Unique Dress & Halloween Decor

Some of my living room Halloween decorations:

Grimsly Mansion

Pumpkins for sale

The Junkyard

My Halloween Village

One side of my living room

A trick or treater in a very unique dress

Whitney tells us how she made her dress.

She must have been really thirsty last night.

I got a kick out of listening to her.

She is a very cute and innovative 9th grade girl.

Cosmo liked her dress, too.

(Of course, food always interests him.)

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

October 25, 2008--Ethan turns 7

Ethan had quite a week.  He started out going to Disneyland and then on to Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks.  When he returned home from his week long trip, he found that his house was decorated with balloons and a birthday cake was on the table.  My arrival was supposed to be a surprise, but someone let the "cat out of the bag" and told him that I would be there, too. 

Ethan is showing us one of his presents.  He got several Bakugan presents. I had fun seeing his Bakugan collection.  They start out like balls but when rolled across a magnetic Bakugan card, they pop apart into various shapes.  Does anyone know the rules of the Bakugan Game? 

Ethan is just getting ready to blow out his candles here.

Click on the arrow below to hear the birthday song and to see Ethan blow out all of his candles.

The Day After the Birthday.

It was hard for Ethan to get up the day after his birthday.

It was even harder for London to wake up.

I love how she is fast asleep and yet her little rump is up in the air.

They finally all got ready for church although London still doesn't look too happy.  In Primary, Ethan was given a crown because it was his birthday on Saturday.  I also got to see Ethan in the Primary Program.  He was the first child to talk and he said his part perfectly. 

London cheered up after church, though. 

Click on the the black arrow above to see London playing with Ethan's birthday balloons.

Even though the screen looks black, you will see London laughing and running with the balloons as soon as you click on the arrow.  When I have downloaded all my other videos onto my blog previously, the screen always has had the first frame of the video clip showing. Does anybody know what happened with this one? I even tried downloading this again and got the same result.  Why does the screen start out black? 

Did you notice that London had only 3 balloons in the above video and now she has seven?  I don't know why kids love balloons so much.  I remember when Jordan was about 1 1/2 or 2 and he would try to hold as many balloons at one time as possible just like London is trying to do here.

Cosmo on the Hunt again

This is for the grandkids because they liked the first video so much,

for Nickie because she was his first mom,

for Tricia and Dee because they also love dogs,

for Steve and Jen because they rescued him from the pound,

and for anyone else out there who thinks he is adorable.

Sage's Birthday October 12

Here is Sage with the birthday cake that I made for her.

To the First Guy Who Supposedly Fixed My Rain Gutters:

They still leak!

Happy Birthday, Pop!

On November 14, 1909, Pop took this picture of himself in front of his family home in Randolph, Utah.  He loved taking unusual photos.  He cut a lens cap in half, covered up the right half of the lens, set the timer on his camera, made a snowball, and ran into what would be the left side of the photo. Then without winding the film, he moved the lens cap to the left side, threw snow on himself, set the timer, and posed on the other side like he was a victim of being hit by the snowball he himself had thrown. In other words, he deliberately took a double exposure.  

Pop was the father of my mother. His real name was Archibald William McKinnon. However, when my sister was born, he said he was too young to be called grandpa, so he decided to have us all call him Pop.  He was 100% Scottish and was very proud of it.  He lived up to his Scottish heritage by being very frugal in his younger years and also by playing golf every day if work and weather permitted.  He also loved baseball; shortstop was his favorite position.  He also played the clarinet and loved listening to classical music.  

Pop was truly a self-made man. His father died when he was only twelve, so he took on a lot of the family responsibilities trying to help his mother with his younger brothers and sisters.  After graduating from Utah State University in Logan, he moved to Price and started working as a bank teller for $5.oo per week!

The above picture was taken one year before he married Ella May Empey, whom I affectionally called Grammy. When they were married in 1910, they were so poor that they lived in a tent house until they could save enough money to buy a house. However, by the time my mother was born in 1913, they were living in a house on Price Main Street. Other than his house, Pop never bought anything unless he could pay cash for it.  

He was not only intelligent and hardworking, but he had an ample amount of good common sense and was very personable. Because of this, he eventually worked himself up to becoming President of the Carbon Emery Bank.  Pop felt that as president he needed to make everyone, who worked for him, feel that they were important no matter what position they held, so after arriving at the bank each morning, Pop always made a point of personally saying hello to each employee from the bookkeepers in the basement to the tellers and loan officers upstairs. However, Pop never let his position in the community be an excuse to act act conceited or bossy.   He always lived just like he was an average guy, who walked to work, had only 3 suits in his very small closet, and drove the same car for 10 years. 

