New Nephew and Honorary Aunts

My friends, Brad and Sherry, have the cutest, most adorable grandson-- Peyton. He is one of those kids that when you see his photo you wish you could reach out and hug him. I have six adorable nieces and nephews of my own (and I try to be "favorite aunt"), but I thought maybe Peyton's mom, Lindsay, would let me adopt him. I promised that I would be a good aunt :) So I have been officially granted "Honorary Aunt" status. "Favorite Aunt" status will be reserved for Peyton's Aunt Chelsea.

When I was growing up, we had an "Aunt Donna." Technically speaking, Aunt Donna was not our aunt. She was my mother’s college friend, who was, to her, more like a sister. To us, she was always “Aunt Donna.” Kind of like an honorary aunt. She would send us presents at Christmas. When she would visit we were sure to have fabulous meals, as she was a wonderful cook. She could sew up a new piece of clothing within a day. And she had an infectious laugh.

Aunt Donna died a few years ago. I have thought of her often. At times, I wish I could call her and ask advice. She taught me how to make her recipe for peanut butter- chocolate pinwheel cookies, for which my family and I will be forever grateful. However, I am most grateful for her example of how to live life with joy and happiness even when it does not turn out how you had planned. From Aunt Donna I learned that you can bless the lives of other people and in return receive great joy even though you are not a mother in the traditional sense of the word.

A Good Read- Big Russ and Me

I just finished reading "Big Russ and Me" by Tim Russert. It is a good read-- I recommend it. When Tim died last month I listed to the television commentary about his life and watched the memorial service. I was so impressed with his character and the things people said about him. I decided to buy my Dad this book. He read it in about two days then gave it back to me to read.
I liked Tim's writing style-- easy to follow and imagine in your mind what he is describing. There are lots of "lessons learned" and funny moments. I found myself laughing out loud. This book, combined with a "write your personal history" class at church has inspired me to write about my own memories. I've got lots of pages written this week!
So if you need an easy read-pick-me-up kind of book, choose this one.

Hard Labor...And Blessings

Today my friends Garth and Marci helped me pull out some evergreen fitzer bushes. I’ve wanted to do this since I moved here six years ago. It took the three of us about 1 ½ hours with a heavy chain, an old blue truck that is kept around for days like today, and lots of physical labor. My arms are red with scratches. I may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow. Whew. (Pre and post-removal pictures to the left). The thought has crossed my mind that maybe this is why my ancestors died so young—too much physical labor. It’s definitely not for wimps!

On days like today, and other days when I feel like my life is hard, I think about my pioneer ancestors. I think of their challenges and conclude that they were strong women. I like to think that I have inherited some of their strength and I can do hard things too. It gives me courage.

My great-grandmother Sarah Jane Porter was born in 1865. She was married when she was 17 years of age. Her husband was 48. His first wife had died nine years earlier, and left him to raise six children. Sarah Jane gave birth to 10 children. The tenth child was my grandmother.

Sarah Jane experienced much grief in her life. Four of Sarah Jane’s daughters died: ages 1 month, 14, 19 and 37. Sarah Jane’s husband died after 21 years of marriage when Sarah Jane was 38. Sarah Jane was very hard working, and had integrity. She had a farm and rented it out until her son was old enough to run it himself;she made butter and took it to the butcher (people requested her butter); sold raspberries-10 cents/quart; and took some apples to a local fruit stand and the money she made paid the taxes on the farm that year. She was also very generous and fed everyone that came to their house. Her philosophy was “I have always had enough food for us and some to spare, and the Lord blesses me for it.” She was also very spiritual. She prayed with her children every morning and listened to promptings of the Spirit.

I wish I knew more about her faith. How did she endure those long hard days? Raising a family alone. Trying to have enough money to get by. Physical labor. Wow. I am so blessed. Now, what do I do with this new empty space. I am simplifying the yard. Marci suggested a boat. Hum... if I had one.

My First Pick

Today I picked my first produce from the garden-- two zucchini. It is amazing how fast these grow. On Friday they were still small and by Monday morning, here they were. Now if everything else in the garden will be this prolific!

Callie, Indy, and Ice Cream

Callie is my oldest niece-- soon to be 15. I used to see her a lot, but since she has grown-up, has more of a social life than me (she has 90 friends on facebook and myspace combined; I told her that I don't know 90 people), and I live in a different city, I don't see her as much.

So today was movie and ice cream day with Callie. We went to see Indiana Jones. I must admit, I love the original Indy movies, but this one just wan't quite the same-- good, but not great. Afterwards we ate ice cream at Scoopology. It was a scoop of ice cream with a warm cookie. Yum. However, I still have fond memories of Italian gelato, and Scoopology just didn't measure up. All in all, it was a great afternoon because I spent it with Callie. She is the BEST! It seems like just yesterday she was about 4 years old and we went to see the movie "Ants" and she held me hand through the entire movie because she was scared. Life is good!

The Garden is Growing (and so are the weeds)

This year I decided to plant a garden. My neighbor came by and tilled the ground for me. This is only the second time in six years I have tried planting a garden, so I thought I should add a little fertilizer. Well, I kind of over estimated how much fertilizer I was putting on (who knows how much a pound is from a whole bag??) and somethings did not grow. But I am excited for four tomato plants, two cucumber plants, an acorn squash, pepper, and zucchini plant that survived. Of two rows of green beans, only two seeds germinated. Not sure if I'll get any green beans from those two plants.









My little flower garden at the back of the house is growing too. I've decided to plant more perennial flowers next year...

Flag Cookies and the 4th of July

When I think of the 4th of July I always think of Aunt Jane's flag cookies and fond memories of Thackeray family celebrations. When I was younger and lived in California, every July 4th we had a big family party at Aunt Jane's (not really my aunt, but my grandfather's cousin) with all my aunts, uncles and cousins. We had a parade where the kids waving hand-held flags marched to teenagers playing the drums. The colors were posted and then we sang a few songs and heard a patriotic message. Honestly, I don't remember any of the messages. What I do remember is mom making us a new red-white-and blue shirt to wear, eating yummy food that my aunts made,ice-cold watermelon, the flag cookies, and having to wait at least a half hour before we could go swimming in the pool. While the younger kids swam, the older kids played softball. I couldn't wait to reach the age when I could play ball instead of going swimming. I am grateful to my parents who made the effort to celebrate the holidays, including the 4th of July and instill in us the love of freedom and country. God Bless America!