My Halloween Page

The highlight of our Halloween has been our phones. It dings and I 
feel like running to see the pictures as they come in. 

But no running today, and no seeing anyone in person since I have 
a fever.

But I've got pictures and only another Grandma would understand 
how much they mean to me!


first ones in from Vancouver, Washington...



 McKenna is scheduled for a c-section on DEC 8TH!!! 
That is my mother's BIRTHDAY!
Scarlett's costume won first place at the church party!
Grant, McKay, and Scarlett



Next these came in from just a mile away....the twins in Clovis....
Téa is looking more like her mom everyday!


And then the phone dinged again from Vancouver....
but this time it was Tyler, Rich and Leo.....
It was pouring in Vancouver!

Karen said she will send me a picture of her, and her baby-bump 
tomorrow. :) Yay! I will be waiting for the ding!





It's better than a light

One day last week was a little challenging.
I had been reading this book, so I picked it back up that day mostly as a distraction.

Instead of going to page 112 where I had left off, 
I flipped it to Pg 136 for some reason, and I saw this:

"Give me a light 
That I may tread softly and safely into the unknown
And a voice said unto him,
'Go out into the darkness
And put your hand in the hand of God,
For that to you is better than a light,
And surer than a known way."

It's by Minnie Louise Haskins, but it was quoted by President Thomas S Monson at the funeral of 
three...all from the same family. (which is the story of the book above)

Turns out that poem was exactly what I needed to read at that very moment. 
It buoyed me up and I was ready to go forward in faith. 

Some days just have challenges. 
And all is well now. 

Back to the book....it's about a family who was hit by a drunk driver on Christmas Eve, 2006.
The mom and 2 of the children are killed. It's a book filled with hope because death is not the 
end. It's never the final chapter. 

Very fun way to make Ice Cream

I had no idea ice-cream could be made so easily, with so much fun, and so little sugar. 

We (myself and 1 or 2 other women) meet with the Primary Activity Girls  (ages 8-11)
in our church, twice a month and we have the best times together.

They LOVED the 5-8 minutes of jumping around to get the ice cream solid, and it worked! 
 Dennis asked me when I got home if all the girls actually liked the ice-cream. 
I said, apparently so because they happily ate it all up with none left behind. 
And I kept hearing, "Oh this is so good!"

So here's the recipe:
Homemade Ice Cream

In a sandwich baggie, combine:
1 1/2 cups milk (whole or 2%)
2 T sugar
1 t vanilla

Then place the little baggie in a larger gallon size baggie.
Put in lots of ice and rock salt.
and shake it 5-8 minutes while dancing around the room (dancing optional) 

Enjoy immediately before it melts. 

For some reason I really liked the noise of the ice shaking around in those bags....

Really, too much rain?

Just before we were heading out this morning Den was standing in the kitchen reading the paper. 
While looking at the front page, he said mostly to himself with a negative tone, 
"Wow, southern California sure got a lot of rain yesterday."

I said right back, "And they're probably complaining about it, right?" 
(thinking some people can never be happy...)

Turning the front page around so I could see the picture he was seeing, Den then said, 
"If this happened to you, wouldn't you complain?"






Sometimes life just can't get it right.
or....I need to step inside the frame before making a judgement.


Sometimes we don't see it coming.

As I was sitting in Sunday School with Dennis 5 days ago I suddenly noticed the date on my iPad. 
I pointed to it and looked up at Dennis. 

He said, "What?....oh is this the day of the first email I sent you? Oct 11th?" 

He remembered, too.



Right before Bill died he signed us up with AOL.
I had no interest in the computer (it was 1996), but after Bill died,
my friend Wendy insisted I learn to use the internet and sat right there coaching me along,
as I was saying to her, "I have no use for this."

Yep, life got into place, awaiting his appearance.

Do you ever wonder how many things are happening to you now, to prepare you for later?

Think about it, or go back in time and notice what proceeded big events in your life.

53 seconds with Violet

Our granddaughter Violet. Just being who she is.

