Who says?

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? How many people do you know who WANT to start using a treadmill just 2 months before their 97th birthday? Well here's my dad and Ann trying out their new treadmill.Ann has been eagerly awaiting its arrival for several weeks. Her doctor recommended it after her recent knee replacement surgery. Taylor made arrangements for us to pick it up at the warehouse in Ogden. Saturday we took it to their house. Steve and Taylor's friend, Seth, spent the next 2-3 hours assembling it and coaching them on its use. Dad and Ann pulled up their chairs and supervised the entire process. That in itself was pretty comical.

I am pretty amazed but they are actually excited to use their new treadmill. I hope that I will be half as willing to try new things when I'm their age, and I sincerely pray for their safety.

Dwindling Generation...

In October, 2009 my cousin, Marilyn, hosted a small luncheon for my Aunt Wanda Skousen before she headed back to Arizona for the winter. Here we gathered for a photo afterward. Left to right-Kristen, Vickie, Robyn, Wanda, Marilyn and LaRell. It was the last time I saw my Aunt Wanda. She passed away on January 15, 2011, in Arizona. She was the last living child of Raymond Elliot McMurray and Lillian Wilson McMurray. There were 8 children born of that union--LaPriel, Robert (Bob), Claudia, Aloha, Wayne, Yvonne, Wanda and Glenn. Two spouses still survive. Here they are at Wanda's viewing. Uncle Bill Nibley, age 90, husband of Yvonne and my dad, Robert M. Kerr, Jr., almost 97, husband of Aloha.

A lot of family members gathered on Jan. 22, 2011, in Orem, UT to honor her. She was a valiant daughter of God who loved the gospel and served Him well all of her life.
Here is my dad and brother, Steve.

Here is my cousin, Gayle, his 3 daughters, a granddaughter and his sister, Launa.

Yvonne's family in attendance included Lee, daughter of my cousin, Debbie; Uncle Bill, my cousin Liz and her son, Chase.

This is Wanda's daughter Vickie's family - husband Michael and sons, Rob, Aaron and Patrick.

Liz and I try to keep each other warm. Our mothers, Aloha and Yvonne were the first of the siblings to pass away. Each died at the age of 53. The others lived a much longer life. Wanda was just 3 weeks away from her 88th birthday.

I am flanked by my cousins, Gayle and Paulette, children of Wayne and Hilda and Paulette's husband.

Robyn and Brad are two of Wanda's children. Liz is Yvonne's daughter and LaRell is Claudia's daughter.

Bill and Yvonne were both quite tall but the years have mellowed Bill and stolen his height.

Vickie, Wanda's daughter, enjoys a light moment with Bob and Marilyn Heiner. Marilyn is Claudia's daughter.

Cousins, Lillian, Scott and Kent, Glenn's children, gather around Teri, Robyn's husband, to see some pictures. Scott's wife, Kristen, is between Teri and Kent.

I enjoyed seeing my cousins and reminiscing about those days when we gathered in Oakley to clear the weeds from the cemetery plots and sprinkle freshly cut grass and decorate the graves with blooming lilacs. Then we would eat some of the best food ever cooked and top it off with homemade ice cream and applesauce cake. My mother was the heart of those Memorial Day gatherings even though we lived a couple of hours away. At least, I thought she was, because after she passed away, we didn't gather as cousins for almost 20 years.

I'm mourning the loss of my dear Aunt but also those days long ago when we had such fun with our McMurray cousins. The siblings are joyfully gathering on the other side of the veil now. I bet they are having a fantastic reunion-hopefully with homemade ice cream. Today I miss my mother, Aloha!

New Zoo Pass

On MLK Day, we went to the zoo first thing while Heather and Aaron ran some errands and had lunch. It was a very pleasant day with temperatures in the high 40's. There weren't any crowds and we enjoyed the balmy weather.

We're set for another year now with our zoo grandparent's pass. If any of the grandkids come to town, we are ready for fun at the zoo. You can see that some people felt it was warm enough to shed their coats.

Birthday Time Again!

Last Monday was MLK Day and so the grandkids were out of school. Heather and Aaron came down on Sunday evening so we invited Dustin & Larah's family over again so we could celebrate the upcoming birthdays. Dustin and Heather are the cousins who were born only 4 days apart back in 1973. We hope you both had a happy birthday this past week.

This event was not without it's memorable moments. It seems that the kitchen drain got plugged up during the meal preparation. Aaron and Steve worked on it and Aaron even took the pipes apart under the sink.

Apparently the blockage was deeper in the system. We had to have a drain cleaning company come the next day and snake out the whole drain. We couldn't clean up so we ended up with a very messy kitchen until the next afternoon.

Hilary's family came down on Monday afternoon so we did a little more visiting and celebrating. I love it when the siblings and cousins have an opportunity to get together.

Date Night!

Tonight Steve and I had a date to the Attractive Nails Salon. We went to use our Christmas gifts and get a pedicure. We quite enjoyed the massage chairs and the foot and calf massage. Steve declined to have his toenails painted but I went for purple. It was a relaxing change of pace for both of us.

Here are the results. Our nails are clipped and my heels are smooth. I love it. Thanks Jen and Tay. We both enjoyed your generous gift.During the holiday season, I had the idea that I would replace most of the lights on the little tree on the front porch before I put it away for the season. The wind had blown it over several times and most of the lights didn't work. Up until today, it has been frozen to the porch. Since our temperature was a balmy 40 degrees, I was able to move it. Well, it turned into a much bigger task than I anticipated. This was one of those pre-lit trees so each light was SECURELY fastened to each limb. I kept wondering if I should just throw it away instead of struggling with each light. I was finally able to get all of the broken lights off, but I will warn you should you contemplate this type of activity, that it may test your patience and persistence. I always wondered what you did when your lights quit working on those kind of trees. NOW I KNOW.

Miss You, Will...

We loved having Taylor, Jen and Will for an awesome visit during the holiday season. They were busy and had lots to do, but this week I'm missing our busy "Big Will". They left for China EARLY Monday morning. In spite a long layover in San Fran, their trip went fairly smoothly and they are back in China safe and sound.



Taylor ran a Ragnar relay in Florida with his work team last weekend. Here Will eagerly listens to his dad on the phone.

Sunday evening we had Dustin, Larah, Cassidy and Parker join us for dinner. It was fun just visiting. We miss those monthly Sunday dinner gatherings.

Here Will gives Grandpa an unsolicited hug which he loved.

OH, THAT SWEET TOOTH...

December was such a busy month, I really didn't think about New Years' Resolutions, self-improvement or goals. A couple of years ago I vowed to drink more water, wear more red and have more fun! That worked pretty well. Last year I tried to "keep it simple". I've had less guilt since then.

Well for 2011, I am just beginning to think of some of the things I want to accomplish. My latest thought process goes something like this...My sister Jackie has been conquering a sugar addiction by eliminating it! Wow, that's an amazing accomplishment. Then I read a headline that said sugar may be linked to alzheimers. Well, I wasn't going to read THAT article. That would be way too depressing. But...I had to admit that I am addicted to sugar. The holidays found me savoring chocolate covered gummy bears at every opportunity. I'm still working on coming up with a realistic, live in the real world, solution to this challenge. So, for the time being, I'M CUTTING BACK ON SUGAR. I'm thinking about Adam's solution of allowing it one day a week--pick your day. I'm not sure about that yet. But for now I am eliminating candy. Ouch! That has been sooo hard. Especially since my visiting teacher gave me a late Christmas gift of a sleigh full of gourmet toffee. (I haven't eaten a single piece.) But I have eaten most everything that doesn't have sugar. I have almost stuffed myself a couple of days because I am allowing anything else I want until I get over this hump. Lots of popcorn--but it's just not as satisfying if you don't eat it just after something sweet. I sure hope that I can do this because I don't want all of you to have to take care of a senile old lady. Please DO NOT give me candy for my birthday next month! Thanks. I knew you would understand.
I am also open to reasonable suggestions, if you have any.

