Randy & Vickie were married 40 years ago today.

Here they are by Randy's beloved '57 Ford when they were dating.

He's so handsome and she's so pretty that I just had to post this.

Four beautiful children were born as a result of their love.

Left to right: Steve, Dee, Tricia, and Nickie

Happy Father's Day to Dad, Randy & "Sons"

Randy said that the best thing anyone could call him was DAD

and he LOVED having fun with his kids!

Here he is with Dee and Steve

Randy's sons learned to be fun dads by his example.

Here Randy and Steve are playing with Karli on her birthday.

Here Steve is helping Sage eat her first birthday cake.

Below Dee is looking adoringly at his precious

new baby Avery . . .

. . . and here Dee is having fun with Nash.

Camille's husband, Jerel, has always been a devoted dad

who shows his boys how to work . . .

. . . and play.

I will never forget how he kept dancing with toddler-age Trevor

when Trevor discovered Randy's Hokey Pokey Elmo.

Nickie's husband, Cris, also adores his children.

Here he is holding Aubrey on her blessing day.

Last but not least, thanks to my heroes, my twin Daddies.

For those of you who don't know, my dad is Gerald, the one on the right.

They were both artistic, musical, intelligent, congenial, hard-working lovers of the outdoors and family. They both had an incredible sense of humor and loved playing tricks on people. They especially LOVED being identical twins and took full advantage of that by impersonating one another--just to see if they could get away with it . . . and they always could. They even ended up being co-presidents of BYU. No one could ever tell which one was which, so they just elected them both. (Besides, they knew if they elected one, the other one would just impersonate him.)

They were the fount of all knowledge who taught me to love learning and to NEVER hurt another person's feelings. (I have failed at that sometimes, but I don't think I have ever deliberately set out to hurt someone's feelings, but then I end up inadvertently doing it and I apologize to anyone if I have done so to you.) They were the best dads any girl could ever wish for. I thank God for you both.

I have been most fortunate to have such wonderful dads in my life: the dad who fathered me, Uncle Jim who was like another dad to me, my wonderful husband Randy, and to all of my wonderful sons (pictured in the blog--whom I was not fortunate enough to give birth to), but I am so proud of you and love you all very much.

Memorial Day Flowers & My Yard

This is what Randy and Vickie's grave looked like on Memorial Day. I brought the sunflower, carnation, lily bouquet, and I know that Steve, Jen, Tricia, and Bentley brought something, and I am guessing some of the mum plants were also brought by Alan Bray and Russ and Sherry because they brought mum plants last year. However, I don't know who brought what, so please write a comment and let me know what you brought.

The following pictures are of what the flowers look like in my yard.

The pictures above and below are by the front door.

Here are some Iris that I planted by the back fence.

Here is the new Aphrodite Rose of Sharon tree I planted in the front yard, so the front flower bed could get more light--plus add some more color to the front yard. I also planted 2 Forsythia bushes--one in the front yard and one in the back, so I could have more color and brighten up the yard in the spring.

Below is what the blossoms of the Rose of Sharon tree will look like in July and August. It is supposed to bloom this year. I sure hope it does. I can hardly wait until is gets bigger and has hundreds of blossoms.

Heavenly Blossoms

Here are some shots I took of the beautiful flowers

 at the Jordan River Temple.

Chase, puzzles, Mentos, & Coke

My oldest grandson, Chase, came up for BYU's Especially for Youth and spent all Sunday afternoon and night with me. It was so fun to have him here.  We put together a puzzle which took the length of two movies to accomplish because there were so many totally white pieces.  Chase did 75 per cent of it. He's been good at puzzles since he was 3.  Isn't he so grown up and handsome?

Then we went outside to experiment 

with putting Mentos in Diet Coke.

Watch the video below:

I wonder how they made it look so good on Myth Busters?

A Touching Lesson

Could these otters be holding hands?

Is there some lesson these otters can teach us?

Just click on the arrow in the bottom left corner

of the following picture to start the video clip below.

Just knowing that someone is there can give us such comfort.

Just being able to touch someone, 

hug someone,

hold someone's hand

makes us feel so much better.

Otters know this. 

Let us hope that all humans

can learn this too.  

P.S. Please show this to my grandkids, I think they will love this.

