Kindle Matchbook Program


Did you know that for many books you bought through Amazon during the past 18 years you can get the kindle edition for less than $3.00 and some even for free? Apparently it's a new program they have started. I need to tell Dennis because he often wants to read a book I've ordered…so then he will buy it again full price for his kindle.

I don't think this program works for all books, but many are included. It's worth checking into. 
Go to Kindle Matchbook and it will actually show you which books you have personally bought that are part of this program.

The McKs on a Monday

While we were in Oregon two months ago, we stopped by at the end of one day to say goodnight
to McKay, McKenna, Grant, and Scarlett. And since it was Monday, this is what we saw.
This is what they do every Monday. This is what all my sons and their families
do nearly every Monday evening.

To me, it was like heaven on earth.




I know it sounds like McKay is saying "parents kind of dear" 
but he is meaning to say, "parents kind and dear"
just thought I'd clear that up. :)
Princess Scarlett, in case you missed it on Facebook.
I can see both McKay and McKenna in her.



What it means to a 4 year old!


I promise I didn't plan it this way, and I promise I didn't take video through the entire lesson.

My favorite part is when Jonas suddenly comes to life when he realizes some of the kids are talking about Halloween costumes…
(This shouldn't surprise me since he actually kissed the Scarecrow on the mouth a few weeks ago as I took it out of storage from the garage!)

Oh, and he really thinks that's his name.

I've got my life back!

Den got home late last night from Logan, Utah. 
What a beautiful sight he is to me!

Watch this slow mo with the grandchildren.



So happy he came home with pictures…

Jessica, Rachel, Mike, Jacob, Kris, Katelyn

I wish he would have come home with a picture of Kim and Ryan and their 3 kids, too!


Sunday dinner with the family and Kris and Mike's house


Den and Robby


Really? Rachel is shooting?

Grandpa Den is getting so thin he is 
practically disappearing amongst the grandkids.
Jessica, Jacob, Emily, Rachel, Katelyn, Robbie, and Matt

And our favorite part are the love notes Den brings back with him. 
This time it was from Rachel, (the 6 year old shooter above)
I asked Den why Rachel wrote Please and Police in those two little boxes. 
He said she had asked Jacob how to spell police and he thought she said please.
I guess the police represents who grandpa use to be.

But my favorite part is the post-it note she wrote and attached to the back of his envelope:

Rachel's just making sure her Grandpa Shelley knows he is LOVED.


Some of us were born to cut and paste.

For my third birthday my mom gave me a pencil box and school desk.
The box was filled with scissors, paste, pencils, and a ruler.
I still remember because she gave me that same gift many times over.
My Mom always knew what I wanted.

I am not a crafter, at all. But I do love to cut and paste to this day.
Funny how we are who we are.

I guess that explains why I am having so much fun with my little Smash book...take a look:
(and no, that is not me in this video.)

If you don't like the book idea you could always dance to the great music!



I fill my Smash book with home decor DIY ideas.
I'm starting another for recipes I want to try.

On another note:
Is it just me, or does my head look out of proportion to my body in that picture above? don't answer :)
I hope I've outgrown that.

This make me think of how my Dad use to say just about every time the Ed Sullivan show
was on back in the day, "His head is too big for his body."
He'd say that about Andy Williams, too.
Yet, my Mom would say no Rozier could ever find a hat big enough for his head!
She also use to say, "It takes one to know one."

Sorry to Ed and Andy. I mean no disrespect.

Not the evening we hoped for, but all is well.

It was going to be a grandgirls only night with Grandma Honey,
finally watching Anne of Green Gables!

We'd never seen it and my friend Allyson highly recommended it....
so 5 of the grandgirls and I thought we would turn the night into a movie/slumber party.

 Sort of the warm up when they all first arrived.


 When I called the pizza guy back after he was walking to his car
and asked if I could take his picture, Elora suddenly walked away saying, "Oh my gosh."
That is a sign I need to be more careful. I don't ever want to be one of these Grandmas she is embarrassed by.
Hope I'm not too late.

 Laurynn and Macie love this punch and often request it....
so even though I knew they couldn't possibly drink all this,
I went ahead and made it for them. Because that's what Grandma's do.
(and you would not believe how little was leftover)

Cami ate 2 slices of pizza (cheese-less for her and me) and 3 servings of pineapple!

 The evening was going well so far....


 Then just 5 minutes after the movie began....see Cami by the lamp looking through her magazine?
Suddenly she hit the floor with a seizure.

We waited 30 seconds (the rule) and then Elora said, "Okay, call 911."  
Elora would not leave her sister's side.
(picture taken after seizure was over)
 I wish I had a picture of the 3 firemen and 2 paramedics that filled our family room.
And the ambulance and firetruck that lit up our cul-de-sac and attracted the neighbors.
But it scared Téa and she snuggled up close to Laurynn.

Elora stayed right by Cami's side

Cami was planning to spend the night so we all missed her when she had to go home...
but we were relieved she was fine and sleeping in her parents' arms as they left.
The paramedic said after a seizure it's like running a marathon.


Elora started dishing up the cake she won at her school carnival that afternoon. 
(although her demeanor had changed by then in worry for her sister)

 Oh and the movie? We LOVED it! But we only made it through the first half
when it was about 10pm. Time to go to bed since Laurynn and Macie had a full day of service
planned for the next day with the youth of our church.
So we will have a Part 2 to our movie party another day.


After the paramedics left, I showed Erin the magazine Cami was "reading" when she suddenly 
hit the floor. That's when I looked down and noticed the page she had been on.
I thought it was fitting, the name of this article. In many ways Cami feels like a miracle to us.

The next morning Laurynn rushed over from her waffles at breakfast 
so she could hold Téa's hair back while she licked the syrup off her plate! 
All this sisterly love in our house....I tell you, it was bouncing off the walls!


Then it was off to the church so the girls could hook up with Chandler 
and get involved in a day of serving others.

Am I proud? YES I am!

Have you seen Anne of Green Gables? What did you think?
It's such a dreamy movie....takes us back to a place and time....
and so far, I find interesting the relationships developing during that time period.
Some of the adults seemed rather harsh but then underneath you can see that they do care.
Then some of the other characters, are too selfish to care.

I'm anxious to see how it all evolves and just what becomes of "Anne with an e"
Thank you Allyson!
I can tell you've started something wonderful.



This makes me angry

Remember a few posts back about my grandpa Romeo's sister,
Dollie who only weighed 1 1/2 lbs at birth and no one expected her to live?
How they put her in a shoe box and her Mom nursed her to health.
She grows up to marry what turned out to be an abusive man,
and had a little baby boy who died shortly after birth.

Then she was only 29 when she died!...and this had been a mystery to me.
I finally got her death certificate in the mail this week, and it looks suspicious, considering the times and all.

Dollie died of "psychosis with somatic disease"
Then below it says, "recent attack of pneumonia when admitted to hospital"

Den and I both shook our heads when reading her cause of death
because history has shown it was a man's world back in 1927.
According to her niece Margaret, Dollie's husband use to take delight in pinching and abusing her.
Then when poor Dollie sought help, perhaps her husband covered it all by saying Dollie was mentally ill.
In all fairness I might be wrong....

But her grave marker to me is suspicous too.

Could her family have just wanted her maiden name, Dollie Rozier, on her grave...
but then James Risso insists they put that he was her husband....like he owned her. 
Why else would it say, "Wife of James Risso" but her name is not Dollie Risso on her grave.

That's what I come up with anyway.
Dollie's been dead over 80 years, but she will always be my Great Aunt.


Dollie is sitting between my grandparents.
This picture taken in 1923, shortly after her only baby died.

