Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Family Sevice Project Tonight

Neil came home from work and wanted to talk to Cortney.  He said that he had something he needed her to do tomorrow that would be a great blessing to her if she'd choose to do it, but also that she most likely she wouldn't want to do. He then went on to explain to her that if she'd be willing to do it she'd receive blessings for her sacrifice.  
From there he went on to tell her that his mom, her grandma needed help packing up boxes because they're moving and have to be out of their house in about 10 days.  His mom been using a walker and wheel chair ever since a car accident she was in about 5 years ago, so it's hard for her to be packing up by herself.
I was surprised when Cortney didn't complain and just said that she'd do it as long as she had some afternoon time to lay out and suntan, so I immediately offered to go with her and the two of us do it together. I figured that if she was willing to do it I could go along and make it more fun for her.
Shortly after that my John suggested that maybe we should all go over there tonight and as a family service project help her box up.  We decided that if we all went and worked together we could get a lot more done  and in a shorter amount of time.  The whole family was willing to go so we hurried up and ate a bowl of John's homemade chicken noodle soup (with his yummy homemade noodles).  He'd made it special for the kids tonight, and when they smelled it coming home from school were all excited.  Anyway we all ate quickly and then headed out the door. 
We took two cars and all of us except Tori, piled into their cars to head to her house. Tori elected to stay here and clean up this house instead.  Neil's mom was surprised and very happy to see all of us there and willing to help her.
We worked about 4 hours and got a lot of her packing finished up, so she was really pleased. All the kids had fun and it turned out to be a great night.  Cortney brought her friend along to help too and it turned out to be a fun evening.



I love my family.  When we moved from Missoula to White Bird, I was the recipient of their service too.  Traci, Neil, and the kids came up to our new house and helped us paint the entire interior of it in just 2 days.  They worked like crazy and did a fantastic job.   I was so grateful for their help and I know that Faye was equally grateful tonight.   

Jeff and Cortney, I'm proud of you!

Cortney my grand daughter will be turning 17 this August and I just have to post this and brag on her and her brother Jeff a bit. 
She's a cheerleader for the Herriman High School Mustangs and a good student in school, but what she told me today made my heart swell and I just have to say something about it.
I had put her mom's camera chip into my computer to get all the pictures from Jeff's farewell activities into my computer.  As I did this I found pictures of her and Jeff headed to the prom this year.  So this struck up a conversation between us on how beautiful her dress was and how it was modest and so pretty.  
Now this is the part that I just have to brag on her about.  She told me that the boy who'd asked her never put together a group of kids to go with and she had told him that if he didn't go as a group that she wasn't going to go with him.  As it got closer and closer to the prom time this boy never made an effort to put together a group of friends to go and Cortney told me that she just wasn't going to go unless it was a group of kids.  She said that she just didn't want to trust being on a date with him one on one and so she told him she wouldn't be going to be going with him. 
She'd ordered this beautiful dress online and felt sad that her mom had spent the money for the dress but she wasn't going to compromise her standards and go with this boy alone.  She said that she just didn't feel right about it cause she didn't know the boy very well.
Now my heart began to swell with pride for her having the courage to make such a good choice and then she tells me that her brother Jeff stepped in to help her out.  He asked his best friend Ashby if he'd take Cortney to the prom and the 4 of them would go together.  This made me so happy to hear this great story about my grand kids and how they pulled together and made the right choice.  I love hearing such things from them and when I hear such things, I know that they're going to be just fine!


I love them so much and as I watch them grow I see the normal teenage things that drive me nuts sometimes, but then moments like these make me realize that so far these oldest two grand kids of mine are doing just great.  They're trying hard to do what's right when sometimes it isn't an easy thing to do, and they're willing to stand up for what they know to be true and correct principles.  Way to go Cortney and Jeff, I love you both so much!

Jeffrey receives his Endowments




This has been a very special week for us. We were able to be here in Herriman, Utah with our grandson as he prepares to go on his mission to St.Louis, MO.  He'll be reporting to the Missionary Training Center a week from today, on June 6th.  Yesterday we were able to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with him as he took out his endowments and it was very spiritual for all of us.  He had three generations of family there on both sides of his family. There was both sets of grand parents, his dad and mom, and then all the way down to his cousin Steven who is a returned missionary that served in Korea, and his other cousin Nicole who got married last summer and her husband, plus one of Neil's brothers Steve and his wife Sandy.
Nicole is expecting a baby in December so really a person could say that there were four generations in attendance on that side of the family.
Anyway it was a very special evening last night and Jeff just radiated with the Spirit when we saw him in the temple chapel.  When we got finished Cortney our oldest grand daughter and Jeff's sister brought Tori and Tanner to the temple to meet up with us and be there when all of us came out.  The girls sat in Cortney's car but Tanner ran up to us as we came out the doors.  I had brought Traci's good Nikon camera, since mine is being repaired, and we got some nice family pictures.
Later our whole group went to "In and Out Burgers" the only place in town still open after 8 and we had a fun time visiting with all the family as we ate our burgers. 
We're hoping to be able to go back to the temple several times before Jeff goes into the MTC.  His last day of work is either tomorrow Thursday or Friday.
I'm so proud of my grandson Jeff.  He's turned into a real nice young man with a strong testimony of the Gospel and of doing what's right in life.  He's learned to pray and to listen to the Spirit for guidance.  He's going to be an awesome missionary.  I'm so glad that we've been able to be here all week to be a part of all the activities leading up to his mission. 
As I reflected on tonight, I came to realize that on this exact same date May 29th but the year of 1981 John and I were sealed together in the Salt Lake Temple and Jeff's mom Traci our oldest child was only 7.  This same day she was sealed to us for time and all eternity and now here some 31 years later her oldest son and our oldest grandson was able to take out his own endowments.  The date wasn't purposely planned but it just ended up this way, and somehow I think the Lord has been in charge and gave us this special extra blessing.  We'll always remember the date that Jeff received his endowments.   Thank you for this special grandson and today's special gift. 

