs or tiny fish in the stream. We often cajoled an adult into saddling the horses for a trot to round mountain.

I guess the magic of their home was felt by all of us, as when my Aunt died a few years ago, my siblings and I took an afternoon to return to my Grandparent’s home. Devoid of parents and grandparents, the home still had the power to take us into the past. It has boarded up and in need of repair, but the magic we felt being there was still powerful.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was filled with visiting, eating, chocolate dipping, going to the temple, playing, and more eating. The highlight for me was the time we skype-d Greg. It was tough having him in China while the rest of us were together. All the pictures of us around the kitchen table were of the Skype session.

Blindness, the last frontier

The YSA is having a turkey dinner for 150 on Monday!

I woke up at six this morning (how I hate that I can't sleep). I finished my book, dyed my hair, and made nine loaves of bread and a batch of cookie dough. I'd had to grind the wheat and start the turkeys thawing in the sink for a few hours (as I never trust them to totally thaw in the fridge) I was meeting our FHE leader to go shopping at ten, so I had Steve help me spread butter in the pans as I threw the bread dough into them. The kitchen was a mess - with dirty pans in the sink and the wheat grinder on the counter. I left him a note: "Let rise until 10:30. Bake at 350. Cook for 35 minutes. Use both ovens."

Shandy and I went shopping to order pies/rolls and buy paper products, salad, dressing, and green beans at Sam's Club. Who knew that Sam's was such a social place. I saw a dozen people I knew and got three phone calls while we were there. After I dropped Shandy off at her house and unloaded some of the food, I ran to Macey's for a few things that were cheaper there. I decided to pick up forty pounds of ice, as our bishop's wife said they had plenty of room in their freezer and I had to stop by their home anyway. Plus, it would mean one less thing to pick up on Monday. I forgot about ice until the last minute when the clerk was filling out the paperwork for the charge. When I got to the ice machines as I left the store, I threw in the ice and headed to my car. Low and behold, I had eighty pounds of ice. While I was checking out, they had already loaded forty pounds of ice under my cart, and I had never seen them. How did they do that? Embarrassed, I hauled the ice I had loaded back.

Anyway, I got home just before one - some three hours after I had left. I walked in and there sat half of the loaves of bread. Steve hadn't even seen them. He baked five loaves (in two ovens :-)), had eaten half of one, had waited til they cooled, bagged them, and put them in the freezer - ALL without seeing the other four loaves. My kitchen is NOT that big nor was it that messy - as he had done a lot of the dishes by the time I got home.

Blindness --- the last frontier.

I baked them anyway - so we'll have to see how they taste.

So Funny

Last night, I went out with Kelly to deliver the Daughters in My Kingdom book to those who weren't in church the day we passed them out. We had a great time visiting. Kelly has a magic with people. Some were ill. Some were totally inactive. Some were very anti. Yet, Kelly could connect with all of them. We were fast, too. In under two hours, we made four visits with sisters, and visited with children of five others who weren't home. I was impressed with our speed.

Gail is a non-member who likes to come to activities, so we dropped a book by her house. We got visiting about exercise and health. I told her, "I just hate it when doctors say, 'You look good for sixty'". She was incredulous, "So they think you are sixty?"

I laughed and said, "I AM sixty." Pretty funny.

Looking good for 60?

This past week I had a flu shot (and subsequent body fat analysis) and had lab work done to test my cholesterol. At both interactions, I was asked for my age to which the response was, "You look good for sixty." So just how bad is sixty supposed to look?

Twenty eight pages from dates...

I went to my personal history writing class last night. The title was "a sketchy life sketch". Though we normally write vignettes of various incidents in our lives, we were encouraged to sketch out major events in chronological order so that the pieces might make more sense. I have thought that recording just a list of dates and events was a great idea - ever since Cherri mentioned that is what she does, but I STILL haven't done it.

The discussion that followed was so interesting. Debbie said that she had wanted to write the history of a great grandmother who had died with little personal history known. [Of course, I couldn't figure what would motivate someone to write a history with no information but dates.] She said, "I listed all the years she had been alive 1870, 1871, ... Then I inserted major events in her life - birth, baptism, marriage, birth of children, deaths of family members. In a parallel list, I entered historic events - Utah became a state, Spanish-American Ward, Ford Motor Company founded, titanic sinks, first radio broadcast, the great depression, social security act, and so on. Then, I could look find connections and see patterns." Three of her children died within a month and a half, of a disease with a six week incubation period. She was pregnant with a fourth child at the time she lost her three children.

Her husband had died in a mine accident. Debbie checked the Deseret News to see what they had reported about the accident and found detailed descriptions of the accident, the number killed, the funerals, who spoke, and descriptions of the deceased person's injuries. By putting dates and events together, she could piece together a twenty eight page story.

Mary said that once you start writing the history, information surfaces - as though the individual wants their story to be told.

I found it fascinating that doing such writing would become a passion for people. Not me. But maybe I will work on a "sketchy life sketch".

