THANKSGIVING: It lived up to it's billing.

Before I say more ~ I am sorry I took all the ham home. Cutest kids table. Sorry....the best part of the picture is missing.

The Grandchilden!
HGTV has nothing on the Papa's.

Thank you Jill and John. This was the best Thanksgiving.

Thank you for your attention to detail and class.

We loved it.

I love these people so much. I thank my Father in Heaven

for the Blessing of Family.

These girls make me look good!.....especially Lee.

Some of my favorite people.

Surrounded by Treasure.

Left to right: Paisley (3 months), Megan (7 years), Quinn (4 years)

Parker (2 years), Melanie (4 years), Michael (8 months),

Abbey (3 years), Bode (2 years)

Quinn's room....loaded with cousins!

State Championship Football Game

This was before the game started. I have seen this picture so many times.

I try to tell what the feeling is by the way they act as their names

are announced. I can't tell anything.

Isn't it interesting that the uniforms haven't changed in the 25+

years we have been watching BR football?

There's #80. Always love boys in that shirt! Pete.....Tim.....

Annoying!

BLUE RIDGE 33 ~ PAYSON 34

The most wonderful time of the year.

I took down Thanksgiving today. I don't know if I am ready.

I usually can't wait. Out with the orange and in with the

red and green. But this year ended up being a sweet

Thanksgiving season. I wonder if it had anything to do with

spending more time and energy and expressing some

of the things I am so thankful for.

I have dredded going

into the holiday season as an empty nester. But, we did good!

I am sad to put this stuff away and have to wait a whole

year to bring it out again. This is the best time of year!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas.

I took these shots of the town tree. You

know what else I did? I called the Parks and

Rec director and asked him if they could please

hang the lights different on the tree. They are

always vertical. Can we please just wrap them around

the tree like we do in our homes? Answer: "no".

The electric company sends workers over to

put on the lights and decorations and they take

time out of their day. The other reason is

the city doesn't have enough electic cords to hook

the strings of light to to wrap it around the tree.

Then the other thing was I called two days before

the tree was going up and it was "too late".

Hey, maybe next year we can run an ad in

the paper and ask for donations of extention cords.

I was nice and so was the director. I just

think that we are the Christmas town because we

get more snow, etc. So we ought to have a great

looking tree. Last year it almost blew over right

after the tree lighting and it looked like a tree

from Who-ville all season long.

I am thankful for my sisters and brothers

These are the people I grew up with.

Left to right: Me, my sister,Lynne, my brother,Jeff,

and my sister,Coleen.

My brother, Randy, who is the oldest, passed

away about 15 years ago.

Lynne is 4 years older than me, Coleen is

7 years older and Jeff is 2 years younger.

We are all 29.

I have good memories of them.

My mom told me that Jeff and I were the

best of friends until I started school.

I remember one time that I had this
pack of paper that looked like tickets. I think

my dad brought it home and gave it to me.

I had tossed it aside and Jeff found it. I

was sitting in a chair and he came up to me

and asked me if I "wanted to go to the movie"....

(ticket looking paper, remember.)

I grabbed it from him and said something

like, "it's mine". It crushed him.

I used to tell that story to my children

because to this day I feel bad about being

such a turd when he was coming to me to play.

I would tell them to be nice to each other

so they wouldn't feel bad like I do.

Lynne was my hero. She was very athletic

and ran fast. She could catch any critter....she

could out run them. She caught a chipmunk

and put it in a cage in the den. I went in the

den, saw it, and wanted to pet it. So I opened

the cage, grabbed the chipmunk (as though it

was domesticated) and it bit me, jumped to the

floor and ran out the open door.

There was immediate trouble.....I had let

Lynne's new pet go and because it had bit

me mom was worried about rabbies.

Lynne chased after the chipmunk and

mom forgot I might get rabbies. Lynne

never caught the chipmunk and I

didn't get rabbies.

Coleen always "rocked". Our home had a living room

and a family room. At the front door was a foyer into

the living room but you could see into the family room.

In the family room there was a couch and Coleen

"rocked" on the couch. She just sat down and started

rocking....back and forth. I never thought it was abnormal.

She did this all the years she lived at home so when I was

about 12 or so and started having my cool friends over

she would occasionally be home and on the couch "rocking".

Friends would ask what was she doing. I would

just say "rocking" as it was very normal to me. I have

always wondered when she stopped rocking. I never

think to ask when we are together.

Coleen, Lynne and I shared a bedroom. We always

had can-cans....puffy slips that made dresses poofy.

Sometimes at night, with the lights out, we would

throw them to each other and the static electricity

would sparkle and pop in the can-cans.

It is true that your brothers and sisters

are the friends you have for life.

Treat them that way.

There is alot of comfort in having them.

Sunday 23 November 2008

I am thankful for the Papa family today.
They have invited my whole family for
Thanksgiving Dinner.

Having put together a few Thanksgiving
myself, I know it takes alot of work
and can cost a bit, too.

It is no small thing to offer your home
and put together a large meal.

So, thank you, from David and I,
for inviting us all to your home to share
this wonderful holiday together.

I CAN'T WAIT!!

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

DANIEL CRAIG

Wednesday 19 Nov 2008 ~ Tender Mercies

I wonder about Heavenly Father sometimes. Not like I wonder

about thee and me

but I wonder sometimes how similar His thinking and behavior

(make that our best behavior) might be to ours.

For example, Sunday afternoon Lee called and we just chatted about

everything. Thanks, Lee, I do enjoy your phone calls. Anyway, she

was thinking about coming home this weekend and we talked about that.

After we hung up I was telling Dad that Lee was probably going to come

home this weekend. I got excited. That surprized me.

I have thought about feeling "excited". I don't get excited very often.

I'm happy....just not excited.

Anyway, here is my Tender Mercy that I am thankful today. It occurred to

me that Heavenly Father is excited when He knows one of us

is "coming home". Just like me ~ excited that Lee is coming home. Taking

that a step further ~ He is excited for me to come home. What does that

say he thinks of me? It is a Tender Mercy to feel that I am

loved by my Father in Heaven. Loved so that he is excited to see me.

Then one other thought ~ Lee communicated with me that she was coming.

We communicate with Heavenly Father through prayer, through obedience,

through scripture study, through service. Maybe we are really saying

"I'm coming home."

Sunday 16 November 2008 THE SABBATH

I saw this movie, The Cisco Kid, with Gene Wilder. He was a Jewish man who went west.

I think Harrison Ford might have been the actor who played the part of a hardened gunman that Wilder met up with. There is this one scene where they needed to make a get away from these men who were after them. Problem: it was the Sabbath and the Gene Wilder guy honored the Sabbath. So The Harrison Ford guy is sweating bullets waiting for the Gene Wilder guy to stop his worship so they could get on their horses and ride.



There is this scene that showed the sun starting to set over a hill and Wilder watching and watching and watching and finally as the sun completely fell from the sky he said they could go. It wasn't intended to inspire anyone, it was supposed to be humorous. It actually was, but I loved how he honored the Sabbath until it truly was over.



I am thankful to our Father in Heaven for the Sabbath. As the sun goes down here at our home I am glad that Sunday is a day of rest for us. Oh, that I honored it like the Cisco Kid.

"OUR OBSERVANCE OR NONOBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH IS AN UNERRING MEASURE OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE LORD PERSONALLY AND TOWARD

HIS SUFFERING IN GETHSEMANE, HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS, AND HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. IT IS A SIGN OF WHETHER WE ARE CHRISTIANS IN VERY DEED, OR WHETHER OUR CONVERSION IS SO

SHALLOW THAT COMMEMORATION OF THIS ATONING SACRIFICE MEANS

LITTLE OR NOTHING TO US."

