Hi everyone!
We all wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Minnesota! Last Christmas Eve saw the snow falling. By 10:30 p.m. it was about 9 inches deep and Sonny and I decided to go for a walk in it! David declined to go with us old people, but our cocker spaniel was full of enthusiasm. It was one of the most incredible moments of my life. It was so bright that even though the sun had long gone down, it was so easy to see though we were surrounded with dark skies. We walked along around the neighbourhood. It was so silent, it was delightful. We enjoyed seeing the outside lights that the neighbours had put up and enjoyed the snowflakes on our faces. Paige loved it even though it was nearly to the top of her legs! What an exquisite memory.
Christmas Day sent us a picture of our grandson, Quinn, wearing a t-shirt saying ‘I’m going to be a big brother’ on it. August 8th brought our second grandson into the world – James Benjamin Bracken! Sonny and I were able to spend two whole weeks with Elizabeth, Peter, Quinn and James at the end of August. What a delight! It was very hard to come home. Elizabeth and Peter are moving back from Connecticut to Utah just before Christmas this year. Peter will have finished his course at law school and will be studying to take the final part of the bar in Utah as that is where he would like to practice. It only seemed like yesterday that they were moving to Connecticut and Elizabeth was expecting Quinn. I bet they will miss the fall colours that are so totally beautiful in Connecticut but will be glad to be finally working on getting a permanent place to live and settle down.
March brought a lot of pain especially to my husband, Sonny, as his son, Lohr passed away after losing his fight with depression. It has been hard to deal with the grief and Sonny is still rebuilding what his future is going to look like without his son in it. We found a plot of land to bury Lohr near his Grandpa Hathaway. He is resting between two trees where the squirrels scuttle up and the birds perch and sing.
David left home at the end of May to go to college at Brigham Young University Hawaii. I went with him to settle him in and enjoyed seeing the sights although David and I didn’t get to do as much as we would have liked to. David seems to be doing well there. He is majoring in BioChemistry and is working towards the career as a neurologist. He found the classes easy for the first two terms and has a lot of busy work this third semester. David has not said that he wants to come home, so I presume that he is happy there.
October brought my mum and dad out to their first visit to Minnesota and, by golly, Minnesota can’t be that bad, as they want to come and visit again! They went to New York for two days and went on a couple of trips to see the sights; then they took the train to Connecticut to see Elizabeth and Peter, and their two great grandchildren. Great Pa was a great hit with Quinn who had him playing all over their apartment every day. From Connecticut, they took the train to Boston, where they stayed for two days, then they caught the greyhound and trundled through states to get to Minneapolis where they found the best hotel and taxi services available. In fact, the food wasn’t half bad at the hotel either!
Sonny has been working as a temple worker for at least two years now and in June, I was called to serve there too. I was released as the compassionate service leader for the ward and called to be the nursery leader. So now after welcoming all these lovely babies into the world, I now get to mingle with them in the nursery. As of today, we must have about 26 children in the nursery aged 18 months to 3 years. We have 15 that will be moving up to the Sunbeam class in January. They are very cute and it’s is balm to me being so far away from my grandsons. It is very chaotic every Sunday especially after we have put all the toys away and get ready for our snack, lesson and singing. Don’t worry, we have a nursery worker who has a great voice for the singing, so we don’t torture the children too much!
I have not enjoyed my job this year at all. In fact, it is a chore to get up and go each weekday. Funny how things can change so fast. Lyden is still working at the same place and is very busy right now.
Well, we do wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!
Keep in touch.
Love Jen, Lyden & David xxx
Monday, December 13, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The manoeuver of how to make surprises.
The scriptures teach 'Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it'. So you heard in my earlier blog what I learned from the green trouser suit incident. Fast forward about five or six years and a certain granddaughter calls her grandparents' home and disguises her voice and puts a muslin cloth over the phone. Very politely she lets her grandfather know that she is from the City of Southampton and that she is calling to let them know that come Monday morning, he will not be able to move his car from the road to the garage. He can either leave the car in the garage or he will have to leave it up a ways on the street. She informs him that the city is coming to dig up the path outside his house and will engaged in this activity for about a week. If the car is left in the garage they will not be able to use it for a week. She apologises for the noise that the pneumatic drills will cause and then hangs up the phone. After a few minutes, she phones back and lets them know that she had tricked them and they had fallen for it.
Enthralled by her success, seven years later, she phoned her father declaring that she is calling from a television license detector van that is currently in their area. She relates that they are picking up that her parents do not have a current television license and they are watching the television. Her father confirms that they do have a television license so she asks for the number on the form. Her father races off to the bureau where her parents keep their paperwork. Meanwhile, great peals of laughter are escaping on the telephone line and when her father gets back to the phone, she is unable to continue with the facade and says a big thank-you to her father for getting the license number and then identifies herself. Gotcha Dad!
See what happens when you are buying a trouser suit for a little girl who is exactly the same size as your granddaughter?