Saturday, May 26, 2012

At our grand kids house in Utah

We took off on Wednesday morning to head out for our grandson Jeffrey's missonary farewell.  He's a good kid and is going to be an awesome missionary.  Our daughter Traci was at a Pharmacy conference in California when we first got here but we wanted to be able to see our grand daughter Tori in a play she was in, so we came a few days early.  I was really bummed thinking that we'd missed her play because they'd performed it on Friday the same weekend as we were in Kamiah for the Bluegrass festival.  Then our son-in-law Neil called us to say that she was going to be doing it again for a school assembly at her school.  Yay, we got to see it after all.
It's tricky trying to see all our grand kids in their activities but so far John and I have done fairly well with this.  When we left our place Wednesday we wanted to go see our other grand kids living in Pocatello too, and we were able to stop and spend the night with them before heading down here.  We were hoping that they'd be able to come to Jeff's farewell tomorrow but due to work schedules and church times of our kids here being on the 9 AM church time, they aren't going to make it.  It was nice that at least we got to spend one evening with them though and those grand kids are going to be spending most of the summer with us too so all's well.
My parents drove up to my sister Dayna's house to spend a few days and watch grand daughter Mijandra in her play but today they are headed down here to join us in this celebration too.  My dad is 85 and my mom 80 and thankfully are doing exceptionally well in life.  I'm so glad that they are getting to come too.  
Last night Traci got home from her conference and this morning Neil fixed us all a nice breakfast, so I'm anticipating that any minute we're going to be getting on the housework and cooking in preparation for the party here tomorrow.  Jeff will be speaking in church and he just told us that the subject of his talk/sermon is going to be baptism.
Our other son Casey and daughter-in-law Ashleigh are planning on being here by 1 today to help us cook and get ready for tomorrow too.
John and I love all of our kids' spouses.  We've been very blessed to have kids who are doing well in life and have made good choices to be honest and good people.

This is our grandson Jeffrey. 
We're just headed out the door to go buy groceries and I think I'll go along.  I guess the grand kids will be cleaning house while we're gone.  I'm just reminded how hard it is to get teenagers to want to clean, hummmm... It's going to be a great Memorial Day Weekend.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Made it to Pocatello, loving our grand kids now.

We left this morning at around 10:30 and drove over to Pocatello.  As we drove across Southern Idaho to get to our kids' house the winds began to blow like usual but this time it really whipped like crazy and I'm sure it was gusting at least 60 to 70 MPH.  We stopped at a rest area so I could make up sandwiches for us and the wind blew so hard that it almost ripped the camper door right off the hinges when I tried to open it to get in.  Luckily I was holding on to it tight.
We've got our two cats with us Banjo and Willie because we're going to be gone for almost a month and we won't have anyone else staying in our camper with us so I wanted them to come along and not be left at home for so long.  Willie is getting real frail and Banjo isn't much further behind him so that's another reason I don't want them home.
Now we're here in Pocatello enjoying grand kids and our 8 year old grandson Ryker has grown about 4 inches in the last 3 months since we saw him.  He's asked us if he could sleep out in the camper with us and so we're taking him out there to sleep on our couch since we can't open the slides with the un-level place we're parked. 
Our son Tyler just left for his night shift work at Walmart and John's tired so we're going to head out to bed in a minute.
I'm glad to be here and excited for this next month as we get to see our grand daughter Tori in her school play tomorrow, then see our grandson Jeff off as he heads to his mission in St. Louis, and after that we're meeting up with the Limehouse's to go to the Grass Valley Bluegrass Festival.  We get to take Tori our 15 year old grand daughter with us and her brother Tanner who's 13.  Both are old enough that we won't have to babysit them and can enjoy the festival with them.  So we're looking forward to this next month.


