THIS and THAT

THIS is what we had for dinner tonight—straight from the garden. Fresh peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini stir fried with onions and garlic on top of hot brown rice. It was perfect. Hope we can keep the veggies producing a little longer.

Fresh from our garden

THAT is what I found in my rocking chair this morning. It’s the same rocking chair that I rocked all six of my own babies in, and now Afton (grandchild #18) rocks her baby doll. We decided we needed more one-on-one time with our youngest grandchildren in town, so when Lydia was just a one-year old, we started our “Tuesdays with Lydia.” (Coined the phrase from “Tuesdays with Morrie”) So naturally when Afton turned one, we started our weekly days with her. It’s heaven, a little bit of heaven on earth.

Afton rocks her baby doll

The hills are alive with color...........

I love Autumn! I used to think spring was my favorite season, but ever since moving to Tennessee many years ago, autumn (or fall) has jumped ahead in the line-up. For one thing, after 4 months of sweltering heat, it just feels extra good when the cool, crisp nights arrive. But it's really about the color. No where on earth is there more beauty than in Tennessee in the autumn. If you visit here in the autumn you might want to check out the Great Smokey Mountains. Here's a sampling of the colors in my neighborhood:

This is standing in my sideyard looking down the street.

Another view from the back yard-peering over the fence

Trees that belong to my neighbors ...........beautiful!

This is a close up of my Dogwood Tree.

Come visit us in the autumn and see the beauty for yourself. The hills are alive with color!

Sisters by birth, friends by choice

Me and my sister in our younger years growing up in Provo, Utah

My sister Kathy, the closest sibling to me in age, comes to visit me in beautiful East Tennessee every year. We usually shop, eat, walk and talk. This year, we (Kathy, me, and Russ) took in two excursions.

First: the famous “Virginia Creeper” trail through the beautiful Virginia Mountains. It was misty and a little rainy, but we didn’t mind in the least. We had the entire trail to ourselves. We peddled from the trail head at Whitetop Station to Damascus, mostly “downhill” on the 18-mile trail. The beauty of the trial cannot be described adequately. It was amazing. The only problem in the least was our sore bottoms. My daughters warned us, and we chose bikes with padded seats, but oh my, our behinds were mighty sore by the end of the trail. But we would do it all again. It was that great.

Second: we had heard of the Titanic Exhibit. There is one is Branson, Missouri and one here in our neck of the woods in Pigeon Forge. We thought it might be a nice exhibit and headed out, but we were 100 times more impressed with it than we first imagined. We spent 3 hours going through the tour. No picture-taking allowed inside, but we saw amazing things and heard amazing stories. We highly recommend it.

Then almost before my Sister’s visit began, it was over. We took Kathy up to Kentucky to spend a few days with her Louisville friends. Thanks for coming to see me, sister!

Sharlene, Kathy, Russ---we begin!

Parka is a billowing........................................................ Russ dons a rain poncho

"Oh, my sore behind!"

Sharlene and Kathy outside the Titanic Exhibit

Sisters by birth; friends by choice

1940 – The Year Greatness Began

Today, September 14, my eternal partner of 43 years turns 70. I am more in love with him today than the day we married. He’s the one I’m growing old with. He’s the one who holds my hand and says “the best is yet to be……”

I like making lists. I’m a “list” type of person. Helps keep my life ordered. So here’s a short list of some of the reasons I love this man. This I do to honor him for his 70 years well-lived.

1) He is retired from full-time employment and yet works tirelessly serving others. Some examples of his serving:

-He helps a friend remodel a 40 year old home for this friend’s son. He’s been there working about one day a week for several months now.

-He fixes screen doors, hangs pictures, builds shelves, paints (yes lots of painting), and many more “handy-man” jobs for his daughters and sons-in law that live in town. And when he goes to Utah, he does the same for his sons.

-If anyone is moving in or moving out, he is there working side-by-side the 20 and 30 year olds. He’s usually the first one there and the last one to leave

-He volunteers to help anyone who needs help, whether it is yard work, house work, building, repairing, he’s the man

-He volunteers for community service and serves on two committees for the town of Farragut

-He unloads trucks at the Bishop’s storehouse (a job for a much younger man)

-He researches and does genealogy for others, as well as his own family

2) He spends lots of time with his grandchildren---not just babysitting, but taking them to baseball games, and other fun things

3) He is honest, faithful, pure of heart, and loves his God, family, neighbors, and friends

4) He treats me like a queen and honors my womanhood

5) He has supported me in everything I’ve ever tried to do whether I was good at it or not

Oh, yes, and what I like best of all is that he is so modest and unassuming. This post will no doubt embarrass him to no end. Happy 70th birthday and may you have many, many more birthdays to celebrate the wonderful man you are. Here’s a few snapshots of this amazing man.

Six year old

High School Pictures 1955-1958


Captain of the Baseball Team



Serving a mission in Argentina 1960-1963

Love of baseball - holding Troy before playing in a baseball game - 1968

Russ Trying to grow a beard while attending Utah State - 1973

Serving as Bishop of the Oak Grove Ward in Walnut Creek, CA

Russ the Engineer with Ash and Landy 1983 - Bechtel

Towards the end of his nine years as Stake President - celebrating the church's Sesquicentennial at the World Fair Grounds - July 1997

Elder Robert D. Hales, Sharlene, Russ - day of his release from being Stake President - November, 1998

Babysitter extraordinaire - 2000 -------------------My true love - pix taken 1999

September 14, 2010

September beauties

If anyone needs peppers or tomatoes, come see us. And in another two weeks or so, we'll have our second batch of Zucchini ready. Yum! Many flower blossoms are edible too.