HAPPY NEWS FOR NATHAN

My son, Nathan has accepted a job offer back in Blytheville, AR. Actually it is Pamela's momma's hometown near an old air force base that has been closed down for many years. The company is located on the old base and called ART. They repair jets, like the Delta Connection planes, etc. I think I mentioned he is an A&P Mechanic. I am happy for him but sad for me because we have really enjoyed having him back home again this past year and four months. He was in Baton Rouge, LA before that for a year and a half or so after graduating from SLCC. Anyway, he flies in tonight from Arkansas and will immediately start getting ready to be on their way by a week from today. The tears are already starting to come just thinking about seeing him leave again. Oh well,....I do wish the best for them and I'm happy for Pamela's momma cuz' she'll be getting her daughter back home after many years. I know what it's like to have your kids across the country or even down in southern Utah. I'll have to plan some vacations down that way I guess. Like maybe Branson, MO. Yeh,....it's only 5 hrs. from Blytheville.

TIME FOR A CHANGE,....AGAIN ! !

Well,...Valentines Day is over and it's time for a change in my blog's background. Since St. Patricks' s day is the next big celebration other than Mom's birthday and the Federal Holiday tomorrow, I am going with the green. St. Patty's day is what,....about three weeks away, so this is it til' then. Since I am off work tomorrow for President's Day, I am planning on spending some time with my sisters and some time with my daughter Ashley. Her and I are throwing a bridal shower for her best friend Kimberly (from Wyoming) down in Provo the same day as Mom's party on Saturday the 21st. I guess I am going to make chicken salad to put in cresants. The Bagelry where my son-in-law use to work had an excellent bagel sandwich called the 'Chicken Almond Crunch'. Besides the almonds, it also has the cranraisins and bean sprouts. I made it for Ashley's high school graduation party and everybody seemed to enjoy it, including Kimberly. I'll let you all know how it turns out. The shower is at 1:30 p.m. and Mom's party is at 5 p.m. Ash and I are going to be doing some 'scootin' that day. I better get down stairs and get dinner started. I know this wasn't a very exciting post, like most of mine, but hopefully I'll think of some better ones to write here pretty soon.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS, ...... OH YEH, MY CO-WORKERS TOO THAT TAKES THE TIME TO READ THIS. LOVE TO EVERYBODY!

We just got home from the Utes vs. Air Force basketball game. The 'Runnin Utes' kicked butt and won by 20 points ! ! That is for the other Ute fans that read this,.....you know who you are!

I'm excited because my sister Denice is landing at the Salt Lake Airport as I type. She's flying in from Wisconsin. It's always fun to have her come home for a visit! AND what a wonderful Valentines Day gift for us all. Love you NeeNee!

A TOUGH WEEK IN LAS VEGAS

I wanted to write a quick paragraph on a show we saw down in Las Vegas this past week while I was down there for training. Yeah,….I know. Tough to get through a whole week down there, but I managed. Anyway, we ( a co-worker and I) had training in the convention center at the MGM Grand. One of the many shows down there at the casino is “Ka”. It is one of the Cirque Du Soleil stage productions. We went on Tuesday night last week and it was amazing! The special effects, and what they did with the stage and just everything! It actually has a story behind it. It’s about twins, a girl and a boy who get separated from each other and the journey they make apart to find one another again. This is what it says on the “CIRQUE DU SOLEIL” website. “EMBARK ON AN ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY YOU CAN SEE IT. YOU CAN EXPERIENCE IT. BUT, YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT! The KÀ Universe - KÀ transcends place and time, with a theatrical landscape, scenic elements and costumes inspired by an array of diverse cultures. Brought to life by 80 artists from around the world, KÀ is a gravity-defying production featuring a powerfully emotive soundtrack that enhances the innovative blend of acrobatic feats, Capoeira dance, puppetry, projections and martial arts“. Anyway, if any of you are lucky enough to see one of the Cirque Du Soleil shows, this one was excellent. They have several in Las Vegas and around the world. I actually saw this one twice last week,…once with my co-worker and then with Dave on Saturday night. He flew down to Vegas for the weekend and then we came home on Sunday night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN !

I wanted to wish my second oldest son, Nathan (a.k.a Nate) a Happy Birthday! He was born in Concord, MA on Monday, 1:03 p.m. (right after “All My Children” started) on January 20, 1975. He was 11 lbs. 2 ½ oz. and was 22 ½” long. He was one of the biggest babies born in a very long time at the Emerson Hospital. They were so impressed with the size of this perfect baby boy that the doctor who delivered him had to show his pre-natal class of soon-to-be new parents the night he was born. Nate had been taken back to the nursery and I had just been put in my room when I heard what seemed to be like a herd of elephants coming down the hall. The doctor told the class that he had to introduce them to the baby he delivered earlier that day, and what his name was along with birth weight and length. Within the first 24 hours of his birth he was famous! One of the soon to be daddies that was in the pre-natal class was a professor at one of the Boston colleges. He went to classes the next day and told all his students about Nathan. Unbeknownst to him,…the professor would find himself back at the hospital later Tuesday awaiting the birth of his premature baby boy. His mother who was from Hungary approached Dave and I in the hall (Dave had just come back to the hospital from picking Aunt Dianne up at the airport. Her and Christopher {14 mos. old at the time} was waiting out in the waiting room for him) asking if I was Nathan’s mommy and how in the world did I give birth to such a big baby (she had the neatest accent). Her little grandson was so small, but he was going to be ok. Dave had left the hospital and this new grandma walked down to the nursery with me so she could see Nathan herself. While standing there at the window, two young ladies came running down the hallway almost yelling, “oh mommah, mommah, you had a new baby grandson!” and within the same breath said, “we want to see the baby boy, Nathan Sprankle”! (They were students of the professor‘s). It was amazing! The nurses had nicknamed him “Moose” and “Busta for Buster, (they with their New England accent didn‘t pronounce the ‘r‘). The day we were leaving the hospital, and after I got him all dressed in this cute knitted outfit to leave, a couple of nurses took him around the maternity floor showing him off. I was proud to say, “that’s my boy”! Even at times in his young life when he was sick with allergies, had respiratory problems and was probably our most challenging child later on in his teen years, he always seem to put a smile on my face and make me laugh. He is multi-talented himself,....an exceptional A&P Mechanic. He also can write his own music for his guitar and can usually play a song after listening to it once or twice. I think he may have a little bit of his Great-Grandma Fry's musical ability in him. He does not sing however. At least I have never heard him sing. Happy Birthday N8! We love you!
Picture #1: Newborn Nathan on his way home from hospital;
Picture 2: One of my favorite pics of N8 at Kennasaw Battlefield in GA, 2 1/2 yrs. old;
Picture 3: Nathan and Pamela June of 07'
Picture 4: N8 and Pamela August of 08' - Estes Park, CO

BUSY MONTH AND A HALF !

Part of the month of November and the whole month of December and first few days of January we were certainly busy. Some of you know that our daughter, Ashley and her husband Joe have moved back up hear from St. George after seven months down there. They found out rather quickly after about four months that they just couldn’t afford the expense of living down there. So, some time in November it had been decided they were coming back home and by the 4th of January, Joe’s Dad had got them all moved up here. Joe’s mother and myself had made some trips down there ourselves and helped with the packing and cleaning, but the men did all of the heavy stuff. One of my 3 day weekends started out by me picking Vicky up after Steve had already left with his truck and brother’s big huge trailer. Her and I got down there around 9 p.m. after Ash had already been to work for a few hours. Saturday morning we all headed out with a trailer full of household items and us three women with the dog Ayce and puppy Belle (yes,…..I’m sure Ashley will tell you all about her). I was driving Ashley’s car because she had worked all night and needed to sleep. Steve and Joey with a little help from Dave got stuff unloaded in to the garage where the kids are living. After dropping Vicky off at her home in West Valley we went up to Joe and Ashley‘s and supervised the guys then we all went home and got some sleep to leave again for St. George on Sunday morning. This time, Vicky didn’t go so it was Joe, Ash, Steve and I driving down in Steve’s truck again with trailer in tow. Since my car was left down there, Ash and I left Monday morning in it following Joe and Steve. She got her car and left to go back to St. George a couple days later because she was still working. That was one busy weekend! The last time I went down was Friday the 2nd. Once again I picked Vicky up after I got off work and made it safely down with the Suzuki Sidekick and our little utility trailer. We got down there around 10 o’clock that night just in time to see the Ute’s getting their trophy. Vick and I listened to the game on the road but there were areas that I didn’t get very good reception! It was GREAT the Ute’s pulled the win off! I guess they showed Alabama! Once again us girls helped pack up the rest of the stuff and stayed a little longer than the two guys to clean and make sure the house was in tip top shape. We had to stop in Cedar City and get more bungey cords. Was it ever cold! I’m talking Wyoming COLD ! Because we weren’t able to load every thing in the vehicles (3 cars, 1 truck, a little trailer and a huge trailer) Joe and his Dad went back down Sunday morning to get what us girls put out in the garage before we left. Keep in mind that between all this moving and the trips that were made back and forth, there were the holidays. Anyway, they are officially up here. Joe is working at the Park City Walmart Pharmacy and some hours at the Layton Neighborhood Walmart Pharmacy. Ashley is still in the process of looking for a job. Now that she is up here, there are a few places that she can work, however the job she really wants is one at Primary Children’s. It’s like an residency and is told there are quite a few canditates. She is going for the interview, so we are really hoping she get’s it. She would be working in the neo-natal (babies) section and other areas. Keep your fingers crossed for her! I didn't get very many pictures on Christmas, but here is one of Diana in her new coat. We had a pretty good Christmas and hope that all of you did. AND here’s looking at a GREAT New Year with a toast of sparkling apple cider!

