Stewy

On my 15th birthday, September 14th, 1971, Stewart went to a novelty store in Oil City, Pennsylvania and purchased  my most memorable childhood birthday present.  He had it gift wrapped by the store and I was so happy that he had thought of me.  After all,  he was my big brother and this was the first occasion that he had picked out a gift especially for me.  It wasn't a present that mom had purchased and written Stewart's name on with her disguised handwriting skill.  This was a gift that was pure fun with no practicality involved.  

The gift was  intriguing because I had never seen anything like it.  It was a money grabber piggy bank toy. (see picture below)  

When you would put a coin in the slot, the box would tremble and then a hand would sneak out and quickly snatch up the penny.  I only used pennies because I only made 50 cents an hour babysitting.   This was a great novelty gift for my teenage mind.

I saw Stew just a few weeks ago.  He was lying in his hospital bed and we were having a light conversation about old memories.  Stew was trying to be brave.  His one liners were sparse but he managed to fight the pain and enjoy a few moments with his visiting sister.  I reminded him of his great gift to me on my 15th birthday.  He had no recollection of that money grabber piggy bank toy that remains so vivid in my mind.  

The gift summons up those good old childhood memories of days long passed. The days when we played hide and seek on Columbia Street, delivering newspapers, the family dogs, the neighborhood friends, driving in the car and screaming for ice cream,eating too much candy and pop at the corner store and then paying for it when we saw Dr. Cusik, swimming each summer, street hockey, ice hockey,  firecrackers in pop bottles, the reindeer at Wentworth Park, Louisbourg and the crashing waves and the list will continue on whenever I think of Stewart and his 15th birthday present to me..  

Thank you my brother for being a part of my life.  Until we meet again.

Love Shauna

This song is in memory of you Stew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtMN3mXmvqU

Stew and Shauna (1958)

Granddaughters

Sugar and spice and everything nice.  That's what little girls are made of.  Mae and  Ayla 2011

Ahhh Weddings

The past few months I have had the opportunity to be a part of two precious unions.  The first was my son Brian to Taylor Parker.  They married in the Salt Lake LDS temple.  They were so beautiful and Tom and I welcome Taylor to our growing family.  She is sweet, kind and intelligent.
The second was my niece Malia to Brandon McArthur.  They married in the Seattle LDS temple.  They looked so happy and I was glad to be a part of the celebration.

Sue, Mae and Olivia at the piano

Sue and Olivia were showing Mae the ropes on the piano.  She loves music.

Nurses Pinning ceremony at BYU-I

 Brian and Taylor

 Lauren and Taylor

 Taylor's mom

 The two nurses

Congratulations to Taylor on graduating from nursing.  That is quite and accomplishment at 20 years of age!
She will make a great nurse and we were glad to be a  part of the happy occasion.

The Happy New Recruit

Matt the Military Man

Matt was sworn in today to the U.S. Army.  Congratulations Matt.  We are proud of you and wish you the best in your future dental schooling and career.

Our business partners/relatives/friends

It is so nice to work with the Mellors.  It has been 8 years now and we feel blessed to be able to work with such   great people.

The Jeans

Ayla Jean, Casi Jean and Shauna Jean. We had a wonderful moment in time together for the blessing of Ayla Jean. I am pretty sure I will always be calling her Ayla Jean for the rest of her life. My mother, Jean Gladys Dodson, was smiling that day, from heaven.

We enjoyed the day with Pedro's family and were treated to delicious authentic Mexican food, all prepared by his mother. Thank you Griselda!

Thank you for a memorable weekend. Grandpa's pretty sure that Ayla loves him best.

Our ship-Navigator of the Seas with Royal Caribbean

We celebrated our 35th anniversary by taking a cruise to the Caribbean this year. We had a wonderful time together and enjoyed the sun and warmth in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

This ship was huge and had an ice skating rink, rock climbing wall, miniature golf, pools, theaters, and a shopping mall in the middle. So fun.

Cruising

This is the boat that was used to ferry us over to the Grand Cayman.

Tom enjoying the view from the Windjammer restaurant. We both had plenty to eat!

Each night before we went to bed our room attendant had little towel animals in our room. This is the monkey.

Shauna at the ruins in Cozumel.

The very grand dining room that we ate at every night.

On our way to swim with the stingrays.

The view from the windjammer restaurant.

Hurray!!!!!!

We had the best Christmas gift this year. The Boise Millers are moving back to the area. I was so happy to know that we will have the gift of kids and grandkids close by. Jordan accepted a position with a company in Spokane. Tom and I are thrilled.

