An American Tradition

Twenty-Seven people converged on the Scott home one the fourth Thursday of the Eleventh month for an annual American eating tradition. Somehow we over calculated on the amount of edibles needed for this event. Possibly the miscalculation involved the fact that over half of these people were age seven or younger. Who would have thought they wouldn't eat their weight in food? Everyone was contentedly full, so much that the pies were reserved for another day.
The detail which made this chaotic event so important is the fact that fourteen of my fifteen grandchildren were all under one roof. The one grandchild missing celebrated Turkey day about 18 hours previous due to the side of the world he is on at this time.

Missing from this pic: Chad, Jim, Becky, Aaron, Amber, and Thomas. They were thought of and greatly missed. I am VERY grateful to be surrounded by so many of my family- even if it was only for a day.

Andi's Blessing Day- 1990

So this picture is brought to you via a scan. Way before digital cameras were in use there was stuff called film. It was manually put in a camera to portray images on a film to be developed into photographs at a later date. Usually a person took their role of film contained in a metal cylinder encased in a dark plastic canister to a camera establishment to pay them money to have their professionals develop the pictures. You had to decide beforehand if you wanted singles or duplicates. Days later you would return to said establishment and pay a small fortune for pictures you may or may not want depending on how still your subjects had stood at the last event you attended. A person didn't dare throw out a questionable picture 'cause it might be important to someone decades later.

The important event was the day Andrea was blessed. This is taken on our front porch just before we headed to church. We lived on Blue Sky in Salem. Oregon. Eldon and Jane drove from Utah to be there. Vickie and Sammi are included in this assortment of kids. Everyone is related to Jim, Chris and Chad. We are all family!

Starting from the center going clockwise: Aaron (squished in the middle), Chris holding Sammi, Jim, Amryn, Rachel, Andi (in Jim's' arms), Chad, Vickie.

Shutterfly(dot)com

I will let you in on a little known secret . . .
I L-O-V-E Shutterfly!
Those of you who really know me know that :
1- I take tons of photos.
2- I have tons of grand kids.
3- I take tons of pics of my grand kids.
4- I love to scrapbook and create photo books.
5- I frame pictures and display them in my house.
6- I love personalized photo calendars.
7- I take pictures of my daughter's art.
8- I take pictures of band kids and color guard competitions.
9- I take pictures of the sky, the clouds, light, color . . .etc.
10- I did my research to find the best company to order photo products through, and I have been pleased with their service ever since.

This year I am doing my Christmas cards through Shutterfly, (the best company to order photo products through. Refer to #10 above).
I love the design of the card I chose since I am able to share several pictures of my family plus there is room to brag a little bit. (refer to previous post to view the card I made on Shutterfly). I am so excited to get these adorable cards sent out to my friends and family.
I made a cute little 5 x 7 folded card for two of my grandsons with pictures of them on the front of the card. Their faces are on round Christmas tree ornaments. I just ordered that one this evening. I can hardly wait to see their reaction when I give their unique card to them.
You don't have to take my word only, (but why wouldn't you?) you can find Shutterfly cards on-line by clicking on one of these links. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/photo-christmas-cards
For those of you who are REALLY ambitious here is a link to get started on your Valentine cards. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/valentines-day-cards-and-stationery
I believe in making this world a better place one beautiful picture at a time. :)
Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Oki Diner In Kuaui, Hawaii

Blurred Edge 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Wishes of Joy and Magic

Joy Sage Story Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

My Savior

My Savior

Oil painting by

Amanda Joelle Decker

Since Amanda is way too busy to have a time clock job, her mom has decided to peddle her paintings. Much to Amanda's embarrassment. Amanda never looks on our family blog so it will be months before she even gets a clue what I have done. Last August, the week before school began, Amanda had the opportunity to study for 3 hours a day for five days with LDS artist Jared Barnes. Jared encouraged Amanda to find her own style of painting. This oil painting of Christ is a step towards that. Here Amanda is using color to create a painting which is uniquely hers. The original is displayed in our home and the vision of it speaks softly to my heart. I am melted by His loving gaze as His eyes penetrate my soul. I am reminded to follow Him.
By purchasing prints of Amanda's artwork you would be helping her further her artistic education and training. Amanda wants to attend BYU in the fall of 2011. She will be paying for that education through scholarships (hopefully) and the sales of her artwork. We have decided to start with offering prints of her piece entitled . . .

