Les Belle Lettres

Really? August was a good time to be Gone from Culpeper!

2011-09-23T15:57:00.001-04:00

What? Am I that far behind? Here is my blog from August that was waiting to be published. My next blog will catch you up on our crazy - insane life for the last few months!

Rich and I left Charlottesville, VA on July 28th and headed into West Virginia for an extended trip to parts known and unknown. One catastrophe after another struck our little town while we gone.

Flood

This is beautiful Yowell Park where we walk. It has a one mile path and a two mile path. The path is clear under water. The town had about 7.9 inches of water in one day.

Pestilence

Gabe took a picture of a Virginia Black snake sunning himself on our porch. Yuck! I couldn't figure out how to get it off the cell phone so I sneaked this one from the Internet. We were in Montana when Gabe sent the picture. I told her to get the for sale side for the yard. I wasn't going to live with any snakes.

Earthquake

This is downtown Culpeper. One building had to be completely torn down due to damage. We had a 20 x 24 picture of our family sitting on the mantel in our family room that was tossed to the floor and shattered. No other damage until:

Hurricane

This tree is about fifty feet behind the house and was toppled in the hurricane. Sad. It was about 100 yrs old. Ha Ha my guess on age.

But our trip was fun -- needless to say! Here are the highlights listing where we stayed each night of our month long sojourn.

Barboursville, WV

Somewhere along the line we stopped to see the beautiful State House in Charleston, WV. It has a gold dome. We think West Virginia is a most beautiful state -- such beautiful mountains.

St. Louis

Visited the Cahokia Indian Mounds in Illinois - very interesting.

Nauvoo, IL

Always beautiful! Rich is putting together a book on the building of the Washington DC Temple. We stopped to interview the assistant superintendent who is now living in Nauvoo. Visited the Iowa side of the Mississippi where our ancestor John Tanner had a farm in Montrose, Iowa.

Rich and John Howell

Waterloo, Iowa

Hmmmmmmmmmm. No highlights in Waterloo.

Fargo, ND

Drove up through Minneapolis, MN. One of our favorite songs is a Trisha Yearwood song about St. Cloud, MN. So we drove into St. Cloud to check it out. Very nice area. We actually stopped to see if we could purchase the song anywhere, but no luck. We had to wait until we got home to hear it.

We loved North Dakota. It is a very pretty state. The Badlands are beautiful. Very different from the South Dakota Badlands. Rich hiked a little ways down, but I discovered on the day we left that I had broken my little roe and could only wear flip flops. No hiking for me.

Glasgow, Montana

Okay, you have to know -- I am very picky about hotels. Glasgow has no name hotels. We stayed in a ratty hotel in the middle of the dirt pile that is Glasgow. So, I was happy to move one. However, we really enjoyed driving across the two lane highway (speed limit 75mph) in Northern Montana. Rich stopped to shoot lots of pictures for a song he recorded called, "The Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore".

Kallisbell, Montana

At this point in the trip we were headed to Glacier National Park. We stayed in Kallisbell and then drove up to the "Road to the Sun". Let me just say it was fantastically beautiful, but a white knuckle ride all the way. Very scary. We drove up into Canada and back to Great Falls. We seemed to love Montana and stayed there for four days.

Pocatello, Idaho

My favorite place in the world. We stayed a few days with my brother and sister-in-law, Mark and Renee. What a great time we had. Rich managed to embarrass Bishop Neider in Fast and Testimony Meeting. You can always count on Rich! We love being with Mark and Renee. It's always fun to see our family home in Tyhee. It has been completely remodeled and updated. Lots of fun memories there. Strangers are in the house, but my hand prints are still there in the cement by the driveway.

Pocatello - I still love it!

We attended the Hansen Family Reunion in Pocatello. Okay this is the first reunion of my mother's family that Rich has ever attended. We really had fun seeing all of the relatives. Hmmmm no pictures of the relatives. The reunion was dedicated to the World War II veterans. My dad, Boyd Neider was in the Navy as was Uncle Dewey Farmer and Uncle Nathan Plummer was a marine and also a prisoner of war. Uncle Nathan was the only one at the reunion and he is in his 90s. The trolley took us around Pocatello to see Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's old house on Mapelwood, Pocatello High School, the Neider house in Tyhee and the Dad's old store, Boyd's IGA and the old Tyhee church.

We drove by the NOP (Naval Ordinance Plant) A huge facility I drove by almost every day of my life. I had never been to the Gun Plant. It was off limits. It was very interesting to see the facility. It was built during World War II and guns from the battleships were refurbished there.

The guy standing on the gun shows the size of the gun. Amazing.

We spent a day with Dale and Rich Kirkham -- mostly with Dale -- had a nice lunch saw some of the restored cars and the cabin. What fun guys they are. They are my second family for sure.

Salt Lake City

We spent two weeks in the Salt Lake Valley visiting family and friends. We were feeling very western by the time we left. Here's my sweet mother. She is 88 this year and is still amazing. She attends all of the FIVE GUYS openings with Darryl. She has a uniform and everything.

Granddaughter Lauren holding Natalie's oldest adorable son Jackson and my brother, Darryl. Darryl another fun brother that I adore.

We left Utah and headed for Colorado to spend a night with our friends, Jack and Ruth Haight in Littleton, Colorado. We had such a nice visit and hiked the beautiful Red Rocks there. So after a month on the road, we headed back to Virginia. About an hour out of Denver, Jeremy called and said, "Did you know there was a earthquake in Culpeper?" Yikes! We couldn't believe it.

Lessons Learned!

2011-07-24T21:11:00.001-04:00

Life is just one of those crazy events that happens to you when you are busy doing or thinking about something else. Over the years I have had a few times when I have asked myself, "Why did you do that?' Sometimes I have answers and sometimes I don't. Often I just kick myself around the block a couple of times and just try to remember the lesson I can learn from a mistake or even a serendipitous event.

Some of these lessons were learned the hard way and some I wish I had known in earlier...........Hmmmmm. I gave a lesson at Relief Society once on Lessons Learned. I made a nice pamphlet to hand out and didn't keep a copy for myself. Now I will have it on my blog where I can find it. At any rate here are some lessons I have learned.

1. Never serve pink punch or give the kids pink or red Popsicles. You just don't have to do it. Saves a lot of grief if you have carpet. (And you thought these were going to be profound.)

2. Never buy a glass top table for the patio or deck. Dirt gets under the ledge and is difficult to clean.

3. Always take the time to make your bed. You can even trick yourself. The rest of the room can be a mess and if the bed is made, it just looks better.

4. Do something fun everyday. Even if you have to do it by yourself. (You are good company after all.)

5. Nothing, I mean nothing, is worth fighting over. There are better ways to solve problems.

6. Always tell your husband how many shopping days he has until your birthday or anniversary.

7. Give said husband a list of items you would like. Husbands aren't mind readers.

8. Don't burn bridges. You may have to cross those bridges again.

9. If you can't get customer satisfaction from one rep, call back until you get someone who can help you. it will usually be a different person. They all have different ideas of resolution.

10. Learn to laugh at yourself.

11. Learn to enjoy a good soak in the tub. Instant meditation. A place you can do your best thinking/problem solving. I didn't learn this until I was 45 yrs old. I always thought you had to hurry and shower.

12. As you age remember to fill in those thinning brows -- but don't be too heavy handed.

13. If you want to look old and/or unkempt wear ugly or even worn shoes.

14. Wedge shoes are much easier to walk in than heels. I'm just sayin'. Sooner or later I had to say something about shoes.

15. I'm not as smart as I thought I was, but I can do more than I thought I could. (Some days I am as smart as I think and other days I am saying to myself, "What made you think you could do that?")

16. If you don't like someone, do something nice for them or pray for them every day. It's amazing how that will change how you feel.

17. If you are in a situation where you are feeling nervous, insecure, or shy, just think to yourself, "These people do not know how cool I am." Well, it usually calms me down. No lack of self-confidence here.

18. If you have bad news to deliver to a client or parent, (I worked in a high school) do it right away. The burden is then off your shoulders.

19. Learn to enjoy and laugh at life. Some times the mundane is so funny and enjoyable.

20. If you have a big--overwhelming job to complete, do one or two pieces of it at a time. Then take a break. It helps.

21. And last but not least -- always open your mail by the waste basket. I don't do this, but I wish I did.

22. Okay -- one more -- to smile in a photo, for you nervous smilers, press your tongue behind your top teeth for a more natural smile. Also when standing, bend one knee. It always looks better

Okay -- there are my life lessons. Do you have any to add?

Fun at Yoder's with the Fresnos

2011-07-17T18:40:00.002-04:00

We had a very fun lunch with Shelly, Tanner, Carsen and Emery at Yoder's before they left to go back to California. Yoder's is a Mennonite store about 20 minutes from Culpeper on the way to Charlottesville with a deli, fresh baked goods, Amish furniture and lots of unique packaged foods. Shelly bought caramels and cinnamon/white chocolate dipped pretzels. We also bought fresh bread and cinnamon rolls to take home. Then outside there are goats, chickens and lots of play equipment. The pictures really speak for themselves.

This one is too funny. The goats can climb up this very narrow walkway to the food at the end. None of them bother because a very large goat his taken up residence at the end. There is a goat lying on the platform. (You can't see him.) There is a pully to carry the corn up to feed the goat.

Tanner feeding the goats. Notice he changes from the 5 Guys hat to an old hat that Grandpa Crowley was throwing away. What a cute guys.

Carsen's turn

Tanner in Grandpa's old hat.

Emmy fed the chickens -- but not corn. She fed them Doritos.

Ah! Here's a Grandpa's Boy.

Wow! Here's another Grandpa's Boy.

Here's where we had our lunch. The sandwiches at Yoder's are well worth the drive. But take your own iced drink. They have bottles only.

Those Crowley kids love Doritos

Fun Times

Here's the turkey. (in the cage of course)

Little Emery swinging.

What a handsome guy!

This Tanner is perpetual motion. He never quits having fun.

Here's Grandma's Girl

We left Yoder's and Grandpa took the boys to a movie and Emery went to play with cousin, Charlotte. Shelly and I were going shopping, but we were tired. We may have gone home for a nap. I can't remember. Those California kids love to have fun.

Bear Day With the Girls

2011-07-02T08:48:00.003-04:00

This is where the fun started. All of the girls had birthdays recently and that meant a trip to the Bear store. Emery and Charlotte have filled their bears and Audrey is pushing the pedal for the stuffing to go in her cat.

It was a moment of wonder and magic for these little girls. It was heart thumping to watch their little faces at each station.

Charlotte grooming her kitty.

Emmy and her new best friend.

It was love at first sight.

Choosing the clothes was crazy fun.

Here are the girls with their bear houses. Emery (3) Audrey (3) Charlotte (4)

How cute is this? Visiting the bear store with these three little darlings tickled this Grandma's heart. Then it was on to lunch. This is just the beginning of fun times with my granddaughters!

June has been a Whirlwind!

2011-06-28T23:55:00.001-04:00

What glorious month we have spent with kids and grandkids. They can wear you out, but they are so worth it. We have loved every minute of our time together. Jeremy's family flew in from California on June 2nd and the fun started at the beach.

The getting ready was difficult for the kids. They had to wait the half hour after getting the sun block to go out.

Audrey

Cute cousins -- Charlotte and Emery

Emery and Audrey

jocelyn and her daddy

Is that the original wave buster?

Charlotte, Lauren 1, Lauren 2, Emmy, Tanner, Carsen

Nathan wants in on the action.

Lauren, Audrey and Charlotte

Carsen

Tanner

Jocelyn and Melanie

Tres Amigos

Shelly and Emery

Nathan

Nathan and Jocelyn's favorite toy at the beach -- the rolling cooler. The two one-year-olds kept us all busy trying to keep up with them.

I'm sure the wisdom of the ages is being passed along here.

The shrimp fest begins. Much to my dismay not one of my cute daughters-in-law will eat shrimp and Rich won't touch it either for that matter. Where did I go wrong?

Gabe, Melanie and Shelly

So.................Matthew, Andrew and Jeremy and now Tanner join in for a great shrimp feast. Lauren use to love to come with us to Awful Arthur's but now she doesn't like shrimp. Really Lauren? Here we are at the pool with our shrimp for lunch. Yummy!

Tanner

Okay, Lauren did try one!

What a fun tradition......................eating fresh, spiced, steamed shrimp at the beach. It doesn't get any better. I have tons more pictures so stay tuned.

Catch Up!

2011-05-15T11:53:00.001-04:00

Wow! It's been a crazy month. As I was getting ready to enjoy a women's brunch in my home on April 16th, I ask Rich to put some music on for us. As he bent over one of the two artificial lenses he has in his eyes as a result of cataracts suddenly shifted down off the pupil. (As we found out later) He didn't tell me but, went upstairs and called the Dr. who had done his preivious eye surgeries. Although it was Saturday the Dr told him to come in immediately and she would meet him at her office. She said one danger is the lens can fall the rest of the way into the eye and then would have to be fished out surgically. He came down stairs to tell me he was leaving to see the Dr which was an hour away. Not knowing what was wrong, I wouldn't let him go alone. It could have been anything! So this started the crazy month we have been through.

