TIME JUST KEEPS ON GOING

My heavens, where has the time gone? It has been over a month since I did my bl0g. It is just unbelievable. Haven't done any thing interesting to write about except for the fact that JorJa and Jacob has been staying with us for the past two weeks, they were Evicted From Their Home, due to the fact that their condo was being remodeled, a new kitchen and bathroom was being put in and I understand it is absolutely beautiful except for the fact that in the tear out portion a terrible mess was made. There is dust on EVERYTHING. At least this is a long weekend coming up so they will have a little extra time to get it all taken care of. She has gone back to school to get her masters in Civil Engineering and he has one more year to get his degree in ( I think) Electrical Engineering. Plus they are both working as many hours as they can get and keeping up on their church duties, he is the Executive Secretary in their ward and she is a teacher I think. So really the only time we see them is when they come to eat and sleep. They certainly aren't any bother.


The other interesting thing that happened in this last month was that I went to move a little foot stool over to put my feet up and heard a crack in my back. Well, the next morning I was in pain just like before, and I knew what I had to do. I started calling the radiologists and people for an MRI and eventually had to have another Per cutaneous Vertebroplasty done. This time on the L3 vertebra. That should just about do it for all of the vertebra's as this is the fourth time I have had it done and the last time they did two at the same time. This one was different though, it was very painful after and remained that way for over 2 weeks, in fact it still hurts but maybe it is something else right now, I just don't know. I still have to take a pain pill every day just to get through the day and night. I hope this doesn't keep on as I hate pain pills with a passion, maybe it goes back to remembering Mom and her pain pill thing. I learned something new with this scenerio, the glue (it really isn't glue, I just call it that) they put into each vertebra is harder than concrete. The Dr. said they tested it out on the cement and the cement broke before this stuff did, so now I have a lower back that is stronger than the sidewalk. Of course that doesn't say the upper back and the discs can't pop.


All of the fires around makes it impossible to breathe easlily so I am having my days with that, but things could be a heck of a lot worse. I just want to be well enough to be able to do a few of the things I would like to do and be able to write about those things instead of about my stupid health. Bye for now.

OH, MY GOODNESS, IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME

Illness sometimes takes it's toll

It has been so long since I wrote in my blog it is like starting all over. This will have to be short because I just don't feel well enough to write a lot of stuff. The main thing I should mention is that because of this particular illness I had to miss my family reunion which was held at Scofield on the 4th & 5th of July. I understand there were a lot of the family that attended and that it was for all intent a rousing success. Emily (Derek's daughter, and by the way she is Miss Lehi this year) and DeMitch sang a duet at the talent show and won 1st place, and Denise (Kathryn's daughter) played a tune she had written and won 4th place. When Pat first got up there, she was in our Mazda, she went up over the hill a little too far and put the front end down in the ditch next to the railroad tracks, she was so nervous fearing she was going to get in trouble, I don't have a picture of this but I understand some were taken so maybe I will get one.

Another thing worth mentioning is that we had a bar-be-que for Kent and KayCee for their birthdays on the 29th and 30th. We held it over at the Stone Hollow Pavilion, we cooked hotdogs for the kids and adults that wanted them, and I cooked a bunch of bar-b-qued spareribs and baked beans and had a cake. I asked Brooke, Ralynn, JorJa and Sandy to bring salads and fruit and they did a terrific job.

I hope not to go so long in between writing in my blog again. I've had a bunch of people tell me to get something on here. Not much but it is something.

NO NEW ACCIDENTS THIS WEEK, THANK GOODNESS

Not a lot of news this past week, I pretty much stayed home most of the week until Friday. That morning I went and had my hair done at the usual time, 11:00 a.m. and then we went over to the Senior Center to our "Pain Management" class at 12:30. when we arrived home about 3:00 there had been a little mouse or maybe a little angel that had been here and cut & edged the lawn and pulled all the weeds in my flower gardens and Kent's tomato patch. I want to publicly "Thank Her" (her initials are J.J.) she is such a sweetheart. Then I hurriedly made a broccoli salad to take to the Ward picnic in between answering the telephone and visiting with some people that had dropped by to visit with Kent. After all this, we went to the picnic and it was a total success. There was a good crowd and a variety of food. Saturday morning we got up and hurriedly dressed to get over to the ward for their annual breakfast, car wash, bake auction, and church grounds clean up. From there we went over to Kathryn's garage sale, she had some nice stuff but all I bought was a nice big round glass bowl. Spent some quality time visiting with Kathryn and Denice, Gary and Gwen and then Dennis and Milly for a few minutes. We came home for a couple of hours and then went up to Brooke and Matts for a bar-be-que for Kyle's 10th Birthday. They had a real nice dinner and a big birthday cake. I felt like I had been running for two days straight. I was so tired I couldn't make it to Relief Society this morning, I did get ready and made it to Sacrament Meeting. By the way Verla told me no one dared sit in my chair this morning for Relief Society or Gospel Doctrine, and I said "they better not".

BROKEN HIPS, LEGS, AND NOSES AND CANCER TO BOOT

This week the message I have is not good, it seems like everything is going along pretty well and then it all falls apart. Is this the devil playing havoc with our lives or is it the Chinese that are all stirred up and getting ready to pounce on us? Last week, I was ill for two or three days and it seems like this is the same time as everyone was falling or getting results of a basically not so good nature.

1. Doris, one of my very good friends from Stone Hollow, does not have a finished basement, but does have a piece of carpet in her basement where the grandchildren she tends can go down and play. She wanted to get it vacuumed before she took her shower so she was vaccuming and got her foot caught in the cord, fell and broke her hip. She laid there for ten hours before her children came to see why she was not answering her telephone, she said it was very very cold and all she had on was her nightgown, I imagine it was cold and that she was in so much pain (been there, done that) that it was hard for her to concentrate. She is now in rehabilitation.

2. Joyce, Kent's brother Don's wife, was walking out of her neighbor's kitchen door and talking to the girl, didn't see the fact that the patio was about six inches lower part way down, fell and broke her femur bone several inches below her hip. The hospital gave her Morphine and that made her very combative, so they changed to possibley Percoset and she immediately changed to about 200% non combative, going along with whatever the instructions are and not arguing with anyone. The only time she can recieve calls or visitors is between 5:00 & 9:00 p.m. She is now in rehabilitation for about two weeks.

3.Leslie, Brooke's mother fell down the basement steps and broke her nose, cheekbone, eyesocket and fingers and got some bruises or gashes on her face. She has not been able to have these fixed yet as her face has been so swollen they couldn't do anything up until now, today she is going to the Dr. to see about having surgery. I just wonder, how much she will have to have.

