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Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Dinosaurs and Roses

Posted in Family, Musings, tagged , , on July 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Boy, those two things really go together well, don’t they? You should take that as a warning of the randomness of this post.

A few weeks ago, Hubby and I escaped  on vacation and so enjoyed it. You can read about the start to our fun trip here.

One of the places we stopped to visit had a prehistoric area filled with dinosaurs that actually moved and made sounds.

Hubby wasn’t going to let this big guy intimidate him at all.

I wasn’t getting that close to it. Nope, not me. I was too busy getting spit on by the nasty, sneaky little dinosaur that was hiding in the trees behind me. Other than being eaten alive or mauled to shreds, I guess you could say the experience was somewhat realistic. I noticed a few extremely frightened children who couldn’t get out of dino park fast enough.

There were honest to goodness real live animals in here, but don’t ask me what they were called. That information flew out of my head as I brushed dino spit off my shirt. And personally, they look more like dino toothpicks or appetizers than anything else

Once we were done having a great time in dino land, we ventured on down the road and came across a beautiful rose garden. I asked Hubby to take detailed notes because I want my yard to look exactly like that.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the acreage required to create a garden of this size. So I’d be happy to settle for some of the beautiful rose bushes.


And maybe a couple of these. I so want a lamppost adorned by blooming beauties.

I think I may have to find the name of this rose. I loved the deep magenta color. It was, as my young niece likes to say “gorgeous!”

This rose reminded me of a summer sunset. That could possibly be the name for all I know. Someone remind me to take photos of the name plates before I take a photo of the roses next time. Please?

After stomping through dino tracks and sniffing roses to my hearts content, my day was pretty well done.

More adventures later,

Shanna

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The Sweetest Wedding Favors

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Family, Musings, tagged , , on July 8, 2010| 6 Comments »

A few weeks ago Hubby and I escaped, ran away, packed our bags and got out of Dodge, made a mad getaway…  we went on vacation! And it was awesome.

But before our official vacation fun began, we made a detour of a few hundred miles so we could 1. spend Father’s Day with our dads and 2. attend the wedding of my cousin’s first born, dearly loved son. I’m so glad we did.

As you may or may not know, I love weddings. Absolutely, cotton-picking love weddings. I love the emotion, the joy, the laughter, the wedding songs, the beautifully-wrapped gifts and the cake, particularly if it is chocolate.

This wedding that united Chance and Veronica in wedded bliss was so much fun – and so very sweet.

Mother of the Groom, my cousin Julie, is on the right - the cute one laughing. If I had to get stiffed on all the good genes, I'm glad she's the one who got my share.

The mother of the groom, my sweet cousin Julie, was very gracious and lovely. Not that I’d expect her to be anything else. She is one of those people you’d love to hate because not only is she is perky and gorgeous, she is also hysterically funny, sweet, sincere, genuine and beautiful. Yeah, I’m not sure how we could possibly be blood relation because looking at us you’d see absolutely no family resemblance at all. I think Julie got my share of all the cute and fun genes.

The newlyweds prepare to leave the church via a buggy ride.

Anyway, the wedding was casual, relaxed and lovely. Then we all loaded up in our cars, left the church and drove out to Julie’s home. Not everyone could accommodate several hundred guests descending on their home like ants on a picnic, but Julie and her husband Wally did a swell job of making everyone feel welcome.

The first dance for Chance and Veronica.

We enjoyed a splendid feast, cheered as the newlyweds cut the cake, listened to amusing and touching toasts from the best man and maid of honor and watched the first and second dance. It was fantastic.

The groom and his mother share a dance while the bride danced with the father of the groom.

I think my favorite thing of all were these little packets of seeds that were handed out as we signed the guest book.

The front of the packet has their names and wedding date.

But the back is what made my heart melt. It says "Everytime you give these flowers a glance, please remember that Veronica loves Chance." Not only sweet, but what a clever idea!

Thanks to Julie and Wally for welcoming us to your home and being so gracious. Thanks to Chance and Veronica for allowing us to be a part of your special day,  and for the flowers that will indeed make me remember this special wedding every time I see a bloom.

Best Wishes!

Shanna

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Celebrating the 4th of July

Posted in Family, Holidays, Musings, tagged , , on July 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I was in a totally weird, nostalgic mood the other day and started to reflect on all the things that make me think of the 4th of July.

Besides the obvious like barbecues, fireworks and flying flags, there were several things that brought back fun memories.

The small town we occasionally frequented when we escaped life on the farm always “put on the dog” (as my Grandma liked to say) for the 4th of July. They didn’t get overly excited for any other holiday, but the 4th of July was when they pulled out all the stops and visitors would actually come to town.

The fun usual began on July 1 and ended the 4th of July – depending on the days of the week. But you could count on four days of excitement every summer.

There were events in the park, a rodeo every night, a suicide race that always made my mom nearly faint (and I’m sure that couldn’t be attributed to the participation of family members in said event), and a parade.

