STUFFED

Smoke flavor or smell can be a good thing. But when your entire house smells like smoke it is almost nauseating. We had wood stove issues again. Somebody jyxned it. Thanks alot!!!! We built a fire in it this last tuesday. All seemed to be fine until smoke came rolling out of the wood stove. Yes the door was shut tight. If smoke wants out it gets out. Our house was gradually filling with smoke. We opened up all the doors and windows. Luckily a small breeze was blowing that helped push out the smoke. But what to do. The wood in the stove wasn't on fire but it was smoldering and smoking. It would go on for hours at this rate. So I got the wheelbarrow and shovel. Who says a wheel barrow dosen't look good in a house. When I opened the stove door up the entire room immediately filled with smoke. We could barely see each other. I quickly shoveled the contents of the stove into the wheelbarrow which by now had caught fire cause of the new oxygen it got. I pushed the burning wheelbarrow out into the backyard and dumped it out and the grass started on fire. I bet it looked funny me beating the grass with a shovel trying to put out the fire. The next morning I shampooed the carpet and moped the floor. Still smoke smell. Later I emptied all of the ashes out of the wood stove. I even cleaned the stove with a fragrant cleaner. Still smokey. Later I found the problem. The stove was plugged up. I got on the roof and lowered a rope with a chain on it and rattled the heck out of the inside of the stove pipe. I again cleaned out all of the ashes and got 5 gallons. 5 gallons of soot and ashes were inside the top of the stove and the pipe. Now the stove works great. Who says you need a fire to enjoy that great smoke smell!!!!!! It just comes with the house at our place.

Darvil

Dangerous

After school cravings strike when you least expect them.

These darn things are so easy to whip together.   One leads to another and then another.  And before you know it, you've eaten about four.

But they sure make Math homework alot more enjoyable!

Happy Birthday Darv

A Very Happy Birthday to my always older big brother!  Some memories I have as a kid of Darvil are teasing and more teasing.  He was a superfast runner and we would go all over the place to watch him run in track meets.  He tried polevaulting out at Cedar Springs and ended up breaking his arm.  He was never without his dog Red riding shotgun in the baja bug (is that what it's called?) He was very popular in school.  I was always known as Darvil or Beverly's sister.  He was always the first to read the instructions on any new games we got for Christmas and would round us all up to play.  Sports and hunting and fishing were his life.  He worked hard before his mission to save up money.  He has always worked hard.  He still teases, and likes to joke.
Since he's the only brother I've ever known, I'd say he's just about the best brother I've ever had!

Happy Birthday Darv!

Birthday Boy

 

Can you believe my first-born is 49 years old today. Well, he's not getting old, I am! Men just get distinguished as they age. Its not fair. Darvil was a wild, energetic little boy. I once painted a shirt for him that said "Daredevil Darvil" on the front. He loved that shirt and wore it all the time. I used to threaten him not to hurt the girls while I took a bath, or was out of his sight for awhile. He has always loved to go hunting, and Jerry took him hunting with him all the time. Now, its the other way around -Darvil takes his Dad. Darvil is very dedicated. He served an honorable mission, went to Chiropractic School, set up his business, has 4 kids - and he and wife Teresa have held many callings in the Church. He served in the scouting program for years, was in the High Council, and has been in the Central Ward bishopric for about 5 years. And does the boy love to play games! Board games, rummy, whatever - he loves them all. He decorates Christmas cookies with his kids, hides & finds Easter eggs, and knows how to bottle fruit and other things, plus he has been known to cook some meals. So, Happy Birthday, Darvil. We love our son.

THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON????????

 
I closed my eyes and drew another name out of the bowl, and who do you think it is (They are one of the people in the picture) This person was born far away from Pima, so when I heard the news , zipped there in a plane. It was in the cold, cold of winter - except it was very warm in Mesa, where we were when the call came telling me the baby had already been born, by casearian. I had taken a few warm clothes with me to Mesa, thank goodness, so got on a plane as soon as I could. They baby was a very handsome little boy, and seemed perfect in every way. I was there to help Beverly and her other son, Brady. A couple of days after Beverly and the baby came home, we noticed his little chest was really heaving up and down when he tried to breathe. It got worse and was very scary for us. Beverly called a friend who was soon to become a pediatrician. He came and looked at the baby, then called and made arrangements at the hospital, and Beverly and the baby were taken to the hospital. So started the trials of Colby Dow. The diagnosis was he had a hole in his diaphram, and surgery soon followed. He was in the intensive care nursery for several days, and Beverly was there by his side all the time. I worried about her as she was recovering from surgery herself. I called Jerry and he flew up to Omaha too. I was glad for him to come and do the driving since Beverly couldn't drive yet. The weather was soooooooo cold, but we survived, and thank goodness so did Colby. When he was still a little boy, he fell down the stairs in the Omaha house and broke his arm - the first of many mishaps to come. He has had a lot of trials, broken bones, surgeries on this knees, just to name a few. He remained tough and determined through all of this. He has participated in many sports - but his favorite is wrestling. Now Colby, who is 16, is a very handsome young man, and I admire him for staying strong, and enduring all his trials. I know Colby, with his determination, will do great things in his life. We love you, Colby.

Is it wrong to love your vacuum?

