A Very Special Early Birthday Gift...

I'm mentioning my birthday much more that I ever do. But this is one blog entry I want to make and remember for a very long time.

I turn 60 this year. That is kind of a milestone. But, like every other year, I just don't really think about it a lot. However, yesterday afternoon I got an eMail from my Jacob, my son. It was just a wonderful gift and I have asked him if I could share it. He has assured me I can send a copy to his siblings, which I will do, and he has assured me I can post it on my Blog if I give the artist credit, which I will.

I received this eMail message from Jake with an attachment yesterday afternoon:

Dear Mom,

Since you are heading out tomorrow I'm going to give you your birthday gift now. I know a professional comic artist in Ann Arbor named Jay P. Fosgitt. I had him adapt our family portrait especially for you. Logistical good fortune has been lacking on my end, so I haven't been able to print and mail a nice copy. But I wanted you to go ahead and have your present. Anyhow, hope you like it. Let me know if it doesn't come through. It's a big file.
Love,
Jake

Next I want to preface this by showing you the original picture taken many, many, many years ago outside of Denver in the mountains. Claude has a dear friend named Gordon Kay. They were in the Air Force together in basic training and then in the service. Gordy is a very good person. He loved to take pictures. Long after their military days, we retained our friendship with Gordy. He was taking a job with NOAA and was going to Alaska. On his way through he stayed with us in Denver. We had recently moved there for Claude to work with Bureau of Land Management. We took a trip into the mountains and Gordy took this great picture of our family at that point in history. After Gordy left, he had the picture professionally mounted on board and in a large size and sent it to us. We framed it and it has hung on the wall in our home ever since. We all love this candid shot of our family. Everyone's personality is evident in their faces.

In the picture you have Andie sitting on my knee, Nissa in the middle, and Claude is holding Jake. This would have been taken in 1975. Please note Claude has a mustache but no beard and I have no gray hair.

This last year Andie found someone who could make the picture smaller for us. It was too large for us to scan and we wanted all the kids to have a copy. Bless her heart she found a person who could do that in Louisville and had copies of this picture made for her siblings.


Jake's gift to me was to take the beloved family picture to his friend, Jay P. Fosgitt, and have him make a picture using the picture as the inspiration. He also asked him to do it using a 'turtle' theme. Another of the things I love is turtles. It was always my favorite word and now I have lots of 'turtle' things in my home. I just recently hung a turtle windchime made of wood on my patio that Nissa and Todd gave to me. So Jake, asked his friend, Jay P. Fosgitt, to make a turtle version of our family picture for 1975.

To say I was overjoyed is just not enough. I just loved this new version of our family...and we are all turtles!!!  Jake said he loves the expressions on Claude and my faces best. They seem to say, "What have we gotten ourselves into??" I immediately saved the picture, then printed it out on good photo paper. There was no one at home to share it with. I sent Jake the best thank you note I could come up with via eMail.  Then I waited for Claude to get back home so I could share this wonderful piece of artwork.

Claude had the best grin on his face when he saw it. He immediately recognized the source from which the inspiration sprang for this picture. He was so happy with it.  I was wishing I had taken a picture of his joy at seeing it. He had two comments that were notable. The first was, "This is suitable for framing!" and the second was, "Jake wins the prize for best birthday gift this time!"

I asked Jake if I could share the picture. He assured me it was okay if I credited this fabulous artist friend. Jay P. Fosgitt, you get all the credit for doing this wonderful work of art that will be an added treasure in the Christensen family for years and years to come. Your name and talent will be heralded by me to many people for many years to come.

Here is the information about Jay P. Fosgitt that Jacob gave me for your reference and use:

I would say if you wanted to post it on your blog, you should credit Jay Fosgitt by name and offer a link to his website. http://www.jayfosgitt.com/. His online portfolio is quite fun and irreverant (Think PG-13). He is often asked to redo family portraits in his style, but I definitely made the first request of having him turtle-ize a photo. Yes, he did have fun doing it!

So there you have it...a really fun gift to remember turning 60 years old by. A glimpse into the Christensen family past.  I can't wait to frame this and get it on the wall for all to see.

Thank you Jake for this wonderful gift of memories and looking forward to many more years with my family that I love with all my heart. They are the thing of most worth to me.

Catch Up...

And again I fall behind in my blogging...

Last Friday, July 23rd, Claude and I had a date, just the two of us. Katelyn was in LaGrange with the Marx family so Claude took me to dinner. Now, when you reach our age a date is a functional, chore filled occasion. Who am I kidding...when we lived in Denver and the kids were in grade school, we called it a date when we went to go buy groceries together and have a soda pop on the way home. When we lived in Maryland and the kids were teenagers, we called it a date when we took a trip to Hardee's for a soda and sit on the corner and watch the traffic at the intersection while we drank our sodas and had a chat. A date is really what you make it and feel good about calling a date. So there you have my definition of dating.

Friday's date was a trip to Georgetown.

• Drop items at the Scott County planning office.
• Dinner at O'Charley's.
• Visit the AT&T store to check on my Documents to Go on my Blackberry.
• Visit to Walmart for groceries
• Fill up the car at Walmart
• Drive thru the dry cleaners to pick up dry cleaning.
• Home before 6pm.

That is how you do a date when you are at our stage in life. It still feels as good as those dates before we were married. Just looks a little different.

Saturday, July 24th, Andie brought Katelyn home. Andie, Hayden & Bailey then stayed for a visit over the weekend. Papa came out Saturday afternoon and we had a family dinner.

Claude found a BBQ sauce recipe for a Carolina BBQ sauce that he wanted to try. He had a small pork roast. He cooked the roast in the sauce all day in the crock pot and then covered the roast in this BBQ sauce when he served it. It was good. Not like any kind of BBQ sauce I've ever had before. It was almost like a vinagrette dressing.

I bought an ice cream freezer and made that wonderful lemon ice cream I tasted and learned about on Thursday night in Frankfort. It was really good. In case you missed the last post, all you need is 1 small can frozen lemonade, 1 2-liter bottle of 7-Up (use only 7-Up) and a can of Eagle Brand milk. Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream freezer. Really good stuff!!

Jake wrote a wonderful blog entry titled "Anatomy of a Snuggle". It was about Tiny, Papa's little dog. (There is a link to Jake's Blog on my Home Page of this Blog.) When Papa arrived I had Katelyn bring out her lap top and find Jake's blog entry for Papa to read. He enjoyed it so much. Never fear when looking at the picture. He is drinking a Dr. McGillicuddy rootbeer.

It's always fun for Papa to have the little ones around to watch them play. Hayden is explaining all about planets to Papa as he sits on Papa's lap.

 Of course, I enjoy playing with the 'y'ittle ones also.

It was a full and good first day to our visit. We all needed a good nights rest to be ready for Sunday.

Sandi and Katelyn attended Church.  Claude, Andie and kidlings stayed home. They did come into Georgetown to have lunch at Cici's with us. Then back out to Sadieville for quiet time. Hayden and Bailey were soooooo excited when they found a table with a TV monitor over it that was showing 'Ice Age'.

A friend I visit teach gave Claude and I some pickling cucumbers. I really wanted to try pickling them instead of putting them in a salad. This was a great time to teach Katelyn a bit about canning. Andie was also eager to learn some more about canning.

I pulled out the water bath canner and the jars and we set to canning Katelyn's first 3 pints of dill pickles. What fun it was. Here are pictures Andie took of the process.

Andie is our cake decorater extraordinaire. She decorates the most beautiful and unique cakes and cupcakes. My birthday is really soon and, while I had forgotten it, Andie did not. She came to Sadieville with the items needed to finish up special cupcakes for me for an early birthday celebration.

There are several things in life that I enjoy a lot...just 'cause.  One of them is moose.  They just fascinate me.  Someone once said they look like they were made by a committee. I'm not sure what it is but I just enjoy watching a moose. Well, Andie had directions for how to decorate a cupcake like a moose. So my surprise birthday cupcakes were moose cupcakes!!

I also have to thank Andie for every one of these pictures. She got these shots of Katelyn learning to ice cupcakes.  Here is Katelyn decorating my moose birthday cupcakes:

Is not that just the cutest cupcake you ever saw?! 

Well, Katelyn may disagree. You see, when she went to visit Andie and kids they had 'wolf' cupcakes for Katelyn's birthday which had just past. Katelyn is a Twilight fan. She is definitely 'Team Jacob' (the werewolf). So of course she needed 'wolf' cupcakes.

Thank you Andie for sharing your talents for our birthdays.

Another thing Katelyn wanted to learn about while visiting us this summer was drying fruit. We purchased peaches during the week so we set to getting them in the dryer. No pictures of this process. But it is an easy one and Katelyn was very happy to have the dryer on the deck full of peaches for our up-coming trip to St. Louis.

Hayden and Bailey got up from quiet time and we headed out to learn about marshmallow guns. These little treasures Claude purchased at the last Double-Stink Hog Farm Fall Festival. They were great fun for the Camp Christensen we had the next summer. This was Hayden and Bailey's maiden voyage into marshmallow gun territory. A good time was had by all. They guns would be easy to make if someone set their mind to it. They are not glued together so the pieces can come apart and they can be cleaned. It is also best to use the miniature marshmallows and let them air out and dry a bit before using.

Please note that Hayden is standing beside Claude's cherry tomato 'tree'. It was supposed to be a little plant. Claude grows them specifically so the kids can pick and eat as they ripen. This year the plant really grew into a tree and is laden with wonderful cherry tomatoes. Not sure what he did or if it was that older bourbon barrel, but this is a very happy plant.

We also logged some time in the sprinkler for Hayden and Katelyn. Bailey was not so much interested because she had marshmallows and chips to keep her busy. That and she took to her flower planter with the play dishes again. We don't even plant flowers in these flower planters anymore. We just leave them full of dirt so that Bailey can enjoy them when she is here.

It was a hot day and I'm surprised we stayed outside as long as we did. Andie and I did walk down the hill to check on the little grasses she gave me from her flower bed. They are all growing well on that hill. They must be hearty little creatures. Bailey enjoyed the sandbox while Andie and I visited on the hill.

Then it was time to get back inside for some dinner and play before bedtime for kidlings.

Andie painted Bailey's finger nails pink and her toe nails purple during the week previous. I believe this was Bailey's first time to get her nails painted. She is really enjoying her favorite colors on the tips of her digits. She also loves to plunder in my jewelry cabinet. I have a lot of bangle bracelets and this time we put everyone of them on her arm. She kept them all on for a very long time and toted them around for frequent wearing the rest of her visit.

 Then it was time for the 'surprise' birthday cupcakes.

