CHRISTMAS IN DISNEYLAND

We just spent five wonderful days with our daughter Jenny and her family. We left Wednesday, Dec. 10th and traveled to Anaheim. Thursday, Friday and Saturday we spent in Disneyland. We had such a great time. I don't have my pictures transfered yet, but when I do I'll post them on my blog. We all had a great time.

THE SUNSHINE CLUB

I thought of something I want to start today. Its called "The Sunshine Club"! We could spread sunshine everywhere; talk about sunny things, be happy and have a great time. Do you want to be part of my sunshine club?

Stanley Wanlass Poster

Here is a picture painted by our friend Stanley Wanlass. I think this is really cool.

AN OREGON BARN - BY DENNIS

Here is one of my favorite paintings of Dennis'. He took an art class when we lived in Astoria from his friend Stanley Wanlass. They went out on a hillside and sat for the afternoon and painted. He did this painting of an old barn in Astoria, Oregon. I loved living in Astoria.

Here is a picture that I took of the Astoria bridge. I used to work at the Port of Astoria. I was the Executive Secretary for the Port of Astoria Director. I had a great job.

Sometimes I wish we still lived in Astoria. I loved it there. We had so much fun. Oh, how things would be different had we stayed there. We made the right decision to move. Life takes many twists and turns, even now.

A NEW LOOK

Thanks to Sarah my web page has a beautiful new look. I love it, Sarah! Thank you so much!

PARIS

I painted this picture a few years ago. I thought it looked like what I imagined Paris to be. Last year we went to Paris, and this IS what it looks like! I loved Paris.

RANDY AND SMOKEY THE BEAR

Ivins recently had their Heritage Days celebration. There was a display at the Ivins City Fire Department where they took pictures of the kids with Smokey the Bear. My oldest "kid" got in the action and got his picture taken with Smokey. (He's a full-time Fireman with the Ivins Fire Department.) The City had a lot of activities going on during the week to celebrate. Dennis and I were in the Ivins Community Choir and we performed patriotic songs on the program.

OUR FIRST APARTMENT - 1968

40 years ago - wow. I can't believe it's been that long. Here are pictures of our first apartment we moved into when we were first married. The top picture is actually a side view from the yard. The bottom picture is what you see from he street. We lived on Lehi Drive in what was then known as Granger, Utah (now called West Valley City) to the west of Salt Lake City. It was a 2 bdrm. duplex. We lived in the one behind. When you look top photo, you can see the side yard. Each unit had a nice wood fence around their yard. In this picture there is no fence. This picture was taken about 3 or 4 years ago, so it's quite a bit older than when we moved in. I remember when we got married we had a 1964 Comet, red and white. I purchased the car before we were married. We went to the Granger 6th LDS Ward. We had some good friends there.

SARAH AND DAD AT DISNEYLAND 1977

Our family took a trip to Disneyland when the kids were small. The year was approximately 1977. This is a picture of Sarah and her father. We had SO much fun. She was almost 2 years old in this picture. I remember we went in May, and her birthday is in July. I love you, Sarah. You're such a wonderful mother, wife, homemaker and person. I love you very much.

I remember on the way back from Disneyland we stopped somewhere and FORGOT OUR DOG! We drove about 150 miles for about 1 1/2 hours and realized we had left the dog! We turned around and went back thinking she would surely be lost forever, and there she was just wandering around the campground where we had stayed. She was glad to see us, and we were so happy to have her back with us.

MY ARTWORK

Here are a couple of watercolor paintings I did a few years ago.

MY BEAUTIFUL LORI

Here is a picture of my beautiful daughter Lori. She was the happiest and most joyful little girl you could ever imagine. She was always "Jumping with Joy". She has the most beautiful smile and is always thinking of others and what she can do for someone less fortunate. I think she must have been about 16 in this picture here. I remember this dress I made for her. She looked so beautiful in it. Lori, you are such a beautiful person. You really lighten the lives of those you come in contact with. I love you so much.