After the 4th of July then we get to keep the grand kids who live here in Pocatello, Pyper, Ryker, and Greisyn for the next 6 weeks of summer and we'll bring them home the end of August.   I love it!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Friends Peg and Bill Becker came to visit

My friends Peg and Bill Becker from Michigan came to visit us today.  I met Peg last Fall at the IBMA when when we roomed together along with Kathy Nichols.  I'd met Kathy years ago when the IBMA was held in Louisville and we'd roomed together there.  Then this last year I got to meet her friend Peg and the three of us roomed together.  When we were there Peg asked me how close to Boise we lived and I told her about 3 hours so she told me that if they came out to see their daughter who lives in Boise maybe they'd stop to see us too.  I never thought it would happen so I was very excited and surprised when Peg sent me a Facebook message asking if we'd be home today.  
John and I were so excited that they were actually coming and I promised Peg a 4 wheeler ride where she could get a lot of great pictures of our views.  So wouldn't you know it the weather changed from the 3 weeks of really nice, warm, sunny days, to cool and rainy, but luckily we were able to jump on the 4 wheelers and take a ride between the rain storms.  It was a little chilly but we got to take them way up behind our house and show them the beauty of this area.  Peg had never rode a 4 wheeler before so was a little nervous at first but soon we were all headed up the mountain.  Bill drove John's camouflaged one and I drove my red one with Peg riding behind me.  John took the older green one.
I was sure glad that the weather broke enough to give us this window to take the ride.  John had said that we could've taken the Jeep if it wouldn't have quit raining but I wanted to be able to take them on the quads.   Luckily we had about an hour and a half break and so we didn't have to take the Jeep after all.  You could smell the fresh forest smells with all this rain we've had and it was just awesome.
Peg got lot's of great pictures of our awesome views, and the wild flowers.   She's got really nice cameras and great lens' too, and she knows how to take really good pictures.  She even has had shows where she exhibits her photography. It was really fun that we got to show her our area and let her get the pictures.








 I'm so excited to have a new friend, and that they actually did come see us too!  I guess both of us are planning on attending the IBMA again this year so we'll get to room together once again this Sept.  I'm going to post some of the awesome pictures we got today.  I really loved the stormy clouds in the skies that we were able to get too, and the wild flowers were really vibrant because of all the rain, so I guess it was good that it came and washed them all making perfect pictures for her.
We ended our day with a yummy fried chicken dinner with the Limehouse's and the Farmers then a short bluegrass jam with Pt, myself, and Peg.  I played fiddle which I rarely get to do in a bluegrass jam and it was really good practice for me....Can't think of a better way to retire to the night.  

Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Idaho Sawtooth Bluegrass Assoc's Kamiah Super Jam festival




It's Sunday night and we just got home from one of the most fabulously fun Bluegrass Festivals of the season.  It's always held the weekend after Mother's Day and is at the Lewis and Clark Resort in Kamiah, Idaho.  This resort is just a perfect place for a festival and has such a good spirit to it that a person just can't be there and not feel it. We had perfect weather and it was so much fun for me to get to see all my friends again.
John and I were pretty busy because we're on the ISBA board and so we help to put this festival on each year.  Kamiah is right on the Clearwater River and the elevation is low so the weather is always a little warmer there than most other areas of Idaho, except our White Bird area which is also of similar climate.  I can remember when we lived in Missoula however and I would drive over to come to this festival.  Then it was really obvious that the weather at this festival was a lot milder and about a month ahead of the Missoula area for Springtime flowers and such. Back then it was always a treat to be able to wear shorts earlier than the Missoula climate allowed.
Anyway I want to talk a little about this weekend and all the fun we had.
Our band Gravel Road is having to revamp a little bit due to us loosing Chris who was our mandolin player. He had to take a full time job which has caused him to have to work weekends and is not allowing him to play in our band anymore so Hannah who is one of my students and has been playing guitar with us is now going to try and learn more on her mandolin and take over as the mandolin player in the band.  Chris is Will's son and Hannah is his grand daughter from another son.  Anyway Hannah is going to start being our mandolin player now and so she'll be working on learning it better.
With this we had to take new band pictures and The Lewis and Clark resort where this festival his held was a perfect setting for them.  It had an old wagon and some old buildings plus even an antique fire engine giving us lot's of great back drops. After we played our set that's when we went and took the pictures. I liked how several of them turned out but I needed a haircut so it's a little shaggy, plus I hate how my extra weight shows in my face.  Other than that our pictures turned out really nice and I'm happy with them.
Anyway...... 
John and I arrived early Thursday morning and once again I had reason to be thankful to be retired to be able to go to such festivals early like this.
Will and Gail Williams, and John and Pt Limehouse along with ourselves helped to get things set up for the festival to start and we hosted what has become a tradition at all our festivals, the early arrival potluck.  This year we had more people there on Thursday than we've ever had.  There were over 50 people at the potluck a it was a great way to kick off the festival.  As it turned out we ended up with a sold out campground and the largest amount of people attending the festival that we've ever had.
We had so much fun playing as bands and jamming with our friends and playing the open mics which has become such an icon of this festival, and then of course doing our stage shows too.
All I can say was it was a perfect festival in all ways.  Greg Boyd complimented my daughter Gina on her fiddle playing and he even sang with us Foggy Mtn Girls for the open mic on a song called Canaan's Land. That's where he really heard her up close and her strong fiddle playing really came through. He was overcome with it and personally talked to her and complimented her on her playing.  She's really gotten good this past few years and I'm very proud of her. I taught her to play when we were both learning and she's gone on to be really good.  Now I'm brushing up on it to keep caught up.  I'm glad to have her in our Foggy Mtn Girls band now.
One of the highlights for me was getting to play the Friday night open mic time with Will and his 3 grand daughters, Hannah, Callie, and Victoria.  He asked me to play 3 tunes with them and when he introduced us he said that I'm one of his family too which made me feel really happy.  Gail often comments and says that they feel like I'm a member of their family but Will rarely does so when he said this it made me really feel good.  The girls all three played super great and I was grinning ear to ear with happiness that they're doing so well. 
So this weekend, I got a little suntan and a lot of warm moments.    Life is good!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Lewiston Shopping today

