My New Favorite Christmas Song (for this year!)

Because I have spent a fair amount of time at my sewing maching in the past couple of weeks, I have played a lot of Christmas music. And it has brought all the magic of Christmas earlier than usual. Can I tell you about my new latest favorite?

Of course, Silent Night will rank right up at the top forever, but Hilary Weeks has found a way to bring tears to my eyes in connection with Silent Night. On her new CD, check out track #7.

Hilary captures the wonder of Mary, singing a lullaby to her Son: "Heaven and earth meet in my arms tonight. He is mine, and yet He is God's."

The children's choir is sweet, singing our beloved "Silent Night." Then when the two melodies combine, my heart soars. I have played this track over and over again. Find it and "love it as I do." Thanks, Hilary, for setting the tone for my Christmas!

I Did It! I Did It!

My Final Exam score showed up sometime today while I was setting out the Nativities and putting up the Christmas tree. I got an 86 on the final and an 88% for the course. That class I was petrified that I might fail--well I got a B+ and I am SO RELIEVED and grateful.

Nothing more to say tonight. I officially have only 3 courses until I have completed my Bachelor's Degree. Do you think I can finish it before my 61st birthday?

Maybe tomorrow I'll take some pictures of my favorite nativity sets. Merry Christmas to All and to all a good night.

It's Out of My Hands!

Today is a day of great rejoicing! I got home two hours ago from taking the dreaded final exam for my Stats class. As I studied for the test, I went over a "practice exam" that had me SOOOO worried that I might fail the entire course by failing the final. BUT the real thing was not nearly as difficult--bless their hearts.

I have about 89% going for me; the final is worth nearly 30% of my grade. But Jeff did some computations for me and figured that even if I scored 50% on the final, I could not do worse than a B- for the end grade. I would not, under normal circumstances, be pleased with myself for earning a B-, but in this case, with my current GPA and the number of credits I could average that B- with, it won't bother me at all. Of course, I'll post when the scored show up online, but for now, it is enough to know that I don't need to try any longer to keep all those letters straight: the letter "p" for instance, can stand for proportion, population, parameter, and with other small marks used with it, can mean p-hat, or p-tilda, or p-bar. You get the picture. Lots of way I might be able to "mess up."

So---I will go clean bathrooms and make rice krispie treats and get ready for my company to come in a couple more hours. Yippee for fighting the good fight and finishing the course!

Odds & Ends

Just a few random things floating around in my head today:

1. The grades for all my assignments and exam #3 FINALLY made it to the "Posted" status, so we (Janyse and I) were able today to request the final exam. Who knows if the mail service will deliver in time to actually TAKE the exam before Thanksgiving, as desired.

2. We had a Stake YW Leadership meeting this morning. Such fun. We attended YWU, Young Women University, and covered the basics in the handbook with some fun games: word searches, crossword puzzle, and matching "games" in teams with our wards. When the closing prayer had been offered, we were asked to stay for just a minute longer, and one of the Stake YW counselors came out in full graduation garb--it helps that she is Dean of Students at Truman University in Kirksville, MO--and handed out Diplomas and a mug with hot chocolate, cup-of-soup, crackers and chocolates. The mug had a scripture printed on it: Let Everyone Learn Their Duty. They must have been planning this for ages. Well worth our 2-1/2 hours.

3. The Twelve Month bunnies are slowly coming along. The ears are sewn, pressed and in calendar order in individual baggies, inside a large baggie with the girl's name on the outside. All the pieces are cut, only a few missed the drill press step, and the bodies are essentially painted. We decided that the girls should come to my home next week, rather than my dragging an entire trunk full of supplies into a tiny, dark classroom at the church for next week's work. We also have a front porch handy at my home, where we can have light to do the spray coating to finish each painted piece. It is a long project, and that is part of the goal here: some things take a long time and have many parts to the process. It is WORTH IT to set a large goal and keep plugging on all the small steps along the way. In this world of "instant" everything, this is a needed character trait.

Exam #3 Completed

Janyse and I both took our third mid-term exam today. I truly have NO IDEA how I did--not too many questions where I absolutely did not know the answer, but lots that had potential for messing up.

At any rate, we are ready to blast through the final eight lessons and request the final so that it has time to arrive and then for us to take it prior to the Thanksgiving holiday!

