Tuesday Trivia

It's Thanksgiving Week, 2008 - Yikes! Where has this year gone? I have been mentally writing my Christmas letter and it's going to be a doozy this year! It's been almost a year since we took that awesome trip to Hawaii. I never did do the final post on that trip!

Thanksgiving Day will be quite a bit less hectic than in the previous several years. We'll only have 10 at the table, with the two babies doing their thing, being passed around from person to person who wants to hold them. I'll do the turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy, and my home made crescent rolls. Everyone brings a part of the meal and it turns out to be scrumptious.

Christmas will be an adventure for sure. My MIL turned 90 in October, and we will be celebrating that milestone with 90% (well, 88% if you want to be technical!) of the family here - only one grandson and family will be unable to be here. So we'll have 30 people here for a week, staying with all of us who live around here. Should be a very busy, very fun week.

I have decided to stick with glasses, at least for now. I really hate glasses, but contacts don't work for me any more and I've decided not to spend my savings on Lasik surgery. Several suggested transition lenses to avoid the problem of changing in and out of sunglasses. I tried them once, but they didn't lighten up quickly enough for my liking. Have they improved over the years, I wonder? Thanks for all the caring.

Several of you have written about your snow storms. We've had ridiculously warm weather so far this year. It is so dry that the humidifier is running 24/7. We have hoardes of birds taking advantage of our bird bath for a drink. I want to get a picture, but they get spooked with the least motion, though my patio door is a long ways from the water. Picture a ring of robins standing on the rim of the bowl, taking turns bobbing their heads into the water as if they are being very polite. I'm going to keep trying to get a picture.

I was watching a re-run of "Touched By an Angel" the other morning when I saw an episode that first came out in 1995. I was happy to see it again because it contained something very exciting for people from our town. I have told you before that this town has become a mecca for artists, particularly bronze sculptors. I've shared a few of my favorites with you, and there are many more, some of which I'll show you later today.

But back to the story - this was a very touching episode - Gerald McRaney played a heart transplant specialist who refused to do the transplant on the patient who was up for a new heart. When he heard the patient's name, he realized it was the man who had killed all of his children in a drunk driving disaster. He was finally able to put away his anger (with the help of Monica, the angel, and God, of course) and do the surgery. The end of the episode showed a wonderful sculpture which had been created by the doctor's wife in memory of their 5 children.

The sculpture was created, in real life, by an artist who lives here. I did some research when I saw the show last week and called the local Art Council, who gave me his name and phone number. I called him to ask how his piece had ended up on the show. You may or may not know that "Touched by an Angel" was filmed mostly in Salt Lake City area. At the time, in 1995, the artist, BLAIR MUHLESTEIN, was living in Park City, Utah, and had a studio there. The producers and writers of the show had written the story line with 3 children. They went looking for a sculpture that would fit in with their plot. In the window of Mr. Muhlestein's studio they found the piece pictured below. They changed the story to have 5 children rather than 3.





It lives in a park less than a mile from my house. I have always loved it, and was so happy to find the story behind the story. When I talked to the artist on the phone, he invited me to come in for a visit. I'll let you know when that happens.

When I went to take these pictures, Feisty was with me. She and Care Bear love this park and their mom and their Grandpa both take them there often. She wanted to pose for all of these pictures, so I'll share them with you -- they were all from the children's section - I'll have to show you some more someday - they are wonderful. Better yet, come visit me and we'll go for a walk in the park!









This is one of those that I don't quite "get" - Feisty thought it was pretty funny. I've included the name, if that helps!

Remember the tree over my neighbor's house that glowed in the early morning sunshine for so many days? Here it is at sunset on a recent afternoon.

A few minutes later, I tried to get the final rays - I love the deep blue still showing above the mountains.

Wrapping up - people are always asking if the twins are identical. They haven't been DNA tested, but the evidence is pretty overwhelming that they are. They do the same things at the same time, have the same facial expressions, cry the same, laugh the same, and on and on. They fell asleep in their car seats the other morning - what do you think?

Their favorite new activity at my house is to play with the radio/CD player - opening tape decks, pushing buttons, messing with the volume, trying to put CD's on to play. Quite technologically advanced! But there's nothing like a good ole Evie record (what's a record???)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!