I never heard my grandparents raise their voices at me or at each other.  A very calm and serene feeling always permeated their home. Instead of calling me Bonnie, Pop always called me, "Sweet Doll."  He was like Randy; he simply adored children.  He always said that "Babies came first."  The first car I ever drove was his 1950 Cadillac, then his 1960 Cadillac, and finally, his 1963 white Buick Riviera.  He was a very calm driving instructor even though he often called me a "California Driver" if I started going too fast .

Everybody in town loved him.  They called him Mr. Mac at the bank and his friends called him Arch.  When my grandmother had a stroke, he brought her home and paid for nurses to be with her 24 hours a day.  When Pop found out that one of the nurses did not have a washing machine, she was surprised when he bought one for her and had it delivered to her door the next day.  Although he didn't go to church, he was a true Christian in every sense of the word.  When he heard that our Bishop didn't have enough money to by an organ for our new chapel, he gave them $5,ooo so they could buy a pipe organ like we had in the Price Tabernacle before they tore it down.  This was a lot of money because one could buy a brand-new car for $2000 or a very nice home for $10,000 in those days.  

When I was in elementary school, and girls would ask me if I had a boyfriend, I would just smile and give them Pop's initials saying that they were my boyfriend's initials.  Who needed a boyfriend when I had a grandfather as wonderful as Pop?  Every Friday night, I would watch the Friday night fight (boxing) with Pop and Grammy, sleep at their house, and then every Saturday afternoon, I would watch baseball, football, or golf with Pop.  As long as I lived in Price, I visited Pop and Grammy every day of my life except for 3 weeks in 1960 when I had a severe case of the Asian flu.

I will always remember one special gift of love that Pop gave me.  I was about 3 or 4 and was having trouble falling asleep in Grammy's back bedroom. 

"Pop, I can't go to sleep," I called.

"What's the matter Sweet Doll?" he asked.

"My feet are cold."  At this point I thought that Pop would just give me some of his nice big socks to put on my feet and legs, but that's not what he did.

He put his big warm hands under the covers and held my little feet in his hands until I fell asleep.  I will never forget that.  At the time, it really surprised me that he would take the time to stay with me that long-- holding my feet until I went to sleep.  As a teacher, each year when we started talking about Christmas and giving, I would always tell my students about what Pop did and how that was one of the best gifts I had ever received.

Gifts don't have to be wrapped up in pretty paper with a fancy bow.  

Sometimes the best gifts are simply when one gives of his time--when one gives from his heart.

Pop, I am hoping that Heavenly Father has allowed you to look over my shoulder while I have been writing this because I miss you dearly, and I will always treasure every moment I spent with you and learned from you. I don't think I ever told you how much that meant to me to have you warm my little feet by holding them.  You gave me many wonderful gifts--but that is the memory of you that I treasure the most. 

I will always love you, Pop!

Pop--The Baseball Player

Happy Birthday, Camille!

Camille is only 4 days old in this photo.

Isn't she adorable?  I love that little yawn.

Camille had to sleep in a cardboard box at Utah Valley Hospital.

Because so many babies were born that same day in Provo, 

the hospital ran out of bassinets to put the babies in.

Camille -- 9 months old

This was a pretty red dress with white lace.

Camille -- Age 2

This photo was taken at your two-year-old birthday party.

You're playing the little piano that Grandma and Grandpa Cook gave you.

Nanny and Grandpa Anderson gave you the dress and blouse that you are wearing. I had so much fun with you when you were little and I had fun with you as a teenager, too. Remember when we used to go to Sears in Billings and make fun of the dresses there.

Do you remember when I drove the get-away car when you and your friends went toilet papering?   And how can we forget all the nights I taught you and your friends how to drive by driving around the parking lot of St. Paul's Cathedral?

Thanks for being such a wonderful daughter, Camille!

I love you with all of my heart.

Hankies, Hoses, Raincoats, and Curls

When Camille learned to walk at age 13 months, she felt that she needed to have a hanky or wash cloth on her head at all times.  If I wasn't paying attention when I would go visiting teaching, Camille would find their bathroom and then reappear with one of their wash cloths on her head.  She always would put it on so one corner would be in the middle of her forehead and two other corners would be just above each of her ears. In the above photo, she's wearing one of my old fashioned circular hankies.  She would go around all day like this.  (Aren't kids creative? London likes wearing socks on her hands and arms that she calls "chomp-chomps" and Camille loved having hankies on her head.  I'm guessing she thought she was just beautiful that way.) 

Camille was very proud of her first raincoat. 