YIPPEE!!!

End of Statistics Class: Coming Soon!

This very short post is for the benefit of Lynda, who asked if the stats class is completed yet. The answer is, "No," and right now I am waiting for the call from Nauvoo University saying they have received my Midterm Exam #3 and I can come take it.

I have been studying for hours today and hope to be ready to fly to the office and get that exam completed in short order when the phone rings. Then there are 8 more lessons and another week's wait so I can take the Final. I am praying that the mail service has no glitches in it (as it did with Columbus Day holiday last exam time!) and that the course will be finished before Thanksgiving. I really don't want to have the material grow another week colder in my head with folks on vacation from NU, and with company coming here for the feast.

And there you have it, folks. I will be requesting my next class within the week, so that I can get it ready to start ASAP. Writing a Family History sure does sound more up my alley!

For Marci

So Marci is right--these bunnies DO look much more festive dressed to celebrate her birthday. The BIG 21 on Wednesday. Happy Birthday to my youngest child!

Nauvoo Pumpkin Walk

In Nauvoo, the children do their "trick or treat" thing on October 30th, on All Hallow's Eve. I don't know where that tradition began, but it worked out very well this year. The real fun for Nauvoo in October is the annual "Pumpkin Walk" which is always the last Saturday in October. This year it fell ON Halloween! To read a wonderful article with photos from a better camera, see "Nauvoo Pumpkin Walk," in the Nov 6, 2008 issue of the online Meridian Magazine. It was written by my friend, Rosemary Palmer.

Here's an example of the intricate work done in this harvest medium--pumpkin carving!
This was the first time my parents were able to witness this celebration. We managed to keep Mom upright. She walked about a block and then back to the car--and slept like a baby afterwards, by her own report.

Lots of shops open, or folks set up a table and sell their wares--to benefit the library or boost someone's mission fund, or whatever their cause. By the end of the evening, you can get some considerable bargains. What had cost $4 was lowered to $3 etc. Here you could get Nauvoo Pie, whatever that is!

There was a long line of folks waiting to get into the spook alley. The streets are roped off so that visitors can walk in the streets, and the displays and contest entrants (carved pumpkins, of course) go on for about two blocks on both sides of the streets. Cars can actually drive the main street, but for this evening, the people rule the road!

Even the lamp posts are decorated with corn stalks--which are plentiful in the midwest, as you might imagine!

One of my favorite entries: WICKED! Fond memories to those who have seen the musical???

Here's quite a row of pumpkin offerings. Our Gospel Doctrine teacher is president of the Chamber of Commerce, and spends literally DAYS carving pumpkins and overseeing their being positioned down every alley and in front of every shop. It is a lot of work, and folks come from miles around to join in the festivities! If you ever wanted an excuse to visit Nauvoo, maybe this is it!!

Colorful characters abound. This beauty allowed me to take her picture! She could move the "skeleton spider" which was a type of puppet--scared some children to the extreme!

However, this little girls was a little more shy.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all!

Twelve Month Bunnies 2

Some folks requested to see samples of our Twelve Month Bunnies. Since I just changed them from Halloween to Thanksgiving, I took a photo of Marci's and my bunnies, dressed for October and November. Picture the Laurels painting the "magic wands" and flipping flecks of dark blue color onto the off-white bodies! Fun in the future!
November is a little bland compared to the bright contrasts of Halloween. Fun Fabrics!

Here are a few of the pieces cut, but as yet unsanded, and most have no holes drilled in them. But you get the picture! Bodies, patterns, and fabric scraps!

Here you get a better idea of the arms and legs. The small "not quite circle" is my adaptation for putting a shamrock on for March without having to cut the 1 inch pine in such intricate shapes. Call me a lazy bum!

The following two photos are the completed ears (and two that are not sewn!) for eleven of the twelve months. In the corner of the first photo is the cape for Halloween.

I'll update the photos as we complete more of the items! Thanks for asking.

Twelve Month Bunnies

Last night for our Laurel activity, we sewed, turned right side out, and pressed a bunch of ears for out TWELVE MONTH BUNNY project. Only two girls showed up (one who always comes is out of town for 3 weeks, and we miss her!)

