Carrie Myrl Brugger

The top picture is my Grandma and Grandpa Brugger's wedding picture.  My mother always told me they were married in the Manti Temple but I recently found out they were married in the Salt Lake Temple.  My Grandma Brugger always went by Myrl.  She though that Carrie was too old fashioned.  She had a twin brother Archie Earl.  Her birthday was last Saturday and intended to do this then but we had a very busy weekend and I didn't get it done.  I didn't want another year to go by without doing this.  I never remember my Grandmother wearing anything but dresses - even when she worked in the garden.  She had some major health struggles in her later years but she handled them with dignity.  At the time I thought she was kind of whiny about the whole thing.  Now I realize she was remarkably strong and for the amount of pain she was feeling, she should have been complaining a lot more.  I wish I had appreciated her more but she was gone by the time I was 16.  I think part of the reason she and I grated on each other so much is that we were really two peas in a pod.  They say that people that are too much alike never get along.  I have had so many people that knew my Grandmother - once we moved Ephraim - say how much I reminded them of her.  By that time I knew it was a high compliment.  I know for a fact our bodies and metabolisms are much alike.  I tend to follow her family line much more closely than any other in that way.  She was an amazing woman.

Happy Birthday Heather!

I

Today is my daughter, Heather Lou's birthday.  The top picture was taken the day we came home from the hospital - at my parents home.  The bottom picture was taken almost 5 years ago, just before Brandon went to Kuwait. I guess the theme today - other than Heather's birthday is mother and daughter pictures.  Heather, I hope you had a wonderful birthday.  May you have year that brings you all you hope for.

One of My Favorites

On with the topic of matching dresses...  My mom got these for the girls for Christmas just before I had Pam.  This is their Christmas picture for 1982.  It SO shows their personalities at that age.  Carianne informed me that she would make a much better wife and mother than I was.  Heather LOVED the camera and was becoming quite photogenic and Heidi had hit the age of 'stranger danger' so no matter how much we coaxed, she knew she was in mortal peril.  You will notice no one is trying to make her feel better.  By the time Pam had reached this stage, both Carianne and Heather would have tried to have calm her down.  What a difference a couple of years makes.  This still one of my favorite pictures simply because if shows off their personalities so well at that age.

Matching

This is a picture of Heather and Bella in matching dresses.  When I did matching dresses when they were little, I guess I did it too long (actually Mom did it too long) and they got to the point they wouldn't wear them.  Then one Christmas we all had matching skirts and t-shirts - so Clyde made a matching tie.  That was the last time.  Now the girls love having their girls match if they can't find something for mother's and daughters too.  Heidi and I are currently trying to find something for Anneke and Mallory for Easter that matches.  Next year it might be easier, if Mallory grows and Anneke slows down.

Mother and Daughter

This is a picture of Heather and me and Pam's graduation from the University of Utah.  Of all of my daughters, Heather and I look the most alike - except she inherited the Bailey metabolism and I inherited the Buchanan.  Because I had lost weight (before all of the problems with my knees) - I was almost down to my ideal weight during this time.  I wish I could build up that incentive and drive again but every time the momentum gets going, something happens. I have got to get back in the groove I had 5 years ago.  This has gone on long enough.


By the way this is my 501st post.  I think it is interesting that my 500th post was a book review.  I don't know what possessed me to look and see how many posts I had done, this morning.  I was actually quite surprised I had hit the 500 mark.  

"Mine is the Night:"

This was a beautiful book and much better than I hoped. I had read the book before it and to be honest was dreading having to review this one.  Fortunately from the first page of this one, I was drawn in and much more invested in the characters this time.  Marjory, who is  probably close to my age, I could finally identify with her and maybe that is why I enjoyed this book and not the last one.  It is a sweet story and I do recommend this book.  There are three story lines in this book, but the main one is Elisabeth's that takes the priority.  I also love that Jack Buchanan was one of the main male characters - maybe that is why I liked this one better than last one.


This book is reviewed for Waterbrook Press on behalf of Blogging for Books.

Heather and Bella

Eight years ago, Heather and Bella were living in Italy with Brandon, who is in the Air Force for a living.  Now they currently reside in Okinawa with one more member of the family, Evie and a menagerie.  Brandon's birthday is in Februarys and Heather's birthday is the end of March, so Bella decided to come in between both of the birthdays to make them happy.  I miss them all so much.