One of my best friends PT Limehouse and I went to Lewiston shopping today.  It's been a long time since I've gotten to go shopping up there.  I wanted to buy some petunia flowers for the pots that Gail let me use last year.  She planted and gave me flower boxes last year and I've never had them before.  We really enjoyed them and I decided if I could buy them reasonable enough then I'd plant them again this year.  I actually was able to keep them looking half way decent all summer last year and I usually can't grow much of anything.  PT and I've been looking around Grangeville for some but they were just way too expensive for what I was willing to pay.  Most all of them were planted single in a 4 inch pot and they wanted $2 each for them and just the one flower, so I would have gone broke trying to buy enough for my planters.  There was no way I was going to spend that much when I needed at least 60 flowers.  So anyway we figured that maybe Lewiston would offer better prices especially at Walmart.  Since we also had other shopping to do up there we decided to go together and have a fun day with just the two of us girls.
Surprisingly most of the flowers up there weren't any cheaper than here and most were still just one petunia in a 4 inch pot for $2 once again.  Then PT had the idea of checking the prices at the little grocery store in Cottonwood that Mike Schmidt in our Gravel Road band owns.  So since the two of us play in the band together I had his store phone number in my cell phone and was able to call them easily.
Yay, it was pure inspiration that PT thought about Mike's store because he actually had the 4 packs of them and they were only $1.50 each 4 pack.  So that was affordable and we stopped on our way through and ended up getting our plants right there.  They didn't have a huge variety of colors left but I'm not picky and we got several varieties of purples and pinks, so whites and even some marigolds and pansy's to add different colors.  The price was right and I'm happy.


Tomorrow I'll get them all planted and then I have to work on loading up my camper cause Thursday we head out to the Kamiah Festival.  Our daughter Gina who plays fiddle for my band The Foggy Mtn Girls will be coming to our house tomorrow too and then she'll just ride with us.  We head out Thursday morning and I can hardly wait cause this festival is my favorite one each year.

Monday, May 14, 2012

The best vacation of my life? Everyday since retirement.

When I worked driving school bus all those 23 years I would look forward to Saturdays. The best moment of the week was Friday night when I could push my alarm button off and sleep in on Saturday morning until the ripe old hour of 7AM, the normal time for normal people.
I've been so blessed to be retired early that I've never taken it for granted. I tell my Heavenly Father thank you every single day as I say my prayers.
We don't have a lot of money but we have sufficient for our needs and a comfortable retirement.  We don't need to have any more than we already have.
 I remember at the first family reunion that I hosted about 20 years ago while living in Missoula, and my cousin Les Diede's answer to one of the get to know you games we played.  His answer to the question of what was his favorite vacation, was that every single day since he graduated high school has been his favorite vacation. I guess he didn't like school to the point that he's had the best vacation of his life every single day since his graduation day.
For me now I contemplate that thought and if I had to answer that same question today it would be a very similar answer.
I believe that for me every single day since I retired at the age of 54 and got to move here to our beautiful home in the mountains of Idaho; this has been my best vacation. I never thought anywhere could be as beautiful as our old home of Missoula, but now I'm living in an even more beautiful area.
Now those of my friends who know me well know that I'm not overly fond of winter.  This new area we are living in has a lot milder winters than even Missoula had.  So of course I love that about our home here and it gives extra bonus points for our retirement here.
Each day I look out my window or drive down our gravel road and look at the unbelievable scenic views, I realize just how blessed I truly am.  Not only to have gotten to retire early but to be living here in Idaho.
I have my best friends as my neighbors and we get to do fun things almost on a daily basis.  We swim in Gail's pond, (which we got to do today), we go on hikes, we ride our 4 wheelers to each others houses and it's just a way of life to jump on them and take off for a ride up into the mountains.  I never quit noticing my view of the beautiful area we get to live in and when I drive down our road or up the road on the 4 wheeler my breath is taken away each and every time.
Today was so nice at 90 degrees, total sunshine, teaching music to an older couple who are learning to play together, then coming back home in the afternoon to jump in the pond with my two best friends, Gail and Pt.  It's so relaxing to get to just float and visit.  No phone calls, no work to have to hurry and get finished, just a couple of hours to enjoy each other and the wonderful smells, and sights as we swim.