RECIPE FOR A HAPPY NEW YEAR - Looking forward to 2009!

Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate, cleanse them completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; in short, see that these months are freed from all the past—have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time. Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts. Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time (so many persons spoil the entire lot this way) but prepare one day at a time. Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing— don’t do it), prayer, meditation, and one well-selected resolution. Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor. {Anonymous}

Wishing everybody a healthy, wealthy and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Christmas Without Our Dad - 2007

I wrote a couple of poems last year at Christmas time because it was the first without Dad and we were all feeling his absence. I had read a story about a child that had passed away and was spending the first Christmas in Heaven, so I wanted to write a poem for Dad. This one was written before Christmas, and the next one afterwards. Kacy put the poem on this background which I love!(You may need a magnifying glass because double-clicking does not seem to work. Hope you can read them).

Denice was here for the holidays last year and before coming we all were thinking what we could do on Christmas Day that would be special for our 'first' Christmas without Dad. I wanted to share this particular one because for our "something special" we went down to the Bountiful Cemetery and decorated his grave. I believe it was Denice's idea (correct me if I am wrong Whitey) to make snow angels for him. That is what we did. Because it was such a hectic day, it was hard trying to find a time Mom and the four of us could all go together. Unfortunately, Cheryl was unable to be there with us at the particular time the rest of us could go because of previous plans with one of George's daughter's and her family. She had gone down earlier to put her tree on. Clydene had kids to go visit at their homes so between visits she was able to go and I ducted out on my family and told them to finish getting dinner prepared, or as close to it as possible and I would be back soon. Mom and Denice were just waiting to see when the rest of us could go. Kacy also helped with this one and put the picture of the snow angel I made as the background for this poem.

After writing my poem this year, next post down, I felt it was a little easier to get through Christmas of 2008 than it was last year. Whitey made a comment "it was a little easier than last year without Dad, signs that we are healing". I think we are. I still think about Dad and the Christmases of our past,....I still cry,..... alot!, but I know he is where he is suppose to be. It does not mean we won't miss him anymore because we always will, but like on the ornament Cheryl gave to us all last Christmas, it says " Merry Christmas From Heaven - I love you all dearly, Now don't shed a tear, I'm spending my Christmas with Jesus this year". On the back it says, "Merry Christmas, Always With You, Love, Dad". So,....as hard as it is, I am for once listening to my Dad! Every year I'll try a little harder to at least not shed 'as many' tears knowing that he will always be close by. Besides, we still have our Momma and it is her we need to appreciate and enjoy! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that your new year will be a happy one! Love to all those who read my posts and put up with me!