Sometimes analogies don't work

A few Sundays ago while teaching the 9 year olds, I was telling them the story of Feed my
Sheep. How Jesus asked his disciple Simon Peter three times if he loved him and every time
Peter said yes, Jesus asked him to Feed My Sheep
So then one of the boys in my class said he didn’t understand why Peter was asked three times!
Why was once not good enough? I said Jesus told Peter over and over to Feed his sheep
because it was so important and he wanted to make sure he would do it. 
They still looked baffled so I said, “Let’s see…..(trying to think of an analogy)…when Ruby said:
“It would be like having broken glass all over the kitchen….and …..” 
So I latched on to that, “Yes, it would be SO important that you not step on that glass that 
your mom would probably tell you several times. Your mom would tell you to be careful not 
to step on the glass and then she would tell you again if you were walking towards the 
kitchen…” 
That’s when Ruby piped up and said, “No, because by then my mother would have already 
vacuumed it up.” 
So I looked to Emma and said, “so if there were glass on your kitchen floor your mom would 
probably tell you and then warn you again, right?” And she said, “My mom only tells us 
once.”
So much for my analogy.
But I suppose if I thought more, I still could not think of an analogy, or anything that could even
begin to compare to Christ telling us to Feed his Sheep. Maybe because taking care of one
another is the best we could ever do in this world.

The sacred corner of Temperance and Butler

I received an email recently from my 90 year old Uncle. He 
was explaining to me the significance of the corner in Fresno 
of Butler/Temperance Avenues. My grandparents owned 40 
acres on that NW corner from 1938-1943. 

I became curious about the school Mom and her brothers 
walked to...just a short ways from their 40 acres where they 
lived. 

So Monday evening Dennis and I did a "drive through" ...to 
sort of get the feel of what my mom experienced everyday 
walking to school. 

Take a look what I mean....





Should you be interested....
here are the details of my Uncle's email:
Hi, Jill,
 Our 40 acres of alfalfa was at the NW corner of Temperance and Butler. Dad
bought the place in 1938 and sold it in 1943 as it became evident that Ted and I
were headed to war and he would be without help. Besides, he was in foreclosure.
Mom took a job to try to save the farm, and we would have been evicted but for
a Depression-era law that allowed farmers in default to enter bankruptcy and stay on
the land. As part of the deal, Dad and Mom were supervised by a bankruptcy referee
who oversaw their checking account. Any expenditure — even a check for $5 —
had to be approved by him. I can't recall his name but Dad called him Uncle Bulgy. 
Security First National Bank of Los Angeles held the mortgage. The nasty
letters threatening my father were always signed by a vice president named
J.A. Carter. Of course we kids turned that into Jack Ass Carter.

The farm was subdivided in the 1960s. Our two-bedroom, two-bath house
was long ago razed. The second "bath" was an outhouse we called the Hotel
Tulare because the metal door was a highway sign that advertised that hotel.
Dad paid $200 an acre, or $8,000 for the 40 acres and a house. After five years
of hard work and futility, he sold for an amount unknown to me. His down payment was
the $2,000 settlement he got from workman's compensation for the broken hip he
suffered his first day on a bridge-building project. The wonder is that there was workman's
comp at all in 1934. The other wonder was that his new job, after years of unemployment
and fruit-peddling, paid $1 an hour, or the sum of $40 a week! Far better than the $18
he got from workman's comp to support a family of five.

I was born in Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield. It's still there. Today, new mothers are
kicked out the day after birth. Then, they were confined two weeks. It was an
especially hot summer and of course there was no AC. She spoke of her discomfort
often. 

Love,
Uncle Don

Since it was difficult making out her report card on the movie, 
I put it again here:

Good thing they gave her excellent in "courteous and 
considerate" because many many years later she kept in 
touch with 3 of her teachers, 
even visiting them in care facilities. 

So I turned to my ward family....



Do you know what I thought of as I listened to Elder Larry Lawrence's talk 
at conference yesterday morning?

I thought of my sister Peggy back in 1974. Poor thing

My parents were in Colorado and I was running the show at home.
Peggy came down with a severe case of hives. She was 12, and I was 19. 

I continually kept Peggy covered with wet baking soda and then placed towels
all over her body to keep the baking soda from falling off. 