Enthralled by her success, seven years later, she phoned her father declaring that she is calling from a television license detector van that is currently in their area. She relates that they are picking up that her parents do not have a current television license and they are watching the television. Her father confirms that they do have a television license so she asks for the number on the form. Her father races off to the bureau where her parents keep their paperwork. Meanwhile, great peals of laughter are escaping on the telephone line and when her father gets back to the phone, she is unable to continue with the facade and says a big thank-you to her father for getting the license number and then identifies herself. Gotcha Dad!
See what happens when you are buying a trouser suit for a little girl who is exactly the same size as your granddaughter?
Snow is here!
We had the first smattering of snow on October 27th, the day before Mum and Dad were due to fly back to England. It was due on the 28th and I had joked with Mum and Dad that they would be snowed in and have to stay in Minnesota for the whole of the winter. They just did not believe me! They were lucky and the snow came the day before and was over before they woke up. Both Sonny and I went to work in the snow .... but it was just too warm for it to lay.
At the beginning of this week, it was 60 degrees Fahrenheit! Can you imagine that we are talking about Minnesota in November!?! It was wonderful and we all lapped it up. However, the snow started during the night and 6 inches later ..... it's pretty wet and I don't think that it will stay around too long. I think that the ground is still too warm. However, it sounds like there is another snow storm on the way.
The first experience that I can remember with snow was on Christmas Day when I was 10 years old. I believe I went out on it on Boxing Day. It wasn't just the snow that made it memorable, it was the events that led up to Christmas Day ...
My father's parents - Nanny and Popsie - took me with them shopping in about September. We went into a department store called Owen & Owen (well I think it was called that - I don't think it exists any more). We were shopping in the children's clothes department. They told me about a little girl that they knew who was ten and they wanted to buy her a trouser suit. They said that she was about my size so I got to try on the green trouser suit for them. I thought it was lovely! I thought she was going to be a very lucky girl. Imagine my surprise and delight when I opened a Christmas present from them which turned out to be the lovely green trouser suit with white gloves and a matching green umbrella. I loved that trouser suit and took the manoeuver of how to make surprises under my belt!
The other gift that I received that Christmas was a camera. A camera with flashes that you had to put on when you took a photograph indoors. So that dates me! So where does the snow come in? Well, dressed up in my green trouser suit, white gloves and wielding the green umbrella, I ventured out to the front garden to take photographs of the snow. Unfortunately, on my travels back to the house, I slipped and ended up with a small chip on the camera. I still have my beloved camera and the photos of the house and the garden with white shading, but no scar on my knee!
At the beginning of this week, it was 60 degrees Fahrenheit! Can you imagine that we are talking about Minnesota in November!?! It was wonderful and we all lapped it up. However, the snow started during the night and 6 inches later ..... it's pretty wet and I don't think that it will stay around too long. I think that the ground is still too warm. However, it sounds like there is another snow storm on the way.
The first experience that I can remember with snow was on Christmas Day when I was 10 years old. I believe I went out on it on Boxing Day. It wasn't just the snow that made it memorable, it was the events that led up to Christmas Day ...
My father's parents - Nanny and Popsie - took me with them shopping in about September. We went into a department store called Owen & Owen (well I think it was called that - I don't think it exists any more). We were shopping in the children's clothes department. They told me about a little girl that they knew who was ten and they wanted to buy her a trouser suit. They said that she was about my size so I got to try on the green trouser suit for them. I thought it was lovely! I thought she was going to be a very lucky girl. Imagine my surprise and delight when I opened a Christmas present from them which turned out to be the lovely green trouser suit with white gloves and a matching green umbrella. I loved that trouser suit and took the manoeuver of how to make surprises under my belt!
The other gift that I received that Christmas was a camera. A camera with flashes that you had to put on when you took a photograph indoors. So that dates me! So where does the snow come in? Well, dressed up in my green trouser suit, white gloves and wielding the green umbrella, I ventured out to the front garden to take photographs of the snow. Unfortunately, on my travels back to the house, I slipped and ended up with a small chip on the camera. I still have my beloved camera and the photos of the house and the garden with white shading, but no scar on my knee!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
New Idea
So, I have had this idea for awhile about doing a blog where a discussion on topics could be hosted. After a lot of procrastination, it is now up and running - even if it is in babysteps. Check it out if you have time:
jennysjabberbox.blogspot.com
The idea is that a topic is given and people contribute their ideas and examples in relation to that topic by either writing a comment or emailing JennysJabberbox@comcast.net. I just love hearing about other people's ideas and experiences.
jennysjabberbox.blogspot.com
The idea is that a topic is given and people contribute their ideas and examples in relation to that topic by either writing a comment or emailing JennysJabberbox@comcast.net. I just love hearing about other people's ideas and experiences.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Give me AZ and 115 degrees F
So here we are in a MN summer. It's 10:24 p.m. and the sweat is running down in rivets! It's 87 degrees F and the humidity is 77! I think AZ and 115 degrees F is paradise! When is the snow coming!
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