A CHRISTMAS POEM - 2008

Christmas 2008

By: Janette
Christmas two-thousand-eight is now upon us
It’s time to sit down, relax and end all the fuss.
It’s hard to believe it is already here
I feel the Christmas spirit near.
It is the second Christmas without our Dad
The first we were all somewhat very sad.
But I’m confident he is in Heaven looking down
Telling us he is well with loved ones all around.
We love him a lot and miss him so much
I wish there was a way to keep in touch.
We know he is with Jesus and all angels above
This time of year our Dad is who we're thinking of.
It helps me to sit back and ponder the Christmases past
And how much I wished the years had not gone by so fast.
But I think of the Christmas Eve's when I would lay in bed
And think of ole’ Santa,… his reindeer and sled.
The four of us girls would be anticipating
What would be under the tree upon awakening.
It seemed there would always be lots of pleasure
For Mom and Dad made sure there were lots of treasures.
They made us all happy and tried to make sure
We had what we needed and made us secure.
Christmases back then were the best we had known
And now look at us all and how we have grown.
With families of our own and grandchildren galore
Made our Mom and Dad the center of this family core.
It isn’t the material things that make Christmas good
It’s all about Jesus and all that he withstood.
Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009!

It's the Hap-Happiest Time Of The Year ! ! !

What a fun time we had at our Christmas party at the office last Tuesday, the 16th! In fact,…I think everybody had a great time. The food was good,….the games were fine and the Christmas music put us in the mood. Our Director read my poem. I had added four lines to it since posting it the first time to include the education department of HR. My boss loved the poem and so did everybody else. We had an “ugliest Christmas sweater” contest and guess who won! Yes folks, it was ME! I went shopping at the “Deseret Industries” and “Savers” for a sweater I could use but could not find one. I used one of my old sweaters that was too big for me and was pretty gross looking. I loved the sweater at one time but would not wear it again because it was too old and had a couple of holes in it. I added a lot more. I made and then whipped stitched a snowman on to the one side of it and put buttons in the appropriate places for the eyes and nose and the three buttons down the front of him, and,…I put a black hat on him of course. It was Ashley’s idea to make it a “tilting” snowman. And boy! was he tilting! I rubbed the white part of the snowman until he had lint balls and ickies all over him. The sweater had lint balls all over it along with other stuff like imbedded dog hair along with other things. I also buttoned it up crooked for the party so it would look that much uglier. I must say, it did the trick! Here is a picture of the sweater. Like I said, it was a lot of fun and now we can just look forward to the holidays! Goodnight all !

WEEWEECHU !

I got this email from my sister-in-law, Sylvia. She's Dave's oldest sister who lives in Plano, TX. I thought this was so cute! I noticed I received it from a couple of other folks also so it is going around. I thought you all could use a smile. Enjoy!..........Oh, c'mon baby, let's you and I do Weeweechu. I love you and it's the perfect time," Pedro begged. "But I wanna just hold your hand and watch the moon." replied Rosita. Please, corazoncito (my love), just once, do Weeweechu with me. "Rosita looked at Pedro and said, "OK, one time, we'll do Weeweechu. "Pedro grabbed his guitar and they both sang....."Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year."MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

CHRISTMAS DOOR DECORATION CONTEST - 2005

I wanted to share this picture with you all. When HR was still in our older office building the Christmas before we moved, we had a door decorating contest. Because Sunnee's office and mine were one in the same at that time (separated only by filing cabinets and shelves) we shared our door for the contest. This is looking at the door from Sunnee's area, my desk is to the right of the door. I wanted to do something special so her and I talked about it and decided what we wanted to do. We decided we wanted to do something with a fireplace look to it. I was thinking of contact paper or one of those plastic hanging door decorations. I can't remember what Sunnee was doing the day I went shopping, but she was not available so Nathan (my 2nd son) and I went looking for 'something' we could use. We went to Home Depot and was starting to think I just wasn't going to find anything when I remembered there was a paneling out there that looked like bricks. So we went over to the panel department and there it was! I was so excited! I had already measured the door and before I bought anything, I called the HR Manager and asked her if it would be ok to use nails in the door since we were going to be moving 2 months after Christmas. She didn't have a problem with it so I hung the phone up and we had a worker there at the store cut me a piece of the paneling the size of the door. After Nathan and I got the paneling home, he built a mantel on it out of 2" by 4"'s and covered it with the paneling. The next day, Sunday, him and I went down to the office and he nailed it up on the door. He was working at the Veteran's Nusing Home at the time and had to go to work after he got it done. Then Sunnee and her son came down and we started decorating it. I told my sister Clydene what we were doing so she had some decorations that she let us use for the door, plus Sunnee and I had a few things also. It turned out absolutely wonderful! We were so excited to have it done and looking so good. On Monday Nathan came to my office before going to work and he couldn't believe it! He was amazed. Behind my fireplace screen Sunnee and I tacked a piece of black poster paper on the paneling to give it a fireplace effect. Then Derick, her son went out and found some twigs that was used for the wood in the fireplace. I had bought some red and gold tinsile that Derick helped us make it look like the fire. We really didn't spend very much on the panel and everything else was provided for us by Clydene or ourselves except the little stuff. Well,....needless to say, Sunnee and I won the contest. We had judges come from other offices on the facility to pick us as the grand champions. Anyway, this was the result of the door decorating contest. "Twas' the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there" (Double click on the picture and it should make it bigger).