We had a little more quiet activity and then it was off to bed for the kidlings and time for 'adult swim' for the rest of us. Katelyn is soooooo happy she is officially an 'adult' during 'adult swim'.  The joy of turning 18!!  How grateful we should all be for the good things computers can do. Hayden really wanted to color Saturn. Just Google 'Saturn Coloring Pages' and there you have several great choices for him. He picks the ones he wants. You print two copies in case Miss Bailey feels she needs to participate. And back up to the kitchen you go. Andie left her chalks here long ago for Paul to use when he wants to draw. Hayden and Bailey enjoyed being able to 'blend' the colors with the chalks.

Monday morning was 'beauty shop' time. We put it off as long as we could. Bailey and Andie needed their bangs trimmed. Bailey was first and did a fantastic job of sitting still.

Andie did her gathering and loading of her car and finish up of laundry. As she was gathering we found Bailey making toys out of the canning things. I have a few Beannie Baby animals. They are collected because they are seasonal or they would be fun for grandmonsters. Bailey's favorites, which stay with her all of her visits, are the little horse  I got at the Kentucky Horse Park and the little deer she thinks is Bambi. The dishpan was my mothers and her mother's before that. I have shelled or snapped many a pea or bean in that pan. I used it to put the ice cream freezer in so it would leak on the floor of the kitchen. The canning tongs were used for the dill pickles. Bailey seems to think they are perfect for wrangling a horse!!!

It was a fun visit. The Marx family left for LaGrange and Katelyn left for work. Claude and I just crashed.

Tuesday, July 27th, Katelyn worked in the morning.  Then she had a missionary discussion at the Church in the afternoon. Then we headed to Papa's to cut his hair. Neffie and Mike are coming to visit him and Mimi and I really didn't want him looking too shaggy when they got here. Then home to finish up laundry for Katelyn, Papa and Claude and me.

Wedneday Katelyn worked in the afternoon. Claude had meetings in the afternoon and I went to the nursing home to sing with Papa and visit Mimi. Then I hurried home to get Katelyn from work. Claude had a Blue Grass ADD dinner for us to attend back in Lexington. It was at the Embassy Suites and is Sunday dress. Katelyn and I got in our Sunday duds and were ready to roll on time.

It was an interesting foray for Katelyn. Her first observation was that the Embassy Suites was not the Holiday Inn. We usually stay in the Holiday Inn Express in Chelsea, Michigan and have had several family reunions there. I'm sure that was what she was comparing this hotel to. The Embassy Suites has a fountain in the lobby that she really seemed to like.

There is an older gentleman with snow white hair that is the spitting image of Colonel Sanders that attends this function. He came in his white suite and black bow tie and cane. Katelyn was quite taken with this character from Kentucky's history.

They gave us all nametags and even had one for Katelyn.

The meal was particularly good this time. Katelyn went back for more rolls.

She also got a kick out of the dinner table discussion on politics. A big discussion was had on Rand Paul. I'm guessing most of our table were Democrats and they were aghast that anyone would send this man to Washington, DC. Katelyn tried her best to keep up with it. She is very interested in things to do with politics. She really didn't know Jack Conway's name and he was the other person spoken of at dinner. It was a lively chat on most people's parts and others of us just listened with interest.

Then came the real reason for being there, the meeting. Business was handled, approved, seconded, etc., etc., etc. There was an agenda and a time table for all this to be completed. As the ending time came closer and then was being passed people got a little fidgety. The most amusing part for me was the very end. By this point we have made motions and seconded them and said 'Aye' several times. Katelyn was getting the flow of that part. Then they asked for someone to make a motion to conclude the meeting. Just as someone made the motion and before another person could second that motion I heard Katelyn say a resounding "Aye".  Claude and I both laughed out loud.  Then we hurried to our car assured of the fact that Katelyn understood the process and how to end a meeting!!

Now I'm caught up till the next time...

A Little Rain & A Little Fun Make a Great Day...

Thursday was a full day...got Miss Katelyn off to work, checked the eMail stuff and then had a really nice visit with my Visiting Teacher and her two little girls. She brought me fresh corn from her garden. We visited in the basement this time so the girls could enjoy the toy closet.

Then Katelyn came home from work and we made the final preparations for our journey to Shelbyville. Claude and Katelyn had been down to the park by the sewer plant. There is a set of park playground equipment that had been given to Sadieville and they were assessing the ability to put it all together. They brought home a bag full of nuts and bolts and who know what all else. Katelyn was covered in mud. Claude was clanking all kids of metal stuff in my kitchen sink trying to get the dirt and mud off of it. It was a very noisy time in our household.

Katelyn and I left a little after 2:30pm. We fed my little red Buick at the Pilot station. Then headed to Frankfort to Buffalo Trace Distillery. We are running low on Dr. McGillicuddy's Root Beer and that is the only place to get it. We quickly made that purchase along with more bourbon scented candles for Nissa and Jake and then we were off to Shelbyville.

I went down Hwy 127 over to Hwy 60. Then stayed on Hwy 60 to Shelbyville. This would have been the old Federal highway before there was an I-64 to make the trip. It is a pleasant drive, the speed limit is a little slower (55 most of the time) but it took me straight to the intersection where the Taco Bell was located. That is where we were to meet Andie, Hayden and Bailey for dinner and the exchange of ownership of Katelyn for a couple of days.

As we drove on Hwy 60 I had on my sunglasses. I commented to Katelyn, "Is it just these sunglasses or is the sky looking darker in the distance?" Katelyn assured me the sky was getting darker. Sure enough, we ran into the mother of all rain storms. The change in temperature made the windows fog up so we quickly turned on the defroster to clear that up, set the wipers to hyper-speed and slowed way down to just keep moving. The car in front of us did the same and turned on their emergency flashers. Katelyn asked if we should pull off the road. I told her we would just try to keep moving for now.

We made it through and got to Taco bell about 25 minutes early. Yeah us!! Katelyn ran across the parking lot to Kroger to see if they had any flipflop sandals. She did find some but they only had ones with skulls on them. What is that all about?

The mini-Marx's came into Taco Bell and I got the most wonderful, big, strong hugs. The kind that delight a Gramma to pieces. Hayden began to share his knowledge of all the wonders of the world and outer space. Bailey was the cutest 'horsey' with pink fingernails and purple toe nails. It was a good dinner together. We learned this time that Hayden and Bailey like Chalupas. Then the Marx van headed to LaGrange and I headed back to Frankfort.

I attended the Frankfort Ward Relief Society's Christmas in July meeting. It was truly a wonderful evening with these ladies. We made jars of cookie mix and we made rice warmers for our hands. Both very easy projects and lots of fun. I met several ladies I did not know and had great conversations with them. I was able to visit with some ladies I do know and catch up. I got some great ideas for fun and unique places to eat when we go to St. Louis. The visit was finished with refreshments of watermelon balls & grapes, dinner rolls, and a homemade lemon sherbet that was soooooo good. I just want to thank Frankfort Ward for inviting me. It was a delightful time.

Then it was back to Sadieville with a stop at Wendy's for a Frosty for the Big Guy.

The Joy of Seeing & The Silliness of Not Paying Attention...

Wednesday we were able to pick up Katelyn's new glasses. We stopped on the way to the nursing home to have them fitted. It only took a few minutes and we were headed out to the car to get to the nursing home.

When Katelyn got in the sun the lens darkened into sunglasses. She was sooooo excited.

It was fun to watch her enjoy this newfound treasure in her life.

Then it was off to Sonic to get a quick bite before zooming to the nursing home to sing with Papa. We each were going to have a corndog and something to drink. Katelyn had not had lunch after work and before leaving to get her glasses.

There was a bit of a line at the Sonic drive-thru but it moves fairly quickly. So I got in that drive-thru line and we waited our turn. We were chatting away and I just followed the cars in front of me. Katelyn looked at me and said something like, "Gramma, you missed the speaker!"  Sure enough, I drove right past the speaker.  The guy on the speaker said his usual promotional spill and waited for my order. I hollered (sounds more Southern!) back from my driver's side car window, "I drove past your speaker. Can you hear me?" "Yes" he responded. Then I hollered back our order, he gave me a total, and Katelyn and I laughed as I pulled forward one more notch in the line in my car.

As we looked for the correct change to pay for our order, we were both laughing at the silliness of this. Katelyn assured me I was a whacky Gramma and she enjoyed spending time with me. Then she said, "Is this one of those 'kept this and pondered it in her heart' moments?" (This alludes to another of my favorite scriptures where Mary, the mother of Jesus, thinks this in the scriptures. I've said it to Katelyn several times this summer.) I just looked at her and said, "Nope, this is so funny it is 'blog worthy'."

Then we hurried off to the nursing home eating our corn dogs and enjoying our drinks on a very hot afternoon.

Katelyn and I sang with Papa and Katelyn played her violin while Papa played the guitar.

 

It was great fun for Papa, the residents were happy (they love our family moments) and we enjoyed ourselves. It was a good afternoon!

The Joy of Reading...

Yesterday I picked Katelyn up from work about 1pm and we headed home. We dined on frozen Taquitos. We did cook them first. I told Katelyn I really wanted to clean some in the house in the afternoon, do some more in our reading, keep my laundry going, prepare dinner and be ready for my Bridge Call Training at 7pm. I told her she could pick the order. Katelyn opted for lunch, cleaning, then reading. She didn't want to have to rush through reading to get to cleaning so she felt cleaning should be done and out of the way so we could read at our leisure.

Plan in place...action!!  Katelyn cleaned the upstairs guest bathroom and her bedroom. I cleaned the downstairs bathroom and the family room. During this time I kept moving my laundry from washer to dryer. During this time Katelyn listened to Pandora and a TV show she missed in the evening. I just love this computer technology.

I must confess when I finished my basement cleaning I also sat down and played through my two new songs on the piano. I get a little better each time I go through them. And I truly enjoy the music to 'Hallelujah' and 'You Raise Me Up'.

Katelyn and I met in the living room to begin our reading in our Book of Mormon. We are in Mosiah and our goal yesterday was to read Chapters 2-6. These are King Benjamin's address. They are full of lots of what I call 'plain doctrine'.

My favorite scripture is tucked in those chapters. It is Mosiah 3:19 and reads, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and  becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

I love this verse because, to me anyway, it condenses down what this earth life portion of our journey is all about. Bringing that 'natural man' or our earthly bodies (created by our parents) into sync with the 'saint' or our spiritual bodies (created by our Heavenly Father). To try and become more like our Heavenly Father and prepare ourselves to return to Him some day. It is just life in a nutshell and I love that verse tremendously.

Katelyn and I read about 2 chapters and then Claude returned home for the evening. Katelyn and I moved to the breakfast table and started preparing dinner together. While it cooked we would read another chapter and then get up and stir the squash cooking in the skillet. Eventually Claude came in and took over the cooking chores so Katelyn and I could read. Thanks Big Guy!!

I really wanted this blog entry to help me remember what a joy it is to read scriptures with a young person.

