Beneath the Wraps

            The Best Two Years was released two months before Jenna was born.  I LOVE that movie.  We had it on VHS.  I think it had been given to one of the boys for Christmas – or perhaps it had been a gift to all of us.  I don’t remember.  For a while there, I had been watching it for at least once a month.        I don't fully identify with the characters . . . I never learned a foreign language.  I knew Elders who lived with two sets.  I don't know of any sisters that have lived in more than one pair. . . .  but I can relate all of them to different Elders I had served with in my mission.         On the last birthday I had in Utah (less than two weeks before our move to Oregon) Tony and Rochelle gave me a CD of The Best Two Years .  Actually, a set of CDs.  One contained the movie released ...

        Nicki is Rochelle's sister.   She's not in any of the family pictures that were taken at Tony and Rochelle's wedding 5 1/2 years ago.   I was not aware that she even had a third sister.   All of them have an "L" sound at the end of their name - but Nicki has chosen to go by her middle name.   I think Rochelle told me that Nicki had withdrawn herself from the family and started to go by Nicki at that time - though I could be wrong.   I actually don't know Rochelle as much as I'd like.   I certainly don't know her family - only what Tony paints for me - which is less than flattering.   But Tony always sees the lemons rather than the potential of lemonade.         Rochelle's mother passed away only two months after she and Tony married - which wasn't a great surprise; neither of her parents was in the best of shape, but I somehow believed that Rochelle's dad would go fi...

Most of these were taken at Millsite.  The first and the last were at Stewart Park in Roseburg our yard

          Recently I had gone through my flash drives in search of a scrapbook that I had scanned.   During my search, I came across the following unfinished thoughts and added covers.   This is what my blog used to look like   It's been nearly five years since I started my blog.  I wonder if it is time for a new makeover.  I created this cover near the end of 2012:. and here are some thoughts that never got posted as they felt incomplete at the time 2012 March 19 Apple Pie & Coffee             Roland often tells the experience of a man he had worked with several years ago.   The man had come from another country and knew very little English.   But he could place an order for “apple pie and coffee” – just “apple pie and coffee”.   His mouth became weary after eating so much apple pie.   He wanted to orde...

When Jenna turned three, we bought her a play yard set which I have mentioned here and here .   Before that, she used her imagination, making the broken lounge chair her slide and the Norditrack Glider her swing – unless we were at the park.`  Jenna was always so excited to spend time with friends or to go to birthday parties.   She especially enjoyed the company of a cousin she would see only once or twice a year.   She was especially looking forward to seeing her the year Melody turned eight.   Jenna had hoped to spend more time with Melody after her party, but as I mentioned in this post , there seemed to be some behavior problems on Melody’s end. Evidently, she had purchased a kindle or an I-pad or some kind of electronic device.   She had earned all the money herself and was quite proud of her new purchase.   Perhaps that was one of the downfalls of her attitude that day; the party had taken away precious time she could have...