Dad's car is the turquoise one in the lead. My brother is drooling over the car behind dads.

Usually one, if not more, family members would participate in the parade. In later years, my brother and dad joined the car club and drove their old cars. Dad has a 1959 Chevy Bel Air that is his pride and joy. If there is a parade, he is in it. It is a lot of fun for us to watch and cheer him on from the sidelines.

One year my brother wanted to play old-time music from his car while driving it along the parade route, so I played “In the Good Ol’ Summertime” on the piano so many times for him to record it (remember back before you could download any song you wanted in less than 60 seconds?) that I have yet to make peace with it again.

Way back in the days when I worked for the local newspaper, I used to walk the entire parade route before it started snapping photos, then Hubby and I would camp out at the end of the parade and wait for Dad to drive by.

The rodeo was another highlight of my 4th of July memories. The first one I remember going to was when I was maybe 5 or 6. Dad took me to the local saddle shop, which also sold all sorts of wonderful western things like boots, hats and belts. That is where I first learned to appreciate the smell of leather. I remember getting a belt with a shiny silver buckle. A tiny little gold saddle was in the middle of the buckle. I loved that thing. I felt like a genuine cowgirl whenever I put it on. I also remember having a little purple suede purse and some brown cowboy boots. Boy, it was awesome!

Also during my newspaper days, I’d go to the rodeo every night and take oodles of photos. Taking the photos meant we always had great seats and were up close to the action. My mother would start gasping during the saddle bronc event and would be practically comatose by the time the bull riding ended. I don’t think she ever really enjoyed the rodeo. The rest of us were hungry for adventure and ready for excitement. The rodeo never failed to provide either. Those were some really good times.

We always had a barbecue on the 4th – either at our house or at one of my aunt’s homes. We’d all eat until we were stuffed then hurry off to the parade followed by the rodeo. There were fireworks shows to be watched after the rodeo, but we most often went home and created our own display of fireworks that mostly involved poppers, sparklers, ground flowers and bottle rockets.

The 4th of July was never complete unless we had a bunch of Idaho Spud bars, chilled in the fridge to snack on between barbecue fests. You can read about why I love these candy bars here.

What good memories do you have of the 4th of July? Family traditions?

Whatever you do to celebrate the 4th this year, be it some savvy entertaining at home or just hanging out with friends, may it be a safe, fun, and memorable celebration for you!

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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Born to be Wild

Posted in Family, Musings, tagged , , on June 24, 2010| 1 Comment »

The summer I was 11, my Dad bought me a Honda 90 bike. It was basically like a motorized bicycle. Hitting small rocks would cause it to wreck if you happened to be motating above 2.3 miles per hour.

The theory behind the purchase was that if I was on motorized wheels, I could zip around and help with errands on the farm. I was 11, after all. It was time I took on my fair share of the work.

As it turned out the motorized bicycle wasn’t good for much except being a punching block for my sister-in-law’s stupid goat. Every time I rode it past their house, the goat would shoot of nowhere, hit the bike and knock both it and me into the dust. Everyone seemed to think it was funny until the day my niece, who was 7 at the time, was riding with me and the goat knocked us down and sent her flying into the dirt. After that, the stupid goat was nowhere to be seen when I rode by.

The bike also provided some interesting entertainment when my Mom attempted to ride it. I won’t go into all the details, but I can still see her bun flying out behind her in the breeze, at least as much of a breeze that can be stirred at the high speed of 2.3 miles per hour.

As it was, Dad decided he wasn’t going to get enough work out of me with my motorized toy, so the very next summer, he traded it in on a Honda 110. Now we were talking business!

It was bright red, shiny with chrome and everything my 12-year-old heart could want. Freedom was painted all over it – and it was all mine! I loved that bike. It would go up to highway speeds, even in gravel (not that I ever attempted to do that). I rode it all over our farm and back again on a daily basis.

My Mom thought it would be fun to ride like the 90, but it had a clutch and actual gears that had to be shifted. Her one and only attempt at riding it ended with her crashing in a heap in the middle of our road just as the neighbors were driving by. I really felt bad for her. Even though I was laughing so hard at the time, I was no help at all in providing assistance. Now, you are probably thinking I was a deranged kid (and you are most likely partially correct) but had you seen the entire spectacle leading up to the crash, you’d have been laughing too, especially when I kept yelling “Grab the brake!” and “Put your feet down!”

Anyway, that bike and I were best friends every summer from the time I was 12 until I graduated from college, when in a moment of complete insanity I agreed to sell it. What was I thinking? There are times when I’d love to have that bike back again, even for an afternoon of joy riding.

As it was, I not only rode the bike to do chores, run errands, work at whatever project Dad directed, but I also rode it to my friend’s house, to our neighborhood store and it was my ticket to escape the confines of the house where Mom was determined to domesticate me. I could jump on my bike and ride off into fields, along the ditch banks or into the sagebrush, where the only sound I could hear was the song “Born to be Wild” playing in my head.

Gosh, I really miss that bike.

The bikeless joyrider

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