What I love...

This picture is taken from a very scratched up negative.  But, what I love about this picture is that it is a typical outing with Mom when she was feeling good.  We are in the Botanical Gardens in San Antonio.  We rented strollers.  Popi is pushing Carianne, Clyde is pushing Heather.  From front to back it is Carianne, Popi, Grandma, Me and Clyde that you can see.  Now I think about it, I was probably in the early days of my pregnancy with Heidi, but was not aware yet.  We were there because Mom felt good and had just come off a really bad bout with her illness.  She really wanted to get out of the house and just walk in the beauty of nature.  She also wanted to get some new ideas for her garden.  Popi and Dad wanted to see how fast they could get through it.  It was a wonderful day as I recall.

This is added literally 7 hours after I originally posted.  My sister posted a picture of the same day which made me think.  When I posted this, I thought it was spring, but when I looked at her picture, I realized it had to be late summer or early autumn.  I knew I was pregnant with Heidi because I am wearing a maternity top I wore for all 4 pregnancies.  But then I was trying to think why would we be in a garden in the height of the heat in Texas.  Then it hit me - Mom has just put the pool in and she wanted ideas for landscaping it!  That was why we were there!  It may not be such a big deal to anyone but me but I am glad I solved the mystery of when and why.  I hate not remembering.  Please my children, when I lose my mind, just put me away somewhere quietly where I won't bother anyone!

Oh, So Typical

This is a picture of Carianne at age 4 and Heather age 3, in our first house in San Antonio, Texas.  They are sitting in the Dining Room.  Carianne had just come home from pre-school and they were eating lunch.  (I bet Heather is on - at least - her second change of clothes for the day.  She would change clothes 4 or 5 times a day - for no apparent reason.)  They are looking out the patio door, so they must be discussing their afternoon plans.  What is typical about this picture is Heather's hair.  I was lucky if Heather let me do her hair once a week a this age.  As you can tell from her 'Pippi Longstocking Do' her hair hadn't been done that day at all and I hadn't done it, when it had been done,  because my Mom put in much tighter braids than I did.  I do have to admit that when I finally wrestled her down, between her sobbing and wiggling, I was sometimes a bit rough.  But then she was lucky that all she got was her hair tugged a little bit.  Now it is funny because I am the one that buys my granddaughters the no tangle hair brushes and shampoos.  I SO wish they had had those when my girls were little.

Moon Over Manifest

I said I would blog about books that I read and meant something to me.  This is either last years Newbery Gold Medal winner or this years but whenever it was awarded - it was deserved.  It is about a little girl living during the Great Depression on the fringes of the Dust Bowl.  It is beautifully written with a story within a story.  We all have thing that we blame ourselves for that are out of our control.  For example, I blamed myself for my brother's learning disabilities for years.  From the time I was in Jr. High School until long after I was married, I was sure I had something to do with his problems that were mostly genetic and metabolic.  I even studied it, so I could help others overcome these problems.  Only then did I realize there was no way it could have been me that caused his problems.  In this book, so many people think that they are to blame.  Some run away from their problems, others sit and stew over them, but basically a town has died because no one can move forward.  As tragic as this scenario sounds, it is a beautifully uplifting book.  It is written for the grades 5-8 and I think that is right on, because that is when they start to take on the world their guilt.  This book teaches you that sometimes things are just not in your control - there are always consequences but you cannot always control the events of your life.

Once Again

I guess yesterday was a fluke.  I can't get Google to let me in to download pictures.  I was hoping that with the our hard drive wiped out it would let me do pictures without going to Safari.  Unfortunately that is not the case.  We will have to download Safari tonight and then I can do pictures again.  Just know that we are fine and have finally turned a corner here.  The daffodils and crocus are starting to show their green!  In the next few weeks it will be a beautiful place to live again but first we have to go through more wind and rain!  Oh well, after this winter that is bearable - I think.

Bella's Towers

When I was staying with Heather and Bella, while Brandon was in Kuwait, we bought Bella an extra bag of building blocks so she could build extra tall towers.  She literally played with those blocks all day long, building towers and then knocking them down.  I was at first building houses or chairs, etc., but quickly realized that all Bella wanted to do was bulldoze whatever was built.  So the mantra became the simpler the better.  Here is Bella with one of her towers after her Grandpa Bailey came.  He helped her get much more height on her towers than I could.