Camille is sitting in the rain watching raindrops falling on her hand.

Camille loved her toy puppy.  She is sitting on her favorite quilt which was made by her Grandma Cook. It had to go everywhere with her.  When she was about this same age, she had to have her adnoids out.  When they took her down for the surgery, she cried so hysterically for her blankie that the nurse had to come back and get it, so she would calm down.  As soon as she got it, she immediately stopped crying. Her quilt started out bright pink, but ended up almost white because it was washed so much through the years.

Taking it easy at Nanny and Grandpa Anderson's house in Price.

Notice Camille's beautiful curls in these 2 photos. 

Chase, Jordan, Tanner, and Trevor, I  hope you have enjoyed seeing these photos of your mom when she was a little girl.

Camille was a perfect little girl. She never gave me a bit of trouble when she was little.  She was just a joy to raise.  She basically potty trained herself.  She went to the hospital and came back potty trained.  After her surgery, she never had a wet diaper again at night.  She was potty trained  in about 2 weeks from start to finish.

I love you so much, Camille!

Love,

MOM

Being with Pres. Monson & Japan Memories

As you look at this photo, I am to the right of Thomas S. Monson 

In 1968 I was at the Tokyo Mission home waiting for a new companion to arrive. I was in the foyer of the mission home when to my surprise Thomas S. Monson and his wife walked in the front door.  I then said, "Elder Monson, we weren't expecting you. Pres. Komatsu (our Mission President)  isn't here."

"Oh, I was just visiting with the missionaries in Australia and I told my wife, 'Why don't we just drop in and see how the missionaries are doing in Tokyo,' " Elder Monson replied. It was then that I first learned that Pres. Monson likes to drop in and visit people unexpectedly. He wasn't even over our mission.

Only two Elders, two other sisters, and I were at the Mission Home at the time.  I invited him in to sit down and we visited with Elder Monson and his wife for about an hour in the living room of the Mission Home. What a wonderful experience!  He is the most loving and gracious person. (The Mission Home was later torn down so the Tokyo Temple could be built on the same land.  It is in a great location with a beautiful park just across the street and many embassies of foreign countries are also in the immediate neighborhood.) 

However, this wasn't the first time I had the opportunity to talk to Elder Monson or be in his presence.

After Elder Monson was called to be an apostle, he was assigned to be the General Authority over my stake in Price, Utah.  He became my favorite because I always loved his incredible talks.  These were the days when we had quarterly stake conference and had visiting authorities at almost every stake conference.  This conference happened to be on the Fourth of July.  I went up to shake his hand and tell him that he reminded me of how the Prophet Joseph Smith must have been.  He  then graciously signed this piece of stationary that I just happened to have in my purse.  The other signature is of Henry D. Taylor who was an Assistant to the Twelve at the time.  

President Monson has always been a "dropper-inner."  He likes to arrive unannounced.

When I was attending a stake conference in St. George, it had been announced that we would have no general authority. However, just before the meeting started, I saw my stake president gasp as Thomas Monson and his wife walked down the aisle.  He rushed to greet him stopping right by where I was sitting.  "Elder Monson, we didn't know you were coming," my Stake President stammered.

"Oh, my wife and I were at home in Salt Lake yesterday  where we have had fog for a month, and we decided to just hop in the car and come to St. George for church so we could see the sun," Elder Monson replied with a twinkle in his eye.

When I lived in Princeton Ward, Elder Monson was the one who came and dedicated the new chapel because his wife had been a member of the ward when she was a girl.

When my student, Josh Holdaway, was lost in the mountains on New Year's Day, Elder Monson felt impressed to go to LDS hospital and subsequently ended up giving Josh a blessing after he had been found 24 hours later.  Then after Josh was released and sent home, Elder Monson surprised Josh and his mom by just knocking on their door one day, saying, "Oh, I just wanted to drop by and see how Josh is doing. "  

Thomas Monson is one of the most Christlike people I have ever had the privilege to be around.  He believes in visiting people of all walks of life.  I used to work for a lady named Gay Hill who lives in Murray.  She and her husband were not active in the Church, but he would just drop by to visit with them from time to time.  What an incredible example he has set for all of us!

In 1967 I was called to serve a mission in Japan. Here I am with two elders, singing at a Church banquet in Osaka, Japan.  I think we sang something really spiritual like "Blowing in the Wind."  Whenever the Church members wanted entertainment, they always asked the missionaries and we loved to oblige. Elder Harry Schultz is the one playing the guitar.  He was a member of the BYU Program Bureau so we were always entertaining someone for the 6 months I was in Osaka.  When I got to Tokyo South Branch, we even put on the "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" in Japanese.  My Japanese companion helped us translate it.  The members never knew what to expect next when we were in charge of the programs, but they must have loved it because they kept asking us.  In the photos, above and below, I had my hair pulled back in a ponytail which was quite long, but I don't think you can see it.