Did you know that:
"All states made "wife beating" illegal by 1920. 
However, only since the 1970s has the criminal justice system begun to treat domestic violence
 as a serious crime, not as a private family matter." 

Crockpot Chicken Pasole

So easy, and so good.

15 oz can white or yellow hominy (drained)
14 oz can Rotel (I like the mild)
14 oz can Chicken Broth
10 oz can mild green enchilada sauce (I like Las Palmas)
2 yellow squash, sliced thin  (or you can substitute 2 carrots, sliced)
1 med onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t cumin
1 t oregano
3-5 chicken thighs (depending on how meaty you want this)

Put it all in 4 lb crockpot on high for 3-4 hours.
Serve with crushed tortilla chips, avocado, cheese, cilantro....whatever you want.

Note: Just before serving take the chicken out, and cut it up and put back in.
I also sauteed the squash in coconut oil and didn't add to the soup till the last 30 minutes,
so there was a bit of a fresh crunch to the soup. Not that you have to do it this way.

I took a picture but it did not do this recipe justice...so your imagination is better.

I blame my Dad for this

Ever since the big hiking adventure Logan and Amy went on....
you know, the one where they almost didn't come out alive?....
well, I think Logan has it in his blood now.

Look what he did last weekend...




This time he took one of his fellow RN co-workers.

I guess this is how guys camp? Women would stay in the same tent. But then what do I know. It's not like I'm camping every weekend. Or ever.

Looks just like a postcard.


Since when did Logan learn to fish?


I have to say he's very cute. Amy would agree.

Snow? Really....just how far up did they go? 
It's in the 80s around here.
Thank you Logan for sharing your latest adventure with me. 
I'm just glad you didn't tell me about it until after you got back.

(Amy started to, but I changed the subject. Sorry Amy. I've just barely recovered from your last trip.)




One Light Still Shines

Do you remember the horrific news story back in 2006 about the milkman
who went into an Amish school house and shot 10 little girls, killing 5 of them?
He then turned the gun on himself.

The "milkman's wife" refused all interviews and news stories.
She would allow no cameras around her 3 children and totally avoided the media.
Good for her!

Then she decided this year that she could see some good in telling her story,
so she wrote a book and it was released 10 days ago, on the 7th anniversary of the shooting.


I just finished reading it last night. It's uplifting, how the author realized she still had
the choice to believe in God, and how there could be joy after darkness.

However, I also have some issues how she told her story.
I'm certain it was very difficult to relive this through writing,
but I think in her trying so hard to focus on the good, I found some parts of her story unrealistic.

According to her book they had a nearly perfect marriage.
Her husband "the shooter" was a wonderful father, always. A very good husband too,
except she says he had become somewhat distant the years before the shooting.
She said, "Charlie had bouts of lingering sadness, but they always passed."

She claims she had no idea he was as sick as he was. I believe it's true that she may not have known,
however, I have a difficult time believing that he was such a wonderful and loving person 
to his children, and then suddenly one day he can go out, tie up 10 little girls, and shoot them. 
I can't fathom a person capable of changing that much, and that quickly.

If life worked that way, we wouldn't be able to trust anyone.

But having said that, it is a very amazing story. Not only that she could find happiness after tragedy...
It's also an incredible story of how the Amish community including the families of the 10 girls 
who were shot by her husband, rallied around her, 
prayed for her, and did acts of service for her and her family, 

I also found some interesting differences between her beliefs and mine.
She finds great comfort and knowledge through reading her Bible often, and I can relate to that.
But she makes the comment in her book that she did not appreciate the load of
"self-help-through-tragedy" books so many had given to her.
She wrote, "I was thankful for the overflow of support,
but my problems were not going to be solved by any book other than the Word of God."
I believe, and know from my own life, that often times we hear the word of God through others.
We can get answers to prayers by many, many different means.