NOTE: On Wed. Brooke called and said that on Monday the 12th Leslie will be going into surgery and they will be cutting just below the scalp and placing a metal plate into her face over where she has a broken eyesocket and cheek. This will have to remain for the rest of her life. Oh My Goodness!?!?

4.Kathryn, Dennis and Milly's daughter, just found out she has rectol cancer. She starts chemo and radiation treatments on the 10th of June for 5 weeks and then she is totally off of them for 5 weeks before having surgery. It is thought that after surgery she will have to use a colostomy bag. By the way I am Kathryn's Godmother.

5. Isn't all of this stuff happening a real drag? One thing that I found out that is a real plus is that Pat will be here on the 24th of June until the 29th of July. I also found out Pleasant Valley Days in Scofield is on the 4th and 5th of July.

MOVERS, SHAKERS, NEW JOBS, TOTAL LIFE CHANGES

My whole family is moving , changing, graduating, and doing all sorts of new things. It is hard to try and keep up with all of them.

Matt accepted a new job with "Red Interactive" which is located in Salt Lake City. That is they are out of Los Angeles with a satellite office in SLK. They are a major interactive web-design/creative agency. If you want to know any more than that you will have to ask him because with my limited knowledge on web anything I just cannot give anyone any more information, in other words I am "a complete dumbbell." As a result of this they just moved to Bountiful where they will be living in his grandmother's home. She is now in a rest home. This is good for them because they are just getting started, Abbey doesn't have a job as of yet but will not have any trouble finding something in the near future.

Clint, Brielle, and Molly just moved into an apartment that has 2 bedrooms, so Molly could have her own bedroom. Apparently these kids don't have any furniture to speak off, because they just move so quickly, or maybe they have a lot more energy than I ever had.

Kyle just graduated from Snow Canyon High School on Friday the 23rd of May, he will be 19 in January so I'm sure he will just keep working for the Pizza Factory until that time and then serve a mission. Or maybe go to college for 1 year before going on a mission. If I'm wrong, I will be surprised.

Ashley is coming from Virginia to set up a new record label on the 26th of May, I wish I knew a little more about what that is all about. I guess I will just have to be more inquisitive.

Jacob and JorJa both have new jobs that they start on Tuesday. JorJa is going to work for J.U.B. Engineering and I don't know the name of the company that Jacob is going to work for, His will probably be just part time because he has one more year to graduate in Electrical Engineering. When I find out more about what they will be doing or just who they will be working for I will let all of you in on it.

SATURDAY'S RAMBLINGS

There is not a lot of news going on on in our lives today, but I just wanted to post a little of something. Yesterday after getting my hair done we went to a "Pain Class." That is, trying to live in a pain free environment. It is a 6 week course so maybe I can learn something that will be beneficial to me, the biggest PAINS that bother me is my back, I never have a minute free from pain with that, I'm sure it comes from the vertebra that I had the problem with when we were in Malaysia, since that was the one that I never did have cemented or glued or whatever you want to call it. The real name is Percutaneous Vertebroplasty. I have had this done to four of my vertebra and I would recommend it highly. The only problem is that it has to be done within a certain period of time of injury or it is too late. This was done in 3 surgeries or treatments or whatever. It is done by Radiologists, and if you want more information on it just give me a call and I will tell you what I know. I have other problems that are serious, like Emphysema, where I can't get my breath and I am sure this is going to be my main problem in a period of time. Right now, I can live a pretty normal life if I just adjust a lot. Cooking has become a problem, but I have found that if we just fix meals that are pretty simple and buy a lot of microwaveable things we can get by. Cleaning is almost impossible, we will have to hire someone to come in and clean pretty soon, and traveling is also almost impossible.

After the class, we came home and Sandy called to see if we wanted to go to dinner at Applebees, they were going to use their gift cards that Pat gave to us for Christmas, Kent said he did not want to go because he wanted to stay home and finish his talk that he has to give tomorrow in church, so I went alone and met Charlie and Sandy, Jorja and Jacob, and KayCee. We had a nice meal and enjoyed each others company.

At 8:30 we watched the Jazz play the Lakers on T.V. even though I felt they were playing pretty well, they just could not get the ball to drop through the hoop, it was like something was just not letting it go through. It wasn't because they weren't trying real hard, and I am sure they are reliving that game over and over in their heads today. They lost by 3 points. Of course I also know anyone with at least a little bit of interest in the Jazz already have their version of it, good or bad.

Today I may not do anything but go out and sit on the patio and read or just sit and breathe in some of that nice fresh air.

DUP (Daughters of Utah Pioneers) ENDING SOCIAL

On Monday May 12, 2008 at 12:30, the members of the "Valley West DUP" held this year's Ending Social. There were a lot of the ladies that could not attend and they missed a very nice luncheon and meeting. The ladies always bring something very special and we do not have a lot of duplicates, this year the only thing that I noticed was that there were not very many deserts. I considered taking some bread pudding, but then decided against it and took some spring rolls instead. Ralynn, who is the captain, read a poem that she had rewritten and then presented each lady with an artificial rose bud and a windmill wheel which she used as a center piece for the table. I will attempt to add the poem here:

ROUND, LIKE A CIRCLE IN A SPIRAL

Round, like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel

Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning wheel.

Like a snowball down a mountain or a carnival balloon,

Like a carousel that's turning, running rings around the moon.

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of it's face

And the world is like an apple whirling silently into space.

Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.

Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of it's own,

Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shown.

Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream,

Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream.

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of it's face

And the world is like an apple whirling slightly into space.

Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.

Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head

Why did summer go so quickly? Was it something that you said?

Lovers walking along the shore and leave their footprints in the sand

Was the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?

Pictures hanging in a hallway and a fragment of this song

Half remembered names and faces but to whom do they belong?

When you knew it was over you were suddenly aware

That the autumn leaves were turning the the color of her hair.

The circle in a spiral, a wheel in a wheel

Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning wheel

As the images unwind like the circles that you find

In the windmills of your mind.

CHALICE HITS A HOME RUN YESTERDAY, HURRAH

Yesterday, Saturday May 10, 2008, Chalice Burnside (Charlie's youngest daughter) hit a great big home run. This is really great I think the name of the group is " Bonnet Ball for 16 to 18 Years Old." She really enjoys playing softball and does really well, never missing any games or practices. We haven't been going yet this year, although we went to a lot of her games the last couple of years. It has been too chilly for me to get out and sit in a bleacher for a couple of hours. Maybe when the weather ever warms up I could go at least to the Monday evening games. I don't know if I could ever get up early enough to go to the Saturday morning games. I just am not an early riser.

