4th of July 2015

This was the weekend for the Daly Family Reunion held in Pleasant Grove Utah. This was our branch of the tree.  There originally were five brothers. Tom, Arthur (Fred's Dad), Frank, Joe & Jay. Tom and Frank have passed away so Fred's Dad is the patriarch of the family.

 

Corinne and Ben brought down their boys from Ogden. Sharlotte (Fred' sister) and her husband Randy brought their granddaughter Roxie. It was HOT. I'm not gonna lie. It was held at a church pavilion and everything was outside. No access to the church.....but someone was kind enough to provide an outhouse. NOT. Corinne and I loaded up Garrett for a bathroom break at a nearby grocery store. Actually, I didn't need to go, but I went for the alone time with Corinne.

 This is Fred with his Uncle Jay. They are sorting through bullets and talking about the family rifles and shotguns.

After the reunion, Corinne and family came back to our hotel. (which wasn't very nice) and we all went swimming. Even Fred and I went swimming and it was really fun. Made us talk consider getting an above ground pool for us. Around here we get the feeling above ground pools are considered white trash, but I don't think we care.

 Henry likes to wear the big sandals. He knows which foot is which.

 You know....the TV is on.

 Again with the TV

Sunday morning we loaded up Garrett and Spencer to bring them home with us. We ate breakfast at Burger King and neither boy ate very much. But lunch at McDonalds - they cleaned up. This is Spencer mid some imaginary playtime.

 Our big table.

 See - all gone Mom.

 Garrett too!

First toys to come out were the Transformers, followed by Legos.

Because I want #2

If I'm ever feeling blue - I look at you!

Facebook

I'm going stay off Facebook for a while.

A few contributing factors:

There are so many articles that are just plain disturbing that appear day after day.

I go there to connect with friends and loved ones, but I'm bombarded by all these other things that I don't want to see. 

It is true that reading about all the fun things other people are doing can be depressing and cause one to compare. I know I have a good life. Right now all my children are employed, have a home to be safe and protected in, food to eat and clothes to wear. They all live the gospel to their best and are active in their wards. We are all healthy. I have Fred to share my life with. He is constant. 

I worry and feel so much anxiety for young women and young mothers. All the pressure they put on themselves to do this and do that, be this and be that. You see it everywhere. Calm down, slow down, scale down on your obligations and busyness. It's not a contest. Life is to be lived and to feel joy. 

Thoughts like these are causing me to feel a lot of anxiety and an abundance of sadness and discontent recently. I want to save others from feeling like this. Part of me feels all wise and experienced with power to save and then when I really look at myself - I'm not feeling like I've got it together. 

Recently there have been several talks in our Sacrament Meeting and Sunday classes about "Acting" on the promptings of the Spirit, even obeying the commandments. Just do it now. 

The thought entered my mind to get off Facebook last night as I was driving home having a chat with myself. So I'm going to treat that as a prompting and see if I notice a difference in my life.

So as off the beaten path as this decision seems, it is huge for me because I pretty much live on it here at work all day. It helps fill the time.

I'm going to try a few other tasks to improve my emotional state of being right now.

I simply want to feel content. I don't need a barrel of fun or excitement. 

A Quick Trip to Las Vegas

 

Shannon was on her way to LA and made arrangements to stop over in Las Vegas.

We met her at the Bellagio. A quick walk through the atrium.

 

 

Next we headed across the street to Caesar's Palace for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.

We shared two cheesecakes - a new one Vanilla Bean Cheesecake (no picture) and White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle.

 

It was hot outside, but after living here for 2 years it didn't make me feel cranky.

It is what it is.

 

After Shannon arrived in Los Angeles, she took the time to walk around the Los Angeles Temple and take a couple of pictures.

This temple is HUGE. Fred and I were sealed in this temple March 24, 1979.

We haven't been back since.

 We loved our short time together.

 

Updated look

I decided to start fresh. I purchased a blog template from an online company for $15. My hopes is that this will provide a clean slate and no more hiccups when I try to navigate around my blog.

Scott and Jess took over remote access to my computer to help install it last night. Actually I had completed all the steps correctly, but they have the magic.

I love knowing that Scott and Jess can do that for me. There will still be some fine tuning, but overall I am happy. The template does seem a bit more muted than what I saw with the demo online, but I'm okay with it. I plan on being more creative. I signed up for the blog newsletter that will bring ideas etc...right to my email inbox.