I have been to several craft stores, searched high and low for fabrics and just the right touches to make my wooden bunnies. Today I hit a lumber store, and Mike helped me by cutting my 8-foot pieces of 1 x 6 and 2 x 6 into a more managable 4-foot length so I could bring them home in my car. Then he offered me some scraps--I jumped at the chance. Since I cannot find a thinner piece, some of the "magic wands" just might be from that 1 x 6 scrap lumber. Not as east to cut, but FREE is good.

See you guys--not everything in my life revolves around the blasted Statistics class!

Baling Hay, Midwest Style!

Here in the Midwest, bales of hay are not square and stacked to make (of all things!) a HAYSTACK. Rather, bales are round, and sometimes covered with a sheet of plastic, kind of like a tarp. When the "vacant" field behind our house was recently cut and baled, I caught the machinery in the process.

This is the tractor pulling the baling machine.
As the tractor heads down the field, he runs RIGHT OVER the rows of grass (part alfalfa, my dad tells me) which were cut a few days earlier and left to dry.
Here's another row of dry grass, as seen through the bean patch in our garden!
The baler rounds the corner.
Even as slow as my camera is, I was able to snap a picture as the back opened up and dropped its new bale of hay.
A couple of days later the tractor showed up again with a forklift type of attachment on the front. The worker "stabbed" the lifts into the bale and heaved it onto the trailer.
When the field was empty, the trailer was full, and the process ended--we need only watch the grass grow again, then be cut, dried, rolled and stacked as history repeats itself. One eternal round!

Typical Day

I have been wondering why my shoulders are aching. I think I have it figured out. Here's a typical day for me since school started a couple of weeks ago:

7 am Bend, stoop, and reach in the Bean Patch
7:30 am Bend over the sink, snapping beans
8 am Process beans while eating breakfast, showering, etc.

9:15 am Leave for Physical Therapy Appointment--which entails exercises for strengthening my shoulders and neck. And remember, it is a half hour drive to Keokuk, one way.

10:30 Grocery shop (can't waste the gas on only one errand!)

12:30 After lunch, sit at computer, listening to STATS Tutor
1:30 Bend over textbook, or work on lesson
2:20 Phone Janyse--hold phone with left shoulder while discussing lesson and scrolling with mouse

5:00 or 5:30 or 6:00 or whenever-- Wrap up lesson for the day after submitting Speedback assignment and talking again with Janyse to compare scores.

Have no idea whatever for dinner--so opt for soup and cheese toast or leftovers yet again. Wash off bean jars and take to Mom or downstairs to food storage room.

Bend over computer doing YW work or working on Temple schedule.

With slight variation, I repeat this "typical day" after a few hours' sleep. Wow, no wonder my neck hurts and my shoulders ache!

Family Photos

Just when you think we have dropped off the face of the earth, VOILA!!! Here we are again. I guess this post is compliments of a BYU website being relocated--so I cannot work on my Statistics right now.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then this Novel is for your viewing pleasure. Prepare to SAVOR the experience. In spite of the heat and humidity, we managed to look not too uncomfortable.
The entire "clan" at the Monument to Women, south of the Historic Nauvoo Visitors' Center

The Nakamoto Family:

The Krumperman Family:

The Peterson Family:

The Frerichs Family:

The three As-Yet-Unmarrieds:

The Nucleus Family:

The Grandparents and all the Kids:

Our "Frolic" around the Ring Around the Rosies statues:

Family Reunion

We have many more photos from our Reunion (June 23-29ish), but let's start with these. The Petersons family came first and helped Grandma make a batch of lollipops. Strawberry flavor. Tons of fun, except getting cut by the "glass" shards that inevitably are attached to the candy.
The group went swimming in Hamilton on a hot, humid afternoon.

Seth and Taggart put the Buffalo Puzzle back together

Rachel and Tanner play a game of chess.

One small part of the piles of shoes. I should have taken a shot of all the ones OUTSIDE the front door as well.

After we saw "Just Plain Anna Amanda, we had quite a photo shoot with the cast members. We totally dominated the crowd inside the Cultural Hall, all wearing our T-shirts alike!

Rachel snags a piggyback ride with Teagan.

Some of the cast members from "Anna Amanda"

Our Marshmallow War was hot and heavy (and HUMID!!) at Nauvoo State Park. Here's Talmage taking aim.