Because the ressetting of the lens is such a technical specialty, the next day we saw a specialist in Chevy Chase, Maryland who scheduled the surgery. We tried to get home but this is what we faced.

So we left this fun traffic mess and ended up at Great Falls. It was a beautiful day so we started hiking out to the falls. Unfortunately these were the hiking shoes I had on my feet.

Of course I was very cute with this matching purse, but not really suited for a two mile hike.

We started for the falls and about half way there I already had a huge blister forming on the top of my foot. I thought -- that's okay. You know the price of beauty and all. Then the pain started getting really bad so I told Rich to go ahead and I would wait. I sat down on one of the locks to wait. Of course I was immediately bored stuck on the lock. Then I got the bright idea to wrap the scarf I had around my neck around my foot. It worked perfectly. So off I went. Then I started worrying that the other foot would start complaining so I wrapped a few napkins around that foot also. Yes, I was quite a sight, but the scarf and napkins worked. By the time I found Rich, he was on his way back, but he went with me back to the falls. It was a beautiful sight -- about two miles all in all.

This is the tow path along the canal. It runs 184 miles from Georgetown to Cumberland, MD.

The water was roaring and beautiful. The canals hadn't been opened yet, but it was fun to be there while the traffic cleared up.

So Next:

Rich finally got his antique radios restored and returned to us. Only the inside on the large one needed restoration. We drove them to Connecticut. The large radio was given to him by his grandfather who lived in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He was quite a man. He graduated from Stanford in accounting and was a CPA until he was in his 90s. Amazing. He always used to say that his business was dying off. Literally. I guess so at that age. His grandson is thrilled to have this radio.

This smaller radio was a gift his father gave to his mother on her 22nd birthday. Both the inside and the outside had to be restored on this radio. Both of this radios are now playable and Rich has extra tubes for the future. What treasures to have. They are beautiful.

Then.....Lauren visited over spring break. What a treat for us. Here she is with brother Nathan.

Two sisters -- Lauren and Charlotte catching a few zzzz's

Lauren will be back along with the Fresno Crowleys , the first week of June for our annual family reunion at the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

Then bad news.........I found out that my pitching arm isn't what it used to be. Ha Ha! Rich ask me to bring his wallet upstairs. I decided that I could throw it.

I wanted to throw it up to the bridge and he could retrieve it. Hmmmm. You guessed it.

This is one of the many things I'm not that good at anymore. Then Rich reminded me that my pitching arm was never that great. Running yes -- throwing no. Oh well. I'm glad I can laugh at myself these days.

So ........................last week after a three day stay in Maryland, Rich's eye surgery was successful. The lens was stitched to the iris and he is as good as new. And by the way, those of you who keep asking me if Rich got a tattoo. Check out his blog here for the answer. http://facesofculpeperva.blogspot.com/ It's after "A Walk With Lauren".

Carlos O'Kelly's

2011-03-22T17:00:00.001-04:00

Final Celebration! Our favorite family restaurant in Fairfax is closing after twenty some years. We've had lots of celebrations and fun family outings at Carlos over the years so we will miss you Carlos. Matt and Gabe, Melanie and Andrew, and Rich and I drove back to Fairfax to soak up the surroundings and good food a couple of weekends ago. We invited Carly Zeugschmidt, our good friend to join us for our farewell dinner. We love it. The Chips. The Salsa. The Nachos Grande. You name the item, we have tried everything. The best shredded beef Chimi around.

The best mouth burner is the Mas Macho Burro. Yes, all of the men-folk have tried this item -- but never twice. I don't believe the women have been that brave. We had the place to ourselves because we met up at about 2:30 in the afternoon. We had a blast. As you can see in the above picture, Andrew is leaving loaded with a bag of chips and salsa.
Matthew, Audrey, Andrew and baby Jocelyn

Melanie, Grandpa Rich and Charlotte

Andrew, Audrey, Matthew, Gabe,

Gabe and Nathan

Grammie Andrea and Charlotte

This is serious fun.

Carly and Gabe

The Crowley Women with Carly Z

So we say farewell to Carlos in Fairfax. The good news is there is another one in Fredericksburg that is not closing.

The funny thing -- Jeremy and Andrew planned one of their driving trips to the West to stop at the Football Hall of Fame and any Carlos along the route. I think they found one in Nebraska. Gotta have those chips.

Andrew and Melanie's first date: Melanie requested Italian. This is where Andrew took her. Should have been a clue Melanie.

We actually saw a waiter dump an entire tray of food here. It was a good thing it wasn't our order.

When I retired, my staff planned the party here. It was a fond farewell to wonderful colleagues and friends. Great memories.

We love you Carlos. We will remain loyal.
Adios .

The Jeans

2011-03-08T13:53:00.001-05:00

When Matthew was about 4 months old, he and I flew to Idaho to show him off to all of the relatives. The first thing I had to buy for him was a genuine pair of Levis. I hadn't been able to find any in the DC area. But yes, Idaho had a pair. Size 0. Here they are: the line is where they had to be rolled under or up depending on the boy. They are about 36 years old. Matt's birthday is tomorrow. I haven't been able to part with these jeans. They bring something to my heart. Just seeing them makes me happy.

Here is my favorite picture of Matthew in the Levis. He was 18 months old. Notice the flower in one hand and the rock in the other. What a boy. We lived in our townhouse in Burke, VA.

Then Jeremy came along to wear the jeans. He was about a year old here. Love the shag carpet. Every thing '70s is coming back.

And here is Andrew in the jeans. I'm not sure why I didn't snap them. Andrew is about 14 months old. This is in our Landmark Place house in Fairfax.

I thought I would throw this in for effect. What a cute daddy these boys had. Jeremy is in the jeans. Check out Rich's shirt. This must have been in the days before electricity. It appears he dressed in the dark.

Now the jeans have a new generation. Here is Nathan (Matthew and Gabe's son who just turned one year old.

And here is Jocelyn (Andrew and Melanie's daughter who will be one in April)

So needless to say, we have probably gotten our money's worth out of the Levis. I have pictures of Jeremy's kids in the jeans, but it is a mystery to me where those pictures are at the moment. So this is the saga of the Levis. I'm glad I still have them. And........................my boys are so adorable. I would love to snuggle those little cheeks again. I guess that's why grandchildren are so much fun.

No Kids for Christmas

2010-12-07T23:49:00.006-05:00

Wow -- for the first time we will have no kids waking up on Christmas morning. They will be here Christmas Eve, then go home. We will go to Matthew and Gabe's for brunch and to Andrew and Melanie's for Christmas dinner. Well, I'll try to not to get blue about this.

Check this link: Gabe produced this You Tube video with the Christmas song Rich wrote and recorded. Love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op1MhgKwpYU

Anyway, we needed a new tree and decided we needed a really tall tree to fit the room. Ha Ha. You should have seen us trying to get it up. You know -- one of those "WHAT WERE WE THINKING?" moments. We were really cracking up...........................but now it's beautiful. Gabe came over to finish the decorations at the top. So on to Christmas..........have fun getting ready.

A close up -- the gold ornament balls (on the right) finally have a tree big enough tree to show how beautiful they are. Fun. It is about five inches across.

So working back here are some fun pictures of our grandkids.

Our adorable Charlotte

Look at this hair. Beautiful

Nathan will be walking soon. He's 9 months.

Carsen lost another tooth and is now 7

Tanner and Emme

Emme, our sparkle princess asleep in her princess dress.

Wow a blond blue-eyed princess

Tanner and Carsen getting ready for soccer.

These Crowley boys can play.............Carsen on the move

Tanner getting ready to kick the ball.

And my boy -- the coach

Audrey, our darling little witch

Jocelyn, our baby witch

Love these fun kids. They are such a joy in our life.

my New England

2010-10-30T15:13:00.001-04:00

New England became my own after my almost three weeks there. I loved this statement about Rhode Island. It helped describe all of New England.

Rhode Island is a poetic kind of state. A drive through south county in July or apple country in the fall will thaw a frozen brain and make even the most tv-addled reach for the right string of words to describe .

That is just how I felt as we drove New England. My frozen brain began to thaw.

Hang on........................here comes an English lesson.

New England has always been famous for its poets, writers and authors. Being the nerdy English major that I was, I have always been enthralled with everything written – yes, I still am. I have to admit the first time I was in New England, my brother in Connecticut ask Rich and I what we wanted to see. We had only one extra day. I told him I really wanted to see Mark Twain’s home in Hartford. What a nerd. Not Boston or Newport? Crazy -- Mark Twain’s home was so interesting to me. He actually has a phone booth in the entry foyer.

Few Americans realize (according to the New England Book) that Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), better known as Mark Twain, settled in Hartford, Connecticut at the age of 35. Though Missouri-born, Twain wrote his masterpieces Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in Hartford, as well as The Prince and the Pauper, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Touring his grand Victorian mansion at Nook Farm is the high point of a visit to Hartford.

As we traveled through all of the New England recently, I could see many reasons why many writers came from or settled in the New England area. The area is captivating. An entity unto itself. I found myself wanting to write something also. The problem – I'm not a writer. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the pleasure of New England and reading again about some of my favorite writers and poets in the New England book. I had my Kindle and could download anything I wanted to read. So .........this was extra fun for me.

Emily Dickenson

Besides the Autumn poets sing

by Emily Dickinson

Besides the Autumn poets sing,

A few prosaic days

A little this side of the snow

And that side of the Haze -

This was the setting as we wandered through the poet's New England!

One of my favorites of Emily's is

I'm a nobody, who are you

Are you a nobody too? don't tell......

A great poem for those who do not want to be the center of attention.

Emily Dickenson (1830-1886), a native of Amherst, Massachusetts, who lived there in near seclusion most of her life. (Sadly)Only seven of her poems were published during her lifetime, but the posthumous editing and publishing of nearly 1,000 poems established her reputation. Her influence on American poetry is matched only by that of Robert Frost.

America's Poet - Robert Frost
He has some of the most memorable and unique quotes -- not to mention his poetry.

Fire and Ice

by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

This is not my favorite Robert Frost poem by any means, but I quoted it because we ate dinner at Fire and Ice Restaurant after wandering the town of Middlebury, VT where Maren Younce lives.

I have quoted from this Robert Frost poem in my head so many times on a busy day:

And I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep.

I like this quote from Frost, "A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness."

So many of the scenes we loved in New England put a lump on our throats.

Robert Frost (1874-1963) was born in San Francisco, but his family had lived in New England for generations. He moved to New England early in life, attended Dartmouth and Harvard without taking a degree, and later returned to teach poetry at Amherst and Harvard. His many books capture the quintessence of New England living and the Yankee soul.

Just a tidbit I read in my New England book:

The runaway bestseller of the early 1800's was not a book of sermons, nor a novel, nor even a history of the late war with England; and the book remains a bestseller to this day. It's the American Dictionary of the English Language, by Yale graduate Noah Webster (1758-1843). First published in 1828, Webster's 70,000-word dictionary was bought by hundreds of thousands of Americans every year—and still is.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), was born in Salem, Massachusetts, attended Bowdoin College in Maine, then pursued a career which produced The Scarlet Letter, Twice-told Tales, and The House of the Seven Gables. Hawthorne is thought by many to be the writer who established the truly American short story.

I always loved the scary stuff. The House of Seven Gables was a favorite.

Maine born -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Among New England poets, the 1800's belonged to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). Born in Portland, Maine, he attended Bowdoin College, taught at Harvard, and lived in a big yellow house on Brattle Street in Cambridge which is now a historic landmark. Several of Longfellow's poems are so much a part of Americana that many forget that he wrote them: "Paul Revere's Ride," "The Song of Hiawatha," "The Village Blacksmith," "Excelsior," and "The Wreck of the Hesperus" are among the better-known ones.

This is one of my all time Longfellow favorites: Starts lyrically and ends with wisdom. Love it. I had to memorize it in school.

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH"

Under a spreading chestnut tree

The village smithy stands;

The smith, a mighty man is he,

With large and sinewy hands;

And the muscles of his brawny arms

Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,

His face is like the tan:

His brow is wet with honest sweat,

He earns whate'er he can,

And looks the whole world in the face,

For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,

You can hear his bellows blow;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,

With measured beat and slow,

Like a sexton ringing the village bell,

When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school

Look in at the open door;

They love to see the flaming forge,

And hear the bellows roar,

And catch the burning sparks that fly

Like chaff from a threshing floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,

And sits among his boys;

He hear the parson pray and preach,

He hears his daughter's voice,

Singing in the village choir,

And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,

Singing in Paradise!

He needs must think of her once more,

How in the grave she lies;

And with his hard, rough hand he wipes

A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing,

Onwards through life he goes;

Each morning sees some task begin,

Each evening sees it close;

Something attempted, something done,

Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught!

Thus at the flaming forge of life

Our fortunes must be wrought;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed and thought!