Thank you Scott and Jess for helping me with my fresh start to blogging.

 

Oh My Gosh

My Blog is Possessed. I have been trying to add a post since Friday night. I have ended up with three Google Accounts, but I actually think that now all three have the same password. I am kind of proud of my self that through trial and error I went in and cleared my cookies from the past week and here I am. Holy Hannah!

Lorraine and Tina arrived on Friday night. I can't possibly put into words how wonderful it was to be together. How is it even possible that friendships are so wonderful and glorious. We haven't seen each other for two years and it was just like yesterday that we were together. The weather here could not have been more perfect. Not too hot. That is all I could have asked for.

Saturday morning we visited Brigham Young's home. I've never been. Most of the furnishing were period pieces, but there were some authentic pieces placed about the home.

 This is a mulberry tree that Brigham Young planted while he lived here. The trunk split in the 1970s.

This is the china used while Brigham Young lived here.

This is the every day ware. They would put boiling water in the large plates and place the smaller plates full of food to rest in it to keep the food warm. No microwaves in those days.

This is Amelia's travel chest. It was built larger than others in that day. Also rounded on the top so nothing could be set on it. So it was placed on the wagon last and removed first when thy arrived.

This is Amelia's nurse's cap and peacock feather fan.

Brigham Young's chair. He was BIG.

The table was used by Brigham Young. He played games at the table with his grandchildren.

Next we went to Jacob Hamblin's home.

This room was used for school, community and church meetings.

This chair was made of cow hide.

He provided lodging for people passing through.

Next stop was the Tabernacle. The chairs came from the Salt Lake Temple in the 1950s.

This is the pulpit that Lorenzo Snow received his revelation about paying tithing.

After this, we went out to the parking lot and found I had locked my keys in the car. Luckily our lunch plans were at a restaurant right up the block. I had left my cell phone at work so it took three calls to Fred before he decided to pick up because he didn't recognize the number. By then we had finished lunch and were walking to the Temple. The weather was perfect thank goodness. We went through some of the displays at the visitor's center. Once Fred arrived to the Visitor's Center to deliver my keys, we headed home.

We went to the Tuachan outdoor theatre to see Disney's When You Wish a new Musical. It was fantastic and the weather was just right. Just got "sweater" cool about the last 1/2 hour.

Sunday was church and my ward represented themselves very well. People talked us up good and were friendly. No embarrassing testimonies and we had a really good Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society Lesson. A good church day. We went to a concert in the evening that was across the street from the Temple in the grass at a church building. It was songs about the temple performed by a Primary choir and sister missionaries and then a family that performs celtic music on violin, guitar, harp and a drum of some kind.

 I asked Lorraine to make homemade bread for dinner. I made Lorraine and Tina aprons as a thank you gift for coming to see me. Isn't this a great picture of them! I love it and them too!

 

I took work off on Monday. We went to Charming Charlies (jewelry, accessories) to shop. We tried the used book store first, but it was closed. Spent some good time in the store and bought some fun stuff. After lunch at Kneaders, we went to the movie to see Woman in Gold. It was really good. We recommend it!

Grocery shopping and then home to hang out the rest of the day.

This morning it was time to say goodbye.

I can't believe they have come and gone already. I have been anticipating their trip here for weeks and weeks. It could not have been a more perfect time together. 

My friends, sisters forever!

Because I want to

Being a grandma is definitely complicated at times.

For instance, I have all these darling photos that Shannon is so good to send to me.

They really just bring such a big smile to my face and truly make me happy to look at.

I want to post them for several reasons.

 

1. Simply to have them posted on my blog forever.

2. To share with my friends because I think they are so cute.

3. Because it's my blog and I can do what I want.

 

The reasons that make it complicated.

 

1. I have more than two children who presently have children.

2. I get updated pictures from Shannon more often than Corinne.

3. Shannon has my only granddaughter so far.

4. I don't want to show favoritism.

5. I want to spread myself evenly between my children and grandchildren.

 

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!

 

So please enjoy those photos simply because they are so cute.

I love all my children and grandchildren.

 

This little dress is one that we bought for Shannon while we lived in Japan back in 1986. It is a little bit big, but who cares. Look at those little pigtails? 

 This is Mima with her "Suzie" blanket. Suzie Webb made it and she LOVES IT.

Obviously it goes everywhere with her.

 Mima is finally getting her little girl on.

 See what I mean! Princess and girly stuff. I'm so excited!