More pictures will follow, after I get some from Jeff's computer. The reunion was terrific fun, and after Valerie's family left, the weather cooled and the humidity dropped, making it a LOT MORE COMFORTABLE!

Heavenly Hot Water!!!

After three days of having no hot water, I was ecstatic to return home today to a dishwasher full of CLEAN dishes and the ability to wash my hands and have them come really clean. In our 2-year-old home, something went awry with the water heater and we have been without that luxury since Saturday evening.

Thank heaven Mom and Dad have three showers in their home and generously let the four of us in at any hour of the day or night to use one. I was watching the dirty clothes hampers fill without much relief in sight, and I was not looking forward to returning home from the doctor visit and shopping and needing to boil water in order to wash all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

Joe the Plumber came highly recommended, but after leaving him a message two days in a row without hearing from him, Jeff took matters into different hands and found the name of a repairman who had helped install the generator at my parents' house. He was here within hours and with minor adjustments to the fancy shmancy pilot-less gas water heater, it now functions perfectly again.

I've never been so grateful to empty the dishwasher as I experienced just now putting away clean silverware. And I just wasn't looking forward to 29 people in the house without hot water. Is there anyone out there who can relate to my jubilation?? We have become spoiled indeed, with the conveniences we take for granted.

Grandma is Improving

Sorry, no photos this time. I spent 8 hours with my mom today--driving her to Quincy to see the eye doctor. She scraped up her glasses pretty badly and we wanted to be sure her eyes were not injured in her fall. She really thought she'd be ordering glasses, but the opthamologist suggested waiting a few more days so that the swelling around her eye would not affect her vision and cause her to get the wrong correction.

"Grandma" is doing much better. She had the stitches removed from her lip yesterday and last night was the first night since the fall that she had been able to wear her C-PAP machine and use her oxygen. This morning she felt S*O M*U*C*H better. We jaunted into JC Penney, had lunch at Hardee's, got Father's Day cards and a gifts for Dad, and then did a MAMMOTH shopping trip to Sam's Club. No driving trip to Quincy is complete without ice cream from DQ. I had Jeff's Highlander with the seats flipped down for maximum cargo capacity.

Mom was just ahead of me at Sam's with her one purchase: a 6 foot folding table.

I followed her with two carts full and merited extra help from a young man who helped me put the frozen chicken breasts into the cooler on top of all the ice cream treats for our reunion next week. Then we stacked piles and rows of paper products, pasta, cheeses etc. Wow, we have great meals planned for the next few days. We will all waddle home from our reunion. The kids start arriving in just five days, and then the real fun begins.

And frankly, I can't wait!!! Let the fun begin!!!

Poor Grandma Grimshaw!

We had quite a wild time with Mom last night. Kathy had grandchildren in town and we all met at the Adventure Zone to "play" together. We walked out to the Go-Kart track to see the three little people taking rides on those exciting cars, when Mom fell into the track--she didn't see the step down and was without her cane, trying to turn her camera on. Immediately she was lying on the concrete in a growing pool of blood.

We called the paramedics, got paper towels to apply pressure on the cut lip, and eventually waded through her disorientation to a sitting position with two adults holding her up. Jen got the little ones inside and we waited. I shoved my YW responsibilities off on a counselor (yes, it was a Mutual Night!) and drove to the hospital 20 miles away, beating the ambulance there.

We had a very nice doctor and wonderful nursing care, but darn--Emergency Rooms are just not speedy places to visit. FOUR HOURS later, we drove away, with stitches in the lip, and x-rays and CT scan which revealed no broken bones other than a probable broken rib among the shadows of previous broken ribs.

This morning this is what Grandma Grimshaw looks like:
I think she should be in the running for the heavyweight prizefighter, don't you? She is at home, using a walker (which is not ideal, since there are many changes from hardwood to rugs to carpets and back again). She is able to drink through a straw: hot chocolate, cream of wheat, tomato soup, etc. She is in pretty good spirits considering.

BUT--I don't think she will be running any races very soon. Her left knee is about the size of a cantaloupe. She slept last night without her C-PAP machine, but will probably try it tonight, since she will heal much more quickly with better sleep.

Our prayers are with her. So are yours, I hope!