Wednesday, November 26, 2008

5: birthday card









































Tomorrow you will be 5. I am excited for you because I know your mother,
father and Daniel have planned a very special day for you, where you will enjoy
friends, family, great food and presents.

I will miss being there terribly, and I feel like crying when I think about not
being there to celebrate with you. I love you Penn and wish you a very
special birthday. You are the best!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Obama

I am proud of the stand you have made for Obama, our next president.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Garlic Spinach Quiche

One of grandma's favorite dishes
to make & eat is spinache quiche.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

What's Happen Today: Friday 08-26-08

1. Presidential Debates between McCain & Obama.

2. Paul Newman died. The first movie grandma Jeanne ever saw was "Butch Cassidy & the
Sundance Kid" with Paul Newman & Robert Redford.

3. Growth near where grandma works.

4. Economy struggling.

5. Uncle Tyler flies to Dallas, TX to visit you.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Pita Bread

Whole wheat pita bread has always
been a favorite of grandma's.
I have started making it myself,
and enjoy fresh from grandpa
Willard's oven.

Tonight we stuffed our fresh
pita bread with blue cheese,
fresh tomatoes and cucumbers
from the garden.

What is your favorite stuffings
in pita bread?

Friday, August 15, 2008

A busy week!

This has been a busy week...

1. Teaching English to Koreans at 5:00 a.m. for me 5:00 p.m.
in Korea.
2. Worked at the hospital.
3. Fair week. (I won tickets to see Josh Turner, but gave them away
to someone who "LOVES" Josh Turner!)

What was your favorite thing about this week?
What was the worst thing that happened this week?

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Summer



Summer is my favorite season!
(gray kitty's too).

What do you like best about

Summer?

Friday, August 8, 2008

Invaded

Our tomato plants have
been invaded by the
"tomato horn worm".







































When I was young, I was horribly afraid of bugs. I would have bad dreams about bugs, and all too often I would wake up my older sister (your great aunt Gyl), who shared a room with me, in the middle of the night to check under my bed for "big bugs". Reluctantly she would crawl out of her bed, come over to mine, take a peek underneath my bed and reassure me there were NO bugs under my bed! My older brother Darryl (your great uncle Darryl), would chase me around the yard with a bug in his hand until I cried and grandma Moon would finally come to my rescue and tell him to "stop it".


I am older now (much), and no longer afraid of bugs. That doesn't mean I like them, but there are some I don't like less than others and the tomato worm is one I don't mind watching as it gorges itself on our tomato plant. When I told grandpa Willard about them, he promptly bolted out of the house and tore them off the tomato plants and sent them sailing through the air...(made me laugh to myself).

Grandpa Willard
Great Uncle Darrly
Aunt Lise
Great Aunt Gyl


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Work


"You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your
mind." [Unknown/quotegarden]

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Bobcat

"There comes a time in every
rightly constructed boy's life
that he has a raging desire to
go somewhere and dig for
hidden treasure."
[Mark Twain]
...and there comes a time
when the cat must find
a place that the dog
cannot get to.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

HA!!!

Have your mother go on YouTube Pixar (Mike's New Car) Monster Inc bonus.

Today grandma was sad and this made me laugh (thanks to uncle Tyler who
found it for me).

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Saturday PM






































































Grandpa and grandma Gustavsen have been married for 25 years!
There are many reasons we have stayed married this long, besides
the fact we love each other very much. One of those is kayaking.

Saturday AM

























Why are dogs so great? They drool a lot, they sniff your hinnie
as well as all your guest/company. They have big poops that you have
to scoop up and throw some where else, they pee on all your favorite
plants, and some dogs dig big holes in the yard.
They chew up your favorite shoe, sandal or boot; just one from each set!
They push their way into the house, even though you told them to sit and
wait by the door and they gave their word they would; (that is when they
make direct eye contact with you, giving you the confidence they understood
what you said). But NOOOOOOOOOOooooo, the minute you turn around,
their tongue falls out of their mouth, they dash past you into the house, and
their hair starts falling out, and they eat all the cat food up in less than 10
seconds.
...so why are dogs so great?

Because...out of all the creatures in this world we must live with, they are
probablly the only ones who are always happy to see us, never scold us,
best listeners, great to snuggle with, go on any adventure with you,
and ALWAYS clean up their plates.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Marley

Marley waiting for me
to take him for a walk.













...running ahead of me.




















...catching up to me.













..waiting for his treat
after our walk.











Marley is grandma's black lab. When you were last here we had Joy, who was
uncle Tyler's pet lab. When uncle Tyler started school, I became Joy's main
caregiver; feeding, watering and walking her. She soon would follow me
everywhere I went. She would sit beside me when I worked in the shop,
wait for me outside the door when I went inside, and sometimes I would
let her ride with me in the car, where she would sit on the passenger's side
with this look like she knew how to drive too. If someone drove up into
the driveway she would run to me and give a low growl warning me some
one was here. When I was sad she would come up to me and lay her head
in my lap or against me and look at me with eyes of compassion.
A couple years ago Joy became very ill. Grandma took her to the vet,
and we put her on medicine hoping she would get better. For several
months we watched her get weaker and weaker. Some times grandma and
aunt Lise would sit with her out in the garage, where she would lay her
head in our laps and fall asleep. Joy died in our arms at the vet's office.
Aunt Lise and I cried a lot and our hearts ached we missed her so much.