Now this would be enough to make my life the best it could ever be without even one more thing, but the icing on the cake is that the leader of our band Gravel Road lives right next door to us and I get to play bluegrass and practice with the band right here at my home area. Will Williams, my best friends husband is the leader of that band and he's the best banjo player I've ever had the privilege to play with hands down.  Then not only that but I get to play bluegrass and sing with these same two best friends, my neighbors Gail and Pt, who I go swimming with each day, and that is right here at our home area too.  Our girls band The Foggy Mtn Girls is getting to play a few festivals now so we practice and laugh and have so much fun and we all live right here in our same neighborhood.  Wow, wow, wow!  Even Mondays are just like my Saturday's used to be.  Every single day is a weekend and every day is the best vacation of my life living right here up Skookumchuck. No more alarms ever!  I love this life!  Thank you, thank you, thank you........

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mother's Day fun 2012

It was a wonderful Mother's Day today.  John got up early and fixed me a nice breakfast of fried eggs and toast with orange juice before church.  We sat to the table and enjoyed eating together and just visiting, which was fun for me since a lot of the time we eat while watching TV in the living room....Then we headed in to church early and I had some extra time to practice my piano which I thoroughly loved.  It was nice to just have uninterrupted time to devote to playing for fun. After church all the ladies were given a four pack of flowers and I chose marigolds with dark maroon colored centers. 
We came home and after a couple of hours headed up to Will and Gail's house for a very fun Mother's Day hot dog and marshmallow roast with 4 other families.  Will and Gail's son and his family Gunther were here, along with the Bucks, and the Barela's and the Limehouse's.  She had a fire ring so that we could all roast our own hot dogs and marshmallows, which the kids always really love.  The rest of us each brought a pot luck dish to go with it all so John and I took a jello salad that I made up last night and some left over pulled pork for sandwiches.
Gail saddled up one of her horses and Hannah led it around in the corral so that all the kids got to ride.  Some of the dads took their kids for rides on the 4 wheelers and the teenagers and dads played frizbee games in Gail's yard too.  All of us adults really enjoyed just sitting in the sunshine and soaking up the rays.  It was 82 with total sunshine and no wind. I love, love, love it!  It couldn't have been any more perfect weather that's for sure. 
When we got home all my kids called me and I got to visit with them and some of my grand kids. 13 year old grandson Tanner told me that he can't wait to come stay with us this summer because out here at our house he can just roam free.  I thought that was cute. 
My wonderful husband, John bought me a Ruger 22 rifle with a really nice scope on it and he gave it to me about 10 days ago so that I could have some fun with it when we had the Nelson's over. 



I love the sunshine and warm weather.  It felt so good to be in shorts and flip flops sitting outside by the fire ring and just chillin.  Summer is my favorite season because I love the carefree feeling of warmth, shorts, flip flops and lot's of sunshine later into the evenings.  I guess that's why I was born in late July....So for now all I can say is it was a perfect Mother's Day!  I love living out here so much.  It couldn't be a better retirement life for us. 

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Playing in McCall at the Pancake House

It was an absolutely perfect day today.  We were hired to play at the Pancake House in McCall from 3 to 5.  A super nice lady named Susie saw us playing at the Bluegrass Barn about a month ago and she talked to my husband John about hiring us to play in McCall where she works at The Pancake House.  We came up with a date that worked for us all and so today was the day. 
The weather was absolutely perfect and we headed out of here at 10:30 this morning for the hour and a half drive over to McCall.  All of us piled into Will and Gail's pickup truck and headed down our gravel road to the main highway where we met up with Mike Schmidt then we headed out to McCall.  We loose an hour going that direction because the time zone changes from Pacific where we live to Mountain Time just 25 miles south of us.  So we enjoyed a beautiful drive in the sunshine and along the scenic drive all the way there. The fresh green colors on all the trees and grass is just beautiful this time of year and lot's of trees are still blooming so the air smells so wonderful.  It was a very pretty and relaxing drive. 
When we got there Susie the lady who'd hired us, was just finishing up her shift at work and she and the owner showed us where we were going to be playing out front in a gazebo area.  We all helped set up our sound system and then went into the restroom to change into our band clothes.  Will and Gail had brought with them Hannah's two sisters who I also teach and they got to get up and play two songs with our band.  Hannah plays full time with the band but her sisters who are younger get to come along most of the time and play a couple of songs with us too.  11 year old Callie plays the fiddle and also knows how to play a guitar but her main instrument has ended up being the fiddle. 10 year old Victoria plays the bass and banjo but also plays the guitar too. 
They played Old Joe Clark and Angeline the Baker and both songs they really nailed.  We played them at rip roaring speed and they never missed a beat playing them unbelievably well.  What a magical moment it was hearing my students playing like that and really doing such a great job.  I teared up once again and realized that the dream Will and Gail have had of their grand kids learning to play is materializing through me.  I've worked long and hard with these kids to get them to this point and the last two days have been the icing on my cake.  They've all jumped a plateau and it's great for me to see. 
We couldn't have had a better day for playing bluegrass.  70 degrees, sunny no wind, and just a totally perfect Spring day today. 