We're Gonna Have A Party

So,....I'm on the Christmas party planning commitee at work. We are having our party on the 16th and we are allowed ONE hour for it. We aren't going off station like to a restaurant or anything, just to the building across the street from our's that has the Mult-Purpose Center (MPC) in it. It's like a large open room where they hold a lot of the staff trainings. Anyway, it is going to be a 'potluck' and we're having a couple of games. We are also exchanging 'White Elephant' gifts. The way we are going to do that is one of the other ladies on the commitee is going to read a short story about "Mr. and Mrs. Right". In the story whenever she reads the word 'right', we'll pass the gift to the right. Whenever she reads the word 'left', of course we'll pass it to the left so that we all end up with a gift at the end of the story. Good idea, right? or is it left? I guess it is a good thing my little sis won't be at the party with me because as you all know, and it is a well known fact,....she does not know her right from her left, or her left from her right! Sorry Whitey! We'll have Christmas music playing also. I got creative last night and wrote a poem that I will read at the party. Let me know what you all think. It goes like this,.....

Tis’ Nine Days Before ChristmasPoem

By: Janette
Tis’ nine days before Christmas it was plain to see,

HR was buzzing and getting ready for the tree.

The lights need to be hung and there are ornaments galore,

Looks like the tree will be beautiful with its Christmas décor.
The cubbies are cheerful, it’s time for displays,

Looks like HR is expecting Ole’ Santa on his sleigh.

It will soon be Christmas, let it snow, let it snow!

The angels have been singing since a long time ago.
On the other hand there was much whimpering and whining,

For there was so much to do and actions to be signing.

The piles were growing and there seemed not an end,

It will soon be the holiday, the boss will not bend!
Another year of training is quickly approaching,
The folks in education are ready for coaching.
You can’t be a sissy if you work in HR,
You have to be tough and that’s what we are!!!
There’s discipline actions on hold, and filing a waiting,

And numerous employees that want reinstating.

There is coding to be done and appraisals to review,

There’s a whole bunch more for us all to do!
Oh my, oh my, we’re in a terrible state!

Most of us here need to give our updates.

The workload needs editing, the leave requests need granting,

Get the lead out now, there’s no sense in ranting!
The work keeps coming, there will soon be relief,

The spirit of Christmas will hit us, …. that’s my belief!

We have to get done with all our piles of work

So we can go have a party, so we don’t go berserk!
It’s time to be festive, and put our worries away,

It’s time to be jolly and be on our way.

Come on, let’s go to the MPC for some fun,

There may be some prizes there to be won.
We’ll all gather round and have a bit of a feast

For ONE AND A HALF HOURS today the work has been ceased.

It’s time to be happy without a care for a while

This is the season that makes us all want to smile.
May this holiday be one of your very best,

And all of you certainly will be wonderfully blessed.

It is our wish for a happy holiday season,

Whatever your Faith or whatever the Reason!

Tis' The Season !

I guess I got a little over anxious and decided now that Thanksgiving is over and "Black Friday" is pretty much over, I am changing my template on my blog. I thought this one was nice, so this is it folks at least for the Christmas Season.

