Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my father-in-law's birthday. It is the one great thing about October 31. I think about Dad all the time, and all the great things he is to/for us. But when I sit down to write about it, it's hard to put it all in concrete words instead of just thoughts.

So, here are a few things off the top of my head that I'm grateful to Dad for:
1. He is a wonderful, loving husband, and I am thankful for his example in this arena to my own husband - I reap the benefits of that great example every minute of my life.
2. He has a great enthusiasm for life. He is actively interested in what is going on around him.
3. He is entertaining in many ways. He has a beautiful singing voice (my husband likes to sing the songs Dad sings, but never thinks he sings as well as Dad - he loves thinking about Dad while he is singing). He also entertains the grandkids - singing fun songs like "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", "Shortnin' Bread", and many others.
4. Dad has spent thousands of hours composing poems and inscriptions for all the books they have ever given their grandchildren. Think about it - over 50 grandchildren times a book for their birthday, and a book for Christmas, and any other books given in addition to those! Those inscriptions are priceless.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. His name is Ray Housley Linford. My husband is Ray Austin Linford, and my son is Ray Orris Linford. My husband has always been so proud to be named after his father that he always wanted to name his first boy Ray also. One inscription Dad wrote when our son Ray was born is this:

To Ray. What a grand name. If you know my name and if you know your Daddy's name you know the name of one of the greatest grandsons we know.

I would say we would know the name of one of the greatest dads and grandpas we know.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dad and Mom in Brazil - currently serving their fourth mission!

*If you look at Dad, you will know what my husband will look like in about 30 years, and you will know what Grandfather Linford looked like about 30 years ago!

3 good things about Halloween

Hmm, I'm trying to think of them. Yes, I'm the Halloween Scrooge of the Century (this century and last). I love autumn things, but not yucky, scary Halloween things (spiders come to mind at this point).

Okay here goes - three good things:
1. It's my father-in-law's birthday (poor man - having to share that holiday). It's one thing that redeems the day for me.
2. We have a big family dinner together to celebrate Dad's birthday, then the kids go trick-or-treating.
3. I guess there's always something good about a holiday that makes chocolate more accessible.

It took me all day to think of all three. Oh, I forgot the most important good thing!

4. I will now start playing Christmas music in the open (I feel Christmas music is okay all year round).

Lunch at the MOA

Everyone who's anyone knows the best place to eat on the BYU campus is the cafe at the Museum of Art (aka MOA). Audrey and I drove down with the boys, picked up Debra, Madeleine, and Ray, and met Beth at the cafe for lunch. Mmm, mmm, delicious. But better than that was all of us together. The grandkids were beautifully behaved and we had a great time as well as a great lunch.

Believe it or not, this was the best shot we got - the babies were fascinated with everything but the proper focal point:

L to R: Audrey, Debra, Ray, Matthew, Madeleine, Beth, Austin

After lunch we wandered through the bookstore. I forget how much I love that place. Now that we live here I don't feel so driven to make sure I get there everytime I'm in Provo. It's been a long time since I've been there, though, and I need to get there more often. At one point we were waiting for Audrey to buy something and I got a couple shots of Matthew and Madeleine side by side in their strollers.

I think in this one Matthew is trying to pull a quarter from behind Madeleine's ear:
Believe it or not, they are both happy. This is Madeleine's latest posed smile for the camera:
Madeleine's not so sure what Matthew is laughing about here:
We persuaded Austin to come over for a picture too:

It's the best way I can think of to spend my Friday afternoon!

Thank you Jeanie!

We got home from our trip to Boston (coming soon to a blog near you) Tuesday night. There on our kitchen island were two brand new aprons. My friend (and co-in-law) Jeanie made them for us. Aren't they beautiful?? They are just the right length, which is hard to find in an apron, great fabric, and best of all, we really use aprons. In fact both aprons have already been used several times.

Here we are modelling the model aprons. (Ray and I believe in doing an American Gothic pose every 28 years or so. The last one was done on our wedding day. Really.)

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough

So far I haven't found a David McCullough book I didn't like. In fact I really like his books a lot.

Several years ago I was on a Theodore Roosevelt kick. I read Edmund Morris' The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, and Theodore Rex. Then I read the book about TR's wife - Edith Kermit Roosevelt by Sylvia Jukes Morris. 

A couple of years ago I ran across this book, and picked it up. It kept getting shifted up and down in my pile of books to read. Finally last week I started it. I didn't realize this book was published in 1980. I can't believe I missed it before. It was terrific. To give a brief summary of the book, I'll just quote the subtitle of the book: "The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt. " It is not at all a comprehensive study of TR's life. Rather, it is a study of the family he came from, and how he became who he was. The book ends when TR is in his mid-twenties - just ready to launch his comprehensive political career. Partnered with the Morris books, you can get a great view of this great man's life.  If you like biographies, you will love these. 