It's been a perfect Mother's Day Weekend so far and tomorrow Gail is hosting all of us for a hot dog and marshmallow roast.  So the weather is going to be nice once again tomorrow and it'll be perfect!  After church we'll all head up to their house and the Barela's, Williams and all their grand kids will be there, but I think today's fun trumps even tomorrow's events.  Church in the morning! 

I love my grand kids

Woke up the other morning to the phone ringing at around 7 AM and thinking "who in the would be calling me this early?"  I jumped up out of bed and grabbed the phone to hear the cute voice of my 5 year old grandson Greisyn.  He says "hello grandma, how are you doing?"  My heart melted and I knew instantly that there's nothing better than getting to be a grandma.... Then he proceeds to visit and tell me all about everything in his life.  What a wonderful way to start my day. 
I love my grand kids and I love to get to have them come and stay most of their summers with us.  John and I love to have them as much as we can and when we retired 4 years ago that's one thing we wanted in our retirement, a place where the grand kids could come and do fun things that they don't get to do living in the city.  So when they come here they can ride 4 wheelers, catch water snakes and frogs, hike, ride horses, and swim in the pond down at Gail's.  He tells me that he can't wait to get to come see me and can he stay a long time again.  Family and grand kids are the icing on the cake of life. 

Friday, May 11, 2012

Band practice tonight

After the kids played at the school today I hurried home in order to get back in time for band practice with The Foggy Mtn Girls, and then Gravel Road after that. Wow what a full day of Bluegrass.........did I say how much I loved it... Yes, yes, yes...
When we left the school after the kid's assembly, Victoria asked if she could ride out here with me because her and Callie were spending the night with their grandma and grandpa Will and Gail and are going to get to come with us to McCall where Gravel Road playing tomorrow.  Anyway she asked if she couldn't ride home with me so I thought that was fun.  All the way home, we sang all the kids' songs and also some that she wants to start learning for their kids band "The Bluegrasshoppers." It was so much fun to be singing with a kid that has so much enthusiasm to want to learn.
Once I got home I dropped her off up and her grandparents place and then I headed down home here to unload my sound system and clear out my Jeep a bit.  Shortly after that I had to head right back down to Will and Gail's for band practice with our girls band The Foggy Mtn Girls, and Victoria was so excited and full of energy to play. I have her on banjo in that band too, so for her and I it was a big bluegrass day, the school assembly then our practice.  I love seeing kids who have the passion like I do and for me to be able to teach them is such an honor.  Once we finished the practice with the girls band almost immediatly it was time to practice with our band Gravel Road.  Will surprised us all when he asked PT our mandolin player in the girls band to take out her mandolin and at least chop the chords and sing some harmonies with Gravel Road as we practiced tonight. It was so fun to have her there and most of the harmonies she picked right up on adding that 3rd part.  She's so talented that way and I know that the harder tunes she'll be able to get with just a few practices.
Afterwards Will invited her to play with us at Kamiah at the Super jam which will be a week from tomorrow.  He said that he would like her in the band but he wants her to start learning some lead work with her mandolin.  I'm hoping that she won't be too scared to try it and maybe she could be the answer to my prayers.
Our band Gravel Road is loosing our mandolin player, Will and Gail's son Chris, due to a job change and not having the days off to be able to play with us anymore.  Will has been frustrated enough that he has thought of throwing in the towel and not having his band anymore.  I've been so sad over it all that I've been praying for an answer to help keep us going.  If PT will be willing to try and take breaks with her mandolin she would be put into our band and would be a great asset.  As I said, she's very talented on her harmony vocals and I would love to have her in our band.  She just needs to gain confidence to try and take some leads on her mandolin.  I'm not sure where she stands on that, but I'll keep on praying.  Future posts on here will tell!  Please, please, please let this work out!

The Bluegrasshoppers debut performance today


The school here in Grangeville asked me if my Kids In Bluegrass would do an assembly for the entire school K-8th grade and today was the day.  I had a band practice with the core kids yesterday who I've pulled out of the group to form their own band, "The Bluegrasshoppers."
Today was their first time to actually get to play as a band with no help from me.  I've been telling their grandma Gail just how well they've been doing but today was her and grandpa Will's first time to get to hear them for real.
I was busy setting up sound in the gym due to the school not letting me have use of the room until 30 minutes before we were to start so I had the kids get tuned up, and I told them to warm up starting down the set list while I went to work on the sound system real quick.  Luckily I had Grandpa Will and Grandma Gail to help me so they pretty much got the sound set up.  When I came back into the warm up room where all the kids were waiting they listened to how I'd instructed them to warm up.  When I walked into the room and heard them singing and playing Angeline the Baker it just blew me away because they were doing it all by themselves and executing it perfectly, keeping time right and sounding so awesome as the mandolin, and fiddler were playing and Illyana was keeping perfect time on her bass.  Little Victoria was playing her banjo and grinning ear to ear, and Emilio was chopping his mandolin, all singing really good too. The two Nelson Boys Mickey and Matthew had the chords perfectly and were leading the others with their guitar playing.
     It was so amazing for me to hear them for the first time actually coming together and being independent of me.  I felt so touched that I started to cry and couldn't hold back the tears.  I've worked so hard to get these kids ready for this day and today was that big day.  They played a 40 minute set and I only helped on 2 songs.  It was a most amazing day!  These are awesome kids and it's a privilege to be teaching them.  As they left to put their instruments away some of them were singing their hearts out and it was a special moment in time for me.  Love it!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Lot's of Bluegrass coming up