Experiencing New England and the connection with the first American authors was a homecoming for me. It was thrilling. It made me remember why I love to read.

I think Maine was my favorite state in New England, but I could live in any of them in a heart beat. Here is one last picture of Maine.

Here are Rich and I in our "Maine coats"

We could be longshoremen!

Loving Our Trip

2010-10-09T23:41:00.001-04:00

We've had a busy week. We have seen so many beautiful areas. It's so funny because we weren't anticipating how close everything would be in New England. We have covered all of the states. They are full of beautiful mountains, lakes, pine trees, and my favorites -- spruce trees. The fall colors on the leafy trees are breath-taking.

Starting on Oct 3rd - Stayed in Bangor

Monday - Wolfeboro , NH

Tuesday - Vermont

Wednesday - New York - Adirondacks

Thursday - Palmyra

Friday - Niagara Falls

Saturday - Niagara Falls

Here we are in front of Stephen King's house in Bangor, Maine.

Next, we stayed in Wolfeboro, NH at the Pratt's summer home. What a heavenly setting! They have built a 12 bedroom , 4 story home on the Lake Winnipesaukee. Words can't describe what they have created here for their family and friends. The home is so large, it took us the first hour to take the tour. In spite of it's size, it's so homey and cozy. It was just a perfect place. Very New England. We walked the village of Wolfeboro - unique and fun and right on the lake.

Off the deck

Rich standing by the fireplace gives you the perspective of the size.

Loved the moose

This was on the way to the boat house and dock - several docks

Very large kitchen - also very New England

In Sharon, Vermont at the birth place of Joseph Smith, Jr. A tender place where a doctor from Dartmouth performed surgery on his leg, saving the leg. The doctor later became renown and was the only doctor in the US that could have performed the surgery. I think he later started the medical school at Yale and Harvard. Joseph Smith's life was preserved by a miracle.

The most fun surprise of the trip was hearing from Maren Younce Mecham. She sent me a message on Facebook and said, "Come see me in Vermont." So we did. Maren and her husband, Quinn, live in Middlebury, Vermont where Quinn is a professor of Middle Eastern studies. We had lunch at a very picturesque setting on the Otter Point River with Maren and her two adorable boys. We loved Vermont. Surprise Surprise............................we love it all.

We then moved on to the Adirondacks. We purposefully drove smaller roads avoiding the interstates to get a really good feel for the surroundings. The GPS took us to a couple of dirt roads in Vermont that cracked us up.

The Adirondacks in New York are so full of lakes. Lake after lake after lake. It was a beautiful drive. The fall leaves were different in every state.

I know my pictures do not convey the beauty of the Adirondacks.

Palmyra Temple

Sacred Grove in the afternoon

Sacred Grove in the morning

Hill Cumorah

On to Niagara Falls

Rich at the bottom of the falls in his slicker

The Niagara River before going over the Falls

Yes, we are having such an enjoyable trip. It's a funny time of life to be able to just pick up and leave whenever we want. We have both been working since we were teenagers and now it just feels funny to have free time. We love it tho'. We feel lucky.

For the Beauty of the Earth

2010-10-03T20:39:00.004-04:00

We left Bar Harbor late yesterday. We have loved the beauty of the area. Here are a few pictures to share.
This was the view off the balcony of our room.

We stayed at the Bluenose Inn. It overlooks Bar Harbor. It was a fabulous Inn

I took lots of pictures of our adventures in Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. This area is just good for the soul. We went to the top of Mt Cadillac, sat on the rockbound beaches and just soaked in the beauty, loved the beauty of the fall colors accented by the beautful pine trees and spruces. We have enjoyed every minute of our 2 day stay here. All of the water in my pictures is the Atlantic Ocean with so many pine covered islands.

Our beautiful room at the Bluenose -- funny name huh!

My picture was kind of dark , but Bar Harbor is on the right of the picture. Two Carnival Cruise ships were in the harbor the day checked into the Inn.

Another view of Bar Harbor

Rich on the balcony of the room

The Looking Glass Restaurant where we had breakfast. This was part of the Inn

Walk way around the outside of the restaurant.

Here I am well fed at Bar Harbor -- See the sand bar in the harbor -- It wasn't in the above pictures at 8:00. The tide was going out.

Almost at the top of Mt Cadillac -- I couldn't believe how far I could see.

Thunderhole -- the water spraying back out of the hole in the rock. It did sound like thunder. The tide comes in the narrow channel then roars back out.

The other side of Thunder hole.

We sat on this beach for quite a while just enjoying the water and the beauty of these rockbound beaches.

We drove all the way up the coast of Maine today until we could see Canada -- We were in part of Canada - Brunswick I think. We couldn't take our rental car in so we headed to Bangor for the night. We have seen so many beautiful little towns. This part of Maine coast is all fishing boats -- lobster cages everywhere. In other words, no sailboats. It's all work up here. What a delight for us to see this completely different part of our country. We love Maine.

Maine and Boston

2010-09-30T22:14:00.000-04:00

We drove up the coast of Maine today. We were just astonished at the beauty of the coast. The little villages were very quaint and very interesting to see. Did you know there was a Kennebunkport and a Kennebunk? Very unique villages................ritzy. We have never seen this type of coastline. We love it. We are probably going to be in Maine for a couple of days and hope to get some beautiful pictures.

For dinner tonight I had a lobster roll.............................I am going to work my way through the lobster menu. What fun. We are in Ellsworth tonight and are going to Bar Harbor tomorrow.


                                  Our first look at the coast of Maine.

We walked down this beach.

We love Maine. When we arrived at Kennebunkport, we expected an invitation from the Bush's, but alas, nothing was forthcoming. They may have been out of town. More fun in Maine on Friday and Saturday.

Boston was a challenge. We enjoyed exploring, but the traffic was difficult to navigate. When we asked directions at different places, the response was always, "In a car? ? ? ?" We soon found out why. We finally made to all the places we wanted to see, but the streets are very narrow and crowded and tricky needless to say. Boston Harbor is beautiful.................the city too. I looked for Matt Damon or Ben Afflack, but was disappointed.

We visited the JFK museum and spent a lot of time in Harvard Yard. We ate at a famous burger place across the street from Harvard, "Bartleys". We even walked into a couple of buildings where lectures were in progress. We saw old Boston, the Old North Church, Bunker Hill and finally the Navy shipyard where Old Ironsides is docked. We toured the ship and of course found it fascinating.

Rich with Old Ironsides.

I didn't get many Boston pics. Rich took lots of good ones so I will steal some of his later. I was busy trying to see which street to turn on..................................................................................................

We are loving our trip and feel so lucky to be able to just take off. We have learned so much about New England that we didn't know.

Newport, Rhode Island

2010-09-29T00:01:00.001-04:00

We spent the day yesterday in Newport, Rhode Island. We were very tired at the end of the day as we walked a lot, but the area is beyond interesting. The summer homes (mansions) from the late 19th century were enthralling to say the least and generally those homes are now historic homes, but the hundreds and hundreds of mansions being occupied were breathtaking. People really live like that.

We toured the Breakers -- just incredible. This was the Vanderbilt Mansion. We toured the first and second floors.

This is on the walk behind the Breakers

On the walk.

We loved seeing all the ships and boats in the water.

Then as we were walking in the town a woman told us to go find the Newport Shipyard. We did and wandered around. There was a guard at the gate, but they allow peasants to wander in and look around.

We couldn't believe how big these boats were.

We had tons of fun in Newport. Tonight we are staying in Boston and will tackle Boston tomorrow. It's amazing how close everything is here.

Fabulous Trip

2010-09-26T22:10:00.001-04:00

Rich and I are just so lucky. We've always wanted to see New England in the fall and especially Maine. We decided now was the time. We've been out two days and wow -- fabulous. We skirted New York City by going up by Gettysburg and cutting up to Scranton. The mountains of Pennsylvania are magnificent.

The picture above is not mine. The leaves are turning already. This elevated freeway is the highest I have ever seen. It was near our hotel in Scranton. Look how small the car is driving under

You can see the colors a little in the mountain in the back. Scranton is pretty much in the mountains. The city along with Wilkes Barre is about the size of SLC.

Rich is packing the car in Scranton. Good job Rich.

This is the beautiful Hudson Valley. Amazing.

The town of Mystic is well worth the trip. Yes, we bought a pizza at Mystic Pizza.

The picture below is also not mine. This is what we will see tomorrow. The beautiful mansions of Newport, RI

So, yes, we feel so lucky to be having this adventure.

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-09-07T11:03:00.001-04:00

Don't you just love birthdays? I'm into my week long celebration. It has been fun already. My birthday is today, but we started the celebration yesterday. Since it was Labor Day, everyone was off work so we headed out to the Inn at Kelly's Ford for lunch. It was a beautiful day and the setting was incredible. Kelly's Ford was the first place to have a bridge built across the Rappahanock River and was the thriving town of Kellysville until the Civil War. This link has info on many of the famous Civil War Battles near Kelly's Ford and near Culpeper. http://www.innatkellysford.com/battle.html

Anyway, the Inn is located in Remington about 15 minutes from Culpeper. As I said, the setting is so beautiful.
Here we are at the front of the Inn. Rich is taking our picture. Audrey is sound asleep. Matt's family is in the West. Matthew, Andrew with Audrey, Melanie with Jocelyn and the birthday girl.

The grounds of the Inn are several hundred acres with the Inn, cottages, an equestrian center, a reception center, pool, etc. It backs to the Rappahanock River and is in Culpeper County. A divine place for lunch.

We had lunch on the back patio.

Looking out at this

Brothers torturing their own and each other's children

Mahda and two of her granddaughters. Audrey has given me a new name. Mahda! I like it.

Rich really was with us taking our pictures. Thanks Rich for a great lunch and day.

Help

2010-09-06T23:59:00.002-04:00

Does anyone know how to get rid of the photo square showing up on my blog?

Fun and Crazy July and August

2010-09-01T00:09:00.003-04:00

24th of July Parade attenders at the Nauvoo Cafe

It's been a wild and wacky summer of traveling and visiting. I flew to Salt Lake City on July 23rd and started my vacation off with a bang the next morning. It was Saturday and the 24th of July. In SLC that is a state holiday. I had never attend the huge parade in SLC and was very excited to be there. We attended the sunrise service at the tabernacle on Temple Square prior to the parade. (Mom, Mike, Rosy, Cassidy, Whitley, Brook and Grandma Darlene.) We had a wonderful day. Try as I might -- I couldn't get many good pictures of Mom.

Watching the parade

A view of the Salt Lake Temple out the window of the Joseph Smith Building.

Mom and I then went to the mountains the next Monday and Tuesday with Mike and Rosy's family. What a great family they are! The girls were making quilts (the younger girls in the photo above) and it was here that I got to see Anne of Green Gables for the first time. That's right I had never seen it before. Remember --

I raised all boys. I am now on a mission to get my own set of the DVDs.

On Thursday we picked up Lauren in Lehi to head to the family reunion in Idaho. This is where we stopped to eat

That's right Maddox. My Neider grandparents started taking us to Maddox when we were kids and we love the chance to have a fun meal here in Brigham City.

Lauren and Grandma Neider under the Maddox sign.

In Idaho we stayed with both Mark and Renee and Kenny and Margo. We were treated royally and Lauren had such a good time getting to know the Idaho Neiders. We watched more of Anne of Green Gables and Lauren was hooked too.

Girl cousins and Mom at the reunion. Ann, Doreen, Mom, LaRae, Andrea

Everyone should be so lucky to have such a great family. Many were missing (Cousin Joy is on a mission in LA currently) Boy do I love these girls and boy did we have fun as kids.

Lauren and Grandma by the Rexburg Temple

Mom and I at Dad's grave.

Then back to Utah..............................Lauren had cheer practice so we had to take her back. Boo Hoo! We were sad. We had so much fun together. That girl is so much fun.

Next that smooth talking Darryl talked us into driving to Fresno for his newest Five Guys store opening. He said, "Can we go through Yosemite National Park on the way. I have always wanted to go there." I was scheduled to fly home, but changed my ticket to go to Fresno. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that Tanner, Carsen and Emery live in Fresno? Yes!

We drove through western Utah, cut down through Nevada to California. The drive was fun and getting to Yosemite was very exciting.

So we had such a wonderful day in such a majestic setting. Yosemite is unbelieveable and very hard to describe. My pictures to not do the beauty of the mountains justice. It was breath-taking to say the least.

These solid granite mountains are so exciting to see. Mom and Darryl at our first stop

These skinny falls were so beautiful. There are many.

We saw so much beauty. I loved El Capitan and Half Dome. Fantastic!

Then on to Fresno...................................well, coming down out of the mountains, baby Andrea got very car sick. It might have been altitude sickness. Not fun. Darryl said I was freezing him out of the car. I survived and we made it into Fresno about 8:30 to three very excited children with there noses pressed up against the window watching for us.

Dinner at Sweet Tomatoes -- Jeremy and Tanner

Tanner, Grandma Donna and Nephew Curtis

Carsen, Shelly, Emery, Andrea and Darryl

We are at Sweet Tomatoes having dinner.