SOLVANG, CALIFORNIA

We recently went on our annual trip to Solvang, California with friends. This year there were 14 of us that went. Dennis' brothers Gary, Kevin and Ron and their wives Linda, Nadine and Helen went, our good friends Lynn and Linda Erickson and her brother Richard and his wife Renee, and Wayne and Loyann (Oyunn's host parents and good friends). We had a lot of fun. We started out Thursday morning from our house at 7:00 am. Our first stop was at Mesquite for breakfast. Then we traveled for about 4 hours and stopped at Peggy Sue's Diner for lunch.
It is a really fun place to eat. It's a 50's diner and really good food. Everything on the menu has a really unique name like the Elvis burger, etc. There milkshakes are to die for. They even bring you the shake can with the rest that can't fit in the tall glass, just like we used to get them.

We stopped the first night in Cambria, CA. It is right on the ocean. We had a view of the ocean from our motel there near Cambria - we actually stayed at San Simeon, CA, just 6 miles from Cambria. We walked along the oceanside and picked up rocks. It was wonderful. We really enjoy the ocean. The next day we arrived in Solvang. They have so many activities going on during Danish Days there. It's so fun. We have been going for over 30 years! The first year we went we took the children and I made red vests for them all of us. They looked so cute. It was so fun having them with us and enjoying the festivities. This year we saw a play on Sunday night called "The Hot Mikado." We had a great time. It's fun to look forward to some special thing each year. This year I made a new costume for Dennis and I. I'll have to take a picture of us in our costume and post it. I failed to get our picture taken while we were there in our costumes. Here is a picture of all of us but Wayne and Loyann:


Top row right to left: Lynn Erickson, Gary & Linda Hancey, Kevin & Nadine Hancey, Ron & Helen Hancey; Front row: Linda Erickson, Phyllis (me) & Dennis Hancey, Renee and Richard Coburn.

While we were there we went to church on Sunday at the Solvang ward. It's fun to go year after year and see the people you remember from last year.

There were chainsaw woodcarvers that were really fun to watch. Some of us bought woodcarved items to bring home. My favorite were the chain saw bears they carved. They were so cool to watch how they could take a piece of wood and in a matter of an hour or so have a finished carving. Of course the Danish Dancers were there dancing in the streets. It reminds me of when Sarah and JW got married, and how they were on their honeymoon at the same time we went to Solvang. They actually met us there in Solvang and spent the night there. That was fun.

One year the Ericksons couldn't go, so we decided to take our granddaughters Kaya and Jandi with us. I think they were 13 at the time. We had so much fun with them. They were so cute. I have the most beautiful grandchildren. Here is a picture of Jandi who is a cheerleader for Enterprise High School. Isn't she beautiful?

I love all of my grandchildren soooo much. They are so fantastic! Madison sang in the children's choir last Saturday in General Conference. She was shown on TV about 6 different times! She looked so cute! I'm so proud of her.

SERENITY

I feel serenity when I look at this picture. I can see our Enterprise house looking like this someday. Can't you just feel a babbling brook running just beyond the fence of this house? I love everything about this picture. I pictre myself on this horse just riding away into the apple orchards and hearing the horse crunch on the fallen apples as it takes a rest. My sister and I used to love to go to the apple orchards behind my grandmother's house and feed the horses apples and listen to them crunch. I remember my grandmother taking a little pot into the orchard with some eggs, salt and pepper, and she made a little fire and boiled the eggs. We ate them with salt for our lunch. She was a wonderful grandma. I loved her very much. She died when I was 14. I miss her.

MY AMAZING FAMILY

Here is my family. Everyone is in here except Chris, Lori's husband, who is in the Air Force. Also not pictured are the two youngest grandchildren, Felicity and Nicholas. I love my family. They are so precious to me. What would we do without family? I am very fortunate to have such a wonderful family that I am so proud of.

Today was July 24th. We started off the day with a parade. Kaya, my oldest granddaughter who is 16 now, drove my Mini Cooper in the parade. I had red, white and blue balloons on it. We had a lot of fun. There were 31 entries in the Ivins parade. It was pretty neat. At noon Dennis and I went to the park where they had booths. I bought a couple of pair of earrings from a lady who makes jewelry. I saw my friend there, Janet, who has lost tons of weight. She is now down to 125 pounds and looks fabulous!