Also, the little picture of the angel below is a free clip art I found on the internet. I took it and blew it up so that it filled an 8 1/2" by 11" piece of photo paper and printed it out twice. After doing that, I cut out around the angels and glued them back to back on an empty toilet paper roll (just poked the top of the tree up in to the roll) and made it my tree topper last year. It turned out really cute!

Happy Thanksgiving From Our House To Your's

Double click to read the poemThis is the time of year when we reflect upon the past eleven months and count each and every one of our blessings. As I look back on this last year I have seen many changes, .... some not so good. But as we live each day, one day at a time and think about what we have, and not just the material things, we can thank our Heavenly Father for the opportunity we have to live in this great country of ours. We have so many good and wonderful people out there that protect us and fight for our freedom every day. They should not go unnoticed. Please give thanks for the sacrifice they make for us and remember their families in your prayers and that their loved ones will come home safe and sound. Don't forget that we as Americans have a lot to be thankful for. We have the greatest gift of all , and that is our freedom.


I am thankful for my mother whom I love very much. I am thankful for my husband and what he does every day for me and the love he shows me continually (even tho' he makes me mad sometimes, and he can be very annoying!), it is great to be married to your best friend and the one you do fun things with. I am thankful for my three children and the love they show me every single day in one way or another. And their spouses,.....thank you for what you do to show the love and support that you do. I am very thankful for my grand-daugther and the joy she brings in to my life. I'm greatful for my three sisters and Sue and the love they show to me in so many ways. And to my mother-in-law and Dave's sisters and their families and all the rest of my extended family, I love you all! To all my friends that read my posts,...thank you for your love and friendship. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Congratulations University of Utah Football Team !

U of U won over BYU Saturday night 11/22/08 and is now the 2008 "MOUNTAIN WEST" Champions! What a great game! Score was 48 to 24 and the Utes had a perfect season of 12 and 0! GO UTES! (Vicky, this post is for you and Serge,....and you know why!)

Happy Birthday Jase ! ! !

Grandma and I Want to wish my nephew Jase a very Happy Birthday! He is the first son of Ina's (Denice). He is the second Grandson of Clyde and Nadine. Those of you distant cousins out there that don't know him, he was in a small group picture at my Dad's funeral that Sioux posted back in April of 2007. He was born 9 days after my son, Christopher. He too lives in Montana so visits with him are few and far between. He's always been such a handsome young man, and I'll let all of you determine if you think he looks a little like Tom Cruise or not. I hope your wonderful little family will spoil you rotten today! Again, Happy Birthday Jase! We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLYDENE ! ! ! !

A Happy Birtday to my Sister!

When she was young, what a blister!

She would pretend she was Maye West,

To "come up & see me sometime" was her request!

With her white hair she was called "Whitey",

Although she doesn't know her lefty from her righty!

She likes to have things "Her" way,

In most cases she can't be swayed.

She is the baby of the "Spencer" clan,

Her three sisters and Mom are her favorite fans ? ? ?

From that white haired little girl she grew and grew,

To a beautiful, talented women thru' and thru'!

We love you Sister with all of our hearts!

You have such an array of all your arts.

But the best of all "those" you have created,

Is the love and devotion to all those related.

Not only your husband and children galore,

But all of "Us" others we know you adore!

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! ! !

On Thanksgiving

HOW TO OBSERVE THANKSGIVING.

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;

Count on God instead of yourself.

~~Author Unknown.~~

Happy Birthday Tracy!

Grandma Spencer and I wanted to wish our beautiful Tracy a Happy Birthday! (and 'yes' folks, November is certainly the Spencer's month for birthdays). Grandma and I called her up to sing Happy Birthday to her tonight. We sang our hearts out, but guess what? It was Cimber that answered the phone and not Tracy. So after we sang she said, "now do you want to sing it to my mom?". Ooooops! But actually I think we sang it better the SECOND time around anyway. Tracy and Bill with their children live up in Dell, MT so of course we don't get to see them often enough. She just recently graduated from college and made us all very proud of her. She is certainly a very special young lady, not to mention crafty and a wonderful mom and grandma! She has more patience than anybody I know except for her Aunt NaNa of course. Tracy is the second daughter of Cheryl Young and Steven Hess and the second grandchild of Clyde and Nadine. We hope your birthday was a fun filled day and one of the best! We love you Tracy!