Darryl and Curtis at the opening of Five Guys in Fresno

Darryl talking to the food editor of the Fresno Bee Newpaper

My boy Tanner showing his muscles

Carsen trying to hide from the camera

Emmy checking out the toys in Target in her Cindrella shoes. She won't take them off.

Tanner and Carsen trying to pick out just the right toy.

So I have covered many miles and had some great visits. I really couldn't live without my family -- from the oldest to the youngest. They are my life ...........................I had so much fun seeing my brothers and their wives. They are my strength. Just like those majestic granite mountains in Yosemite, they are solid and strong and always there to support me.

They take care of me in so many ways. Love you, Kenny, Mike, Mark and Darryl. You are a joy to be with.

Mom and I spent a total of two months together this summer. That is a record for us. We had some good times. And I felt so lucky to be with Lauren again in Idaho and have so much fun. The icing on the cake was to end up in Fresno with the CA Crowleys. What a blast we had. I love being with Jeremy and Shelly and their gang. They are such a cute family. So now back to reality in Culpeper.

The basement dwellers moved out this week to their new home......................................breaking our hearts by taking those two adorable daughters away. I'm sure we will have to think of some reasons to visit Bristow, VA --it's about 40 minutes away.

Where did June go?

2010-07-02T13:59:00.005-04:00

Tuck yourself in..................this is a long one.

We picked up Lauren and Grandma Neider at the airport on June 4th. Boy has the month gone fast. The Fresno Crowleys flew in the next day and we all went to the beach on Saturday, the 5th of June. We stayed in Corolla at Whalehead Beach for a week of fun and relaxation. Wow -- it was like heaven.

I don't know how much Grandma Neider paid the guy, but he took her all the way to the car.

Jeremy had to go back to CA on the 12th, but the family stayed another week. I posted many of the pics in the slide show and more at the bottom of the blog.

We had such a fun week at the beach. Everyone in the Crowley Family was able to be at the beach for the entire week. This hasn't happened for many years. We are now 16 in number. Grandma Neider came with for the week and is still visiting with us in Culpeper. We stayed at Whalehead Beach for the first time on the Outer Banks. We didn't know if we would love it, but we did. We were within walking distance of the Corolla Light House. My niece, Whitney Hopkins visited the Outer Banks for the first time. Her family stayed in Nags Head, but came up Monday night for grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and fun. The kids played so well together in the pool. Loved it.
My week was so wonderful. Restful -- relaxing -- getting to see the Fresno Crowleys for the week. What a treat. The girls cooked fabulous meals. Melanie made shredded beef Chimi's for our first night. Wow. They were a big hit. Of course Andrew stopped at Carlos O'Kellys for chips and salsa for the meal. What a feast.
Gabe made us her homemade Lasagne -- A Crowley Favorite -- with her homemade sauce, and now our new tradition is to have watermelon and corn on the cob. So delicious. Gabe had this with her family.
Shelly made Italian Farfalle with sausage for us one night. Ymmmmmm. We were spoiled. It's fun to cook fun stuff at the beach.

Then my night......................I asked Matt if he would make us grilled pizza. He did.................so so good. I made four batches of pizza dough and away we went. Matt made his Asian chicken with alfredo pizza. I can't describe how good it is. We also let everyone choose their own pizza. Shelly wanted barbeque chicken, Melanie wanted Hawaiian pizza. Gabe and I wanted margarita pizza with basil and tomato. Fresh mozarella of course. Then for the not so brave -- we made pepperoni. They were so worth the work. Thanks Matt.........

We came home from the beach rejuvenated and tired, but on Monday morning up we were to take a train ride from Culpeper to Manassas -- then on to Bull Run. On Thursday Grandpa took the boys to see the dinosaur tracks at Luck Stone while the girls went to Relief Society for some fun with our Summer Bucket List. Gabe presented and we had a blast.................More pics will be posted on the next blog with more of June. We have loved every minute of being with the family. Good times.

No one has cuter grandkids................

Matt and Emery

Grandma Donna, Jeremy, Matt, Andrea, Tim, Whitney

Jeremy and Tanner

Jeremy and Emery

Emmy

The girls - chillin

Charlotte, Jocelyn, Andrea, Lauren

I think we were sneaking red licorice.

Andrew and Audrey

It doesn't get any better.

Then my bright idea was to get a great casual picture of the kids in the back yard. I had scheduled a professional photo shoot but the schedule didn't work out. So...............like herding cats, we tried to get picture. Here is the result. We have many good ones of everyone, but never in the same picture. So we will be moving heads until we get one that is acceptable............I thought a tea party would be fun for them and we could just shoot how darling they are. They all had coordinating clothes and what could go wrong?

So I am looking for something like this with beautiful expressions. I'm sure Rich will be able to make it happen .

Jocelyn's Blessing

2010-06-16T22:00:00.001-04:00

Jocelyn Crowley

It has taken forever to get this blog finished for Jocelyn's blessing. It was about one month ago. Melanie's parents flew in and stayed for four days with us. We had a really fun time with them. So.......

What a great day for a blessing for such a sweet little girl. Her daddy gave her a beautiful blessing and standing with him were Uncle Ken, Cousin Drew, Grandpa Rich, Daddy Andrew, Uncle Matthew, Grandpa Baker, Friend Jason Brown and Friend Justin Blank.

Andrew, Audrey, Jocelyn and Melanie

Andrew and Justin.........yes, I think they are holding hands. Ha Ha

I took the little kids upstairs for a couple of games during the lunch to give the parents a break. Aren't they adorable. Lottie, Audrey, Sienna, Logan and Cole.

Melanie, Erin and Cole Brown

Kara (our neice), Rich and Melanie

Melanie's mother, Carrielee Baker and Jocelyn

Drew (married to Kara) with Jocelyn and Gabe with Nathan

Blessing days are always such a special time for the family. It gives us a wonderful reason to celebrate a new member of the family. We are so happy to have such special spirits come to the Crowley Family. We love each one. Our grandchildren have wonderful and dedicated parents. It so joyful to watch them work hard to be good parents.

Blessings

2010-05-31T21:04:00.001-04:00

Nathan Matthew Crowley

Two baby blessings in one month. What a joy and a very real blessing. Nathan was blessed the first of the month and Jocelyn was blessed this week. They couldn't be any cuter. We took lots of pictures, but none of the babies. Too much fun going on. Gabe got some cute ones of Nathan and we are dressing Jocelyn back up to get some good pictures.

Lunch at Matt and Gabe's in honor of Nathan.

Shannon Crowley with Nathan

Three cute Crowley Women

Kara, Shannon with Nathan and Gabe

Kara and Shannon

Jordan must have something on Matt

Our beautiful Nathan

This Nathan is such a beautiful and special little guy. Needless to say, we are crazy about him. He looks just like his sister Lottie.

Our Week

2010-05-22T12:21:00.007-04:00

Rich is our anchor in the Crowley Family. His birthday was this week and the family came together for the party. Gabe made the cake and there were smiles everywhere.

Celebration! Rich's. His favorite angel food cake and his request for porcupine meatballs was the menu. We topped it off with Heath Bar ice cream. Wow so good.

He asked Charlotte and Audrey to help blow out the candles.

Don't ask about the blue candle. It had a purpose, but now I can't remember what it was.

That's some fun babies in the background. Gabe with Nathan, Andrew with Jocelyn. Andrew and Matt are trying to get Nathan to smile. Melanie is cleaning up the counter. Thanks Mel.

Then I started to plant the flower boxes on the deck. I have to admit they are so cute. Here is the model for the new deck furnitre from Pier One. That fab guy Rich. So fun.

I put these planters together to save the $35 each at Lowes. I figured I could do them for half that. I did indeed, but spent $78 more because I found three colors of beautiful iris and shasta daises. Oh Oh.

Melanie's parents are here staying with all of us. The baby blessing is tomorrow so hence the flowers needed to be done for the blessing lunch. Audrey is in little girl heaven. Once she figured out that she had two sets of Grand parents she was so happy. My next blog will be the fantastic blessing of two babies in one month in the Crowley Family.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-15T10:03:00.001-04:00

I know - belated. See Heartbroken below. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers I know. I love you all. As moms we wake up every morning thinking and worrying about our kids, our husbands, the tasks we should have finished yesterday, but I remember the day I had my first baby and was still in the hospital. I wanted to call my mom right away from the recovery room I was thinking....... Wow.............I owe my mom a present on my birthday every year. She went through this for me. and...........The older I get the more I appreciate all the stages of motherhood -- they are many.

I had a different experience at motherhood. Rich and I waited 8 long years for our first baby to arrive and two more came soon after. We felt so blessed to have three wonderful sons. Because we had waited so long, I cherished every moment of every day. It seems like being a mother was what I was born to do. I loved it.

I have enjoyed the examples of all of the young mother bloggers. My daughters-in-law are such amazing moms. I love watching them nurture and care for my beautiful grandchildren. Each mom gives something special to her children. It's a very busy life -- being a mom. Thanks to all moms -- especially mine.

Yes, here's my mom. She's 86 and going strong. Darryl takes her to all of the Five-Guys grand openings. He says she is his best asset. Here she is in her uniform.

My Mother: She always worked hard to make sure our family had everything we needed. She always thought of others and she was the last to get.

Here are some of the other lessons from MOM.

1. She always wanted me to put my best foot forward -- even if that foot hurt.

2. She gave me the courage and confidence to be and try anything and everything.

3. Mother taught me to enjoy even the mundane humors of life and to especially to learn to laugh at myself.

4. She taught us always to honor our grandparents and father. She engendered in our family a fierce family loyalty and pride.

5. She always told me that my brothers and sister would always be my best friends.

They are..........
6. Mom gave me a life long love of literature that started at a very young age. I loved going to literary club with her occasionally. What a great gift. It's no wonder I majored in English in college. Her influence is so present in my every moment.

7. Mother also taught me to look for life lessons in all that I do. She believes you can learn something from everyone and everything.

8. Mother taught me to be thrifty. She wanted us to stretch our dollars.

9. Mother always taught me the value of hard work and the value of a job well done.

10. I wish I had learned her ability to never procrastinate. I'm still working on that one.

11. The best lesson from Mom..............."figure it out". When life gets tough, just figure it out. Nothing is so overwhelming that it can't be figured out.

There are so many other lessons I've learned from my mom. She has always been a great example to me. I can see her in my minds eye kneeling at her bedside in prayer. I still catch her there. She loves the Lord and honors her covenants. She made sure her kids were in church every week even when their dad was not active. She involved her kids in church in every way. We all still remember her coercing us into a fashion show when she was in charge of the grand opening of the new DI in Pocatello. How can you beat that? We got to keep one item. That is one thing I still haven't figured out with my kids. How did she talk us into so many things?

My mom is the best. I don't have to worry about growing old.........no problem. She still thinks I'm a kid. The rest of you should be so lucky.

I sure love my mom!

My own Mother's Day was restful and fun. My thirty something sons grilled steaks and prepared a delicious dinner. We had a royal feast. What valiant men they are becoming. I had asked them each to email me a spiritual experience rather than giving me gifts. They are my gift -- for eternity.

I love being a mom.

Heartbroken

2010-05-14T23:50:00.003-04:00

Have you ever misplaced or lost something precious to you? Well, here is my story. I needed to return some children's chairs to Kohl's a couple of weeks ago on a Monday morning. I decided to take a break from life and browse the store for awhile. I can browse without buying and have lots of fun. I looked at all the kitchen items three times, home decor items, dishes, glasses, vacuums, candles, and then found myself in the towels looking at the soft beautiful colors. I really need towels in the master bath. My ring snagged on one of the towels which was odd. I looked down and couldn't believe my eyes. The diamond was missing from my ring.

I had the sickest feeling and immediately started searching the towels. Nothing. I starting moving all of the towels near by and found nothing. I traced back over my steps in the store -- even the ladies room. I was on my hands and knees searching and searching. I finally ask the manager to help me. I wanted to go through the trash in the ladies room to see if the stone had fallen out when I washed my hands. She put on rubber gloves and carefully went through every waded up towel. Yuck! And.............nothing.

The store manager then ask a couple of sales staff to help look. We spent three hours searching and moving displays, etc. Nothing. I kept looking at the empty ring thinking the ring would somehow be there. It wasn't. On the verge of tears I called Rich. He was at lunch with Matt and they immediately came to Kohl's. We searched everywhere again including the parking lot and car. A couple of people in the parking lot started looking too. Nothing. I was sick sick sick. We all were sick. Finally, after about three hours, I reluctantly went home with such a sense of loss trying to remember the exact last time I had seen the stone in the ring. It sits up so high off my finger, I thought surely I would have noticed if the diamond was missing. I thought of all of my activities that morning. Nothing. I tried to retrace my every step and movement.