Conference Weekend

Chelle and Trisha (and families) were here for the weekend. We missed the others! Halle saw the big picture over the piano and got so excited!!!! - Lori, Kim, Greg, Chelle - and that's you, Mom!

Waiting for the games to begin.

Eve

Savannah

Steve and Halle

Making plans for finishing the basement.

Zach helped me go through the Halloween decorations. This skirt from the dressup box was a hit!

Halle

I had Halle come outside to pick tomatoes with me. She got her shoes on, but when she realized I didn't have mine on, she pulled them off. Here is our conversation:

It tickles [plants on her feet].
I did it.
Get these off [the stems]

[I went in to get a pen and paper, so I could record her comments. She grabbed a scoop she had found in the utensil drawer.]

I got this thing [the scoop].
It's working. [Digs in the dirt.]

Me: I thought we were picking tomatoes.
No, I'm not. I'm dumping this on you [dirt from the scoop].

A bee is there.
[She grabs my paper and pen. She starts writing on the paper, making small little lines and telling me what she is writing. It is below.]
Zach, Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy, Daddy, Ben, Chelle.
I made a big thing. Come see it.

[She comes to me and messes up my hair.]
You have crazy hair.
What you doing?
I want it.
What's this mater doing. [She throws it. She pretends to eat it.]


A butterfly. A butterfly.
Where is?
Two butterflies.
Wow. You see one? A white one.

[She rubs my hair again. ] It's crazy, Grandma.
[She giggles as she walks on the dirt.]
I'm going back in [house]. [She returns with her blanket.]
Me: Your blanket will get dirty.
Not dirty. Put in grass. Nothing dirty here.
I don't want to eat tomatoes. They are yucky for me.
Butterfly. Saw again.
Butterfly is again.
Where is.
I see it. Right there.
Be around here.
He went like there.
There Bee.

I saw it again.
Tomatoes. I squish it.
[Car passes with 4 wheelers.] Where's that going?
Me: Maybe the cat will come visit.
We have a cat. [Goes into house to find her stuffed animal. Returns.]
She's soft. [Slurping sounds as cat licks me.]

Podcasts

Check out my friend's blog on podcasts. Being as I am still trying to figure out all I can do with my IPAD, I thought she had some great suggestions.

I {heart} podcasts.
http://thatslife-kjha.blogspot.com/

And None Were Maimed

We went to the condo this morning to get the boat - so it can be winterized. When we got to the condo, we were disappointed because the tree limb (which had fallen in a micro burst) STILL hadn't been taken care of. (The building behind the tree is not our condo. It came within feet of hitting our condo.) The yard care people had been mowing around it for over six weeks. We were also disappointed that the rain gutters had not been taken care of, like we had requested. I had cleaned what I could from a short ladder, but I couldn't get on the roof. ARRGGG!

We intended to go for a walk, but ran into a fellow condo owner that we really didn't know well - Rudy Deiterich. Rudy was doing similar tasks around his condo. We talked about the broken tree. He said he had tried to get it down, but didn't have a chain saw. I asked if he had a ladder I could borrow. When I told him I wanted to clean the rain gutter, he said, "You can borrow it, but I have to tell you a short story first. A lady in our neighborhood was on her roof. She fell and died. If you fall off, I don't want you to blame Rudy's ladder." I told it had been a good life. I would just ask that he speak at my funeral. He said he didn't like to speak, so he wouldn't. :-)

Anyway, he helped us take the ladder over to our condo. I climbed on the roof with a trowel, and went to work. Twenty minutes later Rudy came back to see how we were doing. We had the crud removed, but the downspout (which was crimped to go around the roof and deck bumps) was hopelessly plugged. We tried forcing a hose up. We tried forcing a hose down. Finally, we took the downspout apart. Rudy is a mechanic and had a variety of tools in his truck.

As we were cleaning up all the crud we got out of the raingutter, Rudy started on the tree. He had a pruner and a small hack saw. He would cut and Dad and I would haul the limbs off. I found a better pruner in the garage. I was amazed at how well it did on those mammoth limbs.

We worked on the tree for over an hour. I'm amazed someone didn't get severely injured. The limbs of the tree were wedged in the grass. As we sawed through a branch, the the top of the broken segment would shift. We would grab the branches and twist it around, trying to get the top to break free. At one point, I went sailing as the limb catapulted me across the grass. Just when we were ready to give up, we found a larger saw somebody had left in the grass at the neighboring hotel. Dad and Rudy took turns sawing and jumping out of the way of flying tree trunks. Finally, we got it all down and pushed over the edge of the neighboring hill.


While we were working, Steve kept getting phone calls and texts about his conducting tomorrow. Last week he had too many speakers (as he had forgotten a speaker whom the bishop has asked), and had to tell one to wait a month to give his talk. Today, he got a call saying the high counselor was coming and bringing a partner to speak with him. That was news to Steve. Steve had three speakers already, so there were a lot of calls/texts to sort that out. [I'm not sure why this hast to be so complicated. Steve's poor memory doesn't help. The person getting prayers last week didn't do it, and Steve didn't realize it until he had started the meeting. Songs were different than he had been told. New announcement were flung at him minutes before the meeting. I hoping the next month he conducts will be smoother.]