I must say "Congratulations to Blake, Chalice's boyfriend", he was sealed to his parents in the Jordan River Temple on Friday night. He is a very nice young man and I enjoy being around him. Charlie and Sandy went to the sealing.

Jacob and JorJa came out Saturday morning and helped Kent get his black plastic put down and helped him get his tomatoes planted. which we thank them profusely for.

Saturday evening we went over to Ralynn and Bob's for a Mother's Day bar-be-que, she had a very nice dinner all prepared, hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats, three diffrent kinds of salads, plus chips and dips and all the things that go with it and 3 different kinds of pie, cookies, and cream puffs. It was so good. Thanks again for the nice celebration for Mother's day.

KENT HOLDING THE CARPET IN THE CAR SO IT WON'T BLOW AWAY

PATIO TRANSFORMATION

On Tuesday of this week we had a very nice thing happen. When we woke up in the morning our patio was still packed away for the winter and the flowers were nothing but a weed patch, oh how I hate seeing all of this. Knowing I can't just go out and change anything about it in less than a couple of weeks. JorJa called and she asked what we are doing and I said I was just sitting here and grandpa was going to the doctor. she said "do you want your patio put together?" I said "more than anything." She came out and had her father (Charlie) with her, first she mowed the lawn and then they dragged the furniture out on the lawn and started washing it with warm soapy water and Charlie was spraying it off with the hose. Then we decided to get some new indoor/outdoor carpet since what was there was pretty bad looking.

Kent had come back by this time and he went with them to get it, it was pretty inexpensive by all standards. They came back put the carpet down and put the furniture back on and started weeding the flower patch. IN ABOUT THREE HOURS THE WHOLE THING WAS TRANSFORMED. If it had been nicer weather the next few days I could have gone out and sat on the swing and read but it turned out kind of cool. I don't know when I will get the few flowers that I need to fill the pots and put in some of the bare spots, but I will get them within the next couple of weeks. What will I ever do when JorJa has a full time job and doesn't have the time to come help us? MAYBE CRY A LOT.

SALINA'S PERFORMANCE AT THEIR STAKE CENTER

This is NOT a picture taken of Salina last night, but as usual I forgot to take my camera with me to a talent night for the girls, age 8 to12, of Ralynn and Bob's ward. So I just used the latest picture I had. She and two of her friends did a dance, I really don't know the name of it, but they all did really good. They had on matching costumes of yellow and white, Salina wore a yellow skirt and white top and black tights underneath and the other girl wore a white skirt and yellow top with black tights. They used a lot of hand and arm movements along with their feet and leg movements which is more than a lot of the girls on the program that were singing and dancing did. I suppose most of them were real nervous about performing for an audience, so that is why they didn't move a muscle. After the talent show was over, everyone could have a cupcake, if they desired. Other than going to this activity I haven't done much this week to write about.

SUNDAY MAY 4, CHURCH & SOUP @ DON & JOYCES, BIRTHDAY DINNER FOR DENNIS

Sunday was another very busy day. We elected to be down to Don and Joyces for Sacrament Meeting which is at the same time as ours, 10:50. We wanted to visit with Vickie and Kelley and all the other people that were going to be there so Joyce said she would make a big pot of soup on Saturday and we could eat that for lunch. It turned out to be chili or/and vegetable soup and all the necessary things that goes with it like rolls and banana bread and peaches and apricots as well as pineapple upside down cake, coconut cake and many different kinds of cookies. Stirling had gone down as well as Terry and Bobbie, Sarah and her husband and Grant, Megan, Chad, Jodie and Hannah and of course Vickie and Kelley. We had a very nice visit with all of them and left to come home at about 4:30.

We arrived at home in time to change our clothes, change my oxygen tank and be over to Dennis and Milly's by 6:00. We had been invited to come to their home for Birthday dinner as it was Dennis' birthday on Monday, the 5th. She had ordered Chinese dinner from the Kow Loon and Kathryn, Rob and Gigi, Gary and Gwen were all there.

SATURDAY, MAY 3, ABBEY & MATT GRADUATES

On Saturday, May 3, 2008, Abbey and Matt Mangus both graduated from USU. Abbey received her Bachelors Degree in Social Work and Matt received his Bachelors degree in Fine Arts with emphasis on Graphic Design and Art Education. After all of these years having to study and be prepared for the next days lessons and tests and etc. I can imagine what it is like to say to yourself I have nothing to do today, I wonder what I should do? I'm sure this is what both of them are going through right now. Of course Abbey has been working part time so maybe she is still working at least part time or maybe even full time now. I don't know about Matt, if he had a part time job or not.

James Quigley, USU alumni and keynote speaker said to the graduates "I urge you to open your eyes and minds to see the incredible opportunities this world has to offer, and to give your very best. Those who give their best have a much richer set of opportunities than those who simply do the minimum to get by." USU president Stan Albrecht during his remarks, encouraged students to choose a wide-angle view "by choosing that wide-angle view, you will, over the course of your lifetimes, be able to envision new and exciting places, and then having made exhilarating discoveries, you will find ways to take yourselves, and us , into that future."

They awarded 480 graduate degrees and 1,937 undergraduate degrees, along with awarding an additional 2,000 bachelor's degrees in December. NICE JOB MATT AND ABBEY.

PICTURES AT THE GRADUATION

KENT POINTING TO THE "U" ON HIS SPLIT PERSONALITY HAT WITH JORJA AND BETTY

JACOB AND JORJA AFTER GRADUATION

SANDY, JORJA, CHARLIE AND BETTY

THE ENGINEER'S RING CEREMONY WITH DAVID ROWLEY STANDING BEHIND JORJA (HE IS THE ONE WITH THE BEARD ABOUT THE SAME HEIGHT AS SHE IS)

GRADUATIONS, BAPTISMS & RING CEREMONIES

JUST WAIT!?!?!? I will get this particular blog just about finished and then I will learn how to bring up that stuff I accidentally deleted last Saturday. I sure have been trying, but to no avail. I just hope I can remember all the stuff I had in my mind on Saturday.