Needless to say, my week was a wreck. I couldn't think of anything except looking for the diamond. I searched everywhere in the house even on my hands and knees. Six times. I took all the bedding off the bed. Rich looked through the trash at home. I looked in the car, the garage, and I finally went back to Kohl's as I recalled looking at glasses. I hurried back thinking surely the ring would be there. Something made me recall the glasses I had seen but not checked. Nothing. A needle in a haystack. I knew only a miracle could help me find the ring............if it was findable. Gabe called me to say how sorry she was. She said to pray hard that she had a good feeling about finding the ring. I prayed hard many times a day. I asked that if the ring was findable..................please guide my looking. But, still nothing.

I finally called the insurance company.............................nope ....................not the extra coverage needed. The thing is..............this ring was not my original engagement ring, but a very large diamond Rich had given to me about twelve years ago at a huge expense. I knew we could never replace it. I really loved that ring. I wanted the marquis diamond to help elongate my fingers and it did just that. I kept saying..........................it's a stone. No one has died. Stop feeling so mournful. But I couldn't stop the sadness. It felt like I had lost something very symbolic. What a dope. Why hadn't I checked it recently with the jeweler? Why hadn't I insured the darn thing. No answers. Just kicking myself around the block again and again. I had to get back to my life.

On Friday I met with a newly called RS Meeting Coordinator at a restaurant to train her concerning her duties. I was to meet her at twelve. I ordered a soda and waited. She didn't come. I then noticed my wallet was not in my purse and remembered pulling it out to look at the children's chairs online at Kohl's. I was ordering different ones than the ones I had returned on Monday. So here I was sitting at a table with a soda and...................not a dime. No way to pay for the almost gone soda. No debit card. Misty hadn't shown up yet. Rich out of town. Hmmmm. I called Melanie at home knowing she couldn't drive over. She had a week old baby/ by C-section and couldn't drive, but I ask her if my wallet was on the desk. She said, "Yes, and you are in luck. Andrew is right across the street at the grocery store. He just returned from Fairfax. I will have him bring you some money."

I hung up and waited. By 12:35 the friend came and I knew that money was on the way. So I was saved. I called Melanie back. She said that I was not going to believe what just happened. She had called Andrew and since he was in the grocery store he asked her to check to see if we had any pepperoni in the freezer. She pulled out the freezer bottom drawer and rifled through the contents. No pepperoni - but some ice flipped out onto the rug. The miracle: One of the pieces of ice was my diamond. She said, "I just found your diamond." I started crying. She said, "If you hadn't called about the wallet and I hadn't called Andrew to take you some money and he hadn't ask me to check for pepperoni, I would not have been digging in the freezer, and I wouldn't have found your diamond."

Can you even imagine how we all felt? We had been so sick about the loss, it didn't even seem real. So the diamond was found. I am all in tears writing about this. I took it straight to the jewelers for an appraisal for the insurance. The stone is being reset and I can't wait to get it back. Wow! The events that were set in motion that allowed Melanie to find the diamond were not a coincidence. Prayers are answered. Miracles happen. How grateful and happy I am. How grateful to have been heard. Learn the lesson I have now learned. Check your rings to make sure the settings are tight and get them insured. My heartbreak ended up being one of my "happily ever after" moments.

Crowley Granddaughter #5

2010-04-27T16:47:00.001-04:00

Well it's true............................we have another new granddaughter. Jocelyn Emma Crowley was born on April 20th...................how lucky are we? She weighed 8 lb 1 oz and was 20 1/4 inches with lots of black hair. She looks Crowley baby all the way.

Grandpa Crowley and I had Audrey for a few days and she kept us very busy. (Big sigh) We were all happy when Andrew came home one night and then Melanie who was in the hospital from Tues to Fri came home. There's nothing like Mom and Dad to a 22 month old.

Audrey is waiting in her new dress to welcome Jocelyn

Audrey is our shoe girl all the way

Melanie is doing really well -- she can't believe it either. So all is well.................

Audrey had been given the beautiful dress that Jocelyn has on below. She was too big to ever wear it. Andrew's cousin, Antje made the dress. It is so sweet and Jocelyn is beautiful.

The booties lasted about five minutes.

This is what we've been up to this week.

Crowley Girls Rule

2010-04-02T23:55:00.007-04:00

Emery, Lauren, Charlotte, and Audrey

After years with no daughters until my sons married, look what I now have. Four beautiful granddaughters and another to be born in two weeks. Okay so the picture is 9 months old -- I'm sometimes slow.

More pics from July 09

We stayed in Duck on the Outer Banks................just look at our adorable grandchildren. Getting this picture was like "herding cats" as they say. Now we have a new grandson, Nathan and a new granddaughter to be born soon.

Melanie and Andrew with Audrey. New baby coming in two weeks.

Charlotte - Matt and Gabe's youngest daughter.

Matthew and Gabrielle

Lauren get your sister and cousins under control........................................

Shelly and Emery - Jeremy didn't make it to the beach last year

Lauren and Carsen

Gabe, Charlotte, Matthew, Carsen, Lauren, Emery, Shelly, Tanner, Andrea. Missing Andrew, Melanie and Audrey. They had wandered off. Jeremy not here.

Thanks for great pictures Rich. Love this crew.

We're Just Pathetic

2010-03-28T14:01:00.000-04:00

Well, Rich had the joint replaced on his right thumb on March 18th. They took out the trapezoid bone and replaced it with a tendon from his arm. All went well. Two days later and recovering at home, his opposite knee started swelling and became very painful. By day three he could barely walk. One good leg -- one good arm. Then some where I picked up a UTI. I called and asked for an antibiotic. By the next day, we were so sick. Rich, an insulin dependent diabetic with a swollen and very hot knee was in so much pain. The pain meds for the thumb were not even touching the knee. Naturally we were scared to death of some crazy hospital infection.

Smile is fake.

Back to the dr. Everyone concerned about Rich's knee. Change of meds. Blood work. We have lost a week some where and still are just pathetic. After 8 days, I am still running a fever. Rich's leg is now doing better and he can walk. The thumb -- no problem. He is now in a smaller cast for the next five weeks. I think I am back to the dr tomorrow if the fever is still there. As I said, we are just pathetic.

My Sister

2010-03-20T17:06:00.000-04:00

Julie Neider Selders

My little sister, Julie has been gone for 10 years. Tomorrow is her birthday and my heart has been full of thoughts of my little sis.  I will never forget the phone call from my brother when he said, "I think we've lost our sister, Julie. She is in the hospital on life support, but the doctors are telling us it doesn't look good at all. She didn't wake up this morning and was taken by ambulance to the hospital." I was at work when I received the call and needless to say was stunned. This was my little sister. My only sister. The sister I had longed for when my mother kept bringing home baby brothers. She was so young. Her boys needed her. Surely this is going to have a good outcome, I thought. I waited for four days before flying to SLC to be by her hospital bed. She was still on life support. The family had gathered, but the doctors gave us little hope.

We have missed her so. She carried all of us in so many ways. She left us on Thanksgiving weekend. She had been with her family at their cabin for Thanksgiving and had returned on Sunday. I talked with her for about an hour that night and the next morning I received the phone call. I delayed flying to SLC knowing that my heart would break.  I couldn't imagine the events that were happening 2000 miles away.   When I arrived at the hospital I knew the scene that awaited. I thought surely a miracle would occur and brain activity would start and Julie would have her eyes open when I arrived.

But, it wasn't to be.  Julie's husband Jack, along with the family, decided that life support should be stopped. She lingered for four days. Darryl and I stayed by her side, but in the middle of the night on the fourth day, she safely left us. The events were unreal. Our sister was gone.
When I went back to Julie's house for a much needed shower after leaving the hospital, it was heart breaking to be with her "things". Her husband was very protective of everything, but I needed a momento of my sister. I had asked her on one occasion if I could have the Raggedy Ann doll I had made her about 15 years earlier. I have a sweet collection of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. It was the only Raggedy I finished. (There are still three in a box waiting for clothes.) Her boys had played with the doll and it was a bit raggedy, but she told me she would never give up the Raggedy. She said, "If I die, you can have her back." Those words pounded in my ears that day. She was gone. I went to her cedar chest and opened the lid. There was Raggedy right on the top. I hugged that little doll and cried for my little sister. How I wished she was still alive and the doll could stay in the cedar chest forever. Can you imagine how much I regret asking Julie for the doll?

There were so many good things about Julie. She had dinners and parties for all of the family misisonaries and newlyweds. We later found an entire box of hand-made nativity sets Julie had painted for each child in her ward primary. That's who she was.........................so thoughtful of everyone around her. All of the children in Primary wrote Julie get well letters and devoted a Christmas tree to her at the Parade of Trees. One of the children had been in an accident the same week Julie was in the hospital. After a week he regained conciousness and ask for Sister Selders. He said she had been with him the whole time in the hospital room.

This is one of my favorite pictues of Julie. This is how I picture her when I think her cute smile. Andrea and Julie at Deer Valley.

Julie had the cutest sense of humor. She could nick-name anything and keep us all laughing. We sure love and miss our Julie. And there was never any doubt that Julie loved all of us. If ever there was family loyalty, Julie demonstrated it.

When I asked her to come to Fresno in August to be with all of us for Jeremy and Shelly's wedding, she gladly flew in, brought Grandma Neider, and made all of the favors for the wedding luncheon after the temple. Then she flew to Virginia for a week to help with Jeremy's reception here. Now that is a loyal sister. We had a week of laughter and giggles that have gone unsurpassed in my life. She died the following November.

I'd like to give her a great big hug for her birthday.................................if you have sisters, let them know how much you care about them.

We Did It

2010-03-12T20:37:00.007-05:00

Melanie and I were so excited tonight. We decided to try PF Changs lettuce wraps. We did it and they were delicious. We are such great cooks........................and humble too.

We found the recipe on the internet ...............the rest is history. They were amazingly good. YUM. I love trying new recipes. I should confess we purchased spring rolls and fried rice to complete the meal.

We have had so much fun cooking together. One day I assist and one day Melanie assists.

Some of our other new favorites are...............................chicken fajitas, onion rings, my mom's fried rice, so many crock pot recipes, English muffins from scratch, rosemary bread from scratch and our great discovery.........a new trick. Well, it came about because Melanie found a frozen caterpillar in the frozen green beans. A big one. I am only serving fresh vegatables from now on...........

Our trick.........................We have started making indivivual salads instead of a big salad bowl. We have an individual salad before every meal and it is very effective. There are no salad leftovers or waste. We think we are really smart and clever (and humble). Cooking can be so much fun. Melanie likes to clean up the dishes and pots as she goes. My sister Julie used to clean as she cooked. It makes the after dinner mess so much better.

We also made Matt a German chocolate cake from scratch for his birthday last week. Oh my -- only my second attempt, but so so yummy. We even made a section for Gabe and Andrew without coconut, but alas, I noticed Andrew didn't finish his piece. He spotted a stray piece of coconut.

Keep on cooking......................we are loving it.

What Grandmas and Grandpas Do

2010-03-11T16:00:00.023-05:00

This is what Grandmas and Grandpas do when Mommys need a rest.

Rich started telling stories to our boys about the magic bunks. He has recorded hundreds of magic bunk stories with his grandchildren. They have all kinds of adventures. It's amazing what the kids can do on the magic bunks.

Tanner and Carsen beg Grandpa for a story every night at bed time.

Charlotte gets to play with her play-doh everytime she comes over. I use to hide it from my boys. My how things change.

We had so much fun with Audrey at the park.

Grandpa with Audrey in the park.

Grandchildren are just the best ever. This is only four of our seven grandchildren -- soon to be eight.......................................................

Fun in Fresno

2010-03-08T23:22:00.012-05:00

Here are some pics of the Fresno Crowleys. It was such a nice visit and the weather was great after being in winter all the way across the country.

This is how Shelly get's things done.

What a cute family!

Cute Crowley Guys

Beautiful Crowley Girls

Tanner, Carsen and Jeremy

The Family

Our Precious Pixie

Carsen scored four goals in this game

More pixie

Tanner on the move
Great action shot

Good one Carsen

We saw some pretty intense soccer from the Crowley boys.
Our visit was ten days and we loved every minute of it.

Grandpa's Big Chair

2010-03-04T11:36:00.000-05:00

Audrey (Andrew and Melanie's) and Charlotte (Matthew and Gabe's) are the cutest little cousins ever. This was one of their very rare quiet moments.

The girls love to climb up in Grandpa's Big Chair. Today they were reading together. Are they adorable or what! Love these little Angels. They are both Grandpa's Girls.

Our Amazing Country

2010-03-02T10:01:00.001-05:00

If you haven't traveled the USA, it will be a thrill to discover. I'm finally finishing my blog about our trip in October-November and it is really more of a journaling with pictures. This was our fabulous trip.

We ended up putting 10,000 miles on our rental car and really loved every mile. The USA is so.......... well...................... American every step of the way. Each state was so different, yet a little familiar and each one with a beauty of it's own. The people were friendly and welcoming and very interesting to us. We've always loved studying people and Rich is a natural every where he goes. It made the trip enjoyable everyday. The best part was feeling so at home.............................it is our America.

