Spring Projects

Grandpa Cannon busily stitching leather Book of Mormon covers

for his grandkids' birthdays in 2012. 

New look for our bedroom with king-size bed from Grandma Pieper's house. 

The painting over the bed was done by Marilyn some time ago for Grandma's bedroom.  I had plans to re-decorate Mom's bedroom using the colors in the painting, but couldn't convince Mom to go for it.  She liked HER room the way it was.  Soooooo . . . I get to use Marilyn's painting as inspiration for MY bedroom.  And I love the look.

The bed mattress is about 18 inches deep and the top 6" feel soft and fluffy.  It took a little getting used to, but we like it.  So comfy! 

I've done some rearranging in the other rooms to accommodate items from Mom's home.  We took the big comfy chair downstairs to the family room and put Mom's smaller recliner in our TV area along with a hassock, table, pillows and afghan.

We took our old queen bed to the basement Farm Room.

We put one of the twin beds in the Idaho Room making it feel more roomy. 

The other twin bed was moved into the Jungle Room and could be used as a couch

or extra bed as needed.

We kept the same bed in the Cowboy Room but got a new quilt for it

and used the quilt from that room in the Farm Room.

Richard and Lorie took the double bed that was in the Idaho Room for an extra bed at their place.  So the beds are made and we're all ready for a family sleep over--you're all invited any time!

I also purchased some silk flowers to make an arrangement in a vase that I brought from Mom's funeral.  The flower colors are similar to those in her casket floral arrangement.  I thought they were so beautiful and this reminds me of that special day and my Mom.  The book on the end table is one from Mom's collection--I have little touches of her all around my house--it's nice.

Conference Sunday

Grandpa and his boys are ready for General Conference

Puzzling while listening to the GA's

PETER . . . It's Your Birthday . . . SURPRISE!

We were all surprised with a snow storm just before Pete's birthday.  Ryan went out to play in the snow and created a snow man and cake for the birthday boy.  They didn't last long, but were a fun surprise!

After MY great surprise birthday party, the family decided we needed to try and surprise Pete for his 70th birthday.  When I heard him talking to Steve on the phone a few days before his birthday and saying:  "Are you coming to my SURPRISE party?"  I knew our attempts to surprise him had failed.  So he wasn't surprised that we were having a party for him--we had to let him know or he wouldn't have come--but there were still a few surprises in store for him.  He got wind that Marilyn was coming, but Debbie showing up as well was definitely a surprise!  It was pretty cool that all of his kids were there--Doug was probably hovering around close by :)

Everyone helped make the party a success:  Marilyn's painted pheasant with detachable head was a fun target for the kids and their arrows.  Chris provided the table decor with yellow and green "John Deere" balloons and a few black spots for the "cows" to wear.  Lorie created a beautiful pasture cake that also tasted delicious.  Marilyn mixed up the Lemon-O while Debbie cooked the freemartin sloppy joes and Steve filled up the cow pinata with candy for the kids.  Arlene furnished tortillas for everyone to toss towards the river.  There was a good breeze and many of the tortilla-frisbees didn't make it very far from the tosser.  Fritz was delighted as he happily retrieved all those he could sink his teeth into.  We played Jenkins and family basketball, wrote P-mails to Peter, and Blaine serenaded his dad with an original song:

Peter . . . it's your birthday.  You just hit Seven-O

Fill our glasses . . . lift them up.  Let's drink some Lemon-O!

A white dress shirt and black sweat pants, It's Sunday afternoon.

Hop on one leg, punch the air . . . dance around the room, dance around the room.

Saddle up a horse, ride the trail, check out the view

But he's "on call," hurry back to town, and soon he's cuttin' on you!

Take Grandma to Sizzler, get the Senior Discout.  There's no better date.

Drive the pickup to the Cinder Butte Feedlot, Oh life is great, Oh life is great!

Each P-Mail is like a Picasso, a masterpiece, no doubt.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa, Happy Birthday Grandpa, Let's give a shout!  Let's give a shout!

 

The partying kept up for several days while Marilyn and Debbie were in town.  It was a GREAT week!

"Crime is Rampant . . . Business is Good!"

The title of this blog was Blaine's response when I asked him some time ago how things were going with his work . . .

On Wednesday, February 8, Blaine was honored by the IPAA as 2011 Prosecutor of the Year.  Peter and I were happy to soak up some of his limelight at the opening meeting of the conference.  We were VERY PROUD!  His boss (Al Barrus, in the picture below) said some very nice things about him in presenting a plaque. 

Here is what Al Barrus wrote about Blaine--it was included in the materials handed out to those who attended the conference:

"Blaine has served as Chief Criminal Deputy for over ten years.  He has prosecuted nearly every kind of felony including first degree murder, rape, kidnapping and child sexual molestation cases.

Blaine has been very involved in training police officers on the local level and has taught classes for the Prosecutor's Association.

Blaine prepares his cases thoroughly and works hard to protect the rights of the victims.  He has tried cases against the best defense attorneys in the area and achieved justice for the victims in those cases.

On one occasion, Blaine took over a child molestation case when a neighboring jurisdiction had a conflict.  The molestation had taken place many years before and the defendant was a retired school teacher.  Blaine spent countless hours preparing the case and worked tirelessly with very distraught victims.  After a long and difficult jury trial the defendant was sentenced to a life time in prison.  This was to me an example of Blaine going way beyond his required duties to obtain justice for victims.