My mind is in overload fast mode this week as I think of the different bluegrass things coming up this next couple of weeks.  I have several things that I'm responsible for and sometimes my mind just goes 90 mph thinking of everything to make sure I'm on top of things. Kids and what songs they want to sing, The Foggy Mtn Girls set list, and then which songs I'll be singing in Gravel Road.....posters to be made up, phone calls to make... I wouldn't have it any other way though as I love it so much that it's all great stuff. 
So first of all the day after tomorrow, Friday my kids that I teach here in Grangeville have been asked to do a full assembly for their school.  I'll have 14 kids participating in it and about 40 minutes time to play.  So as I previously posted I needed to get the sound system out and make sure it was all working good, which it was.. yay!  Then yesterday I went to town to give lessons and prepare some of the kids, and tomorrow, Thursday I head in again to do a band practice with the core kids and their band "The Bluegrasshoppers".  Friday is the assembly and we're all excited for it especially the kids who've been begging me to get to play for their school again. 
Friday evening is band practice with our band Gravel Road and we're hired to play over in McCall, Idaho on Saturday from 3 to 5.  We'll be playing at a Pancake house there and the lady who's hired us has just been super nice even offering to buy us all dinner when we finish playing.  So it's going to be a really fun way to spend our Saturday.  The weather is going to be good for it we'll get to play outside. 
In between the Gravel Road practices will be practices with The Foggy Mtn Girls.  No big deal just switch brain modes and away we go!
Then the following weekend which will be the 18th - 20th of May both of my bands, Gravel Road and The Foggy Mtn Girls will be playing at the ISBA's Spring festival "The Kamiah Super Jam" so that's why we're all really practicing and getting all the rust off of our strings from the long winter.  Although I can't really say that and be honest as we did just finish playing over in Montana, but it was kind of fun to say anyway!
That Kamiah festival will also involve me doing my "Kids In Bluegrass" program too.  Do you think I'll loose any pounds running around with all of it... ha ha ha... doubtfully but it would be a nice perk now wouldn't it!  I'm on the board of the Idaho Sawtooth Bluegrass Assoc. (ISBA) so I'll have several responsibilities at the festival but I welcome them and love it so much that it's never work. 
Anyway I'm sitting here listening to my Sirius Satellite Radio once again and it's only tuned to one channel all the time... guess which one... you got it Bluegrass Junction... Oh, oh, oh... yes, yes, yes.. one of my favorite bluegrass bands from yesteryear just came on with one of my favorite songs that they do...The Dilliard and the tune Ebo Walker..  I think it's shaping up to be a perfect day...
So with that, I think I'll head out to my front porch and enjoy the sunshine as I make up my Kamiah festival  posters for the workshops and open mic sign ups, and as I work I can enjoy the sunshine and beauty of the mountains in the springtime.  It's a pretty good life here in the mountains.  

Monday, May 7, 2012

Today and the lawn mower saga



Not much to say today but the sun is shining and I spent the morning getting things ready for the assembly that the Kids In Bluegrass will be putting on this Friday.  Then on to housework once I finished setting up my sound system making sure it was all working well.  Now I'm taking some time to check my e-mails and enjoy the warmth of the sunshine.  I do want to say a few things on here today though.  So here you go.... We have a real old lawn mower that's sat outside for 2 years because basically it's just a piece of junk and wouldn't start.  Our neighbor was kind enough to come mow our lawn last year but we couldn't keep expecting her to help out and to fix this old mower a new starter was needed to the tune of $250.  We didn't have the money nor did we want to spend that much on a mower that only cost $700 new so thus it's sat here outside.  Finally after 2 tries last week, and our lawn about a foot tall my husband John went out and worked on it one last time to see if he couldn't get it to run.  Suddenly I hear the mower and he has it going.  What a talented fella!  He was able to make a socket that he used to turn the motor by hand as he cranked it over and he got it started.  So without wasting any time he mowed our lawn and it looks great once again.  Yay.. I'm so excited.  We have to wait for two years when I'll begin getting a retirement check before we can afford to buy a new mower, put new flooring in our house, remodel the kitchen a bit...new car.... yes all those things that we'll be able to afford then.  Meanwhile though I'm very grateful that the mower started today and will get us through a little while longer.  And I'm also very grateful for a nice home in this beautiful area of Idaho where we have wild flowers, jaw dropping views, mild winters...and our Jeep that's still running well and getting me to where I need to go, with all my arsenal of instruments loaded into it almost every time it leaves our driveway.  I've very blessed and am listening to my bluegrass music and singing the songs of the mountains as I type this.  So now that I've got my lawn mowed, the junk mower running again.... and chillin to bluegrass... hey well I need to get outside and soak in some more of this warm sunshine and.... yes....I'm happy!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Jarom's Story