Happy Birthday Bob!

Today is my brother's birthday.  I may not have the pictures at my fingertips right now, but I do love him with all my heart.  I have felt protective of him since the day he was born.  It is interesting that I haven't worried about him since he married Dena.  He is a great man that doubts himself at every turn.  Fortunately, Dena sees his greatness and is a great cheerleader for him.  I love you, Bob and hope this is a wonderful year for you.

Mourning the Loss of...

...our computer hard drive!  Yesterday we got the same virus that has our Church computer locked up.  It is most annoying and the only way to get around it was to wipe out our hard drive.  Our pictures and all of our documents (my recipes and the last couple of Christmas books) are gone.  Fortunately the Christmas books - all but this years are all hard copied and most all of the pictures are spread around.  I used to be so good at backing the pictures up but had gotten lazy.  This will teach me.  I also lost my recipes that I put in my account to save until I have tested them or tweaked them to put into the Family Recipe Blog.  Apparently they will never be now.  Tomorrow, when I have more time, I will go back to blogging with pictures.  I will wallow in my loss today, when I have time to think about it.

Happy Birthday Bella!

Happy Birthday Bella!  Though these pictures don't show it, you are 8 years old today!  Wow!  I cannot believe it.  Because your Daddy is in the Air Force, Grandpa and I have missed a lot of your birthdays, but we love you and are proud of you.  We are proud of you being baptized when your Daddy comes home.  We love you very much.  We hope your have a wonderful birthday and wonderful year.  (I would have posted more recent pictures of you but I would have had to have taken them from your Mom's blog.  I didn't see the point.  I love you).

My Brother as an Early Teen

I saw this picture and laughed because it reminds me so much of Noah, especially but Nathanael too, my Pfiester grandsons.  I imagine this will be what they will look like at 13.  Hopefully they won't have such a phony smile.  This was taken in Heidelberg, Germany.

Bob and Grandpa Brugger

My brother Bob and my Grandpa Brugger were best friends.  Grandpa took Bob out everyday and did something with him, even in bitter cold weather.  Grandpa had been a farmer in Venice, Utah and so he was used to being outside every day.  It was hard for him to be cooped up in our tiny apartment day after day.  I think he needed the release as much or more as Bob, especially when his wife was so sick.


The top picture is when the Main River in Germany froze solid.  This is taken in Frankfurt am Main and was taken about 1962 if I remember correctly.  The river is on the most important ways for trade to move between countries in Europe and to have this major trade-way shut down for months caused some hard deprivations.  I remember that people were actually starving and freezing to death because they could not get heating oil and food to them.  American troops were called in to fill the gap.


The second picture is just Grandpa and Bob out together.  By the end of Grandpa's year with  us,  he had Bob on a two-wheeler.


The bottom picture is Grandpa and Bob on a boat on the Rhein River.  It is the other main river in Germany.  It did not freeze over but could not handle the traffic from the Main when it was frozen.  Obviously the bottom picture was taken in the summer.

My Brother as I Remember Him

These pictures are how I remember my brother when he was young. These were taken when he was about 6.  The top two, he is sitting in one of the kitchen chairs that Marianne and I received as a Christmas Present when I was 4.  We hauled those chairs around until we moved to Ephraim and then Mom gave them away.  She kept recovering the bottoms.  Bob loved guns, loved to run and loved being outside.  He was always in motion.  In those days - being outside and running all day long were perfectly normal. Now it almost seems as if it is a terrible wrong if you send your child out to play all day.  How sad.  The picture of him running is through a maze they would make every year in the Frankfurt, Germany, Zoo.  It was changed every year but was so intricate that even if you went frequently (and we did as children) you would still get lost.  It was 'amazing'!

Bob at 3

This is my brother Bob at about 3 years old.  This sport coat was bright red and the tie was red but had a marbled tone to it.  His pants were black.  This was taken for his third birthday, in San Antonio, just before we headed for Germany to live for 3 years.

Bob and Jeff Priest

When my brother was 11, his best friend was 10 and his name was Jeff Priest.  We called him "Geeko" because he always wore a GEICO jacket or sweatshirt (He kind of dubbed himself Geeko).  The interesting thing is that Jeff and his family have remained friends with our family to this day.  Jeff is a "Gas Passer" (inside joke with the family) and helped my mom, her last few years with her intense pain by coming up with nose sprays that stopped the pain.  He is a DR that people look up to and ask for in the Utah area.  He is a great man and has a wonderful family.  I saw these pictures and they made me smile.  

Bella

As I was looking at this picture, I was thinking of the difference between siblings.  By the time Bella was 3 she had had several different hair styles, and her mother was able to style it several different ways.  Her hair is thick like her mothers and fun to do.  Evie, Bella's little sister, has wispy hair and in her first 3 years had so little hair, Heather was afraid to even cut it!  When I saw pictures of my mother and talked to Aunt Norma about it, I found out that after generations of wonderful hair, Evie has my Mom's hair!  How funny is that!  Mom always complained about her thin, hard to style hair.  (I think Anneke may have a bit of this too).   That is in truth, why Mom went to get her hair done every week.  She simply could not do anything with it herself.  When she couldn't afford to do it herself, when I was young,  she kept it in a French Twist or a Chignon with extra hair wrapped in it so it looked fuller.  Those were the only  two styles she could do alone.   (I might add, she did them beautifully, like everything else she did.  Aunt Bernice Hill taught her how.)

Bob's First Birthday

These are pictures of my brother, Bob Brugger on his first birthday.  My mother made "Bunny Cakes" for our birthday's when we were little out of seven minute frosting on an angel food cake and then decorating marshmallows to look like bunny faces.  You see from this picture how cute they were.  She made several for her granddaughters but I know of no pictures.  I made daisy cakes, using somewhat the same principle but cut the marshmallows in quarters or eighths (depending on how big the marshmallow is) and dipping them in colored sugar, then arranging them in flower shapes on the cake.  I Then cut a miniature marshmallow in half and dipped it in a contrasting colored sugar for the center of the flower. If I felt really creative, I would roll a few of the quartered marshmallows flat and dip them in green sugar for leaves.  It was quick way to decorate a cake and little girls loved it.  I now decorate my Exotic fruit salad top this way, making poinsettias on top.  After all it is made up of mostly marshmallows and there is always red and green sugar around from the baking that has been done during Christmas.

These Boots Are Made for Walking!

I have to say that this is one of my favorite pictures of Bella.  Every time I see it - it makes me smile.  Whenever I see it, I think of the Nancy Sinatra song: These Boots Are Made for Walking!  This is such a cute retro outfit anyway.  I had a dress like Bella's skirt when I was in High School but mine was orange (I had a big orange floppy hat I wore with it - much to Mom's chagrin and sometimes orange stockings).  

The Bridge of Peace

This is a beautiful book.  It is about an Amish woman that has a birthmark on her face.  She teaches school and loves her students but there is one family that does not think she deserves to teach and they make her life miserable.  This is intertwined with "Ada's family" of which this series is named.  I couldn't put it down and finished it in one sitting, letting everything else go until I  had come to the end.  Part of that is because I want to do my book review and so somewhat like homework, I want to get it done.  But if I do not enjoy the book then I will not read the book quickly.  I have had other books to review and they have taken me over a week to read.  This is a wonderful book and Cindy Woodsmall has kept up her usual high quality of writing.  I would give this 4 stars.


This book review is for Blogging for Books sponsored by Waterbrook Press.

Bob's Blessing Outfit

I was five years old when my brother, Bob was born.  Since he was born in March, he was blessed in April.  In my mind - and maybe it is true, Easter and Bob's blessing were the same day.  This is his blessing outfit but Mom also used it for his Easter outfit and Marianne had her Easter dress on.  My Easter dress matched Mom's but had a fuller skirt.  I wished I looked as good as Mom after I had my girls, but then I didn't wear a girdle.  She wouldn't have been caught dead without one in those days.


In those days we had Fast Sunday on the first Sunday of April.  General Conference was not telecast until I was in my teens and then just for Sunday morning.  It was a big deal when satellite dishes were made available to the buildings so we could watch broadcasts in ward buildings.  Now we can watch or listen to them at home, all over the world, via internet.  How incredible is that!

March is...

March is one of my favorite months because three of my favorite family members celebrate birthdays this month.  My brother Bob, Bella, my second granddaughter and Heather, my second daughter.  Above is a picture of Heather on Clyde's shoulders - a favorite place to ride.