Trunk-your-Treat

Twenty five years ago today

Robes and his lovely bride Kim after their wedding in the Atlanta LDS Temple. We had a nice lunch at the Marriott Hotel in Atlanta, drove to Seneca, South Carolina (where Kim lived during high school) for their reception and then Mr. & Mrs. Patton drove off into the sunset in their gold VW bug (with cassette tapes in a Kotex box) and began their life together.

From a letter Kim wrote to friends and family in March of 1999:

It is difficult to explain how thankful I am that I was married to Robes Patton. My 89 year-old friend, Jackie, asked if I had known in the beginning that I would only have 15 years with him, would I have done it anyway? Every day that passes reaffirms my answer, "YES!" My life has richness because of those short 15 years and will always be shaped in some way by them. His approach to each day was extraordinary. There was always a twist, always one more drop of living and learning to wring from simple things. His incessant pursuit of self-improvement and new experiences is something I'm glad my kids witnessed. He showed us how to identify and relish the lasting things in life...During his illness we agreed that if we had those 15 years to live over again, we would live the same way. That's a good feeling...Even without him we have so much because of him.

Happy Anniversary!

And the winner is...

...Melanie B.! I'll be sending a package to her in Japan! Thanks for all your comments!!

Give said the little stream

Today was the Cambridge Massachusetts Stake Conference. We have 14 units in our stake and we do not have a stake center. If you follow this blog you may have seen this entry which I posted about the groundbreaking for the future stake center. The hope is that two years from now our Stake Conference will be in that building!

Let me back up. Ten years ago the Cambridge Stake was formed when the Boston Stake split. For ten years we have used the Weston building for our Stake Conference but we have outgrown that building (and maybe the Boston Stake is tired of us poaching on their property)!

For the first time ever, our Stake Conference was streamed via the internet to all the buildings in our stake plus an auditorium at MIT. The talks were great (three new members shared their conversion stories and Laree LaPierre gave a very good talk!), the music was inspiring, and now it's time for a Sunday afternoon nap!

Apple pie #1 and Apple pie #2

My friend, "Sister", came over today and we baked apple pies. I have these cute little antique pie tins that are about 8" round so we made two of those. Her husband Lein peeled/cored/sliced all the apples with one of these (don't feel like you have to buy one at W-S). We also made what Lein called "snackies" which is pie crust dough with cinnamon sugar on top baked for 10 minutes (I had never made those before--can you believe it?!).

Photo shoot #2

Photo shoot #1

Kilo-blogger

This very post is my one thousandth blog post!!!  I'll be having a random drawing at the end of the weekend (Sunday night at midnight) to say thank you to my faithful blog followers so leave a comment on this post and your name will be tossed in the hat or the bowl or the cookie jar.

And, I will blog on, blog friends!

Fall flowers

Freshman memory

I had five roommates in Heritage Halls my freshman year. One day we got talking about how our mothers dressed and my roommate and I realized that both our mothers wore those polyester pants that had a seam sewn down the front. What a coincidence! Our mothers' names were Nancy and Janice so we named those stylish pants "Nan-Jans". We got talking and laughing about Nan-Jans with our other roommates and some friends and it turns out that everyone's mom wore those pants so they were affectionately referred to as "Nan-Jan-Marge-Pat-Thelma-Mary-Beulahs".

Note: photo capturing Nan's Nan-Jans was taken in an eating/drinking establishment in Telluride, Colorado when she was a chaperone on my Girl Scout trip the summer of '73.

Happy Birthday, Sumner!

I hope you caught some fun on your 15th birthday!!!

Shooting hoops

My niece Adrie is playing basketball on a league team which has caused me to pause and reflect on my basketball days. [Good thing I wrote all my teammates' names on the back and the front of the photo.] We were the mighty Van Nuys Third Ward Beehive team! We didn't have uniforms (obviously); we wore some homemade "pennies" over our shirts that had our numbers on them (you can see one below the basketball that Carol Hipsley is holding). And not-for-nothing, but I think Debbie and Denise Klawitter were the original "twin towers".

Tonight's FHE treat

It's not the apple crisp and vanilla ice cream I'm making simultaneously as I blog. It's that I bought gas for $2.73/gallon on my way home from work!!!

On my way to church...

Lucky baby girl

Today was my friend Ande's baby shower. She was given adorable outfits, dresses, blankets, lots of books, a good stash of practical items and a handmade smock from me. I made mint brownies with pink frosting since she's having a girl. Ande's mom sent a box of clothes that Ande wore as a baby; a very sweet gift. This baby girl will be well-dressed, well-read, and well-loved!

I give it lots of stars

Wedding bells

Another one of my young women (that's what you say when you've been their leader!) got married recently in the Logan Temple and her reception in Boston was tonight. Jan is wonderful and I've been her friend for twenty years (I was her Merrie Miss teacher when I first moved here). It was fun to meet her husband and celebrate with her family and friends tonight.

Her in a hat

I bought this little hat in Utah last Spring and I've been wanting to take some pictures of my little friend Darian wearing it. She's 7 months old and it still fit her so I shot some photos tonight.

Family heirloom

Topsfield Fair--America's oldest

An hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Ten dollar parking. Twelve dollar entry fee. Fair food everywhere. Rides. Tickets. Prizes. Blue ribbons. Biggest pumpkin. Cows. Pigs. Rabbits. Turkeys. Crafts. Flowers. Quilts. Kitchen gadgets you can't live without. Ferris Wheels. Corn dogs. Fried Dough. And the best people watching ever!

Blessing day

A fun family to photograph