On Thursday night Sandy called and said she and Charlie had been talking and decided on a way we (Kent & I) could go to JorJa's graduation on Friday at 1:45 p.m from the University of Utah at the Huntsman Center. JorJa was receiving her B.A. in Civil Engineering(taking after her grandfather Kent) Remember Charlie had surgery on his knee just about 10 days ago and he had been walking on crutches, so he was in as bad a shape as I was. She said we just need for me to be in my wheel chair and then we could drive right down to the Huntsman Center to drop off the wheel chair person and then go on out to the parking lot. Then we could just go in and sit in the wheel chair section and not have to walk at all or climb any steps. Well, I was a little bit nervous about this happening and told her about my feelings but she just insisted, so we went and I want to "Thank Them" for figuring all this out and insisting we go because it worked like a charm. Had I known then what I know now there would have been not a minutes hesitation. the only thing I would be leary of is the time involved, my little black tank only holds about 2 1/2 or 3 hours of oxygen and you can't attach any thing to hold a larger tank on the chair. I guess if someone could go along and push my regular tank next to me, it would work out alright.

The graduation exercises went off just like clock work, the engineers graduated at a different time than the rest of the school. The regular graduates started at 9:00 in the morning and lasted until 1:00 and the engineers started at 1:45 and lasted until about 4:00. Next year we will have KayCee graduating in the 9:00 session and Jorja (JorJa is planning on going for her masters) and Jacob graduating in the afternoon session. I think I will have to take a lunch pail with me. I'll bet Sandy takes a couple of diet cokes with her next year. The graduates were told that there are NOT nearly enough people graduating in engineering as are needed all over the world so I am sure they will be given scholarships like crazy to get them all into the engineering school. The speaker said that the engineers have an obligation to the public and should hold this as a sacred duty to themselves as well as to the the public.

Chalice drove the truck up to and back from the Huntsman Center, and the only back seat driving I did was to tell her that if she was going to have an accident of any kind, to give me plenty of notice where I could take my oxygen hose of my ears. I just didn't think my head would squeeze through that little crack, where the window was open to let my hose in from the back of the truck where my tank was, when the tank went flying out of the back of the truck. Her answer was "we are not going to have an acccident," Anyway we were traveling during the 5:00 traffic and we were supposed to be at the Westwood Therapy at 4;15 for Charlie to have his therapy, we were only 1 hour late. We traveled up there in about 35 minutes, and it took 90 minutes to get home. I'm glad I don't have to travel that route every morning and night. He had to leave there by 6:00 in order to be up to Kody's baptism at 6:30.

Talk about people running a race to get to everything. Charlie had to witness the baptism and give the confirmation prayer and Kent had to give the closing prayer. After the baptism, Brooke and Matt had arranged for a real nice luncheon to be served to all those that were attending the baptism. They had turkey and beef sandwiches, chips of all kinds, vegetables of all kinds, fruits, and she and Shirley had each made a couple of salads, plus cake and cookies. Jorja and Jacob, his mother and brother, and KayCee were trying to get to the Jazz game before 8:30 so they were not going to have time to eat, so Sandy went into the kitchen and made each of them a plate of food to eat along the way to the Energy Solutions Arena. I'm sure they appreciated that little gesture.

Jacob was telling Kent about the Ring Ceremony JorJa had attended on the Saturday before the graduation and Kent was telling him about David Rowley (whom he home teaches and he lives in our condo area) and the ring ceremony he had attended to receive his ring. Well, anyway Jacob had a picture of it on his camera and low and behold Dave is standing right behind JorJa in the picture. Talk about a small small world. The next day Jacob sent the picture over email to Kent and he sent it on to Dave. It is called "The Engineer's Ring Ceremony" and the purpose is to stimulate formal public recognition by engineers in the United States of two basic principles. These principles are that (1) the primary purpose of engineering is service to the public, and (2) all members of the engineering profession share a common bond. The Ring Ceremony is the public induction of candidates into the order of the Engineer, during which the engineer candidates formally accept the Obligation of an Engineer and receive a stainless steel ring to be worn as a symbol on the fifth finger on the working hand. There are no meetings of the Order of the Engineer. Inductees are encouraged to wear the ring and to display the signed Obligation certificate as visible reminders of the publicly accepted Obligation as a contract with themselves.

DELETED STUFF

I spent the whole day doing my blog on JorJa's graduation and Kody's baptism and then I mistakenly deleted it. Well I am too tired to do it over today so will have to wait until Monday. I learn something everytime I do my blog and today this was the one thing I learned about. Sorry

EXCERPTS FROM MAY POLE DANCING

May Day began as a Spring festival long ago. People gathered together on the first day of May to celebrate the coming of Summer. There are a lot of different customs that have been a part of May Day festivities. Some people would gather flowers and put them by their doors and windows to keep out troublesome fairies. Some people would put out their old hearth fires and gather with the people in their village to start a new fire to take home. Cutting down a tree and putting up a Maypole in the middle of a village is another popular custom. Ribbons are attached to the tree and are woven together by dancers. One more popular custom is filling May Baskets with flowers and other goodies to give to friends and loved ones. Some people still celebrate the pagan festival of Beltaine on the first of May. Many of the old customs are part of this celebration.

Maypole Dance : Maypole dancing is a traditional form of folk dance from western Europe, especially England, Sweden and Germany. Dancers dance in a circle each holding a coloured ribbon attached to a central pole, known as the maypole. By the movements of the dancers the ribbons are intertwined and plaited either on to the pole itself or into a web around the pole. The dancers may then retrace their steps exactly in order to unravel the ribbons. Maypole dancing is extremely ancient and is thought to have Germanic pagan fertility symbolism. It is traditionally performed in the spring around the festival of May Day, but in Sweden it is during the midsummer festivities. It was revived in the early twentieth century in a more genteel form.

My experience with MAY POLE DANCING was: When I was going to Hamilton Grade School in Mount Pleasant, Utah all the way through from 1st to 6th grades we would braid the May Pole on the 1st of May, I didn't know why at the time except that it was the beginning of Spring and it was a celebration of those things that Spring bring. We would dress up in our Sunday Best and our families would come to the school to watch this dance that we had been practicing for some time. In the attached picture, they are not all dressed in their Sunday best but I got it out of Google and it is pretty near the way we would do the dance. This celebration was something we all looked forward to with a lot of anticipation, the pole would be placed on the lawn out in front of the school and a lot of chairs would be placed for the audience to sit and enjoy themselves. I think the custom of May Pole Dancing ended very shortly after the late 30's but I am not positive. I just wanted all of you to be aware of the celebration and I don't think it would hurt anyone to begin it all again. If you want to learn more about it go to Google and put in May Pole Dancing or just click on dancers in the previous paragraph.

