Happy Birthday LORIEN, eight years old today!

 

Lorien collage at age two, she's grown lots as these photos will show.

Christmas eve with family

Happy to have some of my family here to celebrate the holidays with us...would be nice to all be together one day.

Just missing Emilee who is in Paris France on her mission

James the youngest keeping warm

Dan the original Apple guy

Mr and Mrs Floyd at Christmastime in St. George

Heather with Grandma and her Dad

ACT DON'T REACT

Good advice to myself, no matter the day, month or season. This was a motto or resolution from past years that I still try to follow. The easy way out in any tense situation is to REACT-it's almost automatic, but the better way is to ACT. Think first before opening your MOUTH or interacting negatively. That may require applying the PAUSE BUTTON. Everyone's way of stopping them self is different. When STRESS starts to take hold and it will as the holiday season progresses and our expectations of our self and others are unrealistic. When stressed out, STOP-take a deep breath, pray, take a walk or my favorite way of redirecting and working through my emotions is to write daily in my journal or anytime I have problems to work out in my mind. I know this doesn't work for everyone but it's worth a try.

Examples: when someone is unkind to you in some way, your immediate reaction is to be unkind in return. Rather than TAKING THINGS PERSONALLY, let the unkind remark pass by you and don't feel the need to immediately DEFEND yourself or REACT with the same unkindness. NOT EASY BUT POSSIBLE. Tomorrow is another day to try again...life is a PROCESS to learn from not just a destination. We can always IMPROVE and congratulate our self for making the effort to improve.

Let the Celebrations begin

It's now time for concerts, parties and dinners, as we begin the countdown to Christmas...

Love attending the Messiah to remind us of the reason for the season

Many talented soloists sang beautifully

I'm president of Dixie Poets and we meet twice a month to improve our poems

Sharing food, friendship and poems with my poetry friends

More singing at our branch Christmas party

Santa Claus even gave out goodies to the old ones

Lovely quartet blends their voices

Male singers lamented All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth..

We had over 100 attend for a ham dinner and entertainment

Finished off the evening with a Christmas story

Mom would have been 100 years old today...her birthday

Here's a lovely tribute written by Emilee great grand daughter of my mom Evelyn Johnson Vernon Blomberg who died in 2007 more than 10 years ago. By how time moves on...

Now for a tribute and poem my grand daughter Emilee wrote for her Nana or great grandma and my mother-Evelyn who we all miss.

Nana...Gone...But Not Forgotten...

By Emilee Hatch-ggdg

Evelyn Hazel Johnson (Nana)

Born: December 2, 1917 Silver City, Utah

I will be writing a little bit about my great-grandmother Evelyn Johnson (Nana). Nana had one daughter named Lin, (My grandmother). She had two brothers: Clarence and Norman, and two sisters: Esther and Ethel. Her parents were Marion Johnson Jr, and LoAlda Lemmon. She was a wonderful person. My great-grandmother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She went into a coma. I was nine years old when she died. Nana was one of my dearest friends, I loved her so much and still do. Just seeing her made my day. Every Sunday after church every since I can remember my dad (Daniel) would take me to see Nana. We would talk for a while, she’d ask us how we were. I’d tell her all about school and my day. I loved visiting her, it was what I looked forward to the most every weekend. I remember when she came to my baptism, that was one of my most favorite memories. I will never forget her beautiful smile, I remember her face would light up when she would see my dad and I walk in.

It was hard for me when she died. I remember visiting her when she was in a coma. She died Jan 15, 2007. I remember driving with my dad to go see her (body) on a Monday night. My grandmother was there with us. I remember just crying, I couldn’t bear to lose her. But I hadn’t lost her. She is always there, even though I don’t see her.

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
By Emilee Hatch

You maybe missed, but you aren’t gone,
If you were here, I would sing a song,
One day you where there with me,
The next day you were gone.

The tears I had shed were for you,
Life continues without you,
I look up at the sky to find,
your beautiful smile staring down at me.

Gone, but not forgotten,
You will always be in my memory,
The times we shared,
The times we laughed,
The times we cried,
Only you will know my deepest fear.

You were the only friend who understood,
You will always be remembered,
Remembered, Remembered, Remembered,
Every tear that falls will remind me of you,
You will always be my dearest friend.

You were the only person who smiled,
You will always know me for me,
You made me smile when I was sad,
I will always remember you for who you were.
When I was lost you found me.

You may be gone,
But you aren’t gone forever,
I will always love you my dearest friend.

In Loving Memory of Evelyn Johnson...Loved by many....

Christmas is coming...

How do I know? Well, besides all the decorations everywhere in the stores since Halloween, and the fact that Thanksgiving is over -though November is still hanging on, my friend Caryn has her home all decorated before the turkey was cold. She goes all out, while I wait till mid December to get mine out which consists of a door wreath, a fake Christmas tree and a nativity set. Here's some photos of Caryn's holiday decor. Every corner holds a new delight.

Fun red pillows and throws add festivity

Father Christmas is everywhere...

Front door

Outside patio

Dining table

Santa gets around...

Lots of candles give ambiance!

Thanksgiving is too soon over...

We drove up to my son's Dan's home for Thanksgiving dinner in beautiful warm weather. Had a great meal and opportunities to visit with some of our extended family-my 97 year old aunt in Genola and her son my cousin Bill who went to first grade with me in Eureka Utah back in 1946-7. A long time ago. Didn't get photos of Heather or Nathan but we saw them last week at Cedar City temple open house. Unfortunately Jeff's family couldn't make it. I also forgot to take photos of the luscious dinner feast, we just enjoyed it immensely. Heather made us gluten free and sugar free pumpkin and apple pies. We missed Emilee who is on a mission in Paris, France.

We love to drive on the other side of Utah Lake to avoid traffic...

Dan the designated cook does a great job

Tina the wife and assistant prepares luscious side dishes

James the son provide entertainment on his ukulele and on the piano

 Jeff and his work office at Eide Bailly-a business management firm

Cedar City LDS Temple Open House

We were able to tour the new temple in Cedar City 50 miles north of St. George. It's beautiful inside and out. Dan, Tina and family joined us for a special family outing.

Click http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=video+inside+of+cedr+city+temple&view=detail&mmscn=vwll&mid=9EBE856CD74AB0F710B69EBE856CD74AB0F710B6&FORM=VRRTAP here for news report and views inside the temple.

Returning home to UTAH through Idaho and Nevada

Talk about a quick trip 1200 miles in three days. That's eight hours a day. Hubby was the driver, I enjoyed the scenery plus a few naps and the opportunity to talk about future dreams of a summer place away from the heat of St. George. Thought we'd found the right place in Orofino, Idaho but someone else put an offer down before we even got there to see the place. So, will try again in Spring after the threat of winter snow is over.

Snake River in our rear view window

Storm coming and it was cold and windy

Houses on top of cliffs looking down at the Snake River

I imagine it's very windy up there overlooking the fields below

Some green growth but most everything has stopped awaiting winter

Heading home on our third day of constant travel

Beautiful sunrise

Peaceful fields with cattle grazing

 

Back to Nevada with its snow covered mountain ranges

Never ending roads in Nevada but with little traffic