Katelyn just kept saying, "I love this book (Mosiah)!" She found several verses or bits of verses that we paused for her to underline or make a note about.

We chuckled at Mosiah 4:14 where it states parents are not to let their children go hungry or naked. Then it says they are not to let them transgress the laws of God. We aren't supposed to let them fight and quarrel with one another or they will be serving the master of sin who is the devil. Now, Katelyn has younger siblings and there are the occasional quarrels. We did get a giggle out of no quarrels or fighting but she really understood why that is not good and why we should not do it.

She also loved verse 24 in chapter 14 where it speaks of retaining a remission of your sins only if you care for those less fortunate than yourself. Verse 24 specifically speaks of those who have nothing to give to others. It states that those who say, "I give not because I have not but if I had I would give" the Lord understands their situation and accepts that desire to give. This really touched Katelyn and she underlined it.

We talked about it 'not being requisite (necessary) to run faster than we have strength...BUT... we must be diligent and do things in order. Katelyn felt I really needed this scripture. Hmmmmm.....

Portions of the time she was reading she read using 'me' and 'I' as though it were she that was recording her sermon. I told her it was a good section to read as a person investigating the Church as she is. The people King Benjamin taught were being converted and experiencing a 'change of heart' in their lives. Katelyn was also taught by the missionaries that it helps to make the scriptures your own if you put your name in place of the person in the story and liken the scriptures to yourself. I was amused and pleased when she just thought to do that on portions of our reading.

In chapter 5 of Mosiah, the last verse, verse 15, states, "I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his,..." Katelyn was reading out loud and she paused and went, "Ohhhhh, I want to be sealed His!!"  I love that she speaks out and says what is in her heart and thoughts at those moments. It lets me know she is not reading for speed but she is trying to understand what is recorded in the scriptures and she is personalizing it.

King Benjamin dies in chapter 6. Poor Katelyn hates when the prophets die. She really does not enjoy those parts. I've tried to tell her that when their words just before their death are recorded, as King Benjamin, Nephi and Jacob's were, she should pay special attention. These are precious truths they wanted and felt impressed to share with their family, friends and those they were the leaders of before they wouldn't be there to counsel them anymore. They are always full of good doctrine and truths we need to understand and live by.  Katelyn mourned in her own verbal way at the loss of King Benjamin, whose words she loved reading.

There were many more moments shared while reading those few chapters but these suffice for this record. I just want to remember the joy of reading the Book of Mormon again, out loud, with a child I love. I had the privilege of doing this with Jake before his mission many years ago. We read the New Testament together. I remember laughter at interesting words or phrases. I remember strong feelings of the Spirit as we read those tender passages in the New Testament.

This morning, I just wanted to be sure I had in this journal of my journey the joy I felt to read again (through a young person's eyes) my scriptures and reaffirm my testimony of these great truths. I love my scriptures. I call them my 'textbook for life'. I'm grateful that Katelyn is here this summer and sharing this time with me reading the Book of Mormon.

Though a Child's Eyes...

Katelyn and I went in to Church early this morning with Claude. We had a pleasant time reading in our Book of Mormon while Claude was in early meetings. We finished with Katelyn reading her Sunday School lesson and me reading some more in my Old Testament. It was just pleasant to be there and enjoy the quiet in the chapel.

As it neared time for sacrament meeting to begin, a family in our ward with 3 little kids and a baby came in and sat on the pew in front of us. Claude came in from his meeting and sat beside me. Then Papa came in and sat next to Katelyn.

I was reading in Hosea and came to a verse that used the phrase 'ancient ones'. It had a footnote so I checked that out and it defined 'ancient ones' as 'elders'. I thought that was of note since Papa just sat with us. So I nudged Katelyn and had her read the verse. Then I said, "That is Papa." She grinned and then had to tell Papa. He got a chuckle out of it.

Then the father of the little family in front of us turned to Papa and said, "Our son just looked at you (Papa) and said, 'Look Daddy, one of the Prophets is sitting behind us!!'"

Papa is definitedly one of the 'ancient ones' (elders) and, to a little child, the oldest man in our ward looks like a prophet. It was a cute start to our morning.

The Generation Gap...

Last night was the Sadieville MusicFest for July. We cooked up 5 pounds of sloppy joes and brought burger buns for part of the meal. We planted our directional signs made in June in the ground about 4:30pm and headed to Sadieville to help with the final preps for the evening.

Merle was setting up his karaoke machine in the Warring Pavilion. We headed into City Hall to set up the food concession. It was very hot and humid last night. Lots of bottles of water were sold.

As the food concession slowed down a bit, Katelyn and I decided to go and check out the karaoke notebook. Merle has 2 binders (each binder had the same list of songs in it) with all the songs he has on his karaoke machine. You just pick the song you know and give him the name and file number to him on little pieces of paper. He puts you in the queue and you wait your turn to sing.

Katelyn and I literally went through the entire binder and came up with two, count 'em, t-w-o songs that we both felt confident enough to sing together. We settled on 'The Sunny Side of Life'. Katelyn filled out our piece of paper and took it to the sweet-young-girl-that-looks-like-Shannon and asked her to play the one of the two arrangements they had that was the lowest. I sing a low alto or tenor. Katelyn sings soprano most of the time. We had our place in the queue. Then we waited.

When it was our turn, we had fun and the audience sang along with us. We felt good about our turn and then headed back to City Hall to help with the food service.