MAY DAY - May 1st

PICTURES OF JORJA-2 OR 3 MONTHS TO GRADUATION FROM U OF U

JorJa, Chalice and KayCee at Dance lessons JorJa and Jacob on Wedding Day
JorJa and Jacob in the mountains taking pictures for invitations
Graduation from U of U

Jumping on trampoline
graduation from Taylorsville High School
With Santa and Mrs. Claus
Important members of family on baptism day, Betty (grandmother), Alice (great grandmother), Chalice (sister), Sandy (mother), Charles (Father), Pat (great aunt) Brooke (half sister), in front JorJa and sister KayCee.
2 or 3 months old

JorJa 2 or 3 months old

JORJA BO BURNSIDE MATTSON- DAUGHTER OF CHARLES & SANDY BURNSIDE

This is JorJa on her first Halloween, dressed as a cabbage patch kid, isn't she cute, cute, cute?

She was born on April 21, 1986 at Cottonwood Hospital located in Murray, Utah, and baptised on May 1, 1994. She graduated from Taylorsville High School on June 4, 2004.

JorJa has never been an indoor person, she excels in all outdoor activities, like skiing, cutting the grass, softball, planting flowers & tomatoes, weeding, hiking, sleeping in a tent, etc. etc. and etc. When she was about 12 or 13 years of age, her father would take her on his trips with the Boy Scouts and she would always beat them on the mountains they would climb, or the hikes they would go on, or rowing the rivers. It was always said she was a better scouter than 95 percent of the Scouts.

She has always been extremely aware of other people's needs and been there to lend a helping hand. She just seems to have an inbred desire to help the people that need help. She was the same on her religious affiliations.

She was always a very good student, getting excellent grades, and was especially versatile in any math problems. Although when she was small and first learning her colors, she was what we considered blind as a bat on colors. We often thought she was just doing it all on purpose to get us all so upset that we would keep on continually working with her, even today I am not sure if she was or not. She graduated from Taylorsville High School on June 4, 2004.

On December 29, 2006 she married Jacob Mattson in the Mount Timpanogas Temple in Lehi, Utah. They met while taking some of the same classes at the University of Utah. He was from Vernal, Utah. More on him later.

She will graduate from the U of U on May 2, 2008 in Civil Engineering (following in her grandfather's footsteps). I would love to see her graduate but I'm afraid I will not be able to since it is at the Huntsman Center and all those steps with my oxygen tank and having to park a couple of blocks away and it will take hours and hours to get through all of the graduates, I just don't feel like I am up to it, but my love and best wishes and everything else will be with her. CONGRATULATIONS JORJA.

KAYCEE BURNSIDE (DAUGHTER OF CHARLES & SANDY)

JorJa,Chalice, KayCee at Dance Review
KayCee at 3 years old

KayCee in her Halloween costume at the school parade around
KayCee sitting on Mike and Karen's new motorcycle at Scofield
Graduation cap and gown in the back yard

Kay Cee wanted to be first listed of the grandchildren so here she is. She was born on June 30,1987 at the Cottonwood hospital in Murray, Utah. She was baptised into the L.D.S. church on July 1, 1995, and graduated from High School June 9, 2005 after attending Murray High School. She was always a very good reader and enjoyed reading almost any book, she especially liked the "Harry Potter Books". She along with her sisters took dance (tap, ballet, clogging) lessons when they were younger. KayCee was always a very good student in school getting exceptionally good grades all the way through school. For the last 3 years she has been attending the University of Utah and is majoring in Communication Technology, she will graduate in the spring of 2009. I always believed she didn't have to do any studying, and just recently I found out she really does have to study. She is working for (I think) Deseret Credit Union at the present time although she could change her working skills this summer. Just recently she was honored to be chosen as the winner of the Bonneville International /KSL/ Salt Lake Media group 2008 Rodney H. Miller Scholarship award. This is what she wrote when she was given the news of winning. "It was a great surprise to find I was nominated amongst a very talented group of students. I want to thank everyone involved in the selection process, the scholarship committee and especially Rodney H. Brady and his care for students studying Broadcasting Communications. I also want to thank my Professors and their dedication to further the study of communications. I am grateful to everyone for encouragement offered for my success in this field, for the generous gift to help me stay focused on my senior year of education at the University of Utah." She received a $2300.00 scholarship. I say "HURRAH for KayCee.

LATER: Comes to Frutation

A little more information and then we can get back onto the grandchildren that I have been trying to gather information on for the past couple of days. I still have a bunch more to gather but I at least got some.

1st We went down to Lincare Oxygen to see about getting (or buying) a new black cover and oxygen regulator (valve which would cost in excess of $100.00) to replace the one we lost, and I asked if one had been turned in (we thought if someone found it and they were honest, they would turn it in to Lincare since their name was on it). She said "no" but those kind of things happen and she gave us a whole new set of everything, (no charge). She didn't even say "don't let it happen again" or "next time be a little more careful" or some such admonition. She just said "have a nice day and keep breathing". I guess they get a whole bunch of things like that happening or they know how frustrating it is for someone on oxygen to get into a situation like that.

On the way down there, we stopped at the Sandwich Place on about 27th South and 3600 West and bought some turkey and avocado sandwiches that were the best sandwiches I have ever had. We had a coupon for them out of the Happenings Book and they close at 3:00 in the afternoon so we had to get them and bring them back home to eat them. The bread was a little different than what I would think, they were huge slices of like home made bread (like a round loaf) with slices of turkey, lots of slices of avocado, tomato slices, lettuce, onion, pickles if you want them, I didn't, and just a slight spread of mayo., maybe I was just hungry but they sure were good. (You probably don't even care if I had anything to eat, but I did.)

Kent took Charlie up to Park City to see the doctor on Tuesday (yesterday) and they said he would have to see the P.A. because Dr. Rosenberg was in VietNam teaching and operating on some patients for a month. He must have a pretty darn good P.A. to be able to handle all his patients for a month. Also he must be a pretty darn good doctor to volunteer for one month to go over there and teach and operate for nothing. He probably charged Tiger Woods a small fortune and that is why he could afford to go over there. By the way they found out Tiger owns a condo up in Park City and has for quite some time. Anyway, he told Charlie he could start putting a little weight on his knee, but Kent said it sure does look nasty, also he said he probably would need a knee replacement in about 4 years, can you imagine him doing this much surgery on his knee and then telling him that? If I was Charlie, I would start looking for a new line of employment, before I would have to go through this much surgery again in such a small amount of time. The doctor had told him originally that it would take about 8 months for his knee to be like it was before. After that, to have only 3 more years and then have to go through all this again and never having any guarantees that I would be able to go on remodeling. Of course that is totally up to him, not my call. Just saying what I think and the fact that he isn't getting any younger and the more time that goes by the harder it is to find a decent job. By the way, just to let you all know, he was always the world's most macho man, never needing any pain pills or Novocain when he had tooth work done or not even wanting anesthetic (he changed his mind about the anesthetic on the surgical table) for this operation. Well, he has been PAIN PILL FRIENDLY since that time. Of course we all knew he would. Why go through that kind of h____when you don't have to. KayCee said he was coming down the stairs this morning and just about fell on the steps. Boy, he surely does not need to fall.