I guess I must have cried a lot because grandpa Willard, aunt Lise, and
uncle Tyler surprised me with another black lab puppy, who uncle
Tyler named Marley, after the singer, Bob Marley.

Marley isn't the gentle Joy. He is big, and when he runs to me when I
call he doesn't stop fast enough and often runs right into me. He pulls
the leash out of my hands sometimes when I tell him we're going for a
walk, instead of sitting patiently like Joy until I attach the leash to his
collar. When I give him his treat he slobbers all over and often has crumbs
all over his face, and then wipes it on me!


BUT, like Joy he is always smiling. He follows me around, almost every
where I go, and when someone drives into the driveway he'll go out into
the rode if we don't watch him. When I am sad he looks at me with his
big eyes as if to say "Snap out of it! let's go for a walk!!!"
I am thankful I have another dog to love and take care of.
What do you like about Ringo?




Sunday, July 20, 2008

My Morning Shake


8 oz soy milk
1-2 bananas
4 strawberries
a few blueberries

Blend in a blender. I put the fruit in the freezer
for a bit, and it makes the shake nice & cold.


What is your favorite shake?

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Rain





















I woke up to the sound of a steady, soothing rain this morning. It was
music to my ears and it almost always brings out some frogs, which it
did! This good size tree frog was peeoping in through our window
(most likely watching all those annoying flies that got in).

Grandpa Willard went to church this morning, so I took the opportunity
to wrap some small birthday items for him. If you may wonder in the
future "why" grandma isn't in church...grandma enjoyed church for many
years when your mom, aunt Lise and uncle Tyler were little. Now that I
am old/er the "orgainized religious" practice gives me a head ache some-
times, not always. If you were here I would enjoy taking you, because we
could sing some fun songs, hear some neat stories and get some stickers,
and learn how God is responsible for all the good in life, and most likely
the teachers would call you cute, sweet, and smile alot.

In the adult classes the singing is for the church serivce only, the stories
are replaced with critical opinions, NO stickers whatsoever! People
use the Bible more for pushing their interpetations, instead of using
it as a guide of inspiration and comfort. No one is very cute, however
the old ladies can be sweet, smile and hug a lot; they inspire me.

Some Saturdays I go, and some saturdays I stay home and watch the
birds and look for frogs...

It has stopped raining so I will walk Marley. What do you like to do
on Saturdays, or when it rains?

Friday, July 18, 2008

A Day Off















Today was my day off from work, YEAH!

One of the first things I do when I get up is make myself a cup of coffee;
I love coffee. Not just any coffee, fresh and rich with cream. I like the
way it smells when it is brewing, I like the rich color before I add the
cream, and I the carmel color after I add the cream...and I love the way
the first sip gently wakes me up.

Grandpa Willard video taped me with his new flip camera he got. I
didn't know what he was doing (I'm fuzzy when I first get up), until
he showed me this:







For breakfast I made oatmeal with a smashed banana and vanilla soy milk.
  • then I took bath
  • fed, watered and walked Marley, (grandma's black lab)
  • fed and watered aunt Lise's chickens
  • went to my computer lab
  • renewed my license plate tags
  • talked to you and your mother on the phone
  • swept, mopped, and did some laundry
  • made spinach quiche for dinner
  • went back to the grocery store because grandpa Willard and I were hungry for ice cream
  • designed a birthday card for grandpa Willard (he's getting old)

It is now 12:26 AM and grandma is tired. What did you do today?

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Tim Russert

I was very sad to hear Tim Russert passed away Friday, June 13, 2008 from a heart attack. This is why I will miss his presentation of the news....

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Influence

"Influence is a two way street - you get it and give it." [Bob Cutshall, Light for the Day]

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Tolerance

"Tolerance implies a gratuitious assumption of the inferiority of other faiths to one's own."
[Ghandi]


Tolerance...something that came to my mind in church today.


Tuesday, March 25, 2008

22



"The only reason for time is so everything doesn't happen at once."

[Elbert Einstein]

Today Lise turned 22...

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Grace


[Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.]


-Jackie Windspear

I had the day off & enjoyed sleeping in, making a pecan nutloaf, peas, boiled potatos with brown gravey, and watching movies: Midnight Clear, Dan in Real Life.


Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Simple Whole Wheat Bread


[A quotation at the right moment is like bread to the famished.]

-The Talmud quotes
Made whole wheat bread today.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Solitude

[One hour of thoughtful solitude may nerve the heart for days of conflict - girding up its armor to meet the most insidious foe.]

-unknown

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

2007: Looking Back

Jan - Tyler & I visited Carissa & Penn in Dallas, TX.

Feb - I turned 50.

Mar - Lise turned 21!!!

Apri - Decided to look for a career change.

May - I began training to become a Dialysis Tech.

Jun - Getting use to working 1:00 pm - 11:30 pm

Jul - Willard turned 51

Aug - Willard & I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary

Sep - Squeezed in as much kayaking before the weather turned cold.

Oct - Willard opened his online store selling pizza ovens.

Nov - Tyler turned 18!!! Willard and Lise visited Edel, Ron, Jace and Chole in Seattle, and I
joined Redbubble Art community.

Dec - Enjoyed Christmas with family.
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