Another Reunion Post

This is Zuki posing for the camera. She literally did this on "3." "Zuki!" I called, "smile! One, two, three!" and on three the finger went up and this is the shot I got.

PINK STUFF!! It's even better off the spoon. Family Prayer at the close of the Reunion.

Mother and Daughters

Beauty Pie! (That goes for the above picture as well.)

More Reunion Pictures

Here is a good group of us with our awsome orange T-shirts on...funny how it kind of makes everything look orange.

Here I am reavealing one of my many hidden talents. The BBall standards were up by the ceiling, but I still managed to get a basket. That's A basket= one.

I still did a touchdown dance, though. Yeah! I scored a goal! Basket...unit.Here is Zukiswa helping with breakfast.
I love this picture...its like she's re-enacting the Joseph Smith Story.Me and my adorable neice.

I still have some more pictures...though...a lot of them are of Zuki.

Too bad for you! I'm a doting aunt.

Clawson Family Reunion 2009

This Labor Day weekend was spent in Twin Falls, Idaho, where my mom's family met for our third sucessful reunion in 6 years. Every other year, we gather, laugh, enjoy each other, and sadly, go home, but with wonderful memories.

left to right: Mo, Nat, Zuki, Luan, Stan, Dwynne, Michael & Hayden, who was a hit, even with Zuki for competition. Hayden made a great impression on the aunts, especially. Here is Uncle Lynn and Lacy. I had a good time getting to know Lacy more, and glad of it!

And the Richardsons: in order of the heads:

Dante, Taylor, Aunt Sally, Jake, Simona, and Uncle Corky.

A great bunch of loonies, but oh, how we love them.
Here is the Clawson family. Yes, Alan brought a girl, Jessica, who was a darling to have with us. Then there is Aunt Sheralee, Alan, Uncle Ron, and Grandma.

Here are the Madsens who made it: Arlene, Duff, and Kyle.

I had a good time seeing familiar faces again, and I sure did miss everyone who couldn't make it. See you in two years!!

Kyle and Taylor are going to be turning in thier mission papers soon, if you can believe it. Everyone made a guess where they will be sent. If you want to put your two bits in, I'm sure you can contact Aunt Sally. I sent Taylor to Tonga, and Kyle to Argentina. I hope I win.

There are more pictures to come of the weekend.

A Childhood Rekindled

There are certain scents, certain strains of a forgotten melody, certain flavors that call forth old memories; scenes of the long-ago come rushing into my mind the instant I encounter them, and I find myself remembering vivid details I have not thought of in so long that I never would have imagined they could still be so clear in my mind. Yet, there they are, with that certain strange scent suddenly in the air…a certain staleness, but with a peculiar sharp quality to it, and my first grade classroom surrounds me: the reading corner where an incubator warms chicken eggs, the 5 low tables and chairs the perfect height for first grader statures, the darkness of the room for there were only two windows in each corner, and my teacher, Mrs. Robinson, with her withered skin and short dark hair sitting behind her desk. It’s all there, but it fades again once the scent is gone and I have done exploring those memories.

For my Dad, there is a very particular cookie recipe that does this for him. He’s been searching for it, he’s attempted and failed to reproduce it, he’s asked his family about it, and, until now, he has had to go without his beloved childhood cookies. A few weeks ago, while cleaning out Grampa Zenk’s garage, this recipe card fell onto the floor at his feet: “`Shorty’s’ Oatmeal Spice Cookies.”

He knew it for what it was instantly: His Grampa’s long lost cookie recipie. After all the failed attempts, the first batch from the oven doesn’t let him down. Delicious, scrumptious flavors of his long-ago childhood bring forth memories more potent than the spices of the cookie, and he is in the past.

They are delectable cookies, warm and gooey, flavorful and satisfying; the kind of cookie you have wished for and craved, the kind of cookie that you remember, the kind of cookie that doesn’t disappoint, and the kind of recipe you don’t mess with, for it can’t be improved. It is nostalgically perfect.

Shorty's Oatmeal Spice Cookies:

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup soft shortening or 1 cup margerine
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
4 Tbsp milk
1 packaged chocolate chips
nuts or cocunut as desired (Dad put walnuts and sunflower seeds in his latest batch.)
4 cups uncooked rolled oats

Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Add shortening, sugars, eggs and milk. Beat until smooth- about 2 minutes. Fold in chips, nuts/coconut and oats. Drop onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. (Dad recommends a shorter cooking time 8-10 minutes, so sit by and watch your cookies to find the right cooking time for you.) Enjoy!

Eat them with your feet up in a dark comfortable room with soft music playing... ahhh.

Surprise Party for Karen

My sweet friend Karen definitely ranks as one of my favorite people. This year for her birthday, Valerie, another friend, and I decided to throw Karen a surprise birthday party. I've never thrown a successful surprise anything (I get caught) but Karen played along beautifully for this one. I am convinced she knew nothing.

Valerie helping me decorate

Valerie and I wanted to do something different, something none of us had ever done before, so I suggested we visit the new Cameron Park Observatory, then go to my house, pre-decorated of course, for the obligatory cake & ice-cream. She suggested we meet at her house first, as if it were one of our usual game nights, to throw her off the scent of our deviousness. Jared, another game night regular, met us there to further blind Karen to the truth. After a while, I put an end to the gaming, and informed everyone to (please) go get in my car. Karen didn't ask one single question! Not one! She just climbed right in, happily participating in the conversation about thumb wars! ("Luke...I am your mother!") So, I drive us out of town, expecting some kind of question from Karen, like, hmm, I don't know: "where are we going," or something like that, but no. She just sat there. Even when I turned off the highway and started winding us through the dark countryside roads, she asked not one question. She didn't even ask WHY when I charged my passengers to avoid any light sources upon pain of death! (To get their eyes as adjusted to the dark as possible for better night vision, good for star-gazing.) She just obediently sat with her eyes closed until we got to the observatory and I told her to open them. Later, when I asked how on earth she could possibly go along with everything and not ask one single question, her reply was: "Why would I? I LOVE surprises!!"

The new observatory was interesting... a little small and plain, like everything else is in podunk Placerville, but interesting. They had a couple telescopes set up outside, and one huge one inside. The planet Jupiter was the subject of the night, and we also saw 4 of it's 63 moons. (Did you know there was that many??) We had a good time.

Claiming I needed a bathroom break, with Valerie and Jared readily agreeing, I drove us to my parents house, where Valerie and I had spent some of the afternoon decorating. We came inside, Karen looked around, and then she asked her first question: "Whose birthday is it?" It's yours, you silly goose! Surprise!" Golly. And then we attacked the cake.

Karen, Valerie and Jared

Karen turning ____ years old...even though her birthday is really on the 5th.

(There is an unspoken agreement in our group. We don't ask, and we don't tell. Its a birthday. Thats all you need to know.)

After we took the decorations down, we decorated Karen for a photo op. ( I got Michael out of bed to take it for us. He's such a good sport.)