I put some blankets on the floor by my bed,
 so I could put fresh baking soda on her round the clock.
(uh, the patient should have been on the bed...sorry Peggy)

I guess it helped with the itching or I wouldn't have kept it up.
But still she was miserable.

Over a few days times she was not getting better. 
The hives kept spreading...(Was there Benadryl back then?)

I knew we needed a doctor to look at her.
but by then it was the weekend.

We recently had a young couple, Larry and Laurel Lawrence with their baby Case,
move into our ward...and I heard he was a Dr....so I called him at home.

After all, Mom had told me many times our ward was our extended family.

Didn't phase me that Larry Lawrence was an eye doctor, and just beginning his residency.
Back then, to me, a Dr was a Dr.

But nevertheless this kind man came right over. 
He checked her hives and noticed the swelling of her joints 
and then told me we really should get her to a hospital. 

So we did just that. 

The Drs were concerned at first that Peggy had this rare disease of some kind.
She didn't. So she was treated and released. 
This was over 40 years ago...so I don't even remember what the treatment was.

But I've never forgotten how Brother Lawrence who came right over to our house to help.

And never even hinted that it was a bother.
Come to think of it, he acted like it was an honor.

And Elder Lawrence's talk yesterday?
You can watch it HERE:


A list of the changes back at the home

I'd been wondering what happened here since Dad and Susan left over a year ago....

So yesterday I went to find out.

But mostly I wanted to see Annette...
I enjoyed getting updates about her children: 
Paulette, Jeanette, and Annette Jr.
and her sons, Peter, Paul, and John.


And this is what I learned about the residents:

1. She said 75 year old identical twins, Julie and Joan,  are living in Dad and Susan's old apartment.
They dress alike everyday and their 102 year old mother lives with them there.

2. Last we knew there was a big romance between Richard and Margarite. So I asked if they were 
still an item. She said Richard sadly passed away, and then Margarite moved in with her son.

3. Barbara W is 94 and she still swims but she can't drive.

4. Norma who had polio as a child, can no longer throw the dice during bingo.

5. My high school's coach from the 1970s is still living there. 
He had a girlfriend but she broke her back and is now living in another facility.
But the Coach visits her often.

6. Donna moved to Oklahoma and lives on Indian property and just pays $200. for rent. 

7. I asked about another woman and I can't remember her name but Annette's reply was:"She's on 
oxygen and has one foot on a banana peel." I have never heard that expression!

6. Brenda died last November at the age of 94. She fell in her room but no one knew until Annette 
noticed she didn't show up for lunch that day. Annette insisted someone check on her. She was found 
and they were able to they to call an ambulance. Unfortunately she died shortly after that. 
Brenda's family was so appreciative to Annette for helping her!

7. Dana, the happy activities lady is retiring on Monday and moving to Hawaii!

There was more, but that's all I could get notes on. 

Such challenges these people are all going through.
Yet I see lots of smiles, 
and look what one lady put on her walker!

The place is full to capacity and there is a waiting list to move in.
Not that I want to move in.  

There must be something that happens courageously between my 
age and the age of these residents, 
because I'm very much lacking in that kind of strength.



I was sitting by this woman, I later discovered was Doreen 
Garn, and for some reason she asked for my maiden name. 
When I said it was Rozier she said she knew my mom! 
She said she use to have color classes my mom would attend back in the 1970s. 
I do remember when Mom went through her color coordinating phase.


Annette was full of questions about my Dad and Susan.
She kept saying, "I am watching a miracle. This is a miracle right here."

She also said to everyone at the table,
"Susan is so devoted to Jill's father. 
She takes such good care of him!"
Amen to that!


After lunch Annette invited me up to her apartment on the 3rd floor.



I like her view

The grass has to be dead, 
but the trees are still hanging in there. Sort of.
We actually got some rain while I was there.

Annette proudly showed me her doll house. 
She's been working on it since 1988.


Nearly 3 hours later I left wondering how these older ones 
get through their days. 

Years ago I asked a very wise older friend of mine, Bonnie Van 
Wagenen, what the point of suffering was at the end of our lives.

I remember her saying it is to help us be more willing 
to leave this life, and go on to better.


I need to get tougher.

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 ...