Images of December...leading up to Christmas

Here are a few photos of some of our December activities.

Last Week of School

Tomorrow I start my last week of teaching school. Amidst singing Christmas carols, I'll be saying good-bye to my students and cleaning out my office. Time for me to stay home for family, and for myself, too. I gave notice before Thanksgiving, and they finally found a new teacher this past week. I hope I get to work with her a bit before I have to turn all my students over to her.

All Is Well In Zion

This first picture is the peak of Angel's Landing, a famous hike in Zion National Park, and the first one John and I climbed while on our recent getaway. I conquered it!! I even bought a shirt that said so :) The scenery is so incredibly majestic throughout the park, and there is no way to truly give scale or perspective to what we saw with our little photos. But I'm posting the photos anyway.
We had a wonderful time. Very relaxing and enjoyable. We not only did the Angel's Landing hike, but also the Riverwalk, Emerald Pools, Weeping Rock hikes. We took a geology course provided by the park and went to see the Checkerboard Mesa, all kinds of cross-bedding geological formations, and even some Bighorn mountain goats. I didn't want to come home!


















That's the peak of Angel's Landing behind us, over my left-shoulder, in this self-timed shot. See how high I was!!















































































If you look at the very first picture, you can see the little stack of stones on the top of Angel's Landing that John is perched on in this picture. Like I said, there's no way to give perspective and scale to the immense grandeur of the scenery.


We're standing on a ledge at the top of Angel's Landing--that canyon behind us is about 2000 feet down.

Jana is Married!

My only sister got married last week. She finally found the right man--Robert Berntson. All my siblings were there for the wedding, so the picture opps were too good to pass up. Jana looked beautiful, and she and Robert seem very, very happy.

Grandbaby #7

I'll get in trouble for posting this before Kathy updates her own blog, but I figure it's worth it to show off my newest grandchild. John Alexander Bitter was born on 10-8-10 at about 8:40 AM. Kathy was super-mom with her hynobirthing, and Brice was a dedicated and attentive coach/partner. I was privileged to be there and see it. Baby John weighed 9 lb, 3 oz--same as Kathy did as a newborn, and was 21" long. The nurse said she probably could have stretched him to 21 1/2", but new baby John wasn't too pleased with the measurement process. Kathy went home that evening...baby and all! They're doing very well, except for a tiny bit of jaundice in the baby.

Overheard After Dinner

As John and I left Iggy's restaurant last night, a mother and her young daughter exited at the same time.

Daughter: Mom, time me and see how fast I can run to the car. (Daughter takes off running at high speed, arms and legs flying, and arrives at car)

Daughter: OK, Mom. How long was that?
Mom: That's not our car.
Daughter: WHAT!?!...Well...pretend it is our car. How fast did I get here?

Who cares about the destination, as long as you arrive fast! Kind of a dangerous philosophy, but very funny to witness.

Canning Season

What would fall be without a post about canning? This year's unique weather brought all the peaches and pears on at the same time. Fortunately and unfortunately, there is not an abundant crop of either peaches or pears. The storage room is empty of pears, but still has lots of peaches from last year, so the the pears on the back porch are getting top billing. I've done over 10 dozen quarts of fruit since last Saturday. I'm tired. I'm afraid I'll lose some fruit before I can get it all done, but I'm going as fast as I'm able--and that's all I can do.

Mono and Coxsackie!!??!!

Here's a surprise: I ended up with mono and the coxsackie virus over Labor Day weekend! I think the mono has been around for a while--I've been slowing down gradually over the last few weeks. But the coxsackie virus, which has symptoms like strep throat and the flu combined, hit hard for the holiday. Thanks to great homeopathic treatments, lots of rest, and loving care from my family, I've now recovered to the point of just having a bad head cold, and am improving by the moment. I missed two days of school and felt so guilty leaving my kids in care of a sub, and so guilty leaving a sub at the mercy of my kids :) Can't wait to be back to normal. We're so grateful no one else caught it...at least no one that we know of. We've offered some pretty powerful prayers of protection, and I think the Lord was merciful to us in that regard.

School Is In Session

First week of school is now behind me, I'm totally prepared for next week, (unless I change my mind about some lesson plans) and canning season is about to commence--the corn is on. I'm debating about freezing some of our overabundant chard as well. The summer was short, but eventful...that's an understatement...but the school year has lots of mini-vacations in it. I don't think a month goes by without some kind of 3 or 4 day weekend in it. With school starting, my mind is telling me that I must now be super busy. But if I actually look at my schedule on paper, I'm not overloaded. I just need to budget my time and choose which things are most important to do at the moment--same as always.
Have a great 2010-11 school year!

SCORE!!