Later Katelyn came running in and said they had us up to sing again!!!  We headed back up to Warring Pavilion. Katelyn wrote down the only other song we both knew, 'I'll Fly Away', and hand it to the sweet-young-girl-that-looks-like-Shannon.  Claude followed us up this time and we invited him to sing with us. Both of these songs are sung in the movie 'O Brother Where Art Thou'. Claude said he would sing with us.

When it came our turn we headed to the microphones. Merle offered us a third microphone and we decline. Claude and Katelyn used one and I used the other. We sang a rousing rendition of 'I'll Fly Away'. Claude boomed out on the bass. Katelyn sang lead. I sang alto on one verse and then lead on all the others. It was great fun. The audience really liked it.

I did learn from this experience.

First)  This was our first time to actually sing karaoke at the MusicFest. We thought about it and never acted on the thought. My biggest concern is always the key. My voice just doesn't do the high notes and sometimes singing an octive lower is okay and sometimes...not so much. This is a very forgiving audience. Everyone is there to have fun and no one is very judgmental about ability.

Second)  There is a HUGE generation gap between what Katelyn and I know when it comes to music. This is evidenced by the fact she just turned 18 and I'm about to turn 60. The other is the musical home environment in which we both grew up. My father limited our music to country western, Mormon Tabernacle Choir and classical music. As a teen I was able to sneak in some of the rock music of the day but was never able to immerse myself in it as other teens did. Katelyn grew up in a home with all Christian music. So it falls that most of our lapover in vocal music falls in the sacred music vein. Now we have shared enjoyment of some of the music from plays (Phantom of the Opera and Les Miz). We also share are love of the music of ABBA and the Eagles. So there are a few other things but mostly there is a huge gap in what we are comfortable singing together in public.

Katelyn and I went in one day this week after her work (I think it was Thursday - they all run together) and, after cutting Mimi's hair, took Papa to Dairy Queen for lunch. Then we went to Papa's apartment and picked out songs to sing at the nursing home this coming Wednesday. As we flipped through the various notebooks Papa has of words to the music he knows, we again had a hard time finding a few songs all three of us already knew and could perform together. That generation spread went another 20 years. But we found enough and had a good time practicing. Katelyn's voice was going after singing that long.

Music is a wonderful thing. I got Katelyn the big note book of the music to the play 'Wicked' for her birthday. It came this week. She had not seen the play but loves the song 'Defying Gravity' from this play. At the same time, I purchased for myself two pieces of sheet music. I haven't done that just for the enjoyment of a piece of music in a long time. No sheet music stores to go and browse in Georgetown. But I found the music to 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen and the music to 'You Raise Me Up' as sung by Josh Groban. I'll end up singing them an octave lower. But they are beautiful pieces of music.

Papa is planning on coming out today for a bit to go through the music for Wednesday again. He also will have to tighten the strings and tune the violin that Katelyn may play on Wednesday. Katelyn put the strings on but needs Papa's help with tightening and tuning.

So music has been a theme for our week. There may be a generation gap but there is no gap in our shared love of music in this family. Even at our presidency meeting this last Wednesday evening, Jessie Carter sat with her headphones in her ears listening to an MP3 recording of Papa singing and playing the guitar. Amazing...it just touches our lives in a very positive way.

I think I'll turn on that Pandora website Andie clued me into and enjoy some music while I work in my sewing room today. Not a bad idea!! Thanks Andie!

18 Years and Fishin'...

Today is Miss Katelyn's 18th birthday.  A momentous occasion.

Vernon Morris bought her a cake and ice cream and asked a few of us to come and wish her a surprise happy birthday wish at the office today. I purchased paper goods and balloons. Katelyn was surprised and enjoyed the recognition. Thank you Vernon for thinking of our girl.

This afternoon I had a doctor check-up. Claude drove us all in to Lexington and left me to see my doctor. He took Katelyn to Old Navy to check on clothes. They hit a big sale and Katelyn purchased yoga pants for a class she is taking this semester at college. She also picked up some tops and a hoodie zip-up sweatshirt. Everything was on a good sale. Claude felt so good about it he even purchased me a hoodie zip-up sweatshirt.

When I finished at the doctor, I called Claude and he and Katelyn came and picked me up. Then we headed directly to Red Lobster. This was Katelyn's choice for her birthday dinner. It was a good choice.

We started our celebration with a nacho appetizer that had seafood in it. It was delicious. The rolls or biscuits or whatever they are called were soooooo yummy.

Then we all got our entrees. Katelyn wanted to try lobster and crab legs. We assured her whatever she wanted was okay for her special day. She found the perfect combination plate and order that. She had breaded shrimp, shrimp in a butter/garlic sauce, crab legs and a lobster tail.

Katelyn is a methodical eater. She eyed that platter for a long time before she began the eating process. Mind you this was on HUGE platter. Katelyn carefully ate the shrimp in butter/garlic sauce first. She tried the breaded shrimp but was not really fond of it. I shared one of my grilled shrimp and she gave me her last butter/garlic shrimp. Then Katelyn ate her lobster tail. She was really happy with her meal so far but was really very full at this point.

Then she tried to figure out how to eat that lobster. We pointed out the little fork and the cracking implement to help get the meat out of the legs. She picked up one of the legs and had a great surprised look when she found pinchers on the end of the claw.