Anyway, Rudy and he started comparing notes. Rudy is ward clerk in a YSA ward in SLC. He said it is the HARDEST calling he's ever had - 150 new members this year all with records to transfer, names to enter in the ward lists, and so on.

Steve has been stressed with all the new names and challenges of making callings and figuring out who does what to make the ward click. Last week, these were his YSA responsibilities:

a. Four hour training meeting on Saturday
b. Sunday: bishop's meetings, church, and a 90 minute financial training in the evening
c. Monday: FHE (We watched 17 Miracles)
d. Tuesday: 2.5 hours of stake bishops training
e. Wednesday: Stake Opening Social (at the stake president's house) [We had a conflict, so we didn't go to this.]

Crazy!

The Relief Society Broadcast

The YSA stake was meeting together to watch the Relief Society broadcast. Each was encouraged to bring their mother. I had no mother, daughter, or granddaughter to go with me. Plus, we were just getting back from the condo. Anyway, I'm listening to the broadcast while thinking about my granddaughters.

Brooke is going to be a great mother. She is fascinated with the twins. She has asked her mom for a little sister. Drew wants a little brother, but they have it all worked out. Lori can have TWINS - like Aunt Michelle.

I can't believe how quickly the twins are changing. This morning, after sleeping eight hours, Savannah was more interested in "talking" than in eating. She is becoming much more social. Both Eve and Savannah will goo and coo. Eve loves her feet. She isn't very stable, but that doesn't stop her. Savannah loves to watch the toys in her bouncer. It won't be long before she is reaching for them. What cute girls.

I got to see Halle and Zach (before Zach and parents went to the circus). After Halle's nap, we watched Tangled. Then, she wanted to play an "Ariel" game. We found an Ariel coloring game. We would select a color with the paint brush and then click on an area of the picture. It would suddenly fill with color. I don't know how many times I heard the same response, "I did it! I want to do that again." It was pretty cute.

China

I finally made contact with Greg again. It had been over a week. They will start teaching (officially) this week but have been teaching privately to fill the time. It sounds like he is happy. These are pictures I pulled from the China Horizon (the company that places these young adults as English teachers) newsletter.

FHE

With Steve's new calling, we end up being involved in family home evening groups.

Organization of the FHE activities is seriously lacking.

The first Monday it was decided to have a "meet the bishopric" activity where we came to the church. By the time we hit Relief Society, they had decided there would be dinner. The activity was fun except that they had forgotten the ketchup and mustard for the hamburgers, so I ran home to get it.

The next activity was ice blocking. The park was hard to find, and no directions had been given. By the time we started, there were about 25 kids, but they had ice blocks for six. I ran to buy more ice, but by the time I returned, half of the group had gone.

The next activity (last night) was to be had at the bishopric's houses. When I got to church on Sunday, I was told we were having FHE at our home and were in charge of a game, a spiritual thought, and treats - YUP basically everything. But they had no flier to give addresses to anyone. The groups (instead of being organized by apartments) were organized by birthdays. Then, to make matters worse, they sent out text messages to various people telling them where to go - but sent them to people not in the ward any longer and sent messages telling people to go to a different house not related to their birthday. Like I said, the organization is sad.

Sundays are wild days for me anyway. I go to Steve's ward for three hours and then attend Relief Society in our ward (as I haven't been released yet). Then I come home at 5:45 and have to get dinner on the table. Sundays are also the night we call the kids. I found time to make treats on Sunday, and woke up Monday morning at 5:30 to start cleaning (as cleaning has NOT been a priority for months). We got home at 5 and continued the cleaning and setup for home evening.


When our group came, several said they received text messages to go elsewhere. By ten after, one person had shown up. Several drove by looking for a bunch of cars and didn't stop as they figured they were at the wrong place. We went outside to flag them down. A whole car of guys who shouldn't have been here (and were looking for THEIR ward FHE) showed up (and soon left) when they realized they had gotten a text message based on where they lived LAST YEAR. We had about seven who stayed. We decided to crash the other counselor's group. It was a good thing we did. They only had four people and one was just leaving as we arrived (a half hour late). Thus, no one ate my treats or saw my clean house. [But who can complain about having a clean house, right? I had considered making cinnamon rolls after work, but was so glad I opted for Scotcher-roos, which were little work and could be given to my students the next day.]

ANYWAY, after a rough beginning, we had so much fun. The kids were hilarious. We played some "minute to win it" games that Ashley Fowles brought. (I had asked her to help me.) We played a get acquainted game where we pulled questions out of the jar and everybody answered. The first question was: "What instruments do you play? What is your favorite kind of music? What is your favorite hymn?" The second question was, "What was your worst date and what advice would you give your daughter about dating?" The answers to the second were hilarious.