The Big Rock Candy Mountain

This is my Step-grandmother Mary she was a part of my life when I was very young . Mary grew up in a very small town down south called Joseph. I knew that when ever she went down home for a visit that when she would return she would bring all of us kids candy from the Big Rock Candy Mountain. I would have dreams about this wonderful place and what it would look like. And after hearing the old song about it, it was a place all children would love to live.
After I was married I soon found out that my husband grandparents lived on the other side of Joseph and once I found that out it was my dream to go see this magical place. Well all I can say is in my eyes it was a big disappointment not that the beauty that surrounds this area itself is worth the trip but when you go expecting a mountain made out of candy it can be a little disappointing. One weekend my son JD had major truck failure when he Jennifer and Alex had gone down to Escalante which turned into an unexpected trip for us to go pick them up and tow them back home. So on the way back we stopped and let Alex go see what this magical place looked like, he to was crushed to see that the Lemon-aide Springs had dried up.

Alex and JD hiking up you guessed it the Lemon-aide Springs



the cigarette trees

This could look like a big carmel

The surrounding area is breath taking

i"M BaCk

Just in case you had not noticed I have been missing. Been working on a secret surprise for my Mom's birthday. What great fun it has been but lot's of hours working on the computer. Hopefully I can figure out a way to share it. We have lots of birthdays coming up besides Mom we have none other than Little Miss sunshine is turning two and Jen & Brianna share the same day together what are the odds that a mother and daughter share the same day?

Red Tin Heart

Catching your smile. . .
"I'll catch your smile on some one's face

Your whisper in the wind's embrace

Through diamond stars and songs and dreams

I find your love in everything

The sun, the sky, the rolling sea

All conspire to comfort me

From sorrow's edge life's beauty seems

To find your love in everything

I've come to trust the hope it brings

To find your love in everything

Even as I fall apart,

Even through my shattered heart

I'll catch your smile on some one's face.....amazing grace."

~Beth Nielsen Chapman

To my friend at Red Tin Heart, I started to read her way over a year ago when her name was put in to a prayer circle, due to her husbands accident when he had fallen and had broken his neck just like my Dad's. Where Dad passed quickly her John hung on and was even in rehab trying to rebuild his strength so I became interested in her stories she is amazing woman who has struggled thru some extreme hard times during this past year. John did not make it it has been a year for her today, I feel she could use some good thoughts and prayers sent her way, so if you have words of encouragement for her please send some her way.

You know your blog is boring when???

When you start posting pictures of a bathroom! I needed to do a quick spruce up of the basement bathroom one weekend. Took down the ugly wall paper border, it was so ugly that it had even started to grow mold( not due to lack of my cleaning it) Took the natural finished pine vanity and painted it black and distressed it then went and got some of the barn wood I had been collecting and put it to good use other than hiding in the garage where no one could see it. Dennis and I framed out the mirror and made a new towel rack. Found a Roy Rogers and Dale Evans clock and hung it by one of the boys old pair of boots. Made a new shower curtain got a new rug and some tin accessoires wah lah a rustic latrine !For those who might not know who Roy and Dale are go to Happy Trails to you.

26 years of kyle

Kyle was one of those kids that you thought would never live to be 16. He was constantly on the go which meant lots of trips to the ER, he was very athletic for his age and size he could do one arm push ups ,climb walls, trees and scaffolding in a blink of an eye.
We had a big old rope swing off the hill in our back yard by the time you swung out I would guess you were between 12 to 15 feet high. One day I was watching him when the rope broke it was like slow motion seeing his little body fall from the sky he hit hard , knocked the breath out of him big time scared us all to death, got him to the ER to have him checked over, he had bruised his kidney and had blood in his urine other than that was fine, he has a high pain threshold, the ER nurse had asked me why he was not crying, just shook my head that's the way he is.

At a very very young age Michale Jordan had become Kyle's idol he lived and breathed basketball he would tell me he as going to grow up and be like Michale you should have seen the look he gave me when I told him that he was not going to be able to be black he really thought he could change his skin color! He has volunteered coaching many times for his cousins and nephew's basket ball teams.