She was working diligently with the cracker implement and the little fork when our server came to the table. I asked him if he hand any advice for a novice crab eater. He told Katelyn she didn't have to use the cracking implement. He showed her with a crab leg she had already eaten how to hold it and snap it in to by breaking it with her hands. Katelyn gave this a try. She completely broke it in half instead of just breaking it part way so the meat would slide out of the leg. We assured her she had more opportunities to try with the other crab legs still on her plate. She had great fun trying this technique over and over. I happened to look up at one point and she had the crab in her teeth trying to break it with them. I had to laugh out loud. I told her it made me want to come home and see Splash and watch Darryl Hannah eat seafood without taking it out of the shell.

Katelyn totally enjoyed her birthday dinner. We tried to save a bit of our tummy for a trip to Dairy Queen for ice cream. We ordered small cones and/or Blizzards. They made medium size instead. After ice cream we all rolled out to the car and climbed in for the ride home, very full, very, very, full.

Happy 18th Birthday Katelyn!!

That's Just Not Right...

Sunday I went to Winchester, Kentucky to visit with their Relief Society.  Laura (my counselor) rode with me. We had a wonderful visit, the meetings were all really good, and we were ready to head home feeling really good about our morning.

I unlocked my car with the key ring. Laura opened her door. I went around to the driver's side door and when I opened it with the handle, voila, this is what happened. Mind you, I have enough arthritis issues at this point in my life to have difficulty opening jars. How in the world I ever had enough strength to rip out the handle from the door I'll never, ever, ever, ever know.

I stood there for a second trying to let it register in my head that my door handle was 'not right' in some odd way. I looked to be sure I had not turned into the 'Incredible Hulkette'. No, I wasn't green!! However, there was clearly something not right in what I was looking at.

Then things began to flow through my stunned brain..."I'm in Winchester, Kentucky. What if I can't keep my door closed? What if I close it and can't get it open? I'm planning on a stop at Papa's and one to see Mimi on the way home. How difficult is working with a broken door going to be as I try to accomplish these goals on my way home? Etc., etc., etc.

Laura came around and confirmed the door handle was definitely not right. She is sooooo good to have around. With her confirmation I was beginning to feel like I was out of this 'Twilight Zone' episode.

I went around to the passenger door and had Laura close the driver door. I pushed on it from the inside of the car and it didn't open. I pressed on the lock for the driver's door and it seemed to hold correctly. Then I opened the driver's door a bit so it wasn't closed completely and I got out of the car and went around to the driver's side. Laura climbed in the passenger side, I climbed into the driver's seat, shut my door and locked it. Then we headed out of the parking lot.

Laura suggested Claude might open the back of the door and find a screw that came loose and reconnect it.

I finally got home close to 7pm. I was really late because I spent my afternoon at Papa's cleaning a virus software off his computer that was really a virus itself. I told Claude he should come and check out my car door. He did. He managed to get the handle back into it's slot. He said I should call the dealer and get an appointment to get it fixed.

This morning I did that and Kim had me come in this afternoon to get the new handle fixed. The old one was really kaput!!

Frank Shoop is a car dealer that has always treated me well. I really appreciate them. They are careful with my dollar and honest in their work.  Now my car has a working handle and I'm very happy and feel much more safe driving down the road. I'm still a little tentative when I pull on any of the door handles. That may take a little while to work through.

Just Horsen' Around Today...

Today Claude, Katelyn and I all had a day when we could do something together. We tossed out all kinds of ideas for a possible day trip. Then we settled on one...a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park.

We had all been before. Claude and I have been several times. Katelyn was there once when we had a Christensen Family Reunion here. She missed a lot and wanted to see it again. She also knew she could ride horses at the Horse Park.

We started our visit by hurrying to the Parade of Breeds. Usually this begins with a horse and rider carrying the Stars & Stripes into the arena for the National Anthem. Today a horse road around while they played "My Old Kentucky Home" (Kentucky's state song).

Next they usually have riders in costumes ride into the arena one at a time on a horse that their costume represents. They parade their horse around the arena while the narrator tells about the history and linage of that breed of horse. They end the show by having all 6 riders come back in at once and form a line of 6 different breeds of horses all together. Very impressive.

However, today they changed things up a bit. In about 2 months Lexington will host the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games. This is the first time they will ever have been held in the United States. It is a real honor and has caused a lot of heavy duty prep work to get ready for these games. These games are to the equine world as the Olympics are to the human world. A REALLY BIG DEAL!! So to prepare us for this event, the Parade of Breeds show this morning was a lesson in how they judge these horses in their disciplines.

The first horse was a Fresian. My these are gorgeous horses. They are very sturdy and large like the Clydesdale's with which we are so familiar. They are usually totally black with a long flowing tail and mane. The knights rode them many years ago.

The Fresian they showed us today was more brown in color but it was still a magnificient animal. The discipline the showed us with him was 'dressage'. My, I hope I spelled that correctly. This is almost like a dance done with rider and horse. The object is to get the horse to fluidly do all the moves it is told to do without it looking like the rider is giving any instruction. In fact, they really only use the slightest movement of their legs and maybe hand to accomplish this. They even usually wear white gloves to draw the judges eyes to the riders hands so they can track how little movement is shown. The horse has to change gaits on command by gently moving to the next gait. Katelyn took these pictures and she got this really great one.

Next we watched and Arabian go through it's paces. The discipline discussed with this horse was its stamina in those long endurance races. We were shown how they pace themselves for these really, really, really long races in the sand and hot sun. The riders wear bright clothing so they can be spotted if they get lost on the course and need to be rescued. We all wanted to come home and watch 'Hidalgo' after watching this pretty Arabian go through its paces. An item of note is the way their tail stays up in the air. This is done by some type of surgery to make the tail stay up like this. We were told this on a previous visit to the Horse Park. I alway marvel that the Arabian is a little smaller than a lot of the other breeds. I love the tail up in the air. These horses also seem to me to have a little different shape to the neck and head.