Rich and I started our seven week trek across the country by winding our way through West Virginia on back roads. The mountain towns were so interesting to us. We made our way around Pittsburgh and found the western side of Pittsburgh beautiful. Our first night was spent in Youngstown, Ohio with the target of Kirtland, Ohio to check out the Church history sights.

We loved Kirtland and the Kirtland Temple and all of the history that goes with it. Even tho' it belongs to the Community of Christ Church (RLDS), the area is such a part of us. Our ancestors were there and helped build the Temple. We walked the grounds and felt a wonderful spirit. We were on a tour with a very small group with two new sister missionaries at the LDS Visitor Center. They were young and enthusiastic and kept using the current buzz words of "l love this and I love love this". One of them even loved the pass along cards. The group in front of us was with a married missionary couple and we were a little jealous because they were laughing and having such a good time. Our sisters were so serious. We made it to the Whitney Store and were listening to the presentation of the Word of Wisdom on the second floor.

As the sister missionary talked about the promises in the Word of Wisdom, she quoted, "run and not be weary and walk and not faint." She then went on to say............................"I really love the last part of the promise..............................that the destroying angel shall pass them by and then added..........I think that means you will live longer if you follow the Word of Wisdom."

The thing that struck Rich and I both at the same moment so profoundly was never having paid attention to the last part of the promise. Rich has never been one to complain much about his health situation or express "why me" but there have been occasions when he was weak enough to say to me, "Where is the run and not be weary part for me?"................................but we knew at the same moment that we were to be in that room at that time hearing the words of a new missionary say, "the destroying angel will pass you by." It was no coincidence. We were there for that message. It was a sweet message to our hearts.

The times Rich has survived health scares are many and has been told just this year by his heart doctors that they believed he would not make it in 1994 -- let alone be here 15 years later. I have to say I loved loved loved the experience in Kirtland.

The Kirtland Temple

We also ran into an missionary couple in Kirtland from American Falls, Idaho. I asked the guy if he knew Boyd Neider. He said, "Yes, I used to work for Boyd Neider at Prudential Insurance in Pocatello. Small world." Everyone knows my dad.

We spent a couple of days in Nauvoo, Illinois touring all of the historical sites. We took the covered wagon ride which was about an hour. Very interesting and very cold. Hmm..............how did the pioneers do it.

Standing at the end of Parly Street where the pioneers crossed frozen the Mississippi in February of 1846.

These are the graves of Joseph, Emma and Hyrum Smith. The man giving the tour is with the Community of Christ (RLDS) Church and was very interesting. He grew up in Nauvoo and knew so much history. He visits every year from Phoenix to give tours for a few weeks.

The Nauvoo House

Another Nauvoo Temple shot

Nauvoo is always a memorable experience for me. So many things happened there with the Church which caused such great progress and so many heart breaking things at the same time. Rich had never been there before and he felt quite sad about all of the problems the Nauvoo Mormons experienced.

We ran into an old friend of mine from Tyhee, Glenn McMinn and his wife, Annette. He is there in charge of the Nauvoo Pageant. It was a joy to see him after 40 years. He is still the same
young man I grew up with in Tyhee.

We fell in love with the Badlands in South Dakota. They were so different and such a fun surprise to love. We hiked around some here and were completely taken with the beauty of the more than 400,000 acres. It was different around every corner.

We hiked clear over to the mountain here. It was nearing evening so the sun was really making a beautiful setting.

We really loved Mt Rushmore. It was closed due to snow and electricity problems the day we arrived so we stayed out in the Badlands. We spent a lot of time in the Borglund museum. Borglund started Mt Rushmore when he was in his 60's. They carved the mountain with jack hammers and dynamite. Borglund was such an interesting man.

Crazy Horse Mountain in South Dakota in the Black Hills. They have been working on the mountain for 40 years and have the head done as shown in the back ground.

We passed through Montana in a blizzard so there are no pictures. The mountains were so beautiful. We stayed in Bozeman that was expecting more snow. We left early to miss more of the blizzard. Montana mountains have mostly Ponderosa Pines

Coeur de Alene, Idaho in the panhandle of Idaho

Family time............our great uncle was a congressman in Idaho. There is a Neider Avenue and a Neider Plaza.

Lake Coeur de Alene............I was ready to move here. It is beautiful.

This is the Space Needle in Seattle - The Silver space ship is the EMP Live Museum. It is huge.

Rich with the Fabulous Chancellors display in the Rock and Roll- the above Silver Museum in Seattle.

Jean Perry took us to these beautiful falls in Seattle

Oops out of order -- Coeur de Alene Lake in Idaho - close to where I was born in Moscow

Deception Pass connects Whidbey Island with Seattle.

On Whidbey Island in Puget Sound - A fifty mile long resort island. Very fun. We stayed at a home on the Island courtesy of one of Rich's colleagues. It was fabulous. We had to ride the ferry over.

Oregon Coast with mountains in the back ground.

Oregon Coast

Many shots of the Redwood Forest in Northern California............so peaceful

You couldn't really get the feel in pictures of the giant Redwoods. They were magnificent.

From the Arches in Utah

Our beautiful Virginia.....................by Charlottesville
Our stops:

Youngstown, Ohio

Kirtland, Ohio

Nauvoo, Illinois

Some where in Iowa

Wall, South Dakota

New Castle, Wyoming

Bozeman, Montana

Coeur de'Alene, Idaho

Seattle, Washington - stayed with Jean Perry in North Bend

Whidbey Island, Washington

Gig Harbour, Washington - stayed with Carrol Neider Norton our neice

Newport, Oregon

McKinleyville, California

Fresno, California - stayed with Jeremy for 10 ten days

Reno, Nevada

Boise, Idaho - visited long time friend Gary Cottle, were there for Five Guys opening

Idaho Falls, Idaho - stayed with Kenny and Margo

Pocatello, Idaho - stayed with Mark and Renee- visited former students in Blackfoot

Layton, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah - stayed a week with Mom

Springville, Utah - stayed with Rich sister, Annette

Grand Junction, Colorado

Colby, Kansas

Nashville, Tennessee -red carpet for CMAs

Cookville, Tennessee

Bristol, Virginia - went to Gate City where Lillian Mae Remy was born

What an amazing trip. We loved seeing the USA and becoming acquainted with places we had never been. We would do it again in a heart beat.

The Miracle

2010-02-23T09:37:00.000-05:00

Our newest grandson was born Sunday. What excitment we all experienced and then to see this precious baby. He is already a joy and a blessing to the Crowley Family. I think the most reverent feelings a mother can have are when her babies arrive.

Here's our little Nathan Matthew with Charlotte on his first day...................

Proud Grammie

The perfect family -- but missing our Lauren.

Proud Grandpa!

Charlotte's first look at Nathan.

A Stop On Tyhee Road

2010-02-10T14:08:00.000-05:00

On our trip in October we stayed with Mark and Renee a few days. Fun times. Mark took us to the house we grew up in on Tyhee Road. We had fun.

Rich took the picture from the road.

Kenny and Andrea in the same spot. Kenny 8th grade Andrea 6th grade with a hair crisis going on. The picture windows had nice awnings. Does anyone have a good picture of the olden days house?
Mark and the contractor - my old bedroom. After they gutted the house, the guy said that the living room addition put on by my grandpa Neider, Herbert Lee Neider, was built so well that he left the original studs, etc. Good job Grandpa.

Again, the basement bedroom

This is the Tyhee Flats.............This is where Kenny threw the gear shift of his car when someone ran into his Nomad.

This is looking down Tyhee Road. On the right at the bottom of the hill was Boyd's IGA and on the right was the Tyhee Church -- 7th Ward. This looks like a highway, but it is a little country road. The ranchers would often take the herds of sheep and cattle down this road to the summer pasture up in the mountains in the distance. That was always very exciting.

Tyhee Road is very famous in our family. We all had adventures here. This is where I fell off Aunt Carolee's bike landing on my head........................very traumatic. We use to ride double all the time. This is the road that Grandpa Boyd's brothers stacked cardboard boxes high and wide across the road as a halloween prank. Ha Ha. And I will never forget walking from the store to the house after closing the store alone. I ran up the middle of the road with the money bag clutched in my hands until I put it in a safe place in the house. (Dad's closet)

This house looks very sad. This is the front.

The house has been gutted and is being complete refurbished. This is the front porch. We moved out of this house in 1965. Mark would have been about 14. The tub is funny. We had eight in our family and one bathroom. Can you imagine it?

This shows the back porch going to the basement or up to the kitchen. No heat and very cold in the winter going down to the bedrooms.

This is the spot!

This is the exact spot where Mike buried the candy. (An old family story) Mark, pictured above, did not get his share of the candy as the story goes. Where is that candy Mike?

Also, as we walked through the door to the garage, the contractor said, "I can't figure out what this little cupboard is for." It was about an 8x8 behind the garage door.

Mark said, "I don't know what it was for, but that's where I put Julie's dead Easter chick." Ask Mark for the full story.

I found some fun old time pictures to blog about from Tyhee Idaho. Go back a few blogs to December 20 to read the blog. I started it in Dec and just finished it.

It Doesn't Get Any Better

2010-01-18T13:38:00.000-05:00

Well........................the ten day trip to Fresno started out a little rocky. We flew in for Tanner's baptism, but by the evening of our arrival, Tanner, Emery and Carsen were are on the floor with their own throw up bowls. By morning Shelly was sick and Jeremy started throwing up at 6:00 a.m. What a day.............................Five Crowleys moaning and groaning on the floor. It was awful. The baptism was to be the next day, but had to be postponed.

By Sunday all was well and the baptism was wonderful. Phew! Tanner was beaming and beautiful. There was a crowd in the room just for Tanner. Tanner's Grandmas gave the prayers, his daddy baptized him and Grandpa Crowley and Uncle Brad gave the talks. Very nice......

By the next day both Grandma's were throwing up as well as Uncle Brad and Shelly's cousin. Crazy. Fortunately the bug was only a 24 hour thing. The good thing...............Becca, Shelly's sister was in town for the baptism and she fixed everyone's hair. So we did get sick, but our hair was really cute.

Amazingly Grandpa Crowley never got the bug. Inspite of the bug we had a great time with the Fresno Crowleys. They are a sweet family and those kids are beautiful. They are such a good example of good for all of us.

We flew home on Sunday and good boy Andrew picked us up at 11:30. ...........................then on to Culpeper. We fell into bed about 1:00 a.m. Isn't it nice -- we didn't have to get up and go to work. Life is Good.

Good Times

2010-01-04T11:25:00.000-05:00

Matt and Gabe hosted a reunion of their friends from Matt's youth. They all went to school together and grew up in Fairfax Ward. James and Melissa Finck were in town for the holidays and drove down to Culpeper to visit all of us. Kari (Younce) and Ed recently moved to Arlington from NYC and drove out for the reunion.

Dr. James is teaching at U of Texas in the history department. We are really proud of his accomplishments. They have three beautiful children. Jake, Savannah and Jackson. Kari and gang think they really like Arlington and I think Ed is an economist or in finance? I could be wrong about that. They have two adorable daughters, Hazel and Ginger and another daughter on the way in April. Good times. It was great to have them in our home again.

Gabe stirring up the children pot

Fabulous Holiday

2010-01-01T17:14:00.000-05:00

What a celebration we had in Culpeper. It all started with a huge snow storm the week before Christmas. It was beautiful We couldn't get out much -- well Rich had to get out-- so we drove to Walmart. It was fun...............Then we were snowed in for a couple of days. Church was cancelled and everything. It made for a pretty quiet weekend before the big celebration.

Andrew's car all snowed in............

The creek behind the house. You can't really tell how deep the snow is.

We were plowed out a little. Rich had to dig out the spotlight under about two feet of snow. The house was beautiful in the snow.

Then onto Christmas Eve..............well, the camera girl was busy cooking, but what fun we had. Andrew's family, Matt's family and Gabe's brother, Ches and new wife were here -- plus the little girls, Audrey and Charlotte. We decided to go Italian for Christmas Eve dinner. Gabe made the super duper lasagne and Melanie and I did the side dishes. Ceasar Salad, Ceaser Toast points -- you get the idea. All Italian. It was fun. Melanie and Andrew bought some gelato and Italian ice, but we were too full to eat it. Ha Ha

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On to Christmas Day...............okay...........I did have fun setting the table. I did not put on the Christmas morning brunch table in the pictures lest you think I only care about the tables. See I am not that crass. We had our sugarlump bread and trimmings..............fun.

We had a great time with Audrey on Christmas morning. She was so adorable with her gifts. She didn't open them all -- once she found new toys to play with, she couldn't move on........what a cutie pie. Andrew and Melanie are so sweet with her and each other. Each gift they give seems personal and just what the other had been thinking they needed. Very special.

We had our traditional ham dinner. Gabe made her Grandma's rolls for us again. We are very lucky. I did manage to get a few people shots at this dinner along with my table.

