...mixed emotions...

...mixed emotions...

Dad

 a son's first hero - a daughter's first love3 yrs ago today - April 29, 2007

- my dad, Henry Wesley Bowman -

alias 'Grandpa Weco' - passed away...

Seems like forever ago but then again feels like yesterday...

I still miss him and yet he will always be a part of me...

he taught me, influenced me, loved me...

he left a great legacy for his 10 children

(actually 21--he treated the spouses as his own children),

47 grandchildren, and 12 (to date) great-grandchildren...

(...did I count right?)

- Mom with children & spouses -

Dad -'Grandpa Weco' is our connection to 'the colonies'...

...a place that will always be special in our hearts...

...a place that we will always refer to as 'down home'...

Here are some photos that I took at the funeral:

hat...wallet...shirt...boots - Dad's 'working entities'

- 'memory table' -

sorry this is so fuzzy...

(Does anyone have a better one??)

...some grandkids helping out...

...at the cemetery...

- Henry Wesley ('Weco') Bowman -                                                          ...loving husband, father, son & friend...

Thanks to the Dublan Ward and our extended family for their aid and support at this emotional time...much food and help with the funeral will ever be appreciated...
         Special personal thanks to Bishop 'Pancho' and Cathy Hatch for hosting my family and the many other 'things' (funeral and burial arrangements - food - soft beds - etc.)   also...thanks for being a good friend to mom over the years...good friends and family are indeed  treasures...

6-Lb. Baby Horse May Be World's Tiniest

Kevin & DaNelle have been looking for a miniature horse to 'mow' their backyard. They were concerned one might be too big to keep around the kids so when I saw this on Az Central I thought it might be just what they are looking for...I wonder if it is for sale...

notice the name of the town...coincidence???

Four-year-old Garrett Mullen hangs out with a three-day-old pinto stallion named Einstein in Barnstead, N.H.

Associated Press - Apr. 27. 2010 09:27

BARNSTEAD, N.H. - A diminutive horse born in New Hampshire could lay claim to the world record for lightweight foal.

The pinto stallion named Einstein weighed just 6 pounds and measured 14 inches tall when he was born Friday in Barnstead, N.H. Those proportions fit a human baby just about right but are downright tiny for horse, even a miniature breed like Einstein.
Dr. Rachel Wagner, Einstein's co-owner, says the Guinness Book of Records lists the smallest newborn horse as weighing in at 9 pounds.
Breeders say that unlike the current record holder, Thumbelina, Einstein shows no signs of dwarfism. He's just a tiny horse.

...time to make the donuts...

                                                                         
                                                                               Boston Creams are the best...(I love that face!)

I took a stroll down memory lane when we took a drive to get some donuts:

I recall some 37 years ago

...(oh my heck!)... as a 20 yr-old college student, moving to 'the valley' and getting a job as graveyard shift donut maker and counter girl for

(drum roll please) ...Dunkin' Donuts...

My baker, Gertie, a wild-haired and scary guy...loved to listen to 'Pink Floyd' and enjoyed sharing stories of beer and marijuana parties (remember this was the 70's)...all of this was a little shocking to a girl fresh out of the colonies and I got alot of worldly exposure in a short time...

Between the hours of 12 and 7a.m. I would frost, fill and sprinkle the donuts which were to be sold the next day... I had plenty of time to do the donuts since customers were few and far between...(mostly cops and late night employees stopping for a cup of coffee and a donut)...

Gertie was always on his best behavior when the cops came in...not quite sure why....it made me feel a little safer and I developed respect and gratitude for police officers...
(something I didn't really have in Mexico)

For the first couple of weeks I was in heaven...all the donuts I could eat and staying up all night... (two bad habits I am still trying to break...) After a couple of months I had my fill of both and luckily got an opportunity to move on to bigger and 'greener pastures'...(cashier @Thrifty Drugstore)

A few things have changed, however, and even though Dunkin' Donuts no longer sells 'buttermilk sticks' (at least in Arizona) they have added T-shirts - caps - and gift certificates...Not to mention some new menu items...