The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs

Complete title:

The Know-It-All One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

I loved this book. My nephew David recommended it quite a while ago. I bought it, began reading it, and promptly loaned it to my son. I knew he would love it. He recently returned it to me, and I finished it.

This book is about Jacobs' quest to become smarter by reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. The book is comprised of various entries - spun off of actual entries in the EB. I found it witty, intelligent, and thoroughly enjoyable. It is just my cup of tea - full of completely irrelevant trivia and interesting facts. My head was already full of things that won't help me or anyone else in the world, but that I find interesting. This has compounded that problem. Jacobs also manages to weave interesting threads about his own family and life through the various entries.

I was sad to see the end of this book.

Big Boned by Meg Cabot

Cute. Light mystery. I'm now done reading her books.

Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

Someone I'm friends with on Goodreads said they recommend this book to anyone they know who needs a lift. So, I thought I'd check it out.

It's a young adult book, sort of a junior Bridget Jones' Diary from what I understand (I started BJ Diary, but the language put me off, so I didn't get very far). This one doesn't have language problems. Parts of it were very funny. Parts of it were cute.  That said, I am not driven to read any more of her books.

Surprise!

I have been fighting a cold all week. Yesterday I felt remarkably better. This morning I felt lousy. Headache, coughing, it hurts to breathe. How could it happen on a BYU football (home game) day? I actually went back to bed this morning, hoping if I slept I would feel well enough to go to the game. It didn't work. I must admit I did spend some time contemplating how bad it would be to contract pneumonia - I thought it could be worth the risk and still go to the game. Who cares if it is supposed to snow? Then I remembered last year when Ray had pneumonia. I elected to stay home today. 

While I slept, Ray was busy working. I had no idea. Right before he left for the game, he said, "Your car didn't get one drop of snow on it today." I thought to myself, "What's that supposed to mean?" but what I said aloud was, "That's great!" Later I stepped into the garage to get something out of the freezer, and what did I see?

Yes, that's right! My car in the garage. That lovely man cleaned out the garage so my car can be snug all winter long, and I won't have to scrape off snow in the bitter cold. What a treat!

I'm going back to bed now. The game's about to start...

(Final score 21-3 - Go Cougs!)

The Magic Circle by Katherine Neville

I loved The Eight by Katherine Neville, and was looking forward to a great read with this one. I was caught up in the book immediately. Parts of it were very compelling, but unfortunately not all of it was. I got bogged down in some of the parts, and skimmed to get to the next good part. 

I liked it enough to try her other book - A Calculated Risk. I don't know how much I really recommend this one - the jury is still out on that.

Another quilt done!

I've got to figure out a good way to take pictures of my quilts. Not only am I scanner challenged, I am also photoshop challenged. So right now there is not much hope for "fixing" a picture I take. Hopefuly I'll improve as I go along. These were taken with my phone. It was close at hand. I think my camera takes better pictures, but right now I can't get my card reader to work and then I have to bother Ray to download the pictures...then I have to download them onto my computer, etc. etc.  For right now, these pictures will have to do. 

This quilt wins for fastest quilt start to finish for the year. I started the thought process and planning on it one week ago today. I finished it this afternoon. 

Most of the front:

A closer shot (but less focused):
The back:

Size: approx: 63 X 65 inches

Completed: October 9, 2008

Pattern: Crow's Fence from 11 Laps from Fats by Ellen Replogle

Fabrics: Thimbleberries fat quarters

Ah...

My eyes close as I sink into my mattress, pulling the down comforter up over my shoulders. I drift into oblivion.

Sweet naptime!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday.  (circumlocution moment - see post below - : I wanted to post this earlier, but I wanted to include this picture, which my parents had taken recently. I am still scanner challenged, and finally asked Ray for help. He came immediately and was done in moments. I should have asked him 12 hours ago). 

Back to the honoree. My mom is great! She is outgoing, and can be as charming as all get out. She has an engaging laugh. There is almost nothing she can't do. Randomly I can think of several things she taught me that I am thankful for:

1. High morals. Long story short, once in 7th or 8th grade I lied to my mom. She found out, and grounded me for lying (not for the thing I was lying to get out of). Six weeks. Six long, not one moment shortened weeks I was grounded. This also taught me the importance of consistency. I never lied to my mother again. 