Imagine having so much fabric that you could stack it 18" deep on six banquet tables, as well as piling it to overflowing onto five round banquet tables, as well as spreading a vast selection of notions, patterns, lace, and elastic on sheets spread on the lawn, and do that for 3 weeks straight at a garage sale on a busy street corner! That's the kind of fabric supply I found due to a thoughtful phone call from a neighbor.

While a Lindon family was in process of cleaning out the house of a deceased relative, these stacks of fabric were found. Supposedly the woman didn't really even sew much, she just hoarded. The family in Lindon is emptying the house gradually and selling all the fabric for $1 a yard--and if the fabric is in multiple yard lengths, they round down to the nearest yard! What a find for someone like me--I couldn't believe my good fortune. The yard sale went for two weekends, and they say they'll do it again in two more weeks. Unbelievable.

Those of you who know me may laugh at my purchases...I do have (what I thought was) a sizable fabric stash of my own, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. Plus, I'm about out of kids' fabric. Not any more!! As you can see, I scored. And I didn't even include pictures of the cone thread I was able to buy as well. Huge cones for $2 each. I'll be serging freely for a fair while, and even longer.

I'm sure you realize that these fabric purchases were actually completely altruistic. I do have grandkids to sew for, you know. If I happen to get a darling red skirt and a pretty white knit top out of the deal, well...that's just lucky for me :)

Information Overload

Ever since John's heart attack we have been inundated with new information...about heart disease, heart physiology, cardiac rehab, diet changes, medications, exercise routines, recipe searches, research into treatments and meds, etc. My brain is reeling. We have read so much and learned so much, yet I am constantly amazed that there is still room in my brain for more input. I wish I had more time to absorb and marinate, though! We just press on, adjusting to changes, being grateful for progress.

John graduated from cardiac rehab with flying colors: he set a new record for number of steps walked in the final 6 minute walk-off. The previous record-holder had been a 42 year old marathoner. John beat his record by 50 steps. He is free to work and progress at his own rate now, letting his body be his guide. His stamina is the thing that holds him back these days, but he's bound and determined to regain full strength, and I think he really will.

Still More Broccoli!!

Another 10 quart bags into the freezer, and then we pulled up the two long rows of broccoli and planted Swiss chard (and parsley) in their place. John is supposed to have lots of calcium 'from the right sources' for one of several health conditions he is overcoming right now. We had a crop of chard in Bountiful for a year or two. John used to tell the kids it tasted like candy. I don't really remember if they fell for it, but I do remember cooking it frequently. I like it alot better than fresh spinach, so I'm anxious for it to mature enough that I can start to harvest it.

More Broccoli...

My broccoli plants decided to keep producing. This morning I did 7 more pint bags, plus 5 quart bags. The freezer is filling up.

HEART ATTACK

John had a major heart attack last Saturday morning. Because he is in such fabulous shape, he managed to walk the last 1/2 mile home after the heart attack hit on his morning run, even though there was a total blockage of the main artery leading to the left part of the heart. The doctors and nurses were amazed he didn't drop dead in the road, as callous as those comments may sound. I've been sending email after email to family all weekend. He's ok, and home now. If you have not been on the family email list and would like more info, feel free to ask. We're counting our many, many blessings over and over and over again.

BROCCOLI!

My broccoli has arrived! I picked it this morning.

I love my big chopping knife--it helped me turn this













into this--















which, after much blanching and cooling, became 33 pint bags--like these:














But, then I was left with this:
(plus a smelly house)













It's a mess I'm more than happy to deal with, because...I LOVE BROCCOLI!

Poor Newton

My little dog, Newton, will be 16 years old in November. Part of doggy old age is doggy warts. Newton had alot of them...alot of big ones. He doesn't have them anymore. When he went in to have his teeth cleaned, I asked the vet to remove some of the big ones. She removed pretty much as many big ones as she could find. Some she could burn off, others had to be cut out and stitched up. My poor puppy. He looks like a patchwork something-or-other...or maybe a very old stuffed animal whose fur has been rubbed off in places.

CFO OF THE YEAR

Today John and I attended a luncheon for the CFO of the Year awards, sponsored by Utah Business Magazine. John was one of three recipients in the small, privately-owned business category. They had a special video presentation of each recipient, (we have a copy) and he received a very large framed certificate to hang in his office.
You can go online to Utah Business and read the article, but I've saved you the trouble by cutting and pasting it below! This isn't the official photo they used...I had to use one of my own.

John Hiatt//Career Step//Under John Hiatt’s financial leadership, Career Step increased its earnings by 25 percent, its sales by 30 percent and its product offerings by 50 percent during 2009. “John Hiatt has been crucial to all of these changes because of his ability to balance the needs of investors (new and old alike), maximize available resources, institute proven business practices, understand the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and choose the best partners to take advantage of available opportunities,” says CEO Mike Wilstead.