This was a Davis County Clipper newspaper article which shows Tracy as one of the winners of the logo contest for the Knowlton Elementary School in Farmington, UT. In case you can't read the top of it, the picture was in the October 8, 1980 edition of the local newspaper when Tracy (second from right in front row) was in the 4th grade. I found it in my box of treasures and wanted to share it with you. Dave and I were back in North Carolina living at the time, so Cheryl sent this to me when it was published. (I thought you would be able to double click on the article to make it bigger, but it's not going to work.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER ! ! !

Today is Christopher's Birthday, my firstborn! We were living at Ft. Devens, MA at the time when they still had Army OB/GYN's, so my care was at the Army Cutler Hospital. He was born on November 14, 1973 and was a BIG baby (not my biggest tho') at 10 lbs. 9 1/2 oz. and was 22 1/2 inches long. He had very dark brown hair and he was perfect! My mom flew in to MA to help before having him and then afterwards of course. I had just gotten out of the hospital when Dave had brought her home from the airport. I had developed pre-elampcia and was drugged up plus I had been having gull bladder attacks the last two months. Those were awful! I kept telling Dave that if this is what having a baby is like, then I don't want to do it! I was 3 weeks late having Chris and had been put back in the hospital. Fortunately within a day or two I went in to labor and so the work began. He was born a little after 5 p.m. on a Wednesday and after the trama of the doctor trying to give me an epideral and getting mad at the nurse because she kept yelling at me to "hold still"! the doctor tossed the tray across the room and told her more or less to keep her mouth shut. What an awful experience that was, however every bit of it was worth it when I saw my baby boy for the first time. My mom was there with us for a total of 6 weeks. But because of my bad gull bladder, she came back when Christopher was 3 months old. I had my gull bladder removed on February 14, 1974. She stayed that time for 4 weeks. I don't think I ever told her how much I appreciated her for doing what she did for us. Not only did she make sacrifices for us, so did my dad because he was home alone all that time. I can hardly believe he is 35 years old! Happy Birthday Christopher! I hope you had an enjoyable day. Love you!

The craft bug bit us in St. George!

A week ago today (Thursday), Ashley took the Shuttle up from St. George. She got to SLC around 1 p.m. I took a break from work and went down to pick her up by the Conference Center. She took me back to work, then went to run a couple of errands. She came up to go to the UofU vs. TCU game that afternoon with us and stayed til' Sunday. We kept pretty busy while she was here. Her friend Lisa just had her second baby girl so Ash and I went shopping for fleece to make a fringed baby blanket for her. We brought some lunch over to Mom's on Saturday to not only visit with her but to put the blanket together. It was so cute! The material was a pink and black plaid with a bright pink backing. Mom helped Ashley with it while I went and picked Diana up. When I got back to Mom's we three helped finish it up together. It turned out really cute. Sunday morning Dave and I left and took Ashley back to St. George. We stayed down there til' Tuesday early afternoon which was also her birthday. We got bit so hard by the craft bug again that we went to a scrapbook store not to buy anything, but to get some cute ideas for neighbor's Christmas gifts. We ended up picking out 2 kits to make Thanksgiving decorations. We did that on Monday night while Dave was watching Monday Night Football and Joey was working. We had so much fun making our projects together and were pretty pleased with the finished products. In fact Tuesday morning we decided to go back to the same store picked another kit up for the both uf us. She did her second one Wednesday,....I guess I'll do my second one this weekend. Here are some pictures. I'm not going to put them all on however. As much fun as I was having with Ashley and taking pictures of each step of the project, I looked way haggered in some of them. Anyway,.....enjoy! By the way, after leaving the scrapbook store on Tuesday (we had been to Walmart in Bloomington because we wanted to see Joey in action at his new job as a Pharmacy Tech) we headed over to Washington specifically to get an "In And Out" Burger for lunch. But what I was going to say is we turned on to Bluff Avenue near the Kmart store and guess who we saw walking hand in hand down the sidewalk? Kris and Terry (my cousin and her hubby for those of you that don't know them)! They got back from their mission in Africa not too long ago and are living in Hurricane. Didn't want to honk and scare them but I did wave to them as we drove by.

Happy Birthday Ashley ! ! !