All in all...Dunkin' Donuts still makes a great donut...

(especially when eaten with goat's milk!)

...guess I should have ordered more Boston Creams...

1 comments:

1.        Cathy  Apr 28, 2010 04:57 AM

HEY!!! My first job (fresh out of the colonies!) was at Winchell's Donuts in Tucson! I used to ride my bike to work at 4:00 a.m.! And... like you, I had to make the donuts too! I remember my boss being very frustrated with me because as we filled the box of donuts we had to calculate the cost in our head! MATH... something that I am NOT good at! I'm sure there we many mistakes made but hopefully it all evened out!! I had to look for another job quickly because I was putting on a couple of lbs a week!!! Not good!

Awesome things about DaNelle...

Awesome things about DaNelle...

DaNelle is my daughter-in-law...married to Kevin (that is a pretty awesome in and of itself) ...wonderful mother to Ethan and Lydia (probably the most awesome feat)...and commander-in-chief to 2 dogs (and currently 5 newpuppies), 1 goat (which she recently helped to birth 3 kids to later be sold), and 6 baby chicks (raising to be laying hens).

She not only keeps all the animals healthy and fed, but she also makes her own bread (from wheat she freshly grinds), makes yogurt (and sometimes icecream) from goat milk (which she gets from the goat she milks twice a day), and runs a vinyl art business from the internet. She also keeps her home neat and clean and ready for visitors to drop in any time...day or night...(I know...I've tried to catch her off-guard...hee)

Now for the awesome part: DaNelle is the most open-minded and ever knowledge-seeking person that I know. She is continually looking for ways to make her family's life better and more healthy and she always makes time to put her family first...riding bikes with Lydia and Ethan to the bus stop...helping with homework...and preparing delicious and healthy meals for her family (see former post on steppin' it up). She has always made it a priority to read to the kids every day...one of their favorite family activities is to go to the library...

Today is DaNelle's birthday and I know I'm setting a precedence that will be hard to uphold on other birthday posts but I'm sorry...

it just had to be said...

Happy Birthday, DaNelle! I'm so glad you're in our family....we're proud to claim ya'...

(even if you can't decide what color to paint your house...)

LinkWithin

Steppin' it up...

DaNelle (my daughter-in-law) found this salad recipe and made it for us and it is scrumptious...

It has shredded carrots, diced apples, chopped celery, and raisins

                                                                  (oh, I forgot the pecans)

                                              with a yogurt dressing that she made from goat’s milk. 

             We ate it with our ‘infamous’ beanwiches on whole grain bread and I was in heaven…

                                                    ...how is that for a ‘healthy and delicious’ meal….???

     So now that she has inspired me to ‘prepare’ better and more nutritious food, I have decided to ‘step it up’ when it comes to 'food preparation'…I don’t call it ‘cooking’ because I don’t like to cook…I don’t call it ‘meal planning’ because I don’t like to plan meals…but I am somewhat interested in ‘food’ so I guess I need to ‘prepare’ it in order to ‘eat’ it…

*Here are more 'good ideas' DaNelle has concerning nutrition in the form of an excerpt from her post entitled "The 30-Day Smoothie Challenge"...

"...Dr. Blaylock wrote about a study they did to prove that eating highly processed foods during pregnancy is bad for the fetus. They have found that the children born seemed normal and healthy but they found that all couldn't get past high school math. They found that those that are super smart and find the subject of math easy, were raised by mothers who ate a very low amount of processed foods. It's not saying that normal people are dumb, but just that those that have been fed healthy diets have performed very well in higher math classes.

(Priscilla’s insert: “I guess that’s why my kids are so smart…and I thought it was generic...oops, I mean genetic…oh well...'pride goeth' again...")

And so begins The 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge...

This is a great thing to start right now because it's starting to get hot and nothing sounds better than a smoothie when it gets hot. My sister Tara found this great raw vegan site with this challenge. We all know the benefits of fruits and veg so I'm not gonna go over that but here is what I put in my smoothie today...