Here I am at Gotanda, a light rail train station, with my companion, Janet Lang.  This is in Tokyo and I was on my way to Osaka. June 1967. While I was in Osaka, Gordon B. Hinckley came to a conference, and I was lucky enough to be in a small group of missionaries who took him out to eat after the conference was over. For some reason, no one had brought their camera that day, so we didn't get a photo of him with us.

After being in Osaka for 6 months, I was transferred to Tokyo North Branch for another 6 months. Sister missionaries were not supposed to wear kimonos to proselyte, so my companion took this photo of me on our preparation day on the front lawn of the church.

It was here that I was made a Senior Companion for the first time. I had only been out 9 months, but Pres. Komatsu gave me a greenbean Japanese sister as a companion. However, she became a very dear companion and friend.  I loved my mission.  I felt like I was on vacation instead of a mission.  I just loved the Japanese people.  The members always said I may have been a gaijin (foreigner), but I have a Japanese heart.

It seemed I was always in the right place at the right time. While I was in North Tokyo, Spencer W. Kimball came to talk to the missionaries and he wasn't over our mission, either. Then I was transferred to Sendai for 2 months, but while I was there I was blessed again. Gordon B. Hinckley came and personally visited with each missionary in that area.  While we were eating lunch, one of the missionaries asked him what his greatest desire was and he replied, "I just want to endure to the end.  I am just a simple man with simple faith." 

I loved hearing conference yesterday and today. I felt like many of the speakers were talking just to me. Seeing President Monson reminded me of Japan and all the times I was so fortunate to rub shoulders with some of the greatest men to ever walk this earth--prophets of our Lord.

I especially agree with Pres. Monson when he said, "Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved."

I just pray that I can endure to the end and also help some people along the way.

Where in the World is Randy's Riv? (Contest #7)

The first person to identify the nearest city and state or city and country will be the winner of a $5.00 gift certificate to the fast food restaurant of his or her choice. 

Cosmo Hunting for Cats Video

This short video is dedicated to Ethan, London, Nickie, and Cris

since they were Cosmo's first owners,

 to Jen who rescued him from the pound

and to Steve, Karli, and Sage who kept him happy at their house

 until the Astins could come and get him.

A cat dared to come into our yard so in this video

Cosmo is hunting for it

and vocally telling it, "This is MY yard." 

 

Winner Contest 6

Cherilee is the winner of contest 6.  With her Salem, Utah, guess, she was only 17 miles away.The rock quarry was nearest to a town named Goshen, Utah.  I can see why you thought the picture looked a little like Honeyville.  However, Goshen only has a population of 874; in comparison, to Honeyville's  population  of 1214.

Do you want another Wendy's coupon, or somewhere else?

Happy Birthday to Rich!

Happy Birthday

Dear Friend

Thanks for being such a true friend to me all these years ---for all of the fun times and for helping me through the tough times.

You are the one who introduced me to Tchaikovsky. My parents and grandparents always listened to classical music, but somehow I had never heard any of his music before.  You used to always paint in the west half of your living room. One day I visited you while you were painting and listening to the most beautiful music I had ever heard.  It was one of Tchaikovsky's ballets. 

It was then that he became my favorite composer.

Randy took this picture of Rich in 1965  when they were together in Paris. 

Remember when you threw rocks at my bedroom window at 3:00 a.m. to go watch the big hotel fire?

Remember when my mom was out of town and so I house cleaned the master bedroom to surprise her?  I showed you all of Dad's funny old ties and clothes.  My twelve-year-old cousin, David Anderson, had come up to spend a month with us. After we watched "THE UNTOUCHABLES" on TV, you and David decided to dress up in some of Dad's old clothes and pretend you were gangsters from the 1920s.  

David is covered with "blood" and is holding daisies to signify his untimely demise.  It looks like we added a few white roses, too.

But why are you crying, when you are the one holding the blood stained knife?

I love how we made it look like he was lying in a pool of blood, don't you?

"Oh, you beautiful dolls, You great big beautiful dolls. . . ."

One night after we had a party in my backyard, you along with your brother Jon, Francis Cherry, and Kenny Cox decided to raid my closet and get dressed up in my clothes. You all even put on make-up. I love the expressions on all of your faces, especially Jon's.

These were the days when girls had to wear skirts or  dresses every day to school. I can't believe I wore the white skirt that Kenny Cox is wearing. 