Mark E. Peterson

Ensign, May 1975

That just about says it all about the Sabbath. I hope my observance tells the Savior that I am Christian in very deed. How sad if it only shows a shallow commemoration of his atoning sacrifice.

I loved Sunday when our children were at home. I have to confess my favorite part of Sunday was after church. It was the one day a week when the neighborhood children didn't come around. We were an island to ourselves. Then I loved dinner. I loved gathering around the table to a good roast and potatoes. In the evening we would watch the Disney show with a big bowl of popcorn.

I have not problem with the commandment to keep the Sabbath Day holy. I would be a mess without that renewing that comes from meeting with those of my faith and building each other up for the coming week and for renewing my commitment at the sacrament table.

Saturday 15 November 2008 ~ DOGS

STAT

I want to say that I am thankful for dogs. I love everything about dogs except owning one. I love how they are almost people. I love how they can be trained to do so many things and some of them don't even need training it is just instinctive in their little minds. I love Coda, Stat and Oscar. I love to visit them. I love dog stories. I just read the story of Cedric the farting Boxer (James Herriot Dog Stories). I hadn't read that story for several years and I am still laughing. I love to watch the Westminster Dog Show in February. I think it is

ok to be thankful for dogs even if you don't and I mean don't want to own one.

WARNING: Do not give me a dog because you think David and I are lonily. We're not!

PS If you can find a dog that doesn't slobber, poop or pee or shed then you can give us one. No exceptions.

OSCAR with

Abbey.

CODA with Megan and Melanie

Thursday 13 November 2008 ~ Grandchildren

Some of my favorite people are grandchildren! These spirits who are

still fresh from Heaven mean so much to David and I.

We all met together this past Sunday for Paisley's blessing. I was excited to see them all and see them together.

I am pleased and happy that they all come from happy homes. I am so thankful that their mothers are in the home and that their fathers are providing for their families.

These pictures are the best. Two things about them. One ~ cousins

don't need a warm up time. It is open and door, greet and go! Then

the second is they made make believe with concrete blocks! Just

went to work and knew the plan.

We see that Megan, who is seven, is the leader here. But everyone liked

being a part. I think they made a "movie theatre" out of the blocks and

then, as you see, they set up chairs

to watch the movie. Quinn (in the middle of the chairs) told me that.

The little dark haired boy is a cousin from the other side that was loving

the play. He even stood in for our family picture.


I know I have mentioned this before

but to be loved by them gives David

and I purpose. We think about these

little ones alot and keep them in our

prayers.

We thank God for Grandchilden.

Today, 12 November 2008, I am thankful for my dad.

I rode with David today to make inspections for two appraisals. We were talking about the economy and real estate in general and were thinking that some folks are having to consider other means to make a living because it is slow. {sidenote: I spoke with a realtor today who told me he has had his best year and that he and another acquaintance of ours are two of the top 10 realtors out of 935 realtors in our area. I don't know how quickly the $$$ fall after the first ten but that is alot of folks trying to make a living when nothing is selling.}

Anyway, we started talking about our journey with real estate appraising and it all led back to Dad and Beverly offering David a job all those years ago. Here we are still
able to sustain a living almost 30 years later.

We are thankful for dad.

You might be interested in knowing how he started his career in real estate appraising. When I was junior high
age my dad stopped construction and the saw mill business and began selling real estate. At some point, he became aware that the area had no real estate appraisers. I don't
know what the qualifications were but he became the area
appraiser.

This was at the same time that my parents
divorced and Dad moved to Pinetop. He still sold real estate
but did appraisals too. {Now that would be considered a
conflict of interest.} He eventually bought Pinetop Realty
and became the broker with several agents working in the office.

I worked for him in the summers. It might be interesting to
know that he paid me $3.00 an hour ~ half of which was put
in the bank to pay for my college. It was enough to cover books
and tuition. I thought $3.00 an hour was huge.