Ice, water, frozen strawberries, frozen banana, 1 whole peeled orange.
Blend.

Next I added organic spinach.

Voilà...and enough to save for later..."

(end of excerpt)
Priscilla here again:

I tried a smoothie this morning (spinach and all) and it was really quite tasty…of course I added my Reliv (miracle supplement) and poured some over my granola with walnuts (1 of 3 foods Dr. Oz would take to live on a deserted island---another one is broccoli and I can’t remember the 3rd one...I think it was bananas or something...I went on his website but couldn't find it...walnuts are supposed to be good for memory, but I just started with those so I'll let you know)…anyway back to the breakfast concoction…

....simply delish! I never felt so healthy…hee…

Keeping it real...

Keeping it real...

...at Farmer’s Market…

.…as we were walking around trying to find some great deals on fruits and veggies, Lydia (my barely 5 yr old grandaughter) noticed a small freezer that had ice cream and other frozen goodies. She wistfully looked at the various treats and I sauntered over trying to look nonchalant as I glanced over the array. I thought I was successful until Liddy looked up at me and said,
“Now you’re getting into it, grandma…”

…nothing like kids to keep you honest…

Aging vs. evolution...

Aging vs. evolution...

ag-ing .......to cause to grow older or more mature

e-vo-lu-tion ......a gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form

1953 ish - '...just budding...'

1977 - 'green fruit w/seedling...'

1982 - '...full and luscious...' (especially the beard)

2009 - '...over-ripe...???'

...aging (maturity) or evolution (better form) ...???...

You be the judge....

and the 'circle of life' continues...

2 comments:

"To Be or Not..."

No matter how hard I try, I never seem to be able to be completely 'self-reliant'...

...that point is never more apparent than when it comes to technology...cell phones...dvr's...& especially computers (adwares are from satan)...

Just when I get to thinking, "I might be able to do this...", something goes inextricably wrong and I find myself desperately looking for help to get me

out of trouble once again...

Thank goodness for sons & daughters & daughters-in-law that have the knowledge & information & willingness to 'fix' whatever I find impossible to figure out...

I guess I will never find that elusive 'independence' that so many others seem to seek...but then again,

I don't know if I really want to...after all...

isn't 'inter-dependence' more desirable???

Tacos al carbòn!

...so I went to 'El Pollo Loco' about 5 yrs ago and didn't think it was anything special...

...but since we moved out near one I decided to give it another shot and discovered a well-kept secret:

'tacos al carbòn'...yum!

They consist of grilled chicken with onions and cilantro on corn tortillas (almost as fresh as you can get down home in Mexico) and must be eaten with the 'pico de gallo' that you have to specifically ask for...delish!

I wonder if they will pay me for advertising for them

on my blog...hee...

the chocolate house...

the chocolate house...

Ok...it's not as perfect as the one in the grocery store and the reindeer look like jackrabbits

but after all, we live in the desert, don't we???

...and we had alot of fun making it...

...and eating it...

...it can't be all bad if it's chocolate!

Lydia's a big girl now...

Lydia's a big girl now...

Lydia Jo turned 5 today...Happy Birthday, Liddy!

...she is such a cute, vibrant personality and keeps us in stitches much of the time...

Last night, Ethan and Lydia were over and playing in the backyard when grandpa asked them to fill 2 buckets with some river rock that we are trying to get rid of in the yard... Liddy immediately started picking up rocks and said, "OK, Grandpa, two buckets...coming right up..." It's no wonder she has stolen both grandpa's and my hearts...

...suffice it to say that she had her day all planned...(her mom is really good about letting the kids individualize their special days)...from going to the new "How to Train your Dragon" movie with 'Aunt Angie', eating pizza, having birthday cake, and opening presents to playing 'sheepie, sheepie, go to grass'...

I'll have to steal pictures of her 'party' since we just made it on our way home from the airport and I still didn't have a camera...