I went to the Relief Society's "Out To Lunch" today over at the Golden China. As usual I had a very nice lunch, just couldn't eat as much as I would have liked. It is such a good place to go. The lunch runs about $7.70 for a senior which is pretty reasonable for that amount of food.

I took our Relief Society and Priesthood manuals over to Kinkos to have them coil-bound while on my way to the restaurant and picked them up on my back back. It is so nice to have them done where we can just open them up and not have to fight to keep them open all the time. It cost about $4.50 each but it is well worth the price.

While at the grocery store on our way back from Lincare, I went in and found some caffeine free black tea and some fresh ginger, I couldn't find any vanilla beans but I bought some vanilla flavored coffee mate creamer and that works just fine, giving it that vanilla flavor, I don't remember how much I put in but maybe a heaping tablespoon, I also added a little more honey since I was using the whipped kind, and it was very good, much like the original I had bought. This way I'm getting some milk in my diet and a lot of honey and sugar, if you need to lose weight don't try it. Kent wasn't terribly impressed with it and said it was too much work for the benefits you get, but then he is that kind of a person who doesn't want to do anything but open a bottle or a can. I think next time I will use about 2 1/2 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of milk since I'm using the coffee mate which is like powdered cream. I also think I will add another tea bag. Oh, my goodness, I'm getting afar off on this recipe bit so will close for now.

I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET ON MY BLOG FOR A FEW DAYS

On the last day I was on my blog, I was waiting for the Doctor to call Bob about the condition of his lungs and about Charlie and how he came out with his surgery.

Bob, the doctor finally called a couple of days after he had all of his tests, and told him he should wait at least 6 months to even consider the surgery. It makes me wonder if he will have to have all those tests over again at the end of 6 months to determine if he will be ready at that time.

Charlie, he had the knee surgery up at Tosh and the doctor that did the surgery was Rosenberg, his office is up at Park City. Everything went extremely well and he is now recovering at home. He rented one of those ice machines that are on for 30 minutes and then off for 30 minutes. We took some Mexican food up for his lunch yesterday (he loves Mexican) and probably isn't supposed to eat anything that spicy but it was him that was going to suffer if it didn't agree and that is what he said he wanted. He goes back to the doctor on next Tuesday and maybe he will say he can be off that silly machine. It seems like Pat was on it for about a week when she had knee surgery. I read the book he was given, to try and write something intelligent but I only understood about 5% of the book. The other 95% was completely Dutch to me. The only thing I understood was that he can't put any weight on it for 2 weeks and that the same doctor did surgery on Tiger Wood's knee the day before, this is the 3rd time he has done surgery on Tiger Woods. Tiger must have a home up at Park City because that is where his surgery was done. He would have to be pretty close for a couple of weeks.

Charlie and Sandy are the Activities Chairpersons, so last night was their chili and pie night, he couldn't go, in fact he couldn't even make the chili they had to furnish, so Sandy and Jorja and Jacob, KayCee and Chalice had to do it all. Charlie just got to sit there and be cross about the whole affair. Sandy was pleased with the way it all turned out so I guess it turned out OK even if he had some gripe coming, how would you feel if chili was YOUR speciality and someone else HAD to make it for you and you couldn't even watch to see if they were doing it right?

Today, I went on our last Visiting Teaching visit and when I came back, I set my black oxygen tank on the trunk of the Mazda since that is where it goes, is in the trunk, and Kent left a few minutes later to go and deliver some blood drive packets, he didn't pay any attention to the fact that the tank was on the back so I guess it just fell off along the road some where. We haven't found it yet and don't hope to. I didn't have my name on it anywhere so if someone found it they wouldn't have any idea who it belonged to. LATER

JUST A BUNCH OF RAMBLINGS TODAY

Nothing much happened yesterday to me of any consequence so I may not have much to write about. I do want to tell you about my experience with a Chai drink though. After D.U.P. on Monday, I went up to Beans and Brew and bought a Chai drink, I had been told that it was not a coffee drink so I had nothing to worry about as far as caffeine was concerned. I had also been told it was a very fattening drink, which is the thing I was looking for, to put a few pounds on me. The thing I was not looking for was the price, it was very expensive for a small drink. So I came home and looked it up on Google and found it is an East Indian drink made with black tea, well I guess one cup of tea is not going to keep me out of heaven, but, my goodness that cup of tea has 3 tea bags in it, which kept me out of the sleep cycle for the entire night. I really thought it wouldn't be any more than a piece of CHOCOLATE CAKE or a CHOCOLATE COVERED PIECE OF CANDY. Well when you haven't had any caffine in several years, it was enough to make me lay there with my eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling all night long. By the way the drink was very good so I went on the internet to see if I could find something with NO caffeine.

On Google, I found this one, it is made of things you can find in the supermarket, the fellow said it took several tries plus some secrets from a person working for his favorite Oregon local gourmet coffee shop ( could this be S___ B____?)

(4) 1 1/2 in slices fresh ginger (use vegetable peeler)

(1) 2 inch cinnamon stick

(4) whole cloves

(1) heaping demitasse spoon powdered cardamon

(1) 6 inch vanilla bean ( cut into 1 in. pieces)

(1) dash nutmeg

(1) heaping tablespoon sugar

(1/4 ) cup honey

(3) Bigelow Darjeeling Blend tea bags(I'm going to try the non caffeine, I'll let you know)

(2) cups water

(2) cups milk

Bring the 2 cups of water to a boil and then toss in the other ingredients as listed and boil about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add milk and bring back to a boil, then take off heat. Strain through strainer or coffee filters and serve hot or cold with ice. Refrigerate any unused portion.

Yesterday Bob (our Son-in-law, married to Ralynn) went up to the hospital for a bunch of tests to see if he could stand to have some surgery to have the top portion of his lungs removed, I am still waiting by the phone to find out about the results of the tests. The Dr. just hasn't called him yet.

To day Charlie is in the hospital, having surgery on his knee, Kent just barely called and said that the surgery is over and they are on their way home, every thing turned out just fine and he will just have to wait out the period of time to be able to go on with his normal life. I do not know anything more than that so I shall just sign off for now and go get ready to go visiting teaching at about 5:00 p.m.

MONDAY RAMBLINGS ABOUT SATURDAY, SUNDAY AND MONDAY

I haven't written anything in here about Saturday, Sunday or today so I will just be doing a little brain teasing about same. Saturday morning when I arose from my nice comfy warm bed I realized my one ring was missing, it was my Eterna Gold 18 carat gold ring that I absoluetly love and have worn for years and years. After hunting through my bed and the obvious places, I decided to retrace my steps of Friday night, I had cleaned the bathroom and put a bunch of stuff in the garbage can in the afternoon, not there. Next, was fixing some dinner, we just had left overs and I had cooked some broccoli and cauliflower, both in the same cooking bag. First I looked in the broccoli that I had not used, not there. Next in the bag that I had cooked and we ate out of for dinner and there it was in the bottom of the bag, I sure hope it liked cauliflower and broccoli because it got plenty through the cooking process and eating process and putting the bag back in the fridge for over night.

If someone thinks cleaning the bathroom is a snap for them, for me it is a long drawn out process. I do a little bit and then have to go and sit down and rest for 10 or 15 minutes, it is the same procedure I take in getting dressed or getting ready to go anywhere. I have to judge how long it will take me to do anything and then add about 1/2 hour for sitting to get my breath back. I go into spasms and can't get my breath, it scares me real bad.

Saturday, Don and Joyce came up from Provo to spend the afternoon, then Stirling and Ashley (David's daughter) came out and we sat here and visited for a period of time, then we, Don and Joyce and Kent and I went down to the Golden China for dinner, it was their first time there and they really enjoyed it, said they would return. Of course I always enjoy as I've stated before. From there Don and Joyce went back to Provo and Kent and I came home. I had their Mongolian Stir Fry, all the shrimp I could possibly want, the fried bisquits, lycees, loquats(however you spell them), butterscotch pudding, and a drink and I was stuffed. I didn't even get over to the other table with all the chinese food or to the potato bar or the rice or soup or desserts. I also didn't have any of the meat dishes like the steak or chicken or beef stuff. I just don't think it is fair that I get filled up so fast.

Sunday, I really had to fight with myself as to whether I was going to get out of bed and get ready to go to church or not, it seems like it is so hard to make up my mind whether I can do it or not the first time after a sick spell which I was experiencing right now. Finally I said "Betty, just git your butt out of bed and least try to get ready" which I did and made it just fine. One thing I have learned is I can't shower before church, I have to do it the night before if I am going to be able to get myself ready. It is just too much to do it all that early in the morning. In the afternoon we were invited over to Charlie and Sandy's for dinner (which we generally are) and always enjoy that. We told them we would enjoy tuna fish or peanut butter and jam sandwiches if that was what they were preparing, just to be able to visit with them. We have been going over there for about the last 10 or 12 years, they just consider us two of their family on Sunday at dinner time. Kent and Jacob gave Charlie a blessing because he is going to have his knee operated on this Wednesday (the 16th of April).

Today I went to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers meeting, at 1:00 and came home, don't plan on doing anything tonight except to watch the Jazz play basketball with the Houston Rockets, sure hope the Jazz can win their ball game because I know San Antonio is going to be waiting for them when they go down there on Wednesday, after beating them like we did the last time we played them. Till we meet again. Next time.

THE END TO MY BIRTHDAYS, WHAT WILL NEXT YEAR BRING?

Well, my birthday celebrating lasted just a week, from last Thursday until this Thursday, goodness how can we make them last any longer? Anyway, yesterday I went to a luncheon with some of the ladies from Stone Hollow (exception, Janet Haroldsen) for my birthday. When they called to see where I wanted to go, I said to Ihop and she said what time? My answer 11:30, I meant be out there at 11:30 and she thought I meant pick me up at 11:30, so I went out by myself at 11:15, and just sat there and waited.

While I was waiting this fellow and his wife with a 3 month old baby came over and asked my name and asked if I had served a mission in Malaysia a few years ago, when I told him I had, he said his name was Lunt and he had served a mission there also during that time, I was thinking Kota Kinabalu and he was talking Penang. As my mind was racing trying to figure all the Elders that served in K.K. I just couldn't come up with anything. He asked where we lived and I asked where they lived and all the other proper things to ask and as soon as they left I got my senses back and figued out who it was, boy was I ever sorry that I hadn't figured it all out sooner, I asked if they had ever gone to the Singapore reunions and he said a couple and I told him we had gone to a couple also but not in the last few years.

Elder Lunt had come into the mission field at the age of 25, older than most missionaries from somewhere back East or South, he barely made the cut off date which I think is through the age of 25 or before they turn 26. He was an exceptionallly good missionary just a little quiet and reserved. I had no idea he would be living just a couple of miles from us here in Utah. I guess it was just meant to be that I would be there a few minutes early and get to meet them. It sure is a small world.

The ladies that came to my luncheon were; Janet of course, Teri Sheppard, Connie Edholm, Deloras Stiletti, Doris Thompsen and Joyce Pollack. We have had this little birthday luncheon for several years and the person that has the last luncheon is in charge of making arrangements for the next person's birthday. Notifying everyone when and where it will be and bringing the little singing candle we have, I am in charge now of the next one and it will be Teri Sheppard in July, although we talked about having a get together in June just because it is a long time till July. The person that is having the birthday decides on the time and place they would like to go, I would have liked to have gone to the Golden China but I had my family party there and the Relief Society "Out to Lunch " group is going there next week so I thought that would be a little much. I got some really nice gifts and I want to "Thank Them All" profoundly.

I just wanted to let all of you know what the words were to "I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home" I had never heard of it before this program and I think they are pretty descriptive. If you object, to reading them , you know where the delete basket is.

WORDS TO "I'M GONNA HIRE A WINO TO DECORATE OUR HOME"

I came crawling home last night, like many nights before:
I finally made it to my feet as she opened up the door.
And she said, "You're not gonna do this any anymore.

She said: I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam
We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."

She said "Just bring your Friday paycheck, and I'll cash them all right here.
And I'll keep on tap--for all your friends, their favorite kinds of beer.
And for you, I'll always keep in stock, those soft aluminum cans.
And when you're feeling macho, you can crush them like a man."

