Newest Grand Graduate

My newest grand girl graduate, Jenna, is a nurse.  SO proud of Jenna.

You're Invited

A free Christmas Eve service and concert

Christmas Eve 

Marine Corps Birthday Ball

 

Marines and Associates of the Year, 5 Nov 2022

Utah Dixie Detachment 1270, St. George, UT

Computer Upgrades

I'm in the process of updating my laptop (and some parts of my PC).  My server recently changed its programming which created an issue with my older e-mail software.  I’ve now got a huge hard drive and am in the process of getting a new Office suite (mainly for my e-mail program) as well as a 1T stick where I can copy all my photos for safe keeping.   

Happy Birthday, Bill

Oct 19, 2022:  Today would have been his 90th birthday.  It's been a challenge going on without him.  We were together and that was special.

Bill at Groundbreaking for Ivins Nursing Home

Ephesians 5:25:  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. 

2022 Devil Pups Made the News Again This Year

SOUTHERN UTAH DEVIL PUPS IN THE NEWS 

Beating Summer Heat

Celebrating the end of summer!  Such a stressful summer, battling dehydration without knowing it, attending Devil Pup graduation at Camp Pendleton in July, trying to rein in an extremely recalcitrant person trying out for a Devil Pup staff assignment, followed by a fever and virus and closing the books and planning a dinner meeting for an end-of-year meeting - pretty busy summer.  Cooler temps and less stress is sounding very good to me.
 

How and why someone ends up being dehydrated is a subject on my mind.  After our Devil Pup Awards night, honoring 27 recent Devil Pup graduates from the prestigious and difficult summer camp at Camp Pendleton, California,  I went to look for something out of one of my plastic tubs, felt light headed, sat down and fainted!  Wow - never happened to me before in my long life.  Someone called 911, an ambulance arrived, and I was taken to the ER.  A non-family member was allowed into my ER room creating a lot of stress giving faulty information and invading my privacy, so it was not a restful night. After lab tests and a cat scan, it turned out to be dehydration -  so I am hydrating.  It's because of a medication prescribed for me in April by an orthopedic doctor.  Beware if you are prescribed Meloxicam.  It can mess up kidneys quickly.  A couple days after the fainting episode, I came down with a virus.  Caught me when I was down!  I'm rarely sick and I'm impatient with it!

Looking for Joan Nordstrom

I'm working on a tree for a friend.  I worked on her tree a few years ago and found a half-sister she hadn't known about, and just recently found out there was another half-sister born in 1933 who was adopted out when her father and his first wife divorced.  She (and I) would love to find this other half-sister, even if to only know what happened to her.  The baby was born as Joan Nordstrom on 19 Mar 1933.  Her birth certificate shows up on Ancestry and shows her father as Clifford Nordstrom and her mother as Aris Thomas.  We know nothing about her adoptive parents, her adopted name or anything else about her.

Moving On

I'm wrapping up another year as Coordinator of the Southern Utah Devil Pup program that Bill and I brought to Southern Utah in 2006.  2006 was the first group of teens from Utah to attend camp at Camp Pendleton for this citizenship program and we have now graduated 138 kids and taken a whole bunch of awards thanks to a really good Liaison Rep/trainer.  

So now that I've been involved in the Devil Pup program for 44+ years, starting in California when Bill and I married, I'm wanting to retire.  It's really difficult to find someone younger (that is key) who has the time and is computer literate and has the right personality for herding a bunch of cats, er teenagers and busy parents.  It may take a while for the search.  We thought we had it worked out, but the right fit wasn't there.  There should be a Zip Recruiter for volunteering!

Another Southern Utah Devil Pup Year

Another Devil Pup summer camp is behind us.  This one kicked my patootie!  Due to a lot of vacancies in other regions, So.Utah Devil Pups program was asked to send as many as we could - all those who qualified.  29 local teens qualified; two dropped out for personal reasons; and we sent 27 pups to camp.  Our quota was 12.  27 is a lot of paperwork and created a bunch of other issues to resolve, but we graduated another 27, making a total of 138 in Southern Utah since 2006.   One pup showed up too late for this photo, but yeah, we graduated 27.  Sgt. Billion was awesome once again - he always is.  

2022 Devil Pups from Southern Utah

Camp Pendleton, California

23 July 2022

Front Patio Refresh

 

Independence Day!

 

I'm on schedule for 4th of July at my home.  If the weather isn't too warm, we'll be outside on the patio.  I'm planning on 16 people and we'll grill and have Americana food and fun.  We'll be able to see a little of the fireworks from my patio, and the kids will bring some sparklers.  Will be fun to have my home full of friends, food and fun!

EIGHTH Wonder of the World

And the 8th Wonder of the World is . . . 

My son is 53 today when I am only 29.  

 

Dates change for Devil Pups 2022

Wow!  A big change just came down from Devil Pup headquarters.  Both increments have been changed to one week each (as opposed to the usual 10 day camp), one right behind the other and for different dates than originally published.  So all my travel arrangements are useless.

Missing Persons!

Two new genealogy puzzles.  These are not from my tree but a fun tree I’m working for two friends.  We are looking for Ana Elizabeth Adkins Bartley (Feb. 1876 to Unknown).  She was the first wife of William Monroe Bartley, born 04 Sep 1870 in Ashcamp, Pike county, Kentucky.  We have no source for her death or burial.  In 1901 William married his second wife, Rachel Elizabeth Keel (1883-1959).  So either Ana Elizabeth (called Elizabeth in the 1900 census) died prior to 1901 or there was a divorce.  If you find this grave, please let me know!!

Next, we have a fugitive from justice in the Kentucky area in the 1902 time frame.  Tempers ran high and John Henry Bartley ended up shooting and killing the sheriff.  He went into hiding and we have not been able to find his death and burial information.  It is likely he changed his name.  There are hints of a 1935 California death and a mid-40’s Washington state death.  It’s a long-standing mystery.  At the time of the mishap, John Henry was married to his third wife, Emma Clevenger.

2022 Home Decorating Project

After the re-do of my master bedroom last year, the one remaining project in the room was my makeup desk.  It is old - it is a good old friend - and it is a mess from various makeup projects.  My daughter has arrived for a week's visit from California to help restore this old friend into something new and exciting that will add a pop to my neutral bedroom.  It'll be a chalk paint project.  It'll be a surprise.  I'll post after it's done.  Here is the "before."  

Makeup Desk 9 Feb 2022

And here is the "after."

Cards

 Some cards made in 2021: