Macaroni Salad Memories

It's funny what the simple act of making MACARONI SALAD can do. This morning I was making MACARONI SALAD for a Family Barbeque later this afternoon. I hadn't made this particular SALAD for a really long time, so maybe that's why all the MEMORIES came flooding in.

As I was standing at the counter chopping tomatoes I realized I was standing like a Stork, on one leg. Something I do quite often when I'm in the kitchen. But everytime I do, I remember a family friend from childhood. We often did things with the Parker family, and thier oldest daughter always stood like that when we were in the kitchen making food. Thinking of her brought back so many MEMORIES of spending time with the Parker family. I used to stay at their home when my mom was in the hospital, and I remember countless pool parties in their backyard with the Bleazard Family. Thinking of them brings back vivid MEMORIES of walking in their Living Room and the sound it made, I can see the shag carpet, and the big ottoman on wheels that we used to push around. And I remember the time I had a loose tooth while I was staying with them. Dr. Parker was an Oral Surgeon, so of course he wanted to pull it out! I was not very happy about that, and I cried a lot! I loved the Parker family and have many fond MEMORIES of the fun times we had together.

My earliest MEMORY of MACARONI SALAD was when I was 7 or 8 and we had a big Tucker Family Reunion. I remember standing in the kitchen helping my Aunt LeVora make MACARONI SALAD. I don't remember ever having heard of it before then. I loved MACARONI, so I was really excited to taste it, and I wasn't dissappointed, it was delicious!

My Mom always made MACARONI SALAD after that. We ate it quite often. Whenever there were leftovers, they went in a Mason Jar. There have been many times when I have gone to visit Mom and Dad, and there is a Mason Jar with MACARONI SALAD sitting in the fridge. Then I know I am home.

I used to make MACARONI SALAD all the time for my kids. They loved the olives and the little pieces of cheese. As they got older and moved out of the house, the MACARONI SALAD turned into fancier Pasta Salads that they really didn't like as much.

My daughter, Kelli, makes MACARONI SALAD quite often for her family and anytime she needs to bring a salad to some function. We have a family BBQ today for Labor Day, and I asked her what kind of salad I should bring. She said "bring my (meaning hers) MACARONI SALAD. Funny how it has now become hers. I like that though. I'm glad I have passed down a little part of our heritage through a MACARONI SALAD recipe.

Mostly, MACARONI SALAD always just reminds of me of Summer. So it is fitting that we should have MACARONI SALAD on this day that officially means Summer is over. I hope all of you have a wonderful Labor Day enjoying time with your families, making MEMORIES and food that will someday spark MEMORIES in your children and theirs.

The Beauty that's Kanab

A few weeks ago, I took a trip to KANAB, Utah to visit my parents. I drove there all by myself, and I have to admit. . . . . . I kind of liked it. I loved the weather (73 degrees, thank you very much) and the BEAUTY in Flagstaff. Ok I know this is supposed to be about the BEAUTY of KANAB, but you have to pass through Flagstaff to get there. And this probably isn't the best picture of Flagstaff but. . . . . I was driving, remember.

The thing I love about my parent's house in KANAB is that there is a view out of every window. This is the view from the Kitchen.

One morning, Dad and I went for a walk, enjoyed the scenery and the BEAUTY of the people of KANAB. I met the woman who is running for Mayor, and a vietnam vet in a wheel chair who won the St. George marathon. OK, don't laugh too hard at my skinny ankles, it's quite obvious they are hereditary.

This is the BEAUTY you see as you walk through my parents neighborhood.

A few nights after I arrived, my brother and his wife drove up from Las Vegas and brought this little cutie with them, baby Maddox, isn't he adorable?

The next night my Mom's Doctor and his wife came for dinner. I wanted to try out this recipe from my "Barefoot Contessa" cookbook, Lemon Fusili Pasta with Arugala. Amazingly enough it looked just like the picture in the cookbook, and it was delicious, even if I do say so myself. We enjoyed good food, good company, and good conversation.

On Saturday we took a stroll through downtown KANAB. It was a little toasty outside, but we managed to find some shade, which made the perfect background for this cute little family picture.

I loved spending time getting to know my new sister-in-law better.

In KANAB, there is a wonderful care center called The Beehive House where they take wonderful care of my 96 year old Grandma. It was so great to be able to go visit Grandma several times while I was there.

I love the BEAUTY of Mothers and Daughters,

and, the BEAUTY of wisdom and age. . . . . . . .

reflected in the hands of three generations.

I am so very grateful that I had the opportunity to go to KANAB for a week and spend time with my parents and their friends, where I discovered that I truly love the BEAUTY that is KANAB.

Summer Days, The River, and Somer's Day

One of our favorite things to do during the SUMMER is to go to my brother-in-laws home on the Colorado RIVER. We especially enjoy going for the 4th of July.

Johnny loves it the most. I was shocked when I realized he was old enough to ride the jet ski by himself. He was just a baby when we first started going to the RIVER.

The brothers, Frank and Steve, love to hit Golf Balls. They have a contest to see who can hit the ball the farthest and/or over to the Island.

The girls love the time we spend together in the kitchen making wonderful gourmet SUMMER meals.

Like this amazing Wedge Salad with homemade blue cheese dressing and fresh blue cheese crumbles. Yum!!

I love SUMMER nights at the RIVER, sitting outside on the dock enjoying the reflection of the moon on the RIVER.

When we are there for the 4th, the boys put on an amazing fireworks show. This year Uncle Steve bought the big mortars, just like they shoot off at the public shows. Unfortunately, the cops didn't like the show as much as we did. The boys couldn't hear or see them because of the smoke and noise, so finally the cops got on their loud speaker and told them to "put your hands in the air". This concerned us just a bit, but luckily Uncle Steve saved the day and no one was arrested.

Later that evening we noticed a huge fire. We were not the cause of this fire, by the way. Luckily the fire was on the side of the RIVER where there were no houses. The next day in church a man spoke about a time when there was a fire very close to his home. He talked about the concern he had for his home and his family as he watched the fire creep closer, however, he could watch this fire with no concern since it was on the other side of the RIVER. He knew his family and home were protected by the RIVER. He compared the RIVER to the Savior and the Gospel. If we are on the right side of the RIVER, we will have no need to fear the evils of the world. Our home and our family can be protected.

Last Monday night, Franklin had the opportunity to help his friend SOMER come to the safe side of the RIVER.

We are so excited for SOMER and hope you are enjoying your SUMMER days as much as we are.

Hope

With the economy the way it is, and with loved ones and friends suffering with illnesses and financial issues, sometimes it is hard to have HOPE.

But then along comes something so beautiful it reminds you that
"there is HOPE smiling brightly before us".





And even though things sometimes look bleak, eventually things always improve.

I am grateful for a God in Heaven who sends little reminders that we are loved and that there is always reason for HOPE, even if you live in the deserts of Arizona. And I am grateful he sent us a Prophet to teach us that we can have HOPE because "your future is as bright as your faith".

Coming out of the Closet!

Apparantly I fell asleep this morning while reading the newspaper. I was dreaming. There were visions of tupperware ladies dancing around in my head (not sure where they came from). In my dream I had let them in my house because it was so hot outside and I felt sorry for them, and now there were gaggles of them doing the "high pressure" sales thing at the behest of their leader who was also there, training them. (I know, wierd dream, my kids just roll their eyes when I start off a sentence with "you wouldn't believe what I dreamed last night"). So just as Frank walks in the door with an incredulous look on his face, wondering why all the tupperware ladies are in our house, the phone rings for real and I am dragged back into reality.

It's Frank, letting me know that he is bringing some people over in five minutes to look at the paint colors in our house. (At least he gave me some warning, right, otherwise they would have walked in to see me drooling and snoring on the couch). I am still in my pj's more or less, no makeup, bed head (and not the stylish kind) and there are dishes in the sink. At least the dishes are rinsed, but the sink is full. So I run around the house as fast as I can and pick up, make my bed, etc. While in the bedroom I hear Frank come home (I told him to come find me before he started showing them around, but apparantly he didn't hear that part).

I'm in my bathroom and decide to hide in the CLOSET.
You know. . . . . the one I cleaned out in January and was so proud of.



I figure I am safe in the CLOSET because it had not been painted since we moved in. No need to show the CLOSET, right?

I hear them come into the bedroom, and then into the bathroom. The whole time I'm thinking, "don't open the CLOSET, don't open the CLOSET". I hear them leave the bathroom, phewwww!!! I'm safe. I'll wait a few minutes till they have left the house then I can come out of the CLOSET.

Oh no, I hear Frank's voice, it's getting closer. What's he saying? "Oh yeah, let me show you the CLOSET so you can see the old paint color". Now the little voice in my head is screaming, "noooooooooooooooooooooo, don't open the CLOSET!" For two seconds I have hope that Frank will see me first and shut the CLOSET before anyone else sees me, but no. It's too late. There I am, sitting in the closet in all my unkempt glory, huddled next to my slippers and pants sheepishly saying hi to the lady who is now staring into the CLOSET as they all kind of laugh at me for hiding in the CLOSET.

The moral to the story? It's better to just come out of the CLOSET as opposed to getting caught hiding in the CLOSET. Oh well, at least those people have a great story to tell all their friends. "Remember when we went to the Painter's house to see colors and his wife was hiding in the CLOSET?"

Happy Mom's Day - Happy Birthday

Happy MOM's Day to the MOMs in my life!

To my GrandMOM who raised my MOM to be the wonderful MOM that she is, and who always had wonderful aromas coming from her kitchen and her garden.

To my MOM who is the perfect example of selflessness and enduring to the end.

To Frank's MOM for giving me my husband and for her unwavering faith and example of the power of prayer.



Happy MOM's day to my beautiful daughter Kelli who is an amazing MOM and who made me a GrandMOM.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to my darling daughter-in-law Stacie!! And even though she isn't a MOM yet, I appreciate her mothering skills when it comes to taking care of my son Geoff.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow to my brother Rod, who was born on MOM's day and whose beautiful wife Jill is celebrating MOM's day for the first time this year!

I hope all of you have a Happy MOM's day

and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I love you!

Spring Time

I knew when I started this whole blogging thing that it was going to be TIME consuming. I have all these great ideas for posts, but before I know it, all this TIME has gone by and now it's been more than two months since I posted anything.

Last TIME I posted it was still Winter TIME (technically. I think that was one of the weeks when it was really, really warm here). Then I went out of town a few times, life got crazy (as it usually does) and I kind of lost track of TIME. Then the whole Swine Flu thing came up, my grandbabies were sick with Influenza A, and I was starting to get just the tiniest bit anxious (read: trying not to freak out). Then wednesday when I left my neighborhood to run to the store for my daughter, I saw this

And it touched my heart, and reminded me that it's SPRING TIME!! A time for renewal, and new birth. There was that mama duck with her little babies following her as they crossed the street right in front of me, and suddenly things didn't seem so scary anymore. I could stop and put things in perspective, and realize that everything was going to be OK. So I picked up the groceries for Kelli and took them to her house, then showed Tyler the picture of the mama duck with her babies. It made her smile, and laugh, and that made me smile and laugh, and then everything was all right with the world, in spite of the stupid piggy flu!

And what would SPRING TIME be without pictures of cute little girls in their Easter dresses? (Even though they had pretty much had enough of Easter by the time these pictures were taken, so to see happier girls in their Easter dresses, go here).

I am grateful for SPRING, and for cute little girls in their Easter dresses. And I'm going to enjoy SPRING TIME because it will probably only be here for another week and then it will be Summer!