AHHH - January!

January always comes as a somewhat relief, almost a respite, from the busyness of December. Our retired life comes almost to a standstill. But we had a few special moments with loved ones.

A friend, KD sister at USU, and now a shirttail relative (grandson, Josh's, wife's aunt by marriage), Dixie Conger, from up north, visited her condo in St. George. She called me to see if we could go to lunch together. She very recently lost her husband and I thought it would be nice to fix lunch and then we could chat in our home and it would be cozier (more hygge, as I learned about last summer in Scandinavia).

I had fun fixing Tom Kha Gai chicken, shrimp and mushroom Thai soup - it is one of my favorite  things to eat ever when I order it in Thai restaurants, and I have learned to make it. Dixie LOVED it, too! We also had simple little appetizers, soft cream cheese spread on crispy crackers with Trader Joe's pepper jelly.

Roger was "invited" to our lunch, too, and we had a fun, lively conversation.

Our dessert was a lemon yogurt/whipped cream/lime zest mixture over homemade coconut macaroons, topped with fresh, diced mango.

Dixie said our time together lifted her spirits immensely and I loved reconnecting with an old friend. 

And speaking of a dear, old friend, Kathy Gardner, wife of USU Balladier Don Gardner, passed away January 11 from a long illness. She has been in a memory care center in Ogden, and Roger and I visited her and Don there last fall. We brought our favorite ice cream, thinking the nurse could put it their freezer and she could have a treat later. Don said, let's dish some up and enjoy it together. So we sat around her bed for a couple of hours, eating ice cream and laughing and reminiscing. How we love these two and what a delight Kathy was! She held two bachelor degrees, a master's degree in social work and she was a licensed clinical social worker, helping so many children and adults in Florida, South Carolina, Wyoming and Utah. Her last job was working at the Adult Psychiatric Unit at McKay-Dee Hospital and she was a therapist at LDS Family Services. And this all was while raising six great kids!

One of her last requests was for the Balladiers to sing, The Sweetheart Tree, at her funeral, which we had sung at Don and Kathy's wedding reception, 56 years ago. 

Eight Balladiers were able to travel to Logan for her funeral and sing. We met at Craig Jessop's condo clubhouse before the viewing to rehearse. Craig was with us while we rehearsed, but he couldn't sing with us at the funeral because he had to travel to SLC to do a recorded interview for the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (formerly the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). He is in charge of selecting the voices from other countries to sing and perform with the choir. He was previously the choir's conductor for 10 years. 

Craig and Ken't wife, Linda, catching up.

Mark accompanied us with guitar and harmonica. It was so fun to sing together again! There were 4 other members who couldn't be there.

We gave this beautiful spray of flowers to the family.

Roger took some shots of us singing at the funeral. Don and his family were sitting right in front of us, all with big tears in their eyes.

Because Don and Kathy lived in Ogden, but she was buried in Providence, there was no church dinner after the services. The Balladier family ate at the Olive Garden and, as always, had so much fun together. I love and adore these guys!

We stayed with Rick that night, and he took his kids and married kids out to dinner to celebrate Jodie's and Sadie's birthdays at Aubergine in SLC. It was the first time we have eaten at one of these and it is health food-oriented and we loved the flavors.

Rog took some shots of cute great-grandson Caleb with his new haircut playing peek-a-boo.

Katie didn't want to let our great-granddaughter and her niece, Lydia, go!

Back home in St. George, our granddaughter, Anna, called and asked  if she and a friend could stay with us overnight so they could train in St. George for a marathon they will be running in two weeks in Scottsdale. When they arrived at the door and Anna was introducing her friend, Bren, I just stared at her and I said, I know who this is! She is my longtime hairdresser in Ogden, Jessica's, niece, and she was best friends in Rexburg with Clark Gilbert's daughter, Page. She's one of Anna's good friends and they're going to run in the marathon together. Anna is gluten-free (Celiac's Disease) and Bren is dairy-free. I had a time trying to figure out what to feed them - Anna even requires dedicated cookware because her Celiac is so severe. I figured it out and we had grilled-on-tinfoil salmon, coconut rice and haricots verts green beans.

Anna Face-Timed her dad (our son, Ryan) and mom (Emily), and they were watching Sarah at a soccer game in Mesa, so we all hooked up and chatted.

After their 20 mile run next morning, we took them to lunch at the Aubergine in St. George. It is their favorite and is now definitely on our list!

So a few connects and re-connects happened for us in January with special people in our lives!

 

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

As I look back on December and 2023, Gratitude is the biggest emotion that pops into my head. 

Blessing #1 - Having each other! At 78 and 79, we don't take good health for granted.

This is our 2023 Christmas card.

Blessing #2 - Associating with good friends! We attended some fun Christmas parties and we feel so blessed that we can live around and laugh with good neighbors!

HOA Christmas Party

Blessing #3 - We have a wonderful, loving and growing posterity! 5 children + 5 spouses, 25 grandchildren + 6 spouses and 6 great-grandchildren!

Oldest grandson, Josh, and wife, Jaylene, with new daughter, Lydia Rae, born December 5

Blessing #4 - Dearly loved extended family members! Roger's brother, Gordie, passed away when he was 30 with kidney disease, despite an attempted kidney transplant with one of Roger's kidneys. With his wife, JaNae, they had two daughters. JaNae was remarried to Mike McCormick, and his funeral was also December 5, the same day Lydia was born, in Ogden, which Roger and I attended. We dearly love JaNae!