Here's a trip down memory lane:

For those who don't know, you are standing in front of your house with your mom, your beautiful wife Maureen, and your adorable little Laurie

This picture was taken the Christmas of 1971, but I thought the summers in Price were magical.

Remember when we kept hearing all of those stories about the "airport monster," so we went out there one night and you disappeared? I was so scared to be out there in the dark all alone wondering what happened to you.  Then I saw you, but then you fell over pretending like something had happened to you. You rascal.  It was fun.  We had the best time growing up in Price, and we didn't get a TV until I was in 7th grade.  We all made our own fun.

I Met Randy at My Best Friend's Wedding

I took this picture in April 1969

Randy was Richard's best man.

Where is the Riv Contest 6 Hint

For those of you who are having trouble with the location of the Riv in Contest 6 which was posted on Sept. 20, I am going to give you a hint by posting this additional photo which is about 4 miles from where the Riv is in the original photo. 

Happy Anniversary, Steve & Jen!

I hope you are enjoying your anniversary.

Where in the World is Randy's Riv? (Contest #6)

The person who first identifies the nearest city and state or city and country to this location will be the winner.

AZ Fun: Grandsons and Scorpions

I don't want you to think that I am going to get black eyes and put myself in danger just so you will make comments on my blog, but I found this baby scorpion (the most poisonous kind) as I was getting ready in the bathroom one of the first mornings I was in Arizona. I am certainly glad I didn't accidentally touch it.

Here Chase is fixing himself breakfast the morning before his first football game.  He was certainly dedicated because he was always the first one up, dressed, and with his bed made while I was there. In fact, he was the only one to make his bed every day. He also volunteered to do some of my jobs like vacuuming which I really appreciated.  I could never have found my way to everybody's games on Saturday if he hadn't printed up all of the driving directions for me.  You are great, Chase.

Chase is wearing his game jersey in this picture. Chase's team won.

I shot this picture before Jordan went to one of his football practices. Jordan's team also won their game on Saturday, but they had to go into 2 or 3 overtimes to do it.  The temperature was around 110 degrees. Tanner had a baseball game that same day.  I don't know how they could play in that kind of heat and not all get heat stroke.  Sweat was just pouring down my back while I was sitting and watching them. I also want Camille and Jerel to know that Jordan got up the first time I went in to wake him up every day I was there. He woke up at 6:00 a.m. to put out the flags for Labor Day while his brothers were still asleep and he even got up at 5:00 a.m. to go running on Friday because he had a game on Saturday.  Thanks, Jordan.

Jordan is studying here. Believe it or not but he has a blanket on him because he thinks it is chilly.  I think that the temperature was 106 degrees that day. 

Jordan is typing a report while Trevor is waiting to go to soccer practice. Chase, Jordan, and Tanner were really great at getting Trevor ready for soccer practice every time.  I had no idea how to put on the shin guards.  Also, Tanner and Chase were great at practicing the piano and helping in many ways. 

All of the boys had chores to do around the house every day.  They were all so willing to do their jobs and help me.  Here Trevor is emptying the dishwasher.

As I staggered into the family room on Saturday morning, Trevor was already up and surprised me by saying, "I know what my jobs are!" He had read which jobs he had on the job chart, and then cheerfully commenced vacuuming the family room all by himself. I asked him if he needed any help and he replied, "No, I know how to do it." Wow, Camille, I am impressed with how you have taught your boys.  Notice that he not only vacuumed the blue rug on top, but he vacuumed underneath it, as well.  I didn't have to say a thing. He is only six, and I thought it was so great that I took a video of it.

Trevor and Tanner are eating some of their favorite breakfast cereal.  

Tanner is playing fall baseball.  Here he is in his new uniform after his game. His team won 10-5, if I remember correctly.

Tanner is a very creative kid.  He made this special sleeping area for Trevor to sleep in.  On Sunday, I walked into the living room and Tanner had this same contraption in a vertical position and he was sitting in it reading.

The next night Tanner added on an extension so both he and Trevor could sleep in this. The following day, Trevor decided to sleep in his regular bed, but Tanner slept in this every night until his parents came home.  He said he slept better this way.

Tanner has always loved to dress up in various attire.  Camille called  him her accessory kid. Every day, when he was younger he would dress up as a pirate, Buzz Lightyear, a cowboy, Spiderman, Hulk, etc.  I shot this picture of him the last time Randy and I went down to Mesa to tend the kids.  I love the way he posed.  He obviously has seen Spiderman in comics and movies.

All you boys were so helpful, obedient, and sweet to me. I love you all so dearly and thanks for being so great while I was in Arizona.