 I admire Marie Roberts Monville.
The common thread throughout her book teaches to look for blessings in every day,
because they are surely there, even after horrible life forever changing tragedies.


Elisabeth Hasselbeck interviewing the author, Marie Roberts Monville

Did you know this?

I don't  know where I've been lately, but I just found out cursive writing is no longer
taught in elementary schools. Did you know this?? At least this is true here in our area.

And when did this all start coming down?
I need to know so I can start printing my notes and letters to people under a certain age.
I need to know what age this all started (or rather ended.)

I have the ability to change with the times. Remember how I use to double space between sentences?
I try to live by the philosophy: when I know better, I do better.
But really, is getting rid of cursive writing "doing better?"

How is this new generation suppose to sign documents?
What if they want to quickly takes notes at a class or seminar
and don't have access to a laptop or Ipad or whatever it is they use?
Printing takes so much longer because you have to lift your pen up after every letter.

And how will this generation read legal documents, like that Declaration of Independence?

Is Austin able to read the letters I've written to him while on his mission?
Hopefully the end of cursive didn't happen until after he graduated from elementary school...

I've heard it takes too long for teachers to teach cursive,
when they could be using that time for other learning.
Does this really make sense? What do you think?

What I like and don't like.

In trying to decide what color to paint our kitchen cabinets,
I've been going through decorating magazines.
Sure there are LOTS of pretty kitchens out there, and I know what I like.

I also know what I don't like.....please forgive me if you want a pink kitchen.


I really could not face this kitchen several times a day. All I see is Pepto Bismol.
The woman who owns this kitchen is probably a very nice person. Some things I just know.

Then I came across this gem:


Wouldn't this be the sweetest way to grow up.....all snuggled between siblings?
I wonder though how long it would take these little guys to make their bed each morning...
or if it would even be possible.


Then I worry about the parents raising this baby. 
Something just feels so wrong about this "nursery"
like they are 'fitting' the baby into their lives....and just barely.



Then we have something that has nothing to do with decorating, unless you're making a cake.

You get to try a little bit without disturbing the masterpiece.
Can't you just picture a little child waiting by that oven door for a nibble?

Newspapers.com

So if you are interested in learning more about your past, 
or your relatives from way back, consider going to Newspapers.com. 
Put a name in, narrow it by certain years. 
If it's a rather odd last name like Rozier you will most likely be related to most all you find.

Like one of my latest finds....my Dad back in November of 1953.....5 months before I was born.

It's just weird for me to think now....
that while my Mom was making food for this bazaar at the Presbyterian church, 
and my Dad was practicing with that auctioneer hammer, 
I was swimming around looking about like this.
I paid $39. for a year's access to Newspapers.com 
but I think they have free trials to begin, if you just want to check it out. 

If you find anything interesting, let me know.

Our tomorrow

Den and I stayed home most of today just loving every minute watching General Conference.
This is where we receive counsel and direction from our leaders that is prevalent to our lives right now.

Tomorrow we get to see more.

It's great having a laptop. I just carried conference all over the house with me today.

Even Dennis liked this one

When I ask Dennis to watch a video his first question is usually, "How long is it?"
So when I told him this one was 9 minutes, he gave me that look.
So I told him, just watch it for 30 seconds, and if you are not hooked, turn it off, it's not for you. 

Well once he got past the first 30 seconds, he sat there glued.

But there is one thing wrong with this video...the title. So just ignore the title. It's misleading.
Instead, I would call it "The sacredness of the rush hour."

I'm for anything that inspires me to aim higher and do better.






















"If we could look into each other's hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance and care."
~ Marvin J. Ashton ~

He didn't murder him after all

This poor man. 
For all those years people thought he killed his friend 
who had disappeared!

San Francisco Chronicle Nov 20, 1902

Since this man's name was Rozier, 
and since he was from San Francisco, 
we are probably related. 
But with no first name it is rather hard to figure out 
where he fits into our family tree. 

Maybe someday.

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...