Here are some other birthday highlights:

Liddy learned to ride her 2-wheeler bike on the very day she turned 5 yrs. old... (video below)


 

Lydia & Ethan love to play legos @ GramScilla's...

and right now they look thrilled...don'tcha think??

What happens in Utah...

What happens in Utah...

...stays in Utah... (or on my blog)

I am having just too much fun:

......shopping @ Home Depot...DI...Walmart...back to Home Depot...Ross...Sam's Club...Home Depot again - hey wait...we have those in Arizona...so 'TaiPan Trading' is the redeeming factor...

(somewhat like 'Kirkland Homes' but much bigger...)
......

......partying with 'the girls' @ Dayla's.....

....pigging out on good food

(don't worry... plenty of junk too)

...and playing 'True Colors' & 'Perpetual Notion'

(the latest 'nerd' game we got at DI)

Too bad I didn't get pics because the 'Wistie and Diana' team were getting pretty intense. 'Nana (my mom) & Sonya' were the ultimate 'out of the box' thinkers, though, since 'Marci was too busy playing by herself cause Shelly' was 'multi-tasking' and giving pedicures at the same time...of course 'Dayla & the mom' (me) were struggling to hold our own since we are both so non-competitive ...(hee)

...........

......watching Conference...mornings with Dayla and afternoons with my mom...got to see & hold

the new babe

(Kenny & Erica's new 1 month old)...so cute...

...proud papa...

......
......eating Easter dinner @ Marci's with great food (Marci made symbolic 'empty tomb' rolls), egg hunting & games...

(we won't mention Bob's hair or Dayla's height

-or lack thereof- again...)
......
......going to a funeral (my cousin, Claudette's husband) with my mom & sisters and seeing 'old' cousins

that I haven't seen for 40 yrs. or so...

...nothing like a bad pic for a reality check-

(speaking for myself...)

.......
......going out to eat...Macaroni Grill...Bajio...Cafe Rio...something Italian...oh ya - Gloria's Little Italy...eggplant never tasted so good...
......
......playing '10,000' with Dayla & Andrew...and more 'Perpetual Notion' (the new 'fave')...

......
......building pantry shelves...... hanging curtains........patching walls........rearranging furniture
...all fun(?) stuff...

.........
......visiting with Paul while he fixed Dayla's closet door after driving his route back from St. George at midnight...
......
......watching Dayla's swing dance routine
(I finally remembered the camera)

...that they will perform on Saturday after I leave....

...shakin' it with Grant...

...good catch!!!

.......

.....practicing with Dayla & Katrina for a clarinet duet, "The First Vision", to be performed at a Ward Musical Fireside in the Madsen Hall HFAC on Sunday after I leave....sigh...

......Navajo tacos & rootbeer floats at Shelly's...yum!...and of course 'Perpetual Notion' again!....(Kenny & Erica, Marli & her dad-Bret, Bow & his mom-Shelly, Stockton & Nana were all worthy team opponents for Jaxon & me...)...oh yeah...we put a vinyl sign for Bret's new business (insurance) on Shelly's 'now nerd mobile'...

(again...no pix)

.......

......Dayla getting a flat tire on the way home from Salt Lake...

...finding joy in the crisis...

......

......last minute painting touch-ups and more rearranging furniture...sigh...it's been a long week...

...time to go home and rest from my 'vacation'...

April Fool's!

April Fool's!

...welp... I made it until April for my next post and thought I would be reporting a beautiful spring day from Utah.....but instead I got off the plane in SLC to see Mother Nature's April Fool's Day joke to Spring....snow, snow everywhere and still coming down....

...oh ex-cu-use me....nickle-sized soft hail...

Dayla had told me about her big back yard of 'dirt' that she wanted me to help her think of a way to landscape....it looks good covered with a nice blanket of white....

there will be no planting this trip...

Dayla's backyard...it's huge...

Dayla's house is sooooo cute and I'm not April foolin'....

Check it out:
...the entry...

...the front room...

...the dining room...

...the kitchen...

...the boudoir...(sp?)