She said " We'll rip out all the carpet, and put sawdust on the floor,
Serve hard boiled eggs and pretzels, and I won't cook no more.
There'll be Monday night football, on T.V. above the bar.
And a pay phone in the hallway, when your friends can't find their car."

She said "I'm gonna hire a wino to decorate our home,
So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."

She said "You'll get friendly service , and for added atmosphere.
I'll slip on something sexy, and I'll cut it clear to here.
Then you can slap my bottom, every time time you tell a joke.
Just as long as you keep on tipping, well, I'll laugh until you're broke."

She said"Instead of family quarrels, we'll have a bar room brawl,
When the Ham's bear says it's closing time, you won't have far to crawl.
And when you run out of money, you'll have me to thank.
You can sleep it off until next morning, when I'm putting it in the bank."

She said "I'm gonna' hire a wino, to decorate our home,
So you can feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
When you and your friends get off from work, and have a powerful thirst.
There won't be any reason, why you can't stop off here fiirst."

She said "I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."

"ZEKE SCRATCH AND THE ITCHY SISTERS"

I was going to do my grandchildren today but I couldn't decide whether to go from the oldest to the youngest or to go from the youngest to the oldest or to just mix them all up, so while I was deciding what to do, I just decided not to do any of them. I decided to just go back in time to one of our escapades and this seemed as good as anything. This took place in 1986, and was my one time of being "On Stage". Dennis, Milly's husband was video taping the whole thing.

We did our debut at Gary and Gwen's ward for one of their Relief Society night meetings, they were served dinner and this was the entertainment. I would guess they were not terribly impressed because we closed after that first night's performance and have never been contacted to perform since that time. I really don't think it was the performance they didn't like, it was probably the many writers of the script of the production that they weren't impressed with, when they found out it was written by ourselves.

Gary, (my brother) who was bishop of their ward at the time, was playing The Parson and was the announcer. He also danced in the 3 Little Fishies and the Buzz Around, Buzz Around dances. Millie (my sister in law) danced in the 3 Little Fishies and in the Playmate Song, I did the 3 Litttle Fishies and the Buzz Around , Buzz Around. Gary spun a couple of yarns and of course Zeke (Kent) and two Itchey Sisters (Sister Pat and sister in law Gwen) did a bunch of bantering and did Baby Face and Bob did Bill Gogans Goat. The three of them came out carrying decorated white buckets with a bunch of stuff in, and Pat was saying she had been told she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket and she just wanted to prove she could as she started pulling out sheets of music, a spit-tune, looney- toons, car-toons and a lot of other stuff. I just wish I could remember what else they had in their buckets, I know Kent had a ukulele and he played a tune on that.

We did get to "sorta " perform again when Dennis and Milly had their 25th Anniversary celebration . They were going to renew their wedding vows. Mom and Dad got into the act as well as the rest of us, buying their ridiculous outfits at the thrift stores. Mom had a black hat with a veil that covered one eye. I was the "MADE OF HOUNOR" and had a terrible bright orange lace dress on and huge sloppy sun hat and was carrying a basket (the kind you put in the cemeteries) full of old dead flowers. One of the guests, he worked with Dennis at the Air National Guard, made the statement that these people sure were dressed funny and the worst one was that fellow in the yellow plaid jacket. He was referring to Zeke (Kent).

When Dennis and Millie came down the stairs, with their entourage he knew he had been "had"...??//?/. Gary was the parson again and he read the marriage vows out of a Sears Catalogue. Rob was walking behind them with a shotgun telling them to "git along up there". Dennis had on a jacket that was too small for him and was split up the back and he had his hair combed in "Alfalfa" style. Millie was pretty lucky she could still fit into her wedding gown but it was so wrinkled. Zeke and the Itchey Sisters sang a couple of songs, "The Wedding Waltz" and "I'm Going To Hire A Wino To Decorate My Home". Actually it was a real fun day and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

The whole group doing "The Chicken Dance" with the audience

Milly Daniels doing "Playmate"

Gary & Betty doing "Buzz Around, Buzz Around"

Bob Westbrook with "Instructions"

Gary "Parson The Story Teller"

"Zeke Scratch & The Itchey Sisters" (Kent, Pat & Gwen)

THANKS FOR THE BIRTHDAY CAKE

I want to mention here that on Sunday, April 6th we went over to Charlies and Sandy's for dinner which we usually do, and Jorja had made me a birthday cake and Jacob had decorated it for me. he had 'Happy Birthday" written on it and a bunch of squigglies around the outside edge. There were the numbers "79" candles on it and it was lit up. I'm certainly glad they didn't try to put 79 candles on it. JorJa burned her fingers on the decorations somehow, I think putting the frosting in the microwave. Anyway I want to thank them for that and let them know how much I appreciate it . Just think, one more year and I will be 80. Now, I must say that is OLD.

Mom totally exausted in hotel room. 72 years old.

Mom in front of a building in Finland

PICTURES WE TOOK, NOT VERY GOOD

In front of one of the castles in Denmark

ONE MORE DAY IN EUROPE- AND IT IS OVER!?!?!?

Our next stop was Brussels, Belgium. We were there just one day and we tried to see as much of it as was possible in the time we had. They have such beautiful lace and it was so inexpensive. I would have loved to buy some but just didn't have the room to carry it or the money to spend on it. This was one of my favorite places I had seen and I vowed to return some day. Well guess what? I will never be able to keep that vow. What with my oxygen 24/7 and a few other things that are wrong with me, but do you know "with the internet the way it is today, I can ALMOST travel, sitting in my desk chair and with the computer on."

We went to Luxembourg and then got on a train to go across France and down into Italy. We planned it this way because we wanted to lay down in a compartment and try to sleep all the way into Florence, Italy. We had planned on going down into Rome but the time we had to spend in Amsterdam told us we just couldn't make it happen so we just went into Florence. We spent one day and night in Florence and then headed back towards Frankfurt, Germany going through Innsbruck, Austria where we spent one night and one in Bern , Switzerland. When we got back to Frankfurt, we took our suitcases out of the train station for the first time, oh my golly, what would we have done with all those big heavy suitcases all over Europe. We could hardly get them from the station to a hotel and to the airport, "THOSE PEOPLE IN BERGEN, NORWAY DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT A GREAT TIP THEY GAVE US" They should make it one of the things they tell all travel bureau's to pass along to the travelers. It is something I would pass along to anyone going to Europe. TRAVEL VERY LIGHT?!?!?

We had a great time and would not trade it for anything, even with the little annoying things that happened we both felt it was a great trip and I am just happy to share it with anyone that reads my blog.