I know you all have been checking the blog every day in anticipation to see what kind of vacuum I decided on.  It's killing you, you just can't wait, right?  Well let me tell you.  I'm quite pleased with my purchase.  This is what I got:

It's an Oreck.  If you have an Oreck and don't like it or you know someone who has an Oreck and they don't like it........I don't want to know.  Because so far I LOVE mine!  There is an Oreck store less than a mile from my house.  I went in the other day to check them out and they were having a sale (probably always have some kind of sale) and they would give me $50 for my worthless dumb Dirt Devil.  I haven't had a vacuum with a bag in a loonnng time, but I liked how hypoallergenic this is. You know, Asthma Girl lives here.  My dumb dirt devil hasn't picked up so much as a piece of string since we moved in here. Seven monthes ago!!!  Boy, did I have some dirt and hair to vacuum up.  It worked like a dream.  I'm in love.  I have clean floors again.  I smile when I look at my carpet.  I can vacuum my wood floors and the little stuff doesn't go flying all over the place.  AND.  It has a ten year warranty including yearly cleaning and servicing of the machine at no cost. And with the store so close, its easy peasy.

  Happy Days are here again.

OK, Here's the Scoop

The mysterious picture I posted under yesterday's valentines is of William Pedrick Asay and and Arminda Alice Hendricks. Alice, as she was known, was the third wife, as he had buried two before he married Alice, and was the father of 10 children at the time of their marriage. He later took a wife - Hilda - in plural marriage. They all got along well. When plural marriage was outlawed, Hilda left and married someone else. Alice and William or "Asay" as he was called, had several children, Mabel being one of them. "Asay" was quite a bit older than Alice, and when he died of pneumonia he left Alice - who was less than 30 years old, with 5 children to care for. Not long after her husband died, Alice lost 2 young boys also because of pneumonia. She moved to Franklin, AZ to live with her parents, and there she began dating a man who also had been married before and was the father of 10 children. They later moved to Florida, but Mabel and her sister Annie - who were teenagers by that time, stayed in AZ and lived with relatives. So Alice became Arminda Alice McGrath. She was always a person I thought about and saw pictures of, but only saw once when I was a little girl and she came to Arizona. My Mom and Aunts and Grandma Mable made many trips to Florida for a visit. Millie - Mabel's and Annie's sister - grew up in Florida. I was invited to go to Florida by Mom one time, but Darvil was a little boy and I didn't want to leave him for that long. Years later, when Darvil went on his mission to Florida, we went to Florahome, Fla. with him and Jerry and I spent the night in Aunt Millie's home, and I saw the little cabin where Grandma McGrath had spent her later years. What a thrill I felt to finally see what I had heard so much about all those years. This is what I call a Tender Mercy.

Fresh Air PLEASE!!!!!!!

Thank goodness for air freshener. Holy Cow. Just worked on a lady. She came in with her 2 teenage boys. They smelled like they hadn't taken baths in weeks. Everyone brings happiness. Some by coming in and others by leaving. This was definitely a "Happy to see you go moment"

Darvil

An Electrifying Valentine's Day

Yesterday morning I was cleaning the kitchen from Sunday's aftermath. Sundays seem to destroy my house. So when I went to push the button for the garbage disposal the doorbell rang. I went to the door, no one there. I thought someone must be playing a Valentine's prank on me, except they forgot the part where you leave a cute Valentine on the doorstep. All the kids were gone and Rob was at the chiropractor. So I came back, continued my dishes, pushed the garbage disposal button again and the doorbell rang again. Could it be? I pushed the button again and the doorbell rang again. Oh boy. The disposal is not working and it's making the doorbell ring. Strange. Rob gets home, I demonstrate our new doorbell button for him and he can't believe it. He proceeds to check under the sink, unplug a few things, we check the breaker, and in the middle of all this, as I try to run the dryer, IT makes the doorbell ring too and IT won't work. Now the funny joke isn't so funny any more. Soon we notice our lights going dim. Some lights won't work. We check the thermostats and they're blank. No power to them at all. WHAT THE ??? Rob makes a few calls and our dear friend and neighbor Glenn who knows a lot about electrical tells us we must have a short somewhere in the house. It could be ANYWHERE, he says. He'll come by after work. Rob and I went out and had a Valentine's lunch, but all the while wondering if our house could burn down from some loose wiring somewhere. In the afternoon the kids get home and they notice that things aren't working. Lights are dim. Random things make the doorbell ring. Glenn comes by, tests our breaker boxes and determines that the problem is not inside the house. (WHEW!) I had visions of every wall in my house being torn apart looking for the loose connection. He suggested we call the power company so they could check the power to the house. Meanwhile he and Rob test every outlet to every fridge and freezer because some have power and some don't. They get them all plugged in to working outlets, and we made the call. They'd send someone. I couldn't use the stove or oven, so my plans for making a nice Valentine's dinner went out the window. Off to Pollo Loco. When we got back, the power guy was here. He did some checking, and said the problem could be under the ground in our yard. Now I have visions of them tearing up our new landscaping and driveway to find the problem. He did more checking and found out the problem is in the street where our power comes from the transformer. WHEW! No torn up yard! He connected us into our neighbor's power for now (wonder if they'll notice a higher bill this month?) until the crew can come and fix the problem. We're back to regular lights, working appliances and only ONE doorbell. Thank goodness.

YESTERDAY'S VALENTINES

 

 

 

 

Do you recognize all of them?

SEASON OF LOVE

 

 

 

 

Is everyone ready? What are your plans?

HI HO SILVER

 

 

 

 

An improvement, wouldn't you say? It looks much, much better. I am happy with the new look.

guys

guys. i have a new blog. so read it.

Cabin rental info

Hey Mom here's the information on the Cabin that belongs to that family in my ward I was telling you about.  Go to www.tinstarinn.com/cabinrentals.html   Go to cabin rentals and theirs is the "Steele" cabin.  It would be kind of pricey for a group our size and they don't allow pets. But I'm sure it's comparible to any cabin we would rent.  Except for the mouse cabin at Hawley Lake.  So have a look and see what you think.