Another major accomplishment for Career Step during 2009 was the closure of a transaction in which private equity investors purchased 55 percent of the business. Under Hiatt’s leadership, the equity partners made an additional investment that further reduced the founder’s stake in the business, which ultimately served the needs of both parties.

“I was the primary representative of the company in both of these transactions negotiating and structuring the deal with the legal team,” says Hiatt. “To me it is very gratifying to have the trust of the stakeholders. When a member of the board, a work associate or a third party to the business says, ‘I want to hear what the CFO says about a particular topic,’ their desire to have my stamp of approval is very satisfying. This trust others place in my honesty, integrity and opinion because of my title is important to me and I don’t take this responsibility lightly.”

Father's Day

We were lucky enough to have our whole family with us on Father's Day. What a fun houseful! Let me preface this post, though, by telling of the trip Sarah Anne and I took to the Strawberry Days boutique. We found a booth selling wonderful princess dresses--3/$25. I couldn't resist, and couldn't wait to show the grand-daughters. Sarah and I were just sad that Jessica wasn't big enough to wear one. But we'd bought her a cute summer outfit earlier in the week, so maybe that's ok. Anyway, the pictures in the slideshow include all the princess dresses.
Thanks for coming everyone, and thanks for making Daddy feel so loved. He was treated to his very own potato salad and pecan pie! We had a great time.



The moms are always behind the camera, so there are no pictures of them. And Jessica was too little for the rough-housing, so no pictures of her, either. Here is a picture of her in the new summer outfit. She is now learning to support herself on her arms. I wish I'd gotten a picture of her in her new dress, but she wasn't feeling great--tired and fussy, and Sarah wasn't feeling very well either, so I didn't want to pester about it.

Catching Up

I realized that I've been negligent, and that I really did have fun pictures and things to post about before now. So, I took the time to sort out photos and choose events. Here is my first catch-up post/slideshow--it's from a Sunday dinner with Kathy and Brice.

Summer

Well, no pictures, but I have been doing fun stuff for summertime.
John and I took a quick trip to Vail, CO to check out family reunion sites for next summer. Vail is a really beautiful place. I highly recommend it.
My whole family (many of them) came to our house for Newbold FHE.
I've been to three new release movies with Melody, and the Strawberry Days Boutique with Sarah Anne.
I witnessed Kathy get her hair cut short for the first time in 20 years.
I was fitted for glasses to go over the top of my contacts so I can see the music perfectly as I play the piano. (Getting old is not my favorite thing.)
I'll also be getting new general use glasses--new frames, even. My old frames will have the piano playing lenses in them.
I've read three books and spent a ton of money on groceries.
I'm about 1/3 of the way through a CD course on Listening to Great Music,and half way through another Geology course (my third one). This one is on DVD and I watch as I use the treadmill.
I am really hoping that the Celtics win the NBA championship!

No Lunch?!

As I was getting ready to make lunch, I called to John--who was out in the garden--and asked if he wanted me to make a ham sandwich for him. To my surprise, he said, "No, I'll make my own." I thought that was odd, and wondered what was so wrong with my sandwiches that suddenly he didn't want me making them for him anymore. I tried to think of what else we had in the house to eat that he might want more than a sandwich. (There wasn't much--it's grocery day.) I couldn't come up with anything, so I shrugged it off and starting making some tuna for myself.

When John came in, I asked what was so bad that he no longer wanted me to make sandwiches for him. He said, "Cause you were only going to make a half-sandwich for me!" I stared at him, puzzled, and then burst out laughing as I told him, "I said ham sandwich--not half sandwich!!" He just looked at me, equally puzzled for a moment, and then started laughing, too. He thought I was going to make a sandwich for myself, and was just offering him half of mine--which wouldn't have been nearly enough lunch for him. That's why he said he'd fix his own lunch. We had a good laugh at how each of us couldn't figure out why the other would behave so oddly, and then I fixed a WHOLE tuna sandwich for him and we ate lunch together.

One More Photo Shoot Post

Sarah Emily's brother, Nick, was the man behind the camera for the recent photo shoot of all my grandkids. Nick has a real knack for coming up with uniquely eye-catching pictures.

Candid Crops

Kathy let me look at the CD with all the proofs on it from the grandkids' photo shoot. I couldn't resist doing a bit of cropping. It was way too much fun cropping the photos to highlight particular facial expressions. Abigail, alone, was worth a whole slide show with her little frowny pout in virtually every picture. For your entertainment, here are a few of my favorite edits.