Francesco and Evelyn from NYC

Lottie in her Thomas the Train sweater and hat

Christmas was fun and exciting and I decided I wouldn't cook again for a year. Well, that edict went away today. We had another fun New Year's Day. Movies, football and I decided to try two new recipes. Vegetable beef and barley soup with English muffins. I felt like a real pioneer. We loved both............the English muffins are easy -- a recipe from my friend Jeneane.

So, we survived another holiday season -- wonderful gifts, popcorn balls to the neighbors and friends, singing carols, trips to the dr with trading colds, reluctantly singing in church, and being surprised that the program went pretty well, homemade gifts to all of the Relief Society ladies, being together as family and talking to our absent loved ones by phone. Each day isn't always perfect but we love our holidays and treasure each moment.

Where We Grew Up

2009-12-20T21:08:00.000-05:00

In our trip to the West, Rich and I had the opportunity to visit the old house on Tyhee Road. My brother Mark and his wife Renee talked with the contractor who is remodeling the house and took us by for a visit. Amazing! So many of the ideas implanted in my heart and brain were nutured there. So many happy memories. Loved that community and everyone who lived there. Tyhee School has been gone for many years -- replaced by a new building. Our house, now completely gutted and changed is very different, but our home none the less.

Wow..............I discovered
I grew up in a time and place that reallydoesn't exist anymore. Mom and Dad operated the Boyd's IGA store in a small farming community outside of Pocatello, Idaho. Across the street from the store was Tyhee Church and our house was up the hill. Across the street from the house wasTyhee Grade School. Everything important very close together. I don't think anyone could have asked for a more secure or a happier place to grow up. The community thrived with everyone taking care of each other. All the families in the community loved each other and depended on one another. That I miss.

Andrea and her charge (Darryl)

Mark, Vicki, Mike and Andrea...................loved those kids.

Mark and Julie -- Mark always had the nifty attire

Andrea's real live dolls. The car was a turquoise blue

The swing (the biggest I have ever seen).....................in the picture below................you could fly over the moon.

The apple trees, the raspberry patch, the horses, and pastures are gone. However, little children hand prints are still there in the cement. My brothers and sister -- forever will live there . My hand prints were from when I was about five. The younger kids were on the sidewalk by the swing. Kenny and I were by the house along with Aunt Carolee.

Above............Christmas dinner, I think. Ham prepared by Boyd Neider. A long time family tradition. Julie, Andrea,Grandma Hansen, Grandpa Hansen, Kenny, Mike, Mark, Donna. Boyd taking the picture and holding Darryl. Look at Grandma's beautiful table with the china from Japan that Uncle Nathan sent. Love it. Mom gave it to me -- I love it so much. Since Julie is about two years old here. I am about age 11.

As I walked through the old house, I could literally feel the memories that were made in that home. Just like the handprints in the cement, the memories are there. Part of the original hardwood floors were still there -- dining room and in Mom and Dad's bedroom. Wow what feelings came back to me. What happy feelings. Thanks Mom and Dad for making our home such a happy place.

Rich commented that it appeared to be a "less than desirable community". How could he have known or felt the love and presence of our humble, but loving community in Tyhee. I didn't know we weren't rich......................we had everything and couldn't have asked for a happier setting. Growing up in the '50s and '60s was very different, but we were the lucky ones. We had so much.

The magic of the home and community lives on in my heart. We were one big happy family. We loved our friends, our neighbors and each other. All my life I have continued to believe in the magic of my childhood community. I am the person I am due to my experiences in Tyhee. It was a special place and time. A real community. I would like to give a big hug to Tyhee and to thank my family, the Davises, the Lewises, the Hatches, the Wards, the Nashes, the McNabbs, the Johnsons, the Miles, the Fitches, the McMinns, the Empeys, the Stingers, the Facers, the Cutlers, the Satos, the Bringhursts and many more for what I was given.

Christmas is Coming

2009-12-08T20:31:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that I have had a very nice experience decorating for Christmas this year. Okay, it's the first year in a very long time that the decorations have not had to be thrown up in a hurry. Rich put his iPod on Christmas music -- all 257 songs and I took my time for a week putting up this and that. It was wonderful...............

Most of my decorations have been accumulated for many years and I treasure them. I have a gold and white tree and a red apple tree (very Virginia) with wool plaid bows. I thought I would share my finished product. It feels so good to be relaxed and ready. Some of the pictures are a little out of focus. So,use your imagination.

Close up of the gold and white tree. I bought the white glass ornaments the first year we were married in Idaho in 1967.

Gold and White tree - twelve feet tall

Fireplace mantel

The fireplace is so blurry, I added the angel from the wreath. She is my favorite. Look at her sweet little face.

Dining Room table - our little father Christmas in the middle

Apple/Cranberry Tree in the foyer

We've had this sweetest nativity forever. Jeremy broke the ear on the donkey when he was about five years old. The little cherub angel was on our wedding cake. We're talking old.

I've always included this picture of the Savior in our Christmas. It was in my room growing up and came from Dad's home.

Our Russian Icon of Mary and Baby Jesus. The faces are so sweet. Her gown is shell. You can't even tell that baby Jesus was broken off (Carsen and Charlotte) and glued back on. It's okay.............they are my precious grand kids.

The kneewall between the kitchen and family room. I love the bark trees and cranberries. Oops, Rich's foot and leg are in the picture. Ha Ha.

The decorations are beautiful and feel so good. It makes our home feel so cozy and warm. We have candles in all of the windows (also very Virginia)and some twinkle lights on our cranberry trees on the porch. We are ready to celebrate this magical season.

We have always had a special Christmas FHE with another family and each person has to participate on the program. It's always fun to see what everyone wants to do. My favorite Christmas memories are of these special FHE's. Okay...............once the kids were older it was sometimes under duress, but they came through. So as I said, I'm ready to celebrate.

Five Guys

2009-12-03T21:35:00.000-05:00

One of the fun events of our USA tour was being at the opening of Five Guys in Boise a couple of weeks ago. Before the day of the grand opening Five Guys invites friends and family to eat free for the practice. It's a big party with the greatest fries ever. Yes, we love Five Guys that started in the East, but bro Darryl and partners have franchised Idaho, Utah, Oklahoma and part of Northern CA.

My mom goes to all of the openings and is a big hit with the customers. She loves the openings too. Darryl teasingly tells the customers that he has fired her many times, but she will not leave. Ha Ha

Here's someone to keep you on your toes.

Rich, Andrea, Grandma Donna, and Darryl

Actually we just had dinner tonight at Five Guys........................it's a fun place to eat. Try the vinegar on the fries. We first tried vinegar on fries at Rehoboth beach. Very tasty.

She's Back!

2009-12-01T14:46:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I haven't had time to blog since Mother's Day. Tsk Tsk on me I guess. Well..............in a nut shell.

*I retired in July..............can't say enough good things about this.
*Beach week with the family in July. (I long for the beach with our gang.) Just when we think we can't stand each other another minute, it all ends and we yearn to be there again.
*Reunion in the beautiful mountains above SLC with my brothers, their wives and Mom.
We can still spin our..... how you say..............?? Stories. Love those Neiders.

*Rich retires. Yes, I know this is the second time. We'll see if it sticks.

Part of the Crowley Gang at Rich's retirement party.

***6 week road trip across the country. Started in VA to WV, PA,OH,

First stop in Kirtland Ohio

Kirtland Temple

IL,SD
Second stop was Nauvoo, but alas............no pics from Cool pix.

This is Rich in the beautiful BADLANDS of South Dakota.

Again in the BADLANDS

Loved Rushmore - that Borglund guy - what a genius

,WY,MT,ID,WA,OR,CA,ID,UT,CO,KA,MO,TN,and back to VA. 10,000 miles on the rental car. I will blog about the highlights soon.

Okay, I was in a hurry to leave and left the charger home to the camera battery. No pics until I arrived in CA. Gabe mailed the charger to Jeremy's

So this is our adorable Emery.

Shelly, the fixer with Carsen and Emery

School carnival - Shelly, Carsen, Tanner and Grandpa Rich

*Thanksgiving with the Crowleys except Jeremy's gang and Kara and Drew. Fabulous. Thanks for those rolls and spiced punch Gabey.

Only one pic of Thanksgiving

You can see Andrew, Tricia, Jordan and Matt.

More pics of the trip to come..................

Mothering

2009-05-12T09:56:00.000-04:00

Well, mothering is just one of the best things I have ever done. I don't remember being exhausted or lonesome for adult conversation. Sometimes you are just too busy to think. I do remember being really frustrated one day and maybe that was because I was exhausted. Who knows!

Here are some of my sweet memories of Mother's Day.

1. Waffles in bed with syrup and the whole schmear. Delighted faces beaming with joy to bring it to me.

2. Two bottles of the same perfume from two little boys who both wanted to give their momma the swan perfume. I am pretty sure I still have those swans.

3. Standing on my first Mother's Day in 1975 with my two month old baby in my arms to get my flower in sacrament meeting. I can still remember the dress I wore. What a thrilling and happy moment.

4. Receiving the Happy Mother's Day plate in 1987 made by a very cute seven year old. On the back, "I love MOM!" Andy

5. Mother's Day missionary calls. Never forget them. A mother's heart longing to see her boys and knowing they were where they should be.

6. Rich giving me two beautiful bridal wreath bushes for Mother's Day and watching them bloom every spring.

7. Going to Matt's preschool for the Mother's Day party to see a big poster with Matt's name at the top of the list.
WHAT MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME
Matthew Crowley -- She taught me not to mess with her. Hmmmmmmmm.

Other children - My mother taught me how to read, color, cook.............the lesson? Ask your child what he would say if someone ask him what his mother taught him. Ha Ha -- then you can help him with something wonderful as a response.

Somehow it didn't matter. You just love everything your kids do and say.

8. Remembering Andrew reciting in preschool for all he was worth, "Here are my grandma's glasses."

9. Seeing the two little pigs salt and pepper shakers that Jeremy picked out with Grandma Crowley's help for me.

10. I could go on and on. The memories are precious. Remembering those sweet little faces -- now grown up beautiful handsome faces and so accomplished. Love 'em.

The best gift of all was just having those kids. My kids were the best ever. I am just so happy I am their mother. No one else gets to do that. Just me. I am selfish about mothering my boys. I do share with their Dad and wives, but I save the best parts for myself.

The childhood part of mothering goes by very quickly -- just remember that. Keep up the good work all you moms -- it's a great job. Pray hard.

Spring is Finally Here

2009-04-17T15:09:00.000-04:00

Life is just too crazy -- you know what I'm talking about. It's finally the weekend and I am off the clock waiting for Rich to chauffeur me to our beautiful home in the Peper....................so I will catch up on this blog thing.

REWIND
Last night I was so excited to make freezer jam (strawberry)for the first time in years. The cooking group (Enrichment) was to come make the jam. Strawbs were on sale at Walmart and away we go. I made two batches.
I feel so good about myself. Had fun too. It is amazing how digging in and doing something with your hand can make you feel so accomplished. I've been patting myself on the back all day.

EASTER
Two little darling granddaughters in the cutest dresses ever.

Rich treated us to a Honey-Baked Ham --
Melanie treated us to cheesy potatoes -- Gabe treated us to raspberry jello, marinated green beans & brownies with reeses peanut butter cups. What did I do? Oh yah, the fruit kabobs. Rich tried a kabob, but those big boys -- they are -- how do you say cowards in a nice way?

The highlight of the day was Gabe's presentation on the Savior from her part of the Relief Society lesson. Check it out on her blog. It is amazing. She is amazing.

It might be the last time at our old dining room table. We finally ordered one to fit our ever growing family. The old Ethan Allen set is about Matt's age and small. We put it up for sale last week and think we have a buyer. Lot's of fun memories were made at that table. And if you look really really close, you can see Matt's name from completing a homework assignment many years ago.

SPRING BREAK
I was off for the week and welcomed the opportunity to stay home and get some much needed rest. Rich took the week off to make sure I rested. We had a very nice week doing little catch up jobs at the house. Found the new dining room set -- Planted some new flowering trees, azaelas, and bridal wreath bushes. Actually we just did the selecting. Took a drive in the mountains -- had lunch at the Thornton River Grill in Sperryville - I had shaved lamb on a homemade bagette roll. It was about the best thing I have ever tasted -- Walked the mile walk in the park during the day and just had a relaxing time. It was very good for us.

CONFERENCE WEEKEND
This was about the most amazing conference weekend ever. It's always a relaxing time, but this one took the blue ribbon, the Golden Globe and really out-did anything I have ever experienced. Andrew and Melanie came for the weekend and we just soaked up speaker after speaker. It was just the best.

REALLY - THE BIG REASON

One of the first speakers at the Sat morning session was my brother Mike. I knew all of my family was in the Conference Center to hear him and I was a little blue about having made the decision to not go. When Pres Monson anounced his name I started crying -- then two speakers later when he actually started speaking -- I was crying like a big baby. I think the tears were tears of joy and humility. It was such a humbling and exciting experience all wrapped into one. We are such a close family, I think all of us felt like we were up there with him. Well, sorry everyone else, but he was the best speaker of the Conference. I can't even tell you how PROUD - YES - PROUD! I know, the pride thing, but I'm pretty sure I was feeling so much pride. What an honour to be part of such an amazing event. He is just awesome. In fact I have such amazing brothers. We were keeled over with witnessing and being part of our brother speaking in general conference.