Anyway, he covered both Navajo and Apache counties. Originally,
appraisals did not require comparable properties. And, if you
needed a value.....most times you got it. That all changed and
Dad had to comform or close up shop. Jeff can better tell that
story.

Dad made alot of money with real estate sales and appraising.
Even during the 80's he made money and kept our family and
Jeff's family going.

Season of Thanksgiving

I went into a Wal-Mart the day after Halloween and was greeted by Christmas music. Now, I love Christmas music, but, come on, this is November and the month of Thanksgiving.

I think our Christmas celebrations would be more meaningful if we prefaced them with a month of gratitude to our God from whom all blessings flow.

So, I am challenging everyone who reads my blog ( and we all know that that is only my children!) to let everyone who read their blogs know that this is truly a month of giving thanks.

PS....you all know that I am so thankful for each one of you. xoxoxo

With God All Things Are Possible (Mark 10:27)

My Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, is where my Thanksgiving starts. He has made all things
possible. I can't comprehend his character and his total love for us all. I want to be worthy to be in his presence. I am thankful that he wants that, too. I can't imagine that he would desire that. He is so remarkable and perfect. My imperfections discourage me but I will keep trying because of the reunion I want with him.

IN ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS

I am so thankful that Paisley Beatrice Papa is
a healthy, chubby, alert little cherib.

I am thankful for David. I know I

can be hard to live with and he has

stuck around for 33 years! I am

grateful to have his love for me and

his companionship.

I love the Temple. All of them. I love

the Manti Temple because it was the first Temple I entered. It is where

I was married for time and all eternity to David. I am thankful for

Temple blessings and the peace I get

when I go there.

I am thankful for our family. We

were together this past weekend for

Paisley's blessing. To have everyone

of us there really made my heart full.

I love them all.

How could I not be thankful for our

grandchildren. I am thankful that they love me. It is such a good feeling

to have one of them see me and come running to make sure I know they are there. They don't know it but it makes me feel so good.

I love the mountains. This is a picture of the San Juans in Southern Colorado. My favorite mountains, of course, are the White Mountains of

Eastern Arizona. I am inspired when we are in the mountains. I am thankful to have access to these beautiful places.

I love our home. There it is in all it's 40 year old splender! When David and I married we always agreed that we would settle into one home and raise our family. This has been that home.

Season's Change.

As the middle of fall moves to cooler weather, our home is showing signs of preparation for winter......

We have our pile of wood now. It is about 7 feet high and David goes out in the late afternoon and splits some for a while. I get so much security

in that wood pile. I always have and

I am grateful to have married a man

who feels the same.

The wood against the fence is the first load. David and Jeremiah, my son in law, went out and got it and Jeremiah split it all. Thank you, Jeremiah.

First snow.

Sunday 09 November 2008. It is gone now and we are glad.

We haven't even raked our leaves.

Any volunteers?

There is something fun about the first snow. This was just 3 inches of wet stuff.

But snow draws a person into a home where there is shelter and warmth.

I feel alot different about snow as the years go on. I remember very well the first snow when I was about 6 years old. My dad took Jeff and I for a ride to Lakeside to visit some folks. The deal was, when we got there, that he was visiting and we were to wait in the car. We had a car that had a shelf behind the back seat and you could lay up there. So Jeff and I were playing around in the dark, waiting for dad, when I was laying on that shelf and saw big old snow flakes begin to fall. Jeff and I began to cheer and get so excited that snow was coming!

Now, I still love the beauty of snow and all that is tied up with memories and feelings about snow and my family. In many ways I love it as much as I did when I was a girl but it is more inconvenient now. It probably was then but inconvenience isn't in a child's lexicon.

Some of my favorite memories with my own children were snowy days that they played and played in the snow and then came in for home made bread and hot cocoa. Every now and then the snow would break branches and knock down power lines and things would go black. Out came candles and lamps and lanterns.