New Years in Idaho

We drove to Idaho for New Years. Quinn was not happy to see us. He only wanted his mother most of the time. He was content while reading his books and eating. No hugs for us this time. We hardly got a smile. I was able to change his diaper twice and dress him once. I also babysat him while he was sleeping but he doesn't know about that. That was the extent of it.Elsie was happy to see us. The first day she kept asking how long we were going to stay. The second day she wanted to know when we were going home. I'm not sure how to interpret that so I won't try.

I think that Jantzen was happy to see us. He showed us some of his new Christmas things. He liked staying up later on New Years Eve. He was willing to peel potatoes but I'm not sure if he liked it.

He was very sad when he didn't get a piece of bacon at breakfast. He was busy playing and didn't come down before the bacon snitchers got it all. Anna was happy to see us. She was even happy to peel potatoes.

Brinley was happy to see us. She showed us the new pajama pants she sewed on her new sewing machine with the help of Grandma M. Way to go Brinley. The pants are awesome.

Heather and Aaron seemed happy to see us. They enjoyed the Reuben sandwiches, baked beans and turkey dinner that I cooked. Aaron appreciated Steve's help when some bathroom pipes were frozen. The plumber came, but they had to tape, reinsulate and do quite a bit to restore things. In return Aaron helped Steve repair some cosmetic cracks at our house and drain the water from the plumbing system for winter.

Tanner, Aaron, Jantzen and Steve had to push us out when we got stuck in our driveway and the warm tires turned the snow into ice. I for one really appreciated their help.

I think that Heather was happy to see us because I did a lot of cooking and gave her a break in the "feeding 8 hungry people" department. She was sad when we left because we left the kitchen in a mess. Sorry about that, Heather.

We loved spending holiday time with your darling family and getting some things taken care of at both houses. I loved reading with the children and making good food for all of you to eat. We always love to get a project complete. Ha! With that we will wish you all a happy and prosperous new year in 2011.

Just a Note!

There were significant events that I had not blogged about as they occurred throughout the year of 2010. The next few blogs are out of order and there is a much better explanation of this at the end of these additions. Along with other things, I am not good at blogging backwards. This may be quite confusing but at least I'm getting caught up. Sorry. I guess that what I'm really doing is repenting. Please forgive me.

Post 8/28...

The media coverage of the Restoring Honor Rally was pathetic. They just couldn't quite figure it out. They called it political. There was nothing political about it. They grossly underestimated the crowd. We sat under the trees to the left just up from the fountain. There were crowds all the way to the Washington Memorial. We think there were close to 500,000 peaceful, law abiding, happy people there. People who came to show their support for the restoration of the values espoused by our founding fathers when they wrote our consitution.

There was a counter rally sponsored by many groups which included socialists, communists, union groups, etc. held on Oct. 2, 2010. Here is a photo of the crowd that gathered. Most people didn't even stay through the event.

Here the crowd is leaving the 8/28 event. People stayed for the entire three hours. We hung around for about 30-40 minutes after it ended just to let some of the crowd disperse. People continued to visit with new friends and just to linger in the spirit of the day a little longer.

One of the main things we noticed as people were leaving was how clean they left the area. I took this photo. We were amazed. We couldn't find scraps of paper or garbage anywhere except near the garbage containers which had piles of garbage bags around them. Everything was cleaned up.

This is what the mall looked like after the Restoring Honor Event.

Notice the huge contrast. These photos were taken after the 10/2 One Nation event.

The lack of respect for these sacred grounds was obvious. These people don't value our historic memorials or the people they were designed to honor.

This is the picture Tricia took of the memorial grounds. You can easily see the contrast. The attendees of the Restoring Honor rally, respected and honored their country and its sacred memorials. They left it spotlessly clean. That pretty much says it all.