Coincidence?

2009-03-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

Well call it coincidence if you like, but I don't know. I haven't gotten to my blog for four weeks............................ever since I was released from my Young Women calling and put in the RS presidency. Anyone that knows me knows how much I love RS -- yes centerpieces and all. So hopefully I will be able to keep up with my blog.

Right now we are getting ready for the RS birthday and I found this quote in trying to find some encouraging quotes to participate in the on-going activities.

"I don't know much about being a millionaire, but I'm sure I'd be darling at it." (Dorothy Parker) I want to show my RS sisters that there are lots of things we don't know about -- but we can still be darling learning.

I do have to tell you it has been such a pleasure to be in RS every Sunday -- I just love being taught. We had the best lesson in Ward Conference. "Choose Ye This Day" It was focused on "this day". What we select daily -- even our tiny little choices makes us who we are and in turn reflects to our children and friends, etc.
It was such a good reminder to me to remember "this day".

Anyway, love my new calling already -- love having lots of new girlfriends. There is so much to learn and so much fun to be had. I hope you all love RS as much as I do. The program is there for us for a very good reason. We need it.

Cutest Girls

2009-01-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to get caught up with my blog and have many pics to post. I added some to previous posts, but this one didn't seem to fit any where. Andrew and Melanie came for MLK weekend. So..............Audrey was having a bath in Grammy's sink and Charlotte wanted in on the action. How cute is this!

My darling granddaughters.

This picture was before Gabe had Charlotte's hair cut. Can you believe the hair on this little girl? She will be two on Monday and this picture is about two months ago. I had just stacked a bunch of stuff on the desk and she was very curious about it. What a doll!

Wedded Bliss

2009-01-30T12:58:00.000-05:00

Rich and I voted last night and decided to stay married for yet another year. I hope none of you were worried about the outcome, but you never know how the tide will swing on voting day. It's really amazing that after all these years -- we still like being together. At least most of the time. Coincidentally it was our anniversary so we try to vote on the matter once a year. We use to say (ha ha) that we would divorce, but neither of us would take the kids, so we had to stay together.

We got to spend the day together on the 28th as the heavens opened and poured down snow and freezing rain. Yahoo! My school was closed so Rich took the day off and we celebrated. He spoiled me this year with beautiful Roses -- a lunch date and we ended up at an afternoon movie. However, he almost canceled the vote when I spilled the entire very large box of popcorn. He said, "That's $7.00 worth of popcorn you know." He decided to keep me anyway and replaced the popcorn.

I think marriage can just get better. There have been moments when I really felt like killing Rich, even threatened, but then I would come back to reality. The Neiders don't want me back. Who would take care of me and my kids? I would have to take care of myself and there wouldn't be anyone around to make me laugh. So, the threat has remained only a threat! I never really planned how I would kill him so that is a good sign I think.

Life with Rich is just crazy and fun. I have always said that the only thing predictable about him is that he is unpredictable. For example: A few years ago I pulled up to the house (anniversary weekend) and he scooped me into the car and said, "We are going away for the weekend."
"Really," I said. "Where?" Then he told me I would find out when we arrived. Well, I asked him about clothes, etc. He told me not to worry he had taken care of everything. Arrive we did at a hotel at the Inner Harbour in Baltimore. Well, he kept packing in suit cases and I was amazed and curious to find out what was in the suit cases. What would I be wearing on this fun weekend? Many suitcases for two days. When I opened one suit case, it had only shoes. A lot of shoes. He told me that he knew I would want several pair to choose from....................ha ha ha. A whole suitcase full of shoes. So funny.

The other wonderful husband/wife moment of that weekend was about my hair. I stress over my hair all the time anyway and feel like it is one of my best features so I work hard to be cute. You know what I am talking about. Anyway, at this time I was wearing my hair "naturally curly". I had just spent a long time in the bathroom getting it just so. When I came out he innocently and in all seriousness said, "Okay, hon as soon as you get your hair done, let's go." Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. That was the end of the curly phase. It was so funny because he didn't really know what he had said until I laughed and told him how long I had been working on my hair.

Husbands are funny. Love'em tho'. Rich has learned that any comment about hair and weight is not going to be a well-received comment no matter what is said -- so better run rather than answer the question of, "Does this make me look fat?"

So we have been married longer than the Israelites wandered in the desert. Man that is a long time of wedded bliss. But, without my better half there would literally and figuratively be no music in my life. I better hurry and think of something fun for him before he calls for a recount of the vote.

My own Rock Star

Rock Star and Grandpa with Emery

Proud Momma!

2009-01-17T08:37:00.000-05:00

Seriously, it's an amazing feeling to watch your children manage their lives and families. Sometimes, yes, you are thinking...........what the heck are they thinking ? ? and at other times you are trying to somehow take credit for their brillance.........thinking that a great decision or an outcome is most certainly due to your good parenting. I love observing what dedicated mothering and fathering is taking place with my sons and daughters-in-law. Well, yes, they have all had good training, but they all go way beyond the measure. As a parent you feel such appreciation and respect to see their skills in action.

So yes I'm a proud momma.............

Two shout outs for two recent accomplishments:

Matt just made partner in his law firm. First partner in about 14 years, I think. It was announced this week and yes we thrilled for Matt. Congratulations

Andrew just finished his MBA in December. Excellent work Andrew. We celebrated at Arties.

A proud momma indeed. I'm very confident I had something to do with something here. Don't you think? Two excellent accomplishments at the same time. My Kings of Virginia.

My Day

2009-01-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

Last Friday was just the craziest. Check this out. Rich and I commuted to Fairfax (we leave at 5:30 a.m.) and I dropped him at his office. I had an eye appointment at 8:00. Traumatic, but no treatment. I didn't have to have the eye shot so that was good news and I was at work by 10:00. I raced back to get Rich so he could drop me off at school. So I work work work all day and one of my cute teachers, Anne dropped me in Centreville for my hair appointment -- about 3:30. My hair was seriously lousy as my hair stylist had been in Utah for about a month. After I was sufficiently cute Rich picked me up in Centreville and we drove back to Fairfax to meet Andrew, Melanie, and Audrey for dinner at my favorite restaurant. We had a fabulous dinner and a fun visit with A, M, & A. We then left the restaurant to go to the Sea Chanters concert in Fairfax. We got to see my cousin, Bob, his wife Veronica (from Seattle). Antje, their daughter performs with the group. It was superb. Anyway, what a day. We were home by 10:30 and yes...............tired. That's called logging a lot of miles in one day. Yep, we're old. Can you keep up with these senior citizens. Ha Ha.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T09:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, I started this on Jan 2. Phew! We made it into the new year. The last week has been so much fun! It started on Christmas Eve with dinner at Matt and Gabe's. The stockings were hung and all the gifts wrapped. Gabe put together a fabulous dinner............cheesy potato soup and pumpkin pie for dessert. It doesn't get any better for this Idaho girl. We all opened a gift as we usually do on Christmas Eve and enjoyed being together. Charlotte was in the spotlight. The next morning...........that little Charlotte was amazing. After looking at the tantalizing packages for days she was finally able to open some.......Wow! She was so precious and what a delight to be a part of that magical wonder in her little eyes. We all had fun with our new treasures. It was a necklace Christmas for me. I know -- I'm lucky. Two Brightons and a beautiful butterfly necklace with an outfit to go with it. I also got a fancy white scarf from CA and a fab George Forman grill that I have used many times and love. I'm spoiled. Rich received his new flip camera and a requested sweater.......books and an itunes card........hmmmmm. Music for the rock star. He loves it.

I had to show you the addition to the gold and white tree. I like to add something each year and Margo and I found these leaves in a little shop in Culpeper. She bought some then I bought some. Then she gave me hers. Thanks Margo.

I did get a really fun present for myself...............that is allowed, I believe. I have given the reading "White Kid Gloves", by Margaret Cousins, many times at Christmas time and was looking for a better copy than the old copy I had. I didn't want to retype the darn thing. Anyway, I found the collection of Margaret Cousins book, Christmas Keepers, on Amazon. After looking in the library and online for many hours, I bought the book. It was published in the 1950's. I am a happy girl to have this fun collection of stories to add to my library. $6.00.

On Friday, Lauren arrived just in time to go the the White House with Matt and Gabe. We got to keep Charlotte for most of the day Saturday. The next few days were fun filled trying to keep up. Lauren and I shopped our legs off in downtown Culpeper. I found a beautiful Mary and Baby Jesus -- okay,
it's a Russian Icon of the Madonna, but it is beautiful with a gold shell gown. It is very special. Matt did ask me if he would now have to genuflect every time he came in the house. No, it is a beautiful work of art.

New Year's Eve -- we were all in bed by 11:00. Lauren said she was the last one up at her house also. New Year's Day -

we had our Christmas traditional breakfast for Lauren. Hmmmmmmmmmm more Sugar Lump Bread and Gabe made the breakfast casserole. We polished off the ham and bean soup that night. Then...........

Lauren finishing a puzzle lickety split.

Two Crowley Sisters Snuggling at Grammy's House

Just wanted to show you Lauren's long legs. Yes, she is taller than her Grammy now.

On Friday Gabe made her absolutely fabuloso everything from scratch lasagne. We were in Heaven. Later the Utes killed Alabama and I thought Matt was going to pass out with excitement. It was an awesome game. Go Utes! I vote #1. But come on let's not sue the BCS. What a fun week. Lauren left Sat morning for Utah. We are sad and lonesome without her, but what a treat to have her.

I hope to add pics to go along with the events. Who knows..........I am way behind.

Christmas Traditions

2008-12-23T22:16:00.000-05:00

I was thinking back about Christmas traditions in our family and had to smile as I remembered some very fun times with our boys. They were the best little helpers as we made our Christmas goodies. We started when the boys were very young making popcorn balls to deliver to all of our neighbors and friends. Every year we made lots and lots of popcorn balls of red, green and white. I remember Matt skating across the street during an ice storm once to deliver our treat to the neighbors one Christmas Eve. We loved those popcorn balls and would eat them until our mouths were sometimes sore. After we left Fairfax we have had several friends request we stop by with the popcorn balls. It's Annie Crowley's recipe...........everyone loves it.

Annie's Popcorn Balls

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup white karo
1/2 stick butter
Stir to first bubble. Cover and let boil for exactly 2 minutes. Pour over two batches of popped corn and shape into balls.

How easy is that!

Our long time tradition for Christmas morning breakfast is our "Sugar Lump Bread", link sausages and Grandma Rigby's Orange Julius. We've had the same breakfast for at least 30 years on Christmas morning. If you can't tell, I'm a recipe nut and have a super collection from lots of family members.

Freshly Baked Sugar Lump Cinnamon Bread

A Crowley Family Favorite - I found this fun recipe in 1970 right after moving to the DC area.

We also always have a ham dinner on Christmas Day. This tradition goes back to our Neider Family in Idaho. My dad always made Christmas dinner with all of the trimmings and the ham had to be prepped just so with glaze and cloves, etc. He would sometimes let us put the cloves in the ham, but most of the time he insisted on doing it all himself. It was a very fun tradition.

Another fun thing in Tyhee was our Christmas deliverys. Since Dad and Mom had the IGA store in Tyhee, they would gather their kids each year and designate several families to receive a bushel basket of food. Dad would put the ham in the basket and then send us kids all over the store to select other items we felt were appropriate. I can still remember squealing with glee as we raced back to the basket. With a full basket the family would then deliver the goods. My parents were especially generous and it was a very memorable experience.

With my own children I love thinking of the sweet times. One FHE in November, we had the manger with a baby Jesus. Every time a good deed was performed we put new straw in the manger with the hope that by Christmas the manger would be nice and soft for the baby. After about three days, Andrew could no longer take it and filled it full so the baby would be comfortable. That Andrew likes to take care of everyone still.

One of the sweetest Christmas FHE's was when Andrew was our own little baby in the manger. He was just a perfect baby Jesus. Our Christmas FHE's were always memorable. We started the year Matt was a baby having a special FHE at Christmas and invited friends or family to come. Everyone had to be on the program in some way. They were so memorable. Last year we did the Christmas Story with little Charlotte in the manger and Lauren, Tanner and Carsen were shepherds. They were adorable.

So this year will be new for us. We are going to Matt and Gabe's for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Of course we will take our traditions with us and also enjoy Matt and Gabe's. It will be such a delight to be with them and watch our darling Charlotte enjoy the awe of Christmas.

It's been a quiet Season for us and we have happily navigated it very differently. We are so thankful for all of our Christmas' and the sweet spirit that surrounds and fills our home. The hustle bustle isn't here and it feels serenely peaceful. We'll still have the sugar lump bread, the divinity and maybe some caramels, but it's very quiet. I'm not even going to look at the part of our beautiful tree where the string of lights went out today. It just won't bother me this year. I'm just going to think about our fun traditions.