Pie Making
I can’t find
a reference to mom’s traditional pie making event. I suppose it could have
started with her children. I do recall having assisted with pies at least once
in my childhood. Kayla says she
remembers a time when it was just her and Corey that did it with mom. I don’t think I ever viewed it as an actual
tradition until Ellen and Kimball were small.
My
mom made a huge assortment of pies on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving each year. The grandkids looked forward to assisting
with rolling out the dough and filling the pie with whatever they chose.
We’d
have apple pie, banana cream pies, coconut cream, chocolate cream, cherry,
lemon meringue and of course, pumpkin. More
pies were added to the dinner each time new grandkids were added to the family.
I
don’t remember how often my boys had made pies with grandma. At least twice – and they have fond
memories. And I have pictures of some of
the pie making events. Jaime may have
been a baby when some of these were taken.
Neither Jenna nor I recall her ever having had the opportunity to assist
with rolling out the dough or wearing an apron.
It
wasn’t long after Jenna was born when mom announced her last year for her annual
pie making event. Each year after that
we ate pies that had been made in the bakery department of various stores.
My
boys had just recently commented on how much fun they had had making pies – and
then Kayla had posted a message in facebook about the yesteryear
tradition. I got overly sentimental and
cried for nearly a half hour.
I
miss the family that I grew up with. I miss so many traditions that we shared
at one time.
Hand Made Nativity
When
I was growing up, I loved “Dip n Drape” dolls.
I remember going with mom to look at pattarns and material for the
project. We settled on a nativity set as
it was closed to the holidays. I
remember buying Styrofoam balls and cones and craft sticks and following
directions. I was in high school at the
time.
It was a good first project. We had it on display just once a year –
usually on top of the piano – where the entire thing fit nicely. And many of the flaws were overlooked – like
one wiseman who had the appearance of having a “stuck-up” personality. And one wiseman who’s arms were heavier than
his body – and was giving a present to lean on so that he did not appear as
though he was trying to do push-ups. And
the baby Jesus became a permanent part of what Mary held in her arms – though
it probably looked like she was dropping him.
I had intended on making a manger –
so that it would appear that she was placing him in. I had intended to make camels and sheep –
though realistically the seven pieces I had took up quite a bit of room both on
display and then in storage.
It boggles my mind that the set has
been around since I was in high school – making it roughly thirty-five years
old now. Mom hadn’t taken it out the
last few years that she lived at home.
And I took it back before we sold her house.
Growing up, I never thought of our house as huge. It was an average sized house. It had three bedrooms, two baths, living
room, kitchen and unfinished basement.
Over the years my parents put in the
money to have half of the basement finished and added a back room addition to
the house. The house included five
bedrooms, three bathrooms, kitchen, living room, family room, game room, dining
room, laundry room, storage room – not to mention it had an attic.
I’ve lived in two houses since I’ve
been married. The two houses combined
did not have as much space as the house I grew up in. So of course there is not nearly as much
storage room
I had put the nativity up last
year. I had to put the wisemen on a
different area than the other four pieces.
Roland had suggested that I part with it last year. I just didn’t have the heart to throw it away
– though many of the dolls were beheaded.
I had planned on making it one more round.
We have even less room for it to be displayed than we had
last year. Plus I’ve been cleaning out
my shed and either throwing out or donating a lot. (12 yard bags and counting) but I still
couldn’t bring myself to throw it out.
I knew if
I donated the dolls to the thrift store, the majority (if not all) would get
thrown away, and so I put it in the classifieds and someone picked it up less
than an hour after I had posted for free.
She didn’t seem to mind the fact that many of the dolls needed to be
repaired. I hope it works for her and
that it may be around for a few more years at least.
Christmas
Lights
I remember one year going with my sibs and mom to temple
square. It was Christmas night and the
weather was really quite awesome. We had
gone downtown to see the lights.
This year the November was nice weather overall. Cold, but bearable. Excpet the last day. It was cold and bleak and actual typical of
so many November days that I can remember – although the last few years have
seemed to make an exception.
I was surprised at how warm the weather
seemed yesterday – well, in comparison to Sunday. Jenna and I started out with a beautiful
morning. I had dressed in layers, but
had taken the top layer off as I headed back home.
I had dressed in layers while
picking her up. I had stripped both layers
down while waiting for school to end.
Both Jenna and I carried our coats to the bus stop. But by the time we reached the crossover, we
both had our coats back on. It cools
down quite drastically once the earth rotates away from the sun.
Roland had given me a camera for
Christmas last year – only he had given it to me before Thanksgiving so that I
could take pictures and get a feel for it before Christmsa. It was a nice camera. A red Nikon which I liked a lot – that is
until pushing the power button no longer did anything.
It had died before Roland and I had taken to Jenna to
Disneyland at the end of August. I
hadn’t had the camera an entire year.
That was truly upsetting.
I was hoping the battery was the
problem, but I had the battery tested in addition to another working battery
put in my camera. I was told my best bet
was to send it into the manufacturer – which I did. I never heard back from them.
The other night he produced another
camera meant for Christmas. This time a
Sony W830 – which may take me a while to figure out. I’ve had Sonys before, and I like them, but
they have all died as well. And I don’t
expect this one will last much longer than the Nikon – though I welcome the
opportunity to be proven wrong.
I told Jenna that we should go
downtown to see the lights. December
started out with quite pleasant weather and I though since it was so nice that
we should go last night. I suggested to Roland that we go see the lights for
family home evening. I would have just
taken Jenna on the train if he had not wanted to go.
Downtown was crowded with patrons
who had come to see the lights and take pictures. I really don’t have the hang of my
camera. It will be a while. I did get a few okay pictures – among a bunch
of duds. Thank heaven for Photoshop,
huh?
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