Now, I must plead a little ignorance. I do not know the breed of the next horse. I kept hearing something about Surrey but when I tried to research before doing this blog entry and I only find Surrey, England or Canada or some places in the United States named Surrey. They sell horses in each of these places. So I can't tell you the specific name for this breed. The discipline however I can remember. This horse showed the only American discipline to be used in competitions overseas. It is 'reining'. It comes of our old West heritage. The judges are watching to be sure the rider holds the reins loosely and how well the horse obeys commands given ever so gently with these reins. This was great fun to watch and the horse was perfectly beautiful in color and shape.

Next we were treated to 'something completely different' as they say on Monty Python. Often the Kentucky Horse Park is host to a visiting breed or group of horses or even a rider of a specific kind of show horse. When these guests are at the Horse Park they will sometimes perform at the Parade of Breeds. Today we happened to run into the cart and carriage driving group. Now, I'm sure that is not their real name, however it identifies what they are all about. They are from all over and they have several types of horses and they have a cart or a carriage (some are even antiques) that their animals pull them in. They dress in their finery and parade around or compete. We were treated to these carts or carriages and pulled by horses that ranged from the tiny miniatures to the standard size horse.

This was an unexpected treat and proof again that you can go to the Horse Park repeatedly and learn and experience something new each time...sort of like the Smithsonians' in Washington, DC.

They concluded their program like all other times with all those horses and riders returning to the arena. They line the fence around the arena and everyone can go and pet the horses over the fence and ask the riders questions.

The Mare & Foal show was to be next. We went to the Big Barn which the map told us was where it should be. No one was there. The horses and carriages were parked there but no Mare & Foal Show. We found a worker in the Big Barn and they told us the show was moved over to the Breed Arena. We just came from there. Before we headed back we did a photo-op with Katelyn to see how many hands tall she would be if she were a horse. Had to be done!!

Then we headed our happy bodies to a special exhibit at the Kentucky Horse Park. It is all about Arabian horses. This exhibit is located in the basement of the International Museum of the Horse and also on it's top floors. It was included in the price of the Horse Park ticket. I could have actually spent all day there. There were lots of artifacts and lots of posters with explanations of history in Arabia and Iraq areas.

I did learn something new. I thought a mule was the pairing in any combination of a horse and a donkey. I learned today that really a 'mule' is the pairing of a Jack (male donkey) and mare (female horse). Then a 'henny' is the pairing of a stallion (male horse) and a jenny (female donkey). Now, both and you, the reader, and me, the tourist, are more enlightened.

There were some absolutely beautiful originals of the Qu'ran. I read the Qu'ran last year. It was a copy Jake owns. It had the English translation but the Arabic writing was also included. I find that Arabic alphabet interesting to look at. I wonder if they see English as interesting to look at. Anyway, the books were beautifully written and were full of elegant calligraphy and drawings in bright colors. Just beautiful. You really wanted to turn the pages to see what the next page looked like but they had them in glass cases that made that very impossible.

Some of the clothing was beautifully embroidered. Some of the fabric was sheer with embroidery. They even had some of T.S. Lawrence's clothing (Lawrence of Arabia) on display. Even the horses jewelry was on display. Unbelievably elegant.

Then it was time to hoof it over to the stable for Katelyn to ride her horse. She really wanted to ride a horse while in Kentucky this time. Her ride was discounted by purchasing it with her admission ticket. She was one happy camper getting to ride her horse. Everyone under 18 must wear a helmet and everyone over 18 can wear one if they so choose. Took a bit of time to get all these riders in helmets and matched up to the appropriate sized horse.

Here is Katelyn in line to ride:

Here is Katelyn turning in her paperwork to ride:

Here is Katelyn waiting her turn to get on a horse:

Here is Katelyn on her horse waiting for the horses to line up for their ride. Her horses name is 'Flash'. This horse had only one little, tiny, eensy, bit of flash in him when he went down a hill on the trail they took. Other than that...not so much flash in 'Flash'.

This is Katelyn leaving the stables and riding on 'Eclipse' street. Now she loves the book 'Eclipse', the movie 'Eclipse' and is very much a 'Team Jacob' fan. She was very happy her ride left on 'Eclipse'.

This is Katelyn crossing the bridge to begin her ride:

This is Katelyn returning back to the stables after her ride:

This is happy Katelyn after her ride and with her Grampa:

We had just enough time to hurry back across the Horse Park to the Hall of Champions building.  This is where they have some of the prize winning horses. It's a round building and the horses that reside in the small stable by this building have been there for a while. They were champion show horses, race horses, and harness racing horses. It is nice to see them have a purpose in their waning years. We saw video clips of their races or competitions. The horses are brought out one-by-one and walked around the circle so  we can see them closely. I took pictures here but only with my cell phone. These I sent to Andie for Bailey who is going through a major horse loving phase.

We walked through the Draft Horse Barn on our way to the gift shop. Most of the horses were gone on their final rides of the day. But there were two Clydesdale horses, a matched pair, in their stalls eating. Their names...Thunder and Lightening.

It was a good day and a great way to spend it. How nice to be out and about, learning new things, and enjoying the beautiful day.

Here are a few pictures of beautiful Kentucky at the Kentucky Horse Park: