Happy Birthday Kelly…

Happy birthday Kelly.  Thanks for the joy that you bring to our family.  Thanks for those beautiful little grandchildren you have given us.  Thanks for your love and concern for us.

We love you dearly and thank Heavenly Father for letting your path cross that of Derek’s.  You are a very important part of our lives. 

Your heart is so good and you would do anything to help others in need or just be a friend that will listen and not repeat.  This I admire about you.  I can tell you things and know that they are held in confidence.

Thanks for choosing our son to be your husband and for being part of our family.  Love you tons.

Memorial Day Weekend..

We left for Ephraim Scandinavian Days on Thursday.  We stopped in Spanish Fork and dropped off the yellow bench to the woman who purchased it.    Oh how she loved it!!

We got to Ephraim,  dropped off our trailer and then went to the motel.  This one was so nice.  Last year was a dive!!  Because we did not feel like going out to eat,  just went to the grocery store and picked up some chicken and salad then went back to the room to eat.

Friday we were up bright and early to get ready for the day.  We set up the booth and was ready to serve by noon.  We worked all day and was just closing up when Verdell got there to help us on Saturday.  We went to dinner then got a good night’s rest as we knew that Saturday is a very busy, rushed day.

Saturday did not disappoint us.  Ta’Mera got there about 9:00 and helped get the stations set up while Verdell worked on funnel cake mix.

Our day was long and hard once the parade was over at 10:30.  We had two people on the fryers keeping up with the orders.  I love the adrenalin rush once the day begins.  You can work forever going as fast as you can work once the rush begins.

We did have a special visitor to our booth.  Dick’s cousin Steven Madsen and his wife came for funnel cakes.  Steven told us about a picture that he has of the Madsen Family and wanted to know if we had a copy of it.  I told him no.  He left and went home, made a copy of the picture and brought it back to us.  I am so excited because we do not have any pictures of the Madsen side of the family.

Dick is the little feller sitting on his Grandpa Daniel Madsen’s lap.  Leon and Zella are directly to the right of them and up.  This is such a great gift from Steven to us.  This picture is taken to the west side of the house they lived in.  Leon was born and raised in this house.  The house is still being lived in and is one block from where our booth was sitting.  It is now being used as housing for Snow College.

This year we had new banners made by Kelly for the booth that say “Madsen’s Fun Foods” and are used as the front  sides of the booth (we have a 10x20 tent).  So many people came up to our booth and wanted to know what Madsen’s we were from.  Some were relatives and others were not.  Some knew our family personally and told us some stories about them.  This was a real treat.  Just knowing that we were standing on ground that his great grandparents walked and settled. 

I do love going to Sanpete County each year.  There is such a great feeling of humility and I honestly can feel the spirits of those that have gone on before.  They worked so hard to settle the valley, coming from Denmark, Norway, Sweden etc.. and sent by Brigham Young to the valley.  Peter Madsen built the first home in Ephraim and it is still standing. 

We got home on Sunday and Derek, Kelly, Canyon and Evan (oh and Camo)  came to see us on their way home from Idaho Falls.  We got to visiting and the time got away and they stayed the night.  It was so good to have them with us and had a good visit while the children got to play with their friends here.

We are so lucky to have our families and the heritage that we come from.  Thanks for your dedication to the Lord’s commandments and for setting the examples the we might follow.  Thanks for the good names that you have passed on to us and may we never do anything to tarnish those names.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Danielle

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Danielle.  Oh how I love this girl.  She has a heart as big as a mountain and will give the shirt off her back if she thought you needed it more than she does.

I remember how excited I was when she was born and they told me the baby was a little girl.  My heart did tons of leaps and I knew that this baby would be dressed in lace and frills.  Well that lasted until she was able to pick out her own clothes and then most of the frills were a no no.

When Danielle was born, I called her Rosebud.  Her skin tone was so perfect and a beautiful pink.  Her features were so delicate and everything about her reminded me of a newly open rosebud. 

This is one girl that is full of tease.  No matter where she is she has to be teasing someone.  When she was little her favorite person in the whole entire world to tease would be her Uncle Lane.  They both dished it out pretty well to each other.  If she did not start it then he was the one starting the teasing.  To this day they cannot be in the same room without the teasing going on.

Danielle has grown into the most beautiful woman and I am proud to be her mother. 

Happy Birthday Danielle and may your family make this the most perfect day.  Love you tons and tons.

Beauty in the yard

My hyacinth was the first to bloom.  This came in a clump of tulips that Mom sent to me.

                

These little anemones  Kelly gave to me for my birthday last year and they actually bloomed right through the winter. 

  

My tulips were so gorgeous.  Last fall I dug up the tulips that were in the back yard and planted them around the tree out front.  They lasted for the longest time and I was so sad when the last petal fell off this weekend.

With all this rain we sure have been having beautiful green lawns and beautiful flowers.  The lilacs are so fragrant this year.  I want to plant more of them so my yard will be smelly all spring long.

                              

One of our Mr. Lincoln rose bushes had two huge flowers on it and the other one has three buds.  When the roses are in bloom, our entire front yard has the sweetest smell.  Mr. Lincoln is the most robust in fragrance that I have ever smelt.  I sure am lucky to have two of these beauties in my front yard.

My Favorite Date…

When Richard was four years old, Bobbi invited us to come from Colorado to her Junior Prom in Monticello.  I loaded up Danielle and her children and we drove to Utah for this big event. We had a wonderful time at the Prom and she looked so beautiful in her dress. 

On Sunday we all went to church and Rich fell madly in love with his “big cousin”.  Bobbi was so good to him and treated him with the most tender care.  She took him to her house after church and then on the way back to Grandma Jacque’s house, she let him sit on her lap and drive her fancy red mustang.  Oh he was the happiest little boy in the whole wide world.

When he came into the house he was wearing a grin from ear to ear.  He came over to me and told me “I love my big cousin.  She let me drive her red car.”

                               

Aren’t they so adorable together?  I love his date too!!

Dad’s New Toy

Dick got a package in the mail on Saturday from Danielle.  What a surprise he had when he opened it and there was a Kindle ereader. 

    

                                  

He has been looking at them thinking that would be such a fun thing to have as he could just order books off line and have them downloaded to a Kindle.  He reads constantly so this really would be a good thing for him.

He is very stingy and will not share it.  I was trying to figure how to look up scriptures, as she downloaded them before she sent it, and he was having a tissy fit because someone other than him was touching his Kindle.  So I gave it back.  The little baby!!!

I do not know where he has it hidden so I can play with it, but at least we know that he enjoys his new toy.

Maybe I will get one for myself and download all Amish books on it.  That is a pretty cool idea cause I have a birthday coming up real soon.

A Little Surprise

This fall I bottled some very delicious grape concentrate from concord grapes that I got from Kyle.  It turned out so perfect and has the best flavor.  It is so easy to fix by adding a little sugar and three parts water to the concentrate.  It tastes just like the frozen juice you buy.

This morning I wanted grape juice for my breakfast and grabbed a bottle of the pantry shelf.  I proceeded to fix it and it just did not have the flavor and left a very bitter taste in my mouth.  I added more sugar, but the bitterness was still there.  I could not figure what was wrong.  I filled my glass with this rich juice and took my handful of morning pills…….and then it dawned on me…..I had not opened a bottle of grape juice but instead opened a bottle of chokecherry juice that Danielle had given me to make chokecherry syrup.

Now from looking at the two jars in the picture can you tell which one is grape and which one is chokecherry?  I can NOW.  Chokecherry has the sediment at the bottom of the jar not the grape juice.  I should have know because I write on the jar flat what is in the jar. 

It is all Danielle’s fault that I nearly died this morning when I drank my juice.  I called her and let her know that when she sends things  to me they MUST be marked because I can’t tell the difference between certain things.  The poor girl nearly died laughing at me.  Well it was pretty funny even if I was on the laughing at end.

I am just going to add more sugar and thicken the juice to make syrup for pancakes when Brook’s family comes on JUNE 10th (oh happy day).

I wanna be…..

The question was asked to Canyon and Evan last night “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Canyon wants to develop math programs for the poor….when asked if he would charge money for the programs his answer was “no, they are poor”.  Well how are you going to make money if you do not charge money…his answer was “I guess this was not my best idea”.

Evan wants to be a lawyer and when she was asked what lawyers do her reply was “they sit behind the desk and collect the money”.  Boy doesn’t she have it right!!!  When her mom asked her if they do any work she said “I told you Mom, they sit behind the desk and collect the money”.  “Well, Evan, are people just going to come in and give you money?”  “Yes”.

Gramps and I had a good laugh and still are having spurts of laughter every time we think of their answers.  Oh the things that come out of the mouths of babes.  Love It!!!

Momma Duck

This momma duck has decided that the Madsen house in Clinton would be a great place to make her nest for her new little family.  What a surprise it was when we discovered her when we went to pick up Canyon and Evan for their vacation with us on Wednesday.

The day we discovered her she left the nest long enough for us to count 10 eggs. 

On Sunday Derek sent this picture and look there are 12 eggs.  She sure has lined her nest in lots of soft downy feathers.  In just a few more weeks we are hoping for little duckys waddling around the yard. 

We told Evan she needed to get her swimming pool out and fill it with water for the babies to swim in when they hatch.  I guess they are busy taking care of mommy duck and making sure that there is plenty of dog food for her to eat while she is sitting on the nest.  Maybe she will think she is a dog instead of a duck.

This is going to be a great treat for Canyon and Evan when the babies hatch at the end May or first of June.  I am excited to see them.

Bird Fest

We had our first event of the year this past weekend.  We went to the Bird Fest held at the Davis County Fair grounds in Farmington.

 

Home Depot brings in tons of bird houses for the children to build and take home.  They get a certificate for participation and get to keep their nifty Home Depot apron.  Very cool!!!

All kinds of birds are brought…...

….but my favorite was the goose on a leash.

Mrs. Goose Lady said that the goose was hatched in the house and sits on the couch and watches television with them.  She sleeps in their bed with the dog and the humans and Goosy cuddles with the dog.  Goosy does not know that she is a goose and thinks she is a dog.  The goose wears a poop catcher (the red thing on her butt) to catch all of that poop that they are always dropping as they walk about. 

This is one pampered goose and has her own stroller in which there is a white wicker basket lined in pink plaid material for her to sit in when she is tired of walking.  She sits there in the basket and thinks she is a queen while she eats her food and drinks the water that is provided for her comfort.

Planting is so fun…..

Today has been so busy for us.  We started the day finishing cleaning and stocking the concession trailer for our first event on Friday.  We will be at the Bird Fest held at the Davis County Fair grounds. 

I decided that I was tired of doing the hard labor and went to Wal-Mart to get some herbs to put into my Topsy Turvy that I got for Mother’s Day.  While there my mind remembered that I needed some herbs for my herb garden also.  In my Topsy Turvy I planted three tomato plants, a basil, a cucumber and a bell pepper.  This is going to be neat when they start growing.

In the herb garden I planted a bell pepper, some more basil, a parsley (lost mine this winter), a rosemary (lost this one also) and two bush cucumbers.  I already had chives, lavender, oregano, grapes and honeysuckle.

Our soil is so bad that I am not able to have a normal garden, but is was still therapeutic for my soul.  Sometimes you just need to get soil on your hands and smell the fresh turned dirt.  Next year we are planning on doing the raised garden scene and see if I can grow some vegetables.

Vacation at the Grandparents Day 3

Today we left early and went to Ogden to find roses for Grandma’s Mother’s Day gift.  We first went to Lowe’s and that was a bummer.  They did not have any good roses so we went to Home Depot and hit the jackpot. 

