Wordles ROCK!

My daughter introduced me to this fun little site...wordle.net. I've made a few of these to send to people - both email and snail mail...they are mighty fun and have lots of possibilites. Here's one for the Hackworth family.

Happy Birthday, Justin Scott

Here's the email I sent to our family about Justin's birthday: Also, here's a couple of pictures that we just scanned in from slides using our new slide scanner which is totally awesome, and I couldn't have figured it out without Allen's help...whoa, it's good to be married to a computer persona!

Dear Oldest Son, Justin,

a few years ago, when we took you home from the hospital in Pocatello, Idaho, it was a bright, sunny day. It was cold, but the sun was bright. That was portentous because you have always been a bright sunny child. Right early on, you have had the ability to make us laugh.

Randi Sue was so excited to meet you...I don't think she was ever jealous like some older siblings are. Although I do remember her pushing you a couple of times, so maybe she was jealous after all.

Driving home in the red Toyota, I just kept staring at you and thinking how fun it was to have a girl and a boy.

We were going to name you Michael Scott, but our friend, Brent McDonald said, "Do you like the name, Mike?" "No," I answered, "just Michael." "He'll always be called Mike," Brent responded. So, we named you JUSTIN SCOTT, which I have always loved and think it's such a great name for a photographer, don't you?

You didn't have a lot of hair and you lost it as most babies do. When we moved to Pocatello in our trailer home, we lived next door to the Edwards. Every day, after breakfast, you and Jenni wanted to play with Brad & Terri. You got along really well and didn't fight a lot with them. It was perfect because they were about the same ages as you and there weren't any other little kids around to play with.

One of my most vivid memories, is of being in the front of our home, and realizing that you and Brad were very, very quiet. That's always a sign of something not good. So, I hurried back to find you both. There you both were - standing by the toilet. You were on the side with the handle. I looked into the toilet just in time to see two little green things swirling around and around. You and Brad had just flushed my contact lenses down the toilet. (I'm sure that I got upset, but if it happened now, it would just be a fun thing to write about on a blog! So, sorry for getting angry....those things don't really matter in the grand scheme of things.)

Skip ahead a few years to your high school graduation night. It was just before we had to leave, and I walked by your bathroom, and was startled to see you because you had just dyed your hair black or really dark brown. It was so funny that you did that right before graduation. Did anyone notice with your cap on?

You always had great friends...which I appreciate.

You are a wonderful son, father, husband, friend. Happy, happy day! You have made our days happy indeed. Love, Mom

Here's to Health

As a 12 yr old, I don't think I ever thought about health. As a 21 yr. old, I never thought about health. As a 40 year old, I may have given it a passing thought. But, as a......year old, I do give health a thought. And, this is my thought. Thank you, Heavenly Father, that at this point in my life, I'm healthy. I can see, hear, walk, talk, eat, move, stand, sit, use my hands...

I really appreciate visiting Sylvia, who has been in a wheelchair for over 17 years. She never complains; she's very inspiring. But, when I see her and visit with her each week, I am always reminded what blessings mobility and good health are.

Boy, this is getting way too serious, but I am very, very grateful to be feeling okay at this point in my life!

New Years Resolutions or Bah! Humbug!

So, how did I fare from last year's resolutions? Fair to middling...(What in the heck does that even mean?)

I set a goal to take 20 family names to the temple....I achieved that goal. The bishop challenged us to read the Book of Mormon every single day. I read scriptures 360 or 361 days...I missed about 4 or five days...I think it's four, but to be safe, I'll say five. Oh, I was sad indeed when I missed reading the scriptures for the first time in March! I fell asleep on the couch, and that was pretty early on in the year to miss. I don't recall why I missed the other days. But, to achieve this goal, I read the scriptures LOTS of days on my trusty little Blackberry cell phone. That made it very convenient as we were doing lots of traveling, and a Book of Mormon was not always handy. I love the Book of Mormon. It's amazing to me how I'm always reading scriptures and saying, "was that there before?" But, of course it was because usually I already have it underlined!

So, what's for this year?

Read the Doctrine and Covenants.

And, here's the tough one: you think I'm going to say lose weight. Well, that's just a given for all of us - right?!?!?

No, this one is a very challenging one for me...it is to NOT WASTE FOOD. Now, let me just say that I believe in food storage. But, I often am not good at using what I buy. I just threw some stuff away today....long past expiration date. So, here's what I will try to do: eat my food storage and eat what I buy! (Waste not, want not as the good folk say!)

Very noble goal. Now, just go and do it!

Worthless Dough

I think I know how the financial world feels when they see the value of their dough plunge. That's just what happened to me today.

This hasn't happened EVER - or at least not for a very, very long time. My dough didn't RISE!

It makes me not want to invest again....so much time wasted, so much money on ingredients. Will I recover? Will I try again? Oh, it's so hard to know what to do in these trying circumstances.

Here's to the KINDLE!

Hey, thanks kids, for the best gift ever. Who wouldn't love a Kindle? Only a Grinch...that's who. Bleak House by Charles Dickens...it does indeed, sound bleak, but so far it's only profound. I found a quote that sort of electrified me because you see, it was saying what our church leaders say: Dickens said - in essence - and in talking about a female character who attended to nonsense matters while her children ran around hungry and in disarray - that no success can compensate for failure in the home. This book was written in 1852, so I thought Dickens was pretty astute. I bookmarked the quote in my Kindle.

I was reading 2 books simultaneously and it was easy to keep track of where I was in each book. Everyone should own one!

What great kids Allen and I have...very, very thoughtful. Thanks again, dear ones.

Happy New Year

Time to write...time to try some newbies: Here goes...

Here's a wordle just for Allen: