Five years....

On October 22, Hannah and I made a trip to the cemetary to pay tribute to Gma Pete. This was the five year anniversay of her death. Can't believe it has been that long since our sweet little mother/gma left us!! I love to stop by their gravesite and just have a moment thinking of both mom and dad. I sure do miss them!!! Of course, Hannah didn't know them, but she was happy to go with me. I carved the pumpkin and put flowers from my garden in it.

Hannah checking out the pumpkin vase.

It was difficult to get a picture of both of us. My arm wasn't long enough!!

Can you believe that Hannah took this picture!!

I love and miss you, mom and dad!!

Flowers....

My daughters-in-law do such a great job of bloggin' that I feel pretty inadequate!! Besides, I don't have the cute little ones to blog about....unless you want me to take lots of pictures of Mike and blog....never mind!! Here are a few pictures of my flowers. I enjoy having a colorful yard, in spite of all the work. The lawn looks pretty dang good, too...nice and green. Thanks to Mike for that!! I like to make the yard beautiful in honor of my parents!! They loved the flowers. Of course, the flowers are all pulled now as we await the winter months. Glad to have pics to remember how beautiful the yard is each summer!! Enjoy!

Conference weekend....

I love conference weekend not only for being fed spiritually, but we are usually privileged to have family come visit!! I love any reason to have family around!!!!! Of course Ty and Jess were here.....after all, they are roommates!! Preston, Chandi and girls spent time with us and Cory, Heather and Isaac were here for the weekend. It made for a crowded house....but the more the merrier!! Mike, Preston and Cory went golfing early saturday morning. Of course, it had to rain...it was conference weekend!! It rained the entire time they were golfing.....and it rained HARD!!! But, they held out and finished their game. Preston was the winner (those lessons are paying off) and Cory, being the loser, had to treat the others to ice cream. Do they look like drowned "Birds"? I think their sweatshirts weighed 5 pounds each!!

Here is the newest member of the Tabernacle choir!!! Hannah was watching the choir and singing along. Isn't that precious?? She loves to sing!! This is her favorite seat in the house to watch anything on the TV.

Four little red-heads sittin' in a chair....aren't these about the cutest things ever!! Cassidy, Madalyn, Isaac and Hannah had a great time being together. Madalyn and Hannah were CRAZY. They had to have their hair fixed the same!! The only thing missing over the weekend was the Texas Birds....darn, Texas is TOO far away!!

I tried something new......salsa!!! I've never made it before, but after a neighbor gave us a small container, I wanted more!! It was delicious!! So while listening to conference I chopped, grated and blanced tomatoes and peppers! It was pretty simple, just time consuming. After mixing it all together, I just put it in a roaster and let it cook for several hours. I didn't process it, but froze most of it. This is half of what I made. I can say that only about 3 tomatoes were from our garden, but all the green peppers were Bird grown!! Next year I hope to do better with the tomatoes and peppers and I just might attempt the salsa again. It was mighty tastey!! I amaze myself!! Let me know if you want a sampling!! That's about the size of the weekend. I enjoyed the conference and my family....what more can a gal ask for?

Born to be wild......

Thursday, October 2 was a beautiful, sunny fall day. It was a great day to take a ride and check out the fall colors...one of my favorite things to do. So Easy Rider, aka Mike, and I hopped on Ty's bike and rode up to Sardine Canyon. The ride was great....it's always fun to ride along and feel the wind blowing through my long mane....oops, that's not me....I had on a helmet!!! BUT...we were a few days too late....most of the leaves were gone and the colors weren't very brillant. That was a little disappointing....but the ride was fun and I had good company.....like you can converse while on a motorcycle??!! We'll try again next year!!!

SURPRISE!!! I'M BACK!!!!

Going, going.....gone.....

My heart strings were tugged at this past week. Good 'ole McKinley School was demolished!! The most recent earthquake did its damage......the old building was deemed unsafe because of cracks and it was determined the only reasonable thing would be to destroy it! As I came home from work I drove past the smothering building and knew I had to come back and take a few pictures for old times sake. I did attend school in this building k-6 grade and have a lot of fond memories of the old school. I remember how overwhelming the stair wells inside the front door appeared. I can recall being on crutches and falling down a few stairs trying to maneuver down them. I remember being in the 3rd grade with Miss Romer as my teacher and our class was in the basement!! And who can forget the spring dance festivials out on the lawn and winding the Maypole????

I remember being in about 4th grade and in the upstairs classroom on the west side of the building. I was reading out loud and the class was interrupted so I had to wait to continue. While waiting for the teacher, I read ahead to make sure I could pronounce all the words. When it was time for me to continue, I thought I was real smart because I had read ahead and when I came to the word "island" I pronounced it " is land". Naturally, I was corrected!! You can bet I never missed that word again!!! What great times!!!

Over the years the old building has served many in the community. Can you remember having Gma & Gpa Pete's 50th wedding anniversary party there? The museum upstairs was very interesting and all the cub scouts in the valley probably visited it including all the Bird boys!! I loved going in the old building and hearing the floors creak and smelling the old smells. I went back saturday morning and watched the walls come down. It really did tug at my heart strings and I felt another chapter in my life was closed!! I'm sorry it is gone!!! I did go back a few days later and gathered up a few bricks. I'll use them as stepping stones to my flagpole!!! McKinley will live on!!!!!!!!

If you want to see more pictures, especially of the fire, and read more about it ....go to www.tremontonleader.com

Let me explain.....

Are you wondering what this picture is all about? Well, let me explain .....Mike and I are part of a company, Simply Fun (check us out at www. mikeandcandy.simplyfun.com). At the national convention in June we entered the annual costume contest. The theme was famous "sleuths". We are dressed as Starsky and Hatch....can you tell? Anyway, we were a big success and actually won the contest!!!!

Where do I start?

Okay, so I can't remember how to add a picture!!! So, I will sign off for now and get a quick lesson tomorrow and then I will be a "bloggin' fool"!! Stay tuned!!!!