Later in the afternoon Randy, Kaya and Nathan came over (Oyunn is in Norway visiting her mother). We had grilled salmon, baked potatoes, corn on the cob and home made chocolate cake for dessert. We played Wii and I fell asleep in the recliner downstairs. I was so tired I slept until they went home. Now my night is gone and I have so many things I need to do to get ready to leave for Salt Lake tomorrow. I'm excited because Jenny got tickets for the Osmond concert Saturday night with the Tabernacle Choir in the new conference center. We are going to 2 family reunions. One on Saturday, the Woodard family reunion (my newly discovered family which is another long story I will write about later), and the Hancey brothers reunion which they always hold around Dennis' mom Norene's birthday. That one is in Mill Creek Canyon. It should be very nice and cool up there. We will spend the day up there on Sunday, and then come home Sunday evening as I have to work on Monday. @%*$$*!!! job. Well, anyway, I am thankful that I do have a good job with benefits, even though it ties me down so much.

I'd better go and pack my stuff now. See you soon! Love you all.

MY FRIEND THE BARONESSA

This is a picture of my friend from Germany, Baronessa Helene Christina Hoffman. She moved in next door to us in about 1987, just after we built the home we are living in now. She was the most interesting person. She had so many stories of Germany and growing up in a small town and being part of the "royalty" there. She was in the summer olympics in about 1932, as I recall, entering the swimming contests. She showed me her swimming suit which she still had, and told about seeing Hitler come along and congratulate the people. For a long time I would go over to her house just about every day and spend several hours in the afternoon just sitting and listening to her stories. She taught me how to make veinerschnitzel and German potatoe pancakes. She had cancer and died about 10 or 12 years ago, if I recall correctly.

ADVENTURES IN SWEDEN

This is a picture I took last 2 years ago when we went to Sweden. I loved Sweden, so did Dennis. We had a great time there. This is a part of the town called "Old Town" where the buildings all look like this. The streets are cobblestone, and it is really beautiful. It was very cold there and I didn't bring my jacket with, so we went into a little sweater shop on a side street and bought a Norwegian "Dale" sweater. We walked and walked and loved every minute of our trip.

DINNER AND A MOVIE WITH FRIENDS

Friday night we had a great time with our friends Lynn and Edna. We hadn't done anything with them in a long long time. We went to dinner and talked and talked about everything, especially our kids. Then we came back to our house and watched a movie.

t was so great sharing what has been happening in our lives and the lives of our families. When we were raising our children years ago, before we both got jobs and became working mothers, we used to spend so much time together with our kids. We went camping together, shopping for sales, etc. It's great to have friends, and great to get together. Thanks for being such good friends!

BRIDLES AT LONE TREE

My mother was raised on a farm in
Vernon, Utah. I remember playing at the ranch when I was a young girl. We would go there when we went to Grandma's house. The ranch was a few miles away from Grandma's house, in the town of Vernon. The ranch house still stands today. It belongs to my cousins now. They have named it the "Lone Tree Ranch" because there is a giant tree by a fresh water well. It is the best tasting water. We always have to have a drink of the wonderful fresh water when we go there.

This is a picture of the bridles hanging on the wall in the ranch house.

I remember playing outside the house one summer with my cousin Linda. We were having a great time playing with an old wood burning cook stove and making mud pies (my favorite thing to do when I was a kid). We would use rocks to make raisins in the imaginary cookies, and sprinkle sand for nuts and sugar. One day we were playing outside, and a bunch of bees came sworming down on us from a nest that was above the wood stove. My cousin Linda ran away before the bees hit, but they attacked me and I ran screaming. I must have had a hundred bee stings. Linda didn't get a single bite. My mom tood me to grandma's and put baking soda plasters all over my bites. They hurt for a long time.

I have a really cool picture of my Uncle Mack standing in the doorway of the Lone Tree house. I'll see if I can find it and post it.

I REMEMBER MAMA

I came across this picture of my Mother and me recently. I must have been about 3 years old when this picture was taken. Isn't my Mama beautiful? She was a beautiful person. I remember the day we went to have our pictures taken. The studio was very dark and there was a bench at the far end of the studio. My sister and I had our pictures taken together, then they wanted to take our pictures alone. Ivadel went first, but when it was my turn to have my picture taken I was so frightened of the dark end of the room that I would not sit on the bench by myself. So I got to have my picture taken with Mama. Strange, the things that you remember so clearly like it was yesterday.