One year we moved to California and were living in a split entry home when Kyle decided he was going to make a run for the top of the banisters and slide down but instead he over shot throwing him self up and over crashing down into the basement by the time Dennis and I got to him he was trying to lift himself up but he had broken one arm in two and broken the other arm as well, the first hospital we went to could not fix him so we had to take him into San Fransisco to have his bones set, he really never cried that time either. I could go on and on about him, the good the bad and the ugly , but to see how he has changed his life has been amazing, you are my hero Kyle.
Happy Birthday!!

Sewing Inspiration

Click here for some fun sewing ideas by Moda, love the little table runner.

Instead of a welcome home banner doing your child's name or a valentines saying would be way cute!

Mother Had A Secret

This is the title of a book that Tiffany has written if you would like to read more about it go here, she is trying to get it published and needs some comments posted to help her along the way. She has a face book page also. It is a compelling story, for some it may be hard to comprehend. Maybe some might learn from it and seek the help that they or someone they know might be in need of.

Sadie The Wonder Dog

I know this is not the best clip but I got to admit she is a cutey.This is Sadie Kyle's one year old English bull dog. One of the things I did when the kids were small was to hook a balloon in the doorway and play volleyball. One day when Riley was living here ( a 120# Rottweiler) she fell in love with playing the game. So I thought I would see if Sadie could do it and sure enough she loves to play.

BiRthDaY GiRL

Hard to believe I gave birth to the beautiful person yes me and a little help from her father TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO! I think I can speak for the both of us how much she changed our lives and have enriched them. Not only does she touch our lives she touches many family and friends by making them all look and feel younger with her magical wand and potions(Scissors&dye). She has been what I never could be beautiful, charming and smart! I loved the way she made sure my Dad had the best haircut around and always gave him a kiss and hug as she sent him out the door.And more than that I love how she loves Hadley for now she knows what a mothers love is. Happy Birthday Jo!

bE 4 & aFtER

No this is not some celebrity mug shot or me winning Grandmother of the year award.
This is Haddie doing her thing while I checked my email this morning. I should have known she was up to something when I realized she was being way to quite. She found a tube of my waterproof mascara which she applied all over her face ,she did manage to get some on her long beautiful lashes !

Hooked on Houses

If you are bored , looking for some inspirations check this site out lots of ideas to spend time looking at on a cold January day hooked on houses.

Laundry Rooms

The Inspired Room is a great little site with lots ideas. She done a little segment on( beautiful) laundry rooms . It really can make doing laundry a little bit more enjoyable if that is at all possible, though doing laundry for two is a lot easier than six. I re-did my laundry room a few years back improved it a great deal I would say. We had to shift the appliances from under the window to the back wall then Dennis and I built some storage cabinets, I did the tin punch in the upper cabinet. Adding some little antique items on the shelves. The picture above the the washer and dryer is actually a antique laundry bag that Dennis built the frame for.

Beat to a different Drum

Hadley entertained her self today for quite a while playing the drums in the room that we have been working on . In this high tech world it is nice to see even the simple things can still be fun.

Take-a-peek

Kacy has posted some pictures of Haddie on her blog if you can go take a peek. Should have results from tests today, hoping for the best.

Elmo Live

What girl would not want a guy like this in her life he is simply irresistible! He is a charmer he makes you laugh, he can give big hugs and when he falls over he even asks for help back up and tells you thank you and that he loves you! What a guy Elmo !
I bought Elmo just in case I was not able to find the mini tramp for Hadley for Christmas . So I was very happy to have him on hand to take him to the hospital for a great distraction for her. Not only was she amazed by him he kept the nurses giggling also. In case you wonder what she is doing here in the video she likes him to kiss her belly, then the she tries to get him to open his mouth to say AAAHHHH, like she had to do with all the Doctors looking down her throat, she is very quick to learn maybe a young doctor in training !

What a Roller Coaster Ride

Hadley got to enjoy about an hour and a half of being home when the hospital called and told Kacy she had to bring Hadley back , her blood work showed a contamination and she needed to do repeat blood work. Well first IV did not work, second one failed , third worked almost just enough to get blood drawn for the tests so they put a call into the IV team to come and put one in because they were going to put her on an IV antibiotic to protect her just in case she did have something wrong but instead of traumatizing her again with another IV they told Kacy she could just have the medication in a shot which sounded good to all of us until the test are done which will be a 24 hour culture to see what grows. So we spent about 6 hours in the ER room again. They have let her go back home because she seemed to be doing okay but she needs more blood work done tomorrow. Hopefully there will be nothing wrong , and this sweet little girl can get feeling better. And Kacy can get some rest to.