Today is your birthday
It’s been twenty-five years
We couldn’t believe it
When you happily appeared.
Mom and Dad were so happy
Your brothers were too
Don’t want to get all sappy
So Happy Birthday to YOU!
It’s hard to believe that our little girl has turned 25 years old today. It seems like yesterday when we were calling all the family and friends to let them know we had her. She was born at the University of Utah Hospital on November 11, 1983 (our Veterans Day baby) weighing 8 lbs. 15 1/2 oz. and was 21 1/2 long. We were living out at Dugway Proving Grounds at the time. Dave had brought me in for an appointment and they ended up keeping me. They admitted me to the hospital around 11 a.m. and “started” me, however come 10 p.m. I still hadn’t had her so the doctor told the nurse to stop the medicine. He expected to come back in the next morning and “start” me again. Well, funny thing about that medicine and much to the surprise of Dr. Kochenhour ….. once it got me going, there was no stopping. She was born around 5 a.m. that next morning (Friday). While still in the “birthing” room waiting to be taken to our hospital room, Dave turned the television on to the BYU channel. There was an exercise program going and he thought he could talk me in to getting out of bed and start doing the “jumping jacks” and “sit-ups”. Yeah, right! Ashley, we just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday and let you know that you have been the sunshine of our lives and such a joy to us!

We love you !

Utah Utes are GREAT!

What a great game to be at last night! It was a "keep you on the edge of your seat" type of game. TCU was ahead most of the game with a score of 10 to 6 until the last 47 seconds of the game. Utah beat TCU 13 to 10. WOW!!!! There was so much enthusiasm and the fans were going crazy! It was truly awesome to be there. We had fun, and my throat is now raspy from all the yelling I did. The U of U football team stands at 10 and 0. They play San Diego there next weekend, then it is BYU coming to the UofU the following week, I believe. Better explain why going to these games are so important. Dave graduated from the UofU in 1972 along with ROTC. He originally went down on a football scholarship from Davis High, but because he was doing the ROTC thing also, he was told he needed to do one or the other. He decided on the "other" and gave up the scholarship. Anyway, he is a loyal fan which in turn makes me one also. The Utes were sporting their new black uniforms with a little red and white. They asked the fans to wear all black. I would say 90% of them did. It looked really different looking out over the stadium. We thought we would be freezing our behinds off but it was really quite comfortable with a couple of layers on. Ashley is up from St. George and our friend Wally came down from Wyoming for the game. GO UTES!

Now This Is Scarry ! !

BOO ! ! ! !

OK,....I thot' I would post a picture taken at work on Friday, Halloween 2008. This cute (well, maybe not so cute) big rag doll is me as "Raggedy Ann". My co-worker Sunnee is in West Virginia right now on vacation but if she had been here I would like to think she would have dressed as "Raggedy Andy". Over the years while working at the VA, we dress up for Halloween so Sunnee and I have always tried to do our costume themes alike. One year we were big Pumpkins together. We got those orange leaf bags that had pumpkin faces on them, with hats that looked like a leaf and stem of a pumpkin. We started to stuff our bags with dried leaves to make us look bigger around, however they were falling out as quickly as they were being stuffed in. We won the best costume prize that year. Another time we dressed up, her being the nurse with scrubs,stethoscope and first aid kit and me with a band aid around my bloody head with pj's (as the patient), a crutch and a splint boot on my leg. The reason for that one? Well, a day or two before Halloween, another co-worker, Garry was getting in his car the same time Sunnee and I was going to mine. She went around in front of his car, and because I was parked right next to him, I was going behind his. Well,....he started backing up without looking to see if it was safe to do so and almost got me. Hence, the costumes. Another year we were "Yin and Yang". She was the white part of the circle, I was the black side. Another fun year was when we were "Ebony and Ivory". We were dressed as piano keys that actually fit together when standing next to each other, I being Ebony and her being Ivory. You need to know Sunnee to appreciate the way we dressed. It has always been fun for us. We may have won more than one costume contest over the years, but I can't remember any more which ones specifically. Two years ago, the whole office had a theme of being pirates, or something to do with them. I paid a good amount of money for my costume but it was well worth the fun. Last year the theme was the "Blues Brother's". I wore my pinstriped suit, had dark glasses & hat and won the best costume of the women. What fun!