THE HEALING POWER OF JESUS CHRIST

Last night Dennis and I went to the St. George Visitor's Center and saw the exhibit of sculptural masterworks created by Angela Johnson depicting the healing miracles of Jesus Christ. It was an inspiring exhibit. There were exquisite depictions of Jesus Christ's biblical miracles which bear quiet witness of the Son of God. The exhibit was fantastic. When we got there, there were several Young Women groups that were viewing the exhibit. They said the groups were full for the evening, but we stayed around a few minutes and some of the people did not show, so they took us in. There were young Missionary Sisters that were directing the tour of the exhibit. They took us through and told us the stories behind the sculptures. There were about about 10 or 12 sculptures. They were absolutely fantastic. It was a wonderful evening.

MEMORIAL DAY BARBI & WII PARTY

Today we went over to Dennis' brother Kevin's house and had a barbeque. It was fantastic! We had hamburgers, brautwurst, and I had barbequed fish. We had all the trimmings, relish dish, watermellon, macaroni salad, my baked beans, corn on the cob. It was all wonderful. Kevin and Nadine's yard is absolutely beautiful. Accalia and Daren are living in their second house next door, and that's where the beautiful yard is. It used to be Gloria Tunbridge's home and when she moved they bought it. It has tons of trees and bushes. To the side of the house there is a beautiful walkway path over to Kevin's original house. The birds were chirping, it was cool and nice, just the right temperature. A perfect memorial day.

Then we went inside and played Wii. We played baseball, bowling and golf. Kevin must practice a lot because he was really good at all the games. Nadine won bowling, she got a lot of strikes. It was lots of fun.

Also, it was Amarissa's birthday. We had ice cream cake roll for her birthday. It was lots of fun.

Hope all of you had as wonderful a memorial day as we did. Only thing, I wish Randy, Oyunn, Kaya and Nathan had come over. There was tons of food left over. We missed them a lot.

Goodbye till next time.

THE CHALLENGE

A young army officer who had a history of anger-related problems was ordered to attend a mindfulness training class to reduce his level of stress. One day, after attending the class for some weeks he stopped for groceries on his way home. He was in a hurry and and a bit irritated, as usual, and the checkout lines were long.

The woman in front of him had only one item but wasn't in the express line. She was carrying a baby and talking to the cashier. He became more irritated. Then she passed the baby to the cashier, who spent a moment cooing over the child. He could feel his anger rising, but because he'd been practicing mindfulness, he became aware of the heat and tightness in his body. He breathed and relaxed. When he looked up again, he saw the child smiling. As he reached the cashier, he said, "That was a cute little boy." Oh, did you likehim? That's my baby," she said. "His father was in the military, but he was killed last winter. Now I have to work full-time. My mom tries to bring my boy in once or twice a day so I can see him."

How wrong our perception of things can be at times. Challenge: Look for the inner nobility and dignity in three people. Notice how this affects your interaction with them, as well as your own heart. Choose five more days when you're in a good mood to do this practice with as many people as you can. After that, add more days and include strangers and difficult people, until your heart learns to silently appreciate and bless all whom you meet. Watch how it will improve your own self.

Do something special for someone today, something you would not ordinarily do. It will brighten your day and improve yourself. It will take a little effort, but it is well worth it.

Have a GREAT day!

ON BEING A GRANDMOTHER

I love being a grandmother. I have the most wonderful grandchildren ever. Each one of my grandchildren are beautiful, wonderful individuals, each with their own unique personalities. Tonight I went to a violin concert of my granddaughter Cassidy. She is in the 6th grade and this is her second year playing the violin. She played about 10 songs in the violin orchestra with about 30 members. She was awsome.

My grandkids are the light of my life. I love you all so very much. I love spending time with them, anytime, anywhere, and in any way. One of my fondest memories is last spring when I was able to go to my daughter Sarah's and spend a couple of weeks several times during the spring. I was between jobs, and it was so wonderful just relaxing and not worrying about work. I had so much fun with Sammie and little Felicity. It makes me smile just thinking back on the time we had together. Sarah is a wonderful daughter. She is very good to me. I love her very much.

I feel so fortunate and blessed to have my wonderful five children.

MY FIRST BLOG

It has been a goal of mine to create a blog of my own. Today with the help of my beautiful and talented daughter Sarah, I have my own blog. Wahoo. Life is good. Life is great. I will start tomorrow with a little introduction about myself, my interests, hobbies, etc. Till then, a bid you good night.