Up Date On Haddie Bug

Just got home from the hospital what a hard day this sweet little girl has had , she was diagnosed with Adenovirus http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/lung/adenovirus.html. Her high fever at this point in time is under control but her dehydration is still an issue. While four of us wrestled with her so they could do more throat swabs then they had to get a culture from inside her nasal cavity which was very hard on her during the process her IV infiltrated puffing up her little hand which meant pulling her IV, so now the trick is to see if she can get enough liquid in her in the next few hours so they do not have to put in another line . I am really surprised at how fast she associates white masks with pain . She has only slept maybe one hour today. We did get her to eat quite a few mandarin oranges. Her Great-Grandfather Art came in and gave her a special blessing, what a wonderful prayer he laid upon her little head to comfort her and her parents. This little picture was taken while still in the ER she got a big kick out of playing with the antique phone, I am sure some of us remember the old ones. Hopefully by tomorrow she will have improved enough to come home.

Prayer's Please

My little sunshine was admitted into Primary Children's hospital last night fighting some type of virus or infection having hard time keeping her fever under control. She seems to be doing okay she does not like the blood pressure cuff at all and people in scrubs, as soon as they walk in to her room she starts to cry. I will be heading back down in a little while to see how her and Kacy have held up during the night.

Christmas Bloopers

Never ever let the grandkids have control over the camera out of 500 pictures, deleting 75% of them this is what I got!

Christmas Day 2008

This is the first slide show still have more pictures to come,, check out the cute stage coach I got Kyle made this for me with some donations from the other kids, the grandchildren have already enjoyed climbing all over it.

You Better Watch Out!

Jen sent this to my phone yesterday while out getting my shopping done, it makes the all the craziness of waiting in lines of traffic and people worth it to see the sparkle in a child's eye with the Christmas spirit, thank you Evan Gunner for the musical number.

Have A Merry Christmas!

Pictures from Sprint : View Message

Pictures from Sprint : View Message

No Pressure here!

Spent the day moving Justin,Jennifer, Alex and little Noah into their new house.
Would you believe I have not done any Christmas shopping! How many more days to I have?? (YIKES) I need to get busy will not be posting for a while.

Christmas 2008

sunshine*boogers*juicy kisses

I could not resist posting this little clip of Haddie and Noah she is truly SUNSHINE, BOOGERS, AND JUICY KISSES (turn sound off there is to much background noise)

!!!!!!Kari's Birthday!!!!

You have come along way baby!!! This is my DIL married to Kowalski (aka Kyle) She is the mother to Payton and Paige and does a great job ! She does lots of good deeds for many people and has a good heart! She has been a great addtiton to our family! Thanks Kari for all you do.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SIS

It was Cheryl's Birthday yesterday so this is a little late , hope you had a nice one . Cheryl is a mother to five daughters and a grandmother to eleven and a great grandmother to one. Not only that she is a daycare provider to many, her and two of her daughters run two of them. What a demanding business this is. She is a great role model to many !

Cross-stitch Memories

This is the house that I cross stitched
for my Mom it is the house that her
mother grew up in a beautiful
town called Morgan . The bottom left
front windows is where the parlor room was, children were not allowed in there. But I do remember when my Great-grandparents died they had the viewings at home and it was in the parlor room where they were placed. The two times we were allowed in the parlor. There was a interesting story about my great grandfather Daniel that we heard a lot when we were young. My great-grandfather was not expected to live at one point , as a young boy he was out doing chores when a pitch fork pierced him through the chest , when the doctor arrived to take care of him he told the parents that he was not going to live and were told to write up his obituary to be placed in the town paper the next day only to their surprise he got up out of the bed the next morning and went to school! (any how that is how I remember it)

This is a Paula Vaughn pattern that I made for my Mom. This designer has a real nostalgic look to her patterns that I love, I have done a few of hers. Grandmother Hattie was a real seamstress and a recycler when it came to clothes, adult coats were recycled to make smaller coats for her children, she could take men's trouser pants and turn them into skirts. Mom remembers all the sewing her mother would do to help earn money. And when I seen this pattern it so reminded me of her and all the things she had done.

FUNDRASIER T-SHIRTS

If anybody is interested in helping out a sweet family we have some great shirts we are trying to sell pop over to Sue's blog and read about her son-in-law Gary any and all help would be great!