Michael Paul's birthday

Thirty one years ago today Michael Paul was born. That was a long time ago. Because he only stayed for four days, he is a little stranger to me. I was 24 when he was born. I didn't even take a picture of him. (still don't have my camera when important)

He was 2 pounds and 5 oz. He seemed long though. He was going to have curly blonde hair. I think he would have looked like David or David's dad. Everything was there....fingers and toes.

He was wired up....not anything like baby Paisley....but I felt like it interferred with his comfort. Some of the stuff wasn't made for a premie...it was too big. They had a pacifer in his mouth sometimes and it was nearly has big as his whole face. He tried sucking on it. I remember just wanting to nurse him......that would have been the right fit.

I never saw his eyes open. I think that is why I love to see a new born open his/her eyes.....there is so much life in eyes.

The doctor's would come into my room and give me updates. I only remember faces not so much of what was said. I look back and know that I just accepted what good or bad they would report. It was what it was. I know I thought he would make it but when the doctor came in the morning he died and told us that he had had a bad head bleed and wanted to know what we wanted to do because they would continue to try and save him but he would have been severely handicapped..in what ways they didn't know. But Michael was struggling. David and I didn't take but a minute or two to decide to let him go. We weren't with him when he died. Now I wish I had been. I was young and didn't think I was allowed, I guess.

His little grave side service was sweet. It was a beautiful fall morning and so many friends from home gathered with us. He has a little white coffin and we buried him in Peter's blessing outfit.
David's mom dressed him at the mortuary. She told me that it was a good thing for her to do and that she thought it was best that I didn't go and do it. She also said that Peter's outfit was really too big. But we wanted him in it so that didn't matter.

My visiting teachers were good. They checked on me and brought us a couple of meals. One of the sisters was this hardened Joseph City pioneer stock woman who told me that it was a blessing that I hadn't held him. At the time I remember thinking "how can you say that and say that now?", but I understand her now. Holding a baby is part of the bonding. I didn't have that so maybe it helped let him go.

I wonder about him. I know the promises that are his. He is an heir of the Celestial Kingdom. That is wonderful and hard at the same time. Just as I want to see the face of my Father in Heaven, my Savior, Jesus Christ, I want to see him, too. Even if he is my little stranger. I hope to be worthy.

I have invisioned him as the angel who protects my children and grandchildren. Thank you,
Michael Paul. And Happy Birthday.

Remembering a few birthdays

Our granddaughter Abbey turned 3 on Halloween and her parents invited us to her party on Saturday. It was a great party. I love my grandchildren and am pleased that their parents care so much about them and make their birthdays special. I started thinking about our children and parties we had for them.

PETER: 5th birthday. This was his favorite shirt. I have to say that this
was probably the best cake I ever
tried to decorate. The kids are Peter,
Ryan (cousin), Frank Girardi, (I think the girl was a neighbor named Jenny.) and Chad, (another cousin).




JILL: 6 years old. Dress up party.
I think I see Quinn in that face, Jill.
On Jill's left ~ Celeste Porter and on the right ~ Erica Ranstrom.





TIM: 5th birthday. See Tim? Everything was about the nose. If he wasn't using his sense of smell to investigate things he was giving his nose a touch and always with both hands. Left to right: Peter, Jill, Chad(cousin), Tim and Jessica (cousin).








HEIDI: hmmmm 6th-7th birthday?
Heidi's birthday's many times came
as we were on the road for a family
vacation. We are at home for this one
and this is her friend, Karli Flake. Is
there some Bodi in that face?





LEE: This was a fairy tale party when
Lee was in kindergarten or first grade. From the left: Esther Hopkin,
Hannah Brown, Alli Crimm, Kaitlyn Horne, Lee and Ashley Paxman.

First Birthdays

Peter: Joseph City. This is Kimber with Peter.
Jill: First birthday was in Pinetop. Do

we see some Quinn on that face?




Tim: Look at his eyes. This is in Pinetop also.

Heidi: Pinetop. Look at those cheeks.

Lee: Do you think she feels loved?