Stanley Cup

Here is the team winning the Stanley Cup with Scotty Bowman and "my guys", Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan.

We are in the play-offs...Yea, go Red Wings!!

My Mom

Mom and Dad get married, December 3, 1961 Carson City Nevada



My Mom
Loved trains--to ride on and to listen to at night
Loved popcorn--especially the burned bits
Loved Camping--the smell, the quiet, the campfire
Loved music--all kinds of music, the soft and the rowdy!
Loved animals--dogs, cats, ducks, turtles, hamsters and even a rat named Daisy
Loved her grand-babies--all 11 of them and one great grand-baby
Loved starting over--trying again, she wouldn't give up trying to be happy someplace

She would have been 65 today...
Happy Birthday Mom!

Four Things

Four jobs I have had in my life:

Office/house cleaner
Waitress
Beauty school receptionist (did you think I was going to say
"drop-out"?)
Retail dept manager


Four movies I would watch over and over:

Foul Play
Chocolat
Barefoot in the Park
Only You

Four places I have lived:

ONLY four?!
Fresno, CA
Incline Village, NV
Lansing, MI
Provo, UT


Four places I have been:

Sweden
Grand Canyon
Mackinac Island
Hawaii

People who e-mail me (regularly):

Brita
Heather
My bro (really my sis-in-law)
Kim

Four of my favorite foods:

Again ONLY four?!
Pizza
Lasagna
Tacos
London broil
(yes, I do know that half of those are "fast food"
that's why I like them!)

Four favorite ice creams:

Jamoca Almond Fudge
Chocolate Peanut-butter cup
Chocolate Raspberry (from Sundae's)
Gold Medal Ribbon

Four places I would rather be right now: 

Hawaii
Flagstaff
Standing in front of dozens of cameras with the winning
Powerball ticket
With my Fam (all of 'em)


Four people I think will respond: 
Other people who don't
have anything better to do like me
and Jan (she loves these things too!)


Four things I am looking forward to this year:

Losing weight (yes, I say that every year, but I am
looking forward to it!)
Vacation out West (HOPE!)
Doug getting a decent job
Detroit Tigers winning the World Series
(I'm going with my brother on this one!)

Mother's Day 2008

Ah, Mother's Day. I see the commercials of the wonderful gifts and happiness and light and they all seem a little lacking to me. Mother's Day isn't about diamonds (though I wouldn't refuse one if my darling children got one!)
It is about the shared love and joy and tears of being in a family. Shared experiences...I have given mother's day cards to my friend's mothers because they took care of me. Likewise my Grams and even my dear friend who has no children but is always genuinely interested in what my kids are doing.

Mother's Day hasn't been the same for me since 2005, our first without ALL of our kids here! This year is my first one without my Mom. I am apprehensive...I am SO grateful for the knowledge that my Mom and my baby are together with my Dad and my grandpas and grandma on this day.

I wanted to put something here that honors both my daughter and my Mom and I have a poem that my Mom wrote for Reagan. I knew exactly where it was for an entire year, but since we moved I cannot find it. I know I will though, I know I will find that precious piece of paper and maybe then I will write it for Reagan's birthday.

I found another poem that someone gave me and I want to post a portion of it.

"What Makes a Mother?" by Jennifer Wasik

...A mother has a baby
This we know is true
"But God, can you be a Mother
When your baby's not with you?"

"Yes you can," He replied
With confidence in His voice,
"I give many women babies,
When they leave is not their choice.

Some I send for a lifetime,
And others for the day.
And some I send to feel your womb,
But there's no need to stay."

"I just don't understand this
God, I want my baby to be here."
He took a deep breath and cleared His throat,
And then I saw the tear.

"I wish I could show you,
What your child is doing today.
If you could see your child's smile,
With all the other children and say...

'We go to Earth to learn our lessons,
Of love and life and fear.
My Mommy loved me oh so much,
I got to come straight here.

I miss my Mommy oh so much,
But I visit her each day.
When she goes to sleep,
On her pillow's where I lay.

I stroke her hair and kiss her cheek,
And whisper in her ear
'Mommy don't be sad today,
I'm your baby and I'm here.'"

"So you see my dear sweet ones,
your children are okay.
Your babies are born in my home
And this is where they'll stay.

They'll wait for you with me,
Until your lesson's through.
And on the day that you come home
They'll be at the gates for you.

So now you see what makes a Mother,
It's a feeling in your heart
It's the love you gave so much of
Right from the very start..."


Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms I know no matter what stage of life you are at. You work hard and are rarely appreciated. You are incredibly busy and rarely have time for yourself. You are an inspiration to your children and the children of others. You are ALL an inspiration to me! I take with me something from each of you and I am blessed.

Prom Night Then and Now

I can't believe that it has already been 28 years since this picture was taken! Where does the time go? May 31, 1980 I went to my senior Prom with Steve Cary on the campus of Michigan State. Some of it I remember like it was last year and some of it I can't remember at all...
Helping Calah get ready for her Prom has brought back a lot of memories. I loved that my dress was so different from all the other girls who got the polyester clingy spaghetti strap kind. Mine was Gunny Sax AKA Jessica McKlintock. It was so romantic with the lace and ribbon and a long row of buttons all the way up the back. I had never really dressed up before. I loved my retro ankle strap creme color 1940's style shoes and my cameo earrings and necklace was so "Somewhere in Time" three years before that movie!
Calah's corsage was almost exactly like mine...red roses.




Here are the pictures of Calah's senior Prom. She was asked by Cam from her art class and she was kind enough to say yes even though she doesn't know him and her and her best friend Natalie had planned all along to go together as a last
Hoorah Girl's Night".
Cam and his Dad came over last weekend to meet us and we thought that was very cool.
Then Cam arrived with a wrist corsage and a red vest and tie to match with Calah. Calah had a great time despite the fact that Cam was intent on driving his own car even if he rode alone and even if she had to convince him that the "dirty dancing" was NOT going to happen with her!
I think I did a great job on her hair and I loved her choice of accent color: RED!

Andrew, Natalie (friends of Calah and each other, although Andrew is the one who loaded Linux on our computer, GRRRRR!)
Camariezz and Calah...her shoes are gorgeous red heels!
Her "Like Mom's" Corsage and check out the nails :-)
Is going to Prom really important? I thought so, but I guess in the grand scheme of things it's just another date, only more fancy.

Finally Ya Ya Quilt!

Look! I finally found the Ya Ya quilt pictures from November 28, 2007
Upper left is Traci Norton's "book shelf" of favorite books that we've read.
Upper right is Kim Spotts flower and a beautiful friendship quote by Georgia O'Keefe. The Ya Ya's saw her exhibit on our first Ya Ya weekend in 2005.
Middle left is my "uncrafty" friend Debbie Orcutt. She actually had to go into a fabric store (which makes her twitch!)
Middle is a beautiful 3-D flower from Jen Pocock (she's kind of an over-achiever!)
Middle right is a collection of flowers by Sally McHugh which she points out are NOT "botanically correct"!
Bottom left is my little red head from Kami Starnes. Late night "hair-a-py sessions" are epic!
Bottom right is my sneaky Vanessa who arranged to go to Traci's to actually sew this...Understand this girl cannot sew a straight line :-)


This is Nicole Arnold's square...The lyrics to the song "For Good" are written at the bottom. Can you believe the detail?


This is Becky Hill's square. She is amazing with words! Hopefully you can read it!

We love you Reagan and we will always remember you. The Ya Yas rule!!