We got three fruit trees.  An apricot, a cherry and a prune so that gives us six fruit trees for our yard. When they all start producing,  we will not have to buy fruit for canning and drying again.

We found two rose bushes to replace the ones that Evan and Mallory dug out yesterday.  We looked and looked but could not find the Mr. Lincoln’s that we dearly love.  We were just about ready to check out when we spotted them. 

We came home and planted all the trees and the roses and the kids played hard at the neighbors.  Then Mikey’s parents had a wiener roast for all the neighborhood kids in their back yard.  Canyon said he ate 4 and Evan ate 1.

They had to shower as they were so dirty and sweaty and stinky from all the hard playing today.   Evie fell asleep at 9:00 but Canyon stayed awake until 10:00 in anticipation of his parents arrival. 

We have had a wonderful time and hate to see the time end.  We do enjoy the little ones here.

Vacation at the Grandparents Day 2

Our morning started early as Grandpa had to be in Salt Lake for a doctor’s appointment at 10.  We got up and ate our breakfast, brushed our teeth, combed our hair and then left.

We got to the VA Hospital and waited for Grandpa to be seen by the doctor then we left to go back to Brigham City.  On the way back we stopped at Golden Corral for dinner.  Canyon ate tons, Evan ate ounces, Grandma and Grandpa ate way too much, but we did enjoy the food.

We got home just as the neighbor children were getting home from school.  The kids went to Nathan and Mallory’s to play.

Our rose bushes did not survive the winter and both of them died so they needed to be taken out.  Our two helpers were right there digging them out.  Here are a few pictures of the girls.

     

This is them taking out the big rose bush:

                 

                  

Grandpa finally had to help them dig it up and he broke the shovel handle.  This was one tough bush to get out, but he finally got it out.

After that adventure Canyon and Evan spent the rest of the evening playing with the neighbor kids. Then they ate and got ready for bed.  This is going to be an early night again as they are pretty tired.

               

Yeap!!! 8:30 and they are both zonked.

Vacation at Grandma & Grandpa’s Day 1

Canyon and Evan are spending a few days with us while their parents are off on their own vacation to Vegas.

Today has been full of adventures and we have had lots of fun.  First they played with Justin, Xander, Tymber and Mallory then we took a big load of JUNK to the dump.  Canyon helped Gramps put the old toilet into the dumpster and guess what!!! Gramps got toilet water all down the front of him.  Pretty stinky trick Canyon pulled on him.

Next we went to the museum at the Senior Center.  This was real fun and we learned all about the way the pioneers lived when they first came to Brigham City.

From there we went to Kent’s to shop because they have little baskets for “shoppers in training”.  Look at this cute kid with her basket full of goodies.

Gramps mowed the lawn and turned on the water and lo and behold all the kids in the neighborhood gathered on our lawn to play in the water.

Justin won the water attire award of the day with his pajamas and life jacket.  This kid cracks me up.               

Mallory and Evan were soaking wet and they were trying to water the flowers with their watering cans.

Canyon and Nathan were having races and trying to see if they could out run the sprayers as they rotated across the lawn.

We went through four towels, three fleece blankets, strawberries, chips and a dozen pop cycles today.  The towels and blankets are washed and ready for our play time tomorrow.

To end the day we had a taco pizza in celebration of Cinco De Mayo, Canyon made a cake for strawberry shortcake, they had showers, brushed teeth and before 7:30 Evan was fast asleep.  Canyon was soon to follow.

I do think that we had a fun day.

Bench #2

Today we finished our second bench.  What a treat the finished product turned out to be.

Took the old crappy head and footboards (we had a set of bunk bed frames)…

        

put them together and built the seat….painted it strawflower…

                    

distressed the dickens out of it….used a brown glaze…

added some decorative pillows…..and waa  laa…..

                  

Our new bench.