Blaine has tremendous respect from the judges he works with, the defense bar and law enforcement.  It has been my privilege to work with Blaine for the last ten years and I believe he is unquestionably one of the very best prosecutors in the state."  (Alfred Barrus)

The speaker at the opening meeting was woman from Indiana.  She related her personal experience of being assaulted by 3  young men years before, and particularly how the prosecuting attorney handled her case which went on for 3 years before the three received prison sentences (the same 3 had also attacked and molested 4 or 5 other young women).  She is now a victim's advocate and talked about the important role of the prosecuting attorney in helping victims receive justice.  She listed the qualities needed by a successful prosecuting attorney and it was easy for me to see why Blaine is good at his job.  It was a special experience to be there with him.

Keep up the good work, Blaine!

HAPPY NEW YEAR . . . 2012!!!

Cowboy Christmas!

Our Ward Christmas Party with the theme "Cowboy Christmas" was held in our barn on December 3.  We were hoping there would be snow so that Mark Albertson could take people on sleigh rides.  Instead, the sleigh was used for family pictures.  I think there were people sitting in the sleigh during the whole party.  The kids, especially, loved climbing up in it and pretending whatever they like to pretend.  Most of the pictures I took didn't turn out good, so you'll just have to imagine it.  Actually, it looked pretty magical! 

At the south end of the arena they put a huge circle of hay bales for people to sit on, and that area became the dance floor for the Virginia Reel and line dancing.  The YM and YW had been learning how to line dance at mutual, so they demonstrated and then lots of others joined in.  Jacqi Winston organized and called out the Virginia Reel and it was really lively and tons of fun for the dancers and the watchers.

The center part of the arena was set up with round tables covered with red and white checked tablecloths.  The centerpieces were black lanterns surrounded by evergreen branches and bunches of red berries.  The older folks mostly sat around and visited.  

At the north end they piled up some extra hay bales for the kids to climb on.  The serving tables were set up on the cement area near the tack room.  They served homemade soups and chili from crock pots, rolls, veggies, and brownies.  The food was delicious.

I decorated the tack room to look old fashioned and homey.  I also pruned lots of our spruce branches and made swags to hang on each of the big posts surrounding the arena.  I tied a bow with a red bandanna to put on them--they looked quite festive!

Before the meal was served people went on hay rides and then gathered outside around two big bonfires where they could have hot chocolate or pop popcorn.  Even though it was cold, most of the families did that.  The barn was kept toasty and warm with help from several big space heaters.  It was so warm that many were taking off their coats! 

After supper, there was a cowboy poetry reading event with anyone who wanted to getting up to read the poems they had written.  Some wrote them that night at the tables, and they were awesome.  All ages participated and it was amazing to hear the variety of talent.  Two of the high school kids sang some western songs with guitar--they were really good.  We all sang a few Christmas songs at the end, including "Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer."  Now, you probably wouldn't sing that if you had the party at the church house!  It was a very relaxed party where no one had to worry about kids running or jumping or yelling or spilling.  The Winston Family was there in large numbers to support Mike and Joan who were in charge of the party.  They are a fun bunch.  It looked like everyone was having a great time.

The Barn is the hot party place around here!  The next party is scheduled for January 7th with Pete's Posse and families. 

A Misty, Moisty Morning when foggy was the weather . . .

I loved waking up to a misty morning.  The backyard looked magical and kind of enchanted.

 Not so enchanting was the 45 caliber bullet hole in our bedroom window!

I discovered it one morning when I opened the curtains--first I saw the crack and thought a bird had hit the window.  Upon further investigation, it was obvious that it had been more than a bird!  There was a good-sized hole through two layers of glass and then through the screen.  As far as I could tell, there was no other damage--grateful for that!  I looked under and around the bed, but didn't see a bullet.  The next morning I looked around some more and found it on the floor below the west bedroom windows.  Something about seeing a bullet in my bedroom freaked me out more than the hole in the window.  I called Pete and told him that I had found the bullet and asked him to call the sheriff to come and check it out.  I was worried that someone may be shooting in our backyard!

Shortly after Pete called, two detectives from the Bingham County Sheriff's office arrived and began their investigation.  They asked me lots of questions and one took notes in his notebook; the other one photographed the bullet from different angles, the room, and the window that the bullet came through.  Then he picked up the bullet and measured it and declared it a 45 caliber from either a pistol or a rifle.  He then dropped the bullet into a plastic zip-lock baggie--ooh, it was just like in the movies!  Looking around a little more they said they believed that the bullet came from across the river and that it was mostly spent when it came through the window and was just a random stray shot.  I didn't hear anything, so I may not have been home when it happened.  Marco had washed the windows two weeks previously, so it happened sometime in that two-week period.  The curtains had been closed most of that time, so I hadn't noticed it before.  The detectives proomised to have a patrolman come by regularly and keep an eye on the hunters in the area; they were also going to notify Fish & Game.  They gave me their personal card with a direct line to Detective Marvin if I needed to call for any reason.  That makes me feel safer.  It was very exciting, but I get jumpy when I hear gun shots now.  I never have liked hearing them, and now it's worse.  I'm sure our repetitious prayers asking to be watched over and protected are answered more often than we know.  I'm very grateful.