2. A love of books and reading (directing me to some of my still favorite books). I remember her suggesting I read Little Women. I know I've read it at least 50 times - probably more. I love that book. I also remember when she suggested the book To Catch a Spy by Amelia Elizabeth Walden, saying that I might like some of her other books as well. Like them?!? I couldn't get enough of them, and read all of Walden's books, many times over. There were lots more good books she suggested (Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow, Time Out of Mind by Rachel Field - I'll stop!)

3. How to sew. My mom made most of my clothes growing up until she taught me to do it myself. Through high school and college I made almost all my clothes. She is an excellent, meticulous seamstress. She made my wedding dress (and both my sisters' wedding dresses too). I encouraged her to take up quilting about 10 years ago, and she has far surpassed me in quality and quantity of quilts made. 

4. You can't be too friendly. Although this is a trait of my mother's that I don't think I have truly acquired, I have seen many instances where she has proven it in her life. One brief incident where I first realized how friendly my mom is: I took one of my children to the doctor. I had been going to that doctor for several years before my parents moved to Kirkland and began going to that same doctor. I did not know any of the names of the receptionists or MA's.  (Shame on me). As I was checking in the receptionist noted my child's middle name, which is my maiden name. She said, "Are you any relation to Ann Orris?" I said, "She's my mom." The receptionist went on and on about my mom. I mentioned it later to my mom, and my mom said, "Was is Alice or Mary?" (the names have been changed to protect my lack of knowledge).  Of course I had no clue. "Describe her." Couldn't really remember what she looked like. My poor mom. It turns out she exchanges Christmas cards with one of them.  She doesn't just know people's names, she knows all about them. 

5. How to be generous. My mom has made quilts for the hospital, prom dresses for my girls and their  friends, taught my girls to sew, made humanitarian bandages, she donates her time weekly at her church library as well as during their church services, volunteered for the PTA, swim team board of directors - the list goes on and on. 

I could go on forever. Thanks mom for all the time and love you have given me. Countless hours of moral and physical support. I could not be the person I am today without you and your great influence! 

Happy Birthday!

An Ailment

circumlocution \sir-kuhm-loh-KYOO-shun \ , noun:

The use of many words to express an idea that might be expressed by few; indirect or roundabout language.

This is the word of the day for dictionary.com. I suffer from it greatly - verbally as well as in writing. I have a hard time being succinct.

Ray doesn't suffer from it; he suffers because of it.

All ready for General Conference

I've spent the day getting ready for General Conference this weekend. (If you are not aware of what this is, see the link on my sidebar to www.mormon.org). First I went to institute class where we got spiritually geared up for conference, then I spent the rest of the day getting temporally prepared.

The kids come for the weekend. We all hang out and watch conference together. Then we play between sessions. This requires a serious amount of sustenance, and everyone puts in their requests for favorite foods. Ray and I went to Costco and Harmon's and picked up all the necessary ingredients. Then we came home and put it all away. After that I prepared a few things so that I won't have to do that this weekend.

On the list of treats: hot cheese canapes, pesto/Havarti/tomato bites, black-eyed pea salsa, Audrey's cheese ball, buffalo wings, bacon wrapped chestnuts, caramel pull-aparts, Ray's pancakes, gingerbread cake, Ray's homemade apple sauce, chili, clam chowder, Jeanie's chocolate chip cookies, Shirley's rolls, french bread, deli meats & cheeses, apples galore, grapes, carrots, cucumbers, and various general snack foods (chips, dip, etc). We could be eating until the millennium, but from past experience I will project that there will be but few leftovers. After all, eating will help keep us alert and attentive during conference. (That's my story, and I'm sticking with it).

It's better than Christmas!

3 Stones

While in Victoria we found a fun game store. They had all kinds of games out that you can actually play, and they also were happy to demonstrate many of their fun toys (hence the purchase of the flying monkey).

Because I had a chance to try 3 Stones, I liked it, and I bought it. It's very fun, and easy to learn. The game is similar to pente/go/othello with some fun variations such as sometimes having to play your opponent's piece, neutral pieces that count for either/both players, and being restricted to where you can place your piece by where the last piece was played. Also the game continues until all the pieces have been played, and you continue to score until the end of the game.

Audrey loves it - we've played it together, and she and Joseph have played it. Come on over and give it a try! Or, if you're too far away, see if you can get a chance to play - I think you'll like it too.

Important Safety Tip:

Do not eat food while watching gory medical shows on TV. I learned this last night while eating popcorn and watching last week's episode of House. I finally had to close my eyes and just listen to the show so I could eat.

Heaven forbid I give up the snack.