Okay I said I'd tell you Jarom's story, so here it is.  To preface this blog a little bit I want to tell you about Jarom.  Jarom is a phenomenal boy that anyone would be proud to call their son.  He works hard and lives on a ranch up here on our mountain but on the other side of the draw.  He is the oldest of 7 children in a family of 6 boys and only 1 girl.  He was born with some special problems that ended up involving him having to have a shunt in his head to drain fluids.  This hasn't given him any problems now but obviously has to be checked yearly.  He is very intelligent but struggles a little bit in school work so he's in some resource room classes.  He loves to hunt and play music.
Shortly after we retired and moved to this area in Idaho, one of my best friends and neighbor Gail invited me to ride with them into town to watch their grand kids at their school choir concert.  I had just barely begun to teach their grand kids to play bluegrass guitar and sing.  I'm always one to support the arts and "my" kids that I teach so it was wonderful getting the offer to come hear their concert and I was excited to go.  I knew Jarom from church and from living out here, and of course he was in the school concert too.
While I was watching the kids sing I saw Jarom up there with his class and he was really feeling the music and singing his heart out. I love it when I see kids who actually love to sing and I got to see this through his body language.  It's just so fun to see kids like that....Immediately I felt the Spirit telling me that Jarom was a boy who would love to learn to play the guitar and would benefit from this music.  The prompting was so strong that on the way home I told Gail of my prompting and feelings. I knew that his parents were in no position to be able to buy him a guitar, and so I pondered how I could get a guitar into his hands.  An entire month went by and the Spiritual promptings wouldn't let me stop thinking about and pondering how I could get a guitar for this boy.  I never said a word to him or his parents of my promptings but I just kept pondering my dilemma, meanwhile nothing was getting done to help this boy. 
Suddenly about a month later Jarom comes running up to me at church and blurts out, "Sister Redman I really want to learn to play the guitar, and my dad has a friend at work who is going to give him a guitar for me to use".  I was shocked, as I hadn't mentioned my promptings to him or his parents, but Heavenly Father knew my dilemma and stepped in to help.  So the following Sunday Jarom runs up to me again all excited and his eyes just dancing as he told me, "I got the guitar, I got the guitar."  "It's got a couple of strings missing but my mom told me not to worry that you'd be able to fix it."  "Can you come over today?"   So after talking to his parents it was agreed upon that I'd begin lessons with him the next day, Monday. 
Now he was 11 years old at this time and he's just slowly gotten better and better, but always has kept his same enthusiasm and joy in being able to play and sing.  When I come for his lessons he's so excited and he hurries to get his guitar.  I now also teach his next younger brother and his sister and sometimes when I'm working with them he'll grab his guitar and suddenly he's right there playing along with them.  Never tiring of his lesson time, never saying to me, "how much longer before I'm through," and such things like some others can say.  He loves to play and this music has changed his life and given him something that he can do that's special and that he loves so much.
Every year he begs me to get to play for his class, or to talk to the school to see if we can do an assembly as we've done in the past too.  This year was no exception so I finally went in to talk to his school and they've asked us to put on a full school assembly.  He's so excited to get to do this that he's helping me plan it and giving me "ideas" as to what songs he thinks would be good to play, and which song we should end with, etc.  Every single time his eyes dance with excitement as we talk about and plan it. 
So this is Jarom's story and as I previously posted you can read about our weekend and his first jam.  Now he's really bitten with the bluegrass bug, and the two of us are working on how he can get to stay and play longer at the Kamiah Super Jam, a fun bluegrass festival coming up in a few weeks.  Late last night as we were finishing up our jamming time he looked at me and said, "I've got it, I can stay with my grandma (who lives near the festival site) and she can let me stay and help me out". 
So as the Spirit has guided us through this whole thing once again we were provided a way.  His grandma suddenly showed up at our church today and I was able to visit with her about this past weekend and Jarom's new plight to get to stay longer at the Kamiah Festival.  She is so excited for him and wants to help in any way so it was no problem convincing her to help him out.  She said that she'll let him spend the whole weekend at her house so that he can participate and jam as much as he wants to.
I spend a lot of time teaching and moments like these make it the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life.  I have several other kids that are suddenly coming alive in the music too, and there's nothing better for me in the whole wide world.  Heavenly Father has blessed me through this music with very nice instruments that there is no way I should have afforded to own.  I know with our income that I shouldn't have been able to buy these instruments but somehow I've been blessed to have them.  I love my instruments and have been blessed to somehow have gotten them.   I've had so much happiness and pure joy of life each and every day since I began playing 25 years ago.  I can show gratitude by giving back to these kids and people that I teach.  When I see the light, then it's me who receives and learns the most, and this is Jarom's story.