MY SAVIOR.

Prices

5 x 7 $6.00

8 x 10 $12.00

11 x 14 $20.00

12 x16 $28.00

Please contact me to place your order. Thank you very much! Love Karen

Nelson's Grove

If you look closely and have a great imagination you can see the duck and turtle sitting on some reed hiding in the brush.
For a windy day and a cell phone camera these aren't so bad. NOT.
The colors on these fowl are beautiful. Guess you will have to go there and find out for yourself, cause the pic did not capture the hues and vividness.

So I had NO IDEA there was such a beautiful park so close to home. I had heard mention of "Nelson's Grove". But not enough to spark enough interest to find where it was. Now I know- GO if you get the chance. Make up a reason to take the grand kids here. They will L-O-V-E it!

Next visit will include a picnic blanket, food for the people, bread for the ducks, a camera, and relatives under the age of seven.

My Dad, Einstein

For Halloween I suggested to my dad that he dress up- as Einstein. He has always had the IQ for that role. Now he has the hair.

One day I spent my lunch break going for a walk with Dad and Olivia. Dad was eager to get out of the house for a while. It is such a blessing for my dad that mom got this motorized chair when she was so sick this time last year. (she never used it) Dad was ready to go before I drove up to his house.
I didn't get to eat much for lunch- but who needs food when you have sunshine and family?

Walnuts and a Puddle

I drive by our old house often since my parents live on the same street. On one such drive-by I was reminded of yet another thing I will not miss from that house. The Black walnut trees lining the front property are gorgeous in the fall as their leaves change from a young green to a very vibrant yellow. The sight of those gorgeous trees always brought a warm smile to my face. It was the plop, plop of nuts hitting the tops of vehicles or the hard thumps as the nuts hit the driveway which were tiresome. Just walking across the lawn took extra care as a foot trying to balance on one of those nuisance nuts could sprain an ankle of at the least make exasperating words escape a persons lips.
Another silly memory is of the day MANY years ago, where we had to repair a sunken driveway. Part of the driveway is built over an irrigation ditch. One day, after years of being a good driveway, the pressure of A VERY LARGE and HEAVY piece of construction equipment used by the city was too much for our old fragile driveway to withstand. For a short time we had a marvelously dangerous hole in our driveway. This specific memory is of the day the cement was poured and two adult men were in the front yard arguing on how to level the wet cement as to prevent water from accumulating on the surface when bad weather would arrive. Neither of them would listen to me or my idea. I could see that what they were planning was not the solution to this pending problem. My experience with the male species is that it is usually more important to 'just get it done' than it is to get it done correctly. My suggestion was completely overlooked. From that day forward whenever it rained, snowed or anything of that like, I was reminded of that day and that conversation and how two men would not, could not put a bit more thought and care in the task at hand. Yes- EVERY time I was out sloshing water and slush from that spot in the driveway I was reminded of how bull-headed some men can be.
So as I drive by this home with walnuts in a pool of water in the driveway, I smile and am glad it does not belong to me.
Life really is grand. :)

Observance = Cleverness = 'Ah ha'

Decades ago I had a teacher who passed out a quiz to each of the students telling us it was to test our ability to follow instruction. At the top of the page were the instructions to read through the test before beginning. One of the first items said to stand up and twirl three times. Another required the test taker to call out their favorite color. You get the idea. It was a noisy quiz. At the bottom of the page it said something like this: Now that you have read through this quiz sign your name here and turn this paper into the instructor. I was one of the few who completed this task correctly. What did I do differently than the other students?