Blessings

It is snowing outside and Christmas carols are playing on the radio. The house is quiet. Tom is upstairs taking an afternoon nap. It gives me some time to reflect on the wonders of the season.

Today in church I heard the children sing with their angel voices. The choir sang and gave a beautiful rendition of several favorite Christmas hymns. The speakers expressed many heartfelt messages about the Savior and his birth. I was renewed and thought how lucky I was to celebrate another Christmas season.

We plan to visit friends and family over the next few weeks, take in a movie or two and give thanks for the precious life that we enjoy.

Happiness is contagious!

Today I was seated on a plane from S. Cal to home and ended up sitting next to a very happy man from the Philipines. He sat in the middle seat right next to my window seat when plenty of other seats were available. I knew he must have had a reason for snuggling up next to me.

After one hour on the plane I realized that he needed a listening ear because he talked the entire plane trip. This was a pleasure because he was full of kindness, enthusiasm, positiveness and intelligence. He had a smile that did not stop.

I was blessed by his presence and felt like spreading his cheer the rest of the day. I loved how he talked of his blessings despite losing his wife to lung cancer two years ago. He also used the word Wow quite often and gave me a friendly nudge when he did so.

Thank goodness for good people. This was a great ending to a wonderful trip to see my new granddaughter Ayla Jean. She is a beauty and is going to have a wonderful life ahead of her with such attentive parents.

I was welcomed home to a blanket of snow on the ground, fresh flowers, a clean house, my Karli and Tommy.

It's good to be home!!!

Gingersnap Recipe

Here is my favorite recipe for Ginger Snaps

1 C shortening
2/3 C molasses
1/3 C brown sugar
2 t. soda
2 t ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1 t salt
3 C flour

Add the flour slowly at the end after mixing the first ingredients. Dough should stick together and not be crumbly. You may only need 2 1/2 cups so be careful. Bake at 350 for about 9-10 minutes.

My mother made these cookies all the time and they are yummy if you like that crisp taste. I remember eating these by the handful with a tall glass of cold milk. Good memories

New Grandma

Another baby granddaughter in the Miller family just yesterday. Welcome to the world little D. Mom and Dad are doing well and we look forward to seeing our new little one very soon.

Photos from our family reunion

Came across my photos from last month and of course I had to post one of us with the grandkids. They are precious and we miss them. I have a message saved on my phone from Oster and he is singing Happy Birthday to me. It is a keeper and it brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

Cross Country

We had the pleasure of drivng with Brian to Alabama this past week. We had so much fun seeing his new location and a good part of the country. Each night we stayed in some nice Marriott hotels thanks to Smart Cookies coupons. They were so appreciated. It made travelling for 10 hours in the car very enjoyable.

We also listened to books on CD the whole way across the country. Pete Sampras and Flags of Our Fathers. They were both interesting but you have to be a tennis fan to appreciate the Pete Sampras one. I came home inspired to write my own book after listening to that. I figured that if someone could write a book entirely about a tennis career then certainly there must be an audience for a person that has had two broken knee caps. Now really, how many other people do you know that can say that.

I thought I was the only one but a young kid at the pool where I swim said that he had done the same thing while snowboarding. I guess I am not so unusual!!!

Anyway, Brian is surrounded by southern hospitality. What an experience. Plus he is engaged to a lovely girl, Taylor Parker. He met her at school this past year. Marriage scheduled for early 2011. Congrats to both of them.

We got to enjoy Nashville one night before we left for home. It is a beautiful city and we loved the White Castle hamburgers. Yummy!!

The New Digs in California

We just came home from visiting in sunny and hot California. The new condo for Casi and Pedro is in the background. The kitchen shot was when we were in the middle of cleaning and sorry for the repeat photo. Doesn't Casi look cute with her belly. Little D will be here in 8 weeks.

Very fun stay with the Diaz family and we enjoyed visiting the LA temple visitors center.

Fun Trip With Kar

Kar and I headed to Canada for the day. We had so much fun. We stopped at Wolf People and saw a couple of wolves that were in a pen in the back of the building. They looked like the big bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.

We explored Cranbrook and found a Liquidation World to do some shopping. Kar bought a few T-shirts. We bought some huckleberries in Bonners Ferry and ate dinner at the View in Cocalalla. Great restaurant. I am going to miss this girl when she goes off to school. I almost convinced her to stay home instead of go to college but that was only for about 2 seconds. She is moving on. So sad for me. Good luck Kar and have a great year in the books. Love Mom