Don't Cry Laura

Growing up I loved Little House on the Prairie.  I loved the book series.  I loved that Laura Ingalls was born in the same state as I was.  I loved watching it on tv,  and I faithfully watched the shows.  Today, as I saw the stories pop up as I checked my email I saw that Merlin Olsen had died.  I was stunned and clicked on the article.  It took me to the sport page. There were paragraph after paragraph about his football career, but this isn't why I loved Merlin Olsen.  Then, near the end of the article that said ,"After his football career ended, Olsen began work on television as a color commentator for NBC's NFL coverage. He also dabbled in acting, including roles on Little House on the Prairie and Father Murphy"

What that is it?! I watched this man almost every afternoon and that it? Just an afterthought?  I knew him as Jonathan.  He was Pa's best friend.  He was always there to help the Ingalls in a tough situation, or give a listening ear to Half Pint.

Though many will remember Merlin Olsen for his accopmlishments on the football field I will remember him for something else.  Thank you Merlin Olsen for your role on Little House in the Prairie.  You and the whole show helped teach me what a true friend is.  Also, that hard work and choosing the right always pays off in the end.  Finally, it taught me to dream as big as the prairie itself.  Jonathan, you'll be missed...but now you can be with Pa.

Fun in the Sun--shine State

In January JR and I headed to West Palm Beach, FL for a few days.  JR had to attend meetings during the day.  I just had to attend the dinners with him at night.  The first day I was there it was stormy. 

 Here is how the ocean looked.  I love to watch the ocean during a storm.

After that, the days were gorgeous!  Every day I went walking with my travel buddy, Tajee, on the beach for at least an hour.  I loved the seashells we found there.

The last night is a formal dinner.  I had really stressed this year on what I would wear.  I was pleased with how it all turned out.  I talked to my mom awhile after we were back in our room and she asked if we had taken a picture-- Oops we hadn't.  So, here is what I looked like at the end of the evening after I had laid around the room .

So, I didn't take my own pictures but here are some pictures of the hotel.

My favorite thing we (Tajee and I) did was go to the Eau Spa.

There was the waterfall shower over the hot tub, the heated stone chairs, the steam room, and sauna.  I was able to have a hot stone massage.  Then Tajee and I had lunch in the relaxation garden.  Aaah, it was like paradise.

Oh, I didn't even mention the must enchanting Italian resturant we found there.  I can't remember the name nor do I have pictures.  But that was such an experience.

How to treat your partner

How to treat your partner

I saw this on a friend's blog and loved it. Hope you enjoy it too!

"My Mom sent this clipping last week ... It's a good thought and if applied, could really improve relationships. 'If you treat a person as he is, he will remain that way: if you treat the person as he can become, he will tend to become that person.' Food for thought."

(click on the article to enlarge)

"I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

Spring had brought me such a nice surprise,

Blossoms popping right before my eyes.

I could take an armful and make a treat,

...It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be Popcorn popping on the apricot tree."

- "Popcorn Popping" by Georgia W. Bello

This is the view I have these days while I am cooking.  Lucky me!

Another Christmas Present We Love

Okay, this is not on the same level of love as the painting, but we do like it quite a bit.

It is our Whirely-Pop Popcorn Popper. We have some friends that are popcorn lovers and swear by it. They couldn't believe that with how much we like popcorn we didn't have a Whirely-Pop too. So, Christmas morning we unwrapped our very own. It was terrific. Well, at first but now we are obsessed. We make it all the time. The more we make, the worse (health wise) the things we top it with. I reached a new low yesterday when I made caramel popcorn. I LOVE IT!!!

So, I thought I would share the recipe with you. My mom made this recipe while I was grewing up. This recipe is from a church cook book, that might be older then me.

CARAMEL POPCORN

6 qts popped corn

2 sticks butter

2 C brown sugar

1/2 C white syrup

1 t baking soda

1/4 t cream of tartar

1 t salt (I only use a dash)

1 t vanilla

Mix butter,syrup, and brown sugar, and bring to the boiling point, let boil for 6 minutes, keep stirring while boiling. Take off heat and add cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and vanilla. Stir until foamy, pour over popped corn and mix well. (I don't do this next step because I love sticky, gooey popcorn but you might want to) Spread on cookie sheets. Bake in a 200 degree oven for 1 hour. Mixture may be pressed into popcorn balls if desired.

-Tena Jordan

Hello Blogworld, It's Me ...TeamZ

Just to put all fears aside, no I didn't fall off the edge of the world. Nor was I lost at sea. I haven't even been dreadfully ill. No, no I have been having LOTS of fun, or getting ready to go have lots of fun, or trying to get back on top of things after having lots of fun...

Anyway, I am so behind on my blog. I am so behind on my blog reading...my Aunt and Uncle are in Tel Aviv, I swear 5 friends announced they were pregnant, who knows what else I have missed. SO, you will have to bear with me as I jump back and forth between updates and current post.

We hope you are well, since we haven't done a good job of checking on all our blog friends. Amazingly the world did not end when we were away from our computer for extended periods of time.

Annie Henrie

Okay, so its been a long time since I did an entry. I will tell you more about what I have been up to in future entries. First, before it gets any further away from Christmas I want to tell you what my sweet husband gave me.
This September we were attending a wedding at the Coast. We had a chance to walk through an Art gallery and I fell in love with a painting of three girls with flowers. I loved it!!! But, of course, we didn't buy it. Then, Christmas morning came and the painting was under our tree. I cried (there is video footage. No I won't post that)

Here is the painting it is called "Small Flowers" by Annie Henrie

(Our wall is actually mustard and matches the flowers perfectly, but that is what no flash will do)


At Christmas JR told me that Annie Henrie is an art student at BYU. Can you believe it? He also told me that he had talked to her about painting the girls, but that she didn't do that. I completely believed him and was very content with my lovely painting.

Then today I came downstairs and there was a brown paper packets (not tied up in string) at my place at the table. I unwrapped it and found...


It is called "Three Sisters" by Annie Henrie

Didn't she do a fabulous job!!! I can't believe how well she captured each girl. Or as E says "She captured our good sides." And yes, I cried again!!!


Thank you JR. I love you so much!


Thank you Annie Henrie. I love your paintings. They bring such joy to my life.