Why I Feed the Birds & Thoughts of Rich Holdaway

Ever since Jen & Steve gave me a bird feeder several years ago, I have been faithfully feeding the birds--sparrows, doves, house finches, magpies, robins, quail, pigeons, and I even spotted a hawk in my trees on several occasions.  However, last summer I spotted a most unusual guest at my bird feeder.  Yes, a little blue parakeet had started dining regularly in my yard.  This gave me incentive to keep feeding the birds even though it was summer because I knew that this parakeet was probably someone's pet that had flown away and he would not know how to find bugs and seeds on his own.

When winter came, I got worried.  I had stopped seeing him, and I didn't know if he had flown south with some doves, if a cat had eaten him, or if he had frozen to death.  
Then miracle of miracles, just before I went to the temple today, I spied my little friend in the Catalpa tree. He was still alive!  He had found his way back to my yard. I was overjoyed.  I ran and got two neighbors who were in my front yard so they could see him. He even stayed there while I went in the house to get my camera-- remaining calmly perched while I took about a dozen shots of him.  
Then after eating his fill at my bird feeder, my little friend calmly just fell asleep. . . . . and that is just what my dear friend Rich Holdaway did today.  He came home from seeing a doctor, fell asleep in their car, but unlike my little feathered friend, Rich never woke up. 

Although Rich had been deathly ill with MRSA this fall, he had been feeling quite good recently. Rich had a marvelous idea to remodel their house so he came up with some incredible plans. Workmen have been working on it for several months. It is still not finished.

Randy died before he could see his Riviera repainted with a glorious new paint job, and Rich died before he could see his house remodeled. 

Rich and Maureen both had slight back aches last night, but Rich woke up with a terrible pain in his back this morning.  Maureen took him to see a doctor. He was given pain killers and sent home.  Rich was too tired to get out of their car and when Maureen went back out to try to get him into the house, he was gone. . . . Last year a light went out when Randy left us and the world is noticeably less bright now that Rich is gone, too.

Richard, his brother Jon, and I did everything together as we grew up in Price.  It seems that I have always known him. Because of Rich, I met Randy-- the love of my life and married him.

Randy was my best friend and dear husband.  Rich was also a dear friend.  Goodbye, to another dear eternal friend . . . .  

Thanks for remembering me on Mother's Day

Ever since Camille moved to Arizona, she has sent me a Mother's Day corsage, which I have always treasured receiving.  For the last 3 years, she has sent me a gardenia corsage, which literally has made me cry every time I  have received one.  Receiving a gardenia is extra special because it reminds me of the gardenia tree we had in our Billings, Montana, home. Thanks, Camille for being so thoughtful. 

Here is a photo of the gardenia tree we used to have.

There are over 36 gardenias on the tree in just this one photo.

I loved sitting in my gardenia scented living room.

Over the course of one blooming season, 

it would bear over 120 blossoms.

After church, I was surprised by a delightful Mother's Day phone call from Ethan. We had a long conversation about Bakugans, his friends, his sisters, and school. Thanks, Ethan, for such a nice gift. Unfortunately, I had to hang up before I could talk to London and Nickie, so I will call them today and see how they are doing. 

My beloved sister, Charlene, gave me this rose and also invited me over for dinner.  However, I had also been invited over to eat dinner at Vicki Hill's, house, too, so I ate at Vicki's and then went to Charlene's for a delightful visit.  I love you both so much.  

Vicki has been my dear friend ever since we lived next door to each other when we were teenagers in Price.  My favorite thing to do was to climb in Vicki's bedroom window and then leave by walking out past her parents in the living room--making them wonder where I had come from because they had not seen me come to their front door. I loved the surprised look on her dad's face when I did that for the first time.

Dee and Angie brought me these incredible tulips and this lovely basket of personal items.

During their Mother's Day visit, Nash went downstairs and built this puzzle all by himself, which really impressed me because the last time he tried to do it a few months ago, he needed a lot of help doing it.

Here's gorgeous little Avery.

When Camille and family came up for Jerel to run in the Salt Lake Marathon, Camille gave me these two pictures that I just love.  They are even signed by the artist/photographer who happens to live in their stake in Mesa. He actually hired people and then went to special locations in order to photograph these very realistic scenes from the life of Christ. I think he was truly inspired and so were the people in the photographs. I am still looking for just the right frames for them. 

I especially love this one because it shows Jesus laughing and hugging his beloved cousin John who had just baptized Him. All my life I have only seen sober pictures of Jesus Christ.  I had never thought about Jesus laughing before, but why shouldn't He laugh and show joy?  He had just "fulfilled all righteousness" by setting the example of what we all should do, and He was also baptized by someone he knew and loved.  

Thanks also to Jen and Steve who called and wanted to come by and see me, but I  wasn't home when they wanted to come by.  I am so sorry that I missed you.  You are always so thoughtful in remembering me and for including me on special occasions, like Karli's VIP Day at Kindergarten.  The following post is about her special day, so keep reading.

Karli's Big Day!

Karli was chosen to be the VIP for the day in her Kindergarten class.

Here she is sitting in front of her poster that she helped make. 

The guests who came: Mom (Jen), Papa Gunderson, sister Sage, 

Nana Gunderson, Dad (Steve), & Tobi. ( I'm the photographer. )

Here Karli is pointing to Grandpa Randy and telling the class 

that he is in Heaven now. 

Karli then had the opportunity to answer questions

 that many of her classmates asked. 

At the end, her classmates all lined up to pet Toby,

 who was very calm and gentle with all the kids.

Horses and Hats

When I was in fourth grade, I became horse crazy.  Every day I would draw horses--probably because it was the only thing I could draw very well. The white paper is now yellow, but I saved some of the work I did when in elementary school. I drew this picture when I was age 9. The above horse's name was Cuddles and Cream.

I drew this horse at the end of fourth grade when I was age 10. The paper has yellowed because this drawing is 55 years old!  It seems like it was just yesterday.

I had always loved animals and mostly read books about them: Bambi and Bambi's Children by Felix Salten, Black Beauty, Beautiful Joe ( about a dog who had his ears cut off by some mean person), but then I discovered the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley and that did it! I read all 12 of them while in 4th grade! I fell totally in love with Arabian horses and from that moment on I kept track of which horses won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes.  I was overjoyed in sixth grade when my family got a TV because then I started watching all of the Triple Crown races on television.

If a human can have a horse for a hero, then I would have to say that Secretariat became my hero. I can still remember when Jim McKay on ABC's Wide World of Sports called the Belmont Stakes when Secretariat won by 31 lengths. No horse has ever won the Belmont with such a large margin of distance. Secretariat also set the world record in speed. Secretariat's record at the Belmont has never been broken. 

Above is Secretariat winning the Kentucky Derby in 1973.  He set a track record that has never been equalled. He ran the 1 1/4 miles in 1:59 2/5 minutes.  He achieved the unheard-of feat called "Negative splitting" which means he ran each quarter mile segment faster than the one before it.  His successive quarter mile times were:  25 1/4, 24, 23 4/5, 23 2/5, and 23. He was accelerating faster and faster in each succeeding 1/4 mile and was still accelerating by the time he crossed the finish line--something that no horse had ever done. 
This black and white photo shows Secretariat  31 lengths ahead of the 2nd place horse in the Belmont in 1973.  Secretariat not only broke the margin-of-victory record , but he also ran the fastest 1 1/2 miles on dirt in history, at 2:24 flat. This works out to a speed of 37.5 mph for his entire performance.  Secretariat's world record still stands. 

(In fact , no other horse has even broken 2:25 for this same distance.)

This color photo shows just how far ahead Secretariat was from the rest of the horses when he won the Belmont.
Because many consider Secretariat to be the greatest race horse of all time and because his records at the Belmont Stakes have never been equalled, they erected this bronze statue in his honor by the entrance gate at Belmont Race Track.

Although I have always loved Secretariat's speed. I think Arabian horses have the most beautiful heads of any breed of horse.  Compare this black Arabian's head with Secretariat's. Just look at the small chiseled noses on these gorgeous horses.

Again, notice this grey Arabian's head and how it narrows at the nose.

Arabians' heads are so much more exquisite than those of quarter horses

 I always wanted my own black Arabian, just like the child pictured in this movie poster.

Aren't they stunning when they run?

Today, Mine That Bird, a long shot--a horse with 50-1 odds won the Kentucky Derby. In the whole 135 year history of the Derby, only one other horse has won with such big odds. 

Here's Mine That Bird crossing the finish line today.  I bet his owners are kicking themselves because he is a gelding. (This means he cannot sire any children.)

Randy always said the best part of baseball is "the game within the game." I loved having him explain "the game within the game" to me when we would be watching a baseball game on television. 

Well, part of the game within the game at the Derby is the unofficial contest the ladies have to see who can have the best hat.  Here are some of the ladies who were watching the Derby today. It must have been a lot warmer in Kentucky today than it was in Utah because most of the ladies are wearing sleeveless dresses. 

At least this one is made out of see-through material.

This one, shaped like a horse's head, gets the unofficial award for being the most creative.

All of these hats are so big, how can anyone see the horse race?