Glynn, Chyrrl, Pam, Roger, Susie, Craig, Shellie and Scott

We took a pic with sweet JaNae, in the blue coat

At last, it is cold enough and I can wear my Norwegian sweatshirt I got this summer!

Blessing #5 - Old Friends are Gold! We drove to Logan to attend my dear Balladier friend, Craig Jessop's 200+ voice Christmas Concert with guest star, Kurt Bestor. USU Dane Graham, Executive Director of Advancement at Cain College of the Arts, offered us free tickets and we couldn't pass up the opportunity. We took grandsons, Sam and Jared and his girlfriend, McKenna, for pizza at our old college hangout, Fredrico's.

We stayed a couple of nights with Rick and Jodie, and Jaylene came home from the hospital with little Lydia just before we left to drive back home and we both got to hold her. The word Angel comes to mind!

Little Caleb has a new baby sister!

Blessing #6 - Our Membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! We love our Savior and our Heavenly Father and know that they are the source of all of our blessings.

We enjoyed our Branch Christmas Dinner. We love our friendships with so many wonderful people!

Though Roger is mostly retired, we are invited to NAI's fun Christmas party every year. We love the family who own the business, the Walters. We had a delicious dinner catered at Brio's clubhouse and then played fun word games for points to win prizes. In the drawing at the end, I won a Dyson Airstrait hair dryer.

Blessing #7 - Music! Though I have to work harder to sing (actually, I have to work harder to do everything!), I have enjoyed singing duets with Jacque Lee since she moved into our branch. In her young days, she sang back-up to Donny and Marie in their Orem Studio.

Singing, This Is The Christ, in the Relief Society Christmas lesson

Singing, Abide With Me, in Sacrament meeting

Blessing #8 - Preparing for Christmas! Though my energy diminishes a bit every year, it always gladdens my heart to put up the decorations and make goodies and prepare neighbor gifts while burning Frasier fir Christmas candles and listening to Christmas music.

Our sweet friend, Dixie Stoddard, painted the upper painting and gave it to us this year. I love its simplicity and the feeling it elicits.

I was so excited to pull out my snow globe trees and jeweled Bohemian trees from Prague. As I sit in my recliner, I almost become  mesmerized watching them and they make me feel happy and peaceful.

I think this photo of grandson Blake, taken at the Hansen Planetarium, sums up the Wonder of Christmas and all that Jesus did for us.

Such a beautiful light display that our friends, Kelly and LaVonne Pierce, share that brings Christmas spirit to the neighborhood! Though almost 90 and legally blind, Kelly, with the help of friends, puts up this magnificent display every year.

Blessing #9 - Sharing Christmas Spirit with our kids and grandkids! Though we weren't together with our kids this year, we shared our activities and our love and joy with each other. This is one instance of feeling gratitude for social media!

Mindy and Jeff hosted a dinner and get together with all of Jeff's family, including a Nativity play. Fiona is an angel, Charlie a wiseman and Addie is the narrator.

Great-grandson, Charlie, making a gingerbread house at Sydney and Jake's home in Watercolor, Florida, where all of daughter, Stacy, and family gathered for Christmas. Stacy and Tom's new vacation home was just finished in time.

Missy, Jedd and family went on a Caribbean Cruise for Christmas, so they had Christmas a little early at their house.

For Christmas Eve at Rick and Jodie's, each returned missionary brought the food of their mission. The pizza is, of course, representing NYC for Katie!

Ryan, Emily and family visited a refugee family with gifts and also visited light displays together.

Roger and I on Christmas Eve, after a lovely church service with lots of music. It was a music feast all day and evening, because we watched and listened to the entire performance of Handel's, Messiah by the Tabernacle Choir, watched It's A Wonderful Life, then listened to the music of The Forgotten Carols.

On Christmas, we had my sister, Kay,  and her husband, Ken, over for a big Christmas dinner. That falls in with Blessing #4! They were on the off year with their kids all going to their spouses' families. We had bone-in ham, ham sauce, twice-baked potato casserole, candied yams, fresh green beans with mushrooms, onion and garlic, Cole slaw and Kay brought homemade rolls, cheeseball with crackers and pecan pie. It was all yummy! We had the nicest afternoon, visiting and catching up. That evening we had calls from our kids to hear about their Christmases.

We gave our kids and grandkids a copy of our personal histories book we wrote together. We sat side by side by the computer, designing blank page after blank page, 136 pages in all. We each narrated our experiences of the years 1967 through 1985, when we moved 14 times, Roger served as a pilot in the Air Force, then began his career and we had 5 children. We integrated scanned photos throughout. We plan to do a final book of the years after. It was a great project to do together, which we began during Covid.

This falls under the Old Friends are Gold! category, Blessing #5! We ventured up north after Christmas to Roger's classmate, Jerry Moyes' annual Holiday party at his winter ski home in Deer Valley. Because we're all getting older eyes, it is now a luncheon rather than a dinner so we don't have to drive up and down the mountain in the dark. Because his classmates are all pushing 80, Roger doesn't want to miss any get togethers that we can possibly make. I love these guys, too; we have great friendships through all of those years on Jerry's houseboats at Lake Powell and his ranch in Montana.

The kids who lived in Wilson

Still a great turnout! May it continue for a long time!

So, a fond farewell to 2023! May 2024 hold beautiful blessings for you and your families!